Colin was parting the crowd. “It’s okay, everyone! She’s had nothing to eat today and just had a little too much champagne,” he tried explaining as he took off his jacket and put it over my shoulders.
The last thing I felt in my state of embarrassment was cold, but I figured I’d let the handsome, gallant man be a gentleman and suffer with my sweaty armpits for a few minutes while my face regained its normal color.
“Thank you to our guests for keeping the party interesting!” Stephen’s voice boomed over the speakers.
Interesting?This was even more humiliating than anything I’d imagined. I didn’t want Colin to regret bringing me here.
“Nice job,” Colin spoke into my ear.
I swallowed hard and nodded, trying to calm my shaking hands.
At least I’d thwarted Andrea’s plan to ruin the wedding. Stephen continued into a speech aimed at his soon-to-be wife, singing her praises, wondering what he’d ever done to deserve her, and how she was an angel to put up with him. As we walked around the perimeter of the tent and toward the house, I saw Haley standing by Stephen, her hand coming up to his chest in a gesture of affection. I couldn’t help wondering if her bright smile was an act for all the guests. She must have seen Andrea.
Colin had said he wondered at his brother going for someone like Andrea, but was Haley any different? It wasn’t my place to judge, though, was it?
Once the toast and cheers were a distant sound in the wind, and we were climbing the couple of steps toward the pool area, I took off the jacket and handed it back to Colin. The grin on his face was priceless.
“That was incredible,” he said. “If it weren’t for your quick thinking, that would be a very different party down there. Andrea had grabbed the microphone, but your screaming stopped her.”
“I don’t know that I even thought of it. I justdidit,” I said, laughing now at how absurd it all had been. Then I put my face in my hands. “Oh my God. Everyone thinks I’m a nutcase!”
“Don’t worry about that. You’re not the first person to have had too much to drink. And you won’t be the last one this evening, I’ll bet. Someone will stumble and have to be helped out before the night is through. Probably my mother.”
“We can go back. I can overcome my mortification to do a little dancing,” I offered.
He shook his head. “I have the perfect excuse to get out of being at the party. Don’t take that away from me. Besides, I’ve done my brotherly duty. My work there is done.”
Colin winked at me and motioned his head upward, showing we should continue on.
When we entered his bedroom, I closed the door behind me and stood against it. I still couldn’t believe I’d caused a scene.
“You should get a raise for that little performance,” he said.
“How would that look? My getting a raise after having a weekend away with you?” I asked with an exaggerated head tilt.
“I suppose it wouldn’t be prudent,” he said with a twinkly in his eye. “But you understand that you saved my family, and thus the agency, from scandal? Our PR team would have had to spring into action.”
“Happy to help,” I said, unsure how I really felt about saving the wedding of a couple that probably shouldn’t get married.“Maybe we should discuss how things are, um…progressing between you and me. Like for HR… we should probably figure that out. Your board members were commenting on it.”
“I don’thaveto answer to the board about my relationships,” he said, sliding his tie from around his neck and working on the top buttons of his shirt. “But if you are willing, Katelynn Donovan, I’m ready for us to sign those HR consent forms.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Areyousure?You’rethe subordinate. I’m trying to hold myself back here. If you only knew all the things I’m thinking of doing to you…”
He untucked his shirt and stood firmly without moving. Like a moth to a flame, I glided over to him. My hands reached up and slid into the collar of his shirt. I smoothly passed my hands over his shoulders and down his arms, bringing his shirt to the ground.
“Tell me,” I whispered, emboldened by my brazenness.
“I’ve been wondering what you look like under that dress since the second you put it on.”
“So, look,” I said.
I witnessed his resistance break down.
Colin kissed me like he’d been holding himself back for days, and the second his mouth found mine, everything inside me gave way. His hand slid into my hair and pulled just enough to make me gasp.
His hands fell down to the backs of my thighs, and he lifted me with one smooth motion. My legs wrapped around him instinctively, my dress riding up dangerously high. He walked us backward until my back met the cool wall beside the bed. He kissed me again, slower now, one hand sliding beneath my dress to trace the edge of my panties.
