His lips are demanding and possessive as they move against mine. I feel his hand tighten on the back of my neck as he keeps me firmly rooted in place. Our tongues dance and tangle together as they collide, desperate for more.
When he finally pulls away, our pants blend together as we take in air that was denied seconds ago.
“I could kiss you for hours, and it would never be enough,” he breathes, touching his forehead to mine.
“Kissing you is my favorite,” I whisper, before getting one last taste and reluctantly pulling away.
“We have to go back in there, don’t we?” He groans softly and releases his grip on me.
“Since it’s your event, I would say the odds are not in your favor to leave early,” I giggle, smoothing out my hair and dress.
His thumb comes out and runs along my lip while his eyes tell me he’s not even close to being satisfied.
“Is my lip gloss all smeared? It shouldn’t be too bad. I went with clear tonight, so I could kiss you whenever I want,” I say, touching my lips where his thumb had been.
“You look perfect,” he smiles. “I’m just feeling damn lucky that it’s me who gets to kiss those beautiful lips.”
“They are only for you.” I reach up on tiptoes and sneak one more quick peck in. “Just like these are mine,” I murmur against his soft lips.
“You’ve owned them since our first kiss.” Taking my hand, he leads us back toward the crowd.
“I’m going to freshen up in the ladies’ room real quick. Meet you back at the table?” I ask, stopping when we get to the restrooms.
“I’ll wait,” he says, putting his hands in his pockets and clearly not leaving my side.
“I’ll be quick,” I smile, disappearing inside the door.
Walking over to the vanity, I tuck a few loose strays of hair back into the barrettes and check my dress for anything out of place before reaching into my small handbag and pulling out my lip gloss.
Just as I begin to apply it, the door opens and in walks Miss Highest Bidder herself. Her eyes narrow when she sees me before she walks over to the mirror beside me and takes out her lipstick.
“You’re fooling yourself if you think it’s going to last,” she says quietly, stopping my gloss against my lips as her words clip the air. “Guys like Stone get bored and move on to the next shining piece that comes along.”
“You don’t know anything about our relationship,” I quip back, fixing my lips and putting the gloss back in my purse.
“I’ve been around enough hockey players to know that most relationships mean nothing to them. Not when you have girls in every city begging for just one night.” She looks at me through the mirror and gives me an icy smile. “It’s actually making you look pathetic out there because everyone knows you’re temporary.”
“You need to leave,” I hear Knox’s voice cut through like a blade as I whip my head to see him standing just inside the ladies’ bathroom.
“Excuse me? I paid for a plate. I’m not leaving,” she chuckles darkly, putting her lipstick back in her purse.
“I don’t give a damn about you paying for a plate,” he says, taking a step closer to her. “You either leave quietly, or I’ll have my security throw you out.”
“What? You can’t do that,” she sputters.
“Watch me,” he says with venom. “Disrespecting the girl I’m going to marry is a one-way ticket out of here.”
“Marry?” She glances at me before quickly zeroing in on Knox. “You’ve got to be kidding me. We both know you’re not the marrying type,” she scoffs.
“You know, I’m getting really fucking tired of you thinking that you know me.” He holds his hand out to me, and I gladly take it, wanting to get as far away from this conversation as I can get. “You’ve got five minutes to get the hell out of here,” he growls before pulling me with him toward the door.
“Jesus, she’s a piece of work,” he mutters under his breath. “I’m so fucking glad you outbid her.” He stops then and pullsme to the side. “Are you okay? You know none of that was true, right?”
His face looks concerned as he peers down at me, and I give him a reassuring smile.
“I’m fine, and of course, I know it’s not true. I guess dealing with girls like that is a perk of dating a celebrity athlete,” I shrug.
“I saw her go into the bathroom, and I had a feeling she was going to say something to you.”
