Hornet's Nest (2 page)

SIX MONTHS… IT was six months ago I kissed those lips that I had dreamed about kissing every night since Christmas. She never came back to the country to visit Jordan after Ellie and Paul’s wedding. The bachelorette party was in the city. She didn’t need to participate in the rehearsal. She had to work, so she said. But I knew what was going on.

She was avoiding me.

She couldn’t avoid me any longer. I stood outside the closed door to Tom and Jordan’s bedroom. I could hear Jordan’s father’s booming voice. Cal and Marie were inside with their daughter along with Jordan’s bridesmaid, Ellie, and the woman who never left my thoughts since she walked into my life months ago. The woman who fought the tension rupturing between us that one day we were forced to be together. The woman who ended up forfeiting and kissed me into a stupor. A foolish stupor. The woman who made me so drunk for months of endless nights. The woman who stood on the other side of this door.

Katherine.

My hand balled into a fist to calm the shaking. This woman made me shake. What woman could ever possibly make me shake!
Get a grip, Lance. It’s just a pussy. It’s just a pussy.

I knocked on the door. It was game time, and these girls needed to hurry up before Tom had a nervous breakdown. I exhaled and opened the door slowly. All of those people were there. All of those people were watching me. The only one I saw was the one with the honey-colored eyes and the long auburn hair wrapped up and swept away from her face.
Oh, God. It’s not just a pussy. She makes me weak. God, she makes me weak.

Katherine’s eyes met mine and I thought she would flinch away, but she didn’t. They locked on mine. I was in here for something. I didn’t remember what I was doing. All I knew was that I couldn’t tear my gaze from hers. I never wanted to stop looking at her. Her dress was some sort of blue. I kept hearing the word “peacock.” That must have been a color instead of a bird. Whatever it was, it showed off most of her legs. She wore heels instead of the boots she had to wear for Ellie’s wedding. Her legs… sweet Jesus. That just ain’t right. No man should have to walk away from those.

Movement from the corner of my eye caused me to blink. I turned and saw Jordan in white. I blinked again.

Fuck… the wedding! Now I remember!

“I, uh, came to, uh… are y’all ready yet?”

I babbled like an idiot. That woman made me babble like an idiot. The first time I saw her in months and I stutter and babble.
Nice job, shit face.

“Okay, it’s show time!” Jordan said and everyone started to leave the room. I stood to the side to allow everyone out. Katherine, thankfully, was the last to get to the door. I reached down for her hand when she passed. Why? I had no clue. I just had to touch her. I was obsessed. Lance Walton was obsessed with a woman. Hell had frozen over.

“How’ve you been?” I asked her in a low voice as the rest of the bridal party went down the stairs.

She smiled. It wasn’t a full smile. It might have been an annoyed smile, but she smiled.

“I’ve been good, Lance. Busy, but good.”

I wrapped her arm around mine and escorted her down the hall to the stairs. I took advantage of our quiet moment together to try to warm her up to me again. “How’s accounting treating you these days?”

Her eyes widened, and she asked, “You actually remember my occupation?”

“Of course, I do. I’m not a total pompous ass.”

She laughed. Her smile lit up her face. She was laughing at me, but I didn’t care. As long as I saw that beautiful smile, she could laugh at me forever. When we reached the last step, she said, “No. Not pompous.”

“Are you calling me an ass then, beautiful?” I cocked my eyebrow while pulling out my signature smirk. She stopped walking, and our arms uncrossed. I lifted her hand to my mouth, never breaking eye contact, and pressed my lips gently to the back of her hand. I squeezed and whispered in her ear, “Don’t answer that.”

I winked and turned away without her saying another word. I couldn’t help but smile as I went outside. She may have avoided me up until now, but like hell she would avoid me from now on.

White fabric led from the back door all the way to the dock over the lake. Tom raised his chin as I came outside. I gave him a thumbs-up, and the hundred or so people who sat in rows in front of the dock clapped while they laughed. I stepped down from the deck and walked over to my best friend, Paul.

“Hey, how did Ellie look?”

I patted him on the shoulder as I stood behind him. “Round.”

He nudged me in the stomach, and said, “She’s barely showing.”

I laughed as I looked over to my best friend, the man who married the only girl I had ever loved, and I nodded. “You did good, bro.”

The back door opened and I smiled at the only woman I had ever loved. All the breath escaped from the husband standing beside me. Without turning back toward me, he said, “Damn right I did.”

He left my side to assist his pregnant wife down the stairs and into the aisle. Their eyes never glanced my way. Their eyes would never leave each other’s again.

The door opened behind me. I turned back around. Even though I just saw Katherine five minutes ago, there were not enough words in the English language to describe how amazingly beautiful this woman was. I walked up the few steps. She wrapped her arm around mine. Was I stupid to feel something every time this woman touched me? I gazed down at her, and she looked up at me with a smile easing up her cheeks.

No. I wasn’t stupid to feel something. It would be stupid not to feel something. The only thing I could feel was her touch and the tightening of my chest. I bit my lip trying to hide the smile that wanted to glide up my cheeks and looked away as I walked her down the aisle. I was fucked. I was totally fucked. And I didn’t care one bit. We parted when we met the dock. Tom cocked his eyebrow at me, and I winked at him. He shook his head as he chuckled under his breath. I never claimed to know much. I never claimed myself to be a smart man, but I knew enough. I knew that the nights upon nights of hopping from one bed to another were over. I knew the nights of drinking myself into a drunken oblivion were over. I knew that the Lance I claimed to be was long gone. I glanced over at that woman with indescribable beauty and vowed to make her mine. It wasn’t going to be easy. I knew going into this that the chances of winning over this smart, sassy, sophisticated city girl would be a mountain of a task for any country boy, but damn it, I wanted her and damn it, I was going to get her.

• • •

The party was in full swing as the evening crept up on us, the fireflies lighting up the sky. The bride and groom danced in the middle of the field as the most wonderful creature sat at a table, all by herself, shooting back glass after glass of champagne. I cocked my head to the side as I shoved one hand in my pocket and sipped from a pint glass of beer. Her best friend got married, she should be happy, but happiness was the farthest thing from her face. This would not do. I downed my beer and placed it on the nearest table. I rolled up my sleeves, thankful I had ditched the jacket, and strolled over to her like a moth to a flame. I passed a waiter with a tray full of champagne and I grabbed two before I approached her. She didn’t notice me standing beside her. She tilted up the champagne flute against her lips and downed yet another glass. She reached for the bottle and exhaled, putting it back on the table when she realized she had drank the whole thing.

“Need a refill?”

Her eyes shot over to me. I smiled holding out another glass for her. She didn’t appear to be drunk by any means. Something told me that this girl could hold her liquor. Her hand reached out, taking the glass from my grip. When our fingers touched, I knew. I knew she couldn’t deny what was happening between us. There was something definitely happening between us; something that had never happened before … except for once. I turned my head and found my pregnant ex-girlfriend on the lap of my best friend a few tables down. My heart hurt, I could admit that. But seeing two people I truly loved being undeniably happy made it all worth it. I gave them hell and I wished I hadn’t, but things were right with the world now. I was happy enough for them.

“Would you like to sit?”

Yep. Things were right with the world now.

I sat down next to Katherine in a wooden folding chair. The distance was too great, so I adjusted my chair, becoming almost flush with hers. I draped my arm around her and rested it on the back of the chair. I stared out over the dance floor and could feel her eyes question my arm around her. She would just have to get used to it. I planned on touching a lot more than just her shoulder.

“So, what has you all mopey?” I asked as I continued to watch Jordan and Tom’s first dance.

“I’m not mopey,” she shot back, proving that she was in fact mopey.

“Says the girl who already downed a bottle of champagne before the first dance is over.” I glanced at her, and her eyes fell on me. In that moment, I knew why she was upset. I looked at Jordan and Tom dancing and then back at Katherine. I squeezed her into a half-ass hug and said, “Think of it this way, beautiful. You didn’t lose a friend. You gained me.”

She laughed while elbowing me in the stomach, and said, “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

Katherine continued to laugh until she caught my eye. I leaned in close to her, slowly brushing my nose against her cheek until my lips reached her ear. The breath caught in her throat.

“I’ll prove to you how good it can be.”

I pulled back. I didn’t smirk or wink, keeping my face completely serious. I wanted to prove to her that I wasn’t the player asshole I was painted to be. I played the part, but there was a different side of me. I wanted her to see that side. Her eyes shifted from mine and I couldn’t breathe. Her eyes shifted to my lips.

“I’m going to be a dad!”

Tom’s announcement pulled us away from each other and my head turned toward the dance floor. I glanced back at Katherine. A genuine smile lifted up her face as she pushed out of her chair and went straight to Jordan, engulfing her in a hug. I followed, congratulating Tom.

“We’re having a boy!”

My head shot to Paul. I hugged my friend as the celebration continued around us. My eyes found Katherine’s as hers met mine. I got it. I understood why she was so bummed. It wasn’t so much that she was losing a friend. It was that all of our friends were moving on, and she and I were just … stuck. All of our best friends got married and pregnant within six months, and we just got to play the part.

The married couples that were our friends began to dance as Katherine and I stood by ourselves. Her face had fallen. She still smiled, but her spark was gone. She clasped her hands together and stared at her naked finger. It broke my heart. I reached out my hand to her. Her finger might be bare, but I could at least help her forget about it. She glanced at my hand and left me hanging a little too long for my liking. Her hands unclasped, hesitated in mid air. Exhaling, she placed one in mine. I pulled her gently to me.

Katherine looped her arms around my neck, and I held her close to my body. I wanted her more than anything, but I also wanted her to know that she was worth more than anything. A woman as beautiful as the one in my arms should never have any sort of self-doubt. I would make it my personal mission to ensure she never doubted her worth ever again.

“I still think about that kiss.” Her eyes focused on mine at my declaration. I bent down to her ear. “I wonder if your lips are still as sinful as I remember.”