I pivoted back to Dean. The wicked grin that’d formed on his face paired with the tense edge of his jaw told me he was thinking up something naughty and delicious, and tingles spread over my back when he teased his fingertips up to brush the flesh hidden under my hair. It tickled for a second, and I lifted my shoulders as I breathed, “What?”
“You. Knowing I get to take you home.” Dean flattened his fingers along my neck beneath the halter ties of my dress, the move more deliberately sensual while he kissed my temple. “And the things I’ll get to do to you later.”
“Mmm. Tempting me, are you?”
“Of course.” Dean leaned back to stare down the length of my body in such a carnal manner my heart skipped a beat. “But I think you should come with me.”
“I’m supposed to get Selby water,” I muttered, but he was already tugging on my hand.
Who was I to disagree? I could spare a moment with the pins and needles dancing along my spine.
Curious, I followed Dean. He led me away from the floor and into a narrow hallway on the far side of the reception hall, somewhat separated from the main party space. This hallway housed a secondary set of bathrooms, but it was shielded by the stairwell angled above it that led up to one of the winery offices. With the blare of the music lessened this far away from the deejay, and the gleam in Dean’s eyes as he pulled us around the corner and me against his chest, I could hear the whoosh of my breath when he held me tight.
“I’d hoped to find a coat closet over here, but we’re out of luck,” Dean said, his voice shifting into that deep, husky sound I loved. He backed me to the wall, and I shimmied against him.
“You are so goddamn naughty. I love it.”
“And I love you.” Dean kissed me then, hard, his tongue slipping into my mouth and his fingers raking up the side of my leg to catch the thick layers of dress fabric and drag them up. My heart raced at how intense he was, but also with how easy it’d be for us to be seen. It wasn’t the most private location with the opening to the main area not ten feet away to my left, but I figured we’d be here a minute or two at most, nor could I resist the quick, rough slip of his hand under the side of my dress. No one could see that with the huddle of our bodies.
And it was hard to care with his fingers skimming along the edge of my panties.
“Jesus, you’re a troublemaker. I only have a couple of minutes! I have to get Selby water.”
“Selby’s had you all night. What if I want you, right now?” Dean’s mouth smashed against mine, and I sucked in air, delighting in the sweep of his fingers inward on my thigh. It was tempting, so tempting, but I wedged my hands between us and playfully pushed back against his chest.
“You’ll have me later, mister. She keeps forgetting to drink and eat, because she’s too busy celebrating. You know I have to take care of her.”
Dean narrowed his eyes, his hand falling away and his nostrils flaring in that sexy way they sometimes did. He was taking note of this, that I knew, and the thought of how he’d hold it against me later—torturing me in the most blissful way—revved me up. Especially once Dean clamped his fingers over my shoulders and jerked me around, shoving me hard against the wall before slamming his entire body along my back.
I wheezed.
Fuck, this man knew how to excite me.
Dean brushed aside my hair to bite the back of my neck, and I moaned. I thought I heard someone entering the hall for a second, but with how slow Dean was to pull his mouth away, I wasn’t able to turn my head to check. I didn’t care, either—not when he spoke gruff and loud into my ear. “You’ll pay for this, Maya.”
Then he spanked my ass, the move rough and hard, shocking me even through the fabric of the dress. I whirled around to clutch his hands but he dashed sideways, and by the time I grabbed his fingers, my back was to the entrance of the hall. Thank God. My face had to have been bright pink. Dean wasn’t letting up on the firm expression he wore, which almost made me giggle as I wrestled with his hands.
“Stop!” I shouted. I was playing, and so was he, and we both knew it. I turned around to smile at whomever I thought had come into the hall, but there was no one there, at least, not anymore. When I looked back at Dean, he was grinning. “We probably scared them away!” I said.
“Who? I didn’t even notice. I was preoccupied.” Dean caught my hands and pulled me into him, the bulge in his slacks turning me on. He stifled my growl with a gentle, slow kiss, then pressed his lips to my forehead. “But go. Go take care of Selby.”
I kissed him again, loving how supportive he was. I didn’t want to leave, but best-friend duty did call. I gnawed my lip and backed another step toward the reception area. “I’m in trouble later, aren’t I?”
“Oh, you are.”
“Aren’t you coming with me?”
Dean shook his head. “Not yet. I’m going to take a minute to calm down.”
I stuck out my tongue, loving that the moment had riled him up as much as it had me. But I also loved the blossom of my heart at Dean’s sweetness before I left him standing in the hall. His ability to throttle my excitement in a matter of seconds never ceased to amaze me, but neither did the enormity of my love for him.
For now, though, I had to focus on Selby. I hurried back to the bar and poured us both water, sucking down my own glass and ditching the cup before carrying a full one out to the floor. Selby was panting when I arrived, and she let out a squeal once I handed over the drink.
“Ah, thank you,” she said, finishing the entire cupful in one swig. “I needed that.”
“I bet!”
“Dance with me!” she said.
I took the glass from her and ran it over to a nearby table, then did as I was told. We danced the rest of the song together, and when the next one came on, Lana and Hans joined in. Selby winked at me—we’d both gotten the sense that the two of them were going to hook up later—and for a while, we enjoyed the party. At one point, Selby started spinning me around in circles like we were twelve again and, dizzy, I paused to fold over my knees. She cracked up at this, but once the whir of my head stopped, I glanced out to find Dean. It’d been a surprising amount of time since our interlude under the stairs, and I’d have figured he’d have come out to dance with us.
It took a minute, but I finally saw him on the far side of the table, sitting with Ryan, to my delight. I resumed my dance with Selby, happy to see them interacting on their own. Selby didn’t seem to notice my relief, but then, I hadn’t filled her in on their awkward first meeting because I didn’t want to dampen her festivities. So while Selby and I danced for the rest of the song, I kept glancing over, wondering what they were talking about. After about my third peek, their posturing struck me as intense. They sat semi facing one another, Dean sideways in his chair but hunched with his elbows resting on his knees to Ryan’s uncomfortable upright sit. They both had such serious looks on their faces before Dean leaned back and folded his arms over his chest to something Ryan said. Was he tapping his foot? That was weird. So was the frustrated twist of his mouth.
What the hell were they talking about?
“Move over, Maya! It’s my turn with my wife!”
I whipped back with a playful scoff as Alex popped his hip against mine and slipped his arms around Selby’s waist. He cast me a joking attempt at an intimidating expression before he dipped in to kiss her, and Selby dissolved into coos and laughter. I kept right on dancing but checked Ryan and Dean out again. Dean’s arms were out in front of him, his palms up to Ryan and his face tense. Three women slowed in their pass by them, and there was no doubt over the concern in their faces in reaction to whatever was going on between the two men. My brother started pointing aggressively at Dean, and my gut dropped.
What the fuck?
A second later, Dean bolted from his chair. Ryan remained in his seat, his face stern when he glanced
in my direction.
I frowned, but Selby caught my hand and gave me a start. I jumped in my turn to face her and she raised an eyebrow. “I’ve got to pee. I was going to ask if you could help me with my dress again but, um, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I lied. I wasn’t going to expose her to any of this. Not at her wedding. “Come on.” I tried to put off whatever the hell I’d witnessed while Selby and I weaved through her guests and off to the quiet, small bathroom closer to the dance floor at the side of the hall, the thump of the music coming hard through the walls. It was loud like the rattle in my head.
I was one hundred percent sure, based on the intensity in Dean and Ryan’s faces, that they’d been arguing.
But why?
“Are you having fun?” Selby asked.
I focused on her. “Totally! This is such a great party, girlie. Nice work.”
She let me adjust the layers of her dress while she washed up. “It’s so good. It’s like a dream come true. Am I a sap or what?”
“You’re perfect.” I hugged her when she turned around, trying to ignore my frustration and letting her cheer rub off on me to temper it all.
“What time is it?”
I splayed my hands. “Not sure. I can check.”
She waved me off. “I think we’re okay. A little more dancing, bouquet toss...and we’re out of here!”
“Yes!” Both of us shook our fists and scooted back to the dance floor. I didn’t see Dean before Alex latched on to Selby again, but Ryan came up to me, the smile on his face contradicting whatever I’d seen earlier.
Had I imagined all that tension?
“All right, sis,” Ryan said, pointing at my feet and swaying from side to side with snaps of his fingers. “Let’s see those moves!”
Was he honestly playing it off like nothing had happened?
Selby dragged Alex over, and in a matter of seconds, she joined in on what she must’ve recognized to be a reminiscent mini-mock dance-off like the three of us had shared in our teens. With Selby in on it, and Alex cheering us on, I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t make a scene. I said, “Ha! I don’t think either of you are ready!”
Ryan snickered. “Bring it!” We went on for a full song before Selby started laughing too hard and Alex tugged her away, and then Ryan and I settled down and danced like normal people. I spotted Dean at the open bar to the right while we did, frustration riddling his face. I met Ryan’s gaze in our tempered dance.
“Hey, saw you talking to Dean,” I said, trying to keep it casual.
“Yep.”
“What was that about?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I feel like I should be worried about it.”
“Don’t be,” Ryan said, his voice calm and flat as ever. I glared at him while he twirled me around.
Why wouldn’t he tell me what happened? What was going on with these two? The song shifted into a slow tune, and I shook my head before I said, “Ryan—”
“Excuse me. Mind if I cut in?”
This came from Dean, and I let go of Ryan and whirled around. Dean wasn’t smiling, determination filling his face and his irises a stormy churn. When I peered back at Ryan, he scoffed, not quite stepping away as Dean made a point to ease his body in to grab on to me. Before either of us could respond to him, Dean danced me away in a smooth glide, to the opposite side of the floor.
“What are you doing?” I said.
“I’m dancing with you.”
“Dean...” He wrapped me up in his arms, a gesture I wouldn’t have minded—in fact, a gesture that warmed me through, even now, but I angled my torso back to connect with him. “What’s going on?”
Dean ignored my question and kept his voice low. “That’s a question better aimed at your brother.”
I frowned, trying to keep pace with him both on the floor and in the conversation. My body thrived against him thanks to our moment in the hallway, but with the wrinkle of his forehead, my brain was starting to hurt. “What does that mean?”
“What’s his deal?”
“His ‘deal’?”
“Why is he being so weird? And protective?”
My face fell. Why am I frowning at my best friend’s wedding? “Is that what he’s doing? What did he say?”
Dean pinched his lips before he asked, “What’s his problem, Maya?”
The fact that he wouldn’t elaborate on what Ryan said grated on me. Had we not talked about communication one hundred times over?
And what the fuck was Ryan saying to my boyfriend?
I cleared my throat. “He’s always been protective.”
“Well, he needs to get over it. I’m not Charlie.”
“What?” I stared at him, hard, and his response was to grip me tighter. His eyes were dark, his mouth pinched.
Dean pressed his mouth to the side of my forehead, kissing my temple and rocking me to the music. “Let’s drop it.”
I couldn’t keep up with this roller coaster, and it wasn’t helping that I didn’t have a clue what Ryan had said. Or what Dean had said back, for that matter. But Selby and Alex circled past us, Selby flashing me a dopey smile. She had her cheek resting on Alex’s shoulder, and the two of them were so cute holding on to one another. I held my tongue, needing to shake it off. We were at a wedding, for fuck’s sake. I wanted to enjoy myself, and when Dean rested his palm on my lower back and I met his eyes again, it was obvious he was trying to manage his frustration, too. He kissed my cheek and whispered, “I love you, Maya.”
How could I argue with that? Quiet, I said, “I love you, too.”
For the last half of the song, I followed Dean’s lead on the floor and closed my eyes, wanting everything else to fall away. He lightened up, too, pressing his mouth to the top of my ear right before the tune ended. “You know I’d do anything for you, right? That your happiness—you—are the number one thing to me, and all I want is more of you?”
A smile touched my lips in my lean back, Dean catching my chin between his thumb and forefinger. I opened my mouth to respond, but I was interrupted when the deejay got on the microphone with an enthusiastic whistle.
“O-kay, ladies! It’s time for the bouquet toss!”
A surprising number of women howled.
“Oh boy. Here we go...” Dean stepped away. “Looks like you’re on.”
I hesitated, but Selby appeared to nudge me to the center of the rapidly clearing floor. “You’d better get your butt out there!” she said.
“Yes, ma’am!” I let it go. I had to. With a heavy exhalation, I followed the bulk of the single ladies in attendance, many of them going nuts as Selby swung her bouquet around. She shouted at her friends and family members who hadn’t gotten out to the floor yet, because no one was getting out of Selby’s bouquet toss. I stationed myself off to the side to watch one of her skittish younger relatives getting pushed out with us, and Selby pointed at a handful of women before directing one last stare at me. It was a stern teacher look if ever I’d seen one, and I threw my head back in a laugh until she spun around.
“Ready, ladies?” she called over her shoulder.
A bevy of cheers sounded, and Selby chucked the bouquet over her head, the flowers flying through the air. I wasn’t one for this event, traditionally, but seeing as how it was Selby’s wedding, I did my due diligence and dove for that bouquet like I’d never dived for anything before.
That was why I gasped when the bundle hit me square in the chest and fell into my outstretched hands.
“I knew it!” Selby jumped in place once she saw I’d caught it, and an instant heat filled my cheeks. The ladies around me clapped, and I looked over at Dean.
He gave a cool swing of his head. Well done, he mouthed.
I cocked my head, surprised he was being rathe
r mushy himself but excited by it, too. Maybe he could picture us together seriously in the future, like I did. The thought was fleeting before the energy of the room shifted, all the women shuffling fast from the floor and the men venturing out onto it. Where the majority of us had been squealing or lighthearted, the men came louder and even rowdier, a few of them elbowing each another. One of Alex’s groomsmen ran a chair to the center of the dance floor, and then Alex sauntered over, grabbing Selby in a tight embrace before backing her toward the chair. She giggled, managing to shock us with a flirtatious lift of her dress up to her low thigh after she sat down. She swung the hem, taunting Alex the entire time. Dean caught me off guard with a swift kiss on his way to the center of the floor, where he bent like he was in the middle of the catcher’s role on the baseball field in his wait for Alex’s toss. That was adorable.
I spotted Ryan toward the edge of the floor, not quite posed to catch the thing, but ready and appearing happy, thank God. Both of them did, and I breathed out a sigh. Maybe whatever had gotten them so intense earlier would pass, and soon.
“Yeah! Get it!” someone shouted.
I glanced back at the couple. Alex had started kissing up Selby’s leg, caressing her calf while she held her skirt and her face turned bright pink. Nonetheless, she kept hamming it up to the cheers around them, swinging her knee back and forth, making a provocative show of it all—for her, anyway. Alex reached beneath her skirt and kissed her at the same time, then slid the garter off and put it in his mouth, no less, inspiring more whistles and applause.
Selby clapped her hands to her cheeks with a snicker. “Don’t provoke him, you guys!” she squealed.
It was too late. The men hollered before Alex hurled the garter over his head, and then Dean further surprised the shit out of me. He dove, hard, actually bumping someone out of the way with his arms outstretched. The sight brought my hand over my mouth, because cool, calm, casual Dean, tuxed out and diving for the garter? That had to be the cutest thing I’d ever seen.
Another man almost caught it, and Dean scuffled with him for a second before coming out victorious, shouting as he threw his arm up with the garter in hand.
The Reward Page 7
