An hour later, Hannah was checking herself out in the mirror and frowning in the process.

Bruce was sprawled out on his bed with his laptop propped on his bent legs. She thought he was working, but he surprised her by saying, “Stop frowning. You look gorgeous.”

She sighed and turned around. “It doesn’t look like I’m trying too hard?”

He rolled his eyes.

“You’re giving me an eye-roll? What kind of response is that?”

“It’s the only appropriate response to a question like the one you asked. Why would it look like you’re trying too hard?”

Hannah turned and looked back in the mirror. Her hair was plain brown, but it fell to her shoulders in a smooth, sleek fall without her even having to blow it dry. Her features were mostly even, her gray eyes and her lips just a little too big for the rest of her face. But she was one of those women who never really looked dressed up. She always looked casual, even in fancy clothes. She’d put on some makeup—not very much—and she’d dressed carefully in a simple gray-blue sheath dress and heels, but it still felt like she might be playing dress-up. “I can’t pull off fancy the way other women can. They look elegant and perfectly pulled together. I just look...”

“You look what?”

“Casual clothes feel more natural on me. It always feels like a big deal when I dress up, and I never feel like I pull it off quite right.”

Bruce shook his head, watching her over the screen of his laptop. “That’s just lingering feelings from being on scholarship in school. It’s not based on how you look. You look beautiful. And you’re the only one who would even question it.”

“That’s because you don’t know all these girls.”

“If they’re going to make you feel bad about yourself, then I don’t want to know them.”

That was kind of sweet. She gave him a sappy smile.

He rolled his eyes again, clearly recognizing the expression. “Madison and Charlie will be there, won’t they? Just hang out with them.”

“They won’t be at this lunch. It’s just for bridesmaids. They’re not bridesmaids.”

“Why did you get that honor? Are you closer to the bride than they are?”

“I’m really surprised Polly asked me. We were roommates for three summers in a row at an advanced academic program, so I did know her a lot better than Charlie and Madison. But we haven’t really talked in a few years. I guess it was for old time’s sake. She’s... she’s kind of a snob, but she’s not all bad. We had some good times.”

“Okay then. It will be fine. She’ll think you look fine.”

“Oh, she puts down even her closest friends if they’re not dressed the way she wants them to be.”

“Sounds like a real winner.” Bruce, evidently believing his duty had been done, was focused on his laptop again.

“She’s just Polly. You get used to it.”

When Bruce didn’t answer, she felt a flicker of frustration that he’d already fazed her out of his mind. “All right. I’m heading down then.”

“Mm-hmm.” He was typing now, clearing barely listening.

“I’m going to that tea thing afterward. It’s at three—right after the luncheon.”

“Yep. You told me.” He was clearly listening enough to be conscious of what she was saying. But just barely.

“If you get bored, you can always go down to the men’s thing at two. They’re calling it an English pub party.”

He snorted, still typing without hesitation. “No chance.”

“Okay. Your choice. I’ll come back up after it’s over. You are going to the dinner tonight with me, aren’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Okay. Good.” She stood where she was, watching him work, and she suddenly felt another flicker of something almost... naughty. She said lightly, without thinking through the impulse, “I’m taking off then. And just so you know, I’d like to not be a virgin when we head home on Sunday. Just so you can plan accordingly.” She was picking up her purse as she finished the sentence.

“Mm-hmm.”

She was shaking with amusement and something nervous and excited as she walked to the door of the room. She’d opened it when she heard Bruce demanding from the bed, “What did you say?”

She stepped out, closing the door behind her.

She had a good giggle as she hurried to the elevator, wondering if Bruce was going to come after her to find out what she meant.

The elevator was waiting, so she got on, and the doors slid shut before Bruce made an appearance.

She didn’t regret what she’d said, even though she hadn’t planned to say it. It made the topic light, funny, nothing too serious. It would be easier to approach it that way with Bruce.

It was serious to her, but it would get awkward if she made it serious between them.

She wanted to have sex, and she wanted Bruce to be her first time. But she didn’t want it to be awkward.

She’d hate to lose him from her life.

In fact, doing so would make her miserable.

***

THE BRIDESMAID’S LUNCH was exactly what she’d known it would be—delicious, expensive food, a lot of gossip and giggles, critical assessment of everyone else’s hair and body and clothes, and lavish gifts from the bride.

Hers was a very pretty silver necklace with a sapphire pendant.

She liked the necklace and appreciated the gesture even though it was much simpler than the jewelry the other bridesmaids received. Polly probably thought the simplicity suited her.

In truth, it did. She certainly wouldn’t want the garish earrings a couple of the other bridesmaids received.

At least the necklace she could wear.

Pleased that the lunch was over and hadn’t been too painful, Hannah was happy as she headed over to a larger event room where the afternoon tea for the ladies was being held. She found Madison already in the room, standing near one of the windows. She headed over to her immediately, and then the two of them went out to wait near the elevators for Charlie.

When Charlie joined them, they all praised each other’s appearances and got updates on events of the day before they got down to the juicier topics.

Charlie had evidently argued earlier with Simon—the quiet, frowning man she’d brought as a date, fifteen years older than her and formerly the trustee of her inheritance. Hannah knew very well that Charlie was in love with Simon, but it wasn’t the easiest relationship and Simon wasn’t the easiest of men. The argument was bringing her down, so Hannah tried with Madison to encourage her.

“So have you said anything to Bruce yet?” Charlie asked in a conspiratorial whisper, after she’d promised she wasn’t giving up.

Hannah snickered. “Kind of. Right as I was leaving the room. I said I would like to no longer be a virgin when the weekend was over, so he should be prepared. I think I... surprised him.”

Madison gasped and covered her mouth with one hand. “You didn’t?”

“I did. I have no idea what he’s going to think or what he’s going to say, but I think it will be easier if I don’t act like it’s a big deal.”

“But he’s going to know it’s a big deal, right?” Charlie asked. “I mean, he knows you pretty well. He knows you’ve waited all this time. He’ll know it’s not just a spontaneous impulse.”

Hannah shrugged. “I don’t know. But I think I can talk him into it. He got turned on earlier.”

“He didn’t?” Madison asked in the same ecstatic gasping tone.

“He did. I mean, not in an out-of-control way, but he was definitely a little turned on. I was talking about... using my vibrator.”

“What the hell?” Charlie gave her a playful little push. “You’re shameless.”

“It’s not like I brought it up out of the blue. We were having a conversation, and it just kind of... drifted there. Anyway. I think it’s a good sign that he responded. Even if it’s just a generic response he’d have with any other woman, still...”

“He does not think about you like any other woman, Hannah. He’s already into you. He’s going to want to have sex as soon as he knows it’s a possibility.”

She sighed, slightly flushed but feeling encouraged. “I hope so. Anyway, we’ll see.”

They couldn’t talk in private for much longer since soon they were surrounded by old friends and rivals. Hannah tried to focus on what she was doing, but she was having trouble not thinking about tonight.

Maybe Bruce would be willing.

Maybe she’d have sex with him tonight.

Maybe it would be good.

She wasn’t sure how she would feel afterward, but she and Bruce were close. She trusted him more than almost anyone.

Whatever happened between them wasn’t going to be bad.

***

SHE STAYED AT THE TEA party for about an hour, but as soon as people started drifting out, she decided to too.

Bruce was still upstairs by himself.

She wanted to see what he was doing.

She wanted to see what he would say.

She wanted to see what he was thinking.

She said goodbye to Charlie and Madison and headed down the hall. She’d gotten to the mezzanine where the elevators were and was heading toward them when something off to the side distracted her.

She turned to look, realizing after a moment that the man she was looking at was Bruce.

Bruce. Still wearing the clothes he’d worn for the drive. Talking to a beautiful woman she’d never seen before.

Not just talking to her. Flirting with her. He was smiling in that particular heavy-lidded way he had, the kind that always turned women’s heads.

Hannah paused to verify that she was reading the situation correctly, but there was no way to even consider another interpretation.

Bruce was flirting shamelessly with that gorgeous woman—a woman who was obviously reciprocating. That smile would charm anyone with woman parts.

Hannah stared, her heart dropping heavily and a sick feeling clenching in her gut.

She’d told him he couldn’t screw anyone else this weekend. She’d told him he was supposed to be her date.

But evidently even that wasn’t enough for him to resist the slightest bit of temptation.

Even sex with her wasn’t enough.

The sudden recognition hurt so much her throat ached and she could barely swallow.

She was telling herself to turn around and go back to her room, to pull herself together and revise her plans for the weekend, when Bruce turned his head and saw her.

Her body was finally responding to her mind, orienting herself toward the elevator. She even started taking a few steps.

Bruce caught up with her before she’d gotten very far.

“Hey, hey, wait! What’s the matter with you?”

She turned her head, her lips parting over this ridiculous question.

“Hannah?” He put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from walking. “What the hell?”

“You’re supposed to be my date this weekend,” she managed to say, her voice only breaking once.

“I am your date. What are you talking about?” His expression was confused, innocent, which turned her hurt into anger.

How dare he look surprised when he’d done this to her?

Maybe it wasn’t a real betrayal, but it felt like one to her.

“I asked you not to screw anyone else this weekend.”

“I’m not screwing anyone. I was down here waiting for you, and she came up to talk to me. I was just talking.”

“You were not just talking. You think I don’t know you? You were flirting. And when you flirt, you end up in bed. You can do what you want, even though you’re supposed to be my date, but don’t expect me to be happy about it.” She started walking again.

“Hannah, you’re being ridiculous,” he said, keeping in step with her. “I wasn’t—”

He broke off when the elevator opened and they got on. There was another couple already on the elevator, so they couldn’t continue until they’d gotten back off.

She made herself think things through as she stood in silence in the elevator, and she realized that she was overreacting.

Just because it felt like a betrayal, didn’t mean it actually was.

If she acted this hurt over something so little, then Bruce was going to wonder why.

She didn’t want him to know.

She couldn’t possibly tell him now that she’d wanted to have sex with him this weekend for real, that she hadn’t just been making a joke earlier.

“Hannah,” Bruce said, following her as she got off the elevator. “You have to tell me what’s wrong with you. I wasn’t going to have sex with that woman. I was just talking to her. If you’d come a minute earlier, you would have seen me trying very hard to get away from her.”

She took a deep breath when she reached the door to their room. Then she turned to him with a little smile. “Okay. Okay. It’s no big deal.”

His brows lowered, and he frowned at her. “It seemed like it was a big deal.”

“I misread what was going on. I’d be a little annoyed if you were going to have sex with someone when you’re supposed to be my date. But if you weren’t, then it’s fine.”

“I wasn’t,” he said. He didn’t look relieved. He looked confused. Almost suspicious.

“Okay. Good.” She gave him what she hoped was a breezy smile. “No harm done then.”

She thought there was a chance he’d believe her and drop the subject, but that didn’t seem like what was going to happen.

“If you’re upset about something,” he said as they entered the room. “You need to tell me what it is.”

She tried not to groan as she sat on her bed and slipped off her shoes. “I’m not upset. I was. A little. It would be embarrassing if you slept with someone when everyone thought you were my date. So I’m glad you weren’t going to do it.”

“I wasn’t,” he said again, his voice slightly rough.

She beamed at him. “Good.”

He narrowed his eyes but fortunately didn’t answer.

***

SHE HAD A COUPLE OF hours before the wedding rehearsal, and she claimed she needed a nap. So she changed into something comfortable and lay down on her bed, hoping Bruce wouldn’t try to talk to her.

He didn’t. It felt like he was watching her sometimes, but when she opened her eyes, he was always working on his laptop.

She felt uncomfortable about the whole thing, and she wished she’d done better about guarding her reactions.

She’d been so excited about the weekend, and now it felt like it had completely fallen apart.

She texted Charlie and Madison, and Madison replied right away, asking what had happened.

Hannah replied, I think he was hitting on another woman.

He wouldn’t do that.

It looked like he was.

You told him not to do that this weekend, didn’t you? That was Madison again. Charlie must be busy because she hadn’t yet replied.

Yes.

So he wasn’t. You misread him.

I hope so.

You were. You trust Bruce, don’t you? You always have. He wasn’t hitting on her.

Hannah stared down at Madison’s texted words, wondering how her friend could be so much more confident about this than she was.

The answer was obvious.

Hannah’s emotions were involved. So deeply involved that she was having trouble thinking clearly about it.

She did trust Bruce. She always had.

Just then, Charlie popped into the conversation, as if she’d just read Hannah’s mind. If he was just a friend like you keep saying, you wouldn’t be so upset about this or assume the worst.

I know, Hannah admitted, adding a frowning emoticon to her message.

He wasn’t hitting on her, Madison texted again.

He wasn’t doing what you think, Charlie texted at exactly the same kind.

Talk to him, Madison added.

Ok, Hannah replied, sighing and looking over at Bruce.

He seemed completely focused on his laptop and didn’t seem particularly interested in talking to her.

She had to start getting ready for dinner anyway.

Maybe she’d talk to him later.

Telling herself they’d eventually get over this awkwardness, she changed into her dinner outfit—a steel-blue silk evening gown with a low neckline and pretty lace straps. It was simply cut—like all her clothes—and she hoped she looked all right.

She didn’t ask Bruce though.

He was still working on his bed, his expression looking kind of stiff.

When she finished primping in the bathroom, she came out and cleared her throat. “All right. I’m heading down for the rehearsal. I can come back up afterward, or I can meet you downstairs for the dinner.”

“I can meet you. No reason for you to come back up here unless you want.” His eyes ran up and down her body, but he didn’t say anything about his assessment of her appearance.

She nodded, feeling awkward in a way she almost never was around him. “Okay. Around seven. We can meet near the elevators on the second floor.”

“I’ll be there.”

She nodded again. Couldn’t think of anything to say. So she just turned and left the room.

***

THE REHEARSAL WAS ANNOYING and went much longer than it needed to. Polly was uptight about everything and bossing people around, and the wedding director was just as bad. And a lot of time was spent having pointless discussions that they all didn’t have to be standing around for.

Hannah tried to hold her tongue so she didn’t snap at the bride or anyone else, but she was deeply relieved when the rehearsal was finally over.

She stopped by the restroom first to go to the bathroom and touch up her hair and makeup. Then she went to the elevators to meet Bruce.

He was already down there, leaning against a wall, wearing a tux that made him look like a movie star at a red-carpet event.

Women were noticing him. She saw them eyeing him as she went over.

He straightened up as he saw her, his eyes searching her face as she approached.

She smiled. “Hi. You look great. Are you ready?”

“Yeah.” He wasn’t smiling in his normal laid-back way, so it was clear he hadn’t yet forgotten about their confrontation earlier. “How was the rehearsal?”

“Don’t ask.”

The corners of his mouth tilted up as he fell in step with her, but he wasn’t in his normal mood.

She hated it. She wanted them to get back to normal.

But she also couldn’t forget how she’d felt when he’d been hovering over that gorgeous stranger.

It had felt so much like a betrayal.

They went to the ornate ballroom where the fancy dinner was being served. The room was large and already full of people. She resigned herself to small talk for the next two hours.

And she wouldn’t even have sex afterward to look forward to.

Bruce hadn’t brought up what she’d said earlier before she’d left the room.

Maybe he hadn’t taken her seriously.

Or maybe he didn’t want to bring it up again.

Bruce was his normal charming self all through dinner, and he did a good job acting like her boyfriend and making it believable. It should have been a successful dinner, but Hannah was exhausted at the end of it.

She wanted to go to her room.

She wanted to go to bed.

But Bruce was going to be right there in her room with her.

All night long.

After the main course but before dessert was served, Hannah felt a sudden wave of claustrophobia. For a moment she couldn’t breathe. She murmured an excuse about heading to the restroom and got up to slip out before the servers started around with dessert.

She’d made it out of the ballroom when she realized someone was behind her.

Bruce was behind her.

“What—” she began, surprised and confused.

He stepped her back against a wall, standing directly in front of her. “I wasn’t going to have sex with that woman,” he said in a low, rough voice.

Her breath caught in her throat. “I know. You told me before.”

“I told you, but you didn’t believe me. You’re still upset about it.”

“I’m not upset,” she said, giving one more try to shrug the whole thing off.

He leaned forward even more, trapping her against the wall. “Don’t lie to me. You are upset.”

She was suddenly aware of his body. Big. Hard. Lean. Hot. Filled with some sort of passion.

Her body reacted. She couldn’t possibly help it.

And, irrationally, it made her angry. At him.

“Well, can you blame me?” she burst out. “You’re supposed to be my date this weekend. How would you feel if I were pretending to be your girlfriend and I went off to screw someone else?”

“I’d at least give you the chance to tell me if you were going to screw him or not.”

“I saw you,” she breathed. “I saw you. You think I don’t know when you’re flirting? Do you have any idea how often I’ve seen it over the past two years?”

He blinked as if something had just hit him. “And it bothers you?”

She almost choked, afraid she’d given something away, something she hadn’t even believed was true about her feelings for him. “Not normally,” she said, slightly wobbly. “But this weekend? Yes, it upsets me. You’re supposed to be here with me.”

“I am here with you. I am. Do you really not trust me?” His expression and voice were different now. It almost—almost—sounded hurt.

She swallowed hard. “I did. I do. I thought I did.”

“But you can’t trust me in this?”

“I... I don’t know.”

“I wasn’t going to have sex with that woman—or anyone else this weekend. She was flirting with me, and I was trying to be nice. I’d spent five minutes trying to get out of the conversation. You just caught about fifteen seconds of it. I was down there waiting for you. I’m your date this weekend, and you’ve already told me you’re taking it seriously. I wasn’t flirting. I wasn’t going to have sex. Please believe me.”

She couldn’t remember ever seeing him so earnest, and ridiculously it made her eyes burn with tears. “Okay,” she whispered.

“Okay?” He was still standing way too close to her.

“Okay. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I should have. I just... I overreacted.”

His face relaxed for the first time. “Okay. I’ll admit that I’ve given you reason to think I’m always trying to get women in bed. But I wouldn’t have done that this weekend. I wouldn’t have done that to you.”

She nodded, believing him and feeling so, so much better. “Thank you.”

He pulled her into a hug, and she hugged him back for a long time, shaking against him, wondering why she was so conscious of his body.

Conscious in a way she’d never been before.

She liked how it felt pressed against her like that.

She liked it a lot more than she should.

When she finally pulled back, she looked over his shoulder and saw a couple of her old friends peering at them curiously.

“Damn,” she said. “They’re wondering what’s going on with us.”

“So let’s give them a show.”

She blinked up at him, not understanding what he was saying.

Then he was suddenly kissing her, his lips pressed against hers.

It felt so good, and she was so unprepared that she couldn’t not respond. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she opened her mouth to the kiss.

He accepted her unspoken invitation, slipping his tongue into her mouth and teasing skillfully.

Her whole body melted in response, pulsing with arousal she’d never experienced before. She moaned slightly, trying to pull him even closer to her.

One of his hands had slipped down to her bottom.

She had no idea how long the kiss would have lasted if she hadn’t heard laughter close by. She pulled away, confused and self-conscious to see her old friends were giving her a thumbs-up.

They thought she was in a passionate relationship with Bruce.

But they were just pretending.

It hadn’t felt like pretend.

It hadn’t felt like that at all.

She stared at Bruce for a moment, and he looked just as hot and rattled as she felt.

She had no idea what to say, so she mumbled, “We should get back for dessert.”

So, aroused and flustered, she went back into a ballroom full of people to eat a little piece of chocolate cake and pretend her world hadn’t shattered into pieces.