His fingers tightened around hers briefly after she spoke, but he said nothing further.
They sat hip to hip, thigh to thigh, hands entwined throughout the long ceremony. Annabelle had never really felt connected to anyone before, especially not in ayou’re my heart and soulkind of way, but as she sat there in that old church that was full of memories and traditions, she began to feel different, began to feel the slow build of need inside her.
The need to belong to another person, the need to be something to someone. It was to the man at her side that she wanted to belong. The flutter of panic slowly building in her chest was not pleasant, especially when she poked at its edges and realized it was because she was beginning to care deeply for Ethan, and the thought that she was now in too deep to back out was a terrifying one.
Inhaling through her nose, she tried to calm down. This would be over soon. Ethan had said that they would leave first thing in the morning, before the family rose. She could go home and put some distance between them again, and think through her next step, whatever that would be.
Regroup! Regroup!
Ethan got through the day by avoiding Brad and his father. He talked to friends and family at the reception, ate and drank, then danced with the sexiest woman in the room, Annabelle.
When he’d seen her walk into the church on those long, endless legs, he’d had the urge to simply stalk down the aisle, throw her over his shoulder and walk out. The pink dress had a floaty part attached to it that fell from beneath her breasts, and as she walked it fluttered around her, making her look like a… Christ, he had no idea how to describe what she looked like. She was just so fucking beautiful, his teeth hurt from clenching every time he looked at her. Her silver heels were sky-high which meant, when they were close she all but looked him in the eye, and that necklace sparkled against her soft skin.
The reception was being held at his father’s country club, expensive and exclusive. The guests were now being wined and dined on the best of everything. Annabelle was dancing with Taylor, and he was watching, as were most of the men and a good handful of envious woman as she glided around the room laughing with his brother.
A few of his old friends had slapped him on the back to congratulate him on bagging the hottest woman here, which just pissed him off, because Annabelle wasn’t the type of woman he wanted to score with. He realized that he wanted a lot more from her, and knowing how she felt about him and about being involved with him, Ethan thought he was going to have to pull out a few slick moves to get her to stay in his life.
It was ironic really, that he, the man who committed to no one, had fallen hard for a woman who herself seemed incapable of commitment. Maybe that view was different now; after all, she’d slept in his arms last night. Maybe she thought differently about him too, because he sure as hell did about her.
Looking at her bag that lay on the table beside his hand, he heard the buzzing sound of her phone again. It had been ringing on and off for days, and each time she’d ignored it. He watched Taylor swing her away from him on the dance floor, so he opened the bag and pulled out her phone and saw the name Cooper on the screen.
“Why are you looking inside my bag?”
Damn.
“Your phone was buzzing, so I was getting it out for you. It’s named Cooper, who if I remember correctly is your brother.”
She took the phone out of his hand and stuffed it back inside her purse even though it was still ringing.
“You’re not going to answer that? Seems to me if your brother is calling you from Vegas at”—Ethan checked his watch—“10:30 p.m., it could be important.”
Her expression was closed suddenly. All the laughter she’d had dancing with Taylor had drained away and now her face was blank.
“No,” she said, sliding into her seat. She took a mouthful of water, and then turned her back on him to watch the other dancers.
“No, I’m not going to call him now, but I will later? Or no, I’m not going to call him ever?” Ethan grabbed the seat of her chair and turned it so she was facing him.
“Hey! I was watching the dancers.”
“And now you’re not,” he said calmly. “Now you’re going to tell me why you’re not taking your brother’s calls at 10:30 at night.”
She dropped her eyes and ran the tip of her finger around the rim of her water glass. “There’s nothing to say. He’s probably just out with his friends and wanted to chat with me.” She put the glass on the table slowly and precisely.
“You’re lying to me, Annabelle, and considering I’ve bared my soul to you, and you’ve seen all my ugly, dark secrets this weekend, I hardly think it’s fair that you won’t share a few of yours with me.”
He thought she was going to say something smart, push him away with a comment, but instead she heaved a deep sigh.
“I don’t want to tell you, because mine are uglier and way darker than yours.”
“Cool. I could do with something to take my mind off this, so spill… now,” he said.
Taking a deep breath, she looked down at the table and started to talk. “The truth is I’ve been lying about Cooper, Ethan, to everyone.”
The brown depths of her eyes were sad as she looked at him, so he reached for her, cupping her cheek, his other hand sliding up her leg.
“Lying how?”
“I really need to tell my other brother before I tell anyone else, because he’s been in this mess from the start too, like I told Buster when he drove me to Brook. It’s just that Zach’s at sea, so communication is hard.”
