“Sorry about Alex.” A shrill laugh trickles out of me. “She’s ridiculous.”
He doesn’t say anything and I shift my weight.Come on Luke, get it over with.
“The place cards look really good,” he murmurs at last. “You’ve done a fantastic job.”
I glance around us and pride swells inside me. I really hope Alex and Michael like them.
“Have you tested the sound system?”
“No,” I say. But that’s a good point.
He wanders off and I exhale, fiddling with a centerpiece on a table. A few minutes later there’s a rustling sound over the speakers and a song comes on. It’s a slow, romantic song, and I stiffen. I don’t know what Luke’s up to, but I don’t like this at all.
Before today, I felt like I knew him so well, like I could read what he was thinking and feeling. But that was only when it was just the two of us. Now that we’re around all these other people, I don’t know what to think. I keep coming back to Geoff’s warning after the salon—about how if Luke really liked me, he’d want to tell the others—and it’s messing with my head. Maybe I misread everything and he doesn’t like me as much as I thought. Maybe, after all that shit Alex was saying, he’s realized it’s gone too far.
Someone comes up behind me and I nearly leap out of my skin. When I whip around, Luke is right there, gazing down at me.
“Have you tested the dance floor?” Up close I can see his expression is gentle, but for some reason that makes me even more anxious, like he’s trying to soften the blow that’s about to come. He takes my hand, tugging me onto the dance floor, and foreboding spirals down through my gut.
I get the message, Luke. Just say it.
He takes my other hand, so that he’s holding them both, and I stand there as he sways awkwardly to the music. He huffs a sheepish laugh, but I’m rigid, waiting for it to happen.
Finally I mutter, “Just get it over with, Luke.”
“What?”
I shake my head, looking down at our joined hands. “I know you’re here to end things. I know Alex freaked you out. She waswayoff, what she said, but you probably—”
“She didn’t freak me out,” he says. I glance up to find his brow knitted, and he sighs, dropping my hands.
Oh God. Here it comes.
But he reaches for my waist, drawing me close. He lowers his mouth and brushes his lips over mine, and I melt against him, limp with relief. He’s not ending things. This isn’t over. I’m an idiot.
My hands tighten on the lapels of his dinner jacket. “She didn’t freak you out?”
“No. It’syouthat’s freaking me out a little.”
“Me?”
“You thought I came in here to end things with you.”
I look up at him, nodding.
“And you keep insisting that Alex is wrong.” His gaze burns into mine and my heart launches like a skyrocket. Is he suggesting… I mean, is he saying hewantsme to be in love with him?
Before I can respond, he leans down again, capturing my mouth with his. He slides his hands up to cup my face, his tongue licking against mine. It’s soft at first, but it only takes a moment for desire to spark between us. Soon, our tongues are tangling and my hands are sliding down to his ass, pulling him against me. When I feel his arousal press into my belly, I whimper with need and take his hand, turning for the door.
“Let’s go.”
He hesitates, chuckling. “Where are we going to go?”
Reality hits me like a bucket of cold water. Of course, wherearewe going to go?
And then a wicked, truly outrageous idea blossoms in my mind and I mentally high-five Harriet 2.0. I lead Luke down the back of the reception hall, into a dark corner behind a speaker, deep in the shadows where even the spinning light from the dance floor isn’t reaching. I can’t see Luke’s expression in the dark, but I don’t need to. I feel his urgent kiss, his hands claiming my tingling skin, the hard bulge in his pants urging me on as he presses against me. Before I know what’s happening, he’s lifting me up and pinning me against the wall, entering me with a low groan, grunting in my ear as he drives into me, murmuring my name over and over again.
And all I can think is,I can’t let this man go.
