Bad Boy's Bridesmaid (15 page)

“That doesn’t
matter. Even if it wasn’t my first time—”

“Holy shit! You
were a
virgin?
”

Pretty sure the
elderly couple passing on the sidewalk heard him through the phone.

Rick swore.
Something crashed in his room.

Yeah. We
definitely
weren’t telling him about the baby yet.

“Rick,
listen
to me,” I said. “It’s just confusing. Nate’s been nice and supportive and…it’s
not like he’s looking to score.”

“That’s all he’s
ever wanted from anyone.”

“Then why would
he come back for more?”

“Because he can
take advantage of you.”

“That’s not it,
and you know it.” I heaved a breath. “This past weekend, when he was at the
cabin with us, I thought…he seemed so…”

“Don’t say it.”

“I think I have
feelings for him.”

This was the
moment Rick’s head would explode, but, fortunately, I only heard the crash of
his coffee cup in the sink. I flinched. He exhaled.

“Look, Mandy. I
know he’s a smooth talker. After Jada left me, he taught me a couple tricks so
I could hook up with girls at the bar—”

“You did
what
?”

“Let’s focus on
your fuck-ups now, okay?”

My words caught
in my throat. Rick apologized and softened his voice.

“My advice?” He
hesitated. “Stay away from him. You’re not his type, and he is definitely not
yours. I want to see you taken care of.
Loved
. In a nice big house with
a boatload of kids running around giving you a headache.”

Mission-partially-accomplished.
I swallowed.

“And I don’t
want you to get hurt,” he said.

“I don’t either.
But everything is getting more and more complicated.”

“If anyone can
untangle things, it’s you.”

Sure, when the rope
wasn’t looped around my neck. I forced a smile into my voice. “I’ll sort it
out.”

“Don’t make me
whoop your ass too.”

Oh no. That was
still to come. “Please…don’t tell anyone? I’m trying to keep the wedding as
drama-free as possible.”

“Oh yeah.” Rick
gave a deep belly-laugh. “Lindsey’s drama-
free
wedding. Right. Am I
invited to that one too?”

“I won’t tell
her you said that.”

Rick kept
laughing. I ended the call.

My phone
immediately buzzed. I bit my lip.

Nate
.

Part of me
actually fluttered as I considered answering. I had no idea why, but I wanted
to hear his voice. Except he would want an explanation I couldn’t give.

His messing
around bothered me, but I wasn’t just a jealous lover. I knew the type of man
he was and why it was a bad idea for me to get too close.

This wasn’t
about me. I had to worry about the baby.

I hated to do
it, but I ignored the call. I didn’t pocket my phone. I expected Nate to call
back, like he had done all week.

I gave it a
solid two minutes.

The phone stayed
silent.

And that hurt
most of all.

I sat outside
the country club, waiting for the right moment to confront Mandy.

I was done with
this passive aggressive bullshit.

Mandy refused to
answer my calls, texts, or emails? Fine. Then I’d talk to her face-to-face.
Explain myself.

Except I had no
idea why I felt the need to justify my actions—especially since I fucked the
other bridesmaids
before
I slept with her.

And I didn’t
know why it pissed me off so much to be ignored. Or why it panicked me.

Or why it…hurt.

I wasn’t in the
wrong. I did exactly what she wanted.
She
asked me to stay at the cabin.
She
walked with me to the dock.
She
was the one whispering
don’t
stop
.

So why was I
being punished? Hell, why did I even
care
?

Easy. Because
Mandy was keeping something from me.

She had no
reason not to trust me and every reason to answer my calls and give me an honest
explanation of what
really
bothered her.

I’d never hidden
the truth from her, so why was she so damn secretive with me?

Bryce gave me the
info on the family tour of the venue. The Prescotts and Washingtons were doing
a walkthrough of the reception hall for last-minute measurements and pictures.
It was the only place I could pin Mandy down.

I shouldn’t have
gone to find her, but if I didn’t untangle myself from her now, I’d be knotted
up forever.

And if we were
being
real
honest? I’d make sure those ropes bound us together
tight
.

Lindsey decided
to get married in my family’s church, humble and quiet, but she demanded the
party be held in a ritzy country club, the type that demanded their security
deposit in gold. I stalked inside, prepared to grab Mandy and get my answers.

I was used to
pissing women off, but they never
cried
in my presence. Never wasted a
tear on me.

Mandy did, and I
wasn’t going to be the man who caused any woman pain.

Especially her.

Mandy sat on the
edge of an indoor fountain, tickling her fingers through the water. She smiled
at the patient assistant who volunteered to lead her family on a tour.

How the hell did
this woman get more beautiful every time I saw her?

If she was a
magnet, I was the rusted lump of metal dragging along the ground to avoid
smashing into her.

Soft. That’s
what she was. A vision of softness, gentleness, and peace. Her curves
accentuated a distinct femininity, something no other woman I’d slept with had ever
possessed. Even her eyes looked brighter. They widened, the golden honey burning
amber the instant she saw me.

She wasn’t happy
to see me, but I was the lucky son of a bitch fortunate enough to see her.

She stood,
crossing her arms. I memorized her mouth, the angle of her cheeks, the way her
ebony waves cradled over her shoulders. Her hair fell over the swell of her
chest.

I shouldn’t have
gotten hard while Mandy coiled for a strike, but damn, I couldn’t keep myself
away from her. Something drew us together, and if I couldn’t satisfy my lust, I
could at least satisfy my curiosity.

Mandy frowned.
“What are you doing here?”

“We have to
talk.”

She excused
herself from her family, flinching as her steps on the marble echoed in the
grand hall where Lindsey and Bryce’s mothers envisioned arches and fine silks and
flowers—all ivory.

“I’m busy,” she
said. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“This won’t take
long.”

She crossed her
arms. “No. It won’t. I have nothing to say to you.”

“Good, cause I
wanted you to listen. Can we go somewhere?”

“No.”

I hated to do
it, but I let my gaze wander to Lindsey. “That’s fine. I’m sure there’s plenty
of people who’d like to hear me.”

Her jaw
tightened before she surrendered. Mandy grabbed my arm, but she said nothing
when I flexed my bicep.

I missed playful
Mandy. I’d get her back.

She dragged me
through the hall under the pretense of surveying the ballroom. We didn’t make
it there. She shoved me down the isolated corridor leading to the bathrooms.

“What do you
want?” Her voice strained. “Haven’t you caused enough trouble?”

Trouble
? I had been a
fucking gentleman. “I did everything you wanted. I stayed when you asked me. I
left when you threw me out. Don’t punish me for what happened.”

“I’m not. I’m
punishing myself.”

“Why?”

“Because I was
an idiot to trust you.”

“Why don’t you now?”

“What’s there to
trust? I knew you fucked anything on two legs. I can’t believe I let myself
think that you were…”

“What?”

Mandy shook her
head. “Nothing.”

“No.” I didn’t
let her walk away. I thrust an arm to the wall, blocking her escape. “Tell me.
What did you think I was? What did you think happened between us?”

“It doesn’t
matter.”

“Obviously it
matters.”

“Yeah, to
me
.
But you’re not the type of man who cares about others. You don’t care about how
I feel or what I want or why this is so hard for me.”

The anger heated
me, but it wasn’t directed at her. The insult
hurt
. “How the hell would
you know what I care about? Fucking ask me sometime. You might be surprised.”

“I’ve had enough
surprises lately. I can’t handle any more.”

Cryptic again. I
was getting real tired of that shit. “What do you want from me?”

“I don’t know.”
It was the first honest answer she gave, and the possibilities surged through
me with a newfound strength. “I need space. I need time to think. It’s too hard
with you and the wedding and my family and…everything else.”

“Maybe you’d
feel better if someone helped you out.”

“Who? You?”

“Yeah.”

The answer
shocked her as much as it surprised me.

I doubted she’d
believe me. Doubted even more she’d understand why I asked for the chance. Was
it too much to hope that she’d just drop her guard? Maybe smile?

I didn’t speak.
I tugged on her hand, pulling her close. I had no idea what I was doing, but if
I didn’t touch her, everything inside me might have scrambled, drunk on her,
but suffering the hangover of her withdrawal.

I threaded my fingers
through her hair. She gasped. I loved that sound almost as much as a touch of
her fingers or the grip of her tightness.

She could lie to
me, hide secrets from me, but her breath was honest. She sighed with pleasure,
huffed with impatience, and revealed everything in the quiver that was her exhale.

I never read a
woman as easily as I could Mandy, but she kept so much tucked inside her.

What did I have
to do to be the man she trusted with those secrets?

I kissed her. At
least she couldn’t keep her desire from me. She could lie, but even she
couldn’t bluff through that coiling heat.

“Nate—” Her
fingers curled in my shirt. “This is wrong.”

“Why?”

She kissed me
with a groan. “I can’t let myself do this.”

“Then blame me.”

“Believe me, I
do.”

I flicked my
tongue over hers. “Don’t push me away.”

“Stop pulling me
so close.”

“Impossible.”

Her back struck
the wall. I didn’t let her go, didn’t have to release her. I was bigger,
stronger than her. She was pinned, and she knew it.

But a single mew
between her kisses would have dropped me to my knees.

Instead, her
fingers tightened over me. She tried to search the hallway. We were alone. She
had nothing to worry about but me.

“This is wrong.”
Her words trembled. My cock turned to stone. “You aren’t good for me.”

“Isn’t it more
fun to be bad?”

“It’s not safe.”

“I’m not
dangerous…” Only a little. “I can keep you safe.”

“From you?”

“From yourself.
From overthinking this. From any guilt or shame or…” I nipped her neck.
“Denying yourself everything I can give.”

“I’m not the
type of girl who does this.”

“I won’t tell
anyone if you won’t.”

I searched the hallway.
If I didn’t find a quiet place, I’d fuck her right there in the corridor.

The bathroom
would work. I kissed her, long and deep, preventing her from changing her mind
and destroying us both in horrible indecision.

She followed me,
step after trembling step, unwilling to part from my kiss. 

That was good.
As soon as I had her in the bathroom, I’d drive into her against the wall. She
could kiss me all she wanted while I fucked her, her legs wrapped around me,
buried deep inside that slick pussy—

The doors
crashed open. We tumbled inside.

But we weren’t
alone.

Mandy pushed
from me, her mouth dropping open.

Nothing
we had done
prepared her for this vulgarity. Hell, I had to find special places on the
internet to see this sort of shit.

A couple occupied
the space, rutting with a series of animalistic grunts. Their noises, motions,
and slamming thrusts slapped their sweaty flesh in a sticky cadence.

A black,
middle-aged woman rode a helpless man, cracking her hips over his in an
aggressive reverse cowgirl that slammed her girth down so hard it hurt my
balls.

She slapped his
dark thigh and growled from deep in her throat.

“That’s
right…give it to Momma!”

Oh.

Sweet.

Jesus.

I froze, unable
to grab Mandy or hide her eyes. Her choked cry echoed through the entirety of
the country club.

“
Mom
?”