And then his head moves, ever so slightly, and I feel something else on my skin. Just above my collarbone—his lips. The contact isn’t accidental. His lips aren’t grazing or brushing; they’re pressed firmly to my skin. They part ever so slightly and then he pulls my tender flesh up into his mouth, sucking softly for a long second before his head moves slowly away. His lips brush my ear lightly and I swear to God his tongue teases my earlobe. I start turning around.
I don’t know if he’s turning me or my legs are acting on their own, but suddenly we’re face-to-face and his head is still bent and his lips are half an inch from mine. I nervously slide my tongue across my lower lip, and his mouth parts slightly. At first the contact is so light I’m not sure it happened. Just a brush, a whisper of his lips against mine, and then there is nothing but the muggy air in the room around us.
Luc holds me around the waist and once again pulls my body into his. Now something else is pushing back into my lower abdomen—something long and solid from between his legs. He’s hard.
I let out a little gasp. I can’t help it. Luc’s hard. For me. I made Luc hard. And as his lips pass by mine again, I tilt my head and stop them. Capture them with my own in a solid, scorching kiss. Our mouths open simultaneously and our tongues reach for each other hungrily.
I’m so overwhelmed by the sensation of his firm lips, his smooth tongue and wet mouth—I feel faint. I grab at his shirt, pulling him to me like there is a gap between us I need to close, but there isn’t. His hand on my lower back moves back to my ass and pushes me into him, holding me against him. His hard length is shamelessly pressed right into me, and I just as shamelessly rotate my hips, purposely rubbing it against my lower abdomen. Someone bumps us and I have to step back. Our lips disconnect, our eyes meet and reality crashes down around us.
He looks startled. Maybe terrified is a better word. I wish I could grab him and slip back into the erotic dream we were just living, but I know I can’t. So I do the only thing I can—I turn and escape.
Chapter 15
Luc
I watch her disappear and get swallowed up in the sea of strangers. I want to chase after her. I want to hunt her down and pin her to a wall and push my tongue into her mouth and hold her ass and… Holy fuck, I need air.
I turn in the opposite direction from where she retreated and shove my own way through the bodies. I end up in the men’s restroom because it’s the first door I can find. I push inside, put my hands on the countertop and hang my head. I take a deep, ragged breath.
What the fuck did I just do?
When we stumbled upon Leah, Jessie and Ashleigh at the front of the bar, I knew what was coming. An all-out couples fest. Jordan and Jessie would spend the rest of the night groping each other. Cole and Leah would drown everyone in their sickly sweet adorableness. Devin and Ashleigh would disappear together back to the hotel. So I went in search of Rose. I had wanted to find a partner in crime. Someone to laugh and have a beer with. But when I found her, she was dancing. She looked so fucking sexy in the tiny, backless red dress with her slender hips and perfect ass rolling and swaying with the thumping bass—something in me snapped.
I knew she was looking for someone to touch her and suddenly I couldn’t control the need: I had to be the one who did. Somewhere in the back of my mind I told myself that when she realized it was me I could crack a joke and blow it off. But when she turned and caught my eye, it was too late to lie about what I was feeling. My dick was rock hard and I couldn’t take my hands off her; it was like they were crazy-glued to the fabric of her dress.
So I waited, barely breathing, for her to freak out. I expected her to yell at me, shove me and just generally reject, but she didn’t. She just kept dancing against me, moving her hips into me, gazing at me with this sultry look on her normally innocent face. I didn’t know if she was teasing me or what, but I didn’t care.
She was so sexy and gorgeous and I suddenly realized I had to tell her. I wanted her to know, fuck the consequences. Fuck my team, fuck the media, fuck it all. She’s the hottest fucking woman I have ever seen in my life and she needs to know. But when I opened my mouth to confess, she suddenly tried to bolt.
She was just going to leave me there, with tight pants and a thundering heart, alone in the middle of a club. I couldn’t let it happen. Obviously she was in no mood to hear confessions or words of any kind. If she wanted some random, meaningless, wordless hook-up, then I would give it to her. I’d give her anything she wanted right then. So I pulled her back, daring her to grind that perfect ass against me again. And she did—willingly.
Her skin glistened with perspiration and looked so inviting, I couldn’t help but taste it. I thought it might get me punched, kicked in the nuts even, but she just started turning toward me slowly. Her mouth was open, her pretty pink tongue visible, and I wanted to taste that too.
I took a chance, she responded and… holy hell. It was entirely too short a time, but when someone bumped us and she moved away, my dick ached like nothing I had ever felt before and my balls were throbbing. I was embarrassed and horrified by my body’s uncontrollable, extreme reaction and before I knew what to do, or what to say, she was gone.
“What the fuck just happened?” I whisper urgently to the universe as the restroom door flies open and a couple of guys barge in. I can tell by the odd looks on their faces that I must look as crazed on the outside as I feel on the inside.
I storm out of the bathroom and push and shove my way through the mass of people toward the exit. I’m not subtle, or polite, and some guys shove back. I actually think of turning and clocking a few of them, but I’m a professional hockey player on the verge of being shopped for a trade by my team: I can’t afford a mug shot.
I stumble down the boardwalk in the direction of our hotel. It’s windy, and as cool, salty ocean air hits my face, I start to calm down and really think about why I just broke the only rule I’d set for myself in a long time—with the girl I’ve treated like a sister since I was fifteen.
I knew, logically, I had so many reasons to stay away from Rose. It was more than just my career, but on that dance floor, I finally reached a breaking point. She wasn’t even trying to wreck me. She didn’t even know I was there. I have no one to blame for this but myself. I have to fix it. I have to somehow find a way to never touch her like that again and keep our friendship intact. I feel like juggling flaming hockey pucks would be easier, but I have to find a way.
Now, back at the hotel, I go straight up to Rose’s room and pound on the door, even though I still have no idea what I’m going to say to her. When it opens, Callie is standing there in nothing but boy shorts and a black tank. Her toothbrush is hanging out of her mouth.
“Where’s the fire, Luc?” she asks.
I push past her, almost knocking her into the wall.
“Whoa!” she says, startled.
I stand over the bed staring down at her. Callie walks up beside me.
“She’s asleep… well, passed out is probably a better term.” Callie kicks the bed. It shakes but Rose remains motionless, curled into the fetal position, still in her little red dress, her hair splayed crazily across the pillow. I smile. She’s beautiful.
“Are you all right? Did you guys fight again?”
I shake my head no.
“Good,” Callie responds and wanders back to the bathroom to continue brushing her teeth. I pull the duvet that’s crumpled at the bottom of the bed up and over Rose and then, impulsively, I bend down and kiss her cheek. When I turn to leave, Callie is leaning on the bathroom doorframe with a curious look on her features.
“Night, Callie.”
“Good night, Luc.”
Chapter 16
Rose
We didn’t run into each other all day. The boys had planned a golf day and the girls a spa day. Luc slept through breakfast even though the front desk had given him four wake-up calls. Eventually, they let Jordan in and he’d had to shake him awake. We’d already gone to the spa by t
he time he made it out of his hotel room. He’d texted me that we needed to talk and I’d texted back “later” and then made sure I didn’t run into him. But tonight was a joint celebration so there was no avoiding him.
Cole and Leah picked an Italian restaurant for dinner. It was amazingly good. We ordered bottle after bottle of red wine, which I needed to calm my nerves. The realization that Luc and I would have to talk about what had happened was giving me a panic attack. I just didn’t want him to tell me it was a mistake. I wasn’t ready to hear that.
Luckily our group had grown. Theo French and Avery Westwood had flown in this morning to join the party. Both had gone to college with Cole. Theo had been his roommate and teammate and Avery was the captain of their college hockey team. Both had gone on to make the NHL, Theo with the San Francisco Thunder and Avery played with Jordan in Seattle. They were a boisterous addition to the group and a great distraction.
At dinner, Luc and I ended up at opposite ends of the table. Luc was between Ashleigh and Leah, and I was between Callie and Theo, which was like being sandwiched between two people having phone sex—without the phones. Theo would go on and on about how gorgeous Callie looked, how sexily she ate her spaghetti. Callie told Theo he didn’t look like the douchebag she’d heard he was and his eyes were “kind of sexy”—as close to a compliment as Callie ever gave.
“Careful with the red wine,” Theo warns my sister. “It’ll stain your lips purple.”
“It’s fine,” she responds without blinking. “I intend to let some lucky bastard suck the purple right off me.”
Oh, dear God, my sister was insane. Around nine we had all finished with the fabulous food and the bottles of wine and we decide to go to yet another nightclub. The idea of being near a dance floor and music makes me warm because it makes me think of Luc. I glance over at him and he catches my gaze and winks. He looks nothing short of delicious tonight in a pair of dark, worn jeans and a thin, plain white button-down shirt, tailored but untucked. His skin is tan and smooth, his long hair is tousled, his dark eyes are smoldering and his lips are tinged red from wine. I wonder if they taste even better than they did last night. Oh man, no more drinks for me. I need to control my thoughts.
We begin wandering down the boardwalk toward the nightclubs and bars. Everyone kind of couples up. Cole and Leah are holding hands. Jessie is walking slightly in front of Jordan, who has his big mitts on her shoulders. Devin and Ashleigh walk behind everyone, not quite touching but whispering together in a private conversation. Theo is walking so close to Callie I’m surprised he isn’t knocking her over. I’m even more shocked when Cole’s other college friend, Avery Westwood, falls into step with me.
Avery is one of the biggest stars in the National Hockey League. He was drafted first overall but opted to go to college rather than straight into professional hockey. I don’t know much about him other than he is one of the youngest players in the league to be named captain of a team, he is a leading goal scorer and the highest paid player and he has a million-dollar deal with Nike for which he does TV commercials with his shirt off. And he looks great with his shirt off.
“So you’re Jordan’s fiancée’s youngest sister?” he asks in a soft, inquisitive voice, a friendly smile playing on his wide mouth.
“That’s me.”
“How young is younger?” he asks casually, but I knew he was trying to figure out if it was legal to hit on me. I bite back a smile at that.
“I’ll be twenty-two in about seven hours.”
“Really?” He looks a little shocked. “Nobody mentioned it.”
I smile. “This weekend’s about Leah and Cole. I’m just happy I got to tag along on this trip.”
“Well, I think birthdays are important,” Avery explains to me with a warm glow in his amber-colored eyes. “Especially when it’s a pretty girl’s birthday.”
I blush at that and glance at Luc as he falls in step next to Avery. I knew he was behind us eavesdropping, but I guess he got tired of being subtle about it.
“I’ll buy your drinks tonight. As a birthday gift,” Avery tells me.
“That’s very sweet,” I say with a smile as my eyes slip to Luc, who looks like he wants to say something, but doesn’t. Avery smiles and steps close enough that our arms brush for a second.
We stop at a club called Mur Mur. The bouncer lights up as he sees Avery and Jordan, explaining he’s from Seattle and a huge Winterhawks fan. The only person he cards for ID is Devin, even though he knows who he is and that he’s over twenty-one. He scrutinizes the driver’s license, telling us, “I’m not a Barons fan.”
The club is huge and dark and the music reverberates off the walls. We grab a long, low booth in the corner of the VIP area. The waitress comes by and dumps a bottle of Grey Goose and bunch of shot glasses on the table and says it’s courtesy of management.
Uh-oh.
Luc reaches for it first, pouring his own shot and downing it before pouring a round for everyone, which has me raise an eyebrow because he’s not a big drinker. He’ll have beer or a couple glasses of wine, but I haven’t seen him drunk since he was a teenager, and that was by mistake. We were new to alcohol and didn’t realize how it would hit us. He’s careful about it because of his mom’s history. I know it’s the reason even though he’s never come out and said it. And I’ve always admired his discipline because hockey players tend to party as hard as they play.
Luc passes out the shots and we all toast Leah and Cole.
“I want to dance,” I tell Callie.
She nods enthusiastically. “I’m in.”
“I’ll join you,” Theo says eagerly.
“What the hell, me too.” Avery gets out of the booth as well.
My eyes find Luc. He doesn’t move. Okay then… I let Avery take my hand as he weaves us through the crowd to the dance floor.
Chapter 17
Luc
“Is she really going to hook up with Westwood?”
“Luc… If you care, do something about it,” Devin declares, and that’s when I realize I said it aloud.
I blink and shake my head. “No. I know. It’s just…” It’s just what? Last night I dry-humped her on the dance floor with my tongue in her mouth. Yeah, I can’t say that. I mean… I could, but I shouldn’t. “Never mind.”
Jessie slides away from Jordan and closer to me. She pours us two shots and hands one to me before wrapping an arm around my shoulder. We clink glasses and both down the fiery liquid. This is my last drink of the night. I’m not going to let alcohol drown my problems. I know for a fact that doesn’t work.
“Luc Charles Richard,” she says my full name with a wink. “You should dance with me.”
“I should?”
“Yeah.”
“What about Jordan?”
“Jordan who?” she asks blankly. I see my best friend roll his eyes behind her but he’s smiling.
She slips out of the booth and grabs my hand and pulls me with her as she moves toward the dance floor. She shuffles and nudges her way in what appears like no particular direction, until I realize she’s looking for Rose and Callie. She finds them and turns toward me and starts to dance.
I dance too, my eyes on Rosie as Avery holds her hips and moves with her. She looks almost as good as she did last night. The difference is she’s not responding to Avery the way she did to me… even when she didn’t know it was me, but especially when she did. That makes me smile. Jessie sees my smile, glances over her shoulder at Rose and Avery and turns back to me. “That makes you happy?”
“Yeah, because she’s not interested in him,” I reply. “I can tell.”
“Really?” she questions.
I watch Avery as he moves as close as humanly possible to Rose’s back, his groin pressed up against her. Rose keeps moving, unfazed, but she doesn’t acknowledge him either—doesn’t reach for his hand, doesn’t push back into him. I spin Jessie so her back is against my front.
“See,” I say into her ear. “She’s not resp
onding to him at all.”
Rosie looks up and our eyes lock. Avery’s arm snakes all the way around her abdomen, holding her against him. She blinks and her eyes widen. I move around my future sister-in-law and take her by the hand, pulling her with me. We’re about a foot away when Callie whispers something in Theo’s ear and he turns and leaves the dance floor. She also moves toward Avery and Rose. Suddenly we’re one big group.
“Sent Theo for a round of drinks,” Callie announces and playfully hip-checks Avery.
Avery loosens his grip on Rose’s waist and I take her hand and pull her to me. She wraps an arm lazily around my neck and moves to her tiptoes for a second to whisper “thank you” in my ear.
“Always,” I respond gruffly and slide a hand down her side to her hip.
She looks absolutely amazing in a pair of snug jeans and a one-shouldered tank. She has pretty white feather earrings hanging in her ears and her dark hair is half up and tousled like she’s been running around the beach on a windy day.
We’re moving together with ease, and although it’s not quite as erotic as last night, it’s not far off. She’s responding to me way more than she was to Avery a few moments ago. I look over and see Avery’s now dancing with Callie. Jordan has shown up and is attacking Jessie’s neck with his lips. I want to roll my eyes at that, but who am I to judge? I did that with Rose less than twenty-four hours ago. I look back down at my dance partner and she’s staring at me. Her dark eyes look timid.
“So last night,” I say softly, moving my hand up from her waist and brushing her hair off her shoulders.
“Yeah.”
“Pretty out of control, huh?” I ask because I don’t know what else to say. She nods.
Making a Play Page 9
