Shane

 

“What the fuck was I thinking?” I said these words aloud to my best friend while getting ready to go pick up Daniella on Sunday afternoon. I couldn’t believe I was going to a wedding—and with a date with whom I’d supposedly established boundaries.

“Beats me. You gonna try to catch the garter?”

Leave it to Max to fuck with me.

“Ha. And no. Maybe I should tell her I’ve changed my mind.”

His eyes narrowed. “Dude. The girl calls and gets a plus one, thus able to save face in front of her ex by bringing a new date—and you want to bail? Even for you, that would be shitty.”

I scrunched my face. “What the hell does even for me mean?”

“It means you aren’t exactly into social graces. But if you’d wanted to back out, then fifteen minutes before you go pick her up is not the time. Man up. She’s not like Tina, so I don’t think you need to worry about her taking tonight the wrong way.”

I hated it when he knew exactly what I was thinking. Then again, I often returned the favor. “You’re right. Unless you think you’ll need help tonight?”

He shook his head. “New Year’s Eve is the day after tomorrow. That’s the party. Tonight will be the same old shit with the same old people. You should go and enjoy a rare Sunday evening off.”

Rare was right. Seldom did I take a night completely off. If I did, it was typically a weekday, not on the weekend when things were busy. But I did plan on enjoying tonight. Hell, just the thought of having Daniella’s ass made me hard. We’d been moving up the size of her plugs. I wasn’t an anal virgin, but knowing she was had me all sorts of giddy.

Yes. Giddy. Like a fucking teenager.

Damn. I couldn’t explain this hold she had over me, but the fact that even my dick had fallen suit was really getting to me. “Daniella indicated she should be done with the audit by Wednesday.”

“So she said. In fact, I need to help her on Monday or Tuesday to reconcile some of the bar receipts. Heather is being less than obliging.”

“Yeah. She’s jealous of the attention I’m giving Daniella.” I closed down the computer screen I’d been looking at and stood up. I was already dressed in a charcoal gray suit with a proper white, starched shirt and a blue tie. “Call me if you have any trouble.”

Max laughed. “Sorry, buddy. No lifelines for you tonight.”

 

***

 

Any reservation I had about attending a wedding quickly went out the window once Daniella opened her hotel room door. She was wearing a black strapless dress and her hair piled on top of her head in a curled coif.

“You look, uh, nice.”

She rolled her saucy blue eyes. “Your compliments outside of the bedroom need work.”

I watched while she grabbed her clutch and a small duffel bag. “Is that all you’re bringing?”

She quirked her head to the side. “I don’t plan on wearing a whole lot once I get out of this dress tonight.”

I smiled, stepping closer so I could breathe in her scent. As I dropped a kiss to the curve of her neck, I loved how her breath caught at the simple action. “Lucky me, then. You look sexy.”

Because my thoughts were turning carnal in a hurry, I retreated and offered my arm. We’d best go before I got the notion to fuck her on every available surface in her hotel room.

 

***

 

Daniella’s smile grew big when she spotted my Viper. What can I say? I loved a beautiful sports car. Of course it was black because that was my signature color. Maybe I liked things to match the color of my soul.

She slipped into the passenger seat after I held the door open for her, allowing me a tempting view of her toned legs. As soon as I was behind the wheel and started the car, I glanced over.

“Are you wearing panties?”

She smirked. “Only one way to find out.”

I didn’t hesitate to reach over. When my fingers met no barrier, coming into contact with her hot, wet heat, I smiled. Since she wasn’t the type of girl who’d normally go commando, knowing she did it for me was even more of a turn-on.

I withdrew my hand, much to her frustration. But my options were limited while driving a stick shift. Plus it wasn’t a long drive over to Jersey City.

Daniella blew out a breath, but then was distracted by her buzzing phone, which she answered. “Hey, Mom. No, we’re on the way. We’re not late. We’re on time. Okay, fine. See you at the church.”

She shut the phone with a big sigh. “I already can’t wait to get to the reception and leave early.”

I fought down the panic starting to well up. “Your mother is going to be there?”

She flipped down the visor and touched up her lipstick, either choosing to ignore the anxiety in my question or not recognizing it. “Yeah. Both her and my dad.”

“You didn’t mention that.” Did she?

She flipped up the visor and capped her lipstick before glancing over. “I said it was for my cousin. I think that implies my family would be there.”

“I don’t do family.” It was too much.

“What does that mean exactly?”

“It means I don’t appreciate the blindside. I told you from the beginning this isn’t a relationship.”

Instead of looking upset, like I thought she would, she laughed. “I asked you if you wanted to come to my cousin’s wedding. You said yes. Implying I sprang my family on you is complete crap. But you know what? Drop me off at the church. You’re off the hook. The last thing I need is you thinking I somehow snared you into tonight.”

Fuck. The guilt was already sinking in. “Look, it’s nothing—”

She held up her hand. “Not trying to be rude here, but you don’t owe me an explanation. I should’ve known better than to ask.”

She was pissed, and I didn’t blame her. It should’ve clicked when she’d said ‘cousin’s wedding’ that it would include her family. But something didn’t make sense. “Why would Eric be attending if it’s your cousin’s wedding?”

“Because the groom was his college roommate. They met at a happy hour for his firm that I dragged her to.”

“Maybe I can go for a moment. That way Eric sees us and then—”

“Un—fucking—believable. I didn’t invite you so I could save face. Whether I walk in there with you or by myself, my head is high. First, I did nothing wrong. Second, I don’t care if he thinks I’m with someone or not.”

Huh. Proving yet again that Daniella wasn’t like most of the other women I knew. Any of them would’ve wanted to make their ex jealous. “I didn’t mean to make it sound that way.”

She was looking out the window, and I wasn’t sure what else to say. Ten minutes later she directed me to the front of the church. I’d barely come to a stop before she was out of the car and shutting my door. I had to lower the window to shout out to her.

“Am I meeting you at the hotel later?”

She stopped for a moment, turned, and walked back to the car with purpose. There, she leaned down to the open window. “You know, for a smart man, that was a really dumb question. Especially when I’m sure you already can guess the answer.”

I was a dick. And I’d screwed up. Big time. Knowing this only fueled my anger. My character and crappy judgment was why a guy like me did not belong even in a simple sex arrangement, let alone a relationship. Our argument was clearly a sign. But no-showing to a wedding after she’d called to bring a plus one was shitty. And it wasn’t as though Daniella had given me any sign she was becoming attached or clingy. But meeting her parents... They would certainly have expectations about me, especially when Daniella was coming off her engagement.

Shit. It took me five minutes to make up my mind about what I needed to do.