“Yes.” I give him a prim nod. “Thank you.”
He waits a beat before tilting his head slightly to the side. “Answer the question. Why did you shut the door?”
I briefly consider lying but honestly, any lie I could come up with is just as embarrassing as the truth.
“Because sooner or later, Paige or Gwen, or one of her friends is going to come looking for you and when they do, they’ll see you in here—with me—and laugh.”
Dean scowls at me. “Why would they laugh?”
“You heard them,” I say, suddenly frustrated and more embarrassed than I can possibly stand. “Because I’m uptight—allergic to fun.”
“Yeah...” Giving me a nod, he reaches for my wine glass and drains it. “I heard that. I didn’t knowyoudid.”
I didn’t but I know my sister. I know what she thinks. The sorts of things she says about me when I’m not around. The only reason I’m her maid of honor is because I’m obsessively organized and detail-orientated. With me at the helm, there was no reason to hire an event coordinator. Never mind that I just started working at our father’s investment firm, full time.Millie doesn’t have a life. She’ll plan my wedding.
She was right.
Idon’thave a life and Ididplan her wedding.
Setting it down, Dean sits back, studying me the way he did the painting. “Is that why you were crying when you opened the door?”
“I wasn’t—” Feeling like I’ve been caught with my pants down, I look away from him. The sting of tears for the second time tonight, burning their way through my sinuses, I shake my head. “I thought we were going to finish our conversation.”
“We can do that,” he answers me quietly, the shape of him moving closer in my peripheral. “Or... you can let me kiss you.”
When he says it, my lungs seize up and my vision starts toswim. “You want to kiss me?” Cheeks stained red, I look at the man sitting next to me. “Why would you want to kiss me?”
He looks at me like he doesn’t understand the question.
“Because you feel sorry for me?” I answer my own question, temper and embarrassment mount in equal measure. “Because I’mstick in the mudMillie and you feel like doing your good deed for the day?” Looking at the door I just closed, I feel a flutter of panic in my belly. “Did they put you up to this? Is that why you’re here? Because?—”
“No.” If I offended him, Dean doesn’t show it. “I’m here because I want to be and I asked to kiss you because?—”
“You don’t want to kiss me,” I scoff. I don’t know anything about this man but I know that much. “You just?—”
Before I can finish, Dean leans forward, lifting his hand from his lap to wrap it around the back of my neck. “I think the only thing you’reallergicto is answering my questions, Camilla.”
“That’s not my name.” Heart pounding in my throat, I shake my head, helpless to stop my gaze from dropping to his mouth. As soon as it touches his lips, he makes that noise in the back of his throat again. Bouncing my gaze back up to meet his, I shake my head against his grip. “And you haven’t actually asked me a question.”
Afraid.
I should be afraid.
But I’m not.
When I say it, the corner of Dean’s mouth tips up in a smirk. “May I kiss you, Millie?”
No.
It’s what I should say, but not what comes out of my mouth. “Because you feel sorry for me.”
“No…” Something flickers across his face. A jumble of thoughts and feelings that move too quickly for me to read. Closing the space between us, he brings his mouth to within a breath of mine. “Because I want to.”
Tell him no.
You’re seeing someone.
You’re seeing Allister.
