Don't Tell the Wedding Planner (8 page)

“Matt.” She arched her back in invitation, pressing closer, her eyes still closed. “I thought we’d agreed about the clothes—”

“We did. I’m not taking them off,” he said. “I just want to touch you.”

He fumbled briefly at the edge of her panties, cursing softly along the way. Why the hell was he so clumsy? But the need rushing through his veins made his fingers feel too hot and too eager and too greedy to go slow.

Matt shifted and tilted his head to take more of Callie’s mouth as he finally succeeded in slipping his hand beneath the elastic band, seeking out the sweet spot that would bring about the response he craved. If he couldn’t take exactly what he was dying for, then he wanted to hear Callie calling his name. He knew the flush staining her cheeks now had nothing to do with the heat wave. Goose bumps peppered her skin as he slid his palm lower with a purpose.

When he reached his goal, the soft folds beneath his fingers, Callie arched against him.

“Matt.”
She reached for his arms, her eyes wide. “I need—”

“I know what you need.”

Callie gripped his forearm and he paused, refusing to give up his position, before stroking her between her legs.

With a groan, Callie closed her eyes. “That’s mighty presumptuous of you.”

“At this point,” he said dryly. “I don’t think either of us is thinking much beyond the big O.”

She sounded out of breath. “You’re too goal-oriented.”

“Isn’t that the point of all this?”

“The point is,” she said, shifting a little lower down his chest, “to enjoy the journey en route.”

And then Callie’s hand landed on his hard-on, and Matt sucked in a breath and froze. The images ricocheting around his head included one of him shucking her pants and sliding between her thighs. But the one that wreaked the most havoc was of Callie’s face, eyes dreamy and jaw slack as he thrust hard and brought them both to a rousing finale.

“Callie. I’m not sure—”

She tunneled her hand beneath his underwear.

“You’re not sure of what?” she said, and she began to stroke him through the cotton briefs, sending a stab of pleasure down his groin and searing his skin.

The urge to roll over and pin Callie beneath him sent a small shudder down his spine.

Matt let out an undignified curse. “I’m not sure this is wise.”

She smiled against his mouth and then gave his lower lip a little nip. “If you get to touch me, then I get to touch you.”

Well, hell, who could argue with logic like that?

Matt had just about adjusted to the fingers stroking him through the cotton when she ran her finger across the sensitive head, pulling an embarrassing groan from his mouth.

“Hmm,” she murmured. “That was fun. Let’s see if I get the same response again.”

Matt left her lips and ran his mouth down the curve of her breast toward the center. The wet layer of cotton and the lace beneath were frustrating, but he continued to nip, placing sucking kisses along the path from one side to the other. He flicked his tongue across the tip, the partial bud growing fuller in response, and he grinned. Her fingers on his erection fumbled a little, and her free hand gripped the short hair at the back of his neck, pulling his head up until they were face-to-face.

The wide pupils and parted mouth were a beautiful sight, right before she dove in for a soul-searing kiss that almost had him losing his focus, his fingers briefly losing their rhythm beneath her pants.

“Here’s an idea,” he said, his voice throatier than he would have liked. “Let’s see who can stay the most focused.”

Eyelids wide, she said, “Clothes stay on?”

“Deal.”

Matt knew he was in trouble when Callie stopped kissing him and pulled back to look at his face. Her lips—ruddy from being consumed by his—curled into a grin and, before Matt could figure out what she had in mind, her hand slipped beneath his briefs and made contact, closing around his erection. Her soft palm encircled his hard length.

For a moment, his mind went blank and his heart flatlined.

“Callie.” This time her name came out more of a groan. “I can’t—”

Callie writhed against him, encouraging his fingers to get with the program again. Desperate, he used his free hand to ruck her shirt up to just beneath her breasts before he caught himself, remembering their deal.

Why’d he come up with this torture?

Matt bent forward and captured the tip of her breast with his mouth again, cursing the two layers of fabric between them. Callie’s hand stroked him faster, and the need building low in his back began to increase in intensity, his movements less about teasing and more about pushing them both over the edge. And the devouring of her with his lips and teeth and tongue became as much about satisfying his need as hers.

Callie’s lids went wide, her mouth partially open as she sucked in breath after breath, and her hand began to falter, the rhythm of her strokes stuttering. When she arched her back, her body giving one final shudder, she dragged her thumb directly over his sensitive tip. Matt’s spine went stiff, the orgasm shooting through him, stripping the strength from his limbs.

Matt had no idea how many minutes passed before his endorphin-soaked brain became aware of his surroundings again. A breeze gently rocked the hammock and cooled their sweat-slicked skin. The smell of sex hung in the air, and the feel of Callie’s soft body pressed against Matt’s lulled him into a sense of peace. In fact, he might have sworn never to move again.

“That was definitely the most fun I’ve ever had with my clothes on,” he said, his eyes still closed. “I haven’t done the third-base-only thing since high school.”

“Third base. Really? Do people still use the term?”

He looked down at Callie with a grin. “Only perverts like me.”

She tipped back her head and laughed, and the movement sent their slick torsos sliding against each other.

“Um...” Callie wiggled against the mess between them as a small smile crept up her face. “I think we’re going to need to go for another dip in the water.”

FIVE

The next
morning, Callie leaned back in the chair in her office and stared blankly at her laptop, currently parked on her desk. She’d come to work early to get some planning done, but after the hot moment in the hammock yesterday, her mind hadn’t been the same. Her
body
hadn’t been the same. How could she concentrate on creating a medieval menu for a wedding reception when all she could think about was Matt?

Especially getting Matt...
naked.

They’d driven back to the city, and the parting had been full of untapped potential. Unfortunately she’d had a meeting with a client last evening, so she couldn’t invite him up to her condo. And no matter how far things had gone between the two of them, she still felt awkward asking him to come to her place once she was free. A request synonymous with asking him over for a night of sex.

Not that there was anything wrong with
that.

After all, they were two consenting adults.

However, if her current mind frame were any indication, having Matt Paulson around would surely slow down her progress at work.

Callie set her elbow on her sleek cherrywood desk and propped her chin in her hand. Perhaps Matt was right. Maybe she should stop avoiding the extended family. Maybe if she simply started showing up to the various family functions her relatives would stop continuing to file her away under the to-be-pitied category. Avoiding the family while waiting for time to take care of the issue hadn’t helped.

For God’s sake, ten years surely would have cured the problem by now.

But continuing to avoid the family amounted to everyone thinking she was hiding in shame, which couldn’t be further from the truth. She needed to show up, hold her head high and let everyone see that she was exactly where she wanted to be in her life, past mistakes be damned.

Callie sat up and fired off an email to her aunt, accepting the invitation to the family reunion. If she was lucky, maybe Matt would still be around and she could ask him to come with her. A little steadying presence by her side would be welcome for sure. Of course, having him around meant they could actually make it beyond the juvenile label of third base.

Unfortunately, the thought of Matt in her bed sidetracked her again.

“Callie.”

Startled, she looked up. Colin stood on the other side of her desk, looking down at her with a bemused expression on his face, dark hair curling a bit just above his ears. How had he entered her office without her even hearing him? After a quick check of her watch, she realized fifteen minutes had passed by without her knowledge. Good Lord, she’d never get anything done at this rate.

“I knocked, but you didn’t answer,” Colin said.

“Sorry.” Callie sat up and pretended to shuffle through a few files on her desk. “What have I done to warrant a visit from my favorite ex-boyfriend?”

Colin let out a huff of humor and dropped into the seat across from her. “I’d take that as a compliment if you had more exes running around.”

Callie lifted a brow dryly, determined to remain unaffected by the efficiently targeted, well-meaning jab. Unfortunately, when Colin went on, remaining unaffected became impossible.

Colin crossed his arms. “The Paulson thing is turning into a bigger deal than I thought.”

Oh, God.

Stunned, Callie stared at her ex, hoping to read exactly what he was talking about in his expression. But nothing in his blue eyes gave away his thoughts. Had he already guessed she was slipping quickly into a
thing,
for lack of a better word, with Matt? Callie racked her brain trying to figure out how she’d given everything away. Short of Matt leaving handprints on her body she was at a loss to explain the turn of events. Unless Colin had suddenly developed psychic powers she didn’t know about.

“Uh...bigger deal?” she said.

“Yes. Like nationally televised newsworthy deal.”

Television?

Matt
would
look good on a sex tape.

“Wait,
what?
” She shook her head and leaned back in her seat, trying to pry her mind out of the gutter. “I’m confused.”

Clearly Colin was talking about something other than her relationship with Matt. Their sexual exploits, while hot in a kind of innocent way, were hardly the stuff of tabloids.

“The
Dungeons of Zhorg
community caught wind of the Paulson wedding,” Colin said. “And there are people clamoring to come for some of the events.”

Callie stared at her ex, her heart working overtime to supply enough blood to her brain. She’d only been gone for a day. One day. She’d enjoyed lunch with Matt, taken a swim and indulged in an erotic, fully clothed moment with a handsome guy. When the heck had everything become so crazy?

Being caught up in a sex-tape scandal suddenly seemed appealing in comparison.

“The LARP event was to be for the wedding guests only,” Callie said.

“That was the original idea. But someone at Gamer’s World got wind of the plans and now they want in on the action, too. I called and spoke with Tommy Paulson myself, and he and his fiancée are in favor of making this as big as we want, as long as Rainstorm Games foots the bill for all the extras. Our publicist is contacting the local networks and several of them are interested in running a human interest piece about Tommy and Penny’s story.”

Gamer’s World? Networks?

Holy hell.

“Colin.” Her voice came out weak. News cameras? At a wedding she’d arranged? “I only agreed to handle this wedding because the smaller scale made it doable. Money isn’t the only issue here. I’m just one person, plus a part-time assistant.”

And while the businesswoman in her considered the additions an opportunity of a lifetime, the woman who wanted to have time to eat and sleep over the next two months had issues with the idea. Not to mention how would she even find two minutes to see where yesterday’s foray into hotness with Matt would lead? And see where the relationship would take her?

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I have plenty of experience with these types of events. I’ve launched several popular games, remember?”

“What I remember best was you arranging a zombie invasion of a wedding your wife and I planned,” she said dryly.

Colin sent her an unapologetic grin.

Despite everything, she smiled. “It was an epic ending to a fabulous wedding.”

Callie had gone all out in helping Colin’s then-fiancée plan a spectacular Mardi Gras wedding. She’d grown pretty close to Jamie in the process. And even though Callie wished them well in their marital bliss, a little part of Callie envied them, as well. The closest Callie had ever come to anything serious had been with Colin, and their relationship ended ten years ago.

I’d take that as a compliment if you had more exes running around.

The realization suddenly made her love life seem a little pathetic. But she’d been so busy pouring all her energies into her business, determined to turn her negative into a positive that she hadn’t had time for a relationship.

She hadn’t lived the life of a monk. She wasn’t
that
insane. Callie had dated and enjoyed herself along the way. But she’d passed on actively pursuing anything serious because she wanted to be in the right place in her life. And while she’d been building her business, her social life had lagged behind, stuck in the old days. Hanging out with old friends was well and good, but what about making new ones?

Case in point, one of her best friend’s was her ex from ten years ago.

Unfortunately, Colin seemed oblivious to her brutal personal epiphany as he went on.

“I checked out the park you chose and spoke with the people in charge,” he said. “They have plenty of room and more than adequate parking.”

Right. They were in the middle of discussing how her work life had just gotten hellaciously complicated. Did he have any idea what he was asking of her?

Colin went on. “I don’t think we’ll need that much room, but the park said they could handle up to a thousand people.”

“A thousand?” she said weakly, trying to force her mind back to the concerning turn of events. Her private party wedding suddenly going public...

“Colin, that’s way more work than I signed on for.”

“I know you’ve been trying to prove to your parents how successful your business has become. I assumed you’d jump at the chance to do exactly that.”

“True. But televising a wedding I’ve only had two months to arrange isn’t exactly how I figured to pull this off.”

“If anyone can do this, it’s you.”

“You mean if anyone is crazy enough to
try,
it’s me.”

“Listen, Callie—” Colin leaned forward, his blue eyes on hers “—I trust you. I know you can pull this off in a manner that will live up to the newly expanded LARP event.”

I trust you.

Damn, here she was resenting the fact he’d just increased her workload by a hundred and he had the nerve to utter those words she rarely heard other than from her clients.

I trust you.

The twinge in her heart was impossible to ignore.

After her spectacular fail in college, the one person she’d directly affected the most had been Colin. She hadn’t asked him to come up and bail her out. But he’d come. Because that was the kind of guy he was. And the trip had cost him greatly.

Still, he’d been the first to forgive her. The first to embrace her crazy decision to start her own business arranging themed weddings, and he even managed her website. And if that wasn’t enough, he participated in the
Ex Factor
blog because it helped
her,
not him. He remained anonymous, which meant he received nothing in return, other than the satisfaction of seeing his friend succeed and her massive gratitude.

Callie stared at Colin. Obviously Colin considered the turn of events an opportunity not to be missed, for both her business and his. And Tommy and Penny appeared thrilled, as well.

“When it comes to work, no one is more focused than you, Callie.”

I was until Matt Paulson landed in my life.

“Uh, thanks.”

Clearly the man didn’t remember how distracted she’d been when he’d arrived at her office. And all of this meant that, damn, she probably should try to tone things down with the brother of the groom. How could she give this event the proper attention while preoccupied by the potential for more with Matt Paulson?

“You know I’ll give it my all,” she said.

“You always do.” Colin reached across her desk and gave her a friendly cuff on the arm. “I’ll have my publicist coordinate things with you. And if you need any extra help, don’t hesitate to holler.”

She sent him a smile she didn’t quite feel. “Sure.”

Callie watched Colin exit her office, and the moment he disappeared Callie flopped back against her seat. The question remained, how good was she at pulling off the impossible? And how was she going to convince Matt to return to a hands-off relationship?

More important, how was she going to convince herself?