Silently, I prayed that Mia could take Izzy down and make sure she didn’t grab the flowers. I wouldn’t want to lose a bet to Isabella Gallo, and certainly not one as important as this. I didn’t need a bet to bed a woman, but I had a feeling Izzy needed to feel like the choice was out of her hands. She needed an out. Needed something to tell herself to make it all okay to spend the night with me.
I should have felt guilty about the bet, but I didn’t. Not one fucking bit.
The countdown began, my heart matching the drum roll blaring through the speakers. “Come on, Mia,” I whispered.
My palms grew sweaty as I formed my hands into a tight fist, trying to shake out some of the nervous energy. If Izzy caught the fucking bouquet, I’d have a very long night filled with fantasies and jacking off like a twelve-year-old boy.
As the flowers traveled through the air, Mia held out her arm, pushing Izzy backward. Mia jumped in the air, Izzy looking at Mia in horror. The flowers grazed Mia’s fingers, sailing over her head to the woman standing behind her.
The redheaded beauty closed her hands around the flowers, jumped up and down, and squealed.
“Fuck,” Izzy hissed, turning to me and glaring in my direction.
I smiled, shrugging as I held up the garter and twirled it in my fingers. “You’re mine,” I mouthed before licking my lips.
The hunger I felt inside when looking at her was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. I’d lusted after women in the past, but the want for her was so intense that I wasn’t even sure one night with her would be enough to satisfy the craving.
She turned to Mia, saying a few things, with her hands flapping around. Clearly Izzy was angry, but all Mia did was shrug and smile. Then Izzy turned her back, quickly moving toward me.
“Mia totally fucked me,” she said as she stood in front of me, looking up into my eyes.
My lips curved into a smile as I stuffed the garter in my jacket pocket. “I don’t care how I get you, but tonight, I’m the only one fucking you, doll.”
“Fine,” she said, standing with her legs shoulder width apart and her arms crossed over her chest.
“I’ll give you one out. Kiss me, and if you feel nothing, I’ll let you out of the bet.” It could all blow up in my face, but I couldn’t be a total prick. I didn’t want her to be an unwilling participant.
“Just one kiss?” she asked as her face softened.
“Yes,” I said, holding her face in my hand and running my thumb across her bottom lip.
“I’ll take you up on that offer, but I don’t welsh on my bets.”
“It’s your only out. So use it if you need to or else we’re going to my room. No more waiting.”
“Come on,” she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the ballroom exit.
I laughed as I followed behind her, letting her lead me into the corridor.
“Over there,” she said as she pointed down the hallway near the elevator bank.
“Anywhere you want, doll.”
The crowd thinned as we walked to a small cutout near the bathrooms.
“Why don’t we go outside for a moment? Grab some air,” I said. I didn’t want to kiss her outside the bathroom. There were too many wedding guests and it was not sexy at all.
“Are you pussying out?” she said as she stopped and turned to face me.
“Fuck no. I just don’t feel like kissing you outside the bathroom. I’ve never been a pussy a day in my life.”
“Fine, but fuck, these shoes are killing me,” she said as she reached down and pulled one off her foot. When she removed the second one, she sighed, closing her eyes like she’d had a weight lifted off her shoulders. She shrank by at least three inches, making me feel even bigger than I was.
“Areyoupussying out?” I asked, teasing her for taking a moment to enjoy the newfound freedom of being shoeless.
“You’re fucking crazy. Just know that, once my lips touch yours, there’s no turning back. Come on, Jimmy boy. Show me what you got,” she said as she pushed open the exit door in the hallway.
We stepped outside, into the cool night air, into privacy. The back of the hotel was deserted as the parking lot light flickered above us.
