Page 42 of Tempt My Heart

"Hurry," Christopher muttered, peering out of the window to see if anyone had spotted the flare of light. Ali snapped a few more pictures and then they moved back across the carpet to the door, picking up her shoes as they went.

Christopher eased the door shut behind them and Ali slid on her heels

Quickened footsteps headed their way and she froze, staring up at Christopher with big eyes. Someone had seen her camera flash after all.

The sound moved closer to them, clearly heading to Rose's office to investigate. They couldn't run without being heard and caught, they couldn't hide in the long stretch of corridor and the only other room was closer to the stairs than they currently were. They were trapped.

Christopher had clearly come to the same conclusion, and as the guard's shadow appeared on the floor, he pushed her against the wall, sank his hands into her hair, and crashed his lips to hers.

It occurred to her then how absurd it was that this was their first kiss, that he'd tasted her and teased her, all without ever committing to this one last unraveling. And she thought she knew why, because she had never moved to cross that line either. Sex was one thing—kissing, affection, tenderness, was another, and this was exactly like that. It was ferocity packaged as a kiss that threatened to break her, like he was the waves the shore drowned for, happily.

Her hands pulled him closer, desperate for more, his tongue against hers wringing a gasp from her lips that felt like it had been squeezed from her soul, like she'd been walking around with only half of herself without realizing it until his mouth sealed itself to hers.

I want to ruin you for anyone else.That was what he'd told her before, and as the wall dug into her back and a throat cleared somewhere beyond her, she knew he'd lived up to that promise. Her mouth was still puffy from his kisses, her chest heaving as he pulled away to look at the security officer standing just six feet away and smirked.

"A little privacy?"

The guard shifted awkwardly but didn't back down as Ali tried to get a hold of herself.

"I'm sorry sir, but this part of the house is off-limits to guests."

"I'm the groom's best friend," Christopher said, cocking an eyebrow with more arrogance than she'd ever seen him wield before and she was surprised by how much it turned her on.

Recognition lit in the man's eyes and he nodded. "Ah. Sorry to have disturbed you."

Christopher grinned like he'd just been caught making out in the middle of his friend's party—which, for all the guard knew, was true. "No worries. Hey, you might want to tell that other guy the same thing though. I didn't recognise him and he was gone before I could try and talk to him."

"Other guy?" the guard said, instantly stiffening and looking alert as Ali tried not to let her confusion show.

"Yeah, tall, skinny guy with brown hair, maybe? He ran off in that direction." Christopher gestured behind them and the guard nodded before setting off at a brisk pace.

Silence fell between them as the guard's form retreated. It didn't escape her notice that the vague description he'd told the guard could have matched Jared—he was thinking two steps ahead as always.

The amount of security shouldn't have been a surprise, clearly Rose and David were struggling to reclaim their peace after being stalked and attacked, and Ali could tell that violating that privacy had hurt Christopher ten times more than it had her. They were his friends after all, and he was betraying them for her. There was nothing she could really say about that to make him feel better, so instead she reached up to wipe away the smear of lipstick from his mouth and folded her arm into his as they made their way back downstairs to the party that raged on below.

ChapterTwenty-Two

As soon as she'd gotten home last night, she'd sent Jared all the photos she’d managed to take of the guests along with what they'd found in Rose's office. It had made her feel dirty, going into someone's home and using them the way she had, but if she wanted to keep her mother safe and her own name out of the press it was necessary. She needed to reclaim some peace, some normality, and so she headed to the park for the yoga class that ran there.

It was relatively cool out but the setting sun was warm, and as they stretched in the sunlight she could feel some of her tension draining away. This was what she needed, to focus on herself and her body’s movements rather than the way she felt for her boss, her worry for her mom, or any other plethora of things overshadowing her life recently.

She liked this class specifically because it was small and the instructor was soothing. Whenever she finished she always thought that she should do it more often—not that she actually followed up on it.

They did their cool down stretches and Ali waved goodbye to the instructor as she began the walk home, debating whether or not she should stop and detour toLola’sfor a coffee.

"Did I not make myself clear about the consequences of your failure?"

Her muscles tensed and she faltered with one foot in the air, caught between steps. Jared. She spun around and found him behind her. A cap on his head obscured his face from any passersby, but she was close enough to see the dark circles and bloodshot quality of his eyes, as well as the strange way he kept twitching even as he stood still. "I don't know what you're talking about. I sent you everything I had,” she said carefully and then gave a surreptitious glance around to see if anyone from the class was close. Nothing. It was just them.

"You sent me twenty photos, half of which were too blurry to do anything with, and the only info you got from that book was who was making their wedding cake."

"Well, that's good right? A reveal?" she tried and jumped when he cursed, throwing a hand out in agitation and nearly catching her across the cheek.

"Dumb bitch. They were papped leaving that bakery weeks ago! You gave me nothing."

Her heart began to beat so fast it made her feel sick. "Well, what about the photos of the guests?"

"Useless," he grunted. "The majority of them posted on their socials that they were attending and who they were wearing. You've disappointed me, Alison."

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