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Somehow, I found my voice. “Thank you.”
One of the hostesses came to lead us inside. Will offered me his arm, and I took it. I felt more aware of him than before. The point where our arms interlaced pulsed. The occasional brush of our thighs as we moved sent tingles up my leg. I was relieved when he went to bring us both drinks. I needed a break from all that squirming.
Chapter Eight
Paige
I sat down at our table and took in the room. It was a dreamy setup. The strings of lights and white linens had been arranged discreetly so that they complemented the building’s character rather than obscured it.
Eat. Dance. Repeat. I lived by those words the whole evening. Boy was I happy I’d chosen to wear flats. Otherwise I would already have had blisters. I’d learned that the hard way. At my first sister’s wedding, I’d taken my shoes off to cool my soles on the bathroom floor after a few hours. My feet had been so swollen that I’d barely managed to wedge them back inside the shoes. At the second wedding, I changed from high heels to flats after a while, but the damage had been done. I couldn’t wear anything other than flip-flops for the next two days.
I danced with Will and Jace, as well as some other guests, and did a girls-only dance with Val and Hailey.
“You all have dancing in your blood, I swear,” I said in a brief moment of reprieve. Val was excellent. I felt like a chipmunk on the dance floor next to her.
Val nodded happily as we stood in a corner, catching our breath. “We do.”
We chatted about each other’s jobs. Val owned a perfume and cosmetics company; Hailey worked at a PR agency.
“And Landon had a software company, but he sold it and now runs an investment fund,” Val finished.
“So Will’s the only one on the police force.”
“Yep. Keeps us all on our toes,” Val said, then fell silent as Will approached. By his narrowed eyes, he’d clearly heard the last part.
He was expertly carrying four glasses of champagne, and we relieved him of three.
“That’s why you sent me for drinks? So you could bad-mouth me?”
Hailey batted her eyelashes. “No one was bad-mouthing you. We’re just concerned, but that’s because we love you so much.”
Will shook his head. “You always say that because you know I can’t get mad at you.”
“Precisely. The tactic works, so I’m going to keep using it.”
Val shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “I have to sit down. I need a longer break this time.”
“I’ll come with you,” Hailey said. As the sisters walked away, Will came closer. Too close. I was on my third glass of champagne, and the alcohol was doing a number on me.
“So, from one member of a large family to another, how do you deal?” he asked.
“Don’t be so harsh with your sisters. I know where they’re coming from.”
“You do?”
“Dad was in the Army. We worried about him until he retired. So, yes.”
I sipped my champagne, feeling Will’s gaze on me. Damn, here I was starting to squirm again.
“Want to go out for some fresh air?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s getting stuffy in here, even with the AC.”
We walked side by side, and when we stepped in the yard, the wind, though warm, made me shudder. Will put an arm around my shoulders. The heat of that strong, muscled body was making my knees weak. I felt like we’d been engaging in daylong foreplay.
There were quite a few guests outside, gathered along the round bar tables. We headed toward the nearest one that was unoccupied. It was all the way to the right, near the corner of the building. We stopped along the way at a table where a knockout blonde was scolding two identical-looking girls.
“Ah, Paige, meet Pippa Bennett-Callahan. My dearest cousin, and my nieces,” Will said.
