Chapter Three
As soon as we finished taking pictures and were announced at the reception, I hauled my ass into the room and made a beeline toward the open bar. I only had a few minutes before the first dance and dinner service and I needed alcohol.
I swore I could still feel the imprint of Landen’s palm on my breast. The fact that he kept looking at me as though he could still feel it too made it almost impossible to smile and pose for the pictures.
Now that it was over, I intended to grab a drink. It was either that or a Xanax because Amanda, the wedding planner, wanted the wedding party to pair off for one song after the dinner service. I’d never heard of such a thing before but I didn’t have the heart to tell Lucy I wouldn’t do it.
It was one dance. Just one.
And we would be on the dance floor in front of about two hundred other wedding guests. Nothing could happen.
Yeah, I didn’t believe it either.
Hence the reason I walked up to the bar and said, “Tequila. A double.”
The bartender looked at me, lifting a brow before he smiled. “Sorry. Wine or mixed drinks only.”
I growled which made his smile widen. “Fine. A margarita on the rocks, lots of salt, and make it a strong one.”
“Rough day?” he asked as he commenced mixing my drink.
“Yes and no.”
“You’re not happy for the bride and groom?”
I sighed and relaxed. “Of course I am. She’s one of my best friends and he’s my boss. I want them both to be happy. I just…don’t get along with one of the groomsmen.”
“Ah,” the bartender replied as he set my glass in front of me.
I reached for it and my fingers brushed his because he wouldn’t release the glass. I glanced up and realized for the first time that he was about my age and extremely attractive. His dark hair was cut short and he had a goatee that didn’t hide the dimples that popped out when he smiled. His dark eyes were nearly black and steady on mine.
It suddenly hit me that he was flirting with me. And being awkward, I suddenly wasn’t sure what to do or say. He was cute but he didn’t make my body feel as though it were on fire. Though that might be a good thing.
“If this doesn’t do the trick, I don’t think alcohol is going to help,” he stated with a wink before he removed his hand from the glass, his fingertips brushing mine as he let go.
I kept my eyes on his as I lifted the drink to my lips. I could smell the alcohol so I braced myself before I sipped. I was glad I had because the burn of tequila filled my mouth. My eyes watered as I lowered my hand.
“Perfect,” I replied hoarsely.
The bartender laughed, revealing straight white teeth. “Good. Though I won’t make the next one as strong. You’re a bridesmaid, right?”
I nodded, sipping the margarita again and appreciating the warmth of the liquor as it spread through my chest.
“Yeah, I don’t think the bride would appreciate it if I helped you get trashed at her wedding.”
It was my turn to laugh. “If anyone’s getting trashed, it’ll probably be her. She’s a little wild.”
“I’m Anthony,” the bartender stated. “If you need another drink, come find me.”
Before I could say anything else, a tall, masculine body came to my side, pressing in too close.
“Amanda was looking for you,” a low voice murmured in my ear.
This time I managed to tamp down my body’s reaction to the low, rumbling timbre of Landen’s words and I took a good-sized swallow of the margarita. Anthony looked between Landen and I, his brows lifting as if to say, “Is this the guy?”
I nodded once before turning my head to look at Landen. “Why?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know.”
Wow, that sure was helpful. I didn’t voice the words because I didn’t want to get into a bickering contest with Landen at Lucy’s wedding. I glanced around but didn’t see Amanda in the throng of people. “I’ll find her after I finish my drink,” I responded, bringing the glass to my lips again.
A bit of salt clung to my mouth and without thinking I licked it free. Landen’s eyes dropped to where my tongue swept across my lip then he reached out and took the glass from me before I could react. I was too distracted by the expression on his face to realize what he’d done until a few seconds later.
By then he’d put three steps between us, draining the liquid from my glass as he walked away. Growling beneath my breath, I turned back toward Anthony.
“Think you can make me another one?” I asked.
His smile was no longer flirtatious as he pulled out another glass and went to work mixing up another margarita. “That the groomsman you don’t get along with?”
“Yeah, he’s a pain in my ass,” I sighed.
A smirk quirked Anthony’s mouth. “I’d say he feels the same.”
I frowned at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He glanced back up at me, stilling when he saw my face. “You’re not dating him?”
I laughed and shook my head. “No way. He’s one of my boss’s clients.”
The bartender finished mixing the drink and poured it into a salt-rimmed glass full of ice. He set it in front of me, releasing it immediately this time.
“Okay, I might be out of line here but I’m going to say something to you.”
I blinked at him. When he opened his mouth to speak, I lifted a hand, putting my palm toward him. “Hang on. I can already tell I need more liquor before I hear this.”
He chuckled as I took a large swallow of the truly perfect margarita he’d made me. It wasn’t quite as strong as the last one but it definitely had a kick.
“Okay, there,” I said. “I’m fortified.”
He shook his head, still smiling, but didn’t speak.
“Well?” I asked, gesturing with my hand for him to continue.
He leaned forward and put his elbows on the bar. That put his face closer to mine. I found myself leaning forward, wondering what in the heck he had to say.
“That groomsman has it bad for you,” he stated. I started to scoff, but he tapped the bar in front of me once, which shut me up. “As soon as he saw me flirting with you, I think he all but threw people out of his way to get over here. And you have no clue he feels that way. As someone who’s been in that position before, I can tell you it’s frustrating as hell.”
I studied him for a moment, took another sip of the cocktail, and then answered, “Then he, and you, have no one to blame but yourselves.”
It was his turn to blink, which he did as he reared back to stare at me. “What?”
I mirrored his earlier move, putting my elbows on the bar and leaning forward. “If you’re attracted to someone, especially if you’re a man and you want a woman, you need to communicate that. Some of us,” I said, gesturing to myself with one hand. “Aren’t great at reading body language or visual cues. If you don’t say, ‘Hey, I like you. Wanna go for coffee?’ a lot of women would have no idea that you were attracted to them.”
I fished a five out of the bodice of my dress and dropped it in the tip jar. “Now you’ve gotten two tips for the day.” I winked at him, which brought a smile to his astonished face, and walked away.
I finished my margarita and started in on a glass of champagne before Amanda found me.
“Hey, Chelsea. We’re about to do the first dance then the bridal party will pair up for a dance as well.”
I nodded and she moved off toward Grier. As I sipped champagne, I noticed that Grier stood next to Marcus, Lucy’s first boss. He was a world-renowned photographer and actually very sexy. He and Grier were speaking in low tones and so intent upon one another that they both jumped when Amanda came up to them.
I watched, my eyes narrowing, as she gave them the same message she’d given me and moved away. I could see a flush in Grier’s cheeks and she looked vaguely uncomfortable, which wasn’t something I was accustomed to seeing. Grier was grace and poise personified. She was the youngest of us, but she gave great advice and I don’t think I’d ever seen her ruffled. She was what my mother would call an old soul. Despite her youth, I had a feeling Grier had experienced more hardship in her life than I ever would. Because of it, she had a depth of perspective that even I lacked.
I took a step toward them but stopped when Marcus said something else to her and Grier grinned up at him. They continued to talk, whatever awkwardness between them gone.
Deciding my intervention wasn’t necessary, I continued to sip the champagne as I walked through the crowd of people. When the glass was empty, I set it on the tray of a passing waiter and grabbed another.
A few minutes later, the first dance was announced and everyone gathered around the dance floor. As I watched Chris and Lucy dance, I forgot about my own frustrations.
They swayed together, talking softly before Chris spun her out and back into his body. Lucy’s laugh rang out over the music and I smiled. Her happiness was contagious.
I managed to forget about what would happen next. For a little while anyway.
Then the song ended and the bridal party stepped out onto the dance floor with Lucy and Chris. I took a deep breath and headed toward Landen. My skin felt hot and my head light and I realized that the margaritas and champagne were hitting me harder than I expected. I powered through it and moved across the dance floor. Landen stood in the center, his hands tucked into his pockets. My heart stuttered at the sight of him but I didn’t hesitate. I walked right up to him and took the hand he offered me.
I was fine until he brought my body flush with his. Why I expected him to maintain a decorous distance between us, I don’t know, but I had. Right up until my breasts brushed his chest and his pants grazed the skirt of my dress.
I tried to take a small step back but he’d already wrapped his arm around my waist, keeping me close. I tilted my head back to look up at him and noticed that his cheeks were flushed and his eyes glittered.
It appeared I wasn’t the only one enjoying the open bar tonight.
Landen began to guide me around the floor, his hold firm. Every time I tried to put a discreet bit of distance between us, he brought me right back against him.
“Give me a little space,” I demanded, keeping my voice low. Normally, it wouldn’t bother me to create a scene but this was Lucy’s wedding. I didn’t want me arguing with Landen on the dance floor to be one of her memories.
“No,” he replied, his voice just as quiet.
I fumed in silence for a minute then grinned to myself. Then I stepped on his toe. Hard.
He grunted, his grip tightening on my waist for a moment, but he didn’t back up.
I was just about to do it again when he spoke, his chin brushing my temple.
“Just let me hold you. Please.”
His voice was rough, low, and, fuck me, sexy. It brought to mind dark rooms, tangled sheets, and damp skin. I very nearly gave in and let my body melt against him.
But I was made of sterner stuff than that.
“Why?” I asked, no longer thinking about stepping on his toes.
To my amazement, he managed to pull me even closer until our chests were pressed together. Somehow, he still managed to keep us moving, even though our legs were dangerously tangled.
“Because you feel fucking amazing.”
This time he turned his head as he spoke and his mouth brushed my skin, bringing goose bumps out all over my body. My nipples hardened and I think every muscle in my pelvis tightened.
I couldn’t say anything else, not when all the breath had left my body. There was nothing else to say anyway. The rest of the dance was mercifully short, but my skin felt as though it were on fire. When the music ended, we stopped moving, but Landen continued to hold me close for just a moment until the next song came on.
As soon as his arms released me, I backed away, unable to look at him. I knew that he would see everything I was feeling if my eyes met his. The need in my body, the ache between my thighs.
Without looking back, I turned and skedaddled out of the ballroom, heading for the doors that led outside. The building was lit up on the exterior, a beacon in the dark night, but I wanted the darkness. Needed the quiet.
I kept moving, heading toward a large tree in the distance. The golf course was empty and silent as I walked around the tree and leaned my back against it. I released a long breath as the cool evening breeze brushed my skin, taking away the burn that Landen’s touch had created.
Until I heard the footsteps.
Without looking, I knew it was him. That he’d followed me outside. Even knowing that he was there, I jolted when he appeared next to me, his face shadowed.
Neither of us spoke as he stepped forward, closing the distance between us. Even if I wanted to, my tongue refused to work. I could only stare up at him, trying to read his expression in the darkness.
But all I could see was the gleam of his eyes. He loomed over me, wrapping one arm around my waist and sliding his other hand up the back of my neck until it was fisted in my curly blonde hair. I leaned into him, lifting my hands to his shoulders, not to push him away, but to get closer.
Landen made a low sound in his throat. “Chelsea,” he whispered.
I shuddered in his arms and lifted my chin so that my mouth brushed his hard jaw. It was a wordless invitation because I didn’t think I had the ability to ask for what I wanted. I was too lost in my body’s reaction to his proximity.
I gasped as he tugged, tilting my head back, but I didn’t tell him to stop. Beneath the dark sky, with the spring breeze blowing around us, I could admit, at least to myself, that I wanted what he was about to do. I wanted him to take control and kiss me.
From his tight grip on my waist to the way he’d pulled my head back, I expected his kiss to be rough and demanding, but my assumption was wrong. So wrong.
When his lips brushed mine the first time, they were feather light, as soft as the wind that shifted around us. I inhaled, smelling the clean scent of his skin and the sharp tang of whiskey.
His mouth covered mine again, remaining closed and gentle as he learned the shape of my lips. I sighed and ran the tip of my tongue over his bottom lip, curious what it tasted like.
His grip on me tightened further, bringing me up onto my toes, as I licked his lips. Landen groaned and opened his mouth and my entire world flipped upside down in a split second.
My body was plastered to his from chest to thigh and I could feel the length of his erection against my belly. I pressed closer, marveling at how hard he was and how heat seemed to emanate from his entire body.
Then I could only focus on the way his mouth felt on mine and how he tasted like the whiskey he’d obviously been drinking and the mints that had been in a little bag on the bridal table. His tongue spiked into my mouth and I lost the ability to think. I met the caress with one of my own, my hands lifting from his shoulders to his hair. I fisted the strands and tried to pull him closer, but we were as close as we could get without being naked.
He lifted me a bit higher and then pinned me against the tree but I barely felt the rough scrape of bark against my bare shoulder. I was too focused on what his mouth was doing to me.
He released my hair and cupped the back of my neck, stroking the side of my throat with his thumb. I arched into him, desperate for something else. Something more.
Which he gave me. His palm moved from the back of my neck, over my collarbone and down to my breast. Landen cupped me through the thin material of my dress, his thumb flicking over my nipple in a way that made my breath catch. Then his fingers delved beneath the fabric and under the cup of my strapless bra and I felt the same flick of his thumb again, this time on my bare nipple.
Shocked, I sank my teeth lightly into his bottom lip, unable to help myself.
He pulled back slightly and cursed, “Fuck.”
I nearly apologized. I didn’t think I’d bitten him that hard, but he buried his face in my neck and returned the favor, sinking his teeth lightly into the muscle that ran between my shoulder and throat and his index finger joined his thumb beneath my bra and tugged at the tip of my breast.
The hint of pain was enough to have me hissing, not because I wanted him to stop but because it only brought me more pleasure. Something Landen seemed to understand instinctually because his head dropped lower and he did it again, pinching my nipple lightly as he nipped me. Only this time his teeth sank into the top of my breast.
I couldn’t take this. I needed more, even though I was sure it would break me. I opened my mouth to tell him I wanted more, that I wanted him to fuck me up against that tree when the sound of soft whispers and a woman’s giggle reached my ears.
I stiffened, which got his attention. He straightened, looking down at me with his hand still inside my bra. Then he heard the voices and his body grew tight as well. Moving slowly, he removed his fingers from my breast but kept his body against mine.
The voices were coming closer and I knew that in a few moments they would see us. I realized that my hands were still clutching his hair and I forced myself to unfurl my fingers and drop my palms to his chest. Pushing gently, I straightened and winced at the feel of the bark against my skin. I hoped I wasn’t bleeding. That would bring about questions that I didn’t want to answer.
He glanced around the tree and then sighed, taking a single step back. Without his body heat, the night suddenly felt downright chilly.
“It’s a couple and they’re headed this way,” he whispered, his voice nearly soundless.
I nodded, licking my lips and found that I could still taste him on my skin. “We should go back inside.”
Because of the shadows I couldn’t read the look he was giving me and I was glad. I also hoped he couldn’t see my expression. Otherwise, he would know exactly what he did to me. Though the way I’d tried to climb him like a spider monkey moments ago probably gave me away.
Moving quietly, he wrapped on arm around my waist and brought me up against his side. As the couple came around one side of the huge tree, we walked around the other, in silent agreement that we didn’t want to run into the tipsy man and woman.
As we moved quickly across the grass, a woman’s low moan drifted back to us and I knew they were doing exactly what we’d been doing only moments ago. Only I doubted they would stop at just a few kisses and groping.
Once we were inside, I risked a glance up at Landen and found him staring down at me with an unreadable expression on his face.
Then Amanda called my name and I looked away, unsure if I was grateful or pissed that the wedding planner had interrupted the strange, fraught moment between us.
“Where have you been?” she asked. “It’s time to cut the cake and then throw the bouquet and garter.”
Landen’s arm fell from my waist as I stepped away and moved toward Amanda. Though I could feel his eyes on me, I didn’t look back.
If I had, I would have seen more than either of us was ready to admit.