Page 4 of All for Love

“Let’s start with taking down the decorations,” I said. “Most of it is yours, but some needs to be returned to the rental company.”

I walked to my table and picked up the clipboard I’d brought along, releasing a few printed sheets I’d prepared for this exact moment. I handed them over. “These are all the decorations we used. Everything highlighted in yellow belongs to the rental company. I’m going to make a spot where we can put it all together. I have a yellow ribbon to mark it.”

A few of the staff members seemed surprised, their eyebrows rising as they looked at me, but I refused to apologize for being prepared. “After we’ve collected all the décor, we’ll pack up the tables and chairs.”

The heavy chairs, which was why Kody was supposed to be helping me with all this, but I hadn’t seen him for a while. I also hadn’t looked for him, but as I did, I saw him schmoozing one of the bridesmaids—a woman my mother used to work with.

My eyes rolled so hard, I caught sight of my freaking brain. He’s relentless! All this for a hookup? What’s so bad about going home alone?

I was looking forward to it. So much so that I’d been planning it for the last hour. The bath I was going to run for myself was going to be hot and filled to the brim, with either vanilla or citrus scented bubbles. I was going to light the candles in my bathroom, pour myself a glass of wine, and stay right there until my feet stopped aching and my skin pruned.

I was even already fantasizing about how good it was going to feel to take all the pins out of my hair, to kick off my high heels, and to scrub away the massive amount of makeup on my skin. Heaven, that’s what it’s going to be. Heaven.

Kody didn’t have to go and have a bubble bath if he didn’t want, but it really wasn’t necessary to be that desperate to not go home alone. God forbid he has to use his hand for once if he’s really that horny.

And at that thought, I cut myself off again. I absolutely could not be thinking of him and sex in the same sentence. Any kind of sex. Not with me, and not with himself. Just no.

Focusing instead on doing what needed to be done, I collected my yellow ribbon and tied it to a chair to indicate the space on the floor where the rented décor could be placed. Then I helped the staff to round it all up and marked it off on my printed checklist. Once everything had been accounted for, I heaved the heavy-ass chairs up on the tables by my damn self instead of going looking for him.

At the end of the night, I collected my clutch from my place at the wedding-party table, put on my shawl, and headed out to catch a cab. Cool air washed over me as I stepped outside, and I inhaled a deep breath of it, grateful that the day had gone so well, and ecstatic that it was finally over.

Down the pathway to the street, I lifted my face to the sky and said a quiet thank you for my mom’s happily ever after. I just hoped they really did get it.

When I got to the sidewalk, there was already one other person out there, and he was helping an elderly couple into the back of a taxi. I blinked hard, slack-jawed as I recognized the familiar, powerful frame and sure movements of the man who was opening the door for them.

It was Kody. Surprised by his manners and his willingness to help, I hung back, just watching as he joked with the couple. “Take the wife straight home now, Mr. Adamson. No stopping at the clubs and no funny business in the backseat, either.”

The couple laughed, definitely charmed by him. The woman patted his hand once he’d helped her in and the man gave his shoulder an affectionate squeeze. “Does that mean we can’t stop at a bar at all?”

Kody smiled, pretending to consider the request for a moment before he winked. “No, sir. I think it’s best to have a nightcap at home. The party’s over now.”

The man let out a sigh, pretending to be disappointed before he shook Kody’s hand and climbed into the cab after his wife. Once their car drove off, Kody straightened up, sliding his hands into his pockets as he stared at the retreating taillights.

He hadn’t noticed me out there with him yet, and I took the time just to look at him. Illuminated by only the orange glow of the streetlights, his hair looked almost gold and his long shadow stretched out ahead as he watched the cab disappear like it was trying to reach for the elderly couple inside.

I didn’t know who they were, but they sure seemed to have left him in a contemplative mood. Either that, or he was just exhausted. I knew I was, but then again, I’d also helped clean up the mess that he’d skipped out on.

Although I was too tired to be mad at him about it right now. I just didn’t have the energy. So instead, I kept gazing at him, wondering what was going on in his head.

His suit was undone now, jacket over his shoulder, tie loosened, and the top couple of buttons of his white shirt undone.

Yet again, I was ogling him completely against my will. No matter what I did, I kept finding myself in this position and I also didn’t have the energy to care about that right now either.

Not until he caught me.

The very last thing I ever wanted to happen happened.

Kody suddenly turned his head and his gaze clashed with mine, a sheepish smile spreading on his lips as he looked at me over his shoulder. My pulse skyrocketed and a thin layer of sweat broke out across my palms.

Shit. Fuck. Shit. Think!He cannot know I was checking him out. If he so much as thought that was what I was doing, he would never let me forget it. Save Christmas, Mercedes! Think and save it!

Otherwise, I would have to spend the rest of my life making up excuses about why I was missing the holidays. It would be impossible to spend it with him if he thought I wanted him. He’d be insufferable, and I really, really didn’t want to have to miss every Christmas just because my stupid eyes refused to stay off my stepbrother’s incredibly sexy, incredibly obnoxious ass.