“No, it's these monkey suits. I swear I have on more layers of clothing than I wore in cold weather mountain warfare school.”
“I'm getting back into regular clothes as soon as the ceremony is over, whether Grey likes it or not.”
And if those girls didn't hurry up, his dick was going on overdrive. He couldn't get Kate out of his mind, her smile, her silky hair, the way her tight hot sheath had milked him bone dry.
He was rock hard. Ethan glanced at his watch, they still had two hours before the ceremony started, with all the socialites arriving this shindig could go well into the next morning. And Ethan couldn't wait that long.
He banged on the door, listened as light footsteps padded across the room and Celine pulled it open just a crack. “What do you want?”
“Need to talk to Kate.”
Celine frowned. “You can't be in here, and she can't come out. She's busy. Now shoo.”
Could he wait another full three hours before he saw her?
Ethan pushed against the door, not really shoving hard enough to make Celine fall back, just enough force so that he could slip inside. What he saw made him lose his breath for the second time that night.
Kate stood in front of a huge floor length oval mirror in a wedding dress, turning left, then right, admiring herself in her reflection. Ethan's mind blanked, and he panicked. Marriage? He'd only known her for a couple of weeks.
Fuck she was beautiful.
Invisible shackles cinched around his wrist weighing him down, the weight of responsibility and commitment enough to take him to his knees.
Kate lovingly smoothed her hands down the front of the white dress and then met his gaze in the reflection, her soft expression almost seductive.
“I, I, I,” Ethan stammered out, grabbed the handle and then slammed the door shut. The twenty foot ceilings and extra wide hall shrunk like saran wrap cutting off his air. His mind whirled like a three-year-old on an out-of-control merry-go-round. Marriage. Kids. Commitment.
Kate.
“Watch the door, I got to take a piss.” Ethan managed to croak out and stumble stepped down the hall, hanging onto the wall for support.
“Ethan!” Kate called out from behind him.
Ethan stopped a few feet from the guest bathroom door and turned, bracing himself for he had absolutely no idea what. Kate rushed to him, a concerned look on her face, still wearing the wedding gown and looking too damn beautiful for words. “It’s not what it looks like. Caroline wanted me to feelhow heavy all the pearls were. That’s it.”
His lips moved but nothing came out. She came to him taking his two hands in her own, anchoring him to her. Shackling him to her. Ethan gave a shaky laugh and pulled his hand away, wiping them down the front of his pants. “Don't want to get the wedding dress dirty.”
“We were just having some fun, playing dress-up, you know?” Her eyes searched him looking for what, he had no idea.
Dress-up. Girls did that, right? Maybe she was telling the truth. Maybe this wasn't some crazy marriage trap. “Really?”
Kate's calm gaze met his own. “Yeah, I just wanted to know what it was like to wear a hundred thousand dollars. Caroline let us both try it on.”
A little bit of the tension eased from Ethan's shoulders. Clothes, makeup, and hair – that's what girls did, even if Ethan hadn't pegged Kate for that type.
His lungs moved a little bit, allowing him to draw in some much-needed oxygen. “I don't know what to say. I saw the dress and kind of –”
“Panicked?” Kate arched a black brow.
“Yeah, I panicked.” Ethan snatched her hands and raised them to his lips to press a soft kiss on her knuckles, lost in her gaze. “Kate, I really like you, a lot. And I want to see where this goes – but I'm not ready for marriage yet. And I've got to be honest, I don't know if I'm cut out for marriage.”
Ethan half expected her to throw his hands away from her, but she leaned down and pressed her own kiss to his knuckles. “Me either, silly. I vowed I'd never get married after my mom tried to force it on me, so if I go back on my word that means my mother was right. Don't know if I could live with that.” Kate said, smiling.
The ice-cold prison around his chest melted and warmth flooded his body. Ethan stepped in closer and cupped hercheek. “Now that we've gotten that nonsense out of the way, the reason I knocked on the door was for this.” He captured her mouth in a deep demanding kiss, tilting her head to the side to allow himself even more access. Their hot mouths collided, tongues sliding, mating as one.
Kate was perfection—everything about her—and he'd never get enough of her taste. He pulled away first leaving them both breathless and gasping.
“I have plans for you tonight, and this time it won't be me screaming.” Ethan said.
