by Lila Monroe
“So change the recipe,” Maggie says. “Focus on sexy guy and feeling amazing and don’t let the heart stuff have too much say. Go in assuming it isn’t leading anywhere, and there’s nothing to get hurt about. Just lots of good old-fashioned fun.” She gives me an exaggerated wink.
I can’t help laughing. “All right, all right. I’ve been waiting more than five years to scratch that itch. Maybe it’ll be easier to let go once I’ve gotten him out of my system.”
“That’s the way.” Brooke swats my arm playfully. “Go show him what he’s been missing.”
Certainty settles over me. A weight I hadn’t realized I was carrying fades away. “I’ll show him, all right,” I say with a grin. “Here I go—full speed ahead.”
And I mean it enough that I don’t even care when Brooke rolls her eyes at the Star Trek quote.
Chapter Sixteen
I’m glad there are a couple of hours left before dinner. I’m not sure how much later Will had in mind, but I’ll be damned if I’m not going to arrive at dinner ready to rock his world on sight.
I swap my tourist clothes for my magical teal halter dress. I sent it off with the hotel’s cleaning service thinking I’d re-wear it for the bachelorette excursion, but right now this seems a more fitting occasion. Then I spend an eon in front of the mirror trying to decide what to do with my hair. It’s a casual dinner. An up-do would be over the top, wouldn’t it?
Finally I simply rumple a little extra volume into my bob and leave it loose and free. Perfect for someone to run his fingers into. I dab on a tiny bit more makeup than usual, enough to give me just a hint of sultry, and smile at my reflection. Perfect. I don’t have the stature to pull off full-on femme fatale anyway, but the cute plus flirty combo has always served me well for hailing suitors.
I want Will’s eyes glued to me. I want him spending all of dinner imagining the things we could get up to afterward. If all we have is a few days, let’s cram as much passion as we can into them, to make up for lost time.
The tables are half full when I make it to the restaurant. To my surprise Will is already sitting down, leaning back in his chair like he really needed the break. And not only that, there’s an empty seat beside him. I plunk myself down in it with a careful smoothing of my dress during which the back of my hand might accidentally brush his thigh.
“Well, hello again,” he says, straightening up. His gaze takes a quick jaunt over me before rising to my eyes. The look on his face says my time primping was worth it.
Definitely worth it.
I focus on unwrapping my utensils from my napkin. “Emergency averted?”
“It really only took a couple of phone calls to settle everything in the end. They just had to be from the right person. I’m sure you’re familiar with that sort of scenario.”
“Uh huh.” And if one of my clients calls me tonight, I am going to throw my phone out a window.
“Have I mentioned before how stunning that dress is on you?” Will leans closer to murmur in my ear.
“You might.” I toy with my empty glass. “Should I hold it against you if you have?”
Will’s smile broadens at my double entendre. Then Brooke drops into the seat across from me with a sigh.
“Music finalized,” she says. “Dress ready. Cake concerns addressed. No more wedding planning for the rest of the day for me. Woohoo!”
Trevor ruffles her hair as he passes behind her. “Just a couple more days, and we can get on to the fun part.”
She groans. “If we ever do this again, let’s just pop into City Hall, all right?”
“And miss out on this relaxing vacation?” I tease.
Brooke laughs. “I’m going to need a honeymoon to recover!”
The rest of the wedding party drifts over to the same table, chattering about what they got up to today. Brad sits down at Will’s other side and nudges him with his elbow.
“Where were you all day?”
“Ruby ended up in the lurch, so I took a break to play tour guide,” Will says.
“Yes, it was quite the ride,” I say innocently. “You really should take me for another sometime.”
He shoots me a sizzling look. But he’s game. “We’d probably want to head down some different paths,” he suggests, as his hand rests lightly on my knee beneath the table. “Switch things up.”
I suppress a snicker. “Oh, definitely. There’s so much to explore. I’m very flexible, you know.”
“Really?” Will grins, his hand casually sliding higher. “I’ll have to remember that.”
I cough into my water glass.
“What is there to do around here off the resort?” Lulu asks, oblivious. “I’ve been enjoying this place too much to think about going anyplace else.”
“We visited a few local spots,” Will says. “My favorite coffee place, a local restaurant for lunch. Most of the morning we were snorkeling.”
“On a day this hot, it’s nice to have a chance to get wet,” I say cheerfully. Will’s hand tightens on my thigh. I quickly add, “And you wouldn’t believe how many fish you can see even from the surface. Who needs nature documentaries when you can take all that in firsthand?”
Will waits until the conversation moves on, then leans in again. “We’ll definitely have to take another dip,” he murmurs, tracing a circle on my thigh that makes me shiver.
“Just a dip?” I counter. “I prefer a longer swim … All the way in.”
The smolder in his gray-green eyes is hot enough that it’s a miracle I don’t catch fire. He just shakes his head. Then he adjusts his napkin on his lap, and I have to hide a smile.
I’m not the only one getting hot under the collar.
Somehow we make it through the rest of the conversation around the meal and the leisurely dessert that follows without either of us spontaneously combusting. Will’s hand stays resting on my leg, out of sight beneath the tablecloth, driving me crazy with his gentle caress. I tease him more about “being on top of things” and his “penetrating” insight, knowing I’m pushing him to the edge until finally, everyone’s done. As everyone finally gets up, Trevor thanks Will for another great meal.
“You do know how to leave your guests satisfied,” I say, and I think Will almost chokes on his last sip of wine. He gives me a wicked look.
“You have no idea.”
He breaks from the group for a moment as we meander out into the lobby with the vague intention of making it to the bar. I pause as if to examine the sarongs hanging on a rack outside the gift shop and watch him chat with the maître d’. Whatever feedback he’s giving, it’s obviously positive. The man’s face lights up. He nods enthusiastically, and Will gives him a companionable pat on the arm. His own expression is warm.
Seeing him acting in his benevolent monarch capacity turns my stomach into mush. Doing this work, bringing this resort to life, it brings out everything good in him too. And there’s obviously a lot of that.
I jerk my eyes away. I’m not supposed to be thinking about all the good in Will. The plan is to focus on how good I’ll feel when he’s inside me. Mushy is not on the menu.
Headboard-banging, mind-blowing sex is.
Maggie waves me over. “Are you coming, Ruby?”
If I’m lucky.
“I’ll be right there,” I say brightly. “Just got to pop into the ladies’ room.”
Heading to the restrooms, I replay all the juicy little moments from dinner in my head. I’ve only had one glass of wine, but I feel light-headed. Brooke and Maggie were right. I should just enjoy this ride while it lasts. I have no doubt at all it’s going to be a fantastic one.
I walk back into the hall, wondering exactly how and when we can take this teasing elsewhere and onward. Just how blatantly obvious would we be if we simply never made it to the bar? I could text a little invitation …
I’ve only made it two steps back toward the lobby, my hand reaching for my phone in my purse, when Will comes around the bend. We both stop.
Th
ere’s no one else around. He steps toward me, and every inch of my skin tingles with anticipation. “You,” he mutters, “have been driving me insane all evening.”
“Sorry.” My voice comes out a little breathless. “I have been told my flirting lacks finesse.”
“Fuck finesse.” His head dips, his lips almost brushing my temple. “I want to touch you until the only word you know is my name. I want to fuck you so hard you forget that too.”
Holy shit.
I grip the front of his shirt. “So what’s stopping you?”
Will lets out a growl and pushes me back against the wall. It was only this afternoon I was last kissing him, but it feels like forever, and I let out a sigh of pleasure when his mouth finds mine in a long, molten kiss. He pulls my body tight against his. He’s hard, his cock pressing into me. His mouth plunders mine, darkly sweet from the chocolate cake. I can’t think of anything except kissing him back with all the pent-up hunger in me.
His hands drop to my hips, his thumbs tracing a teasing line along my waist. I shiver into him and his lips break from mine with a smile. He kisses my cheek, my jaw, the side of my neck in seductive succession. Then he draws back. His hands stay on me.
“Your room or mine?” he demands. “Or does that break your first date rules?”
“Oh, this is definitely the second date now,” I say breathlessly. “Everything goes.” I detach one hand from my waist and wrap my fingers around his. Then I step away to tug him toward the elevators. “Ready?”
His grin is full of promise. “Never been more.”
Chapter Seventeen
Unfortunately, the elevators are in the lobby. Also in the lobby? Trevor. The groom-to-be catches sight of us as we’re skirting the front desk and breaks into a smile.
I slip my hand away from Will’s and ease a little farther apart as Trevor ambles over.
“There you are!” Trevor says. Based on his buoyant attitude, I’d guess he’s had more than one glass of wine this evening. He sweeps his arm in the direction of the bar. “Let’s go, let’s go. We’re already two rounds into the nightcaps.”
“Well, I—” I start, but he’s already draped an arm around Will and is hustling us towards the bar.
Damn.
Will catches my eye and grimaces, but what can we do? Short of telling Trevor, “Sorry to blow off your wedding celebrations, but we need to go screw our brains out,” we’re stuck following him to meet the rest of the wedding party. The shots lined up in front of the five of them glimmer bright yellow in the glasses. We get there just as they toss back the vibrant liquid. Lulu lets out a squeal. Maggie smacks down her glass with a flourish. Brooke shudders, but she’s giggling too.
“The gang’s all here!” Brad says when he sees us.
“Ruby!” Brooke cries. “There’s a pool table in one of the back rooms. You never told us.” She glowers playfully at Will.
He holds up his hands. “It doesn’t get much use in good weather.”
My bestie hops off her stool. “That’s no excuse. Come on, Ruby—we should play.”
When we were in high school, we used to smack around the balls once a week in the pub we’d sneak into. The bartenders tolerated our presence and obviously fake IDs as long as we stuck to ordering virgin drinks.
“Hey, the two of you don’t get to have all the fun,” Maggie says. “We can play teams.” She cocks her head. “Guys vs. gals?”
Brad’s brow knits. “Would that really be fair?” he asks, sounding totally earnest. Oh dear.
Maggie cackles. “Okay, just for that, we’re definitely making it a battle of the sexes. Who’s in?”
“I don’t know,” Lulu yawns, but then her face brightens. “Unless we make it interesting.”
“What are you thinking?” Colin asks, leaning closer. Lulu looks through her eyelashes at him, and I wonder if she’s finally hooked her own fling for the week.
“Why play pool when you can play strip pool instead?” she says coyly. “You sink a ball, you get to pick one piece of clothing for someone on the other side to take off. You miss, you have to take something off. It spices things up a bit.”
Normally, I might balk at the idea of shedding clothes in company that includes my best friend’s hubby-to-be and a relative stranger. But all at once I can think of nothing I’d enjoy more than getting to watch Will strip down as a preview of the full feature I should be getting later tonight.
“I’m in,” I decide.
Will raises his eyebrows. I recognize the spark of challenge in his gaze. “Why not?”
“All right, let’s do it!” Brooke leads the way around the bar to the games room. “You know, I think the odds are kind of skewed against us ladies here. You guys all have shirts and pants and socks and we’ve just got dresses and shoes.”
“Sink enough balls and that won’t be a problem,” Trevor says, looping his arm around her waist.
“Brooke has a point,” Colin pipes up. “What if the guys’ side started with shoes off?”
“If we count bracelets and necklaces as clothes, then you’ve got a deal,” Maggie says.
The room turns out to hold not just a pool table but air hockey, foosball, and a few retro arcade machines as well. I might have to swing by and give that vintage Asteroids unit a shot before my stay here is over. Brad flips a coin, and we determine it’ll be boys first. Colin grabs a stick and breaks the rack. His hand wobbles a bit, and I realize I’ve got a bit of an advantage having missed those earlier rounds of booze. But he sinks one solid with a little shout of victory. Then he scans the four of us ladies, looking uncertain. His ears have pinked. It’s kind of adorable.
“Um, Ruby, bracelet,” he says.
You can’t get much tamer than that. I shrug, unclasp my garnet-studded silver chain, and drape it on my purse. Brooke grabs the other stick.
“Let’s do this,” she says, with a confidence she doesn’t end up earning. Her shot goes wide. The striped ball she was aiming at bounces off the corner of the hole. She makes a face and kicks off one of her flats.
I amble around the table as Brad sets up, as if I’m surveying it from different angles. My real goal is to pass behind Will and surreptitiously trail my pinky across the small of his back. His muscles flex. He manages to score a quick pat of my ass before I meander on.
Be still my panties.
Brad sinks another solid. “Maggie, dress,” he says with a wolfish grin.
Maggie rolls her eyes and peels off her indigo wrap dress … to reveal a slip underneath that covers almost as much skin. She smirks back at Brad.
“Give me that.” I grab the stick and pick up the chalk. I do a careful job rubbing it over the tip, sucking in my lower lip as I do. Porny, yes. Effective? Also yes. When I’m done, I give the wooden rod a stroke across its length for good measure. I can feel Will’s eyes glued to me, practically burning holes in my skin. Skin he is not going to get to see quite yet.
“Twelve, corner pocket,” I say, pointing. Then in one smooth movement, I line up and sink it. I can’t help a satisfied grin as I straighten up. I haven’t played much in the last few years, but apparently I’ve still got it.
Then I realize I need to make a different sort of call. My gaze slides over to the guys. I was so looking forward to tormenting Will … but it’s going to be way too obvious if I completely fixate on him, isn’t it? I’ve got to throw everyone else off the scent first.
Colin was kind to me. “Colin, sock,” I say.
Lulu groans. “No one here is any fun!”
Trevor lands his shot and Brooke ends up totally barefoot. Then Lulu marches up to the table and sinks another ball with an efficiency I hadn’t expected. She folds her arms over her chest, her eyelids low as she considers her options.
“Will, shirt,” she says.
Now we’re talking. Will chuckles as he untucks the button-up from his slacks. He undoes the first couple buttons at a leisurely pace I somehow find unbearable, watching that triangle of muscled flesh gradually
widen, even though I saw him stripped down to his swim trunks just this afternoon. Then he yanks the whole thing off over his head, which leaves his hair disarmingly rumpled. And that sculpted chest looks just as magnificent as it did on the boat.
Mama likey.
Our eyes meet for a second, and I twitch an eyebrow upward. Will smirks, with enough heat to melt a dilithium crystal. Oh, right. He’s up next.
I let my gaze linger on the tensing of his muscles as he leans over the table. The stick smacks the cue ball right into two nestled solids—and they go careening off into separate pockets. Shit. You can’t criticize the guy’s aim, that’s for sure.
Will raises his head. I know before he opens his mouth that he isn’t planning on being shy.
“Ruby, dress.”
I wonder if anyone else can feel how the scorching heat he brought to those two words. I flick my hair back all nonchalant and untie the halter straps. Then I shimmy out of the dress with just enough care to leave him hanging a moment here and there.
I’m not wearing a slip. The warm air tickles over my body, naked except my strapless bra, panties, and sandals. Thank God I didn’t go with a thong. Trevor politely schools his gaze elsewhere. Brad lets out an approving whistle. Will just nods, but he hasn’t glanced away for a second.
Maggie hefts the stick for her second go, and Will backs up to give her room to pass by. I sidle over to him. Everyone else is focused on the game, at least for this moment.
“You know,” I murmur, with a tap of my elbow that’s really more of a caress, “you sank two. I’m pretty sure you could have gotten away with more than the dress.”
He grins. “Maybe. But the rest of what you’re wearing, I plan on being the one to take it off. Preferably as soon as possible, without an audience.”
Oh dear Lord, make it so.
Will steps around me, grazing my bare shoulders with the back of his hand. An electric shiver runs through me. It takes every ounce of self control I’ve got in me not to drag him out of the room and fuck him right there in the hall.
Lulu ambles over. “It’s your turn, Ruby, unless you’re skipping it.”