Page 105 of The Wrong Groom

I stand rooted to the spot, staring him down, but he can’t seem to take the hint. Fucking typical. He hasn’t been able to take the hint for months. He’s too self-centered, too arrogant to get it through his thick skull that she’s no longer his. Hell, that he never truly had her to begin with. That she’s mine.

The urge to march up to him, to shove him out of her space and make him understand once and for all that Alexis is off-limits, pulses through me. But I force myself to stay still, teeth clenched, reminding myself that I don’t want to cause a scene. I shift my body just enough to block his view of her, stepping between them. My only focus now is Alexis. She’s the one who matters.

“Are you okay? Do you want to leave?” The last thing I want is for her to be uncomfortable in this moment because of him. She deserves to feel safe, to feel at ease.

Her lower lip trembles for a second, just the smallest flicker of vulnerability, before she takes a deep breath. To my surprise, she lifts her chin, straightening her posture. “No,” she says firmly. “I’m fine. I’m not letting him ruin this.”

“Are you sure?” I ask. I search her eyes, making sure she means it. I don’t want her to sacrifice her comfort for the sake of the evening. “We don’t have to stay, if it’s too much.”

“I’m having fun,” she insists. “It doesn’t matter if my ex is here. And—” She huffs, frustrated. “He’s not even really my ex! He’s just a jerk who wouldn’t leave me alone. He doesn’t mean anything to me at all.”

An involuntary smile pulls at the corner of my mouth.

“I don’t want him,” she says fiercely, meeting my gaze. “There’s only one man here I want.”

Something about hearing that, whether it’s her insistent tone or the look in her eyes, sparks a possessive urge in me. I seize her by the hips and pull her close. I lower my head and kiss her, hard and deep, as if I can erase the presence of every other man in the room with that single touch.

Her response is instant, her body melting into mine. She softens into the kiss, her arms winding around my neck. Her fingertips glide up to my jaw, brushing over the slight stubble.

When I finally pull back, just enough to look at her, her eyes are wide and dazed, lips swollen from the kiss. She’s flushed, her cheeks a warm shade of pink, and her gaze wanders across my face.

I let the silence stretch for a moment, just long enough for her to regain her equilibrium. My voice is low, teasing, almost like a dare as I lean in just a little.

“Who’s the man you want?” I murmur.

I want to hear her say it. Need to hear her say it.

Her voice is almost a gasp, desperate and breathy. “You.”

I let go of Alexis but keep my eyes on hers. She looks back at me with an unspoken plea that pulls at something low in my gut. “Come with me.”

She gives me a curious look, and although she pauses to glance around at the people near us as if she thinks any of them are paying us the slightest attention, she nods. I rest my hand at the small of her back and steer her toward a staircase off to the side. A red velvet rope is drawn across the bottom step, a sign hanging from it that reads PRIVATE in stark capitals. I unhook the rope and hold it out of the way, gesturing for her to precede me.

Alexis hesitates, her eyes on the sign. “Are we allowed up there?”

I dip my head to the spot where her ear meets her neck. The goosebumps that rise as my mouth grazes her skin make my cock twitch. “Who’s going to stop us?”

She shivers, a flush creeping up her cheeks, then sets one foot on the bottom step and bites her lip, her eyes searching mine like she’s still not sure.

“You trust me, don’t you?” I ask.

The words are barely out of my mouth before she nods. Something shifts in her expression, any shadow of doubt disappearing, and she gathers the hem of her dress in one hand so she won’t trip on it as she starts up.

I close the rope after us and follow close behind, taking in the line of her body in that dress, the way it fits her like it was made just to cling to her perfect curves. I don’t think she has any idea how badly I want to peel her out of it. Somehow, despite her natural beauty and allure, Alexis truly doesn’t seem to realize what she does to a room. I’ve watched the way men’s eyes track her as if they can’t help themselves, and I can’t blame them.

I just don’t have to like it.

Taking the steps a bit faster, I come up alongside her and set my hand at her back again. She sucks in a breath at the touch, then shoots me a secret smile. We climb the rest of the way together, and when we step onto the mezzanine, she lets out a soft sigh as the whole party opens up below us. Laughter and the low strains of the music drift up to us, but up here, we might as well be the only two people in the building.

She rests her hands on the railing and leans over it a bit, looking out at the crowd. I step up behind her, my chest against her back, and put my mouth to her ear. “Enjoying the view?”

She trembles, her grip tightening on the railing like she’s worried her knees might give out. Reaching down, I drag the hem of her dress up a little—just enough to slide a hand beneath it, my fingers grazing her thigh.

“The view is nice,” she breathes, her body melting against mine. “But I like this a lot more.”

“Why do you think I brought you up here?”

She goes still, then cranes her neck to look at me, her eyes widening. “You want to… here? With all those people right there?”