7 Minutes in Heaven

Chapter 2

Nora grimaced, slowly turning the card in her hand. Of course, with her luck it had to be the Ace of Hearts. She quickly looked around, hoping to swap with one of the other ladies before anyone caught on that she had it.

"Oh Nora! You've got the Ace!"

Leave it to Theresa to peek at her card and rat her out. So much for switching with someone else. Nora stood up, her face heating up as the other women cheered and chanted her name. Emma stood as well and grabbed her hand.

"Nora, you really don't have to-"

"Nah, I got this," Nora said, mustering confidence that could only be provided by the liquid courage known as alcohol. "I'll be fine..."

Cindi lead Nora and an assortment of women up the stairs and towards the closet.

"Your dream man is already in there," Cindi said, "We'll set the timer for you and open the door when the seven minutes are up."

"Go get em' tiger!" Emma said, her eyes sparkling. Now that Nora had committed, Emma seemed fully on board with the game.

Cindi counted down from three and opened the door to the closet. Before Nora could even glance at who was in there, two other women shoved her in and slammed the door behind her, locking her in. Nora fell forward, her hands landing on something solid, which kept her from completely falling over.

"I've got the timer!" she heard someone call out as the entourage moved their way back downstairs, leaving Nora and the stranger alone in the closet.

"Alright, listen," Nora said quickly, "I don't know what you were told, but you don't have permission to just do whatever you want, okay? I didn't even know what this game was before I picked the card, so I haven't consented to anything."

There was a pause, before the man before her chuckled softly.

"Bold of you to assume considering you have your hands on me and I haven't touched you at all," his deep voice betraying his amusement.

Nora paused, his words taking a moment to sink in. She slowly realized that her hands were on a warm, very well built chest.

"Oh shit," she said, pulling her hands back so quickly she lost her balance and flew backwards into a collection of hangers and coats. The man reached out quickly, his arms somehow managing to circle around her back and pulled her into him, her body colliding with his. For a second, they simply stood there, attempting to see one another in the dim light that snuck in underneath the door. The light switch for the closet was outside the room, so they were in almost complete darkness.

"Well now you are just trying to make a liar out of me," the man said teasingly.

Nora laughed, her head dropping forward. She took a moment to gather herself before looking back up, attempting to adjust to the lack of light.

"I'm sorry. That was completely presumptuous of me to say. I guess I just panicked."

"No offense taken," the man said, sounding sincere, "I can't exactly blame you for being nervous when you were just shoved into a closet with a man you've never met. Or maybe you have? Are you in the wedding party?"

"I'm a bridesmaid. You?"

"Groomsmen, though not one of the brothers."

"Well, that does narrow it down quite a bit." Nora said, trying to remember who all the groomsmen were. She had only met a couple of them in person and his voice didn't sound familiar.

It was then that Nora realized that he still had his arms around her, but she was surprised to find that she didn't hate it. As her eyes adjusted, she could just make out what appeared to be a strong jaw and dark, wavy hair. Her hands had made their way back to his chest when he had pulled her forward and from what she could feel through his shirt he was definitely her type. Toned, but not obnoxiously so, with an incredibly sexy voice.