The Bridal Squad

by Samantha Chase

  Was he…could he be…jealous?

  It was impossible to ignore the way her body was responding to this, but she crossed her arms over her chest to try to disguise the fact that her nipples were hard. “We went out after shopping,” she said vaguely and almost smiled at the way Jayce’s jaw ticked at her answer. She never kept her daily activities from him. If anything, she overshared.

  But right now, she wasn’t.

  They were toe to toe and he looked down at her. Natalie wasn’t short at five-foot-six and Jayce wasn’t even six feet, but she had on flats and there was just enough of a height difference so that she felt like he was towering over her.

  Oh…

  How could she be liking this? How could this possibly be a turn on? She liked their sweet fantasies – the wedding night, the slow and sweet lovemaking. But this? What was building up inside of her? Holy shit was it making her want to squirm just to ease some of the pressure.

  “I’m not asking you again,” he said.

  “I already answered your question,” she said quietly, defiantly.

  And then…well, it was madness. She was in Jayce’s arms as he crushed her to him and kissed her – hard and punishing and oh-so-good. She pretended to fight a little, but in a matter of seconds her hands were in his hair and she was kissing him back.

  It was wild and untamed and unlike anything they’d ever done before. He spun her around and lifted her and just as he was about to put her on the counter, she surprised them both by sweeping her arm over the surface and sending everything flying. Bread, mayonnaise, empty cans…all of it! Jayce stepped between her legs and continued to kiss her – the only time his lips left hers was to lift her shirt over her head.

  Damn. Had she known this was coming, she would have put on her good underwear. In her snit this morning, however, she had thrown on something basic – no lace, no bows. But right now, it didn’t seem as if he cared. He tugged the bra cups down and exposed her breasts as he began to fondle and squeeze them. Natalie broke the kiss and let her head fall back, letting out a small moan of pleasure.

  His lips and hands were everywhere as if he couldn’t get enough. Jayce was always a tender lover. She enjoyed their sex life immensely, but right now as he tugged her pants and panties down her legs, she realized what they’d been missing all this time.

  Passion.

  Heat.

  By the time Jayce lowered his own sweats and boxers, she was ready to combust. And when he stepped forward and was fully inside of her she let out a cry – not quite a warrior one, but one that was equally satisfying.

  It was fast and furious and there wasn’t anything tender about it. They were loud and frantic and when she collapsed against him a few minutes later, they were both breathless. So many thoughts raced through her mind, which seemed crazy because she didn’t think she even had the energy to think. But her first thought was about what all of this meant. How was it possible after all this time that they’d never had angry sex?

  And what was worse – what if they were the kind of couple who now had to have angry sex?

  “Natalie,” he whispered breathlessly. “That was…fuck. That was amazing.” He gently kissed her shoulder, her neck. “Baby…let’s go upstairs and…” More kissing. More touching.

  Oh my God, she thought. Was he ready to go again? They never went for a second round this fast. Sometimes they didn’t go for a second round at all! They cuddled afterwards, for crying out loud! And now…she moaned as she felt him definitely stirring again. The prim part of her wanted to be outraged and demand to know what was going on. But the sexually satisfied part of her? Well, she was totally ready for round two.

  So rather than argue, she locked her legs around his waist and whispered, “Take me there, Jayce.”

  ****

  It was after midnight.

  They never had dinner.

  And the kitchen was a disaster.

  Natalie stood in the doorway and looked at it with mixed feelings. Jayce was sound asleep in their bed. Apparently three times is a charm, she thought with amusement. But even all the sexy afterglow wasn’t enough to make her sleep knowing that all of…this…was waiting for her. Sure, she could leave it for the morning and make him clean it up, but it just wasn’t in her DNA. It needed to be done.

  Tonight.

  Wearing nothing but her robe, she began walking around and picking up the things she’d pushed to the floor earlier. She threw out the mayo and the random slices of bread that had fallen from the bag. Once everything was off the floor – including her panties and the rest of their clothes – she moved around and began putting things away. It took her longer than usual because it was late, she was tired and…disappointed.

  She hadn’t come home and made a point.

  She didn’t tell Jayce what was bothering her. Not really.

  If anything, all she proved was that fighting turned her on and that she could be a screamer in bed.

  None of these things helped her current frame of mind.

  With a sigh, she went out to the living room and began picking up the mess from in there as well. It took three trips with her arms loaded each time to clean it all up. In the morning she’d have to vacuum the carpet – for spite, she should do it now – but she didn’t have it in her.

  It took an hour to clean everything – to load the dishwasher, to wipe down all the counter tops and the coffee table, and to sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

  “I’m an idiot,” she murmured. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a little better because everything was in order again. She stood in the middle of the kitchen, hands on her hips, when Jayce came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

  She wanted to be mad, to tell him that she shouldn’t have to be up cleaning the house at one in the morning, but he placed a gentle kiss on her neck and said, “I’m sorry.”

  It was what she wanted to hear – what she’d needed to hear since the previous night. The reality was that he wasn’t really apologizing for the thing that really hurt her – the whole date night fiasco. He was apologizing for the mess.

  Still, it was an apology and she would accept it.

  “Come back to bed,” he said, his lips against her throat becoming more insistent, more urgent. He pressed against her bottom and she could feel that he was hard again. Wiggling her ass against him, she let out a breathy sigh. It was so good. So damn good and it was exactly what she needed to stop obsessing about clean floors and counters.

  There would be plenty of time to think about those things tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that. For tonight, she was going force herself to let that go and just focus on Jayce’s hands on her body and how they made her feel.

  As if reading her mind, his hands began to wander slowly – first cupping her breasts and then down to untie her robe. She gasped when he peeled it from her shoulders and she was standing naked in the kitchen.

  For the second time in one night.

  Slowly, those magnificent hands came back to her waist and then lower until one gently teased its way between her legs. Jayce knew exactly how to touch her and it didn’t take much for her knees to buckle and all the breath to leave her.

  The bed was so far away and she needed…wanted him now.

  There was something infinitely dirty about doing it here in her freshly cleaned kitchen and it was something she was ready to do. Natalie turned in his arms and didn’t have to say a word. She saw the same thing in her husband’s eyes. She gave him a naughty smile and whispered, “Do it.”

  Cold granite.

  Hot skin.

  And a whole lot of warrior cries.

  Never before had something she thought was so wrong felt so right.

  Six

  On Monday morning, Julianne was setting up for her 7:00 a.m. class when Brady walked in. “Hey, Brady! I didn’t know you had any sessions this early.”

  He shrugged and walked slowly into the room. “I’m starting with a new client this morning and saw you i
n here so I thought I’d stop and say hello.”

  “Oh…well…hi!”

  “Are you going to come by again tomorrow night for more lessons?” he asked casually.

  “I was planning on it. If that’s all right,” she said as she put out her bottles of water. “Although, I think I can probably manage on my own if you’re busy. I mean, I know what I’m doing now and honestly, it’s just nice to get up there and sort of let go of all the crazy shit swirling around in my brain for a little while.”

  He laughed softly. “I know what you mean. It is a great way to get out…frustrations.”

  Maybe it was her, but she had a feeling Brady was trying to say something without really saying it.

  “So um…yeah. I was planning on going up there after class tomorrow night,” she said lightly and did her best not to look directly at him. She didn’t know why but suddenly things felt…weird.

  “Will you be coming alone or will your…what did you call them the other night? Your squad? Will they be joining you?”

  Oh, God. Was Brady hitting on her? Was he trying to get her alone? Crap! What the hell was she supposed to do? She hadn’t planned on asking the girls to join her but…

  “Kayla’s leaving to go out of town for work but Natalie and Harper will be here for class so they’ll probably come too. I know Natalie seemed to really enjoy it.”

  His smile fell a little and all he said was, “Oh. Okay. Great. I guess I’ll see you all tomorrow night.”

  She smiled brightly at him and made a mental note to tell the girls that they had to come with her. It wasn’t what she wanted and maybe she should just go up and do the workout when she knew Brady wasn’t in and just handle it like that.

  It was so weird because he knew she was engaged. They’d talked about it that first night and she didn’t get any kind of weird vibe from him then. Or maybe she was just so out of touch with what it was like to have a guy flirt with her because she and Gavin had been together for so long that she missed all the clues.

  Dammit!

  Now she was going to have to find another time to kickbox and that was completely messing with her perfectly planned schedule!

  Not the best thing to add to her rage – especially when it was the one thing that was helping to alleviate said rage!

  “Gah!” she growled with frustration and turned to check out the room to make sure he was gone. So not what she needed right now. Brady was a nice enough guy but…she was engaged and getting married and not even remotely unhappy about it. Next time she saw him, she’d have to make sure he understood that.

  Poor guy.

  Voices alerted her that people were starting to arrive and she pushed all thoughts of Brady aside and focused on her students and getting them psyched to kick off their day with a little bit of dance.

  “Good morning, ladies!” she called out. “Make sure you claim your spot because you know Monday mornings are always packed!” She was just about to turn away when she spotted a familiar face. “Penny!”

  “Hey, Julianne,” Penny said as she stepped forward. Her red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she didn’t have on a stitch of makeup but still looked adorable. “This is my first Zumba class and after listening to you and your friends talk about it, I thought I’d give it a try.”

  “I’m so glad you’re here! You’re going to love it. I know you will. And know it’s okay if you mess up or if you don’t feel coordinated; that all comes with time.”

  “I took ballet for a couple of years when I was younger and then switched to gymnastics – much to my mother’s chagrin…”

  “Been there, done that.”

  Penny smiled. “Anyway, I’m in a slump right now with my workouts so meeting you was the perfect thing for me.”

  “I love hearing that! Go find a spot and we’ll get started in a bit. I need to finish setting up.”

  “Thanks, Julianne!”

  Fifteen minutes later, the room was full to capacity and she noticed that several people never made it through the door because of it. Good. She loved that. Not disappointing people, but the fact that her class was in such demand that they had to turn people away. It meant she was doing a good job and word was getting around.

  This was what she was meant to do; it’s what fueled her. She loved creating the choreography, picking the music, having control of it all and not having to answer to anyone to get their approval.

  This was her happy place.

  If she could plan her wedding the way she planned her classes, Julianne knew she’d be a very happy woman. Unfortunately, it didn’t work that way. She had to consult with far too many people for this wedding and deal with everyone’s tastes and budgets and it was all so damn frustrating!

  Her dinner with her parents fell through because her father had come down with some sort of stomach bug which her mother believed was food poisoning from the takeout they had on Saturday night. When she got the call, Julianne had been too concerned about her father to really focus on how disappointed she was about the canceled dinner because it meant she’d have to wait at least another week before she could sit her mother down and talk to her about Harper and the rest of the wedding plans.

  Gavin assured her it would all be okay – especially since the dress shopping part of the planning was done. There wasn’t going to be a whole lot they had to do as a group for a while so maybe it would help ease the tension.

  Julianne wasn’t so sure. They were still family, after all. And while the wedding planning brought out the snarkier comments toward Harper, the more Julianne thought about it, the more she realized that her mother had been doing it for a while – pretty much ever since Harper’s first failed engagement ten years ago. And it had only gotten worse with each one. When Harper called off her engagement to Steve two years ago, Julianne was relieved and she thought the whole family felt the same way because none of them particularly liked him. But it didn’t seem to be the guy, per se, that fueled the snarky comments. It wasn’t even about the marriage itself.

  No…it was more about the wedding.

  So their mother wanted to plan a wedding and felt robbed of that, so that was why she was picking on Harper? Could it really be that trivial? And if it was, why couldn’t she just let it go? She was helping Julianne plan hers so…what was up with that?

  “Um…Julianne? It’s seven-fifteen,” someone called out, and that’s when she realized she had totally zoned out on her class. That was something she never allowed to happen. Ever.

  So with a big smile on her face, she called out, “Sorry! I totally zoned there for a minute!” Then she picked up her remote and started the music and her spiel.

  “Good morning! I’m Julianne and this is Zumba! Do we have any first-timers here today?” Julianne asked just as she did at the beginning of every single class. Several people raised their hands. “Awesome! I am so glad you decided to join us today! This is a cardio dance class but don’t worry if you don’t have any dance experience – you don’t need any. And don’t worry if you don’t pick up the steps right away because we’ve all been there!”

  And once she started moving, everything else just faded away.

  ****

  Kayla looked at her travel itinerary for the hundredth time and frowned.

  She had an early morning flight tomorrow morning and she had zero enthusiasm for this trip. Not every assignment was exciting, but normally she could summon up a little bit of enthusiasm for them.

  Not this time.

  Freaking Nevada.

  There were going to be dozens, if not tens of dozens, of amateur photographers all over the desert taking pictures of the meteor shower and planetary alignments. It wasn’t a big deal at all. She doubted that any serious photographers would be out there.

  Most photographers on her level sort of laughed at assignments like these. If they did happen to go out and take pictures, it was for their own enjoyment and not for a paycheck. Adam must really think poorly of her if this is the assignment he gave her
.

  Normally they’d be on the phone every day leading up to a trip, with him telling her what he was looking for in the pictures and they both knew it was just an excuse to call and make plans. He came with her on some of the more exotic trips. And while their first trip – the one to Ireland – would forever be her favorite, she saw that Adam had definitely been more than a sex buddy.

  And now he wasn’t.

  Was he dating someone already?

  Had he thought about her at all in the last week?

  “This is crazy,” she murmured as she closed her laptop. “I can sit here and speculate, or I can go and confront him.” She stood up and went about getting showered and dressed. There was no way she could go on this stupid trip while her head was this messed up. It might be a mindless assignment but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t give it her all and make sure she got the best damn pictures possible.

  And none of that was going to happen if all she could do was fixate on what Adam was doing or thinking. She had to have some answers before she left.

  Thirty minutes later she was out the door. The trip to downtown Raleigh didn’t take long – finding a place to park took longer – but it was good. She had everything she wanted to ask ready in the forefront of her mind and knew if too much time passed, she’d lose her nerve. As she rode the elevator up to his office, she focused on simply breathing and when the door opened on his floor, she stepped out and felt one-hundred-percent confident.

  You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.

  Down the hall, she kept up the chant and when she pulled open the door, she smiled at his receptionist Doreen. “Hey!” she said, pasting a smile on her face that she hoped looked sincere. “Is he in?”

  They’d done this enough times before that Kayla knew she didn’t have to clarify anything and when Doreen looked at her funny, she chose to ignore it.

  “Um…he’s just finishing up with someone. Did Adam know you were coming? I don’t have you here on the schedule,” Doreen said and yes, there was a hint of pity in her voice.

  Dammit.

  “No, actually,” Kayla replied, trying to sound confident still. “I had some questions about this trip tomorrow and I was in the neighborhood and just thought I’d swing by and talk to him in person.”