For months now, he’d made it clear he wanted me. My resolve to stay away was dwindling by the day, and I knew it would be especially difficult after this.
He was my complete opposite. And absolutely wrong for me.
“David,” I sighed. “That was a—”
He pressed two fingers against my lips. “Don’t say mistake. It wasn’t. It was wonderful. And besides”—his lips lifted into a grin—“you promised me the night, and it’s not nearly over yet.”
“Everyone will know.” This wasn’t me, and everyone knew it. I didn’t succumb to temptation, despite how good the promise of it was. My life was controlled and ordered. Planned out to the letter. I couldn’t afford to let myself get swept away in the silliness like the rest of my friends. I didn’t have that luxury. It was my lists and organization and neurotic planning that had kept me sane for the last sixteen years.
“I don’t care.” His fingers moved to my jaw and then to my neck before sliding around to the back. I shivered from his gentle touch. From the way he made me feel. “Turn around.”
“What?”
“Your hair’s a mess and I want to fix it.”
“Oh.” My hands went back to my hair but he stopped me, taking my hands in his and tugging them to my side.
“I can do it,” I told him.
“I know, but I want to.”
Turning me around, his hands glided up my arms to my hair, and I began to relax. My auburn hair was long and thick and held back with dozens of pins, half of it up and the other half curled in a way that would have taken me hours to do had I done it myself.
Fortunately, Blue had covered the cost for all of us at a salon at the resort where she and Tyson had swept us away for their last-minute wedding. Not having much family, and few friends, they’d decided to forgo a typical wedding and whisked everyone to Jamaica for a long weekend. We’d arrived yesterday but hadn’t had much time to relax, since most of the day and night and then this morning had been busy with wedding preparations.
“That feels good.” I sighed as David began releasing pins and gathering them in his hands. I relaxed, leaning forward and holding on to the table in front of me. The table upon which I’d sat minutes ago and had sex. I inhaled a deep breath, calming myself. “Thank you for helping me with this.”
“My pleasure,” he whispered, as if he suddenly cared that someone might hear us. “We’ll get this done and then say our good nights. Think anyone missed us?”
I laughed awkwardly. “If they noticed we were gone at all…”
The only reason I’d allowed David to take me away from the reception was because it had been just the two of us. He’d walked up to me at the bar, bought me a drink, and then before I knew it, after flirting with me like he’d been doing for months, he was tugging me down a hallway. I’d thought maybe we were going for a walk when he asked me if I wanted to get away for a moment; I hadn’t expected him to guide me into a closet and kiss me.
But what a kiss it had been.
“They noticed. They’re probably thrilled.”
“I’m not sure I can talk about this,” I said, and then he slid his hands into my hair and I groaned. My head fell forward as he massaged my scalp with his strong hands. I didn’t typically like having my hair touched and played with. His sure and confident touch made me forget why for a moment.
“I like that what we just did makes you nervous. I bet when I pull you back into the hallway and take you to my room for round two, your chest will be bright pink.”
I was stuck on the thought of going back to his room for round two, and it took me a moment to realize what else he’d said. “Don’t tease me.” I pressed my hand to my chest to hide the heated skin. Splotchy wasn’t attractive.
“Hey.” He turned me around again and cupped my cheeks with his palms. All the lightness evaporated from his tone as he moved close to me. “I’m not teasing you. I think it’s sexy as hell when you blush. When it starts at your cheeks and spreads to your neck.” A finger trailed down my skin as he spoke, making me shiver…and, yes…blush.
“We should go back to the wedding.”
“We’ll wave to them as we leave.” He licked his lips and grinned. One of his hands moved back until the doorknob clicked open and light from the hall flooded in. “I need you.”
Need. No one needed me. No one had ever needed me.
Then again, he might have just been saying he wanted my body. But I didn’t care. I liked the way the admission rolled off his lips.
I grinned then, unable to stop it as he pulled the door open and his eyes dropped to my chest. He winked when he looked at me and tugged me into the hall.
“Tonight,” I reminded him. “I promised you tonight.”
“Sure, Camden. Just tonight.”
He might as well have called me a liar.
We walked down the hall, back to the reception area, and I clung to the hand holding mine. I ducked my head, embarrassed to see anyone, but when we got back to the restaurant, it was empty.
My head snapped to him and he laughed, throwing his head back. “Looks like everyone had the same idea we did.”
He winked at me again, and darn it. He was so cute when he was playful, which he generally was. With a strong jaw and chiseled cheekbones, a perfectly straight nose, and a long and lean but finely formed frame, David could have been a model, admired by millions on a billboard, if he wanted to be.
“Well.” I grinned and shook my head in disbelief. “I guess I don’t have to worry about them seeing us together.”
The humor evaporated from his eyes, and I wanted to kick myself. I’d made it clear to my friends for months that I wouldn’t date David. I craved financial stability and safe men. A bartender who swooped into town could just as easily flee whenever the mood struck.
But in that moment, I wasn’t thinking about David’s job, or his lack of money, or anything except the fact that I’d done something outside my comfort zone and my friends would think it was hilarious.
I was twenty-nine years old and just had my first taste of wedding sex in a closet that could potentially lead to my first one-night stand. In my mind, I heard Suzanne’s and Chelsea’s unending, gleeful laughter.
Before I could explain that it was my behavior I was embarrassed about, he turned and tugged me forward. “I can take you back to your room, Camden. I don’t want to pressure you into this. If all this was just a way to get off with someone while you were at a wedding and feeling emotional, I get it. But I’m telling you now that I want more.” He dropped his hand from mine and stepped back. “Your choice.”
In for a penny, in for a pound. I’d agreed to this, and not only that, I wanted it. I wanted to see David’s body like he wanted to see mine. I wanted to throw away my lists and my carefully planned life, if only for a night.
I felt something with David, something I had tried to ignore. It felt like freedom and fun and a wildness I had never experienced before. As he stood in front of me, waiting, there was no choice.
For the night, I was letting go of everything and taking what I was tired of denying myself.
I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth and stepped forward, pressing my palm to his chest. It tightened beneath me, and David peered down at me with beautiful blue eyes brighter than the Caribbean Sea.
“Take me to your room, David. And show me what else you have planned for me.”
Love stories you’ll never forget
By authors you’ll always remember
eOriginal Romance from Random House
randomhousebooks.com
What’s next on
your reading list?
Discover your next
great read!
* * *
Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.
Sign up now.
Kelly Elliott, Fighting for Love
(Series: Boston Love # 2)
/> Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends