Page 3 of Touch of Smoke
“And?” Because there had to be more. He’d felt it the moment she stepped into his parents’ house yesterday, the connection. It wasn’t his imagination, he was certain. Or damn, he just wanted her that badly.
That thought had him taking a step back. What he never planned to do, ever, was push Sariya to do anything she didn’t want. Ro didn’t play that with any woman, not just this one. But this one was special. She always had been.
“And, have you had too much to drink?” she asked.
“You’re the one posted up at the bar with the evidence in hand,” he replied with a nod to the glass she still held.
Without another word she moved the couple of steps until she was close enough to set the glass down on the bar top. Then she returned to where she’d previously stood and met his gaze. “It was my second after the champagne from the toast. And you?”
“Champagne from the toast and Hennessey White,” he replied. “Sober as a church mouse.”
Her lips twisted in this way that was cute and annoying. Sariya had what could be called medium-thick lips, they looked kissable as fuck and had been a willing participant in far too many of his dreams throughout the years. When he saw her yesterday, for the first time in four years, he couldn’t believe that he’d still been so fixated on her, so literally obsessed with the woman who’d morphed from the girl he used to hear giggling in his sister’s room at all hours of the night.
But Ro had long ago released himself of the notion of Sariya being of any relation to him. She wasn’t and she had been six months shy of consenting age the first time he allowed himself to imagine having her. Now, she was fair game.
“Next question?” he asked with a raised brow.
“Are you serious?”
“About you asking another question or about wanting you?”
Now she gave his shoulder a shove as she sighed with exasperation and attempted to leave. “You play too much.”
This was the second time she’d tried to walk away from him. Normally, if a woman wasn’t fond of his company, he let her go. Begging wasn’t his thing. There were way too many women out there for him to insist on keeping company with one. Unless that one was Sariya.
He snaked an arm around her waist before she could get too far and this time, turned her so that her backside was flush against his front. He was five feet eleven inches tall and she was five five—had been since she turned sixteen according to the wall she and Donyell had marked in Donyell’s room. The heels she wore were high so her ass lined up perfectly with his dick and his body immediately reacted. With access to the opposite ear this time thanks to the updo her hair was in to match the rest of the bridal party, he took full advantage. Leaning in, this time he stroked his tongue over her lobe. “Does this feel like I’m playing?”
Her breaths quickened, he could see the rise and fall of her full breasts, caught the sound in the gasp she made. “It feels like you’re crazy,” she said and tried to pull away. “Stop it, they can see us.”
At the word ‘stop’ he let his arm slip away from her, but he didn’t step away. “Who? Your man? Is he here? Let me holla at him for a minute,” he said and moved to turn around and head back toward the tables.
It was Sariya who grabbed his arm this time, yanking him back to the relatively private corner of the room she’d been lurking in for the last half hour.
“Stop being a jerk, Ro. Damn.” Irritation was clear in her tone.
That and something else. Her voice was a little huskier as she spoke, her eyes wide, the usual chestnut hue, a shade darker.
“Okay,” he said with a nod. “Just tell me this, is your man here with you tonight?”
He already knew the answer to that, at least he knew he hadn’t seen any man with her at the church or here at the hotel. But he still liked to check. Being perfectly clear with any woman he dealt with was a priority for Ro, always. In that, Sariya was no different.
“No,” she said and folded her arms across her chest in a way that only made her ample cleavage more delectable. “Is your girlfriend here with you?”
With his legs slightly spread now, he slid his hands into the front pockets of his tuxedo pants to keep from reaching out and pulling her close again. “Nah, no girlfriend over here.”
She arched a brow. “Back in Denver?”
“Nope,” he said and shook his head. “Been flying solo for quite some time now. How ‘bout you?”
Rolling her eyes she said, “Same and for longer than I should admit.”
“Sooo, that means it’s okay for me to get close to you and to tell you that I want you, right?” He took a step toward her and because they were only about three feet apart, she easily put an arm out, her palm meeting his chest, to stop him.
“Um, no,” she said. When he only continued to stare at her, she continued, “Not here in front of everyone.”
“Because?”
She sighed and dropped her hand. “Because this is your sister’s wedding and I’m the maid of honor so I’m probably supposed to be over there with her, on hand just in case she needs or wants something before she and Mike make their getaway.”
