Page 62 of Once Kissed

Lety places her purse on Edward’s tray and adjusts his collar. “Then why are we here? We could have stayed in and watched all those Wolfman movies we planned on.”

“Your mother-in-law insisted on getting me out, and her friend is the publicist running the event. She begged Dionna for her presence, and mine.”

I’m only half-listening. Spencer motions in Tess’s direction. Whatever he says makes the men laugh, and causes her to edge further away from him.

What did you just say about her, asshole?

Nails dig into my arm, keeping me in place when I take a step forward. “Curran,don’t,” Lety warns. “You’re a cop, and this is a highly publicized and political event.”

She’s right, and it pisses me off. I meant it when I said I wouldn’t embarrass her, especially now that others have seen me with her and her future family. I lean back on my heels, ready to apologize to Edward and Brody. They’re frowning, but it’s not because I’m seconds from charging Spencer and bashing his face in.

“You need to get that girl out of here. Don’t you?” Brody asks me, leaving me with the impression he realizes how Tess is being treated.

I square my shoulders. “Yeah. Will you help me?”

He and his father say yes at the same time Lety says no.

“I’ll go up first, Dad,” Brody says, straightening his tie. “You come up next and distract him so I can get her on the dance floor.” He grins at me then. “Curran, Lety’s one hell of a dancer,” he adds with a wink.

“Be sure to tell him I’m torn between parties,” Edward says.

Brody nods and takes off, leaving Lety to throw her hands out and swear. “Nice, Lety,” I tell her. “You kiss your future father-in-law with that mouth?”

“Shut up, Curran,” she fires back, when Edward starts laughing.

His wheelchair jerks and swerves as he attempts to steer between chuckles. He stops long enough to speak to someone he knows and give Brody time to strike up a conversation with good ol’ Spence. I’m not sure who Brody is around here. The security guard seemed to think he’s a big deal. Maybe he is, seeing how his presence draws Spencer’s attention away from the dumbass he’s been working. Again, a tray filled with champagne passes by. And again, Spence grabs two, one for Brody and another for himself.

Brody motions to where his dad is making his way forward. Spencer’s face lights up, similar to how a cheetah would at the sight of a baby gazelle. Evidently it’s cash on wheels moving toward him. He doesn’t even notice Brody pass Tess his drink. She takes it, her gaze dropping to it like she’s shocked anyone noticed her.

Brody makes a show of introducing Spencer and his dickless buddies to his dad. If Brody is a prince on a mound of bling, his dad is the king on a damn hill of diamonds. The men swarm him, with Spencer fighting to be front and center. Brody uses the moment to inch his way closer to Tess. He says something and motions to the dance floor. She shakes her head and smiles politely.

Come on, angel face. Dance with him.

Lety leans into me. Like me, she’s been watching everything closely. “Don’t worry, he’ll get her out there,” she promises.

Brody takes a small step back, giving her room before saying something that widens her smile. “Let’s go,” I tell Lety, knowing her boy is getting it done.

I clasp Lety’s hand and lead her onto the dance floor. The band starts playing a current tune, totally killing the song, but I don’t care so much now.

We’re halfway through the dance floor when Brody brings Tess forward, his arm appearing to only lightly touch her back. “You like to spin?” he yells over his shoulder when he sees us.

“What?” she asks.

Instead of explaining, Brody takes her by the hand and spins her hard my way. I do the same to Lety, who laughs and keeps going, right into Brody’s arms. Tess stumbles, barely keeping her feet, only to freeze when she sees Brody lift Lety for one hell of a kiss.

He places her down and leads her away, winking in Tess’s direction. Tess remains frozen, confused by his actions. At the moment, I can’t blame her. My girl doesn’t know what the hell is going on.

Lety waves. “ ’Bye, Curran,” she calls through her laughter.

Tess’s spine straightens as she slowly turns to find me standing there. I wrap my arm around her waist and take her hand, dancing with her as I lead her further away from her date.

“Hi,” I tell her when we’re a good distance away. “I know I probably shouldn’t be in here, but yeah, hi.”

Okay, not the smoothest thing I’ll ever say, but I hadn’t given much thought to what I’d tell her.

“Hi,” she says, smiling softly. I lean forward when her arms circle my neck and she melts against me. It’s then I know that coming in here was the right thing to do. She needs me.

And maybe I need to know that.

---