Falling for the Groomsman (4 page)

She was gone.

Not again. Why were they always running from each other? His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out. It was from a number he didn’t recognize. He swiped his finger across the screen and scanned it.

That was a mistake and won’t be happening again. I suggest we keep our distance from each other from now on. All my love…to your parents. —Christine

His fingers tightened on his phone.
How did you get this number?

I’m a journalist. I can get anything, anywhere. But I’m going to bed. I find myself suddenly exhausted. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. It was…kind of fun, I guess.

He rolled his eyes. Bullshit. Pure and complete bullshit.
Three more seconds and you would have been screaming my name while you came, and you know it.

No. I don’t.

She was in denial if she thought she could convince him he hadn’t turned her on just now. He knew the signs of arousal when he saw them. Flared pupils. Soaring pulse. Short breaths. They’d all been there.

She was playing hard to get, plain and simple. She had a plan. Probably that list she’d mentioned. Knowing her, she’d laid out every step of her seduction plan, or something else she’d investigated perfectly before he arrived.

Question was, did she really want to get caught?

He slid his phone back into his pocket without replying to her last text, adjusted his pants—which were now way too tight—and headed back into the lounge. He’d played a few games of seduction a time or two himself, and now?

He had a plan of his own.

Chapter Five

The next afternoon, Christine slammed the flowers that Julie had assigned to her into the vase on the table, muttering under her breath. She was in Spago helping Julie get ready for the event tonight, and her mood was sour. After her kiss-and-run play she’d pulled on Tyler last night, he
should
have come pounding on her door. Or he should have at least replied to her teasing text, for the love of God. Begged for her to come back down with him so they could talk. Something. Anything. But instead she’d gotten radio silence.

So much for her
Get payback on Tyler
plan.

What he had done to her in Mexico shouldn’t matter after all these years…but it did. Seeing him again had brought new life to all those angry feelings she’d had for him. Was it so horrible that she wanted to show him how desirable she was now? Then when she hooked him…she’d stop and walk away.

Just like he’d done to her.

Of course, she hadn’t been planning on
actually
kissing him, but at least she’d gotten to cross an item off her list:
kiss a stranger in public
. Sure, he wasn’t technically a stranger, but this Tyler was dominant and brooding. He wasn’t the Tyler she’d known in Mexico.

It should have counted as a win…and yet she hadn’t been able to resist poking the bear after she’d fled the scene. She’d gotten his number from Kady, and she’d taunted him. Insinuated he’d been lackluster at best. She’d gotten nothing in return.

Had she won that battle? Hell if she knew.

She’d done some more reading research this morning, a romance book where the heroine seduced the hero for revenge, and according to the book, she’d done the old bait-and-switch properly. And if she couldn’t count on
Seducing the Hot Enemy
for tips, she was screwed with a capital
S
.

He should have been desperate for her. Needing her. Not ignoring her.

Maybe she’d done it wrong. Oh well. She had to move on. Keep working on her sex list and forget all about him. If she passed him in the hallway, she would smile politely and keep on walking. No more kissing. No more desire.

No more Tyler.

If only she could stop
thinking
about him.

She jammed another set of flowers into another identical vase and Julie cleared her throat. “Is there something you’d like to talk about?”

“What?” Christine stuck another set of flowers into the next vase. “No. Why?”

Julie eyed her and straightened the flowers Christine had just finished arranging. “You’re upset about something and taking it out on the poor flowers. If you need to talk, I’m good at listening. You don’t have to beat up pretty flowers to prove it to me.”

“I don’t need to talk.” Christine sighed and filled another vase, setting them in place more gently this time. Earlier, she’d come in to find Julie and Mister Danger himself, Reed, in a very compromising situation. Like, a hand-up-the-skirt type of situation. “If anything, I’d like to talk about safety and ladders. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

Julie flushed and fidgeted with the green stems even though they were already centered. “Hush now, professional subject changer.”

Christine smiled and whistled under her breath. Julie’s hot cheeks confirmed her suspicions. Something was going on between her and Reed. Good. It was about time Julie let loose and had some fun. Maybe Christine should ask her for a few pointers on seduction.
She
obviously had it going on. “Come on. Help a girl out. Who kissed who first? And, oooh, is he a good kisser?”

“Christine Forsythe, I’m ashamed of you!” Julie huffed. “Why, I wouldn’t know, would I?”

Christine laughed. “Oh, I bet you would.” It wasn’t often Julie let go enough to want someone, and it was obvious right now she wanted him, so Christine had to do a tiny bit of ribbing. That is what best friends were for. “Maybe I should go find out for myself. Think he’ll show me?”

“More than likely,” Julie said a bit stiffly. She adjusted the flowers for the third time. “But what about Tyler? I saw him follow you out last night, and when he came back in he was as agitated as a grasshopper in molasses.”

“I have no idea why he would be upset,” Christine said quickly, focusing on the flowers in front of her. “I had nothing to do with it.”

“I didn’t say he was upset,” Julie said, her eyes wide. “Or imply that you caused it.”

Christine snorted, but didn’t say anything else. She’d already said too much.

She had to hand it to Julie, she gave back as good as she got. That’s what Christine loved most about her. Well, that and her utter dedication to making others happy. She was just the sweetest girl around, which is what made her and Mister Danger work. If those two ended up in bed together, Julie would forget all about saying please and thank you.

Although…Christine suspected Julie might thank the good Lord after Reed finished with her.

Julie stood up straight and smoothed her skirt. “But really, he’s not my ty—”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Julie shook her head. “How do you know? I didn’t even finish what I was going to say.”

“You were going to say he’s not your type.” Christine grinned when Julie glowered at her. “I know. But you should be chasing after him anyway. Trust me on this. He’ll rock your world.”

Julie snorted. “You’re barking up the wrong tree, Christine.”

“I don’t think so.” Christine smiled. “But we’ll see.”

“Yes,
we
will.”

No sooner had Julie finished talking than the door opened, and the first of the guests trickled in. She rushed off to make sure they found their seats, and Christine plopped down at the bar. It was going to be a heck of a long night, from the looks of it. After ordering a watermelon martini, she leaned on the bar and pulled out her phone. She had about one hundred emails already, and it was day one of her vacation.

Three of them were from Jake. He wanted to know when her plane would be coming in, so he could pick her up. She still couldn’t believe it had been so long since their parents were killed. She’d been so young, but Jake had been even younger. When they’d died, a nice family had taken him in during his final year of high school, and she’d stayed in college. The only reason she hadn’t rushed home to take care of him, despite their closeness in age, had been the fact that he’d been so well cared for. But man, she’d missed him.

It would be good to be back home with him again.

Someone sat beside her, so she smiled politely and looked up. Well, crap. It was Tyler. She had to act all cool and calm now, when she was anything but. She dropped the smile. “Oh. It’s you. Hey.”

Tyler cocked a brow. “Hello to you, too. Nice to see you being so friendly.”

“You wanted more from me?” She stared at her phone, trying to act as if her every nerve weren’t attuned to him right now. “Sorry to disappoint, but I’m done walking down memory lane with you. It’s not on my list.”

He chuckled, relaxed and at ease. “I know, you mentioned that last night. But tell me more about this
list
.”

“Nah, I don’t think so. It’s need-to-know, and you don’t need to know.” She opened another email. She had no idea what it said. “Why are you here, talking to me of all people? Let me guess. You’re feeling sorry for kissing me, and you’re here to apologize again.”

“Fuck no.” He leaned in closer, his thigh brushing hers. “I didn’t do anything worth apologizing for, Red.”

“I don’t know about that.” She fluttered her lashes at him. “I mean, maybe you pictured me naked while we were kissing. You’d have to drop on your knees and pray for my forgiveness if you did.”

“If I dropped to my knees, it wouldn’t be to beg for your forgiveness.” He shot her a look that went straight to her core, and rested his hand on her leg. She pressed her thighs together to ease the ache he’d awoken yet again. “I’d be too busy rolling my tongue over your sweet little—”

She covered his mouth, no matter how childish it might seem. He couldn’t just go around saying these thoughts out
loud
. A girl needed time to prepare herself. “That’s enough of that. We’re in public.”

“That didn’t stop us before,” he mumbled through her hand. He yanked it down, pressed a kiss to her palm, and let go of her. “I’m not about to let it stop us now.”

She curled her hand into a fist on her lap, not sure what the heck to say to that. “You want me to go down on you, right here? In front of your family?” She shot a pointed glance at his lap. “‘Baby, let me taste you,’” she quoted from
Seducing the Hot Enemy
she’d read this morning. “‘You’ll love it.’”

Oh, crap. She hadn’t expected him to look at her as if she was actually
doing
it. Holy freaking hotness. If he kept looking at her like that, this might stop being fiction and become nonfiction. Despite her racing heart and sweaty palms, she didn’t drop his gaze or back off. Not this time.

“Oh, would you now?” His eyes seared her straight through her clothes, and he took a deep breath. He motioned the bartender over without removing his eyes from her. “I’m tempted to call your bluff.”

She bit down on her lower lip, just like the heroines always did in her books. Hopefully it actually looked more
sexy temptress
than
hungry zombie looking for flesh
. “Who says it’s a bluff, Doc?”

He narrowed his green eyes on her and laughed out loud. “I do. But if you’d like to prove me wrong…?”

She stiffened, wanting nothing more than to do exactly that. But she couldn’t. Not here. Not this time. She didn’t drop her gaze at first, but in the end he won the battle of wills and she looked down at her drink, taking a deep breath. Holy crap, he was intense. Her stomach was a knotty mess of desire, and he looked calm as could be.

He smirked and leaned out, tracing a finger over her tense arm. “Want to know how I knew you were bluffing?”

God, his finger on her bare skin was torturous. It made her want to jump him. “I have a feeling you’ll tell me anyway, so go for it.”

His hand dipped lower, skimming over her wrist. “Right here? Your pulse leaped, but not in an excited way, judging from the way you bit down on your lip.”
So much for looking sexy. “
You looked away for just a second when you spoke, and you also fidgeted while shifting your weight on the stool. Put them all together and it means you are bluffing.” The force of those green eyes made her want to fidget or twitch or something, but what would he read into it if she did? “You may be able to read people, but I can read
you
.”

“I’m seeing that.” She picked up her martini and took a healthy sip. She’d need it if he planned on talking to her much longer. “Congratulations on being so observant. Should I get you a card or a cake? Maybe a cookie?”

He chuckled. “Were you always this snarky?”

“I don’t know.” She stared down at her phone again, unable to look at him right now. She flipped through another email, trying to stare at her phone instead of
him
. Anything was safer than looking into those green eyes. “Were you always this condescending?”

“There you go answering questions with questions again. Ever the professional journalist.” He snatched her phone out of her hand and slipped it into the breast pocket of his suit jacket. “You’re off the clock, Red. Relax a little bit.”

She frowned and held her hand out. “Give me back my phone. I have work to do.”

And a brother to answer.

“Not happening.” The bartender came over, but Tyler didn’t take his eyes off Christine. “I’ll have a whiskey, please. She’ll have another of whatever fruity drink she’s having.”

The pretty blond bartender nodded and walked off, but not before Christine saw her give Tyler a flirty smile. Tyler, on the other hand, didn’t notice it. He was too busy watching
her
. Her pulse raced. He needed to stop looking at her like he wanted to see her naked again. It was doing weird things to her psyche.

She gave him a small smile. “You don’t need to tell me to relax. I was fine until you came in here and started flirting.”

“Who says I’m flirting with you?” he asked with not so much as a grin on his stupidly perfect face. God, it wasn’t fair. “We’re just talking.”

“Please,” she said, turning back to her martini. She hoped she looked cool and calm in the face of his interest—but she was far from it. At best, she was a hot mess.

He shrugged. “You know, I thought about leaving you alone tonight. Not flirting with you for the rest of the week, even, after I got that text.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Right. I came in and saw you sitting over here, looking drop-dead fucking gorgeous, and I realized something.” He reached out and tugged on a curl, sending tingles across her scalp and desire coursing through her blood. “It would be pointless to even try to avoid you. In the end, we won’t be able to stay away from each other. Last night proved that.”

Her jaw dropped and she yanked her hair free. A mixture of rage and desire warred within her, making for a deadly cocktail. “It’s been
eight years
since we last talked, if you ignore the awkward ‘hi’ we shared at graduation. I’d say we’re pretty freaking good at staying away from each other.”

“That was only because we weren’t in the same zip code all that time.” He pressed his fingers against his mouth and inhaled deeply. Why did something so simple turn her on and make her palms get all sweaty? Why did she want to rip his fingers away and kiss him properly? Damn him. “But when we get too close…sparks fly. Inevitably, you end up pressed against a wall with me in between your legs. Mexico. Last night. Tonight…”

God, he was so freaking cocky. Of course, he totally pulled off the sexy confidence that seemed to come so easy to him, but she wasn’t about to admit it. It would only go to his head. “You sound like a Taylor Swift song,” she said, laughing uneasily. “‘Sparks fly?’ Really?”