Page 45 of Always a Bridesmaid

“I couldn’t think of a better way to pass time.”

She rolled her eyes. “Discreet, remember?”

Oh, he remembered alright. He just didn’t like it. Not one bit. The first thing he wanted to do when he saw her was pull her into his arms and kiss her. Which was new for him since he wasn’t a guy who was usually into PDA. Then again, being someone’s secret was also new.

“Are you fraternizing with my partner, bro?” Jake asked, shoulder-checking Henry as he walked up.

“He was just giving me a few pointers,” Elle said.

Jake slung his arm over Elle’s shoulder. “You don’t need pointers from this guy. You are in good hands with me.”

Henry wanted to break his friend’s hand, but that would draw unnecessary attention.

“Henry,” Sarah called out. “You’re with Aunt Ann.”

Both Jake and Elle quickly smothered a burst of laughter, because Aunt Ann was old as dirt, half blind, and had arthritis.She could barely hold the mallet, let alone swing it. Last time they were paired together Henry had come in dead last. And he wasn’t planning on that happening again. Not today.

“What is the saying about second place being the first loser?” Jake said, and Henry flipped him the bird.

It took a few minutes for everyone to get in their places, but the game finally began. Elle wasn’t as bad as he thought—she was terrible. Which he knew pissed her off, because she was as competitive as he was. Her ball was going everywhere but where she intended it to.

So when she finished her turn, which ended with her ball in the weeds, Henry followed.

“You’re swinging it like it’s a golf club,” he said, coming up behind her. Not caring if it was cliché or not, he wrapped his arms around her and placed his hands over hers so that they were holding the mallet together.

Her head snapped over her shoulder and she glanced up at him. “What are you doing?” she hissed. “What if someone sees?”

“Love, you are in no-man’s-land. No one but the cows can see us.” That seemed to relax her a tad. “Now, do you want to learn how to swing or not?”

She wiggled her shoulders to shrug him off, but all she managed to do was nuzzle her bum into his crotch. He knew the second she realized her mistake because she froze. Her head slowly spun like it was on a lazy Susan.

“You’re hard,” she whispered.

“I’ve been hard since you walked out of my sister’s car in these ass-hugging pants.”

“But someone might notice.”

“All I care about is ifyounotice,” he whispered against the outer shell of her ear. “Did you notice me?”

“The second I got here,” she admitted in a whisper.

Not shifting his stance, he took a finger and tugged her hair over one shoulder, exposing her elegant neck. Leaning down, he pressed an open-mouthed kiss there. He felt her breath catch and when she exhaled it was on a small moan.

“Yet you greeted me last.”

“I didn’t want to seem too eager to get to you.”

“When you got to me, what did you want to do?” he asked, running his nose down the gentle slope of her neck to her shoulder and nudging her sweater down until it fell, exposing a lacy teal strap. He nipped at the newly exposed skin and her head dropped back against his chest.

“I wanted to kiss you.”

“Like this?” he asked.

Tilting her head up, he cradled her lower lip with his in a barely-there touch that had her hand reaching back and tunneling through his hair.

“More like this.” She tugged his head down until their mouths were fused together and it was his turn to moan. She may have spent the past hour ignoring him, but all her focus was zeroed in on him now and the sacrifice had been worth it.

Her lips toyed with his over and over, moving and cradling until her teeth came out to play, sinking into his lower lip with a stinging bite. If she wanted to get spicy, he could do spicy.

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