Page 24 of Healing Hearts
I haven’t seen him drunk since Lila decided to leave town. Before things fell apart between the two of them, we all used to drink together. After their misunderstanding, he’s never gotten drunk with me, and I’ve only just put that together now, as we stand face to face on the edge of the dance floor.
“What are you doing here?” he repeats.
“I’m on a date,” I say.
“Here?” Again, his drunken gaze checks the bar. “With who?”
“A guy Kelvin set me up with,” I say. “Who are you here with?” Part of me internally cringes at what he’ll say, but he gestures to a few guys chatting up a group of women.
“Guys from work,” he says. “I didn’t know you were back dating.”
“Kelvin offered, and...I took your advice, I guess.”
His gaze sweeps over me, and he licks his lips. “You look fucking lethal tonight. I hope he knows how lucky he is.”
“I should go,” I say. “I’m supposed to meet him at the bar, and I still need to go to the bathroom.”
Trent releases my arm, but I can feel him watching me, and my spine, bare in my black backless dress, is tingling as I weave the last little distance through to the bathroom.
When I come out, Trent is waiting. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Right now?” I ask, uncertain. I’ve also had a few drinks, and red flags are being thrown left and right at Trent’s behavior—I’m afraid I’m going to run them all over.
“Yeah,” he says. “There’s a room most people don’t know about.”
He doesn’t wait for me to agree, but takes my hand, leading me around a corner to an area with a few high tables and one couch. As soon as we’ve rounded the corner, he presses me up against the wall, caging me in.
My heart thrums, but I’m not worried or anxious, I’m excited. This is such a bad idea, and I’m just buzzed enough not to care.
“What did you want to talk about?” I whisper.
“How fuckable you look in this dress, for one,” he says, staring down at me. “And then how your little proposal the other day has been a complete mindfuck.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, arching toward him a little.
He puts his lips right next to my ear, and I shiver. The dark, rich vanilla tones of his cologne make me feel drunker than I am.
“The idea that you want my baby inside you might just be the hottest fucking thing any woman has ever said to me,” he murmurs. “And I can’t stop thinking about it.”
His calloused palm is on my leg, just where the short hem of my dress sits, and I’m almost desperate for him to drag it up and under, to feel how turned on I am too.
When he goes to pull away, I put my hand on the back of his neck, rise onto my toes, and kiss him. There’s the briefest hesitation, where his lips don’t move, and then with an audible indrawn breath of surprise, he’s kissing me back. His lips slide over mine, warm and soft. His tongue dips into my mouth, and I angle my head to take him deeper. A moan of wanting escapes, and I’m not sure if it’s me or him.
He squeezes my ass and brings me tight against him. His other hand slides into my hair, but it’s not like when he plays with it on the couch, this is demanding, insistent, as though he’s been waiting for permission to get a little rough, and I’ve finally given it.
This is such a bad idea, and I could not care less about the consequences as he draws back, groans, and then kisses me again. His fingers sneak up the hem of my tight dress, and I want to beg him to keep going.
A playful giggle erupts beside us, and we break apart as two girls, who were clearly looking for somewhere to talk, wander off laughing.
“Fuck,” Trent says, his forehead resting against mine. “We shouldn’t have done that.” He steps back. “This is why I don’t drink around you. I didn’t mean to…” The look he gives me is tortured. “I don’t want this to change things between us.”
“It won’t,” I say quickly.
“What happened with Lila, I can’t have that happen between us.”
And I don’t know if he means that we can’t get drunk and make out or we can’t have our friendship fall apart. Maybe he means both, but I’m too buzzed off the alcohol, off the kisses, to think clearly.
“It won’t change anything between us,” I say, but it feels like a lie.
