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The chimes of wedding bells is  like a golden symphony to my ears. If I ever have a wedding, I want it to be as beautiful as this one, I think to myself. The beautiful hall on the edge of the sea, the whole place bedecked in white and gold, it’s like a true fairytale wedding. I smile as I watch my best friend Roxy Price… excuse me, Roxy Stone, having a blast with her new husband, Jake. They are just too cute together. I might have been wrong about them at first, I was too caught up in stupid office politics, but looking at them now, I know the truth. They’re perfect, made for each other.

“Now Mary Jo, I don’t give a single fuck about what the doctors say, if I want to get out there and show these kids a thing or two about how to rodeo on the dance floor, then I’m going to do it!” Roxy’s grandmother, Ivy Jo, says. “You know, it was these hips that got you into the world!”

I laugh as I wistfully take in the dynamics of Roxy’s family. They’re foul-mouthed, even more than Roxy, and Ivy Jo in particular has zero filter on expressing her opinions. I love them all, and I wish I had more people like them in my life.

My skin pricks when I feel eyes on me and turn my head. The man looking at me leaves my heart skipping in my chest as I take in his magnificence. The feeling of his sea-green eyes feasting on me has my blood rushing through my veins, and I feel myself flush, smiling without even thinking.

I almost feel like he’s familiar. Something about him, he looks like someone I know. I can’t really focus though as he smiles at me, the kind of smile that says he’s used to getting what he wants. There isn’t a question of yes or no, because nobody says no to him. The way he’s looking at me, my body is already tingling, and I feel like I might just give into him now if he asks.

He keeps throwing looks at me, and I try to look away, not letting on to what he’s doing to me. I don’t like to show weakness, definite not to men. The music changes, and I’m pretending to be preoccupied with Roxy’s joyous twerking in her wedding dress when I hear a deep voice behind.

“Hello, lovely lady.” I nearly swoon at the sound of his voice, it seems to reach right through my ear and to my stomach, where I feel a growing tight ball of desire form. I swear it’s smooth like honey. I want to drown in it.

I turn around and my heart flares. He’s even more gorgeous close up, and I recognize him, he’s related to Roxy’s brother-in-law, Oliver. They’ve got the same eyes.

“H-hello,” I reply, aghast as I stammer. What the fuck, Hannah?  Since when do I get tongue-tied over a man? They’ve always been easy as 1-2-3. Pop the hip, bite the lip, and I control the dick. But this one takes my breath away.

He gives me a cocky smirk as if he knows every little uncertainty running through my head. His eyes seem to pierce me straight to the heart, and I feel my fingers start to tremble. “I don’t think I need to tell you this because it’s obvious, but you’re fucking gorgeous.”

Damn, it’s corny, but someone bring the firehose already. This man is burning me up and hasn’t even taken off his shirt yet. I duck my head. “Thank you,” I say in a small voice. If Roxy saw me acting like this she’d swear up and down I went senile at an early age. “I’m just....”

“What’s your name, gorgeous?” he asks, sipping at a flute of champagne.

“Hannah. Yours?”

“Anthony. But people call me Tony.”

As soon as he says it, I remember Mindy mentioning that they’d invited Oliver’s brother. I remember she told me a little about him, but right now I’m too lost in his dark hair, startling green eyes, and lean, chiseled jawline.

“I like that name,” I say softly, sarcastic comments flying out of my head as fast as they appear. I just can’t seem to make a joke about ‘Tony Steele’ in the power of those eyes.

“Do you?” he murmurs, drawing in close. I can feel the heat emanating from his body, and the magnetic pull of his personality draws me a step closer, to the point I have to fight the urge to run my hand over his chest. I want him. God, after watching Roxy get her man, I fucking need him.  

With an ironic twist that I can’t deny seems to show that the Almighty has a sense of irony in sensing my needs, a fast dance song comes on. Cascada… okay, not bad.

“Would you like to dance?” he asks me. After the year I’ve had, he’s lucky I don’t grab him by the hand and take him someplace private.

Not trusting myself to speak, I nod, and Tony grins. He finishes off his champagne and takes my hand, leading me out on the dance floor. It feels like everyone is looking, but it’s probably just my sudden anxiousness. Either way, I’m ready to get down, and I’m going to give him everything that I’ve got.

We dance until the song is over, and as the notes fade away, I find myself covered in sweat. Tony’s glistening too, his skin alight with a sexy glow that has my heart not slowing down but speeding up. His intense gaze speaks telepathically to me. He wants me. He needs me. On his lips I feel the words barely held back, he wants to take me right here and right now.