“OhmyGod!” Bella squeals, lunging and diving off the sofa before running to her room and slamming the door like an embarrassed kid.
Wren’s laughter breaks free, and I start laughing just as hard.
“Don’t you knock?!” Bella yells from the safety of her room.
Wren has trouble catching his breath, but he finally manages to answer through his chuckles. “I did knock. But you two were apparently otherwise engaged, and the door was unlocked.”
Bella groans, and Wren and I laugh all the harder, egging her on.
Somehow, the tension between Wren and me has been lifted after getting to witness Bella talking to her body parts. My eyes drift over to Wren as he taunts Bella.
“Don’t let me interrupt. You can finish your conversation with your magical pussy.”
My eyes drift down to the roses in his hand, and a warmness spreads over my chest as he laughs, his eyes not on me, fortunately. It gives me a second to really appreciate his profile, and damn… I’ve never seen a tux look so good on anyone.
“Mine isn’t magical!” Bella barks, half laughing now as she walks back out of her room. “That’s the problem.”
Wren continues laughing as Bella huffs, but my eyes are still busy drinking him in.
“Damn,” he says in a reverent breath, his laughter gone.
My gaze moves up from his chest to his face as he studies me, openly raking his eyes over me from head to toe. I’m glad I have on the coat.
Bella clears her throat while leaving the room, being way too obvious, and I take a deep, steadying breath.
“Hi,” I say softly, which earns a smile.
“Hi,” he says back, still smiling as he hands me the roses.
Yeah. It’s stupid, but I grin like an idiot while taking them. This shouldn’t feel like a date, because it’s not. Yet it’s the best start to a date that I’ve ever had.
I shiver when our fingers graze each other’s during the exchange, and I hear his sharp intake of air. But I ignore my reaction and his and move quickly to take the roses to the kitchen.
Bella is already filling a vase with water, a knowing smile on her lips. Actually, that smile is looking more and more like a smirk the closer I get to her.
“Don’t,” I whisper in warning, but she doesn’t acknowledge me.
She takes the roses from me just as Wren joins us, making the kitchen suddenly seem very, very small when his scent engulfs me. I swear he smells like good sex.
“You can come to the party, too,” Wren tells Bella as he props up much too close to me, his leg brushing against mine.
I tense, and heat floods me from the small, accidental touch. How am I going to endure an entire night with him after the fitting room?
“No thanks. I have a date,” Bella says while arranging the roses nicely in the vase.
“With?” I ask, curious as to why I’m just finding out.
“Dr. Pellino. He’s cute.”
My nose wrinkles. He’s cute, but he’s a pervert.
“Okay… Sure. Call if you need me.”
She winks over her shoulder at me as Wren starts moving toward the door.
“Have fun tonight,” she whispers, and my eyes connect with the piercing blue ones that seem to trap me all the time.
Wren’s dark hair is hanging over his brow in a way that has my fingers itching to run through it, and he’s not looking at me with any less hunger than he had a few days ago. If anything, he looks even hungrier.
Not good.
“Yeah,” I croak, my throat suddenly very dry, and Bella laughs behind me as Wren lowers his hand to the small of my back, guiding me out.
“I didn’t know if you were still coming to get me,” I tell him when we get outside.
He sighs hard while one corner of his mouth lifts in an uneasy smile.
“I’m not a coward, Allie.”
My eyes move to his lips, spellbound and lost in fantasy, and he curses while tilting my face up by my chin.
“I’m also not a saint, so you can’t keep staring at my mouth like you want a taste,” he says in that deep, breathy, fuck-me-now tone that has the hairs on my body rising to attention.
That dull ache returns between my thighs, and I mentally slap myself. What am I doing?
“Right,” I mumble, feeling my cheeks heat.
He leans down quickly, and I almost stumble backwards, but he grins as he catches me before moving his lips close to my ear. Goosebumps pebble my skin when he growl-whispers.
“And I really fucking hope you’re wearing panties.”
Chapter 17
WREN
I really wish I had bothered to pay attention to the dress before they zipped it up in the carry bag the other day. Then again, I still wouldn’t have been prepared for how it looks on her, and that’s just what I can see through the gap of the coat.