“Ari? Something you’d like to share with us?” Shelby Hughes, the bride-to-be, teased in her singsong voice.
It took all the willpower I possessed to divert my attention from the sexy stranger who so mesmerized me.
Shelby gave a coy smile, her tawny eyes sparkling. “Someone you know?”
“I, uh…” I shook my head. Swept a few wayward strands of my blowout style from my face. I’d lost all train of thought the moment I’d caught a glimpse of Dane. My pulse spiked and adrenaline flooded my veins. “Sorry,” I added. “What was I saying?”
She laughed. “I know that look all too well. Every time Matthew walks into a room, I’m utterly speechless.”
Mrs. Hughes smiled and patted her daughter’s hand. “You’re such a sweet couple.”
I’d met Matthew Barnes and was inclined to agree.
“Sooo…?” Shelby prodded with wagging brows.
I tried to fight the blush, to no avail. Even the mother-in-law seemed to take great interest in this turn of events, perking up considerably. I shook my head again, mostly to dislodge the vision of Dane Bax that burned a hole in my brain. I said, “I actually don’t know him.” That was pretty close to the truth.
I spared a peek at my notes and then picked up where I’d left off, clearly disappointing my audience. But what, exactly, was I going to say about the man? That I had no idea who he really was and yet I was absurdly fixated on him? Desperate to speak with him again, even though it’d be a pointless endeavor?
When I’d finished my dissertation on the various resort offerings, I reached for my margarita and nearly downed the entire thing in one long gulp. My insides were on fire, just knowing Dane sat tables away, with me in his direct line of vision. Did he steal glances my way? I was dying to find out but didn’t dare look over my shoulder. Not this time.
I wrapped up my meeting in a breathy tone and with slightly shaky fingers that made it difficult to write as I added details to my planning book. With nothing more to discuss at the moment, I said, “I’ll type all of this up and send it in an e-mail so you can peruse it again, make some decisions or come up with more questions. Ping me anytime, for anything. I’ll share with you everything I possibly can about the venues and vendors we’ve talked about.”
“This is really great, Ari,” Shelby said. “I’m a little brain fried from all the information you’ve given us.”
“Take your time looking through it all.” I handed over the packet I assembled for bridal parties, with the pertinent ins and outs and protocols neatly, concisely described so no one was too overwhelmed. It was a futile attempt to keep everyone calm, because there were just so many decisions to make and so much to do to pull off fairy-tale weddings. And Shelby’s had Cinderella Moment written all over it.
The threesome left me and I jotted down more ideas as I polished off the rest of my marg and grew a bit antsy over the rumble of thunder through the clouds.
Suddenly I felt that emerald gaze. Tried to ignore the tickle against my clit it evoked. I needed to focus on immediate action items. Though the Hughes-Barnes wedding wasn’t scheduled until the following summer, there were always things to accomplish and put on the radar right off the bat.
I tapped the end of my pen against my notebook as it started to dry up. I had a few more things to scribble down, but the ink ran out.
“Damn it,” I mumbled as I scrawled against the
paper in a vain attempt to get a little more out of the ballpoint. No such luck.
Seconds later, a fancy Montblanc fountain pen rested on my planner, with the initials DBB inscribed in gold script.
My heart nearly jumped from my chest and I swear there was a sparkage factor between my legs that had to be illegal. I pressed my thighs together as the thrumming started deep inside.
Lifting my gaze, I found Dane staring down at me, an arrogant smile on his too-handsome face. As though he knew he so easily set my body on fire.
“You can return it whenever you’re done.”
His laptop bag was slung over one impossibly broad shoulder, so I guessed he’d concluded his own business.
I handed the pen back. “I’m good. Thanks.” Every thought, save for one, had just fled my mind, so I had nothing left to write. Except the fantasy of him pushing my skirt up and taking me right then and there.
Oh, wait. We were in the middle of a busy restaurant.
I shook the mental image from my head. Tried to breathe like a normal person, not a lust-crazed one.
He tucked away the pen and then gestured toward the chair Shelby had vacated. “May I?”
“Of course.”
Crap. I’d had two margaritas, which took way too much of the edge off. I felt all warm and fuzzy and that just would not do at the moment. Why couldn’t he have caught me after I’d taken a tour through the art galleries, as I had planned for the afternoon?