Kissing Booth

by River Laurent

  Charlotte clears her throat.

  I tear my gaze away from his sparking blue eyes and face her. “Oh, it might not have been Paris, but it was very memorable.” I admire my ring. “A girl doesn’t forget a night like that.”

  Charlotte chuckles. “Remember when we went to Paris, Brock?” Her voice is deep with meaning.

  I want to stab her with my fork. She’ll make a beautiful bride with one of her eyes gouged out. Maybe she can find a diamond-encrusted eye patch.

  “Did we go to Paris? I can’t remember,” Brock replies.

  Our food arrives then, and Charlotte uses it as an excuse to change the subject back to herself. She has plenty of bragging to do about her silly wedding plans if she’s going to make up for the burn Brock just delivered.

  I’m proud of him. He’s handling this so well. It even seems like he’s having fun. As much fun as a person can have while getting their teeth pulled out, that is. This entire lunch feels like a trip to the dentist’s office.

  It’s only when we’re alone in the elevator that either of us breathes a little easier. “You did brilliantly well,” he declares.

  “Thank you. For the record, so did you.”

  He runs a hand through his hair and I see the man behind the façade. Oh, sure, he’s handsome, cultured, sophisticated, wealthy and powerful, but he’s also a real person with real feelings. And seeing her with her new man—no matter how little he seems to care that they’re getting married tomorrow night—must have him a little shaken up.

  “Who orders their burger well done?” I muse, leaning against the wall as we zip up to our room.

  He laughs. “Yes, he’s something else. I wonder where they actually met and what he does with himself all day. I noticed, she wouldn’t let us ask.”

  “Yeah, I noticed that too.” I smirk. “But nevermind, I now know about every single hoop she had to jump through to get just the right number of white lilies for the ceremony.”

  “And not just white, but the correct shade of white,” he adds with a chuckle.

  “I didn’t even know there was such a thing. I thought all lilies were white?”

  “So did I,” he agrees.

  We step off the elevator, me first as always.

  Before parting ways inside the suite, I place a hand on his arm.

  He turns to me with an enquiring expression on his handsome face.

  “I just want to say something, and I really need for you to not take it the wrong way.”

  “An interesting start,” he observes.

  “Please. Listen to me.” It sounds stupid in my head, but I have to get it out. “I think you’re a genuinely nice guy. A little rough on the outside, maybe a little difficult to get to know. But decent…and honest…and very generous. And kind too. I really think it’s a real shame that Charlotte couldn’t see that for herself. She made a big mistake. Trent isn’t half the man you are.”

  He gets that look on his face again, like he had at the restaurant. A sort of…I don’t know…amazement? He didn’t expect me to be so serious. “Thank you for saying that. I’m deeply touched.”

  I nod. “It’s just that I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries.”

  “Dani, I found you sleeping in my bed. There are only a few boundaries left between us. This isn’t one of them.” He reaches for me, sweeping the back of his hand over my cheek and making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “But thank you for being one of the only real, genuine women I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. Truly.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  He smiles before taking a step back, and turning in the direction of his room. The heels of his shoes tap on the polished floor. “The rehearsal dinner starts at six. We’ve been invited. The party’s after that.”

  Oh. Goody. Because having lunch with them wasn’t enough. His door closes with a soft click, and I look out over the strip, as I go over the little moments since we got here. The looks she gave the two of us, especially after that kiss in the lobby. The digs during lunch. The way she kept bringing up my healthy appetite, now that I think about it—five times in total. Like I’m a pig for eating a salad with dressing on it. Her insinuation that I’m a cleaning woman, which I am, of course, but she’s not supposed to know that. So how dare she just assume. Stuck up, bitch!

  Oh, it makes my blood boil.

  She’s going to see what I’m capable of when I put my mind to it. She’s not the only one who can play mind games.

  “Brock?” I go over to his closed door, and rap on it smartly with my knuckles.

  “Yes?”

  “Do you mind if I get my hair done for tonight? There’s a salon downstairs.”

  He opens the door, and my eyes widen. His shirt is pulled out of his pants and unbuttoned all the way to his waist. And wow! Did someone say washboard abs! Reluctantly, I pull my eyes up to his face. He is holding his phone so I guess I must have interrupted a phone call.

  “Of course not,” he says. “Shoot the works, whatever you want. Charge it to the room.”

  “Thanks,” I mouth silently, because quite honestly, I feel robbed of sound.

  He nods and closes the door again.

  I exhale slowly. Oh, my God, the man is a Greek god. Taking a deep breath, I grin to myself. He said yes. Just you wait Charlotte. By the time this night is finished, you’ll see how stupid you were to let him go, and you’ll also know I’m no one to be played with either.

  Brock deserves to have someone fighting in his corner.

  And that someone is me.

  Chapter 24

  Brock

  “Sorry. Just Dani,” I say into the phone as I slide out of my shirt, and toss it onto the bed.

  “When do I get to meet this goddess then?” Mark asks.

  “You’ll see her tonight, at dinner.”

  “You’re coming to that?”

  “Charlotte demanded it,” I say dryly.

  “Oh, yeah, right. Since when have you done what Charlotte wanted?”

  “Since it suits my interests.”

  “Hmmm…that reminds me. Charlotte’s really swinging for the fences, isn’t she?”

  I laugh when I remember the way she pawed at her so-called fiancé, trying everything but a lap dance to get his attention. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy less interested in getting married. He seemed uninterested in anything but his phone…and the popped collar of his shirt.”

  “Tool?”

  “Definitely.”

  “How’s your girl doing?”

  “Honestly, much better than I imagined. I thought she might be a little stiff at first, but she loosened up right away. I think she has a hidden competitive streak, and Charlotte set her off at the get go.”

  “How could she not? She’s the Queen of Competitiveness,” he snorts. “She brings it out in everybody.”

  “Not me. Maybe because she wasn’t worth competing over.”

  “I take it you think Dani is, though.”

  “I wouldn’t say that.” I keep my voice mild. If Mark knew how far I would go for Dani…

  “No? So you gave her asshole ex that little love tap, because you wanted to practice your right hook?”

  “I knocked him on his ass because he deserved it. Any man who handles a woman that way deserves what he gets.”

  “Fair enough.” He pauses. “Would you have done it for Charlotte?”

  “Yes, if anybody had touched Charlotte like that when we were together, I would’ve knocked him out too.”

  “Also fair. But that’s my point. You just compared the two of them like they’re on equal footing. They’re not. Unless I had too much too drink that night we met at the bar and misunderstood the situation, Dani’s not your actual girlfriend.”

  I stand at the window and look down at the strip. “I know that.”

  “You’re sure about that?”

  I turn away from the window. I need to end this call. “Is this one of your pathetic attempts at busting my balls? You’re not good
at it.”

  “If I wasn’t good at it, you wouldn’t hate it.” He laughs. “Are you ever gonna tell her?”

  I feel my body still. “Tell her what?”

  “You know what. What this is really all about. How you don’t care about Charlotte and only brought her with you under false pretenses. Or were you planning on leading her on indefinitely?”

  “I wouldn’t say I’m leading her on.”

  “Oh, no?”

  “No. She’s getting the money. She’s getting the weekend. I’m not lying to her about that.”

  “No. Not about that.”

  “Look, I don’t have time for this. Why don’t you focus on your duties as best man, instead of giving me shit?”

  “All right, all right. I’ll back off. I can tell when I’ve hit a nerve. I’ll see you tonight.”

  Damn him. One of the drawbacks to having a lifelong friend is the way they can see right through you. He knows me too well to let me get away with bullshit. No, I don’t know exactly how this is all going to end with her, or what she’s going to do when she finds out this was all under false pretenses. I only know that she has to be mine. I’ve known it since I saw her in my bed.

  No. That’s not true. Even before then.

  In the schoolyard. I was a kid, and I didn’t have a clue about the way of the world, but I knew I wanted her even then. I don’t know where the certainty came from, either. But it was there. Always. The certainty that she was it for me. Now that I’ve found her again, and I know what she’s grown into, I’m never letting her go.

  “Come on. We’re going to be late,” I remind her from my spot by the front door for perhaps the third time. My blood pressure is on the rise.

  “I’m sure they won’t mind even if we’re a few minutes behind,” she calls out from her bedroom. “Besides, it’s not like we have far to go. It’s right downstairs. Unless there’s an elevator traffic jam…”

  “All right, all right, smartass. But if we’re going to do this together, one thing you need to know: I detest being late. I consider lateness to be a cardinal sin. The ultimate disrespect.”

  “It’s a good thing we’re not actually running late, then.” She opens the door and steps out.

  Staring at her, my jaw nearly hits the floor.

  She starts walking towards the door, only to stop and turn towards me. “Coming?”

  I shake myself out of my amazed stupor. I would run hours late if it meant waiting for this creature to be ready. I hardly know where to look first: the shining hair, arranged in curls on top of her head? The shimmering dress which looks as though it were made of liquid silver? It flows over her body, and constantly in motion, drawing the eye no matter how she moves. It shows off her ample cleavage and long, toned legs without being too much. I find that sexier than anything else, the fact that something is left to the imagination. I stride over to her and she slips her hand through the crook of my elbow. We walk together to the elevator. I lean forward and hit the button.

  “How do I look?” she asks, biting down on her crimson bottom lip.

  Fuck, I want to take her lip between my teeth and bite down until she hisses. I swallow hard before speaking. Even so, my voice shakes. “You look…ravishing.” It’s the simplest and the most honest way to describe her.

  She blushes. “I’ve never been called that before.”

  “You’ve never been with the right man before, then.” And that’s obvious. If Luke is any indication… “You should be reminded on a daily basis of how beautiful you are. How fortunate any man is to even be near you. You’re so fucking beautiful.”

  “Now you’re embarrassing me.”

  But the way her eyes shine tells me she likes it. She just isn’t used to it. She’ll just have to get used to it because I plan on complimenting her every day of our life together. I plan to rain compliments down on her until the only voice she hears in her head when she considers her looks is mine, telling her she’s the most glorious creature to ever walk the earth.

  “I don’t mean to embarrass you,” I assure her. “You deserve to know how stunning you look right now. After all, you did ask.”

  She grins. “That’s true. I did.”

  “What’s more important is how you feel. How does all of this make you feel?”

  She can see herself in the reflection off the elevator doors.

  I watch as a shy smile spreads across her face.

  “I feel…pretty. No, more than that. I’ve felt pretty before, but this is different. I feel like another person.”

  “A little more powerful, maybe?” I suggest.

  “Yes.”

  “And sexy?”

  She turns her face away but agrees, “Yes.”

  I catch her chin in my fingers. Her skin feels like silk. I long to run my fingers down that long throat. And I will. Soon. Very soon. I smile at her. “That’s good. You don’t have to be embarrassed by that. You deserve to feel that way, because you are sexy. Men will fall at your feet tonight. I promise.” And I’ll want to kill every single one of them for even looking at her. This is going to be a difficult evening where I’ll have to toe the line between pretending to be the affectionate fiancé to the rest of the world while giving Dani the impression that I see nothing growing between us.

  “Will they?” she whispers.

  The doors open, but neither of us move. Instead, we stare at each other, her eyes wide and heartbreakingly beautiful.

  She places a trembling hand on my chest. “Will they really fall at my feet?”

  Blood surges to my cock and it’s only by supreme force of will that I don’t haul her over my shoulder, carry her back to my bed, and fuck her all night long. But that would ruin everything, of course, and even I will admit she was right to end things the way she did, out on the balcony. At that time, I didn’t feel so charitable about it, but I see now that it was the right move. I don’t do stolen nights…I want it all.

  Instead of pulling her to me and letting my hands explore her luscious body, I pat the back of her hand. “Yes. They will. And I’m going to have to keep a close eye on you because of it.”

  She takes my rejection like a champ, merely grinning as we make our way into the elevator. “Oh, great. I can hardly wait to have you trailing me around all night, punching any guy who dares speak a word to me.”

  “I won’t have to trail around after you.”

  “Oh? Why not?”

  “Because I plan to have you like this all night.” I wrap an arm around her waist and hold her close to me. “No more distance than this. Right here.”

  “That might make it a little difficult to eat,” she points out, her delicious tits pressed so sweetly against my abs.

  “I’m sure we’ll think of something.” She’s too tempting, looking up at me with her luscious lips parted just so, and her breath coming shallow and fast. I can’t help myself, I bend my head and brush my lips against hers. Her sweet sigh gets me rock hard, and I very nearly lose my head. Thank God, then for Mark.

  “Well. I can see now that I’ll be on my own for most of the night,” his voice announces from just outside the elevator.

  I turn to see him smirking like the know-it-all he is.

  Chapter 25

  Brock

  Mark manages to stop being smug long enough to flash a smile at my fake fiancée. I can tell from the warmth in his voice that he’s impressed with her. And from the irritating way his eyes linger on her tits. Only when I clear my throat sternly does he bring his focus back to her face.

  “Dani, this is Mark.”

  “Mark. Of course.” She looks up at me with wide eyes. “Should you really be saying things like that out in the open?”

  “What?”

  “Introducing us like we’ve never met before,” she whispers, reminding me for all the world of a little girl trying to keep a secret from her daddy. Endearing as hell.

  “It makes sense that you wouldn’t have met, since he’s on the west coast now.” I slide an arm ar
ound her waist because I just can’t help but touch her when she flashes those wide, innocent eyes at me.

  “She’s smarter than you, brother.” Mark punches my shoulder. “Though the bar isn’t set all that high in the first place. No offense,” he adds, grinning conspiratorially at Dani.

  She laughs, and I can’t help but note how instantly they have established some kind of rapport. I get the feeling they’ll be good friends one day. A stark difference from Mark’s uneasy, jealous-riddled relationship with Charlotte, which is what makes it so pathetically laughable that she would pretend he is her close friend after our break-up.

  My best friend and Dani’s easy laughter is what I hear as we walk into the banquet room. It feels like further proof that my relationship with Dani is the real thing. It doesn’t matter that the huge room is chuock-full of people I’d normally cross the road to avoid. Or that at some point during this evening, someone will come up and bore me to death. I’m flying high, I have the world on my arm, and she’s laughing up at me with that beautiful face of hers.

  And Charlotte can’t stand it. She rushes over to us with a brilliant smile.

  God, I’ve seen that smile so many times. That I’m-pretending-to-be-exuberant-so-you’ll-be-jealous smile. Does she have any idea how obvious she is? Probably not, since that would require some measure of self-awareness, which she doesn’t possess.

  “Now the party can really start!” she bubbles, wrapping both arms around one of Mark’s. “Wow. This is just like old times, isn’t it?”

  “How so?” I ask, raising an eyebrow and pulling Dani a little closer.

  “Oh, you know. The three of us, together again.” She gives Mark a little squeeze.

  To his credit, he’s not laughing too hard. Yet. “Yes, whenever I think of us, the Three Musketeers come to mind,” he jokes. “And on that note, I need a drink. A stiff one.”

  “Open bar,” she reminds us, her smile only faltering in the slightest when her eyes graze Dani’s response by wriggling against me.

  Fuck, she has no idea how potent she is. It’s too much even for Charlotte. She mutters something about needing to talk to somebody and disappears into the crowd.