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She peers at me thoughtfully. “We don’t have to make up an excuse. I actually think that’s a good idea.”
“Then say you’ll come.” Tugging her against me, I dip my head toward her, her breath hot on my lips. “I promise to make it worth your while.” I lift the skirt of her dress again, my thumb teasing the heat between her legs. “More than once.”
She moans, pulsing against me, her resistance slowly waning.
Everything inside me screams this is a horrible idea, especially after the warning we had last night. Yet I can’t seem to help myself. Can’t seem to listen to reason. All I can think about is spending every possible second with her before this all ends.
“Tell me, Esme.” I shift her panties to the side, but don’t touch her, torturing her instead. “Say you’ll come.”
Her eyelids flutter closed as she groans, expression tight in frustration. Then she finally whimpers, “I’ll come.”
“Damn straight you will.” I press my finger to her clit, tension rolling off her as she loses herself in my touch. Then I abruptly pull back and smirk. “But not until later.”
Turning from her, I get to work on the centerpieces, just as she asked me to. I can feel her frustrated stare trained on me.
“You’ll pay for that, Lawson,” she huffs out, pretending to be unaffected by me.
I look her way and wink. “I can’t wait, princess.”
Over the next hour, we work quickly and efficiently, making sure every detail is in place. When people start arriving, everyone wants to gossip with Esme about Jameson and his connection to that missing girl, many hoping for the inside scoop. It doesn’t seem to faze her, though. Instead, she easily defers all comments and questions, stating she’s here to celebrate Rory and Adam, and she prefers that to remain the focus.
To my surprise, when asked if Jameson will be here, she says he won’t. I have to admit I’m relieved. While I look forward to any opportunity to be in Esme’s presence, I haven’t been too enthusiastic about spending several hours in the same room as Jameson.
It’s one thing to run into him in passing, although Esme’s done her best to keep that to a minimum. It’s a different thing to be forced to sit in the same room as him. To watch him touch her. Kiss her. Be with her.
“Hey. Lawson.”
When I hear a familiar voice, I snap out of my thoughts, glancing to the open doorway to see Archie Walsh, another member of Esme’s protection team, peeking his head in.
“What is it?”
“He just pulled up.”
“Thanks, mate.”
With a nod, he retreats, hiding once more so Rory is none the wiser.
Adam may already know the real reason I invited them here, but Rory still deserves to be surprised. Deserves to know she’s surrounded by people who support and love her. Who will support and love her baby when he arrives in a few weeks.
I make my way through the room, finding Esme with Harriet and Marius, as I expected.
“Creed,” Marius greets with a quick bro-hug. “Everything looks amazing. You two make a great team. If this whole badass bodyguard routine doesn’t pan out, you could have a future in event planning.”
“Thanks for your vote of confidence, but I’d rather set my balls on fire than do this for a living.”
“Are you saying you didn’t enjoy working with Esme?” Harriet asks in faux shock.
I smile, eyes floating toward Esme. “That part I did enjoy quite a bit.”
“I bet you did.” Marius nudges me.
“I noticed Walsh poke his head in,” Esme states, ignoring Marius’ comment. “Are they here?”
I nod. “Just pulled up, so we probably only have a minute or two.”
“I’ll rally the troops then.”
Esme spins from me and gets everyone’s attention with ease, telling them to all quiet down because the guests of honor will be here soon.
