The Engagement Embargo: A Meet Me at the Altar Novel

by Samantha Chase

  “Yeah…well…”

  “So you think you have feelings for her, but you’re not sure if they’re real. Do I have that right?”

  He nodded.

  “As much as I’d like to chalk this up to you just being you…I honestly don’t know if that’s the case. I’m almost certain that it is, but…what if it’s not?” Then he muttered a curse. “Why would you do this to yourself again, man? You were supposed to be on an embargo!”

  “I know! Don’t you think I know that?” he demanded loudly. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this! It was supposed to just be sex and nothing more!”

  “Then you either have to get it in your head that that’s all it is, or you have to end it!” Tyler snapped back. “And personally, I think you need to end it because it’s obviously messing with you!”

  He was about to comment when Jared came jogging over. “What the hell is going on out here? I thought we were shooting hoops and hanging out.”

  It was on the tip of his tongue to say he wasn’t in the mood to play, but it was actually going to be a great distraction for him. Fortunately, Tyler let the subject drop and for the next several hours, they played basketball, trash-talked each other’s skills, and then went to grab a pizza when they were done.

  The next time Elliott was in his car, it was close to midnight. It was a Wednesday night, and he had work in the morning and he really needed to go home and get some sleep. But somehow, he found himself heading toward Skye’s.

  He didn’t text to see if it was okay.

  He didn’t call to see if she was home.

  It was completely against the rules and yet he didn’t care.

  Right now, he was determined to prove to himself that he didn’t feel anything for her other than friendship and lust. He couldn’t afford for it to be anything else and knew he could walk away any time he wanted to–could end this tomorrow if that’s what needed to happen.

  When he pulled into her driveway fifteen minutes later, he almost sagged with relief when he saw her car parked out front and a light still on inside.

  There was a possibility that she would tell him to leave.

  And there was a possibility she would be pissed off because he showed up unannounced.

  Knocking on her front door, Elliott said a small prayer that she would do both of those things and make his decision easier–clearer.

  But when she opened the door and he saw she was in her pajamas and her hair was tousled, he felt bad for waking her.

  Then she gave him a sleepy, sexy smile as she reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him inside, kissing him senseless.

  And suddenly nothing was clear or made any sense, and there wasn’t a damn thing he wanted to do to change it.

  Chapter 12

  Love is the only kind of fire which is never covered by insurance.

  Unknown

  It was a rare Saturday morning that Skye didn’t have an event to go to and she got to sleep in. And it was even rarer that she was waking up at a luxury hotel and waiting for room service to deliver her breakfast.

  Elliott had surprised her yesterday when he texted for her to pack a bag because he wanted to get away for the weekend and…how could she possibly say no? If anything, this was one of her deepest fantasies come true! So, he picked her up after work last night and drove them up to the mountains for the weekend.

  Stretching in bed, she smiled when he opened the curtains and showed her the gorgeous view outside. “Now that is quite the sight,” she said as she sat up. The mountains had never been something that appealed to her before, but after seeing how beautiful they looked, she reconsidered.

  Elliott knelt on the bed and crawled over her until she was lying down again. “No, this is quite the sight,” he growled before kissing her again.

  Unable to help herself, Skye wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. She had no idea what prompted this little getaway and she had to admit that she was more than a little apprehensive to ask. The drive last night took close to four hours and she had managed to stop herself from asking. Then they went to dinner at a fantastic little bistro and she told herself it didn’t matter what Elliott’s motives were; she was just so damn happy to be away with him.

  When he lifted his head and smiled down at her, she swore her heart skipped a beat. She caressed his stubbled jaw and knew she was going to remember this moment forever. “How long until breakfast gets here?”

  His grin turned a little bit wicked. “Sadly, too soon. But we have nothing pressing to do and nowhere to go so we can come back to this after we eat.”

  She pouted. “Okay, but I do want to go into town and walk around. I was doing a little research while we were driving yesterday and there’s supposed to be a Christmas shop–and you know my obsession with anything Christmas–and a gourmet food and spice shop that I’d love to check out.”

  “I think we can do that and also have a lazy morning in bed,” he told her before placing a soft kiss on the tip of her nose.

  Skye gave him one last lingering kiss before climbing from the bed and going to brush her teeth. It seemed a little silly to be thinking of that at the moment, but she knew if she stayed tangled up in the bed with him, she’d end up being more than okay with their breakfast being left in the hallway.

  No sooner was she done with her task than there was a knock on the door. Elliott took care of getting everything set up while she slid on her robe. When she stepped over to the small table set up in the corner, she realized there was only one chair. “Hmm…”

  “Let’s do this right,” he said, motioning toward the bed. “I promised you breakfast in bed so…let’s carefully get back in the bed.”

  It was a little awkward and time-consuming to get them both situated, but she had to admit, it felt pretty decadent. Her omelet was amazing, her toast was done to perfection, and the coffee was exactly the way she liked it. Beside her, Elliott was raving about his Belgian waffle and bacon, and she could tell he was equally satisfied.

  “You know, I considered the beach for us,” he began when he finished his meal, “but when I checked out the weather forecast it was supposed to rain. The temps are colder here, but I figured we could handle it.”

  Taking a sip of her coffee, she nodded. “I don’t mind it being cooler. Sweater weather is my favorite.”

  He laughed softly. “Josie always says the same thing. She would usually bitch all summer long about the heat, and the first time the temperatures dropped below sixty degrees, she’d whip out all her winter clothes.” He shook his head. “Like a weirdo.”

  “I’m not a huge fan of the summer weather. Never was. And now that we’re doing so many events, I hate it even more because we’re usually running around and I hate to look sweaty in front of clients.”

  “I get that.” After taking a sip of his own coffee, he asked, “But how often are you running around outside? Aren’t most parties indoors?”

  “I wish!” Leaning back against the pillows, she laughed at the shocked look on his face. “Summer weddings are a big thing, and outdoor ones even more so! We do tents and there are fans, but honestly, it’s just never enough because we’re always on the move. Guests get to sit down and relax, but me and Josie and Lea are almost always on the go. By the end of the night, I’m guaranteed to be sweaty and have excruciating pain in my feet. It’s awful.”

  He studied her for a long moment. “Have the three of you talked about bringing more help on? You know, to sort of be the runners?”

  “Not really. We’ve been so consumed with making the business a success, and this has been our biggest year to date. I’m sure it’s something we’ll get to eventually, but for now, it just makes more sense for us to be the ones doing it all.” She shrugged. “Besides, now’s the optimal time for us to be doing it. None of us are married or have kids so we might as well work like crazy now so that when we are in those situations, we’ll feel better about letting someone else do the grunt work.”

  With a sm
all snort, he shook his head. “I don’t think you’ll ever find my sister in that situation. Besides being a huge control freak, she’s been extremely vocal about not getting married or having kids.”

  All Skye could do was nod because he was right.

  “Lea’s definitely going to be the one to get married and have kids,” Elliott went on. “She’s a total nurturer and I always figured she would have been well on her way to doing that long before now.”

  Again, all she could do was nod.

  “What about you?” he asked, his tone a little more somber. “Do you ever think about all of that?”

  This was a slippery slope and she hated to talk about it when they were just kicking off a fantastic romantic weekend. There was no way she couldn’t answer, but she opted to keep it light.

  “Well, yeah. I guess,” she said with a small shrug. “But, like you, I really thought Lea would have had a couple of kids by now and we’d all get to sit back and watch her be awesome at it.” Then she took a long sip of her coffee and prayed they were done.

  “If Josie wasn’t so anti-all of that, I always thought the three of you would have planned it out that you’d all get married and have kids at the same time,” he said, staring down into his mug.

  “There was a time when that was the plan, but we started the business and it keeps us all busy and we haven’t talked or thought about it in a long time.”

  Liar. You think about it every time you think of Elliott…

  Yeah, there was no way she was ever going to admit to that, so she opted to change the subject. “So, have you been up here before? Any cool places that you want to go and see today?”

  Luckily, he took the topic change easily. “I was up here a few years ago for work and always wanted to come back. I was up in Asheville a little over a year ago, but coming here to Blowing Rock was always more my speed.”

  Skye remembered hearing about him taking Tracy up to Asheville for some luxury spa weekend and had to force her thoughts elsewhere, otherwise the little green monster in her would definitely come to the surface.

  “I bet it’s gorgeous up here when it snows,” she comments, placing her coffee mug on the bedside table before carefully maneuvering her breakfast dishes off of the bed. “But I’m sure the roads are a nightmare.”

  “Yeah, I don’t want to test that theory any time soon. I can’t even remember the last time we had significant snowfall in Raleigh, so I have no idea how I’d do driving in it.”

  “Plus, your new sporty car probably wouldn’t be the greatest in slick conditions,” she mentioned, climbing from the bed.

  “Maybe, but it’s still better than a boring old SUV.” He rose and worked with her to clean up their dishes and get them back on the tray for housekeeping.

  Skye shrugged. “I don’t think they’re boring. Personally, I love mine and I think there are a lot of really cool ones out there.”

  “Sure, and they’re great for couples or families, but I like driving around in something sleek and sporty now,” he said, and she couldn’t tell if he was trying to convince her or himself.

  “Good for you,” she said lightly, and before she could say another word, Elliott had her in his arms and was kissing her.

  Excellent distraction, she thought.

  And really, it was perfectly timed because she knew it was just another topic that was bound to make her crazy.

  There were more and more of them lately and she wasn’t an idiot. Something was going to have to give because they couldn’t go on like this forever. It was like a sex bubble at first, but…her feelings were seriously more invested now and she knew agreeing to this kind of a relationship was only going to lead to her getting hurt.

  And from the looks of it, sooner rather than later.

  But as Elliott’s hands skimmed down her arms–taking the thin straps of her nightie with them–she knew this was a topic she was going to have to revisit.

  Just not right now.

  Or this weekend.

  For now, she wanted to enjoy the extended bubble and the fact that they could go out in public together and not have to worry about running into anyone they knew.

  Ugh… like a dirty little secret.

  Again, she pushed that negative thought aside and did her best to focus on Elliott and his hands and his kiss and…

  “Hey,” he said softly, lifting his head. “You okay?”

  Gently, Skye cleared her throat. “Yeah. Why?”

  He gazed down at her like he didn’t believe her. “You just seemed to… I don’t know… like you weren’t into it.” Taking a step back, his eyes never left hers. “If you’re not in the mood or if you’d rather get ready and head into town…”

  “Elliott, I’m fine. I swear,” she said, reaching out to take one of his hands in hers. “My mind wandered for a minute. It’s not a big deal.” Then she gave him what she hoped was a sexy smile as she stepped in close and pressed up against him. “And just for the record, I am into this. I do want to crawl back in bed with you and then I will want to go into town. In that order.”

  He still didn’t look completely convinced, so she had to get a little persuasive.

  Elliott was taller than Skye, so she leaned in and placed a kiss on his chest.

  “As good as breakfast was, you taste even better,” she whispered as she let her mouth and hands roam all over his body. She hummed as she placed another kiss on his chest. And then another. And another. “I love this chest.” Her tongue ran slow circles around one nipple and then the other. She heard his soft hiss of breath and when she glanced up, his head had lolled back.

  Then her hands ran up and down his arms, squeezing his biceps. “And I love these arms. These muscles…”

  He let out a low groan.

  And we’re back on track…

  She gave him a playful bite as her hands reached around and grabbed his butt. “And I really love this. You have the sexiest and most squeezable ass,” she murmured, and by then, he seemed more than ready to pounce.

  Yay!

  Lifting her up, Skye wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him even as he lay them both down on the bed. All thoughts of dirty secrets, sneaking around, and SUVs for them and their future kids were pushed from her mind.

  And in their place were sexier, more pleasurable thoughts.

  Because Elliott excelled at giving her pleasure.

  So much so that she was panting his name as he kissed his way down her body. Her hands raked through his hair and gripped hard. “God, Elliott…what you do to me…”

  He let out a sexy little growl in response and before she knew it, her head was thrashing on the pillow. His name a steady chant as she told him how good he was, how amazing she felt, and how much she loved…

  Him.

  “What would you think about trying the beach next month?” Skye asked Sunday afternoon when they were on their way back to Raleigh.

  The weekend had been amazing and it felt good to be able to go out freely together and not worry about any of their friends or his family seeing them. They had walked through town shopping and tasting a variety of different foods. Skylar had insisted on getting him to try an assortment of gourmet fudge in the candy shop and then tasting different dips and breads in the spice shop. He also now had an assortment of new ornaments thanks to their spree in the Christmas shop.

  And he loved every minute of it.

  There had been a brief moment of panic yesterday morning when they’d made love after breakfast and Skye had said she loved him, but…she was in the middle of an orgasm so…she probably had no idea she even said it. Elliott hadn’t brought it up and neither did she, so he knew they were good.

  It had been so long since he’d done anything like this and he’d forgotten how much he loved being part of a couple and…

  A sharp pain in his chest almost had him veering off the highway as the realization hit.

  Beside him, Skye was talking about her favorite places at the beach and the places she wan
ted to take him to, and reality hit him like a ton of bricks. He was never going to see them.

  He couldn’t.

  This whole thing was…wrong. He’d gone and done the one thing everyone feared he would do and he swore that he wouldn’t.

  “They’re not the biggest rooms, but the hotel is right on the beach,” she was saying, completely oblivious to the fact that he was on the verge of a major panic attack.

  It was still another two hours until they were back home and he swore he had no idea what to do or say–not now and not once they got there.

  Luckily, he was saved from having to work at least half of it out when her phone rang. She smiled at him as she answered it. “Hey, Mom!”

  Now he had some time to be in his own head to figure out how he was supposed to get out of this.

  But is that what I really want?

  Yes! He told himself over and over and over. Why? Because it was self-preservation! He’d been down this road so many damn times and other than what he and Skye were doing, he was enjoying his life for the first time in…well…years…maybe ever!

  Or maybe you’ve finally learned how to balance having a life and having a relationship.

  Okay, there was that, but…it was starting. This weekend was just the beginning of a pattern of behavior that everyone ridiculed him for. First, he was taking Skye away for a quick, laid-back weekend in the mountains but it was only a short step away from whisking her off to…to…Hawaii or…or…Hollywood because he knew how much she always wanted to do one of those quirky bus tours and see the different celebrity houses!

  Yup, the tightness in his chest was getting worse and he rubbed his free hand over it and prayed Skye didn’t notice it. If she did, he’d have to tell her he wasn’t feeling good and then she’d undoubtedly want to take care of him and damn if he wouldn’t love that. Next thing you know, they’re making homemade chicken soup together and talking about taking a cooking class for couples!

  “Oh, God…”

  Skye put her hand over her phone and looked at him worriedly. “You okay?”