The only thing I’m sure of is that it’s always been you…
Asher sang the last chorus of the song, his eyes closed when the final note floated from his lips. Applause erupted in the space, snapping her out of whatever crazy trance she’d gotten locked in. What was shedoing? Getting lost in his eyes and pretending like the song he probably wrote for her sister’s first dance had been for her?
She blinked out of her daze when Owen plucked the empty bottle from his mouth and shook it. “All gone, buddy,” she said, lifting him upright to burp. “Just so you know, if you puke all over this dress, your auntie Will is gonna be super mad.”
“How about you let Auntie Mac give it a try, then?” Mac asked as she slipped into the seat next to hers.
“Nah, it’s fine. I got it. Besides, she’d be just as mad at you. At least if he throws up on me, I actually signed up for it.”
“That’s what spit-up rags are for.” Mac peeled it off Nat’s shoulder and placed it on her own. She reached for Owen, smiling when the baby gripped her face between his tiny fists with a laugh. “Besides, thought you might wanna go break up the groupie fest surroundin’ Asher. Yourhusband. You know, for appearance’s sake.”
Nat snapped her head around to where Asher stood on the stage, bending to put his guitar back in its case. Two women she recognized from high school stood flanking him, their laughter a little too loud, their touches a little too familiar. She set her jaw and pushed to stand.
“Excellent actin’ skills,” Mac said dryly. “I’m sure everybody in here is gonna buy the fake jealous wife act. Itisfake, right?”
Nat ignored her as she strolled toward the trio, her vision going red when one of them brushed their hand up and down Asher’s biceps before squeezing. Just who the hell did these women think they were, touching a man who clearly wore a wedding ring?Herwedding ring.
Surprisingly, she’d never gotten in a physical fight before—with women, anyway, though she’d handed men their asses a time or two in her life—but she wasn’t opposed to starting something tonight. She probably wouldn’t be detained for assault once she pled her case—that these two were hitting on her very hot, very fake husband, and what was she supposed to do? Just stand by and let it happen?
“Not sure why you’d need to buy me a drink at an open bar,” he said flatly to the women, and if Nat hadn’t been seeing red, she probably would’ve smiled at that. He was giving the ladies the cold shoulder as best he could, his attention solely focused on his guitar.
He stood, still bent over his case, and glanced up, face blank before he did a double take and straightened at her approach.
“Hey,” he said, his voice low.
She slipped right between the two women, not sparing them a single word when her focus was on him. On this ridiculous, unfounded jealousy that felt like a volcano inside her, suddenly erupting after lying dormant for years. Without hesitation, she reached up and under his vest, flattening her hand against his abdomen. She pressed up on her tiptoes, wrapped her fingers around his neck, and tugged his face down to hers.
Without hesitation, he crashed his mouth into hers. This kiss was nothing like the ones they’d shared at their wedding. Nothing like any they’d shared in a public setting before now. Those had been chaste. Tame, for all intents and purposes. Fake. But nothing about this one was fake. Not the way his lips moved under hers, or how his tongue stroked into her mouth, or how he gripped her, so tight against him. As if he couldn’t bear to be separated from her for even a moment. As if he never wanted to let her go.
She had no idea how long they kissed before they finally broke apart, only that when they did so, Macy and Corinne were no longer standing there. The dance floor had filled as music poured into the room, everyone’s attention there, save for one person. Gran smirked at Nat from her spot at the family’s table. She held up a champagne flute and tipped it toward Nat and Asher with a wink.
Well, at least that show had been completely real.
“Not that I’m complainin’ or anything,” Asher said, his voice rough, “but what the hell was that?”
Nat lifted a shoulder, her fingers playing with the buttons of his shirt beneath his vest. “Turns out I like listenin’ to you sing while I’m wearin’ your ring.”
He made a gruff sound in his throat and tugged her closer, allowing her to feel the thick ridge of his cock. “Turns out I like singin’ while I’m wearin’ yours.”
She licked her lips, her gaze caught on his mouth. On the feel of him against her stomach. On thoughts of him moving inside her just that morning, and on the fact that he hadn’t given those women a second glance, even when she hadn’t been near. “Momma’s got June, and Mac has Owen. And there’s a great big dressin’ room upstairs without anyone in it.”
In response, he grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the back staircase. She could barely contain her grin as she hurried along behind him, weaving in and out of the crowd. Just before they ascended the stairs, she caught Rory’s gaze. Her sister watched the two of them with something that looked an awful lot like concern.
But this was fine.Shewas fine. Her sister was probably just worried about Nat ripping her dress and showing up in her shorts and tank. Definitely not about whatever this was that was developing between her and Asher.
The beat of the music shook the stairs as they ran up them, Asher’s hand gripping hers tightly as he tugged her along behind him. They burst into the darkened space, lit only by a strand of lights hung over the doors that led to the balcony.
“There wasn’t a lock,” Asher said, pulling Nat to a stop and pinning her between himself and the wall. “And we definitely won’t be able to hear if someone’s comin’ while I’m fucking my wife.”
Nat bit her lower lip, loving his words a little too much. “On the plus side, they definitely won’t be able to hear us either.”
He raised a brow. “You plannin’ on gettin’ loud, wifey?”
“Don’t know. You plannin’ on makin’ me come?”
“Once or twice.”
“How about let’s not get ahead of ourselves and just aim for the one.”
