Page 65 of Mr. Scandalous

Splat!

And it was going to hurt more than he could ever imagine.

* * *

“Congratulations,”Uncle Mac said, slapping Alec on the back at the reception and then passing him a flute of champagne.

“Congratulations? I’m not the one who just got married.”

“I’m referring to your date.” His uncle nodded toward the dance floor, where Eden was getting pretty jiggy with it, shaking her booty in time to “Respect” along with his sisters and a gaggle of other women. The guys had deserted the dance floor with that tune. “Look at her go.”

She swung her hips like a pendulum and waved her arms over her head. The hem of her blue silk dress inched up her thighs revealing a yard of gorgeous legs. Eden dipped and swayed and giggled.

Exactly how many of those potent tequila sunrises had she sucked down?

Alec pressed the champagne flute to his forehead praying the cool drink would send his temperature down a notch or two. It was all he could do not to march across that dance floor, scoop her into his arms and whisk her away.

He thought of what he had in store for her back at the B and B. Candles, soft music and satin sheets. He wanted it quiet and sweet and tender. Tonight was not about hard, hot sex. Tonight he wanted to gently romance her and show her how much these past few weeks had meant to him. Tonight was all about her.

“Yep,” Mac said. “She’s a wild one. Excellent work on picking someone who’s not interested in throwing a lasso over you, the way Jill snared Randy. Eden is all about the fun.”

“Who says she’s not interested in a serious relationship?”

Mac blinked. “Why, she did. When we were doing the chicken dance, she told me you were the perfect hookup. That bothers you. I’d have figured you’d be overjoyed to have a woman who wasn’t the least bit interested in settling down.”

“I am.”

“Funny, you look kind of mad.”

Hookup.Alec gritted his teeth. Had she actually said that? Was that all he was to her?

Holy crap. He was in trouble here. If he had a lick of sense he’d haul her cute little fanny back to Manhattan so fast it would make her dizzy.

Unfortunately, where Eden was concerned it seemed he possessed no brains at all. When they’d arrived at the reception, Eden had whispered in his ears, “Buy me a drink, big guy. I’m ready to party.”

He’d complied, happy for her to have a fun time, but somewhere along the way, between the oglers and Eden’s uninhibited sway, he’d changed his mind.

When had he gotten so stuffy? And so possessive? If it had been any other woman he’d dated he would be out on the dance floor living it up with her rather than brooding on the sidelines.

Whatwaswrong with him?

The next thing he knew, the deejay had put Gloria Estefan on the sound system and started a conga line right behind Eden.

They undulated through the crowd, tugging people into the conga line as they went, Eden leading the way, the good-looking deejay’s hands clasped around her narrow waist. Alec didn’t want anyone’s hands on her except his own. Glowering, he shoved his glass of champagne at Mac and stalked toward the conga line.

Eden’s eyes met his. She sent him a sly, secretive smile and darted out her tongue to touch her upper lip and slowly wag it back and forth. The pressure in his pants increased exponentially with each sassy swish of her tongue. When had the woman become such an outrageous flirt?

He liked it and yet he did not.

Gloria Estefan invited everyone to do the conga.

Eden reached out to him but, rather than take her hand and get in front of her, Alec clamped a hand on her waist above the startled deejay’s hand and, like an ill-mannered motorist forcing his SUV into five- o’clock traffic, he wedged his body between Eden and the other man.

With a quick turn of her head, Eden flashed him another smile. “Jealous?”

“Why would I be jealous? Just because you’re shaking your booty so hard the men are getting whiplash from watching you.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” She laughed and saucily swished her fanny, snaking the conga line along with her as she danced around the tables and chairs.

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