Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men Book 9) (5 page)

“About seven months ago. Before that, I was…” He paused to think before answering, “Eight. Did you get to tell your mom goodbye before she died?”

“No, I didn’t. She went crazy delirious at the end. Hallucinated I was the devil come to take her soul to hell. She screamed and threw a vase of flowers at me.” I still had a scar on my forearm where I’d lifted my hands to shield my face. “So I wasn’t allowed in her room the last few days.”

“Holy shit,” Colton wheezed, his eyes growing large. “That had to suck.”

“If your mom left when you were eight,” I started before he could ask me anything else, “who raised you after that? Your dad?”

“Nah.” He shook his head. “No idea who that loser was. Our big brother Noel took guardianship over me and Brandt, and our sister, Caroline.”

“I…I never knew that,” I murmured, blinking wildly as my mind raced. “Wow.”

Brandt had never mentioned how he’d been raised all those times we’d worked together. And here, I thought he and I had been through a couple in-depth conversations. He’d opened up to me about his feelings for Sarah in a way that no guy had ever opened up to me. That was one reason why my crush on him had lingered all these months. I thought I’d seen an integral, intimate part of him.

But he hadn’t really shared himself with me at all, had he?

That was a sobering wake-up call.

“Who raised
you
?” Colton asked, making me veer my attention back to him and blink myself to the present.

“Oh, uh...” I shook my head. “My dad did.”

“He a good dad?”

Again, it was startling to even be asked such a question. I nodded slowly. “Yes.”

So he nodded too. “Good.”

I wanted to change the subject. I wasn’t sure why. But talking about this made me feel vulnerable. Or something. And it definitely made me feel softer toward Colton, which seemed as if it should be wrong in itself, though it didn’t feel wrong at all. It felt nice and warm and…
that
should be wrong. Right? I wasn’t supposed to feel good things for Colton Gamble, though for the life of me I couldn’t remember why.

I just knew I needed to stop this.

Change the subject.

Change it to anything.

The first thing that came to mind.

“I have to pee,” I blurted.

Crap, had I announced that out loud?

Colton’s laugh answered my question. “Thanks for telling me.”

Scowling at him, I bolted to my feet, only to sway once I was upright. I reached for my chair to catch my balance. “Stop laughing, jerk, and just tell me where the damn bathroom is.”

“Sure, baby doll. Anything for you. It’s uh...down that hall there, and one of those doors to the right. Or is it the left?” He frowned thoughtfully. “Shit, I can’t remember. I’ll just show you.” He pushed to his feet and took my hand.

His grip was warm and protective, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. But I wasn’t about to let go.

Because I liked it.

“Are you sure you know where the bathroom is?” I asked once he led me from the main reception room and into a long quiet corridor.

“Of course. It’s right....” We passed another three doorways before the sign popped up. “Here.” With a flourish of his hand toward the sign, he grinned at me. “Here you go, my lady.”

“Thanks.” I gazed up at him—really, really loving his engaging, cheerful smile—as I backed toward the bathroom door and pushed my way inside with my shoulder.

Once inside the bathroom alone, I pressed my hand to my abdomen and blew out a long breath. Then I hurried into a stall.

After I did my business, I stumbled toward the mirrors and clutched the sides of the sink for balance before I met my own reflection in the glass. I was flushed, my gaze glazed, but most alarming of all, I couldn’t seem to stop smiling. When I realized the source of my uncommonly good mood, I sobered immediately.

Colton.

Brandt’s little brother.

I’d been so absorbed in Colton, pretty much no one else in the entire building had existed for a moment there. But it all came flooding back to me now. Brandt: the reason I was here, the reason Colton should be the last person I was grinning over, and the very reason I needed to leave the entire reception right this second.

But then Colton’s grin floated through my head, and temptation flooded me.

I felt like a giant, indecisive Ping-Pong ball. Thinking about Colton made me feel high, floating above everything wrong between us, where life was great and his smile and laugh were helium, keeping me suspended, until bam, the Ping-Pong ball smacked into the table of reality, reminding me of every reason why grinning over him was bad. Only for, yeah, the stupid ball inside me to float right back up with memories of flirty things he said and the heated way he looked at me, the way he had gotten me to talk about my mom.

Then, crack, my thoughts once again slammed back into the hard facts.

Until Colton had sat at my table tonight, my thoughts had only been about Brandt. And then they’d become only about Colton. It didn’t seem fair to him or right of me to switch my thoughts between brothers like that.

God, I could become one of those girls, one of those stupid, fickle, indecisive bitches who ended up going after two different brothers because she couldn’t seem to decide which one she wanted. And that would be bad. That would be so incredibly bad.

I was not one of those girls.

So I needed to go.

I needed to go right freaking now before I did something emphatically stupid.

Rushing for the door, I pushed my way out of the bathroom, ready to flee down the hall in the opposite direction of the reception, but as soon as I opened the door, I saw him.

He sat on the floor with his back to the wall and his feet spread out in front of him.

His eyes were closed.

Dread clutched my throat.

“Colton?” Rushing forward, I fell to my knees by his side and clutched his arm. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?
Colton,
dammit, answer me!”

C
OLTON’S
C
HAPTER
|
5

I
came awake to the sleeve of my tux jacket trying to shake its way off my arm.

“Colton!” that cool, low yet sophisticated voice I was beginning to really dig said, except the tone was higher than usual, and sounded a little alarmed. It was still an awesome voice, though, and came from one of the sexiest women alive, a woman I decided wasn’t so bad after all.

“Colton, dammit, answer me.”

Actually, I think I liked her.

Grinning lazily over that thought, I opened my eyes slowly only to grin wider when my gaze landed on her.

There she was. Sexy as fuck.

“Hmm?” I asked.

“Oh, thank God, you’re alive,” she breathed, sounding relieved…for half a second. Then she scowled and smacked my arm. “Thanks for scaring the shit out of me, asshole.”

“Ouch.” My grin fell. I rubbed my arm.

Sexy but brutal.

“Why are you sitting on the floor outside the bathroom?” she demanded. “I could find my own way back, you know.”

I glanced around, taking stock of our surroundings. I sat slumped on the corridor floor right outside the bathroom in the reception hall where my brother was having his wedding celebration. Huh. How about that? I must’ve only been out a few minutes.

Meeting Julianna’s gaze, I waved a hand. “Oh, sure. I know.” Then I reclosed my eyes. For some reason, a nap sounded divine.

But Julianna obviously wasn’t feeling the divinity of the moment. “Colton?” She shook my arm again.

I blinked my eyes open, rolled my head to look at her fully. Damn, she was as stunning as usual. But that gray dress, with the slit, and those long, lethal legs that ended in sexy-ass high heels...it was not good for my pure, innocent thoughts I was supposed to be having around her. I suddenly wanted to see her in nothing
but
those heels.

I frowned at them for turning my thoughts dirty. I was supposed to be helping her, not licking her calves like my stupid brain was encouraging me to do. But my mouth opened of its own accord and asked, “Why are high heels so fucking hot on women?”

I bet she looked spectacular in nothing but them as she wound them around my waist.

“No idea.” She pressed her hand to my forehead as if testing my temperature. Her palm was cool against my heated skin. It felt good. So good. I wanted her to run those cool hands all over my body. “Baby, why are you sitting on the floor?”

Baby
. Shit. I liked how she called me baby. And honey, too. She should always call me baby or honey. We should make it an edict. “I fell. This is where I landed.”

“You fell?”

I nodded. I’d fallen. Hadn’t I? Or maybe I’d sat down. Whatever. I was down here now, and it was kind of nice, so I didn’t want to leave.

I’d happily stay here on the floor, chilling, with her…in nothing but high heels.

Julianna gasped as if having a revelation. “Oh my God! You’re
drunk
!”

Flopping my head up and down with another sloppy nod, I slurred, “Yeah, think so. Aspen’d be pissed if she knew I was this bad off at Brandt’s wedding.”

“Who’s Aspen? Oh God, do you have a girlfriend?”

“What? No.” I tried to shake my head, but wasn’t sure if the coordination matched the command my brain gave it. “Sister. Mom,” I explained. “Noel’s wife. Bo Bo....”

“Huh?” She shook her head and sighed. “I thought you said there was only cola in your cup.”

“Yeah, about that...might’ve lied a little.” After a hiccup, I snickered. “Or a lot.”

“Oh, holy…hell.” She pressed a hand to her forehead. “I got a minor drunk.”

“No, no.” I lifted a finger to reassure her since she looked a bit too panicked for comfort. Then I grinned. “The minor got himself drunk.”

If anything, my reassurance only seemed to make her look more worried.

“We need to move you before someone catches you like this, and I get into trouble.” She rose to her feet and held down a hand to me. “Come on.”

I had no qualms about getting a little more touchy-feely with the lovely Julianna Radcliffe, so I immediately took her fingers and let her help tug me to my feet, even as I asked, “Why should we move me?”

Were we going to find someplace quiet where she would strip down to nothing but her high heels? I liked the sound of that.

She made an irritated growly sound. “I got you drunk. I don’t want to get in trouble for getting a minor drunk.”

“You didn’t get me drunk. I got myself...wait, didn’t we already discuss this?”

“Oh, Jesus.” With a groan, she tugged on my hand, starting for the closed door closest to us. “I feel like we’re making a cheesy rendition of
The Three Stooges
.”

My eyebrows perked as she tried the door handle. “You like the Stooges too?
Sweet
.”

Sexy
and
good taste in comedy; I really liked this girl.

As the door opened under her command, she glanced back at me. “What?”

Then she tripped over her sexy high heels.

I shot out a hand and caught her around the waist. But she’d already been overcorrecting herself and came stumbling back my way. So when she careened into me, we both fell backward until my spine smacked into the opened door, and she piled into me, pretty much plastering every lovely curve she owned into the front of my tux.

“Oh God. I’m sorry. I’m so—” She looked up mid-apology, and the words died on her tongue as her gaze delved into mine. “Whoa.”

The intrigued shock on her face compelled me to reach up to sift the backs of my fingers gently across her cheek. “No need to apologize for making a guy’s day complete.”

Damn, she was flawless close up, too. I wanted to lean in and taste her dewy red lips, cup her dark cheek, absorb the warmth from her skin.

But I dropped my hand, worried I’d gone too far. I already had an arm around her waist, holding her up securely, and her breasts were gouging a lovely little nest right into my ribcage. Add that to the flirting and intimate glances, and I wasn’t sure which boundaries I’d crossed.

Up until this point, all the outrageous things I’d said to her had been harmless because I’d never laid a hand on her, and I hadn’t seriously thought us together would ever be a possibility. So the flirting had been more of a joke, even though it had all been true. But honestly, I’d only said most of that shit to get a reaction out of Brandt, and then out of her because later on, after my brother had decided not to go there, I’d gotten too much of a thrill from pissing her off.

But now, after chicken dancing, and talking nightmares, and seeing her smile—
at me
—I kind of
did
mean it, like seriously this-could-happen mean it.

It wasn’t just harmless teasing anymore.

Shit had gotten real.

So I held my breath, waiting for her reaction, any kind of green light to let me know whether I could proceed. Because I suddenly wanted to proceed, very, very much.

But she only closed her eyes and shook her head, wavering as if unsteady. “God, what is happening?”

I tightened my grip on her waist, worried she was going to tip over. Then my forehead crinkled into a grimace.
Shit
. “You’re plastered too, aren’t you?”

Hooking up with drunk chicks was majorly taboo in my book.

That sobered me right up.

I walked us both the rest of the way into the room and shut the door behind us by kicking back my foot, so we could have a private place to cool down before rejoining the wedding reception. Then I glanced around. She’d found us some kind of snug meeting room with an empty conference table in the center surrounded by plush rolling armchairs. A whiteboard wallpapered one wall, while a television screen hung from the other.

A sudden vision flooded my head of laying her out on the glossy, polished tabletop and slipping my hand up the slit in her dress until I found out what kind of panties she was wearing…or
if
she was wearing panties.

Shit, this was not good. Why did there have to be such a nice, available horizontal space, perfect for hooking up on, so close by?

Julianna blinked her eyes open and tried to focus on me, but her gaze was glassy and dazed. “It didn’t really hit me until I stood up to go to the bathroom. But yeah, I’m more wasted than I thought.”

“Yeah,” I mumbled, blowing out a breath of agreement, because the alcohol had crept up on me too, but mostly because I knew this meant no fun for us.

Damn....it....

I let my hand fall from the curve of her waist, letting her go.

But Julianna didn’t step away from me. If anything she pressed closer and released a breath as if giving in to temptation. Then she lifted up onto her toes so that her breasts slid up my chest.

I inhaled sharply.

“God, you smell good,” she murmured into my ear.

And yep, instant erection. I mean, it was almost painful because of how fast I got hard.

“Julianna,” I tried to caution her, though it sounded more like a breathless plea than a warning.

The tips of my fingers found the bottom edge of her bustier in the back of her dress and bit in at the top swell of her ass. Then I dipped my face next to hers, making our cheeks brush enough that I’m sure she felt the sandpapery texture of my jaw.

She whimpered and shuddered, then ground her pelvis against my hard, aching cock, clutching my shoulders. I gripped her ass harder, unable to stop myself, grinding her slowly into me.

“Careful, baby doll. I kind of want to do really obscene things to you right now.”

“Yes,” she sighed the word, tipping her head back and closing her eyes. “That sounds wonderful.”

It really did. So I leaned in and ran my tongue up the side of the neck she’d so willingly exposed to me before I gently nipped her earlobe with my teeth, tasting her silver dream catcher earring.

She gripped my shoulders, whimpering for more. “I want you. I want you so bad.” Her voice was high and desperate, and I swear she sounded astonished to be wanting such a thing.

It turned me on as much as it worried me. “Shit.” I leaned my face down enough to press my forehead to hers so I could keep myself from going in for a kiss. Trying to collect myself, I moved my hands to a more respectable place, running them up and down the sides of her arms before tugging her back and putting a good two feet between us.

“Colton?” Her tone was angry and begging and exasperated all at the same time.

I pressed a couple fingers to her lips. “Wait. What about tomorrow?”

She grabbed my hand and gently removed my fingers as she frowned in confusion and shook her head. “Tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I...” I swallowed, knowing I was cock-blocking myself by doing this but also knowing it needed to be done anyway. “I don’t want you to wake up tomorrow morning with a hangover and bloodshot eyes, mortified by what you did with me. I’m not going to be anyone’s fucking drunk regret.”

Been there and done that. Hated it and wasn’t looking for a repeat. Especially with this girl.

Julianna blinked. Then her gaze softened. The sympathy and understanding on her face nearly slew me before she cupped my cheek in her hand. “Oh, honey, I wouldn’t regret you.”

In that second, I actually believed her.

“Swear it,” I whispered. Grasping her wrist, I held her fingers against her own heart as if making her take a solemn vow, then I held up my other hand, palm facing her, and told her to set hers against mine. When she actually did, I softly ordered, “Now repeat after me.”

She nodded, smiling softly as if intrigued by my gravity.

“I, Julianna Elizabeth Radcliffe...” I started, only for her to giggle that cute-ass giggle of hers.

“My middle name isn’t Elizabeth.”

“Margaret?” When she shook her head, I tried again. “Harriet?”

“Dacia,” she relented.

“Dacia,” I murmured, feeling the word ripple through me from the inside out. I liked the name Dacia. “That’s beautiful,” I told her. Then I delved my gaze deep into hers as I started over.