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“Holy shit. Never thought I’d see that again.”
I turned to Matt. “Me either.”
“Maybe they’ll…?”
“Yeah, maybe.” No one was exactly sure what had caused the breakup, only that it had devastated Emma so badly to make her flee town, and that it had irrevocably changed Jake. He’d been wild and carefree, the life of the party, before the accident and the breakup. Now he was barely a shadow of his former self and it tore at my heart. As my baby brother, I felt responsible for him, but there was nothing I could do to help him. The guy was shut up tighter than a vault at Fort Knox.
Lost in thought, my eyes followed Ally as she led Mila and Chloe from the dance floor, handing them back over to their mom and dad. I could see from here that Chloe was valiantly trying to hide a wide yawn behind her hand. “I think Elissa and Tom might be heading off soon. The girls look worn out.”
Matt looked to where I pointed with my chin. “Thanks. I’ll find Zara so we can say goodbye.”
“Okay. And, ah, man, before you do that…” Matt took my outstretched hand, giving it a firm shake. “Congrats on the wedding. You certainly married up compared to last time.”
“I sure fucking did!” He pulled me in to give me a big, back-slapping hug. “Thanks for everything.”
“Any time,” I said, and I meant it. There’s not much I wouldn’t do for this man, my best friend of more than twenty years. I watched him go, looking for his wife. The look on her face when their eyes met across the marquee had me blowing out a breath. Their love was palpable.
Without really thinking about it, I sought out Ally in the crowd again, and found her sitting at her parents’ table watching them dance, a fond smile on her face. Her pull was irresistible, so I gave into it, crossing the marquee to her. “This seat taken?”
“No.”
I loved the thinly veiled belligerence in her tone because I was pretty sure it was covering something interesting. Over the past few months, I hadn’t failed to notice her watching me at times and once, last Christmas at the Coopers’, I swear she leaned in and sniffed me.
Sniffed.
I sat down next to her, resting my arm along the back of her chair, but still keeping a bit of distance, so as not to crowd her. Her intoxicating scent wafted on the breeze, filling my head, making my gut tighten in anticipation. She shifted, leaning closer to me. Unable to help myself, I lifted my hand just enough to run the tips of my fingers along her upper arm. I felt a tremor pass through her and she stiffened, crossing her arms over her chest, staring fixedly at the dance floor.
Her skin was silky-smooth. I couldn’t get enough of touching her. I lazily drew a line with one finger, up her arm and across the top of her shoulder, willing her to look at me so I could gauge her reaction. Finally, when I reached her neck, she turned her head just enough to meet my gaze. Her eyes were dark pools of desire and she darted her tongue out, running it along her bottom lip. It was almost enough to make me explode. “How much longer until midnight?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice was low and gravelly, skimming over me, making my pulse leap. If the slightest touch could do this to her, I was truly in for an amazing night.
Dragging my eyes from hers, I glanced down at my watch. “It’s eleven thirty now.” I looked back up to find her eyes roving over me, the look of hunger unmistakable. “Allegra...” I had no idea why I said her name, or what I meant by it. It sounded like a promise.
“I’m, uh, I’m just gonna go see if Zara needs anything.”
“Good idea.” She didn’t move straight away, so I continued trailing my finger tip up and down the side of her neck. Seriously, there was a good chance she’d start purring any second.
Closing her eyes, she flicked her tongue over her lips again, making me shift uncomfortably in my seat. She had a dazed look when she opened them again and she gazed around the marquee vaguely, like she’d forgotten where she was. “I’m going to see if Zara needs anything.”
That made me chuckle. “Yeah, you said.”
I didn’t know if it was the chuckle or my words, but the spell was broken. She glared and shoved my hand away before bouncing to her feet. “Thirty minutes,” she muttered, without looking at me.
“Yep.”
I watched her go, checking out her insanely perfect ass as she threaded her way through the people on the dance floor, looking for Zara.
CHAPTER3
Ally
Okay, this was ridiculous. Why the fuck should I be so nervous? It’s not like I hadn’t had a ton of one night stands before. I loved them: a quick hit and move on. I never cared if I never saw the guy again. But I couldn’t deny that this felt different. It was probably because I knew I’d see Gabe again afterward. Yeah, that’s all it was. I’d laid out the ground rules though, so we both knew where we stood. It would be fine. Totally fine. I was sure of it.
Fuck, just get over yourself already.“Hey, there you are.”
“Here I am indeed. Were you looking for me?” Zara was standing with Matt and his parents, Bruce and Ellen, on the edge of the dance floor. It looked like they were planning to start disassembling the furniture under the marquee.
“Don’t worry about all that. We can do it tomorrow.” It was quite possible that was a rash offer, considering I had no idea how I would feel tomorrow.
