ETHAN
Ican’t wait to talk to Barbara. As Ethan, I mean. She, of course, sent Seb pictures of her in the outfithefunded. After complaining about the amount she received for two days. Well, she'd better get used to it. I meant what I said—I have more money than a single man needs, and she’s the woman I choose to spend it on. One day, when we have kids, she’s going to have to keep me from spoiling them rotten. I’m not great with boundaries—either setting them or respecting them. As evidenced by my jacking off to Barb showering at least once a day.
“You alright, man?” Damien asks. His eyes are locked on Morgan across the reception hall, where she’s talking to her friend Basia. Our old buddy Ward, her bodyguard, is standing in the shadows, even though he’s technically a guest too. He’s not socializing, taking his job as seriously as he did leading his missions back in the sandpit. “You seem antsy,” D continues.
“I’m waiting for Barbara,” I admit in a murmur. I never bullshit Damien. Swear he can see right through it anyway—there’s no point.
“Ah, yes,” he muses. “Cross told me about your little fixation.” He finally rips his eyes off his woman and levels mewith a warning gaze. “Don’t force her into anything she doesn’t want.”
I lift my hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Don’t put me on your list, bro. She’s gonna be begging for everything I give her.”
He gives me a long-suffering sigh. “It’s Killian you should be worried about. Don’t upset Emily’s friend this close to the wedding if you like your nuts attached to your body.”
I cross my heart with my index finger. “Scout’s honor.”
“You’re as close to a scout as Charles Manson,” D replies deadpan.
I throw my head back and laugh, the sound cutting through the low murmur of voices. And, of course, that’s when she walks in. Breathtakingly beautiful Barbara. My world stops.
Barbara’s dress is a soft champagne gold that catches the light like liquid warmth. Satin, draped just enough to whisper against her curves, with thin straps and a neckline that dips low enough to make my cock twitch in my tailored pants. The skirt clings to her hips before flaring to mid-calf, moving when she walks like it’s alive.
Her hair is pinned half-up, soft curls tumbling down her back and brushing the bare line of her shoulders. There’s a gold clip at her temple shaped like a delicate wing. She’s wearing the shoes too. Strappy stilettos the same tone as her dress, showing off the curve of her calves and the delicate gold anklet glinting above her left heel. And the necklace... fuck. A simple chain with a teardrop gem that rests right between her breasts, catching the chandelier light each time she breathes.Mynecklace.
The reception hall fades out around her. The golden glow of the string lights, the low hum of conversation, the faint clink of champagne glasses—all background noise to the sound of my pulse pounding in my ears.
I know I should keep my distance. I know I should play the long game. But she looks around the hall like she’s searchingfor someone. And when her eyes find mine across the crowded room, her lips part slightly, her breath catching. Damien murmurs something next to me, probably another warning, but I don’t hear it. I’m already walking her way.
“Barbara,” I purr, sweeping my gaze from her toes to the top of her hair. “You look ravishing.”
She snorts and purposefully looks away. “Someone with great taste helped me pick it out,” she replies nonchalantly.
I cross my arms at my chest and smirk at her. “Oh, really? Maybe you should introduce us.”
My girl rolls her pretty brown eyes. “I don’t think you’d likehim,” she says, putting emphasis on the pronoun as if she’s trying to make me jealous. I cackle. If only she knew.
Barbara frowns at me. “What are you laughing at? Is it that hard to believe there’s a man in my life?”
I put my hands up. God, I keep pissing off this woman when I’m being myself. Is it me or is it her? Because she seems to likeSebjust fine.
“Barbs,” I say calmly. “I made it pretty fucking obvious I think you’re fantastic. Any man?—”
I’m interrupted by Emily approaching with two champagne flutes in hand. “There you are, girl! I was getting worried.”
“Ugh, yeah,” Barbara says, flustered. The two girls link arms. “Traffic was a bee-atch.”
With one final glance at me from under her lashes, Barbara leaves me standing there, words stuck in my throat. Maybe it’s for the best. I’m not quite sure what I was going to say—that any man would be lucky to be in her life, or that any man who thinks he should be would find their electric car driving them off a bridge?
I shake my head and look around the ballroom. It’s amazing what you can get on short notice when your bank account is busting at the seams. Everyone’s laughing, drinking, teasingeach other. Well, everyone except Ward. Time to see if I can put a crack in his impenetrable armor.
“Hi there, Aegis,” I greet him. Aegis is a stupid nickname some Green Berets gave him, and it stuck because, well, it’s catchy as hell and also fitting—he always did put himself between danger and anyone he worked with.
He gives me a long-suffering sigh. “You need new jokes, Kane. The pretty blonde seemed to agree.”
I lightly punch his arm. Damn, he must be hitting the weights hard. “Hey, you don’t mention my pretty blonde and I don’t mention yours, capisce?”
Caleb all but rolls his eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh yeah? I see the way you look at BasiaLangford.” He gives me an icy glare at my use of the governor’s daughter’s real last name. “That’s not security looking at their charge. That’s a man who’s picturing a woman naked and daring any other ape with a dick to do the same.”
