“Yup.” She smiled, her eyes crinkling on the sides as she weaved her arm through mine. She willingly touched me?
Hell yes. That was a major win. Especially after Tate’s comments… I wanted more with Michelle Benning and I had to learn the playbook to win her over.
Fiona sucked in a breath with wide eyes and an open mouth. “What did you just call her?”
“Shit. We gotta run.” Michelle tried dragging me away, but Fiona pointed her finger at my chest and hit me.
“You called her Mitch?”
I nodded, panicked. Michelle wanted to avoid this moment and I ruined it. Before I could answer, Fiona’s eyes widened.
“Unusual name to call her. The only person…ohmyfuckinggod.” Fiona stared at her friend. “No.No way.”
“See you at the reception! Come on, Brooks. Now!” Michelle pulled on me hard enough, and I let her lead the way out of the church and toward the limo. Every time I tried to speak, she shushed me, and my curiosity was at the highest level, so I pretended to let her shove me into the car. She got in, slammed the door, and put her head in her hands.
“Going to share what the hell happened there or…?” I asked.
“Or,” she sassed back, her cheeks flushed.
“Nope. I don’t like that answer. Try again.” I slid closer to her, breathing in her floral, subtle perfume which reminded me of all those nights together.
“Where’s the alcohol?” She searched for it, but I stopped her and pulled her onto my lap so she straddled me. “Hey!”
“What was that about? I know you wanted to keep our past a secret, but that seemed like more.” I kept my hands on her thighs anddid notdig my fingers into her skin nor did I rock my hips against me. My body was on goddamn fire from her heat, yet I focused on our conversation.
She twisted her lips as her jaw flexed. “I’d rather not say.”
“And I’d rather never eat brussels sprouts again. But we can’t all get what we want.” I tightened my hold on her hips, and she tensed. “Michelle, please.”
“Fiona and I were roommates when you and I…you know, hooked up a while back. She asked details about who the guy was and the only things I shared were that you called me Mitch and that you had a magic dick.”
Don’t ask about the second comment.I groaned. “Ah, so her freak-out was learning we’d hooked up? I guess that might surprise her since youinsistedon acting like we just met.”
“Yeah. I’m sure that’s it.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, her muscles tensing again.
There was a slight edge to her voice, one that had warning bells going off. “You’relying. How about this?” I grabbed the champagne bottle with my free hand and took the cork out with my mouth. “You get a sip every time you answer truthfully. Think you can agree to that?”
“Maybe.” She ran her tongue over her lips and awareness of how beautiful she was made my skin tingle. “Depends on the question.”
“Fair enough. Let’s try.” I took a drink first and did my best to ignore how hard she stared at my mouth. “Did you talk to Fiona more about me besides calling you Mitch?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Good girl.” I held the bottle to her mouth, and she sipped. “Will she corner you at the reception and demand to know more about us?”
“Yes.”
“What will you tell her?”
She didn’t answer right away and chose to stare out of the window as her fingers traced her collarbone. She used to go wild when I bit down on it, and I wanted to do it that second.Fuck my plan.I leaned forward just enough when she answered.
“I’m not sure. Maybe that we’re friends? That it’s different between us now?”
Different? What does this mean?
“How’s it different?”
“Ah, drink first.” She smirked and grabbed the bottle from me to take a long sip. Some spilled down her neck, and without thinking, I cupped the back of her head and angled her throat, bringing my mouth to her skin.
