You’ve got issues.
“I—guess I understand why that happened. Ha, like I said. Forget about it. Now, uh, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?” she asked, tipping her head to one side, her blonde ponytail flopping down, the tips of her hair touching one shoulder.
I considered it.
If she moved out, I’d lose the opportunity to be around her. Just to be in her presence.
Christ, you’re whipped. She’s your friend. She’s your buddy’s ex. She’s just a roommate, nothing more.
How did it get this far?
“Nothing,” I replied gruffly. Wrong decision.
“Seriously?” she asked. “I mean, I thought it was a big deal. You don’t usually come crashing into my bedroom like that.”
“I didn’t crash,” I said. “I knocked. And tiptoed creepily.”
“Yeah, that makes it better.” She rolled her eyes, but her lips tugged upward at the corners. She was already over the whole incident, or maybe she was good at hiding her embarrassment. Either way, Emma had a great sense of humor. “You sure there’s nothing you want to talk to me about?” she asked. “I’m about to start writing. Or at least try to before I go to work.” The words were heavy with emotion—regret or self-doubt, I couldn’t tell.
She’d been having trouble with her writing lately, and I’d noticed her light on till late at night.
“It’s nothing, Emma,” I replied, even stiffer than the last time. I couldn’t help myself here—I had to push her away or I’d end up making the biggest damn mistake of my entire life. “Not important. I’m going to get back to my workout now.”
“Oh,” she said, recoiling a little, a frown wrinkling her brow. “Oh, OK. I guess I’ll be on my way then. I mean, yeah, you know what I mean.” She gave a quick, awkward laugh, swept her gaze up and over me one more time, then cleared her throat. Finally, she spun on her heel and rushed back across the hall and into her bedroom.
During that conversation, it had taken every ounce of my mental restraint not to picture what I’d seen. I shut the door slowly, shaking my head.
“You’re an idiot,” I muttered. And I was.
If I didn’t kick her out of this place soon, then what? Fuck, I didn’t know, but the rational part of my brain that wasn’t driven by lust or emotion demanded it of me. Get her out, move on with your life, don’t let anyone in, ever again.
Emma on her bed. Emma pleasuring herself. Moaning your name. Wanting you. Needing you.
It couldn’t mean anything. That was all there was to it.
I ignored my stiff cock, ready, once again, at the mere thought of her, and walked back to my bed. I dropped down beside it and started the push-ups again, pressing them out until sweat streaked my back, dripping from my temples onto the floor.
It didn’t work. Nothing erased the image of her from my mind or the urgent need to make her mine.
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NEVER sleep with the best man.
Especially if he’s your brother’s best friend.
And your first.
There I am, naked, trying on this dang bridesmaid’s dress in the “women's only dressing room” and in walks Ol Big “bleep” Jacob.
The same Jacob that deflowered me.
Once my face stopped turning two shades of tomato, I sharply told him where to stick his big ego.
He doesn’t deserve a second chance.
Or third, or fourth, or fifth…
But that cocky smile has a way of making panties spontaneously combust.
Well, these panties ain’t going anywhere.
The brides been kidnapped, and we have a mission to complete.
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Chapter One
Jacob
I stood in the center of the women’s dressing room—French, empty—holding an inhaler. “Addison, you in here? Hello?”
My best bud, the groom, had asked me to deliver the asthma inhaler to his fiancée. And as the best man, it was my duty. Even if that meant crashing in on half-naked women.
Except there aren’t any in here.
“Addison. It’s Jacob. Charlie sent me.”
I turned in a circle, noting the single empty mannequin, the closed curtains over changing areas, and caught sight of myself in a mirror on the wall.
Stark, handsome, Big Dick Jacob, as they’d called me.
Let’s deflate the ego.
One of the curtains scraped open, and I turned toward it. “Addison, I—”
My jaw dropped.
A naked woman backed out of the changing room, wiggling her peachy ass, free of tan lines. She had a pair of earphones in and held a cell phone in her hand. She warbled a Spice Girls song and swayed her hips, the little dance seductive in the extreme.
Just past her, in the changing room, a coat hanger held one of the bridesmaids’ dresses. Next to it, a full-length mirror afforded me a view of her entire body. Perfect, perky breasts, pink nipples puckered in the air-conditioned room, a sloping stomach, the strip of neat hair tracking down to the parting of her pussy lips.
I was instantly hard. Well, that’s inappropriate.
My gaze wandered up that shapely body and to her face. “Oh shit,” I said.
It was her.
Chloe Grace.
The woman of my dreams, my past dreams. The very same whose virginity I’d taken, whose heart I’d broken, who had dominated my thoughts back in our high school years.
Dark hair dropped past her shoulders in curls, sparkling green eyes snapped open. She focused on herself in the mirror then spotted me standing behind her.
Chloe’s expression transformed from joy to unadulterated horror. A scream erupted from her throat. She ripped the earphones out of her ears, turned toward me, lost her balance, and stumbled.
I rushed forward a step and caught her firmly underneath the elbows.
“What the fuck!” she yelled.
“Sorry,” I screamed back.
“Are you—what the—what the hell, Jacob. What are you doing here?” She was still painfully naked, and it took all I had not to peep. I held her upright and away from my body so she wouldn’t feel the boner tugging at the front of my pants.
“Hi,” I said, grinning at her. “You really want to talk about that now?”
“Yes, I want to talk about that now! You friggin’ weirdo, what the hell?”
“You don’t want to get a robe or something first?”
“Oh. Oh my god.” Chloe, just as gorgeous as she’d been back in the day, even more so now she was older, straightened and laid a dainty arm across her ample breasts. “Oh my god. Turn around! Right now!”
I did as she’d asked. Chloe was one of the only people in the world who’d ever gotten away with ordering me around on occasion. This occasion definitely called for it. I surreptitiously rearranged my junk while she scuffled around behind me.
“You done?” I asked.
“What in the hell are you doing here?” she hissed, alongside the sound of a zipper.
“I’m looking for Addison.”
“And you think that’s a good excuse to barge into a women’s changing room? This is a dress store.”
“Once again with the sexism. You know, you and the lady at the front desk have a lot in common,” I replied. “Can I turn around now, miss?”
“Sure you can. You can turn around and walk your cute ass out of here.”
“You think my ass is cute?” I spun toward her and exhaled at the sight of her clothed. Thank god for that. I couldn’t handle her naked. Well, shit, I definitely could, but not in quite the same way as I had all those years ago. My best friend’s sister. The groom of this wedding. And the maid of honor. I’d been bound to run i
nto her at some point, but like this? Fuck…
“What?” she asked, crossing her arms over her blouse. She’d paired it with a pencil skirt that clung to her hips. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“I know that look, Jacob. You know I know that look, so stop. Just leave.”
“I can’t,” I replied. “I would if I could, trust me, but I can’t. Where’s Addison?”
“She’s talking to the seamstress. She’ll be back later.”
“Sooner, I hope.” I withdrew the asthma inhaler from my pocket it and held it upright for her to see. “Charlie wanted me to give this to her.”
Chloe came forward, hips swaying, her bare toes gracing the carpet with their presence. Even they were dainty. I wasn’t into feet, but damn, she was perfect from head to toe. Not that it matters.
“Hand it over,” she said and put out a palm. “I’ll give it to Addy, and you can get the heck out of here.”
“The heck is hardly warranted.”
“Give me the inhaler.”
“No.” I grinned at her. “Your brother’s instructions were clear. It’s to be handed right over to her and no one else. Not even you.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Take it up with Charlie,” I said.
I had her there. She wasn’t about to argue with her brother. The two were as thick as thieves, and she knew that Charlie meant well. He loved Addison. Christ, even the phrase “love” gave me the mental cooties. I was happy for him, but damn, I couldn’t help worrying that this would wind up coming back to bite him in the ass.
Either way, I’d do what it took to keep my buddy happy. Guy had been there for me when no one else had. And then there was the promise too…the one he didn’t know I’d broken.
“All right, well, fine,” Chloe said and walked back toward the changing area. She shut the curtains, scraping rings against a metal pole, then turned back to me, her arms still folded. Her face was impassive, as if she could take or leave my presence.
That was very Chloe. She was an island and always had been. Fuck, and she thought I was the messed-up one.
“How have you been?” I asked.
“Don’t even start,” she replied.
“Start what?”
“Trying.”
“You want to elaborate on that?”
“Trying to talk to me. To be nice. You know this will go nowhere. We’re going to be stuck in a few rooms together for the next week or so, but that doesn’t mean we have to be anything more than cordial toward each other.”
I tilted my head to one side, narrowing my eyes. “How long have you been preparing that speech? How long have you been thinking about the moment we’d meet up again?”
Her eyelashes fluttered, she rolled her eyes. “Still with the massive ego, huh, Jacob?”
“Among other things.”
“Wow.”
“I know, right?” But this was a game. A fun one, but still a game. Nothing would come of our banter or our history, because I wouldn’t allow it. She was the past, and my future had to remain empty. No matter what.
“Look—” Chloe started, but the crash of the dressing-room door interrupted her.
Addison barreled inside, petite, blonde and flush with excitement as most brides were before their big day. She stopped, gaze switching from Chloe to me, then back again. “Uh?”
“Charlie wanted you to have this.” I walked over to her, handed her the inhaler. “He was worried the corsets and shit would give you an attack.”
“We’re not wearing corsets,” Chloe called out.
I kissed Addy on the cheek, then walked past her and to the door, pausing on my way out. “Doesn’t stop me from picturing it,” I replied and laughed at the redness of Chloe’s cheeks.
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Baby's Daddy: An Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 21
