"The dark-haired guy. The football player. The tech bro with the stupid glasses." I step closer. "You've been flirting with every man in that room."
"So, what if I have? I'm single. I can flirt with whoever I want."
"Can you?"
"Yes." She glares at me. "You don't own me, Emmett."
"I know that." My eyes land on those ruby lips.
"Then stop looking at me like you want to kill every man who talks to me."
"I can't help how I look at you." I'm close now. Too close. I can smell her perfume. Something warm and sweet that makes me want to bury my face in her neck. "You're in that dress, laughing and touching other men. It's driving me fucking crazy."
"Good." Her voice is sharp. "Now you know how I felt watching that woman climb you like a tree."
"You're jealous."
"Don't flatter yourself."
"You are." I brace my hands on the railing on either side of her, caging her in. "You're jealous, and it's killing you. And you hate that I can see it."
"Move," she hisses.
"Make me," I whisper into her ear.
"Emmett ..." Her voice is soft and low, almost a moan.
"I didn't want her." The words come out rough. "I haven't wanted anyone else since London."
She goes still.
"Every woman in that room could throw themselves at me, and I wouldn't care." I lean closer, my lips brushing her ear. "Because all I see is you, Trouble. All I want is you."
"We can't ..."
"I know. But it still doesn't stop me wanting you.”
"My brothers ..."
"I know."
"This is insane." Her words are almost breathless.
"I know that too."
She's breathing hard, her chest rising and falling. I can see her pulse fluttering at the base of her throat.
"I need one kiss or I'll go insane," I confess to her.
She turns slowly in my arms so that I am now looking at her. Those hazel eyes are wide and glowing with want and need. Probably reflecting the same as my own.
"Emmett ..."
"Please ... just ..." I cup her face, my thumb sliding along her cheek. "After the other night, hearing you come. I can't seem to get the thought of you out of my mind. And I have tried. Oh, how I have tried to erase your taste from my lips. Your moans from my ears. But here you are. Still fucking haunting me."
She stares at me for a long moment, then her hand fists in my shirt and she pulls me down to her. The kiss is fire. She tastes like champagne and want, and everything I've been craving. I groan against her mouth, one hand sliding into her hair, the other gripping her hip to pull her closer. She arches into me, her fingers raking through my hair. I'm lost. I spin her. Pressing her back against the stone pillar, deepening the kiss. Her leg hooks around my calf, pulling me tighter against her. I can feel the heat of her through the thin fabric of her dress.
"Emmett." She gasps against my mouth.
