by Noelle Adams
Talk to him, Madison added.
Ok, Hannah replied, sighing and looking over at Bruce.
He seemed completely focused on his laptop and didn’t seem particularly interested in talking to her.
She had to start getting ready for dinner anyway.
Maybe she’d talk to him later.
Telling herself they’d eventually get over this awkwardness, she changed into her dinner outfit—a steel-blue silk evening gown with a low neckline and pretty lace straps. It was simply cut—like all her clothes—and she hoped she looked all right.
She didn’t ask Bruce though.
He was still working on his bed, his expression looking kind of stiff.
When she finished primping in the bathroom, she came out and cleared her throat. “All right. I’m heading down for the rehearsal. I can come back up afterward, or I can meet you downstairs for the dinner.”
“I can meet you. No reason for you to come back up here unless you want.” His eyes ran up and down her body, but he didn’t say anything about his assessment of her appearance.
She nodded, feeling awkward in a way she almost never was around him. “Okay. Around seven. We can meet near the elevators on the second floor.”
“I’ll be there.”
She nodded again. Couldn’t think of anything to say. So she just turned and left the room.
THE REHEARSAL WAS ANNOYING and went much longer than it needed to. Polly was uptight about everything and bossing people around, and the wedding director was just as bad. And a lot of time was spent having pointless discussions that they all didn’t have to be standing around for.
Hannah tried to hold her tongue so she didn’t snap at the bride or anyone else, but she was deeply relieved when the rehearsal was finally over.
She stopped by the restroom first to go to the bathroom and touch up her hair and makeup. Then she went to the elevators to meet Bruce.
He was already down there, leaning against a wall, wearing a tux that made him look like a movie star at a red-carpet event.
Women were noticing him. She saw them eyeing him as she went over.
He straightened up as he saw her, his eyes searching her face as she approached.
She smiled. “Hi. You look great. Are you ready?”
“Yeah.” He wasn’t smiling in his normal laid-back way, so it was clear he hadn’t yet forgotten about their confrontation earlier. “How was the rehearsal?”
“Don’t ask.”
The corners of his mouth tilted up as he fell in step with her, but he wasn’t in his normal mood.
She hated it. She wanted them to get back to normal.
But she also couldn’t forget how she’d felt when he’d been hovering over that gorgeous stranger.
It had felt so much like a betrayal.
They went to the ornate ballroom where the fancy dinner was being served. The room was large and already full of people. She resigned herself to small talk for the next two hours.
And she wouldn’t even have sex afterward to look forward to.
Bruce hadn’t brought up what she’d said earlier before she’d left the room.
Maybe he hadn’t taken her seriously.
Or maybe he didn’t want to bring it up again.
Bruce was his normal charming self all through dinner, and he did a good job acting like her boyfriend and making it believable. It should have been a successful dinner, but Hannah was exhausted at the end of it.
She wanted to go to her room.
She wanted to go to bed.
But Bruce was going to be right there in her room with her.
All night long.
After the main course but before dessert was served, Hannah felt a sudden wave of claustrophobia. For a moment she couldn’t breathe. She murmured an excuse about heading to the restroom and got up to slip out before the servers started around with dessert.
She’d made it out of the ballroom when she realized someone was behind her.
Bruce was behind her.
“What—” she began, surprised and confused.
He stepped her back against a wall, standing directly in front of her. “I wasn’t going to have sex with that woman,” he said in a low, rough voice.
Her breath caught in her throat. “I know. You told me before.”
“I told you, but you didn’t believe me. You’re still upset about it.”
“I’m not upset,” she said, giving one more try to shrug the whole thing off.
He leaned forward even more, trapping her against the wall. “Don’t lie to me. You are upset.”
She was suddenly aware of his body. Big. Hard. Lean. Hot. Filled with some sort of passion.
Her body reacted. She couldn’t possibly help it.
And, irrationally, it made her angry. At him.
“Well, can you blame me?” she burst out. “You’re supposed to be my date this weekend. How would you feel if I were pretending to be your girlfriend and I went off to screw someone else?”
“I’d at least give you the chance to tell me if you were going to screw him or not.”
“I saw you,” she breathed. “I saw you. You think I don’t know when you’re flirting? Do you have any idea how often I’ve seen it over the past two years?”
He blinked as if something had just hit him. “And it bothers you?”
She almost choked, afraid she’d given something away, something she hadn’t even believed was true about her feelings for him. “Not normally,” she said, slightly wobbly. “But this weekend? Yes, it upsets me. You’re supposed to be here with me.”
“I am here with you. I am. Do you really not trust me?” His expression and voice were different now. It almost—almost—sounded hurt.
She swallowed hard. “I did. I do. I thought I did.”
“But you can’t trust me in this?”
“I... I don’t know.”
“I wasn’t going to have sex with that woman—or anyone else this weekend. She was flirting with me, and I was trying to be nice. I’d spent five minutes trying to get out of the conversation. You just caught about fifteen seconds of it. I was down there waiting for you. I’m your date this weekend, and you’ve already told me you’re taking it seriously. I wasn’t flirting. I wasn’t going to have sex. Please believe me.”
She couldn’t remember ever seeing him so earnest, and ridiculously it made her eyes burn with tears. “Okay,” she whispered.
“Okay?” He was still standing way too close to her.
“Okay. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I should have. I just... I overreacted.”
His face relaxed for the first time. “Okay. I’ll admit that I’ve given you reason to think I’m always trying to get women in bed. But I wouldn’t have done that this weekend. I wouldn’t have done that to you.”
She nodded, believing him and feeling so, so much better. “Thank you.”
He pulled her into a hug, and she hugged him back for a long time, shaking against him, wondering why she was so conscious of his body.
Conscious in a way she’d never been before.
She liked how it felt pressed against her like that.
She liked it a lot more than she should.
When she finally pulled back, she looked over his shoulder and saw a couple of her old friends peering at them curiously.
“Damn,” she said. “They’re wondering what’s going on with us.”
“So let’s give them a show.”
She blinked up at him, not understanding what he was saying.
Then he was suddenly kissing her, his lips pressed against hers.
It felt so good, and she was so unprepared that she couldn’t not respond. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she opened her mouth to the kiss.
He accepted her unspoken invitation, slipping his tongue into her mouth and teasing skillfully.
Her whole body melted in response, pulsing with arousal she’d never experienced before. She moaned slightly, trying to pull him even closer to her.<
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One of his hands had slipped down to her bottom.
She had no idea how long the kiss would have lasted if she hadn’t heard laughter close by. She pulled away, confused and self-conscious to see her old friends were giving her a thumbs-up.
They thought she was in a passionate relationship with Bruce.
But they were just pretending.
It hadn’t felt like pretend.
It hadn’t felt like that at all.
She stared at Bruce for a moment, and he looked just as hot and rattled as she felt.
She had no idea what to say, so she mumbled, “We should get back for dessert.”
So, aroused and flustered, she went back into a ballroom full of people to eat a little piece of chocolate cake and pretend her world hadn’t shattered into pieces.
Three
Hannah somehow made it through dessert, although afterward she wasn’t sure how she’d done it. She didn’t remember anything about what was said at her table or what the chocolate cake tasted like. She could only remember the feel of Bruce sitting beside her.
Silent.
Warm.
Tense.
Human.
He wasn’t touching her, but it felt like she could feel him all over.
She had no idea what he was thinking.
She had no idea what she was thinking either.
Only she hadn’t wanted to stop kissing Bruce.
Only she wanted to do a lot more.
When the dinner was finally dismissed, she said a quick goodbye to her friends and to Polly and started up to her room. Bruce went with her, still not saying anything.
They rode up the elevator, walked down the hall, stepped into the room they were sharing.
The neatly made beds were slightly rumpled. Hannah’s brush and some jewelry were scattered on the dresser top. A half-drunk bottle of water was sitting on the nightstand next to Bruce’s bed.
The room felt intimate. Far too intimate. And there was nowhere she could go to escape Bruce’s presence.
“I’m going to take a quick shower,” she said when something to do finally occurred to her.
“Okay.” Bruce sat on his bed, looking far too sexy in his tux. He started to undo his bow tie.
Hannah looked at him for a minute, every cell in her body yearning for Bruce in a way she’d never experienced before. But she turned and went into the bathroom, closing the door with a loud click.
She took a quick shower, brushed out her hair, and put on one of the white bathrobes the hotel provided. Then she picked up her phone and saw that Madison had texted to say that her plans for the weekend weren’t working out. She’d been feeling burned out and unattractive lately, so she’d wanted to have a hot fling with an old schoolmate, but he wasn’t the man she remembered.
Distracted from her own situation, Hannah sat down on the side of the tub and texted back some encouragement. She suspected that the man her friend really wanted wasn’t the man she planned to hook up with, but Madison was genuinely disappointed and she might not be ready yet to admit her feelings for Timothy.
Hannah could understand.
She could understand very deeply.
Her plans for the weekend weren’t working out either, and she was just starting to admit to herself why that was.
Charlie entered the conversation then to say that things had fallen apart with Simon as well and she didn’t know what to do. Then she asked, Did you talk to Bruce, Hannah?
Yes. Then I kissed him.
What, Madison texted.
What!!! Charlie said at exactly the same time.
I kissed him and it was good and scary and now I don’t know what to do!
Tell him you want to have sex with him. That was your plan, right? Madison was always like that. Practical about everything except her own heart.
At least one of us has to go through with our pact. Go and seduce him right now, Charlie texted.
Now, Madison added.
NOW!!! That was Charlie again.
Hannah couldn’t help but chuckle, but then she took a deep breath. She texted back, Here goes, and then she lowered her phone.
When she walked back into the bedroom, Bruce was still sitting in the same place on the bed. His tie was hanging loose around his collar, and he’d taken off his shoes and socks. His bare feet were resting on the carpet, and for some reason the sight of them made Hannah swallow hard.
As she approached him, he looked up toward her, meeting her gaze but still not speaking.
She had no idea what she was going to do until she did it.
She said, “I meant what I said earlier.”
His body jerked very slightly, so she knew he knew what she was referring to.
“I meant it.”
“I don’t think you did.” His voice was low and hoarse, and something had gone hot in his eyes.
“Yes, I did. You don’t get to tell me what I think or want. I’m a grown-up. A human being with a will and the ability to decide what I want for myself. And I meant what I said.”
“Hannah,” he rasped. His back had stiffened, and his hands had clenched in the coverlet on either side of him.
“Don’t Hannah me. I meant it.” She took a step forward. “Bruce, please. I want it to be you.”
She saw and heard him take a ragged breath. It told her what she needed to know.
He might be hesitating, worried, but he wanted this too.
Very slowly she untied her robe.
“Hannah,” he said again, sounding almost choked now.
She opened the robe and let it slip off over her arms to fall in a heap on the floor.
She was naked beneath, and she saw his eyes immediately devour her bare body. She was slim with pretty good legs and a decent butt, but she didn’t have much in the way of breasts. She’d never considered herself particularly sexy before, but she felt that way when she saw his hungry expression.
She wasn’t imagining this. It wasn’t wishful thinking.
He wanted her, and he loved how she looked.
“Hannah,” he said again after a minute, “I know we’re friends, and that’s real. But you can’t rely on me to be a good guy. I’m... I’m not going to be able to say no. I’m not... strong enough to say no to this.”
“I don’t want you to say no. I want you to say yes.” When he continued holding himself back with a tension that she could see in his body, she added softly, “Bruce, please. I want it to be you.”
He made a little sound like a groan and reached out for her, pulling her down to the bed on her back. Then he moved over her and kissed her hard.
The feelings overwhelmed her even more than they had downstairs earlier in the hall. Her mind roared with pleasure, with emotion, with excitement, with everything all at once. He pressed his body down against hers, and his clothes felt good and a little naughty against her naked skin. She opened her mouth to the advance of his tongue, and then she couldn’t help but slide her tongue against his, each small movement generating shivers of sensation.
Bruce held her head in one of his hands as he kissed her, and the other moved down her body, glancing along her side, slipping down to feel her bottom and one of her thighs.
When he moved against her, she could feel his groin, how hard he was, how much he wanted her. The knowledge turned her on even more.
Despite his arousal, he didn’t seem to be in a hurry. He kissed her for a long time, and then he started to kiss his way down her body. When he reached her breasts, it felt so good she couldn’t stay quiet. She made a silly little whimper when he teased her nipple, and then another when he applied quick suction. He fondled her other breast with his hand as he worked with his mouth, and it wasn’t long until Hannah was completely out of control, squirming and gasping and clutching the coverlet in both her fists, trying desperately to hang on.
It was a while before she realized she was babbling out actual words. “Bruce, God, Bruce, please. Oh God, Bruce, I need it. I need it. Please.”
They looked at each other for a moment. Then he moved back up and kissed her mouth again. She brushed her fingers against his short hair, amazed she was allowed to do such a thing, and she parted her thighs so she could feel his body against her hot, aching arousal.
He kept kissing her as his hand moved down and slipped between their bodies and then between her legs. He explored with his fingers. He’d have no doubt of how much she wanted him. She was wetter than she ever remembered being before.
She gasped against his lips when one of his fingers slid inside her. Then she moaned when he joined the first finger with another. He started to pump, his fingers matching the motion of his tongue in her mouth. It felt so good—all of it felt so good—that there was no way Hannah could lie still.
She was rocking beneath him, clawing at his back, trying to ride his fingers. And in an embarrassingly short amount of time, she had to tear her mouth away from his to suck in air and then cry out as her body shook through a delicious orgasm. He kept moving his fingers and then pressed down on her clit with his thumb, and her body tightened again in a series of several mini-orgasms in the wake of the first.
When he finally removed his hand, she was limp and panting and flushed hot all down her body. She smiled up at him when his eyes searched her face. “That was... wow.”
He chuckled softly and stroked her cheek. “I was a little worried. Sometimes it’s hard to compete with a vibrator.”
Maybe she would have been embarrassed under different circumstances, but now all she could do was giggle. “No worry about competition. That was way better.”
He seemed very pleased with the verdict. He was still very aroused. His hips kept shifting, and his eyes couldn’t quite keep from drifting down to her naked breasts and groin.
“Do you have a condom?” she asked. She’d brought some—in the hopes of going through with her plan—but she hadn’t known what kind he’d prefer, so she’d rather he use his own.
“You think I would have brought some after you said I wasn’t allowed to have sex with anyone this weekend?”
