by Jami Alden
“Do what?” she said around a bite of cheesy awesomeness.
“Make that, that face,” he sputtered “while you’re eating.”
“What’s wrong with my face?” She set the remaining half of the sandwich back on the plate, dying of self-consciousness. As if she didn’t have enough issues with food, now she was making a face?
He opened and closed his mouth several times as if searching for the words. “Never mind,” he finally muttered. “I shouldn’t have said anything.” He turned and started walking towards the back door.
“Wait.” She caught his arm before he could leave. “You can’t say something like that and not tell me what you mean. If I’m making some weird, gross face while I’m eating I need to know.”
“It’s not gross,” he said, his shoulders slumping as he turned to face her.
She waved her hand in a beckoning motion, hoping he’d elaborate.
He closed his eyes, sighed. “Sometimes, when you’re eating, when you’re really enjoying something…”
A memory popped into her head, unbidden. If that's the look you get on your face when I feed you I can only imagine… Her cheeks heated as she sensed where this was going.
The sensible part of her brain warned her to let it go, unsure if she was prepared to deal with the consequences of prodding Brady when he’d clearly made a decision to keep his comments in check.
The naughty little voice that had floated the idea of taking Brady up on his offer to use him while she had him had other ideas.
“But, your food is so delicious.” She picked up the sandwich, broke off a piece, and pushed it into her mouth, making sure her finger followed. “Mmmmm,” she gave an exaggerated groan, as she chewed and swallowed. “Don’t you want to see people enjoying it?” She licked at the corner of her mouth as though to check for crumbs.
That hot look was back in his eyes, and the muscles of his forearms were twitching as his fingers flexed and relaxed. His shoulders were tense beneath the fabric of his t-shirt, his body coiled tight like he was holding himself back.
He muttered a curse, turned, and stomped once again toward the door.
“Where are you going?” she said, not fully succeeding at keeping the laugher out of her voice. “We still have to put the spice rub on the lamb.”
“I’m going to have a smoke,” he said as he hit the door with the flat of his hand.
“I thought you quit,” she called after him.
He growled something in response. She couldn’t quite hear, but she thought it sounded like, “Leave it to you to make me start again.”
She picked up the sandwich and took a lusty bite, a smile pulling at her lips as she realized that even in this new nice guy incarnation, Brady wasn’t nearly as indifferent to her as he wanted her to believe.
###
Molly had never seen the appeal of being a tease until she decided to turn the tables on Brady. He could try to keep his comments to himself and keep a respectful distance all he wanted, but that didn’t mean she had to.
Oh, she’d had plenty of experience trying to get and keep a guy’s attention.
See, relationship with Josh Patton, years two through twelve.
But her efforts to keep Josh attentive and engaged were always tinged with varying degrees of desperation. An admission she made to herself with no small amount of self-loathing.
But teasing Brady—that was fun. Whether it was “innocently” crushing her breast against Brady’s arm as the wedding coordinator at the Lazy Creek instructed him to escort her down the aisle during the wedding rehearsal or “accidentally” pressing her thigh against his under the table at dinner, she could have never have anticipated the delight she felt at his sharp inhales, the uncomfortable shifting in his seat.
And don’t even get her started on the hot flush of color that striped his sharp cheekbones when she remarked how good the lamb chops were and proceeded to delicately nibble at a bone.
Now that the actual ceremony was over and the reception was starting, she found it offered yet another unforeseen bonus.
Distraction.
She’d known the wedding would be hard. It was bad enough going dateless to your sister’s wedding. Going to her sister’s wedding with a bunch of people who had known her and her fiancé most of their lives and who were privy to all the humiliating details of their breakup?
Excruciating.
So many concerned looks, so many “How are you”s laced with sympathy that strayed too close to pity. When her sister had first returned from New York, reeling not just from her estranged husband’s death but from the revelations that he had swindled his clients out of millions of dollars, Ellie had tried to explain to Molly why she felt anxious going out. How even back in Big Timber, where everyone knew and loved her, it was hard not to feel like she was under the microscope, like people were watching her, whispering about her.
Pitying her.
At the time, Molly, resentful at the time of Ellie’s virtual abandonment of the family for so many years, had little sympathy.
Now, as Molly saw Lori, Ellie’s best friend from high school, and Sarah, her best friend from New York, casting furtive looks her way as they bent their heads together in conversation, she made a note to apologize to her sister for being such a bitch.
Fortunately their attention was averted as the DJ called Ellie and Damon to the dance floor for the first dance. Any thoughts about who was saying what about her fled from Molly’s brain as she watched her sister and Damon take the dance floor as a male voice crooned about not wanting to miss a thing.
Her throat tightened with happy tears at the rapt look of happiness on both their faces, their gazes locked on each other like no one else existed in the world.
Then, in a move that made her heart go all swollen and achy, Damon held his hand out to Anthony, who looked absolutely adorable in a blue sport coat and khakis that matched Damon and his brothers. A collective “aww” rippled over the music as the three of them grinned and swayed together.
“Are you doing okay?” She felt a slim arm hook around her shoulders and looked up at Sadie Thornton, who Molly had met the summer she was nine, when her mother had moved her and Ellie back to Big Timber. They’d been best friends ever since, their bond withstanding Sadie’s move out of state to go to college and a move to San Francisco.
Sadie had returned to Big Timber last year for several months to help run her father’s horse breeding operation while he recovered from a heart attack, but now she was back in San Francisco.
Even before the shit went down with Josh, Molly had missed her desperately.
And it was only because they were so close that Molly responded with an exaggerated groan instead of her default perky smile and accompanying “I’m fine.”
“God I wish people would stop asking me that,” she said, hooking her arm around Sadie’s slim waist to soften the blow.
“I know.” Even from Northern California, Sadie had been her rock these past few weeks, supporting Molly via phone, text, and Face Time through the initial waves of tears, the ongoing anger, and now the resentment she was starting to feel towards people who she knew had the best of intentions. “You know it’s because we love you.”
“I know,” she sighed and flagged down a server who held a tray full of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc. She and Sadie each took one and sipped as they watched the dancing trio.
“I always thought you could do a lot better than Josh, but I know today must kind of suck for you.”
“It does.”
“And now we’d like to invite the wedding party and their significant others to join the Ellie, Damon, and Anthony on the dance floor,” the DJ crowed.
Sadie cringed but was quickly pulled away by Dylan, Damon’s younger brother. They were quickly joined by Dylan and Damon’s older brother Deck and his wife Jane, and Sarah and her husband.
She stood at the edge of the dance floor, wondering if anyone would notice if she slipped out the back, when a voice rum
bled in her ear.
“Looks a little strange not having the maid of honor out there.”
Heat rippled through her as Brady took her into his arms and eased her effortlessly into a two-step.
“Thank you,” she said with a grateful smile. “That was starting to feel really awkward.”
His only response was a funny half smile as he moved her around the floor. Though his moves were no less smooth—she’d always marveled that for such a big guy he was remarkably coordinated—the difference between this and the last time they danced was like night and day.
And she was having none of it. “Isn’t this the part where you’re supposed to rub up against me and tell me you’re happy to have the excuse to get your hands on me?”
He made a startled sound and missed a step. Molly tightened her arm around his shoulder and tucked herself closer under the guise of helping him keep his balance.
“It’s your sister’s wedding. I figure I should use my manners.”
Still, Molly noticed he made no move to put any distance between them, holding her tight enough that her breasts brushed against the front of his shirt. Her nipples tightened into firm points, and her cheeks heated as she knew the satin of her bra and the silk of her dress provided little barrier.
The fingers of his right hand curved into the soft roundness of her hip, and she couldn’t help but think of what it would feel like to have them pressing against her naked skin as he held her hips in his firm grip.
By the time the song ended she was flushed with heat and out of breath in a way had nothing to do with their exertions on the dance floor.
Brady dropped his hands and walked away like he couldn’t get away fast enough.
“Thanks for the dance,” she called after him. A two fingered wave was the only indication he gave that her heard her over the din of Rhianna’s latest pumping through the speakers.
“Now that has some interesting possibilities,” Sadie said as she once again sidled up next to her.
“What?” Molly said.
Sadie hit her with a deadpan look that said she didn’t buy her ignorant act for a second. “Please, he’s been sniffing around you since he first laid eyes on you. And it’s obvious to anyone with eyes that the feeling is mutual.”
Molly mustered up a look of offense. “How can you say that, I was engaged!”
“I didn’t say you would have done anything about it. But now that Josh is out of the picture, you can.”
Uncertainty tightened her chest. Flirting and dancing a little too close to make herself feel better while giving Brady a taste of his own medicine was one thing. But following through…
If you need someone to fuck you hard all night long…
The memory of Brady’s words, uttered months ago in a growl dripping with sexual promise sent a pulse of heat that settled in between her thighs.
“I don’t know,” Molly said. “I’ve been out of the game so long, I don’t even know how it works anymore.”
“Looks like you were figuring it out just fine out there. And I don’t think Brady’s going to play hard to get. Seriously, after what Josh did to you, a little rebound sex might be just what the doctor ordered,” Sadie said.
In fact, Molly’s therapist, Dr. Stewart had encouraged her to avoid any romantic entanglements for at least six months.
But she highly doubted anything that happened with Brady could be classified as romantic.
“As long as you know what you’re getting into,” Sadie continued, “as long as you have realistic expectations about the future,” she added meaningfully.
Molly nodded. “I don’t have any illusions that what happened with you and Dylan wasn’t a statistical anomaly.”
“Uh, thanks?” Sadie laughed and took a sip of her drink.
Earlier that summer, Sadie, who, like Molly had always been more conservative when it came to dating and sex, had thrown all caution to the wind and signed herself up for a no strings attached summer of hot sex with Dylan Decker, her long time crush.
Of course, it had turned out differently than she had expected. Instead of the two of them parting ways when Dylan returned to the army and Sadie moved back to San Francisco, Dylan was now living the life of a civilian and shacking up with Sadie.
And Molly fully expected to repeat her bridesmaid duties within the year.
“You know what I mean,” Molly said and gave her a playful nudge. “You and Dylan started out in a completely different place. You had been in love with him for years—“
“And he couldn’t stop thinking about me as the nerdy loser who was only good for helping him with his homework,” Sadie said wryly even as she caught Dylan’s eye across the room and gave him a sly smile.
“You were friends at least.” Molly said. “Brady—"
“Oh, Brady likes you. There’s no question about that.”
Molly wrinkled her nose. She couldn't see much in Brady’s behavior that indicated friendship.
But the sexual chemistry was off the charts, and maybe right now that was all Molly needed to care about.
“But I just wouldn’t put much hope in him being around for the long haul.”
“Who says I would want him to be?” Molly replied. “I may not have realized Josh wasn’t long term material before it was way too late, but I’d like to think I’m smart enough not to pin any future hopes on a guy like Brady. Short term hopes, though…” she trailed off with a little shiver of anticipation.
“If that’s all you want, I think there’s a lot worse guys than Brady who could help you get back in the saddle.”
Unfortunately Brady proved frustratingly elusive, constantly partnered up on the dance floor or deep in conversation. Any time she did manage to get near him he seemed to find someone else he needed to talk to or remembered that he’d promised to deliver a drink to one of the guests.
Until it got to the point that she wondered if the reactions she thought she was getting from him were all in her head.
Or worse, that now that she was in a position to take him up on all those inappropriate innuendos and flirtations, he was no longer interested.
He probably never was, she realized with a stab of humiliation. Despite what Sadie thought she saw, it really had been about nothing more than pissing her off and making her squirm.
By the time the DJ called all the unmarried women in the room to the dance floor for the bouquet toss, Molly’s cheeks ached from the effort to keep a smile on her face.
The crowd of women was thin, consisting only of Molly, Sadie, Janelle, who waited tables at the restaurant when she wasn't managing Damon's gas station and convenience store, and Janelle's younger sister, Cindy. Molly stood as far to the side as she could without actually leaving the dance floor, in no mood to participate in a ritual that did nothing but highlight her painfully single state.
Ellie stood at the front of the room, looking over her shoulder with a grin as the guests whooped and hollered. When her eye caught Molly standing apart from the other three, her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
Molly gave her head a little shake, afraid she knew what that look meant.
Seconds later, the bundle of wild roses came sailing over Ellie’s shoulder, straight into Molly’s chest. She caught it reflexively as the crowd went dead silent, then erupted into a wave of too enthusiastic applause.
Embarrassment twisted her stomach as she smiled so hard she thought her face would crack. She walked over to Ellie, who grabbed her in a hug.
“I hate you for doing that,” Molly said through gritted teeth.
“I didn’t do to make you feel bad,” Ellie said, drawing away so she could look Molly in the eye. “I did it because even though you feel bad now, I want to remind you there’s hope for the future.”
Over Ellie’s shoulder, Molly caught a glimpse of Brady, who was standing next to a laughing Dylan and Sadie.
“Looks like you bought yourself a reprieve,” Brady chuckled.
Dylan caught Sadie around the wais
t and gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek. “Says you. I’m not going to waste any time locking this one down.”
Sadie arched an eyebrow. “Oh really? Is there something you want to ask me?”
Dylan’s cheekbones flushed red and he stammered, “Uh, not this very second. But probably sometime soon.”
Molly’s heart squeezed as she watched her best friend plant a tender kiss on Dylan’s lips, wondering how it was possible to feel so happy for someone while feeling so miserable for herself.
Despite Ellie’s gesture, Molly wasn’t feeling terribly hopeful about her future right now. Not that she would ever bring her sister down on her wedding day by admitting it out loud.
She gave Ellie a quick hug and excused herself before the tears that burned at the back of her eyes started spilling down her cheeks.
Chapter 3
Brady watched as Molly slipped out a side door that led outside. Though her smile never wavered as she passed the other guests, the sad, almost lost look in her eyes made his gut twist.
His feet were moving before he even realized it, and even though he’d spent the night avoiding her, afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from dragging her off to some corner and taking her up on what she had so blatantly offered up.
He’d easily recognized the look on her face. It was a look he knew all too well: the look of a woman who wanted to have some fun, take a break from reality. Who knew that he was just the guy to show her a good time in the sack for a couple of nights.
And Molly would be right. He could show her a damn good time. Problem was, he wanted to show her so much more.
But with her grief so clear on her face, her heartbreak so close to the surface, he knew she was nowhere ready to give him what he really wanted. So he forced himself to hold back, to try his best to keep his distance.
Now he couldn’t stop himself from following her, seeing how sad she was while everyone else was so frickin’ happy.
Though the circumstances were different, he knew what it was like to feel like you were on the outside, standing apart even when you were in the thick of the crowd.
