She didn’t know what to say. She watched the dancers for a while. She had to say something, but she couldn’t think of anything appropriate to get her out of this awkward situation. “So what kind of dancing do you like?”
“I like slow dancing with someone I care about. I like holding someone close and sharing a private moment, not throwing myself around in front of a drunken crowd.”
At that moment, the music changed to a swaying rock ballad. The excited hoots died down in the dining room, and Bridget saw Sheila fall against one of her penguins
Roy leaned over. “How about it? Would you like to dance with me?”
She stared up at him. “What….here? Now?”
“Why not?” He took her hand and gave her arm a tug.
She resisted. She didn’t really want to dance, especially not with him. Well, why not with him? Wasn’t she just mooning over having a guy that appreciated her? Here he was, asking her to dance — not in front of a drunken crowd like Sheila, but right here, in the privacy of the hotel doorway.
No one was around. Potted trees and wisteria surrounded the doorway. The music lapped into the garden. His hand squeezed hers, and his iron bulk rose up big and high all around her.
What would it be like…just once? What the heck. What could go wrong? So he appreciates her body. She could enjoy dancing with him, just for a minute. Then she would split. She didn’t want to have anything to do with a guy who called her a tart and said he wanted to eat her. That kind of guy would eat dirt and die.
She couldn’t break free of his hand holding hers anyway. Some undeniable force pulled her toward him. That undeniable force came from him, from his massive, unstoppable self.
So this was what Ben saw in Roy. He locked his eyes on what he wanted, and nothing could stop him. He liked her, he appreciated her body, and he wanted to dance with her. Gravity towed her toward him. She couldn’t break away.
She didn’t want to break away. She wanted to dance with him. So he was a bombastic prick. He considered her something to eat. She wasn’t marrying him. She was just dancing with him for a minute.
He dragged her toward him, and he pushed her hand behind her back to hug her against his broad chest. Her top pressed against his jacket. He took her other hand and started swaying to the music.
She sank into that undertow, and her body followed his movements. His overpowering presence dwarfed her and sheltered her. She leaned into him, and she rested her head on his chest. He settled his cheek against her hair and kissed her forehead. She should have startled away at that. What was he doing? He couldn’t actually care about her, could he? What was he kissing her forehead for?
She didn’t startle away, though. For some reason, that kiss seemed just right, in just the right place at just the right time. It fit with this slow dance with no one around to see.
They eased back and forth. You couldn’t call it dancing. They just shifted their weight back and forth in time to the music. Before Bridget knew it, the song ended, and the thumping beat of jumpy dance music took its place. She let him go with a sigh and stepped back.
She smiled up at him and gave his hand a squeeze. “Thanks. That was nice.”
He let her hand go. “Anytime.”
Chapter 3
Bridget set off down the hall toward her room. Around the corner, she spotted Larissa and the other bridesmaids with their heads together. Sheila looked up and waved to Bridget. “Bridget! Come here. We’re taking pictures of just us bridesmaids for Larissa’s scrap book.”
Bridget slouched over to them. “All right.”
She sat still for the picture, but when she got up to leave, Sheila yanked her back. “Where have you been? We’re going down to Tommy’s room to play spin the bottle.”
Bridget tugged her arm free. “I don’t want to play spin the bottle, and it sounds like it’s just you and Tommy playing, anyway. I saw you dancing with him downstairs. You go ahead and have a good time.”
Sheila wouldn’t let her go. “Why are you being such a killjoy ? We’re here to have a rocking good time, not sit in our rooms and watch late-night movies while we sob into our tequilas. You’re coming with me. Tommy won’t be the only guy there. Maybe Roy will even be there.” Sheila ended with a wicked laugh.
“Are you trying to make Tommy jealous by kissing Roy? Which one of them are you going after anyway ?”
“All of them!” Sheila shrieked. “Come on. You’re my responsibility, and I’m here to make sure you have a good time, too.”
She wouldn’t hear any more protest but hauled Bridget back the other way down the hall. She shoved Bridget into the room and slammed the door behind her. Sure enough, most of the groom’s party mingled around the room. The guys turned to look at Bridget when she walked in.
Bridget froze. “What’s going on here — the bachelor party?”
Ben came over to her side. “Bridget! Good, you’re here. We need a few more girls to play spin the bottle.”
“I’m not playing spin the bottle, and neither are you. You’re getting married in the morning.”
“No, I’m not playing,” Ben replied. “I’m the referee. I arbitrate disputes and make sure everybody plays fair.”
Bridget migrated to the side of the room. “Good. Then you can make sure nobody includes me in the game, either.”
Sheila stuck a glass in Bridget’s hand. “Stop talking and start drinking. We’re here to have a good time, not flap our jaws.”
Bridget found a seat for herself on the dresser top. Guys occupied every other seat in the room except Sheila on the couch arm and Betsy sitting on the floor next to her boyfriend Jason’s knee.
Bridget sipped her drink. It was a cheap screwdriver of orange juice and vodka, but it did the trick of making her head buzz with make-believe excitement. She spotted Roy tucked into a corner, but she kept her eyes turned away from him. He wasn’t drinking anything and he kept quiet.
Ben held up his arms. “Well, we’ll just have to get started and hope some more girls come soon.” He laid an empty bottle in the center of the room. Everybody backed up to form a circle. “Now you all know the rules. If you spin, you have to kiss whoever it points at. No excuses, or I will have no choice but to administer corporal punishment.”
Raucous laughter and wolf whistles answered him from every side. He stepped back. “Now, I’ll spin the bottle just to see who gets to go first. I’m not going to kiss anybody. Understand? This is just to get the game started.”
The crowd shouted racy insults and offers of sexual favors at him. Ben laughed and bent down to spin the bottle. Bridget took another sip of her screwdriver. She thanked her lucky stars she wasn’t getting involved in this stupid party gag.
The bottle spun and stopped pointing at Sheila. The room erupted in wild conversation. Guys shouted suggestions and propositions if she spun to land on them. Sheila bolted a shot of gin and moved forward. She squatted down in the ring.
“Spin it to me, baby,” Tommy called.
Jason elbowed him. “She can make it spin anywhere she wants. Don’t you know that by now?”
“Spin, Sheila,” Ben told her.
“And no cheating,” Tommy called.
Sheila laughed, lurched sideways, and steadied herself. She took hold of the bottle and gave it a spin. It stopped pointing somewhere between Jason and Tommy. Jason held up his hands. “I’m not kissing her. I’m taken, man.”
Tommy held out his arms. “Come on, baby. Take your medicine.”
Another voice interrupted from somewhere. “Referee! Referee!”
Ben stepped forward. “In a situation like this, since Jason isn’t willing, I have no choice but to declare Tommy the winner.” He bowed and swept his hand across his stomach. “You may now kiss the bride.”
The guys screamed and chanted. “Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!”
Tommy stood up and moved in on Sheila. She pretended to resist, but in the end, she lunged into his arms and planted a sloppy kiss on his mouth. They resumed t
heir seats, and the bottle passed to Bridget’s cousin Rex. He spun the bottle, and it wound up pointing at Ben himself.
“As referee , I can make an exception just this once.” Ben opened his arms to his cousin. “Come on, Lover Boy. Give us a big kiss.”
The two cousins embraced and kissed each other on the lips in front of everybody. Even Bridget cheered. The vodka softened her so she started to enjoy the spectacle.
Her blood ran cold when the bottle passed to the next person sitting on the couch. A hush fell over the room when Roy took hold of it and moved forward. Someone broke the spell by murmuring to Ben, “Are you gonna kiss him, too?”
Snickers and snorts of laughter hummed around the room. Ben chuckled. “Larissa gave me a limit of kissing one guy per day. I can’t go over that.”
Roy shifted onto his knees in the middle of the floor. His eyes swept the circle of faces, and everyone held their breath to see what would happen. He gave the bottle a decided spin. It flashed in the dim light and stopped.
Every eye in the room turned on Bridget. Even Ben stared at her. His eyes shone wide as saucers. “That’s you, Bridget. You have to kiss him.”
She set her drink down and jumped off the dresser. “No, no, no. I told you I’m not playing. Make him spin again and get someone else.”
Roy stood up and faced Bridget. He towered over the game in all his magnificent power. Ben recovered in an instant. He stood up straighter, too. “You have to kiss him, Bridget. That’s the rules.”
She rounded on her brother. “I told you. I’m not playing, and I’m not kissing him. I never wanted to come to this stupid stag party anyway. I’m going back to my room.”
Ben’s hand shot out faster than lightning. He caught Bridget’s arm and spun her around to face the room. “If you don’t kiss him, I’ll have no choice but to punish you. Is that what you want? Do you want me to turn you over my knee and spank you in front of everybody?”
The guys guffawed with laughter. A hint of a smile touched Roy’s lips, but he didn’t say anything. Bridget glared at them all and growled through gritted teeth. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Ben waved his hand. “Maybe you’d like it better if Roy gave you a spanking. Maybe he would forgo the kiss in favor of that. What do you say?”
Bridget’s eyes darted to Roy. The slight smile vaporized off his face to become a hard mask of fixed determination. He glanced down at her body and back up to her face. In that moment, she never entertained any doubt what he was thinking. He would gladly exchange an innocent kiss for the chance to spank her over his knee. He would relish it.
Ben returned her gaze with the same direct expression. He wouldn’t back down. For just a second, she couldn’t recognize him. Roy’s magnetic force surrounded him. Nothing could stand against him when he faced the world like that. What did Roy teach him to overpower her with a simple glance? She looked at Roy. He waited for her. He could wait forever if he had to.
She rushed forward. “All right. Just this once, and then I’m leaving. You perverts can have an orgy in here for all I care.”
She only made it two steps into the ring when Ben’s voice sliced the air. “And make it a good kiss. No grandmother peck on the lips. Make sure you give him a good kiss.”
Bridget pulled up short, but she couldn’t see Ben or anyone else now. She couldn’t see anything but Roy. He stood right in front of her, all ready to kiss her. She searched his eyes for any sign of help, but he didn’t give it to her. She danced with him outside the dining room. She danced with him just for a lark, just for a moment. It didn’t mean anything.
She could kiss him the same way. She would give him a kiss and leave. It meant nothing and it never would. She crossed the last few inches, but when she took her place in front of him, her nerve failed. She stared up into his eyes. What was he thinking right now?
She took a look at his lips. Could she really kiss those lips? What would they taste like? What would his tongue taste like? Before she could make up her mind what to do next, his arm shot out. He planted his big hand on her back and yanked her in against his chest. Her breath caught on her lips, and she squeaked with surprise.
She didn’t hear the room go deadly quiet behind her. She didn’t hear anything but the thump of her pulse in her veins. His body quaked under her. She couldn’t lift her hands to push him away or even rest them on his shoulders. His eyes burned into her from inches away.
As suddenly as he pulled her in, he leaned forward and kissed her hard. He crushed her breasts against his chest, and his lips nudged her mouth open. His tongue snaked inside and touched hers.
Her whole being surged in sudden shock, but she couldn’t tear herself away. He held his mouth pressed against hers. His tongue explored and licked her fevered mind. His commanding hands, his masterful lips, his rock-hard nearness exploded through her in a million rocket blasts. He excited her. He attracted her. He had his arms around her and he was kissing her right now!
That fast, he let her go. His hand dropped away from her back. His lips vanished, and he became once again a regular man standing in front of her. Bridget could never be the same again, though. His chest smashing against her tits, his hand guiding her hips into his, his tongue sending wetness through her panting tissues — all created a whirlwind of tempestuous emotion she couldn’t ignore.
Titters and whispers went around the room and woke Bridget from her trance. Roy glanced sideways and smiled down at Ben. He turned back to Bridget with an innocent smile. He hadn’t done anything. He was just playing around.
Bridget couldn’t wait around anymore. She raced to the door and rushed down the hall to her room.
Chapter 4
Bridget punched the button to call the elevator. She paced back and forth while she waited for the bell to ring. What the devil got into her? What did she ever let Sheila drag her to that room for in the first place? She never drank. This was the natural conclusion to a series of idiotic decisions. She had no one to blame but herself.
She couldn’t get Roy and his kiss out of her head. What did he have to kiss her like that for? His eyes and hands and mouth all told her the same story he told her himself. I don’t want another tart to eat. I want to eat you.
Eat her! He wanted to do a lot more than that. He wanted her. Why else would he yank her against him like that, to make her gasp right before he kissed her? Holy cripes! She had to get away from him.
She wanted him, too. That was the worst part. No one ever kissed her like that before in her life. She never imagined anyone would kiss her like that. No one ever came right out and told her point blank they wanted to…..to what?
Forget it. Just forget the whole thing. That was the best plan. Just forget Roy Fontaine ever existed. So she kissed a guy playing spin the bottle. Who cares? Nothing happened, and now she was on her way up to her room for the night. Ben would get married tomorrow, and they would all live happily ever after. The end.
The elevator bell rang. Thank goodness for that! She rushed into the car and punched the button for her floor. She leaned her back against the cold steel and let out a shaky breath. The doors started to slide closed when an arm shot out and blocked them. “Hold the door!”
She could only stand in frozen shock when Roy ducked into the car along with her. She stared at him with her mouth open. The doors closed, and they rode alone — all alone — up to the hotel.
Roy turned to face her. “Sorry about that. You ran out of the room in such a hurry I didn’t get a chance to tell you. I hope I didn’t overdo it.”
“Overdo it! Is that what you call it? You overdid it on purpose. You didn’t overdo it. You did exactly what you wanted to.”
He squared his shoulders. “You’re right. I did, and I’m not sorry I did it, either. I wanted to do that and a lot more ever since I saw you at the church.”
“So you’re not sorry. What the flippin’ hell are you apologizing for, then?”
“I’m only sorry if I offended you. I never meant to do that.”<
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She faced forward. “Well, you didn’t offend me. I never expected anything less from a guy like you. I only want to get away from you and get back to my room.”
“What do you mean — a guy like me?”
She rounded on him with flashing eyes. “You know perfectly well what I mean. A guy like you — a guy who would kiss a girl like that in a game of spin the bottle.” She jabbed her finger in his face. “You know, I can almost believe what Jason said and you made the bottle point toward me on purpose.”
“He’s right. You can make it point wherever you want.”
Bridget narrowed her eyes at him. Her gaze could cut marble. All of a sudden, she whirled away. “Forget it. Just forget it. It happened. It’s over. Now I’m going to my room. See ya later. Have a good night. See you at the wedding tomorrow.”
The elevator pinged again, and the doors slid open. She dashed out and hurried down the hall. Roy strode after her and caught up to her. “What’s wrong, Bridget? You keep saying it was nothing, that you shouldn’t have expected anything else from me, but you’re acting like you’re mad at me. Whatever I did to make you mad, I said I was sorry.”
She didn’t stop walking as fast as she could to avoid breaking into a run. “You said you weren’t sorry for kissing me. That’s what you did, but it doesn’t matter. You’re my brother’s best friend, and you’re also his boss. I wouldn’t want to do anything to spoil that, so let’s just call it a draw and say good night. Okay? Can we stop talking about this now?”
He fell in at her shoulder. “I don’t want to stop talking about this. I don’t want to stop talking to you at all.”
“So what do you want?”
“I want to kiss you again. I want to kiss you like I just did.”
She spun around to face him. “Well, that’s not going to happen. I would never have kissed you in the first place if they hadn’t been playing that stupid game.”
He ran his tongue back and forth inside his mouth. “I want to take you back to my room for the night. I want everything I saw at the church.”
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