His tongue glides over my pulse point affectionately, and I gradually float back to reality, blinking until my vision clears. Through it all, he doesn’t stop moving.
My hold on his head loosens, but my hand remains on his chest, loving the rapid beats.
“Sweetie,” I whisper, needing to see his face.
“Give me a second, baby.”
His pulse slows, and he comes back to me, releasing my hand to cup my cheek.
“Are you okay?”
“Better than okay.”
His lips curl, and he scans my face with an expression I don’t recognize. “Never understood it. Watching men fall for years over a woman and not able to pinpoint. Saw it over and over the last few years. Pierce, Miller, my dad, a few buddies, and I was happy for them. But never understood the moment things change. Connection, chemistry, protection—all that shit makes sense. I thought I understood when I met you. I didn’t have a fucking clue.”
“What didn’t you have a clue about?”
“An adoration so deep and powerful, I want to live my life inside you.”
His words score me to my core. “Now who’s slaying who?”
“You can take it.”
“I can,” I reply bleakly. “But if you don’t stop, I’ll burst into tears again.”
“Tears of happiness, I can handle.”
“Apparently, you’re a master of bringing them to the surface.”
“I didn’t hurt you?”
“You didn’t hurt me. I hope to God security isn’t knocking on our door soon.”
“If security knocks and I’m forced to leave this bed and deal with it, they should be the ones worried.”
I giggle and shift my hips. “We have to move at some point.”
His cock lurches hard inside me. “Are you still—?”
“Get used to it. You changed the game when you clenched down so hard, sucking me into where I felt everything.”
Heat creeps up my throat, face, and tingles in my scalp. “Don’t. Don’t get embarrassed. I just came harder than any time in my life.”
I swallow down my humiliation and squeeze the back of his head. “Thank you for giving me that.”
“Poppy, you taking all of me without a flinch. Stretching around me, soaking me with your heat, giving me the honor of letting loose. You set the bar.”
My stomach coils again. “I think that’s my line.”
“Shit, baby, your face tells me you want more.”
“I have a lot of time to make up for.”
“Let me clean you up, make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m not ready to lose you yet.”
His face softens, and he lays his forehead to mine, kissing me sweetly. “Then you won’t.”
“I’m hitting the hard stuff. Champagne isn’t cutting it. Envy has never been my forte,” Ryanne announces, swallowing the last of her flute.
“Keep your voice down!” I glance around the bar.
“No, I’m jealous and utterly sad. Three times?”
My face flames. “Two!”
“He prepped you, Pips, that counts. You give up your virginity and get platinum from the very go? Not fair. I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you and rarely do I get a twofer.”
“Jeez.” I throw my hands over my face, shaking my head. “Why did I tell you this?”
“Because you’ve been avoiding my calls all day.”
“I’ve been busy!” I hiss.
“Of course you have. Now that the seal is broken, you’re a feign.”
“I’m not a feign. We didn’t have sex all day.”
She arches an eyebrow and replies sarcastically, “Sure you didn’t.”
I don’t know why I’m surprised. The moment she and Dante walked into the restaurant, they read me easily. They behaved during dinner, even when we moved to the swanky bar next door, per Ryanne’s suggestion.
I was riding on cloud nine, knowing my best friends and boyfriend got along. Therefore, I let myself relax.
The minute Dante left for the restroom and Evin excused himself to take a late call from Darby, Ryanne pounced. She wanted answers, and since I am full of love, happiness, and copious amounts of fine champagne, I gave her the condensed version.
Big mistake. Because I didn’t even get to the beauty of my first time before she zoned into one detail. Actually, three details.
“Can we talk about this another time?” I glance around again, catching Evin’s smirk as he watches us from the patio.
“Yes. Since Dante’s driving, I’m drowning ten years of wasted time on men. Then I’m going home and scheming a way to sneak into your suitcase and fly across the country to find my own Chris Hemsworth.”
Her face is so serious, I hold in my laughter as long as I can before doubling over.
She orders a martini with her eyes twinkling. “I’m happy for you, Popsy. You chose well.”
“I agree, plus the bite mark on the neck is hot.” Dante steps beside me. “Now, can I steal you for a dance before Rambo comes back?”
I set my glass down and take his hand, letting him lead us to the dance floor. “My gypsy goddess is moving on air.”
“I’m fully on the ground.”
“Good, then hold on.” He spins me around and we move in sync. Doing what we’ve done countless times, he gives a show until we have a small crowd clapping.
“Eventually, he’ll get you to Charleston. When it’s time, we’re creating our studio and taking the southern world by storm.”
“Dante,” my breath leaves me.
“It’s not happening right now, but we’ll get our chance.”
“Charleston, Vegas, wherever we are, we will get it.”
“I know.” He kisses me on the cheek and guides me back to the bar where Ryanne is deep in conversation with Evin.
“Everything okay with Darby?” I sit on the stool and he crowds in.
“Dev’s teething and having a rough night. She wanted to check-in.” He fills my glass and orders another whiskey.
Ryanne takes a huge slug of her martini. “I’m calling it now. Darby may be your sister and you have some supernatural ESP, but I’m claiming the maid of honor.”
I gasp, horrified and wide-eyed. “Ryanne!”
“Fine with me,” Evin encourages her.
My stomach drops at the same time my heart hammers.
“The sooner it happens, the better. Darby’s had a dream since she knew what weddings were,” he goes on with the conversation like I’m not here.
“How about tonight?” she challenges, and the room spins.
“I’m ready.”
I set my glass back on the bar and swirl to face them all. “Stop the madness!”
“What madness?” Evin leans down, his lips touching mine and his eyes glittering. “You want to wait, I understand. It’s your call.”
“Are you insane?”
“Insane about you? Yes. In love with you? Yes? Want to make this official so we don’t go through however long it takes to be together full-time? Yes. Willing to have my ring on your finger after twelve hours of knowing you? Yes.”
“Evin.”
“You want to wait, we will.”
“You would wait?”
His hands frame my face and he bends so only I can hear him. “I would wait, but I’m not a man who gets your precious and lets you go. All in.” He places my hand on his chest where his heart is beating steadily.
I close my eyes, waiting for my logic to kick in. It’s silent.
“I’m all in, too,” I answer honestly, opening my eyes. “What about your family?”
“Right now, my thoughts are only on you. You want a big wedding, big celebration, big shin-dig, it’s yours.”
I think about next weekend in Kiawah, the weddings I’ve attended over my life, the huge soirees.
None of that is me.
“Ryanne and Dante only?”
“If that’s what you want.”
There’s no hesitation. “
I want them.”
“Is that a yes?” he prompts.
“If it isn’t, I say yes!” Ryanne pipes in. “Marriage licenses are issued through midnight.”
She pulls out her phone and angles it at us. “So, Chris Hemsworth, aka, Evin Graham, are you gonna ask her to marry you?”
“No, Ryanne, it’s a given she’s marrying me. I want to know if it’s tonight.”
His mouth closes over mine, and he lifts me until I’m wrapped around him. Our kiss turns crazed and my mind goes hazy.
“Poppy?” he questions lowly against my lips.
“Tonight,” I answer with absolute certainty.
Chapter 15
Evin
I check the address again, looking at the pale pink building Ryanne instructed us to meet. According to her, it is Vegas’s hidden gem of chapels.
“I’m trusting Ryanne on this.”
“She knows her shit,” Dante grumbles, walking in.
Those are the first four words he’s spoken to me since leaving the bar. Once Poppy agreed to marry me, Ryanne kicked into action and planned, declaring we weren’t getting married in a ‘seedy’ chapel with a revolving door. It was a little scary how much the woman knew about planning a Vegas elopement. Everything from how to get married to the perfect location—she rattled it off like a pro.
After we received our wedding license, Ryanne ordered a limo and whisked Poppy back to their house, and confirmed we’d meet here in an hour.
When the women left, Dante’s icy attitude locked into place.
I step inside to see an older woman behind a desk, smiling at me. “Welcome, Evin.”
“Lou Ann?”
She nods. “We’re glad you’re here. Ryanne has everything set up.”
I hand over my credit card and take in the building. It’s a sophisticated and classy chapel, but Ryanne arranged something different for us.
“We have the garden, correct?” I sign the slip.
“You do, and I think you’ll love it. Ryanne does a lot of business with us.”
“She does?”
“We use our garden for much more than weddings. Photoshoots, team meetings, business functions, we do anything. Which thrills me, since that garden is our pride and joy.”
Once again, this is news to me but makes sense why when Ryanne insisted and Poppy agreed without blinking. “Look forward to seeing it.”
“Would you like to wait for your bride to make the final decisions?”
“What decisions?”
“Personal vows or traditional?”
“Traditional.” Simple choice.
“And the flowers?”
“Do we have options?”
She straightens, her face beaming. “Oh yes, I make every arrangement myself, and if you’re not satisfied, I can whip something up in a skinny-minute.”
I grin at her language, figuring she must have spent time in the south at some point. “Poppy’s best friend is somewhere around here. Let me talk to him, and we may pick them out.”
“He went directly to the garden. Head right and then straight back.”
I jerk my chin in appreciation and find the way. The instant it comes into view, my pulse races. The area blows my mind. Calling it a ‘garden’ is an understatement. Lights are strung everywhere, the lawn is manicured to perfection, and flowers and plants border the perimeter in an elegant style. Darby’s wedding pops into my mind, and this place rivals even the most professional and high-end resorts.
Dante is standing in the middle, glancing around. His eyes briefly pass over me and I catch the flash of irritation before he turns his back.
It is more than irritation, it’s disapproval.
Fuck!
I make my way to him and stand close. “You got something on your mind you want to share?”
“Nope.” His tone is curt and short.
“Wanna share why two hours ago we sat at a table with you laughing your ass off and now I get the arctic circle?”
“Two hours ago, the two women in my life were ecstatic. One of them shining so bright she rivaled the sun.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m preparing to give Poppy away.”
“What’s the problem with that?”
“Not my place to say.”
I turn to him. “Man, in a short while, you are walking my bride down the aisle and acting as my best man. You got something to say, now is the fucking time to say it.”
He rolls his lip between his teeth and stares upward.
“You object to this. Are you gonna mess it up?”
His face flings to me. “Fuck no.”
“Then now’s the time to unload.”
He glowers, his eyes darting across my face. “You think I’m gay.”
“It’s none of my business.”
“I swing both ways with men and women.”
“Good for you.”
“I love Poppy.”
My stomach churns, and I blow out a breath. “Shit.”
“Not like you think. The moment I laid eyes on her at that audition, my first thought was she was the one to move the pendulum. But then she bested me in an improv and things changed. She came over afterward and sat with me, asked me to join her for a workshop. The woman wiped the floor with me and she wanted me to teach with her. I knew then, she was pure and beautiful. She was special in a way few are. Her future as a performer was guaranteed, but there was so much more.”
I can picture it clearly in my mind. “I’m not taking her from her dreams.”
“No, because you are her dream.”
His words sink in and hit me in the gut. “What’s the problem?”
“I looked into you.”
I rock on my heels and wait for him to go on.
“The custom-fit suits, the financial stereotype, the lifelong bachelor, none of the traits I’d picture her with. But the family man that invests in a bakery to give his sister a chance for love in her life, a successful businessman with clients waiting years to work with, the young academic that worked with his professor to restructure scholarship requirements for the less fortunate and took no credit—that is the man I’d put her with.”
Fuck, this guy had to dig deep to find that last piece of information.
“You research her family?”
“Yes,” I admit and a burn slides through me. “She knows this.”
“You know they carried on, accomplished their goals, and threw her under the bus?”
“Yeah.” The burn flares.
“She didn’t follow that. When she was done, she was done. Ryanne and I decided long ago to watch in case she ever became a focus.”
“Appreciate that, but what does it have to do with tonight?”
“You love her.” He dodges my question.
“I do.”
“Twenty-three days isn’t long.”
“That’s rich coming from a man who just admitted one look at her could swing you straight.”
This earns me a grin. “Touché.”
“Is that why you’re pissed? Because I’m moving fast?”
“No. Even if this was a year down the road, it’s exactly what she’d want. I also respect a man who knows a good thing and isn’t willing to waste time.”
“I’m getting fucking tired of the guessing game, Dante. A few weeks ago, you put me to the test, wanting to know if I had staying power, and here I fucking am about to marry her, promising to love her for the rest of my life. What is your goddamned problem?”
“If I didn’t believe you, we would not be standing here. It would crush Poppy’s heart if she knew how I felt, but so be it. Regardless of what I know about you and the way you make her happy, you’re not good enough for her.”
I lurch back, staring at him, then roar in hilarity.
His expression goes hard and his mouth forms a tight line.
“You think I don’t know that? I’m not stupid. I’ll consider myself the luckiest motherfucker on the planet if I get her down the a
isle before she figures it out. Then it will be my lifelong job to keep her in the dark that she’s hitched herself to a bum.”
He studies me, his mood shifting. “Not sure I’d consider a millionaire a bum, but same concept.”
Then I realize he really looked into me.
“I love her, Dante, and support her in every way. I’m relying on you more. Shuffling across the country isn’t a problem for me, but it’s not possible for her. Your role in her life isn’t changing.”
“I always will take care of my Pips.”
“Now that we got that out of the way, you think you can drop the scowl and enjoy what’s happening? I’d hate for my children to look at wedding pictures and see you looking like you want to murder someone.”
He cracks, his body relaxing. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“We need to go in and pick out the flowers.”
“You know what she likes.”
“I do, but it will mean more to know you were a part of it.”
He blows out a breath, nodding. “In a little while, you’ll get the understanding that Poppy doesn’t need to be kept in the dark on anything. She’s all in on this.”
I want to ask more, but he passes me going inside.
Fifteen minutes later, Lou Ann has custom bouquets made for Poppy and Ryanne. She’s pinned flowers on Dante’s and my chest and we’ve met her husband, Irv. I hand over my ring to Dante, wishing like hell we’d had time to get Poppy a real wedding set. It’s on my agenda first thing in the morning.
Ryanne pokes her head inside. “Everything ready?”
“Yes, dear, we’re all set,” Lou Ann answers.
“Evin, go out back. You can’t see her yet. Dante, she’s waiting for you.”
He slaps my back, leaving me with Irv and Lou Ann, who promptly usher me back to the garden and my place.
“You nervous, son?” Irv asks.
“No. And when you see her, you’ll know why.”
He chuckles as music fills the area. Ryanne comes out first, smiling wide and looking radiant. Lou Ann snaps pictures until Ryanne is standing a few feet across the grass. She mouths ‘prepare yourself’ as the music changes and Dante steps in the doorway, offering his elbow, and Poppy slips her arm through.
Evin's Fight (Southern Charmers Book 3) Page 15
