AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His hold tightens even further. His head bends as he once again places his lips next to my ear. “I want to dance with you.”
I can’t even formulate a reply, reeling from the huskiness of his voice, when Jackie steps up beside us.
“Hey, Brooks. Got a dance for me?” she asks. Her voice is high-pitched, her dress cut way too low, and she bats her eyelashes about five hundred times in a minute, all while sticking out her bottom lip in a pout.
Does that usually work for her?
“No can do,” Brooks says smoothly. “Promised all my dances tonight to my girl.” He wraps his arms all the way around me, causing me to do the same.
His girl? Eleven-year-old Palmer is jumping around and acting a fool at his words. The adult Palmer knows he’s just trying to get rid of her. Doesn’t mean I can’t relish how it sounds to have him call me his. Words I definitely never thought I would hear coming out of his mouth.
“Oh, well, you won’t mind, will you, Palmer?” Jackie asks.
Brooks stiffens in my arms.
“Sorry, Jackie.” I rest my head on his chest. “He’s all mine.” A thrill shoots through me when I feel his cock harden at my words. I get it. He’s a man, I’m a woman, and we’re holding one another so close there’s not even any room for air between our bodies. It’s a natural reaction, but it still causes a spike in my adrenaline that it’s me he’s holding and reacting to. Then again, that might just be my hormones.
“I didn’t realize,” she mumbles before turning on her heel and walking away.
The song is a fast one. Some catchy beat I’ve never heard before, so I try to pull away, but Brooks’s arms are locked around me so tight I can’t move.
“Thank you,” he whispers. And then he goes and changes the entire course of the night when he presses his lips to my neck, just below my ear. “I owe you one,” he says, his voice low and deep.
I don’t respond, and if I’m being honest, it’s because I can’t. Even if I knew what to say to that action, my mouth won’t cooperate. Maybe it’s my brain. Whatever the reason, I can’t speak. So instead, I rest my head on his chest as the song changes again to a slow, sultry tune. Brooks doesn’t lessen his hold, so neither do I. Instead, I hold onto him and pretend that just for tonight, for this one moment in time, he really is mine.
When the song changes to “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” I feel a hand on my shoulder. Lifting my head, I see Jade standing there smiling. I take a step back from Brooks, and this time he lets me. Ramsey appears on my other side, sliding her arm through mine, and Piper shimmies over as well.
“We have to dance to this,” Jade says, tugging me and the others to the center of the dance floor.
I can feel my face heat because, for a few minutes, I forgot where we were. I forgot that this is my best friend’s engagement party. My best friend who is marrying my brother. Everything around me ceased to exist but the man who held me in his arms.
Brooks Kincaid is too damn sexy. The man literally had me lost in the moment from being so close to him. I need to latch myself to my friends for the remainder of the night and let him off the hook. Let myself off the hook. I’m not sure how many more dances I can stand without begging him to take me home with him. I’m not ready for that level of embarrassment, so avoiding him is my best bet.
I manage to do just that over the next couple of hours. I also down more shots than my normal allowance, but the girls and I are having fun, doing our own thing. Every once in a while, I’ll glance over at my brother, who is talking to Orrin, Brooks, and Sterling, with a smile on his face. I never let my eyes land on Brooks. I don’t trust myself to not run and throw myself at him.
However, the crowd starts to thin, and it’s just us girls on the dance floor and a handful of others milling around. My brother steps up and swoops Ramsey into his arms, and Orrin does the same with Jade. I watch as Rushton holds his hand out for Piper, and she takes it easily. Taking that as my chance to grab a drink, I turn only to step into a broad chest.
“You’ve been giving away my dances.” Brooks smiles down at me, and I realize the shots were a bad idea. I don’t have the strength or the brain capacity to come up with a reason to flee.
“One more, Palmer,” he says softly, not giving me a chance to say no as he tugs me into his arms. He holds me like I’m his and like he’s mine, and I can’t resist the pull to snuggle into him. His hands gently stroke up and down my spine, and I have to mentally remind myself he’s not in fact mine.
When the song finally ends, I lift my head to stare up at him. His dark blue eyes hold something I can’t name, and before I know it, words are tumbling past my lips before I can stop them. “I like pretending to be yours.”
A slow smile tugs at his lips. “This night definitely turned out better than I had anticipated.”
“You ready, Palmer?” Deacon asks from beside us. He has a sleepy Ramsey in his arms. “This one is ready to crash.”
“Yes.” I glance back to Brooks. “Thank you for the dances.”
Not saying a word, he nods as I loop my arm through Ramsey’s, stealing her from my brother and leading her out to the parking lot to his car. This night has been all kinds of amazing, and odd, and just… everything I never thought it would be. No matter how much alcohol I’ve had, I know this will be a night I’ll always remember.
CHAPTERTHREE
Brooks
Grocery shopping is one of my least favorite things to do. However, I hate eating out all the time. Not to mention, eating all that junk is counterproductive to my workout regimen. My brothers and I all work out. A couple of them have physical jobs and they don’t have to hit the gym as often. I like to stay fit and healthy, hence the reason I must go grocery shopping today.
I just finished a three-day stint of twelve-hour shifts and I’m drained. All three of those twelve-hour shifts turned into fourteen plus, and I’m fucking exhausted. I’d rather chill around the house and catch a few more hours of sleep, but I’ve got adult shit to do that’s not going to do itself. So after a quick shower and a protein bar, because I have nothing else in my kitchen, I hop into my truck and head to the store.
