Page 53 of Ask Me Something

Chapter Eleven

The wedding ceremony was exquisite, and Haylee could not have been a more stunning bride. I never would have thought myself the type of girl who teared up at a wedding, but I could feel my eyes getting misty while watching the emotion between the happy couple. Brian sat beside me, and I found myself wishing he could touch me. He must’ve felt the same because his leg scooted closer to mine, connecting by the slightest fraction.

After Josh’s speech about his beautiful bride at the reception, followed by his surprise, pulling her into his first public dance ever, there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd. When their dance ended, other couples started out onto the floor, and a warm hand tapped my shoulder.

“Dance with me?” Brian asked.

Smiling as he took me out onto the floor, I noticed he was careful to keep the touching appropriate for two friends.

“I didn’t know you could dance,” I remarked lightly, noticing he moved smoothly.

“I’m a man of many talents.”

“Mm, I do look forward to exploring them all.”

He missed a step, his eyes meeting mine. The heat evident in them made my breath hitch.

“I underestimated your ability to talk dirty. Your approach is subtle, yet I’m on the dance floor with a hard-on now.” His voice was low and seductive.

A shiver lanced through my body. I hardly noticed I’d leaned against him until he exhaled heavily and reluctantly pulled back. How quickly my world had changed that the thought of having this particular effect on a man had me turned on.

We moved in silence until the end of the song. I could sense his hesitation in breaking the contact. I’d experienced the same feeling when he’d reluctantly left my room at three o’clock this morning.

“The drawback of a New Year’s Eve wedding is that people will expect us to stay until midnight, won’t they?”

The resignation in his voice made me laugh. “Afraid so, but I can kiss you without anyone thinking anything of it.”

“Kissing you at midnight in front of people is not a good idea, but by twelve-thirty I expect to have you naked, wet, and beneath me.”

My face heated. My thoughts were focused solely on that picture he’d painted in my mind when Colby came up to request a dance.

Brian’s tight smile and his possessive gaze let me know how he felt about it. But it wasn’t like dancing with another man at a wedding was against the rules we’d negotiated. I rolled my eyes internally. Since when was I a girl who was worried about obeying rules, anyhow?

“Why do I get the impression that I interrupted something?” Colby queried before leading me into the middle of the floor and showing off some dance moves of his own.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I hoped I wasn’t blushing.

“In that case…” He turned me with ease and then dipped me dramatically.

I giggled when he brought me back up. Colby Singer might not be the kind of man I could ever date, but his boyish charm was irresistible. “Are you ready to become an uncle?” I asked, attempting to steer the conversation onto safer ground.

Colby’s features softened. “Yes, definitely, and we found out the baby is a girl. Haylee told Josh on the dance floor.”

I smiled. “That’s really great.”

“Can I say one thing about Brian, and then I’ll leave it alone?”

Obviously, he wasn’t waiting for my consent.

“He’s like another older brother to me. Maybe it’s the wedding or the whiskey making me sentimental, but I love him like one. Do me a favor and be good to him, all right?”

Huh. Maybe I’d underestimated Colby’s depth. “Okay.” I didn’t acknowledge whether I knew what he was talking about or not.

“Was Kenzie upset about the other night?”

I decided to play dumb for her sake. “Uh, no. Why?”

He shrugged. “She’s had this crush on me for years and seeing me at your door—Let’s just say I try to be respectful when it comes to, uh, interest in other women around her.”

---