“What?”
“I KNOW!”
“WHAT?” she yelled, squinting at me. “I can’t hear you!”
I huffed out a breath that might have been a laugh and steered us toward the bar. If nothing else, I desperately neededa drink. Preferably one strong enough to dull the overwhelming awareness of the woman pressed against my side.
Every step through the crowd brought with it little shocks of contact between us. Her hip brushing mine. Her shoulder bumping my arm. The soft scent of her perfume cutting through the haze of alcohol and expensive cologne.
It was driving me insane.I really should have taken that fucking shower.
When we finally reached the bar, I maneuvered us into a narrow gap between the bodies all loudly trying to get attention, planting myself slightly in front of her without really thinking about it.
I’m shielding her.The realization hit just as sharp as before, but she was mine. I had to protect her from these animals.Wait.Mine?
I swallowed hard and tried to ignore the way my mind immediately betrayed me by imagining her back on that couch. That red hair spilling everywhere. Her dress pushed up just enough to?—
Goddammit.Stop. Just stop.
I dragged in a slow breath and forced myself to focus on the present. The noise. The lights. The press of bodies all around us. Kate leaned in close again, practically against my chest now so I could hear her, and it made things so much worse.
After yelling her order to me, I flagged down a bartender and placed our order. When her cocktail was ready, I handed it to her, keeping one hand braced against the bar so she wouldn’t get jostled.
“Careful,” I said, leaning in so she could hear me. “Hinds invited too many damn people.”
She nodded, turning slightly to take a sip, but then someone slammed into her from behind. The glass tipped and red liquid splashed everywhere. Kate gasped, jerking back as the drinkcascaded down the front of her dress, darkening the pale blue silk in a spreading stain.
For one split second, everything in me went absolutely still. Then the anger hit, hot and fast. I took a very deep breath and closed my eyes, because if I didn’t, I was going to grab the guy who’d bumped into my fiancée by the collar and drag him outside. I could already see it playing out in my head, the shouting, the swinging, and the headlines tomorrow morning reading,CFO of Westwood Arrested for Assault and Battery.
It wouldn’t be a great look. When I opened my eyes again, the guy was already gone, swallowed by the crowd. Probably didn’t even realize what he’d done.
Kate looked down at herself, stunned. “My dress. Oh my God?—”
“It’s fine,” I said automatically. “Don’t worry about the dress. Are you okay?”
She gestured at her ear, mouthing something that looked like, “I can’t hear you.” I took the glass out of her hand before it dripped more of the cocktail on her and took her by the elbow, turning us sideways through the growing crush of people.
“We need a bathroom,” I said, mostly to myself.
“What?” she asked.
“Bathroom!”
I saw her lips form the response. “Yes, please!”
Guiding her through the crowd, I kept my body angled slightly in front of hers, clearing a path. By the time we reached the hallway leading toward the restrooms, my jaw was tight enough to ache. She shouldn’t have been shoved like that. Soaked like that. Hell, she shouldn’t have had to stand in a room full of drunken strangers who couldn’t watch where they were going.
The bathrooms had a line halfway down the hall, and when I realized it, I stopped dead, glaring daggers at every personwhose bladder stood between my fiancée and what she needed right now.
“Unbelievable,” I muttered, grateful that it was a little quieter out here. Not much but anything was better than what was happening inside.
Kate let out a weak little laugh. “It’s fine. Really. It’s just a dress.”
It was not justadress. It wasthedress. The one I’d picked and the one she’d looked at like it made her feel like a princess.
Down the hall, a partially open door caught my eye. It had no sign outside, just a narrow gap with a dim light shining through it. I steered us toward it and nudged it open to find myself in a supply closet.
It wasn’t ideal, but there were paper towels. Kate stepped in after me, glancing around at the shelves and boxes. “This is ridiculous. I’m not sure why we’re bothering. I hate to say it, but the dress is ruined anyway and I’m fine. Just sticky.”
