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 around 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 chock-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.
“I think we could all use a drink,” I announce.
Dani nods. Her jaw is clenched tight. She’s obviously not aware how deep under Charlotte’s skin she’s already gotten. But knowing her, she would never see herself in Charlotte’s league and wouldn’t believe it, and just change the subject.
“Jack and ginger. Make it two,” I request from the bartender.
Dani looks surprised.
“You’ll like it. Trust me. If you don’t, by all means, toss it, but you look like you need something strong.”
“Does it show?” She laughs shakily.
I respond by pulling her into me to the point where our bodies touch in too many places. She’s so warm, sweet, and supple. She trembles a little, which only makes my blood pump harder. Faster. Until I can’t hear anything but the pounding in my ears.
When I lean in, I brush my lips against her ear and can feel the shiver running through her. Holy shit, this is testing the limits of my control in ways nothing else ever has. “Remember what I said. How gorgeous you are. How you deserve to feel sexy.” My arm tightens around her waist in a vice. “And how I plan to keep you this close all night. Because tonight, you’re mine.”
Her eyes widen and her mouth opens in a soft gasp.
I smile slowly. She’s not quite as immune to me as she makes out.
Chapter 26
Dani
What is he doing to me? Driving me crazy, that’s what.
It’s not even fair. How can I keep separating what he’s saying and doing, and what we’re actually in this for? Because he is too darn convincing and it’s getting harder and harder for me to not get my heart involved. I sort of want to remind him that he doesn’t have to try so hard to make us look believable, but I also want to crawl into his lap and stay there.
It’s complicated.
Real complicated.
Ugh…I wish he wasn’t so darn right about the drink too. It’s exactly what I need. Why does he have to be right about everything, always? If he were wrong every once in a while, it would make him seem a little more human, a little less perfect. To date, the only thing that makes him even the slightest bit relatable is the way he’s still hung up on his ex. Strange considering she happens to be the most dreadful harpy I’ve ever met.
I look up at him from under my lashes. He’s saying something to Mark. Is that creature really the kind of woman he goes for? I wish I could get Mark alone for a few minutes and ask him. He seems like a good guy. Fun, charming, playful with gently tanned skin. And he looks like a west coaster too, with his blond hair and piercing eyes. Almost as handsome as Brock, but in a different way.
My eyes look for and find Charlotte as she weaves her way through the crowd of guests, dragging Trent behind her and laughing that shrill laugh of hers. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was on his way to the dentist for a root canal tomorrow night, instead of getting married to the woman he loves. I guess that’s the way marriage goes for people like him and her. They run in the same circles and have to marry within the circle or they’ll feel as if they’ve married beneath them. Nevermind, they have nothing in common with each other as people or they’re not hot for each other.
I turn my attention back to Brock. He’s nodding and there is so much intelligence in his face. Could he really be in love with her? It seems almost unbelievable. He seems too smart and sophisticated not to be able to see through her act. I mean he saw right through me on our first meeting. Maybe she’s really incredible in bed or something? Is that his Achilles heel? But are men really that stupid? Does sex blind them so much that they can’t recognize a twenty-four-carat bitch when she shimmies up to them and treats them like a piece of shit?
“Catch you later,” Brock says to Mark and turns to me. “What are you thinking about?” he asks, touching my bare shoulder.
I feel almost naked in this dress, no matter how sexy it is or how far his eyes popped out of his head when he first saw me in it, I’m not used to baring this much skin. “About how unreal this is,” I lie with a shaky laugh. “This time last week, I was cleaning apartments and planning to do the same thing for the foreseeable future. But here I am. In this fine hotel, this high society party, in this wildly expensive designer dress…with you.”
“Life can turn on a dime,” he agrees.
“I’m still not entirely sure why you have me here with you,” I confess. It must be the liquor loosening my tongue. I have to remember to take it easy, no matter how tasty it is. Drinking isn’t my forte. I lose my tight control very fast and the last thing I need is to get drunk and make a big mistake.
“What do you mean?”
I shrug. “I don’t think Charlotte believes you would be with someone like me.”
“Trust me, I didn’t make a mistake. You’re so perfect you’ve got Charlotte dying to scratch your eyes out.” He allows his fingers to trail down my arm, raising goosebumps.
I wish I could lean against him, absorb his touch, and ask him to take me upstairs. Oh, I want nothing more than to do that. There’s an almost discernable pain in my chest I want it so much. “But what difference does it make? It’s obvious she’s miserable with this guy.” I have to lean in close and murmur in his ear to be heard without giving us away, but it’s not exactly a hardship. His cologne alone is enough to make my inner thighs tingle.
“You think so?” he replies, his voice deep and resonant, stirring the hairs on the back of my neck until they stand up.
Does he have any idea what he’s doing to me?
“You don’t see it?” I
straighten and scan the room for her. I find her fast. It’s hard to miss her in her skin-tight white dress. Like we need the reminder that she’s the bride. The smile plastered on her face looks about as real as her hair extensions—admittedly, they’re pretty high-quality, but they’re clearly not the real deal. Nobody has hair like that, so thick and wild. That tamed-yet-untamed look. Actually, everything about her is a fake.
“You think she’s pining away with love for me?”
I turn back to look at him. One corner of his sensuous lips curls upwards. I would if I were in her Jimmy Choos. Then again, I wouldn’t let him get away from me in the first place. I stare up into his beautiful eyes. Again, I have a sensation of déjà vu. Which is really weird.
One eyebrow arches. He’s waiting for my answer.
Gosh, I wish I didn’t feel like this. I wish standing so close to him with his hand on my back and the scent of his cologne playing on my senses, didn’t turn me into such a fool. I wish I could be stronger than I am, but I don’t think I can. I’m only human, and he’s—him. The most irresistible man I ever laid eyes on.
I clear my throat. “If she has half a brain in her head, she should,” I say. It has to be the drink. I would never say something like that if I were sober.
“Dance with me.”
“What?” Of all the ways he could respond, that was the last one I would’ve expected. The music is light, a sort of nondescript, inoffensive dance tune, and a few couples are already taking a turn on the floor.
“Let’s dance. Isn’t that what people who are in love do?”
I blink at him. Oh, God. In love? “Um…”
“Come on. You can show me some of your dance moves.” He takes my hand and leads me across the room.
I don’t dare protest or make a scene. Besides, the thought of having an excuse to be so close to him is exciting. When we reach the dance floor and he turns to pull me into an embrace, I stand on tiptoe to speak into his ear, “Exactly how much do we have to play this up?”
The Promise Page 25
