TWELVE
GWYNETH
“Dammit,” I cursed.
I’d been trying to put the same earrings on for the past ten minutes, but I was about to give up and go without any tonight.
I didn’t know why this dinner had me so worked up, but my stomach was in knots, and I couldn’t get my fingers to stop shaking long enough to put in my damn earrings.
When I finally got them in, I stood there staring at myself in the mirror. I’d changed ten times, and as I stared at the form-fitting red dress, I thought about making it an eleventh.
I smoothed my hands over my waist and down my hips, before turning to look at myself sideways. I bought this dress yesterday specifically for tonight, telling myself it had nothing to do with Mitchell’s best man. I had no need to impress him, but that didn’t stop me from buying the dress anyway.
Only, now I wasn’t sure I had the guts to actually wear the freaking thing to my dinner. The thin straps left my shoulders and neckline completely bare. The tight material hugged my breasts and pushed them up. The rest of the dress was like a second skin.
I’d never worn anything so revealing, but when I saw it, I knew I wanted to wear it tonight. Before I could change my mind, I slipped my shoes on, wrapped a bracelet around my wrist, and left my room.
I was supposed to meet Mitchell at the restaurant, and I was glad for that. I probably wouldn’t have had the nerve to even leave my room with this dress on.
I grabbed my clutch and keys and looked around the room, making sure I didn’t forget anything. I spotted my sweater draped over a chair and walked over to grab it. One more look and I knew I was stalling at this point. I flipped the lights off and closed the door.
The drive to the restaurant was slowed by traffic, and I knew I would be late. The butterflies in my stomach grew three times their size knowing I would probably be one of the last ones to arrive.
My phone chimed, and I picked it up to check the message. I was at a complete stop in traffic anyway. Opening the message, it was from Mitchell.
Mitchell: Where are you?! Everyone is almost here.
Me: On my way. Stuck in traffic.
I turned off my screen, not bothering to wait for his reply. Part of me wanted to fake a sudden stomach bug and ditch the dinner, but the sensible part of me knew I couldn’t do that to my father or my friends. It was an unofficial engagement dinner. One I didn’t actually want to have, but I knew I had to appease the woman who would soon be my mother-in-law.
She would be a part of my life from here on out, and I didn’t want to start that relationship badly.
Our phone conversations mostly consisted of all things wedding and wedding plans.
Flowers to pick.
Cakes to taste.
All of it was so overwhelming.
But I was just going to have to suck it up and do it if I wanted to make a good impression on my new family.
When I finally got to the restaurant, I was only twenty minutes late. I grabbed my clutch and sweater and got out, handing my car keys off to the valet.
“Thank you,” I called out as I hurried inside. At this point, the only thing I focused on was how late I was.
Until I got inside, and all eyes flew to me.
I knew it was too late to turn and run, so I tried to control the complete blush of embarrassment that covered my entire body. My face felt volcanic, and my heart was racing in my chest.
My eyes searched the faces of our guests. Mitchell’s parents smiled back at me. My father beamed with pride. Chelsey, a friend of mine from high school, mouthed, “You go girl.” Different faces stared happily back at me as I took in the long table full of people I knew. But once my eyes landed on him that changed.
He wasn’t smiling.
Not in the least.
He’d been taking a drink when he saw me, and the glass lingered at his lips. I watched him swallow, his Adam’s apple moving in his throat visibly. His eyes moved down my body slowly, and I felt it like a lover’s touch.
What was wrong with me?
Why did I care about his opinion of me?
Was it because he was Mitchell’s old friend?
Someone new to our world?
I wasn’t sure, but something about his reaction gave me the confidence I needed to move farther into the room.
I found Mitchell and smiled at him. He seemed in his own state of stunned stillness. He licked his lips, his eyes moving up and down my body before he jumped from his seat.
“Gwyn,” he said, moving toward me. “You’re here.”
He grabbed my shoulders, pulling me toward him for a quick kiss on the cheek. When he pulled back, his smile was tight and then he was addressing our guests.
“Who’s ready to eat?”
There were laughs, murmurs, and a few lingering eyes, but then everyone was distracted with their menus while chatting with the people around them. As soon as I sat down, Mitchell moved from my side to the bar, leaving me there alone.
I told myself I wasn’t going to cry. It’s not like Mitchell and I could run off to some supply closet while thirty of our closest friends and family waited for us to have a quickie. Then again, I didn’t even know if Mitchell would be up for something so scandalous.
Still, I wanted so much more of a reaction from him, and it was like he didn’t even notice what I was wearing. That I had dressed unusually sexy. I wasn’t sure if I dressed for him or for his newfound friend, but a part me of me had hoped to knock Mitchell dead with desire.
I shook my head and chuckled under my breath.
A quickie?
Where had that idea even come from?
Would I do such a thing?
But I knew the second I asked myself that question that I would. To be so caught up in someone else that you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself. To be so turned on and out of your mind that you tossed your clothes to the floor and went at it up against a wall like wild animals.
I had never had that. Not with any of my past relationships and certainly not with Mitchell, but I couldn’t deny the fact that I wanted that kind of passion. Somewhere inside me, a wild sexual deviant was dying to be set free, and I deflated a bit with the realization that Mitchell wasn’t the freeing kind.
If he had that side to him, I had surely never seen it.
The more time went by, the more I realized I didn’t know a lot of things about Mitchell. Not for lack of trying on my part. I asked questions. I wanted to know things. He just never answered, preferring to remain a closed book.
When I first saw him and Rift together, I didn’t know what to think, but finding out that they were not only friends, but that Rift was also his best man was like a punch to the ribs. It was just another thing I didn’t know about Mitchell, making me wonder if I was really doing the right thing by marrying him.
Then there was the way Rift was looking at me when I found them at the restaurant. As if I was a bad person for not telling him I was engaged, but it was not like I had reason to. I didn’t know him. I didn’t know he was friends with my fiancé. Why would I need to tell him something so personal?
It was kind of embarrassing, though.
I could tell by the look on Rift’s face that it was obvious I was clueless about too many things when it came to the man I was choosing to spend the rest of my life with. I could see the speculation in his eyes, and it made me feel idiotic. But most of all, when his eyes were on me, I felt dirty and warm all over. Strangely, I didn’t hate feeling that way.
“I can’t believe our little Gwyn is getting married,” Chelsey said from down the table.
She was the only single person at the table. At least I thought she was. I had no idea whether Rift was in a relationship. But still, I found it hard to believe she was single, considering how adorable she was.
She had once told me she was much too chunky for men, and most men liked thin women, but when I looked at Chelsey, I didn’t find her chunky at all. Maybe a bit curvy, but I thought she was pretty with her curly blond hair and green eyes.
I smiled at her and sipped my wine with a nod.
Opening my mouth, I started to respond, but before I could speak, Mitchell reached for my hand and patted it like I was a small child. “Believe it. I’m going to make an honest woman out of this one.”
The table laughed, and I grinned to hold back the anger that soared through me.
It made no sense for me to be angry, but I was. I think mostly because I knew he was putting on a show for them. Mitchell wasn’t touchy-feely. He never put his hands on me anymore unless I initiated it, yet he had the audacity to rub my knuckle as if we had that closeness in our relationship when we definitely didn’t.
After the second course, I decided I could no longer take the eyes of the room on me and my scandalous dress, and I stood to go to the restroom. Every male at the table stood, except Mitchell.
“Everything okay?” he asked, patting his mouth with his napkin.
I nodded down at him. “Yes. I’m fine. Excuse me,” I muttered before I picked up my clutch from the tabletop and walked away.
Once I was inside the bathroom, I stood at the counter and stared at myself in the mirror. It seemed every day I found another reason not to marry Mitchell. I knew in my heart of hearts it was just cold feet, but what if it wasn’t?
What if I was making a huge mistake?
I exited the restroom ten minutes later, and as soon as I stepped into the empty hall just outside the restroom door, I ran into Rift.
“Whoa,” he said.
I stiffened when his hand met my waist. Heat zapped through me as if I was being electrocuted for a millisecond, but I couldn’t let him see his effect on me. I backed away and held my head up even though I wanted to look away.
“Sorry about that.”
He grinned, the dimples on his cheeks sinking so deep I felt as if I was drowning in them. “Where’s the fire?”
I chuckled. “No fire. I’ve just been gone long enough. I thought it was time I get back to the table before people noticed I’m missing.”
His smile stayed in place, but his eyes dipped over my cleavage. He was conspicuously ogling me. His tongue pushed from between his thick lips and swept over his cupid’s bow. “I noticed you were missing the moment you left.”
I didn’t respond.
There was no response.
He was flirting with me.
Me.
His supposed old friend’s fiancée.
What did that say about him?
And what did it say about me that I wasn’t rushing back to the table to tell Mitchell?
I had absolutely no idea what was happening or how to deal with such an obvious display of flirtation.
He moved a bit closer, filling my nostrils with the fresh scent of his laundry detergent mixed with a light sniff of his cologne. He smelled delicious. Nothing like the heavy musk Mitchell wore.
I looked up at him, waiting for whatever it was he was about to say.
“Forgive me for being so direct, but you look absolutely succulent tonight. Tastier than anything they are serving at that table.” He nodded in the direction of the dining room, his eyes never leaving mine. “Mitchell’s a very lucky man.”
I swallowed hard as chills rushed over my skin. I felt beautiful and stunning, though Mitchell’s non-response made me feel stupid and small. Somehow, Rift’s words made it all better, even if I was completely appalled that he’d dare to flirt with his friend’s fiancée.
Then again, maybe that was just the kind of guy he was?
Maybe he was a harmless flirt, and Mitchell was aware of that?
“Thank you. I feel a bit overdressed,” I said, smoothing down the fabric over my hips with my palms.
“Don’t,” he said, reaching out for my wrists and stopping me from fussing with my dress. He tugged, pulling me to his chest before leaning down and breathing in my ear. “Deep inside, you’re exploding with desire, and this dress shows that off. Every man in that room would rather have you for dinner, including myself, if I’m being honest, and Mitchell’s an ignorant fuck if he doesn’t steal you away from here and fuck you senseless all night.”
He pulled away quickly, releasing his hold on my wrist and leaving me spinning with his words.
Before I could formulate any kind of response, he stepped away and disappeared into the dining room. Standing in an empty hallway, I felt sure the desire he was just speaking of was dripping down my thighs.
What just happened?
I wasn’t sure, but whatever it was had left me feeling dizzy and weak. Mitchell had never made me feel that way.
No.
No man had ever made me feel the way Rift just had.
His words angered me since he had no right to speak to me that way, but at the same time, I wanted to call him back and beg him to whisper more naughty things into my ear.
Once I was able to move, I returned to the dining room, taking my seat next to Mitchell just as Rift took his seat a few chairs down and across from us. Our eyes met across the table briefly before I looked away and started the next course.
An hour went by and light conversation filled the table.
“I swear, Gwyn, you look so amazing tonight,” my friend Michelle said. “I know we haven’t seen each other in months, but you’re absolutely glowing.”
My cheeks heated with her praise. “Thanks, Chelle. I was worried I was overdressed.”
“Not even a little. I wish I could pull that off. You’re so curvy and gorgeous. Meanwhile, I’m flat everywhere.” She laughed.
“I happen to know you’re definitely not flat everywhere,” her husband, Rick, said with a sly grin, making everyone at the table laugh.
Mitchell smiled down at me but didn’t respond. Not once had he mentioned what I was wearing. I hadn’t expected much, but at least he could tell me I looked nice. Instead, he turned away and began eating once again.
Self-doubt crept in once more, and I put my head down, trying to keep the hurt away. I felt someone staring at me, and when I looked up, my eyes once again met Rift’s from down the table.
His eyes searched my face before dipping down to my neckline and over my breasts. The side of his mouth lifted in a knowing grin before he turned away and downed the rest of his drink.
It was a sad day when a stranger looked at you the way you hoped your fiancé would, but Rift was definitely doing it. His eyes were saying things he had no business saying to me, and even though I knew it was wrong, I was beginning to like it.
It was sort of innocent.
There was no real touching happening.
No talking.
Just looking and a bit of whispered words.
And as much as it sickened me to admit it, the words he had spoken to me earlier were still tingling between my thighs, and I was enjoying the way his eyes devoured me.
I was no better than my mother. Pain shot through me when I thought about how broken my father had been when he caught her cheating.
I couldn’t do it.
No matter how much of a thrill I got from Rift’s eyes on me.
I would never do that to Mitchell.
I looked away, my eyes landing on my friend Chelsey. Her eyes were devouring Rift, and he was completely clueless.
Chelsey was single. Had been for the past three years. She said her extra pounds intimidated men, but I knew that was a lie. It had more to do with her working all the time and being the pickiest female in the entire world. I just assumed she would start dating when she wasn’t so focused on her job or when she found someone appealing to her.
And by the way she was eyeing Rift, I would say she found him most appealing. A ridiculous idea bloomed in my brain. I had never played the part of matchmaker, but maybe setting Chelsey up with Rift wasn’t a bad idea. She would be happy, and he would be even more off-limits.
As if he read my thoughts, Mitchell set his glass down and said, “You know, this was fun. We should plan something else soon. Maybe we should plan a game night or go bowling. Get a little competitive?”
My mouth dropped open.
Mitchell never planned to spend time with people outside of work. It was a shock he even suggested such a thing. Still, I wasn’t going to let the idea of spending more time with him fly past me.
“I think that’s a great idea,” I said, smiling over at him and enjoying this new open side of him.
Everyone else seemed to agree.
“What about you, Rift? Think you’re up for a little healthy competition?” Mitchell asked, turning everyone’s attention to our new wedding party member.
Rift grinned, setting the panties of every female who saw on fire. “You know me, Mitch. I’m never one to back down from a little competition.”
At that, Chelsey’s face lit up with a blush, and I knew no matter how much she fought to get out of our next get-together with everyone, I had to make sure she was there, so I could properly introduce them.
If Rift was with my friend, he could never be with me, which was what my body was strangely begging for. No matter how much I tried to ignore the need burning inside me.