Baiting the Maid of Honor

She blew out a quick breath. “Do you want to tell me more?”

Brow furrowed, Reed glanced away. “Do you want to…know more?”

“Yes,” Julie answered, before she could second-guess herself. Even knowing it wasn’t wise. The more she learned about Reed, the more she understood him. Saw past his defenses. She was making it infinitely harder on herself by learning about the man beneath, but simply couldn’t help it. At that moment, lying together in the dark, barriers didn’t exist between them. She rested her head on the pillow and waited.

Reed didn’t speak for a full minute. “I didn’t call him daddy. I didn’t call him anything, really. Him, I suppose. You. Never really used my name either, took to calling me boy after my mother passed.” He tore his gaze away from her. “He took her in for a chemo treatment one afternoon. Next morning, she was just gone.” Staring into space, he ran an absent hand through his hair. “About a week later, I came across Colton and Brock at the lake. I’d spent the night in Colton’s boat—a few nights, actually. He didn’t mention it, just asked if I wanted to go fishing.”

Julie’s throat felt closed; her eyes burned, nose tingled. She buried her face in the pillow as the image of a world-weary little boy belonging for the first time swam in her head. She wanted to go back in time and weep all over that little boy. Make him a sandwich. Clean him up. That very boy had grown into a man who carried around the damage, but she couldn’t comfort the man. He wouldn’t let her. She tried to hide her distress, but it escaped in a watery sob. “Did you catch anything?”

Laughter rumbled in his chest. “Couple of catfish.”

She wailed even harder.

“Ah, Jesus. Come over here.” Reed propped himself against the headboard and pulled her onto his lap, tucking her head under his chin. She was too upset to be surprised. “Go ahead and say it.”

“Bless your little hearts.”

He sighed. “There it is.”

“Reed?”

“Huh, baby?”

“Your daddy not calling you by your name? It’s not the same thing as you not calling me Julie. It just isn’t. Don’t you go thinking about it one second more.”

…

Reed couldn’t speak for a long moment as he looked down at the weeping blonde who’d all but wrapped herself around his middle. Exactly where she belongs. He liked having her there. Loved it, actually. It felt vital. Necessary. Like if someone tried to pull her off of him, they would drag part of him away with her. And fuck, for the first time in his life, he was scared shitless.

“All right, Julie,” he rasped into her hair, not knowing what else to say. Afraid if he opened his mouth, something would come out to send her away. Or keep her close. Either option unnerved him. He’d woken up to the best feeling of his life, his girl tucked into his chest where he could keep her safe. His first thought had been her name. Julie. The next had been, what the hell is wrong with you? He’d known going in that their relationship could only be temporary. Hell, temporary was all he did. More than one night with a woman was usually a stretch for him.

That feeling. That heavy dread when she’d run away from him that first night. The possessiveness he’d felt when she set her sights on Golden Boy. He should have known then. After spending a handful of minutes with her, he’d already been infatuated. Now that he knew her, had witnessed her compassion, knew the reasons behind her faults, he couldn’t walk away. It was simply too late. If someone tried to take her away, God help them. He would fight them tooth and nail.

At the same time, however, he feared disaster. She’d devoted her life to making other people happy. He didn’t give a flying shit about anyone else’s feelings…save hers. He had a darkness inside him that could eclipse her goodness so easily. He pictured himself at Sunday dinner, breaking bread with her richer-than-sin family, and nearly laughed out loud. They would be horrified at their daughter’s choice in men. That’s if she chose him at all.

Panic threatened. He needed to consider the possibility that she still intended to walk away at the end of the week, free and clear of him. Why wouldn’t she? He couldn’t offer her a damn thing. All he had to barter with was himself. Julie could do better. She probably had wealthy men breaking down her door, if not for her sweet disposition and bombshell looks alone, then the security and connections her family provided. He had a decent savings account, more than comfortable for a man in his early thirties, but his sparse one-bedroom apartment in downtown Atlanta left a lot to be desired. Her future was bright. He would only dim it. He should walk away now and let it unfold the way it was supposed to. Let Julie have her emotionally undamaged husband and two blond babies.

Over his dead, lifeless body. Reed pulled her tighter against his chest, grunting his pleasure when she clung tighter, making him feel invincible.

“We need to talk, pixie—”

Her phone buzzed on the side table, startling her. She reached for it with a gasp. “Twenty missed calls. And…oh my Lord, it’s almost four in the morning. I had no idea.”

“Whatever it is can wait until daylight.”

Reed cursed when she ignored him and answered the phone. “Mrs. Anderson, well aren’t you a night owl? Or is it an early bird? What did you need, sweetheart?” Her eyebrows rose. “A wake-up call at eight? Have you contacted the—” She nodded through a long pause. “Oh, you did request one with the front desk, too…well, you are one hundred and fifty percent right, Mrs. Anderson. You can’t be too careful. Don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket. One of them is bound to break. You get your beauty rest, now. Kiss Mr. Anderson for me if he’s still awake, bless his heart. Good night, now.”

Her hand shook as she disconnected and frantically began taking notes while listening to her voice mail messages. Reed frowned. He knew she liked to be efficient, but something about her reaction seemed off.

“Hey.” He reached over and tried to pry the phone out of her hand. “Julie.”

She looked right through him. “Yes?”

“You can’t save the world right now. It’s almost morning—” Reed broke off as a possible reason for her abrupt attitude change occurred to him. Almost morning. She’d grown upset after noting the time. Unusually upset. The only other instance he could remember her losing her composure this way was that night in the forest. When they’d been talking about… “Is today the day? Serena…?”

“Yes,” she snapped. “Yes, and as usual, I was off in my own world. Not sparing her a thought.”

“That’s ridicu

lous.” He sat forward, plucked the pen from her hand. “You deserve to sleep. You can resume your candidacy for sainthood at a decent hour.”

“Give it back.”

Her cell phone buzzed in her hand. “Don’t answer that.”

Defiantly, she raised it to her ear. “Kady?”

Reed rolled his eyes when she slipped out of bed. Phone wedged between her ear and her shoulder, she pulled a thong out of her suitcase and slipped it on, the white material nestling perfectly at the center of her ass. Just like that, his cock grew hard. The idea of ripping off her lily-white thong and dragging her underneath him was almost too tempting to deny. He’d banish the memory of her twenty phone calls or her misplaced sense of responsibility to return them. If he didn’t see the grief written all over her face, he wouldn’t be hesitating.

“When was the last time someone saw Christine? Wait, Tyler is missing, too? Were they together?” Reed raised an eyebrow at her, but she held up a finger for silence. He watched as her gaze tracked down his chest to the erection lying across his belly. Her breath caught, nipples hardening. She seemed to remember her state of undress then, and hurriedly donned a bra and T-shirt. He felt a flash of satisfaction that her voice sounded raw when next she spoke. “Of course I’ll help find them. Yes, of course I understand. We can’t leave them missing. I’ll take the trails…”

“Like hell,” Reed mouthed from the bed.

“Call me if they show up. We’ll all meet in the lobby after they’re safe.” Julie selected a pair of pants from her chest of drawers and wiggled them up over her hips, setting his teeth on edge. The longer it took her to get dressed, the more he became convinced she was teasing him on purpose. “Relax, sweetie. I’m sure they didn’t get eaten by a bear. Christine is smart, you know that. If anything, she’d just interview him into early hibernation.”