Page 65 of Lovers' Dance: Vol. 2

Matt simply grinned, then the look in his eyes softened as he caught my gaze.

“Although,” Nathan mused, scratching his chin. “There are benefits to avoiding the whole song and dance that a wedding entails.”

I edged back to Matt’s side. The way he was staring at me, all amorous, it generated a swell of similar emotions inside me.

“I must say that I’m very brassed off with you,” Nathan continued and although he was smiling, his eyes narrowed slightly at Matt. A hint of temper flashed in their blue depths. “I’m your closest confidante and you got married without me. What does that say about our friendship, you tosser?”

“Nothing at all,” Matt joked. “Unlike you, I prefer to lay claim to my woman instead of leaving the field open for someone else, perhaps a Philippe, to swoop in and steal her away.”

Nathan’s mouth fell open, wide open, and Matt chuckled under his breath. The name Philippe seemed to rub Nathan the wrong way. I thought it sounded dashing.

“Right,” Nathan said with a begrudging smile and shake of head. “Point taken. Congratulations by the way. Everyone’s eager to see you both so don’t dally in the foyer.” And to bring his point home, Nathan grabbed my arm and propelled me forward, leaving a suddenly un-amused Matt behind us.

I was getting fed up with these manly types using their larger stature to dominate me. Unless you were a male dancer manoeuvring me across a stage; keep your damned hands off. I jerked free and scowled at Nathan. “Grabbing a black woman like that is just asking for a smack, Nathan,” Came my warning. “Grabbing any woman like that deserves a smack.”

“Rightly said, poppet,” Matt gently took my arm and I smiled sweetly at him as he threatened serious pain with his eyes in Nathan’s direction. “Remind me to tell Nathan what happened to the guard who grabbed your Aunt when we in the States.”

“He got smacked,” I recounted with an arched eyebrow and Nathan’s face filled with disbelief. “More than once.”

“Well,” he said in a haughty tone. “I shall refrain from-”

“Too right you will. She’s my wife, get your own.” Matt interrupted. I could hear the barely restrained laughter in his voice over Nathan’s affront.

“Did you miss us, Nathan?” I asked with a mischievous grin, linking my free arm with his.

Nathan looked down at our entwined arms and snorted. Then he patted my arm with a smile. “Miss is too strong a word. I resented Matt leaving on such short notice, things are hectic at the office.”

“You guys are always busy.” I mumbled under my breath. Both men ignored me so I repeated myself. “I said, you guys are-”

“We heard you, poppet.” Matt said in a soothing tone then peered intently at Nathan. “What is it? I can tell something is up so spit it out, Nathan.”

“Louisa is here with a date.” Nathan said with a wry grin. “Your sister’s warped sense of humour was on show when she decided on the guest list for this small soiree. Hannah is practically oozing malicious joy at the prospect of flaunting Madi as her sister-in-law in front of Louisa, and Bella has already made a few comments. Honestly, Matt, I knew they weren’t overly fond her but this gloating is hard to witness.”

My head swivelled side to side before finally settling in my husband’s direction. I gave him a look, just a look. Matt returned my look with a sheepish grin and a nonchalant shrug of his broad shoulders.

“One hour, Matt,” I decreed, dropping both their arms and moving forward with the fakest smile plastered across my face. “One hour then I’m going to bed,” I glanced over my shoulder, eyebrows raised slightly. “With or without you.”

“Poppet,” Matt beckoned me back with a crook of finger.

I snorted loudly and took a few more steps forward. Bloody Louisa. Stupid blondie. Argh! Nothing quite like seeing the bombshell my new husband had once been sexing. She had better not start anything tonight.

“Aren’t you planning on changing your attire?” Matt called from behind.

I stopped, inhaled then turned around slowly with a bland expression on my face. “Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing?”

Even Nathan heard the dangerous undertone in my voice. He shot Matt a quick sympathetic glance and softly hummed under his breath.

Matt bit his lip. “Not at all. Ah, it’s fine.”

I nodded my head. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Nathan nudged Matt with his elbow and murmured something too low for me to hear. Matt tried to hide his amused grin but failed. They both got some mean eyes from me before I spun around and resumed my journey forward.

“One hour.” I called in warning over my shoulder to my husband of three weeks.

This was going to be one of the longest hours of my life, and the first course of action was to get a drink, a strong one. I was certain there was a bottle of Absinthe in the house. Was it in Matt’s office or one of the kitchen cupboards? Damned Medusa. Driving me to drink…yeah, I wasn’t an alcoholic; I was a situational drinker and this situation definitely deserved it. She had better not start something.

The quick trip to the kitchen was a fruitful one, the Absinthe stood nestled between two bottles of aged whiskey. I found the ornate spoon, got me some crumbly sugar cubes, a suitable glass and some water. Forget the fire shit, as pretty as that looked, I was doing this the proper way. Then I thought about the beautiful Louisa again andI grimly, but bravely, drank it neat. Oo rah.

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