The deep purple dress she wore clung to her curves in a way that made it hard to focus.He tried to ignore the way it wrapped tightly around her assandlisten to Trent at the same time, but goddamn, it was impossible.And her legs, holy shit.As a gym rat he loved a pair of toned calves in high heels, and those strappy gold shoes she wore had him in boner territory.Everything from the gold bracelets rattling up her arm as she smoothed her dress to the way the soft waves of her hair framed those sweet pink lips and devilish hazel eyes was perfect.
Laughter squealed through the early fall air, and everyone looked toward the door.Mo had his hands around Drea’s waist and was lifting her up high enough to fix a lantern that had come loose.
Cujo tried to quash the desire to go over there, rip Mo’s million-dollar hands from his million-dollar arms, and bury them in his million-dollar fucking garden.
Trent laughed and nudged him with his shoulder.“This is the best goddamn present.Watching you squirm.Want me to hold him down while you hit him?”His eyes followed Harper as she ran over to Drea.
“Fuck, you asshole.”
Trent laughed.“Man, she’s got a great ass.”
Cujo turned quickly.“Do I have to knock your teeth out?”
“No,” Trent said quickly, raising both hands in surrender.“Not Drea.Harper.My girl has a fine ass.Not that Drea doesn’t.Not that I was… fuck it.I’m getting a drink.”
Cujo was giving Drea another five minutes, then he was going to seduce her out of hostess mode.He smiled.
People-watching was half the fun at these things.He saw Dred, the lead singer of the metal band Preload, checking out Pixie’s ass, and made a mental note to tell Trent’s reality TV show cohost to keep his hands off.
Drea caught his eye and gave him a huge smile.He’d come to a decision since she had left his house earlier.He was going to tell her the reason he’d avoided relationships so long.Lay it out for her and let her decide if it was something she could live with.She needed to understand the reason why a relationship with him could end up a short-term investment.
Dred joined him and clinked the top of his bottle against Cujo’s.“Great party, eh?”he said in his Canadian twang, taking a swallow of the beer.“You and Drea came up with something really special.”
“Mostly her work if I’m honest.Listen, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.What d’you need?”
“Pixie is like a sister to me.So I gotta ask, what are your thoughts there?”
Dred paused with his beer bottle near his lips and laughed wryly.“Not sure we need to have that chat.”
“And why is that?”
“Pix has made herself quite clear on the topic.Message received and understood.”
Cujo breathed a sigh of relief.“Great, because I would hate to have to punch you and mess up your pretty face.”
“Nah, no worries.Am thinking of asking Drea for a dance later anyway, her ass looks sweet in that dress.”What was it with guys checking out his girl’s ass tonight?
Cujo inhaled deeply.“I see you dancing with Drea, I’ll do more than mess up that pretty face.You’ll be the last in your family line.”
Dred burst out into gales of laughter.“Oh my God… so fucking funny.… Trent said… never mind.I’m just ripping on you.But is there anyone else on your stay-away-from-Dred list?”
Fuck this.Cujo went to find his brothers.They weren’t going to mess with his head.
The clink of metal hitting glass startled them.“Testing, testing, one, two, three… that’s what you say right, Dred?”Trent laughed.
“Only if you’re a douchebag,” Dred responded as the rest of the band who had come over from LA for the party with him laughed.They were supposed to play a set later, but given how much beer they’d put away, he wasn’t banking on it.
“Harp, honey.Come here.”Trent motioned for her to join him on stage.
Cujo watched Trent’s eyes follow Harper longingly as she meandered her way around the tables.Ever the surprise, she wore an innocent enough pink dress, but paired it with a killer pair of fuck-me pumps.
He moved across the yard to stand behind Drea.Unable to resist, he slipped his hands around her waist.She looked down at his arm, ran a finger over the sugar skull covering the back of his hand.
Drea leaned against Cujo, resting her head on his chest, the scent of perfume swirled round them.He grabbed one of her hands in each of his, and folded them across her stomach.
“Harper and I just wanted to say thanks for coming to you all.I’m grateful as fuck… sorry, Mom.”Trent smiled over at Diana who grinned back.“I’m very grateful you all think enough of us to make it tonight.I feel like I won the lottery.”
