But who knew why she’d lost all self-control like that? She certainly didn’t. After two of the most mind-blowing orgasms she’d ever had she could barely think straight, and Lord only knew what nonsense she’d spluttered to Annie, her secretary, who’d been calling about a document that was urgently needed by her boss but was missing.
Anyway, with Lily fast approaching, why what had just happened had happened wasn’t something she had time to consider. Which was actually quite a relief because she had the feeling that it was probably a bigger deal than she was able to cope with right now.
All she could think of doing was wiping the past ten minutes from her mind and applying one hundred per cent of her focus on Lily. So she snapped her phone shut, fixed a smile to her face and tried not to think about the fact that she wasn’t wearing any knickers.
‘Lily,’ she said, sounding mercifully normal even though inside she was chaos. ‘What’s up?’
‘I’ve been looking for you all over the place,’ said Lily with the breathlessness of someone who’d been running. ‘And then your phone rang and I thought I recognised the ringtone.’
‘How lucky,’ she said, although what was really lucky was that Lily hadn’t found her ten minutes ago.
‘What are you doing here all by yourself?’
‘She’s not here all by herself.’
Celia’s mouth went dry and her heart lurched at the realisation that Marcus was behind her. Again. Although this time hopefully fully dressed and not bending over her. Not that she was going to think about him thrusting inside her, how deep he’d been, how good it had felt...
As heat rushed through her and a wave of desire nearly wiped out her knees Celia felt her cheeks burn, silently swore and gave herself a quick mental shake.
‘Oh,’ said Lily slowly, swinging her gaze from Celia to Marcus and then grinning knowingly. ‘I see.’
‘We’ve been chatting,’ said Celia, blushing even more hotly and obviously sounding as guilty as sin.
Slowly returning her attention to Celia, Lily gave her a quick once-over, her gaze lingering on her burning face, her hair that was no doubt all over the place, her crumpled dress and her lack of shoes. ‘If you say so.’
‘I do,’ she said, rallying her strength and shooting her co-bridesmaid a look that had quelled many an argumentative client, but merely made Lily grin.
‘Well, whatever you were planning on doing next,’ she said breezily, ‘you’re going to have to put it on hold because Dan and Zoe are about to leave and there’s a bouquet that needs to be thrown.’
At the thought of that, all heat vanished and Celia stiffened, then groaned, closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘Oh, God,’ she muttered as the implication of the bouquet-throwing part of the day suddenly struck her. ‘Like I need any more humiliation today.’
‘What’s humiliating about a bunch of flowers flying through the air?’ asked Marcus dryly, sounding so laid-back and unaffected by having just had her over a bench it made her nerves jangle.
‘You wouldn’t understand,’ she said, turning and looking at him and then wishing she hadn’t because her gaze locked on his mouth and all she could think about was those deep drugging kisses and the not-so-sweet nothings he’d growled into her ear.
‘Try me.’
She dragged her gaze up and that was even worse because traces of heat and desire lingered in his eyes, reminding her of what she really was trying to forget. ‘You can’t. You will never have to experience the mortification I’m about to suffer,’ she said, knowing she was going to sound pathetic and wishing she’d just nodded and gone with Lily without saying anything. ‘I’m the only single girl here. Everyone else is married. I’ll have to stand there alone and everyone will be watching. Wait until you see the looks being cast my way—which will range from smug to pitying—and then you’ll see.’
Marcus tilted his head and looked at her intently, as if spotting a crack in her armour and trying to see through it. Not that he’d find anything even if he could, apart maybe from a horseshoe magnet with both its ends quivering in his direction.
‘You’re not the only single girl here,’ he said, rubbing his fingers along his jaw, and she couldn’t help watching, remembering how they’d felt inside her. ‘There’s Lily.’
‘She’s engaged,’ she said, wondering where the hell her inner strength and self-control were when she needed them. ‘Doesn’t count.’
‘Sadly, this is true,’ said Lily thoughtfully.
‘Then I’ll join you,’ he said.
Celia stared at him. What? No. She didn’t need him being all nice on top of the fabulous sex. That really would screw with her head. ‘Sorry?’
‘I’ll join you. Hustle you for the bouquet.’
‘You?’
‘Why not? I’m single. And, actually, technically so are you, Lily, despite being engaged. And while we’re at it why don’t we recruit Kit? That might make it a bit more of a battle.’
‘A novel idea,’ said Lily with a grin. ‘I’ll go and get him. So, are you coming?’