Page 9 of Bad Boy for Hire
He knocked on the wall next to him to get her attention.
She spun, eyes wide as if she was surprised to see him. “Hey.”
She offered a quick smile as she swiped her face with one hand. In her other hand, she held a white paper and envelope—the invitation Elliott had mentioned, he assumed.
“Hey.” He gestured to the invitation as he approached. “Invited to a ball? Afraid of being the most beautiful woman there…again? I get it. It’s hard to be as attractive as we are. The spotlight can be tiring.”
“Close.” She handed him the cardstock. He skimmed it—a fairly standard wedding invitation—and came to a reasonable conclusion that would explain her tears.
“Your ex’s wedding?” he guessed.
“Worse. My ex’s sister’s wedding.” She accepted the invitation back, refolded it, and tucked it into her dress pocket. “If it was my ex’s wedding, I could throw it away and pretend I was never invited.”
“You can’t do that now?”
May shook her head.
“You’re close with her.”
“I used to be. I was close with his other sister too. And his mom. Lately I’ve been keeping my distance, but it’s hard to say no when the youngest is getting married. I don’t belong there. Not really.” Her smile softened. When she blinked, she snapped out of her melancholy. “Speaking of distance, you have stayed far away from Lou and me this evening. Avoiding us?”
“I was working my way down there, honest. I was stopped multiple times to do shots. I dumped the last two into the bushes when no one was looking.” Outside, a few whoops lifted the air. May glanced out his bedroom windows in the direction of the sound, but he kept his gaze glued to her face. Soft, serene, and delicate. Her cheekbones gave way to a smooth jaw and long neck. And if he looked at her mouth again, he might give in to his desire and kiss her. Rules be damned.
“You have a nice bedroom. Good taste. I wouldn’t expect less.” She gestured at his outfit. Like her, he had always possessed a solid sense of style.
“Is that why you’re up here? To see if I can decorate my house as well as my person?”
“Just needed a minute.”
“You seemed really fixated on my bed a moment ago.” He leaned on the doorjamb opposite her. “Were you considering my offer to sleep over?”
Her eyes flared dark as her pupils widened. God, he loved that reaction on her the most. He hadn’t been shy about flirting with her over the years, and May hadn’t been fully successful at hiding her reaction to him. That they hadn’t slept together—or at least made out—was a miracle of biblical proportions.
“I was planning on standing here until I made a decision once and for all.”
“About the sleepover?” He leaned close to ask.
She gave him a light shove, which meant she was touching his chest, which was A-okay with him. “About the wedding. To go or not to go, that is the question.”
“What do you want to do?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?” When she blew out a breath of frustration, he added, “I’m sincerely asking.”
“I know you are. You seem like someone who only does what he wants to do.”
He allowed his eyes to wander over her high cheekbones, to long lashes capping sparkling brown eyes, and finally back down to the mouth he wanted to kiss more than he wanted to take his next breath. His voice was husky when he admitted, “Not always.”
“Lisa abandoned me to go to work.” She smoothly changed the subject.
“On a Saturday night?”
“I know, right? Ant and Lou offered to take me home. I’m sure that’s just what they want to do—drive to the other side of the Cove when they’d rather go home and roll around naked on the floor.”
“I’ll give you a ride home.”
“You are not leaving the party you’re hosting, sir. Plus, you’ve been doing shots. You shouldn’t drive.” He opened his mouth to argue, but she cut him off to say what he would have said anyway. “Even though you tossed the last two into the bushes.”
