Page 9 of Hero's Prize

A good friend. Someone he enjoyed talking to. But only in the furthest recesses of his mind had he let himself even think about the possibility of more than that. Despite his attraction, he hadn’t wanted to jeopardize any camaraderie he had with Ella.

And hadn’t thought she was interested at all.

How had he not known about this crush? Because he certainly would’ve acted on it if he’d known. Wouldn’t have been able to stop himself.

Even now, he had to shift and try to low-key adjust himself as hegot turned on at the thought. He would’ve made a move on Ella years ago if he’d known she was interested.

“So, you’re waiting for her?” Lincoln asked. “That’s who you’re waiting on to go dance and enjoy yourself?”

“No.” Colton was still trying to spot Ella. “I had no idea she thought of me that way.”

Lincoln muttered a curse. “I shouldn’t have said anything, should I? My damned lack of inside voice.”

Ella chose that moment to come out of some sort of back room next to a member of the hotel staff who was carrying a tray of delicious-looking treats. Her gaze didn’t stop floating from serving table to serving table as she took in everything around her.

She said something to another staff member, smiling gently. The other woman rushed off to do Ella’s bidding. Ella walked with purpose to a second table where the wedding cake had been before the bride and groom cut it.

She looked the way she always did: efficient, friendly, and…adorable.

Her brown hair was pulled back into a chic ponytail, and her blue dress and short heels allowed her to move freely as she worked.

And those curves… Colton’s fingers itched to run along her skin—to get her out of that functional yet appropriate attire. Now that he’d started thinking about her that way, he wasn’t sure he was ever going to be able to stop.

As if she could feel his thoughts, Ella glanced up at him and their eyes met. He watched as those green eyes widened, then her face turned a bright red, before she looked away.

Hell, if that wasn’t proof that Lincoln was correct.

“Shedoeshave a crush on me.” He couldn’t keep the wonder out of his voice.

The other man nearly sagged in relief. “Okay, good. So, I didn’t say anything wrong?”

“The opposite, Linc. You said something very, very right.”

And there was no way in hell Colton wasn’t going to act on it.

CHAPTER

FOUR

There had been no disasters with the wedding or the reception.

No bad-guy kinds, no kinds where anybody had to draw a weapon, no near-drowning kinds—all of which had happened at past weddings with people from Oak Creek.

But Ella was most happy about there being no dessert-related disasters.

Honestly, she would’ve been okay with someone having to draw a weapon—she knew for a fact Lilah was wearing a .38 Special strapped to her thigh, and had no doubt some of her other friends were armed as well—as long as no treats were harmed in the process of defending the world against threats and tyranny.

“You know Eva’s going to come kick your ass if you don’t leave stuff alone and go have fun.”

Ella didn’t have to turn around to know it was Lilah behind her.

“I know. I know.” Although the bride didn’t have a violent bone in her body. “I just want to rearrange how these are displayed then I’ll be done.”

Theo and Eva had insisted over an hour ago that Ella’s job was finished, that she’d gone above and beyond what they’d expected. That they just wanted her to enjoy herself.

And Ella was enjoying herself. Keeping busy and making sure everything flowed nicely and tasted wonderful kept her happy.

Even if she had no idea why every time she’d looked up for the past hour, she’d found Colton Harrison’s eyes on her.

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