But as soon as she wakes, my plan is to put my face between her legs. If she’s sore, my tongue will be gentle.
The thought of going down on her again has me hard and aching. Because now I know her. Her scent is mine. Her taste is mine. The feel of her swollen clit beneath my tongue, that honeyed pendulum?—
Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang!
I jump and swear under my breath. Who the fuck?
Hattie whines in her sleep, but she doesn’t move.
My watch says it’s 7:42. Why the hell?—
Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang!
I don’t wait for Hattie to stir. I knife out of bed, pluck one of the bathrobes from the floor, and pull it on.
I manage to wrap it closed but not tie it before the imbecile at the door knocks again.
Bang—
Yeah, I’m scowling when I yank the door open.
And I scare the shit out of Hattie’s mom.
She staggers back, eyes wide. “Jesus Christ!”
Mouth open, hand at her throat, Hillary Mercier scans me from bedhead to bare feet.
“What—”
She tries to peer around me, but I match her movements to block the view. Hattie’s naked under the covers, and I’m not about to let anyone glimpse that.
“Hattie’s still sleeping, Mrs. Hillary.”
Her focus snaps back to me. I don’t know her at all, but the set of her mouth and the squint in her eyes suggest she isn’t overjoyed to see me.
“Well, she needs to get up. The breakfast starts at 8:30.”
“The breakfast?” I don’t know why I ask. Because clearly, it’s not just breakfast. It’s The Breakfast.
“The day-after breakfast.” She plasters on a smile. “For the wedding party. And out-of-town guests.”
Which you are neither.
The words hang unspoken between us.
I smile politely back. “Got it.”
So Hattie’s mom doesn’t like me. Not ideal, but I’ve survived worse. And, honestly, all that matters is how Hattie feels. So I won’t be anything but polite and respectful to her mom.
Unless Hillary Mercier is a bitch to my girl.
“So she needs to get up,” her mom says firmly. “Now. Or she’ll be late.”
Would Hattie being late to the post-wedding-hangover-brunch be so bad? Does she really need to be there at all?
I fight the urge to look back over my shoulder at Hattie. Yesterday took a lot out of her. And I honestly don’t know if our night together helped her recover or depleted her more.
I know she’s exhausted, and if it were up to me, she’d sleep until noon.
