She felt Quinn’s warmth at her back a second before his hands settled on her hips, his thumbs dipping into the cutout that exposed her sides. “Have I mentioned that you look ravishing?”
“Ravishing. That’s a big word for a cowboy.” That’s it. Remind yourself that your lives aren’t that different now. You both love Devil’s Falls. That’s something.
Except…
Enough. Worrying about things now wasn’t going to do anything but stress her the hell out.
“I have a few more up my sleeve.” His voice dropped into a rumble she could almost feel. “The first chance I get, I’m going to take this thing off you, strap by strap.”
Her knees shook as she pictured him doing exactly that. His hands skated down just a little, to cup her hips. “No panties. Naughty, peaches. Very naughty. I like it.” He leaned close enough that his chest pressed against her back. “I don’t know if we’re going to make it back to the room. Maybe after the ceremony, I’ll drag you out into the vineyards and fuck you right there in the dirt.” His laugh had her biting back a moan. “I could bring you around to the outdoors yet.”
With that kind of motivation, he might just manage it.
She opened her mouth to tell him exactly that, but he made a startled sound and then his touch was gone, leaving her leaning against something that was no longer there. Even worse was the shock in his voice. “Hope?”
The woman who approached, a slight limp in her step, looked at home in the crowd, her pale pink dress with its delicate beading, exposing just enough cleavage to be classily sexy and making Aubry feel like a second-class hooker. Her long blond hair was pulled back into an elegant up-do and her lipstick was as perfectly pink as her dress…and currently stretched wide into a smile that seemed for Quinn alone. “Hey, stranger.”
She was beautiful. More than beautiful. Like a goddess who’d wandered into their midst.
He stopped in front of her, his hands at his sides like he’d forgotten how to move properly. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“Jenny and I never lost touch.”
Which seemed to indicate she and Quinn had. Aubry looked from one of them to the other, her heart sinking. They looked like a pair. Like Barbie and Ken, except more attractive and a whole hell of a lot more real. This wasn’t like Rochelle last night. It had been clear from the start that she was his father’s pick, but Quinn had never been interested in her in any way. That wasn’t clear with Hope. In fact, Aubry got the feeling that not only was he interested, but this woman would be one that every single judgmental asshole in his family would approve of. They’d probably roll out the welcome mat as soon as they saw these two talking.
Those are my issues, not Quinn’s. Any second now, he’d prove her wrong and put this woman in her place or do something to remind her that they were here together. Not him and Hope. Him and her.
But he just stood there, like he wanted to sweep Hope into his arms but wasn’t sure of his welcome.
She seemed to sense the same thing. Her smile turned a little bittersweet. “So I don’t warrant a hug anymore?”
“Aw, honey, of course you do.” He wrapped his big arms around her and lifted her off her feet, eliciting a laugh that sounded like honest-to-God bells. It made Aubry want to crawl back up to their room and virtually shoot something.
Hope’s gaze landed on her, and she gave a perfect frown, a tiny line appearing between her brows. For fuck’s sake, I bet she even cries prettily. “Who’s your friend?”
“What? Oh.” He turned around as if seeing Aubry for the first time. “This is Aubry.”
She tried not to be offended that he didn’t correct Hope’s assumption that they were friends. Why would he? They weren’t dating, not really, and she obviously wasn’t among the women he’d feared dealing with when he agreed to this in the first place. Hurt, jagged and deep, sliced through Aubry. That feeling, at least, she could deal with.
She was used to not measuring up. Why did she think Quinn would be any different, no matter what he said?
She’d let herself forget, for a little while, that she hated people because the second they got the chance, they’d disappoint you. She’d forgotten, too, that she barely liked Quinn on the best of days. It was the sex. It messed with her mind, just like she’d been afraid it would. She moved across the distance between them, reclaiming her armor with each step, until she felt more like her old self than she had since getting in the truck with him that first day. Broken and bitter and well aware of what the world had to offer her—nothing.