by Faith Austen
And it wasn’t the material things or that he was helping me out by taking me to the wedding and this dinner. It was him. His strength, his combination of power and gentleness, the way he could be demanding and then sweet.
How could I resist falling for a man like this? I couldn’t. Every time I got a hint that this was more than an act, my hungry heart ate it up. I was heading for disaster. I knew it. I couldn’t stop myself.
The servers made a last trip in with dessert and coffee. One more course, and we could escape. Fortunately, the wedding party was finished with their speeches. Another one of those and I would have fallen asleep at the table.
James and I both started on our chocolate torts with raspberry sauce. I sipped my coffee, trying to offset the glass of wine I’d had with dinner. I didn’t know what the rest of the night would bring, but I didn’t want to be tired.
Putting down my fork, I pushed back my chair. Some of the guests had gotten up to wander around and socialize. I had to find the ladies room, and this seemed like the most inconspicuous time to do it.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to James, picking up my purse so I could refresh my lip gloss. James narrowed his eyes and nodded.
The ladies room was down a long hall outside the entrance to the private dining room. I expected it to be crowded, but there was only one other woman in there, an older lady I didn’t recognize. I did what I had to and spent a few minutes fixing my lips and adjusting my hair, pleased to see that my up-do still looked pretty good.
I was feeling good right up until I pushed open the bathroom door and ran into Tim. The men’s bathroom was down the hall and there was no one else in the ladies, so he could only be waiting for me.
Wary, I tried to edge around him. He shifted to block me and grabbed my wrist. A hard yank on my arm wasn’t enough to shake him off. I lifted a foot to go after his instep again, but he jerked on my arm, knocking me off balance. In my sparkly, stiletto heel sandals, it was impossible to dig in and resist when he pulled me into the shadows down the hall.
Chapter Nineteen
Sara
“Relax,” he said, tugging me closer to him. “I just want to talk to you.”
“I don’t think we have anything to say.”
“I think we do. You misunderstood me earlier.”
This, I had to hear. Was he going to apologize? Or demonstrate that he was even more of a pig than I thought?
“Sara,” he said, tugging me closer.
His breath smelled like sour coffee. It was an improvement over his cologne. My nose rebelled, and I tried to breathe through my mouth. How could Christie stand him? He was rich, and she loved money, but couldn’t she find someone less repellant to marry?
“I know you’re wondering how my proposal would work, with you here and Atlanta and me in Chicago. But you don’t have to worry about that. I have a new contract that means I’ll be in Atlanta all the time. We’ll hook up while I’m here, and no one will ever know.”
“Are you serious?”
“Do you think I can’t take care of you? Once Drake is done with you, you’ll want another sugar daddy. Why not me?” Tim raked me with his eyes, taking me in from my chest to my toes. He didn’t bother looking at my face.
“I didn’t think you had it in you,” he went on. “You always dressed in those frumpy clothes, I had no idea what you were hiding under there. Your breasts alone - ”
I jerked back on my arm again, too disgusted to worry about losing my balance. Tim was too offensive to listen to a second longer. I no longer cared if I caused a scene. What gave him the right to treat me like a piece of meat just because I was dressed up for once? My dress was flattering, but it wasn’t revealing. And what about my sister? Calling him a pig was an insult to swine.
Tim tightened his hold on my arm, refusing to let me go. He opened his mouth, probably to say something else insulting, and I couldn’t help myself. I was in the wrong position to jab him with my heels, but I still had one free arm. Without thinking, I swung my fist at his face.
At the pop of my fist against his nose, Tim yelped and reeled back. What he didn’t do was let go of me. As I teetered in my sandals, losing my balance as his grip on my arm jerked me back and forth, an arm came around my waist, steadying me. James. Relief flooded through me. I wasn’t a fighter. That punch was the best I had in my arsenal. If things had gotten ugly, I would have thought of something, but James could handle Tim better than I could. I knew my strengths, and beating up guys wasn’t one of them.
With a stiff chop of one hand, James struck at Tim’s arm just above his wrist. Abruptly, and with another yelp, Tim let me go. James took advantage of Tim’s whining over his wrist to slide me to the side, out of the way.
“Sorry I took so long,” he said. “I almost missed him sneaking out of the dining room.”
“It’s okay. You’re here now.” Looking up into his angry green eyes, I said, “I punched him.” James grinned at me, still angry, and now amused. It was an intoxicating expression.
“I see that,” he said, kissing me on the tip of my nose. Sweet again. He was killing me. “Do you mind if I have a word with him?”
I shook my head, suspecting that James’s plan involved speaking with a part of his anatomy other than his mouth. Tim finally dropped his wrist and stared at James.
“What’s your problem? Sara and I were just talking.”
I could guess what James was thinking. Something along the lines of Tim not touching me ever again. He didn’t bother explaining his position to Tim. Instead, he hauled off and swung. Tim’s nose was already dribbling blood from my punch. With James’s, his face exploded red. It would have been gross if it hadn’t been Tim.
I wasn’t a fan of physical violence, but I wasn’t going to get in James’s way. James hit him again, this time on the chin. Tim stumbled back until he hit the wall. His feet went out from under him and he slid to the floor in an ungainly sprawl. One trembling hand touched his nose.
“You broke my nose,” he sputtered, his voice muffled, as if he had a head cold. James shrugged in disinterest.
“I’ll sue your butt off. You can’t do this to me. Do you know who I am?”
At that, James laughed.
“No. But I know who I am. Go ahead, press charges. This hallway is under surveillance. You’re in my resort. You assaulted one of my guests, who happens to be my girlfriend. Not only should you rethink pressing charges, I suggest you make up a good explanation for your fiancée on the way to the hospital to get that nose looked at.”
It was the first time I heard him call me his girlfriend to someone else. I like the way it sounded. Far too much. My head reeling, I didn’t protest when James took my hand and tugged me closer, tucking me into his side as we went down the hall.
“I don’t think we’ll go back to the party,” he said. I shook my head in agreement. As soon as we were clear of the restaurant and back in the lobby, James stopped and turned me to face him. “Let me see that hand.”
He lifted my hand and studied my knuckles. I hadn’t noticed until that moment, but my hand hurt. My knuckles were tender, the skin scraped on two of them. I hadn’t realized I’d hit Tim that hard. James stroked my fingers and said,
“This is going to bruise. Let’s get you some ice.”
We were walking to a nearby bar, when I heard from behind me,
“James, hold up.”
As one, we turned around to see two men coming toward us. Both tall, both heart stoppingly gorgeous. I was all James’s, no question. But these two were perfect specimens of male beauty. One with short, dark hair, his eyes so deep a brown they were almost black, dressed in a suit much like James’s. The other blond, eyes a bright blue, in a more casual button down shirt and jacket. They came to a stop in front of us and looked me over. The blond one said,
“So this is who you stood us up for? Nice.”
James scowled back at them. My curiosity grew as the three shared loaded glances.
Chapter T
wenty
James
I should have known those guys would be up to something. Will had taken it too well when I’d called to cancel our plans. They were my closest friends, good guys, loyal to the end.
I wanted them nowhere near Sara. She was too tempting, and they were exactly like me; Not nearly as bad as their reputations suggested and like me they’d be all over a woman like Sara.
Sara was mine. I planned to introduce her to Will and Ryan eventually, but not yet. Not until things were more solid between us. Half the time she acted like she was completely with me. The rest of the time, she looked like she was getting ready to bolt.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, aware I sounded annoyed and surly. Will grinned. Ryan raised his dark eyebrows. Great, they were going to be annoying. The three of us were best friends, but in the way of males everywhere, we never missed an opportunity to give each other a hard time. Apparently, it was my turn.
“Looking for you,” Will said, his grin widening further when I glared at him. “Aren’t you going to introduce us to your very attractive friend?”
He winked at Sara. My adrenaline was still high from hitting Tim, my body on alert for any threat to my woman. In my head I knew it was just Will messing with me. I still couldn’t help the growl in the back of my throat. Before I could stop her, Sara reached out her hand.
“I’m Sara Cunningham.”
“Will Logan.” He took her hand in his and shook it. She winced. Irritation flared inside me. I snatched her hand back and examined it.
“Introductions are over. This is Sara. Sara, the silent one is Ryan. You met Will. Now we’re getting ice for your hand.”
Fortunately for my temper, she didn’t protest when I took her uninjured hand and dragged her toward the nearest bar. Yes, I was acting like a Neanderthal. No, I couldn’t help it.
I’d let my woman get in a situation where she had to punch a scumbag to protect herself. I was proud of her for fighting back, but she shouldn’t have had to. I should have been on top of it. I didn’t have time to deal with Will and Ryan. They fell into step on either side of us.
“How did she hurt her hand?” Ryan asked, taking a sidelong look at Sara’s hand.
“Punched a jerk,” I said.
“Where were you?” Ryan’s brow was raised again, partly in curiosity, mostly in censure. I didn’t need it. I knew I was responsible.
“Following him. Too slowly, it turned out.”
“James, I’m okay,” Sara interrupted. “Really. I’ve been wanting to punch Tim for months. If you’d shown up earlier, I’d have missed my chance.”
That was my girl, trying to give me what I needed. I had no doubt Sara had enjoyed hitting that guy, but she shouldn’t have had to. We reached the bar and claimed a row of high-backed stools.
“A bag of ice for the lady’s hand,” I said to the bartender. He nodded and disappeared into the back.
“So you ditched us for a girl,” Will said, shaking his head. To Sara, he said, “What are you doing with James? Why don’t you give me a shot and see what I can do for you?”
To my right I saw Ryan shake his head. Will was the funny one of the three of us. I opened my mouth to tell him to shut up when Sara spoke, her voice caught in a laugh, light and sweet.
“You might want to rethink that offer. I punched the last guy who tried to get me away from James.”
Will winced and pretended to duck his head in fear of her fists. Ryan’s eyes crinkled, the closest he usually came to a smile, and shook his head again.
He knew me well enough to hold back the teasing until I’d at least taken care of Sara’s hand. So did Will, but he was always willing to test my temper if he thought it was worth a laugh.
“Did you leave the guy alive?” Ryan asked, only half kidding. I shrugged.
“Yeah. But he’s not going to look too pretty at his wedding.” Sara tried to hide her giggle. She probably felt bad for laughing about Tim’s broken nose. But then, as I’d already told her, she was a nicer person than me.
“Christie is going to be so mad,” she said. “Even if his nose isn’t broken, he’ll look terrible. He was bleeding everywhere.” At Will and Ryan’s confused look, she said, “Christie is my sister. I’m here for her wedding. Tim is the groom. And James and I met when I was crying into my drink because I didn’t have a date for the wedding. He came to my rescue.”
“I can’t imagine you didn’t have men lined up out the door to take you out,” Will said, dropping his jokester persona for the smooth charm he used on women. He’d better check that with Sara. I’d taken him down before. I’d do it again if I had to. Sara just smiled at him and shook her head.
“I live a quiet life,” she said in explanation. “So, you three are friends? Do you guys work with James?”
“No,” I said, cutting in. “Will owns Southern Pines Construction and Ryan is the Southeastern head of Archer Security. I contract with him on occasion.” Sara looked from Will to Ryan to me.
“Okay. Wow. I know both of those companies. They’re huge. You three are in charge? And you hang out together? Talk about dates being lined up out the door.” She looked at her feet, trying to hide her smile. “I might faint from the concentration of hotness.”
Even Ryan grinned at that. For someone who was shy by nature, Sara was coming out of her shell. I approved of her growing confidence, even though I hated that she was using it to flirt with my friends. The bartender returned with a plastic bag of crushed ice. I thanked him and took it, pressing it gently to Sara’s bruised knuckles.
I knew my friends. They sensed Sara wasn’t one of my interchangeable dates and they weren’t going to leave us alone until they got a feel for her. I might as well settle in and make the best of it.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sara
James held the bag of ice against my hand with care, conscious that too much pressure would bring me pain. I could tell he was still riled up from the confrontation with Tim and upset that I’d hurt myself. Tim was such a jerk. I couldn’t believe my sister was really going to marry him.
If she’d been a different woman, I’d have told her about Tim, tried to convince her to call it off. Christie wouldn’t care that he was planning to cheat. She’d probably spent the last month personally interviewing for their pool boy—very personally.
James’s free arm came around my waist, pulling me back until I was flush with his chest. Taking a deep breath, I relaxed into him. I didn’t know what kind of cologne he wore, or if that scent was just his soap, but he always smelled so good. He and his friends had changed the subject off me and onto something else. I wasn’t paying attention. Something about vandalism on a construction site.
Our small group drew eyes from all over the resort floor, mostly women checking out the three hot men at the bar. The way James held me, I could barely be seen over his shoulder except by Will, Ryan, and the bartender. That was fine with me. I’d had a little fun joking around with James’s friends, but I only wanted James’s attention.
Funny how being with James gave me the confidence to flirt with Will and Ryan. Normally I wouldn’t be able to work up the nerve to speak to men that attractive, but with James at my side, knowing I was his, I was comfortable. The bartender returned and asked for our order.
“What do you want, sweetheart?” James asked dipping his head to touch his lips to the shell of my ear. I shivered against him.
“Just water, please. Nothing more to drink.”
“Good girl. I don’t want you falling asleep on me.”
He passed my order along to the bartender and went back to his discussion with Will and Ryan. I could have joined in. They weren’t excluding me. But I was happy to be where I was, leaning into James, letting my mind drift over the rest of our evening. Would we go back to James’s cottage? To mine? I wasn’t sure if we’d do the same thing we had the night before and sit outside so prying eyes could see we weren’t up to anything.
While it was frustrati
ng to have to constantly be aware of what our relationship looked like, in a way I was glad James’s reputation had become such an issue. Not just because the problem had brought us together, but because it meant we had to be even more careful about being alone together than we might have been otherwise.
I was attracted to James, more than I’d ever been attracted to any man. And for the first time I was thinking about intimacy before marriage. Not that it hadn’t crossed my mind before, but there’d never been a relationship where it was a serious consideration.
I’d only known James a day and I knew already that my values were going to be tested. Not that James would push me. He’d already proven he understood how I felt. It was my own impulses I had to watch out for. Dropping my head for a moment, I sent a brief prayer to God.
Lord, please help me to remember who I am and what has always been important to me. I care about James and I want to spend more time with him, but I don’t want to lose myself in temptation.
I’d have to keep that prayer in mind. Distracted, I let the men talk and people watched, occasionally contributing to the conversation when I had something to say. In the time it took us to empty our glasses, three sets of women had come up to us and hit on the guys, James included. They didn’t seem to care that he was glued to me. They propositioned him right over my head.
Each time, he politely, yet firmly, pointed out that he was both taken, and not interested. The fourth pair of predatory females was a cut above the others. I didn’t know a lot of beautiful women, but these two were perfection. One a redhead and the other blonde, they were tall, shapely, and exquisitely dressed.
“Well, look who we found,” the redhead said, winding her arm around Will’s waist. Clearly she knew the guys. The blonde winked at James and kissed Ryan on the cheek.