Page 73 of Something to Someone

Her voice was barely above a whisper, and she’d been quiet for so long I’d thought she’d fallen asleep.

“What isn’t?” I asked in a similarly low voice, still raking my fingers through her hair.

“My hard exterior, as you called it.”

My fingers faltered, and I had to swallow before I asked, “It’s not?”

“No, it’s for us,” she whispered and squeezed my fingers where our hands were still intertwined against her thigh. I squeezed back. “To protect us both.”

The tightness in my chest morphed from calmness and contentment to apprehension and doubt. I had nothing to say. I didn’t know how to respond or what words she wanted to hear. Protecting herself,us, was noble, but I had no idea what she was protecting us from. From the outcome of what we were doing?

None of the thoughts bouncing around my head were coherent enough to voice, so the silence eventually filtered in once again. I slipped my arm beneath her head and wrapped the other back around her, trying to convey the torrent of emotions by touch alone.

Like she felt everything I wanted her to, she sighed. “Because without it, I’m worried about what will happen.”

THIRTY-ONE

YOU’RE A HEARTBREAKER

Caroline

“Seriously, go eat,”Addie said as she pushed me toward the corner of the room where my food had been sitting for an hour. “I had one of the caterers heat it up, and if you don’t go now, you’re never going to eat.”

With a huff, I begrudgingly handed over my iPad and took the earpiece out of my ear.

Addie smiled and gave me one last push. “Good girl,” she said as I started walking away.

I waved her off and eyed the plate of food. My stomach growled on cue, and I couldn’t deny I needed some calories.

The day had gone off without a hitch. I wasn’t one to gloat or brag, but that was why my clients hired me—my attention to detail and preparedness were unmatched. They were guaranteed a good—if not perfect—outcome.

The ceremony had been perfect, and even the elements I couldn’t control—like the weather—had cooperated for the most idyllic sunset vow exchange I’d ever witnessed. The cocktail hour had run smoothly as had the dinner service we’d wrapped up about a half hour ago.

I sat down at the little table and scooped a huge bite of potatoes into my mouth as I looked across the dance floor. The smiles on Stephen and Miles’s faces were proof enough that I’d done my job well.

I lived for those smiles.

I bent my head, and with little grace, I began shoveling food into my mouth. I promised Addie I’d take a break, but I didn’t specify how long that break would last. I planned to be done in five minutes until someone slid into the seat beside me.

“This wedding is beautiful,” Natalie said. I nodded and mumbled a “thank you” around a mouthful of steak. “Is this the biggest one you’ve planned?”

With a guest list of over three hundred, it was close but not quite the largest. I swallowed my food and shook my head as I sipped the glass of red wine sitting in front of my plate.

“Almost. The largest, and priciest, was the Timothy wedding last year. Four hundred people not including the wedding party and vendors.Thatwas the biggest.”

Natalie nodded slowly and sipped her own nearly empty glass of wine. “Oh, and did you see Beckett is here? Apparently, he’s friends with Stephen’s dad? It’s a small freaking world.”

Beckett Crawford, Natalie’s boss, owned the law firm she worked for. His father had started the firm when he was Beckett’s age and had retired a few years ago, leaving his son in charge. Beckett had worked with his father since he graduated law school, so he was more than prepared for the promotion.

Natalie tried to set us up at one point, but it hadn’t gone anywhere. Not because he wasn’t amazing or drop-dead gorgeous, because he definitely was. I just wasn’t into sleeping with my best friend’s boss. Her son, on the other hand…

I shook away the thought and took another long gulp of wine, refraining from searching for Ryder across the room. Not that it would have taken much searching—he was in the middle of the dance floor with his friends. They were jumping and singing to the beat of the music that echoed around the ballroom.

But I didn’t look up. I kept my eyes glued to my plate and listened to Natalie discuss the possibility of the company opening a new office in Chicago. I didn’t think about how good it felt to wake up next to Ryder that morning. Or how he conned me into laying there with him for an extra thirty minutes by rubbing my back and playing with my hair.

I also made it a point not to think about what I’d divulged in my softened post-orgasm haze the night before. Vulnerability did not come easy to me, yet every time I was around him it became easier to show parts of me I didn’t think I’d ever let anyone else see again.

I’d done it twice before and both times had permanently changed me. Shattering pieces that could never be repaired. A third time might break me altogether.

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