Page 28 of Do It With Me

12

HOLDEN

After the ceremony, Ella and I took the limo to a hotel nearby for the reception. She was still holding my hand, which was something I’d specifically told her she didn’t have to do, yet she hadn’t let go and neither did I.

For me, the truth was simple. I didn’t want to let go. Something told me that she felt the same way.

The fact was that if you didn’t want to hold someone’s hand, you didn’t cling to them this way, palms pressed together and fingers loose but wrapped completely around the other person’s. No outsider would even notice those details, so it didn’t feel like she was doing it for show, either.

I wanted to ask her what had been going through her head back at the church, when she’d grabbed my hand and then subtly started squirming a few minutes later, but then the limo pulled to a stop. I looked up to see a hotel that looked like it had swallowed half the city.

Swallowed it and then digested it into marble floors and gleaming brass. Gas lamps flickered along the entryway, perfectly suited staff guiding guests inside like trained soldiers.

“Nice digs,” Ellora muttered at my side.

“It’s not a bad place to spend a Saturday night, right?” I tried to sound casual, but I could feel her warmth through my sleeve, pressed up against my side.

She chuckled. “The last wedding I went to, my friends had a picnic in a community garden. No muss, no fuss, and we each had to take our own picnic basket.”

Surprise shot through me. “Are you serious?”

In comparison to this? A picnic in a park was almost as laughable as this place was ridiculous.

It was chandeliers and champagne fountains, gift bags at every seat, a few live peacocks even strutting around while a life-sized chocolate sculpture of the bride and groom watched us from the corner.

Ellora chuckled, looking around like she was making the same comparison I was. “Yeah, I’m serious. To be honest, I preferred that, but I haven’t seen what’s in the gift bags yet. Some swag might change my mind.”

I glanced down at her, wondering if that was true. Not about the swag but about her preferring the simple picnic to the ostentatious ballroom. We found our seats and sat down, both of us settling in while I greeted those few of our table mates that I knew.

“Do we dare touch the peacocks?” Ella whispered, leaning into me so much that her head brushed my shoulder.

“I wouldn’t advise it,” I murmured, feeling that little jolt in my chest every time she pressed closer. “They bite.”

She snorted. “Good to know.”

Without warning, she nestled closer to me, her warmth blooming across my side. All this casual touching made it feel like the lines between this stupid fake date and something else were already blurring, but I sure as hell wasn’t complaining.

“You’re awfully close,” I said, injecting a mock stern edge into my voice. “People might think you’re in love with me or something.”

“I can’t help it.” She tilted her head to look at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “It’s your fault. You make me warm and fiery.”

“Fiery, huh?” I chuckled, but we were heading into dangerous territory. “For a fake date, that’s ambitious.”

“What can I say?” She shot me a playful grin. “You bring it out in me.”

My chest tightened at the easy banter, the teasing, the way she leaned into me like she wanted to be there. I liked it. I liked her. I liked how her laugh echoed in the huge room and how she stole strawberries from a platter with a devilish little flourish.

“I’m pretty sure those were supposed to be for the bride and groom,” I mused out loud, but I hadn’t even tried to stop her.

She shrugged. “I guess it’s a good thing that they can’t see me. I’ll just consider it practice for how I steal your heart tonight.”

I gave her a sidelong glance and caught a spark behind her eyes. “Keep talking like that, and I might just let you.”

She grinned and leaned in again, and I didn’t pull back this time either. While I knew all this was probably for show, she was undeniably, irresistibly magnetic, and every ounce of me wanted to push the fake-date rules aside and just enjoy spending time with her.

This was supposed to be a business arrangement, a favor I was paying for, and yet, she was filling me with heat, teasing me, and making me realize that for once in my damn life I might have gotten myself in way over my head.

“Do all your friends have peacocks at their weddings?” she asked, laughter shimmering in her eyes as she pumped her eyebrows at me. “It’s one of those weird, rich people things, isn’t it? I always knew you guys did some crazy stuff, but I never realized peacocks had anything to do with it.”