The Wedding Date Disaster (Harbor City 4)

Meanwhile, all this mandatory fun family time was starting to overwhelm her, making her belly tight and her neck sore. She rolled her shoulders for the twentieth time since she sat down, trying to relieve some of the tension being surrounded by family always seemed to produce, but the uncomfortable, you-don’t-belong unease didn’t loosen its grip.

Across the table, Aunt Louise tried to come up with a word using whatever tile Matt had given her. Judging by the nasty look she’d sent Matt’s way, it was probably a Q or a Z.

Will leaned closer, dipping his head so his lips almost brushed the shell of her ear as he whispered, “You feeling okay?”

“Just peachy.” And now she’d add inappropriately turned on to all the other tension stringing her tight.

Grumbly? Her? Always around Will. He just brought it out in her. Hell, usually he did it on purpose. That she could handle, but this nicer side to Will? This version of him who’d check to make sure she wasn’t having a panic attack in her parents’ family room? Yeah, she had no idea how to deal with him, and that made her surly. And hot. And turned on. And—dammit, pull yourself together, Hads.

Determined to do just that, she kept her posture straight, her gaze focused on the game in front of them, and ignored completely the urge to tuck herself up against Will.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because you kinda look like me in the car,” he said, scooting closer to her so there wasn’t a single millimeter of light between them, as if he just understood that she needed that contact right now.

“Wow.” She dug deep, trying to find her usual annoyance at being near him to keep from relaxing against his solid frame. “You really know how to flatter a woman.”

He let out a low, rumbly chuckle. “I like to think that it’s what else I can do with a woman that is more important.”

Her breath caught as all the memories from last night rushed forward. The feel of him so gentle as he picked the flowers from her hair and undressed her. The hard length of him as he filled her, taking her right to the edge without even trying. The thrillingly harsh sound of his demand that she say his name. All of it slammed against her in a wave of want and need, nearly drowning her in desire, sending her jolting straight up out of her chair in panic.

She shot her cuffed wrist into the air, taking Will’s with her. “Snake!”

Aunt Louise screamed and jumped up onto her chair while Matt, Raider, and everyone else in the room reacted by either screaming, climbing onto the furniture, or searching for a slithering intruder. Well, everyone but her, PawPaw, and Will.

Way to make it worse, Hads.

Using her fingers, she let out a loud whistle to get her family’s attention. “That’s the answer to the riddle.”

“About damn time,” PawPaw said as he unlocked the handcuffs while the rest of the family settled back into their chairs. “I was starting to wonder about you.”

Aunt Louise shot Hadley a you-damn-fool look and laid down her tiles for the word “lovers.” It wasn’t until Will handed her a Q for the start of her turn and even that slight brush of his fingers against hers set off a sizzle of anticipation that realization hit. The only people who hadn’t thought she was shouting a warning about a real snake were her, PawPaw…and Will. He must have known the answer all along, but he hadn’t said a word. What did that mean? She had no clue, but it sure didn’t do a damn thing to settle the butterflies running kamikaze flight patterns in her stomach.

She let out a shaky breath and tried to forget they’d be alone again tonight. In the cabin. She had to stay strong. He was Web’s asshole brother. The evil twin. He thought she was a gold digger. Whatever this was between them, it wasn’t a good thing, and the last thing she needed was to fall for her best friend’s jerk of a brother.

And that’s exactly why it wasn’t going to happen.

…

The first thing Will heard when he opened the cabin’s front door after walking from the house after their game night win was a low almost-growl that some caveman part of him instantly recognized as a warning. He jolted to a stop in the cabin’s doorway and threw out his arm to keep Hadley from walking in.

She let out an oof. “What in the world?”

“There’s something in here.”

Blinking to let his eyes adjust to the dark inside, he searched out the source of the noise while moving to the left so his body blocked Hadley from whatever was inside. It would have to go through him to get to her, and that wasn’t going to happen.

At least it wouldn’t if she would stay still and completely behind him, something it seemed she was unable to do. Instead, she reached around him, moved her hand across the wall inside the door until she touched the light switch, and then flipped it on. Everything that had been pitch-black a second ago was bathed in light. If it was a bear, a lion, or the abominable snowman, it was pretty fucking good at hiding, because Will didn’t see anything as he scanned the room, primed and ready to launch himself at whatever came at them.

Hadley, her hands on his waist, peeked around him and ewwed. “Oh, that’s just nasty.”

That’s when he saw it or, more correctly, when he saw Lightning. The swift fox sitting on the one chair in the living room, munching away on what he’d carried in after the night’s hunt.

“Lightning, this isn’t your dining room.” Hadley strutted into the room, assertive but not aggressive. “How did you get in here with that?”

The swift fox wasn’t telling. Instead, he picked up the small rabbit / large rodent / whatever had not run away fast enough, leaped down from the chair, and darted out the front door. What he left behind on what was supposed to be Will’s bed that night looked like the outtake from a vampire movie.

“Oh my God, that’s so gross,” Hadley said, gagging a little as she got closer.