Page 13 of Off Camera
I shiver at the contact and the soft brush of his fingers along my spine. I boldly lean into him, craving more, and I’m tempted to push him into the elevator and kiss him senseless.
I wanted to at the bar, but I didn’t have the chance. Knowing my phone is shut off and locked in my hotel room with an out-of-office message set up, I’m not going to sleep until I know what he tastes like.
The doors to the elevator open, and we step inside. The temperature seems to climb twenty degrees in the enclosed space. When he reaches past me to press the button for the lobby, I wonder what his touch would feel like on my breasts. Trailing down my stomach and between my legs.
“Are you staying here tonight?” Reid asks, and he must be thinking the same thing I am.
“Yeah.” I fix the strap of my dress and heat flares behind his eyes as he tracks my movements. “I knew it was going to be a late night, and not having to worry about how I was going to get home sounded a lot easier than trying to fight the crowd for an Uber.”
The elevator stops at the seventh floor, and a group of wedding guests file in. Reid nods hello to a couple of them, and he steps closer to me to give them room.
“How many whiskeys is it going to take for you to tell me your real name?” he asks.
“What are you talking about? I told you my name.”
“You told me a name. Notyourname.” He taps the chain around my neck and drags his knuckles across the small silver links. “I’d really like to know what I can actually call you. No bullshit.”
I swallow and tilt my head back. With my heels on, we’re closer in height, and I like that I can look him in the eyes.
“Avery,” I say softly.
“Avery,” he murmurs, and my name has never sounded so precious before. “It’s a pleasure to meet you for real.”
“The pleasure is still mine.”
When we reach the ground floor, the rest of the guests head into the lobby. Reid sticks an arm out, keeping the doors open, and stares at me.
“I wasn’t kidding about that dance,” he says, but nothing about it is forceful.
It’s almost like he’s begging for the chance, and a wildfire sparks inside me.
“I wasn’t either. I hope your best man duties go well.” I give him a smile I hope is flirty and throw caution to the wind. “Come find me later, Reid. Maybe we can finish what we started the other night at the bar.”
FIVE
REID
“Dude.”Maverick elbows me when I make my way to the front of the ballroom where the ceremony is being held. I stand next to him in my designated spot under an arch made of bright pink and yellow flowers and fix my tie. “Where were you?”
“I was talking to someone,” I say.
“Who?”
“Remember that girl from the bar? She’s here.”
“What? What is she doing here? Oh my god. Do you have a stalker?”
“I don’t have a stalker, you fucking weirdo. She’s friends with Maven, apparently.”
“Holy shit,” he says. “Did you talk to her?”
“I asked her to save me a dance. That sounds really fucking cheesy, but I ran into her and then literally fell on top of her. She looked pretty in her dress and?—”
“I have Emmy’s handwriting tattooed on my chest. Her name has been my phone passcode since the week after I met her. I’m king of the fucking cheese. You don’t have to justify yourself to me. Are you going to invite her back to your room later?”
I burst out laughing. “No way. I haven’t been with a woman in years. My experience before that is limited to two long-term relationships. Spontaneous isn’t in my vocabulary.”
It’s embarrassing to admit that to the man who used to get any woman he wanted. Maverick Miller has game. He winks at someone and their underwear comes off.
