I nodded, trying to ignore her message as she walked away. But I knew better. Deep down, I knew I’d need someone to keep me steady one day. I turned to the bartender. “Shot of tequila, please?”
“Make that two,” a low voice said next to me, tucking a couple of twenties in the tip jar. He smiled down at me. Tall, dark hair, disarming smile. “Are you having fun tonight?”
“I am,” I answered. “This might just be my favorite wedding I’ve ever attended.”
He chuckled. “I’m happy to hear that. How do you know the bride and groom?”
“The bride is my sister.”
His eyes swiped down my dress, and he recognized the light blue silk of the wedding party. “Oh, duh. I should have been paying closer attention.”
I waved a hand in the air. “Ah, no worries. This entire room is a blend of white Spanish molding, gold chandeliers, and blue silk. After a few drinks, we all blend together.”
He laughed at that, more or less to be polite, but the way he lingered told me he was interested. I searched the dance floor for Isaac to no avail.
“Oh, you’ve met!” Jenn said, coming up next to me.
“I’m sorry?” I asked.
“This is the guy I told you about that I wanted you to meet,” she answered.
I nodded slowly. “Oh, well—”
“Yeah, I know, she’s here with somebody, so don’t get any ideas, but you can still meet. And maybe one day...” her shoulders did a little shimmy at what she was implying.
I froze, and the man let out a low laugh, diffusing the implications from my sister. “I’m John,” he said, holding out his hand.
I shook it. “I’m Anna. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Pleasure is all mine,” he said with a nod.
“Well, maybe I’ll see you around,” I said, not wanting to linger in the conversation. It didn’t matter that he was handsome or seemed nice enough; the whole façade of Isaac Morrison and me would crumble if I even entertained a conversation. But if I was frank with myself, I didn’t even want to. I tried to run back to Isaac’s arms, even if it was just for the night.
So I went. And I danced with Isaac until we sent off the happy couple under a downpour of glitter and confetti. I smiled over my shoulder at Isaac, and he caught my face in his hands before I turned away.
He kissed me for the ninth time in our lives—I counted each one throughout the night, savoring the delicacy on my tongue. But this time, everything inside me twisted and pulled and heated like a winding spool of passion and I was ready for him, this familiar stranger, to unravel me.
“You ready to leave?” I asked, pulling away.
He raised his smug eyebrows, his lips curling into a slow smile. “Oh, we’re really doing this.”
I stepped away from him slowly, my fingers lingering on the buttons of his shirt. “You talk a big game,Isaac. Don’t tell me it was all for nothing.”
He licked his lips and nodded. “I just want you to be sure. No pressure. We can leave it at this.”
I shook my head. “Come on. My room is just upstairs.”
His hand stayed in mine as we made our way to the elevator. As soon as the doors dinged closed, his hands were in my hair, and his lips were on mine. We stumbled down the hallway to my hotel room, fumbling with the key card, kicking off our shoes, and pulling at each other’s clothes.
I had nothing but want rushing through my veins. He was the needle. I was the vein. I was prepared to be marked and scarred and played with until I was ragged in the dead of night. All I wanted was him in every way I could have him.
There was a recklessness in faking it—an irresponsibility of not promising tomorrow. We created this fantasy inside a glass dome and I wanted to live out every part of it.
I tore open his shirt and knelt before him as the buttons of his shirt scattered across the hotel carpet.
“I’ve always wanted to do that,” I admitted.
He grinned down at me, but only slightly. A dark, predatory look clouded over his blue eyes like a storm in the night. I held his stare as I unbuckled his belt, undid the button of his pants, and slid down the zipper. I pulled him out of his boxers and licked the tip, and he moaned.
