Page 178 of Wait for Him

I haven't moved.

Where the fuck was I when everyone received instructions on what to do if Rosalie Bennett ever walked through that door again, because my body sure as fuck didn’t get the memo.

Then she turns to face me. I'm standing before I decide to stand.

I start across the room slowly, barely aware of everyone else anymore. Rose doesn't move either. She just watches me come toward her until I stop within an inch of her, close enough to see every small change I couldn't see from across the room.

I reach for her.

There isn't a discussion with myself first. No reminder of boundaries, no consideration of whether I still have the right. My hand simply comes up and cups her jaw because I've done it a thousand times before and there is no amount of time long enough for my body to forget.

Her lids flutter closed as she leans into my palm.

Jesus Christ.

I stare down at her while my thumb moves over her chin and brushes her bottom lip, and every month between the last time I touched her and right now disappears so completely it's terrifying.

"Hi, baby," I whisper.

Her eyes open and meet mine and nothing else exists. For one second, it's just us.

Then they widen in panic as her gaze darts over my shoulder, and reality comes back with a fucking baseball bat.

Rian.

My fiancée.

My fian...

My goddamn fiancée, Rian.

I drop my hand from Rose's face so fast you'd think she burned me.

Fuck.

Fucking hell.

"Rose." I take a deliberate step backward and clear my throat, trying to shove twelve months back between us after I just erased them in front of an audience. "It's, uh... good to see you."

Good to see you.

Brilliant, Marcus.

I turn and reach for Rian.

The hurt on her face is immediate, and that's a bill I'll be paying later. She covers it quickly, though, which I knew she would. Her chin lifts, her expression settles, and she takes my hand and comes toward us.

"This is my fiancée, Rian." Even saying it right now feels fucking obscene. "Rian, this is Bennet's sister, Rosalie."

Bennet's sister.

Jesus.

Rose's gaze flicks to mine for half a second.

Yeah. I heard it too.

Then I get to stand there while the two women exchange the most excruciating pleasantries known to mankind.