Page 31 of Finding Chloe

But Chloe had me wanting to jump in bed with her right then and there. After Hunter’s interruption, I didn’t know when would be the next time I’d get any time with her. Not without having to fight two other men for her attention.

“Come on man, we really need to up your game,” Hunter said when I came back to our room.

I cursed him under my breath as I shut the door and plopped on the lower bed.

“You feel it too, don’t you?” Hunter leaned against the table beside the bed.

“Fuck yes. I’ve never had a reaction like this to any other woman. What are we going to do?” This was so far out of my territory. And we had Matt to worry about. “What about Matt?”

“Well, we can either convince him to let us have Chloe, or we are going to have to work out something we can all agree upon. We can’t jeopardize the ranch. This place is our home, and Matt has always been a friend.”

I nodded along to Hunter’s words. “I really like her. I don’t want to give her up.”

“I know. We’ll have to think of something.” Hunter ran his hand through his hair. We stayed silent for a few minutes, reflecting on what had just happened.

“You gonna take care of that?” Hunter asked. When I turned toward him, he was pointing at my still-hard cock.

Well, fuck. I needed a cold shower. Or maybe a hot one with Chloe’s kiss running through my mind.

CHLOE

Even though Matt had volunteered to go into town with me, today I needed the bride. I picked Alex up from the clinic, and we made our way to the dress shop.

“We’re here for Alex’s final fitting.”

“Right this way.” The boutique owner, Sarah, led us through the main shop to the fitting room.

With a delighted smile, she brought out a white garment bag and hung it in the room set aside for Alex. “I think you will love the alterations,” she said. “Please let me know if you need me.” I loved how she knew when to back away and allow customers their space.

With trembling fingers, Alex shut the door to the dressing room, making me wonder if she was okay. After a few minutes, when she didn’t appear, I gently knocked on the pretty cream and gold door. “Can I help?”

The door slowly opened, and Alex’s brown gaze was staring at the dress. The off-the-shoulder dress was gorgeous with the lace along the top edge and down both of her sides. The dress was more formfitting than I would have expected, but the smooth fabric was broken up by the long slit that ran up her left leg. It gave a feel of classic elegance mixed with subtle risqué.

Over and over, her hands kept smoothing down the sides. This was not the confident woman I was used to.

“Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?”

She shrugged. “It’s a beautiful dress.”

“And you look amazing in it…” I left my sentence open ended, hoping she’d let me in.

“I love it, I do, but it’s just… sometimes I feel like I’m losing myself. I want to be the elegant perfect woman for my guys. I don’t want to be an embarrassment to everyone who’s coming from Cosland.”

“What do you mean?” I hadn’t realized how much pressure she was putting on herself. I made a note to check in with Alex more without the guys present.

“It feels like a royal wedding in some ways. There are certain expectations. And this dress feels like it’ll fit those expectations.” She let out a sigh, then tugged at the fabric of the dress once more.

“I don’t think that slit of yours is an expectation. If it is, I can’t wait to search for mine,” I laughed, lightly touching the slit that went all the way to Alex’s mid-thigh. “And this lace? I’m not sure royalty are allowed to show this much skin.”

Alex laughed too, letting out a gust of breath at the end.

“Or the fact that you’re getting married in a field under a tent and not walking down the aisle of some fancy church,” I added. “The Kingstons want the same type of wedding as you do.”

She waved a hand up and down the front of her dress. “I don’t want to disappoint them, but I also want to feel more like myself.”

“And this dress doesn’t feel like you?”

She gave me a sad nod.

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