ElleI’m just putting on my last swipe of mascara when my phone lets out a happy chirp. Nic is
here to pick me up. Just seeing his name pop up on
the screen makes butterflies fill my stomach.
I take one last look in the mirror. Satisfied with the way the plum-colored dress fits, hugging my cleavage and then flaring out, I grab my purse.
Last night went better than I ever could have imagined. As well as it went, I’m not sure if I should be offended that Nic didn’t try to kiss me at the end of the night. Maybe he’s just old-fashioned, or he doesn’t want to make a move too soon and freak me out.
When I step outside, he’s waiting for me by the car. His black tuxedo is perfectly tailored to accen-
tuate his muscular body. As I lean in to give him a quick hug, I breathe him in. He smells so good— like leather and musk and something else I can’t quite place.
“You look beautiful. Stunning, actually,” he says as he pulls back to look at me again.
“You don’t look so bad, either.” I grin, staring into his chocolate-brown eyes.
“So, you ready for this?” he asks, cocking an eyebrow.
“Totally ready. But I don’t know if you’re ready for the waterworks.” When he looks confused for a moment, I confess. “I always cry at weddings.”
“I think that’s sweet.” He smiles, pulling open the car door for me.
I slap him playfully on the arm before I climb in. His car is a sleek black Tesla with a leather in- terior. I realize I never asked him what he does for work. He must be pretty successful to afford a car like this.
“What do you do for a living, by the way?” I ask as he climbs into the car next to me.
He stiffens for a second before shutting the door and starting the engine. “Finance,” he says,
then adds quickly, “It’s not exciting.”
I sense he’s being short on purpose, so I de- cide to drop it. Maybe it stresses him out to discuss work in his free time. He definitely seems tense, but then I see his body relax and he smiles at me.
“My real dream is to work in real estate devel- opment,” he says as he pulls away from the curb. “Building custom homes.”
“That’s amazing.” I grin at him. “How’d you get interested in that?”
He shrugs. “I’ve always loved driving through nice neighborhoods and admiring the architec- ture. We didn’t have much money growing up, and I guess it was always my dream to live in a big, beautiful house.”
“I used to drag my parents to open houses in our neighborhood,” I say. “Maybe we’ll have to go to one together.”
He glances at me, a smile playing on his full lips. “Maybe we will.”
As Nic drives, I think about what he’s just told me. The more I learn about him, the more interest- ing I find him. The fact that he grew up poor is a total shock—at first glance, you’d think he’s the
kind of guy who’s breezed his way through life. But I admire that he’s worked hard for his money.
When we pull up to the church, there’s already a crowd. I lead Nic to the front where my mom is sitting. She pulls me into a big hug as soon as she sees me, and I can tell she’s already on the verge of tears.
“Mom, the wedding hasn’t even started yet.” I
laugh as she sniffles.
“My son is getting married,” she says, swatting me on the arm. “I’ll cry as much as I want to.”
“Mom, this is Nic,” I tell her, stepping aside so they can shake hands.
“Very nice to meet you,” Nic says. “You’ve got some great kids.”
“Of course they’re great,” she says, smirking at him. “I raised them.”
We all laugh, and my mom gives me a look. I can tell she’s going to grill me later about who Nic is and why I haven’t told her about him.
As we take our seats, I turn to Nic and whisper, “Sorry I didn’t warn you about my mom. She can be a little sassy.”
“She’s amazing.” Nic grins at me. “I like a woman with her own opinion.”
As the ceremony starts, I grab my mom’s hand. I know she’s going to totally lose it, and sure enough, within a minute, tears run down her face.
The ceremony is short and sweet. But when I see my brother gazing at Christine like she’s his whole world, and listen to them repeat their vows, I start to cry too. I’m so happy for them; they truly are perfect for each other.
I’m sniveling like a baby, but I don’t care. I’m so full of love for the both of them. And I’m se- cretly pleased they chose not to have a wedding party up there with them. Fewer people to witness my waterworks.
I try to wipe my tears away, but Nic pulls a tis- sue from his jacket and hands it to me.
“You brought tissues?” I ask, incredulous. “I had a feeling you’d need them.” He grins.
I stare at him, still blown away by his chiseled jaw and mesmerizing brown eyes. He’s the com- plete package. Why is this man single? He must be a serial killer. I make a mental note to interrogate Christine about his lack of attachment later.
After the ceremony, everyone heads to the champagne reception, which is held in a pavilion overlooking the lake. As he drives, I can’t stop glancing at Nic.
He handled meeting my mom so well. Some- times, she can be a bit much when you don’t know her, which could turn some people off. But she ap- parently didn’t even faze him, which I’m grateful for.
Even the way he drives is sexy, his big strong hands placed firmly on the wheel. It’s impossible not to think about how much I want his hands firm- ly placed on me.
When we arrive, Nic opens the door and helps me step out of the car. “Have I mentioned yet how amazing you look in that dress? It was definitely the right choice,” he says, smiling at me as we walk toward the crowd.
I smile back at him, my heart pounding. I’m too aware of the way the dress hugs my curves, and the fact that it shows a little more cleavage than I’m comfortable with. Normally, I would have gone with a safer, more conservative dress, but some- thing about Nic makes me want to break all my rules. Which is why I messaged him last night for his opinion, rather than reaching out to Christine or
another friend who knows what my boundaries are.
“Then again, you probably would have looked stunning in either of them,” he adds, looking me up and down.
A shiver runs through me. Wait until you see me with the dress off.
Biting my lip, I chastise myself. Down, girl.
It’s only been an hour, and I’m more than ready to sleep with him. This is so not like me, but for once in my life, I’m ready to throw caution to the wind.
“Are you this smooth with all the ladies?” I ask when I see he’s still watching me.
A shadow seems to pass over his face, but it happens so quickly, I start to doubt my own eyes and think I might have imagined it. Before I know it, the moment has passed, and he’s grinning at me again, back to his normal self.
“I just enjoy giving compliments. Is that so wrong?” He raises one dark brow.
“No.” I smirk at him as I grab two champagne flutes for us from a nearby server. “It’s not wrong at all.”
He watches me for a moment as we wander away from the party with our champagne, picking our way down the path to the lake.
“I like that you’re not afraid to call me out, be- cause there’s plenty of guys who’ll say whatever it takes to get what they want,” he says finally, sip- ping his champagne. “There’s also a lot of women who just tell me what they think I want to hear. But you’re different.”
“I guess I’m one of a kind,” I say, half joking. I’ve never been great at accepting compliments. It’s easier to deflect kind words with a joke.
“You are,” he says, completely serious.
I look into his eyes for a moment, no longer smiling. We’re standing close enough to touch, and I wonder if this is the moment he’s finally going to kiss me. My heart is racing, and I lean forward with anticipation. But then he breaks eye contact and takes a step back.
What the hell?
“This is so beautiful,” he says, walking to the edge of the water.
Floored, I stay back for a second. What just happened? It seemed like the perfect moment, and
then it’s like a switch flipped. I recover quickly and follow him to the water, trying not to let it get me down.
I know we have a connection; that’s something I’m completely sure of. I just have to believe that he has a good reason for waiting to kiss me. But what is he waiting for?
As I join Nic, I take in the scene around us. Willow trees line the banks where water laps gen- tly, and baby ducks swim nearby. The sun is about to set, lending everything a golden glow.
“I always loved feeding the ducks when I was little,” I tell him. “I used to tell my parents I wanted to bring a leash so I could take one home.” I grin at Nic, and he turns to me and laughs. “Luckily, I think they always knew I’d never be able to catch one to put a leash on it, but they humored me by letting me bring a leash.”
“So you made your own rules, even as a kid.” He laughs. “I like that.”
I don’t want to tell Nic that he’s got me all wrong. I’m way more of a rule-following cow- ard than he thinks I am, but I prefer seeing myself through his eyes. And for once, I’m determined to be that carefree, reckless woman he sees when he
looks at me. The one who lives life to the fullest and does what she wants.
“I’m really glad I was able to be your date this weekend,” he says, breaking the silence.
I turn to him. “I’m glad you came too.”
Nic takes a step closer, bringing one strong arm around me. I have to force myself not to shiv- er with pleasure at the physical contact. My heart slams into my rib cage, and I take a deep breath to steady myself.
Glancing at him, I take in his strong jaw and tousled hair. I can picture running my hands through it and slipping my fingers into it during sex, especially while he has his face between my legs, and that thought causes my face to flush. The feel of his bicep against my shoulder sends heat racing through me, straight down to my lady parts. Just as I’m about to lure him into a bathroom some- where to satisfy my out-of-control libido, we’re in- terrupted by my mother.
“Here you are,” she shouts to us, and Nic lets his arm drop away.
My shoulders are still warm from his touch, but I force myself to stop all thoughts of Nic. The last thing I need is for my mom to see how smitten I
am with him.
“Christine and your brother are finished with the photos, and she’s asking for you,” Mom says, looking between Nic and me with a knowing smile.
“Okay, I’ll be right there,” I say quickly, before she can make any comments about us sneaking off together. I turn to Nic. “You’ll be okay for a few minutes?”
“Of course. Go,” he says warmly.
I follow my mom to the bridal suite where Christine is waiting. As soon as I see her, I pull her into a hug and burst into tears again. Then we’re both crying and laughing at the same time.
“We’re ridiculous,” she says, pulling back.
“Wait, stop crying. You’re going to ruin your makeup.” Sniffling, I wipe smudged mascara from beneath her eyes.
“Oh, it’s way too late for that,” she says, and we laugh again. “Now, can you get me out of this thing?”
After I help to bustle her dress and remove her veil for the reception, we each pop a breath mint. As Christine touches up her makeup. I figure it’s now or never to grill her about Nic.
“So, why haven’t you ever talked about Nic be- fore now?” I ask casually. “I want to know more about him.”
Christine pauses for a second. “I told you, it’s because you were with Jeremy. It wasn’t like I could spark up a conversation with you about him in front of your current boyfriend.”
“I know. He’s just such an amazing guy, and being with him is making me realize how much of my life I wasted on Jeremy.” I almost start to tear up all over again, but this time from sadness and not from the excitement of seeing Christine and my brother getting married. “I just want to know his story.”
“Come on, no more tears. Let’s go have some fun and dance the night away with our arm candy,” Christine says, obviously changing the subject to a happier topic. “They’re waiting on us, I’m sure.”
We head out of the suite and back into the ball- room together. But as far as I’m concerned, this conversation is far from over.
“Give me something, Christine, like what else is there to know about him? I mean, is he a good guy?” I ask, pushing her. She’s usually happy to gossip about new guys in my life, so I don’t know
why she’s choosing this moment to act coy.
“He’s really sweet and fun, Elle, but don’t read too much into anything he says. He’s really more of a casual-dating kind of guy.”
I pause, taken aback. Nic definitely doesn’t strike me as a strictly casual guy. Last night, he wouldn’t even kiss me, and I was basically throw- ing myself at him. Maybe he’s holding back be- cause he’s friends with Christine, and he doesn’t want to risk their friendship by having a one-night stand with her sister-in-law. Lucky for him, a quick fling is exactly what I need right now to pull me out of this funk I’m in.
I shrug at Christine. “Casual works for me. To- night I just want to have fun, get drunk, and maybe even do something reckless . . . like get laid.” Re- bound sex could be exactly what the doctor ordered to get me past this hiccup in my love life.
I spot Nic across the room and smile at him, a shiver running through me at the thought of pos- sibly going home with him. I tear my gaze away from him and notice Christine is looking between the two of us. She’s not smiling, and she’s gone totally pale.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she says fi-
nally. “He’s great to have as your date to make Jer- emy jealous, but I think you should leave it at that.”
She’s acting so strange about this, and I can’t
figure out why. Am I missing something?
“What’s gotten into you?” I ask. “You’re con- stantly telling me how I need to get out more and cut loose, and now I want to and you’re against it.”
Christine bites her lip. What could be so bad about Nic that she’s trying this hard to keep me away from him?
“Look, I just saw you go through all this heart- break with Jeremy, and I think you should focus on you right now,” she says, putting her hands on my shoulders. “Promise me you won’t sleep with him?”
What the hell?
I really have no idea what’s going on. So what if Nic was a ladies’ man in college? If I’m okay with it, Christine should be okay with it too. Why even set me up with someone she didn’t want me to pursue?
Nothing makes sense, and I want to keep push- ing her, but I also don’t want to make a huge deal of this on her special day, so I decide to just drop it.
“Okay, I won’t sleep with him,” I tell her, and she smiles, clearly relieved.
I feel bad, because I totally don’t mean what I just said. I’ve never lied to Christine before, but if she can’t give me a good reason not to sleep with Nic, then I don’t know why I should listen to her. And if things get heated between the two of us later
. . . I can’t argue with chemistry, right?
Trying to shake off my guilt, I rejoin Nic. He’s talking to a group of my elderly relatives, and they’re all laughing at something he’s just said.
I can’t stop the grin from spreading across my face. On top of everything else, he’s amazing with my family. A lot of guys would be intimidated to meet a woman’s entire extended family on the second date, but Nic is taking it all in stride. And it doesn’t hurt that he looks tantalizingly sexy all dressed up in his tux.
Sorry, Christine. I can’t let her get into my head.
Nic looks so good, it’s going to take a lot more than some dirty laundry from his past to stop me from ending the night in his bed.