As if he’d been sent to do it, Colt tapped on Reece’s shoulder just then. “Can I cut in?”
“Yeah. Sure.” Reece gave me a tight smile and released me. “Thanks for the dance, Emma. I’ll see you around.”
Only too happy to go off and hit the bar, he spun away from us as Colt pulled me into his arms. I wasn’t too proud of the butterflies suddenly zooming around in my stomach or the way I melted into him, but a smile that felt dopey spread on my face, and I didn’t care.
It felt like I belonged in his arms, and even though I knew I’d been taken in by the romantic atmosphere, I didn’t fight it. I knew how dangerous it was for me to surrender to the feeling, but I couldn’t help myself. As one song faded into another, Colt and I kept dancing. I lost track of how long I’d been smiling up at him, my eyes never leaving his, before he finally led me off the dance floor.
“What do you want to drink?” he asked, and I shrugged.
“Champagne, probably. You did order three dozen bottles, so someone has to make sure we finish it.”
He laughed and snagged a glass off the tray of a passing waiter. He handed it over to me and I took it, sighing dreamily, once again marveling at the sight of him in a tux. Tuxedos weren’t something I saw often in Rockdale. Even our weddings tended to be more on the casual side, but dear Lord, could Colt wear one.
He looked like James Bond back in the day when he’d still been the epitome of a roguish, handsome gentleman. It was such a darn sexy image that my cheeks flushed and I averted my gaze.
“Yeah, I know how you feel,” he murmured to me, his pinkie finger hooking around mine and squeezing for the briefest of seconds. “Looking at you all night and not being able to rip that dress right off you has been killing me.”
“Really?”
He chuckled darkly. “Really. You look beautiful, Emma. Haven’t I mentioned that yet?”
“Nope,” I said, trying to make it sound like I didn’t care when the truth was that my insides nearly exploded at the compliment. “Do you really think that?”
“I do,” he replied.
In an attempt to make our conversation seem less intimate than it was, neither of us were looking at the other right now, but when I glanced at him, it looked like he was having trouble keeping his gaze pinned dead ahead.
“If I haven’t told you yet,” he continued, “it’s just because I’ve been trying not to stare at you too much. You’re radiant, baby. I know you heard me tell Teddy that she was breathtaking, but you took my breath away in a whole different way. I just couldn’t be quite as vocal about it with you as I was with her.”
“Well, I’d hope I took your breath away in a different away,” I teased, but then I arched a brow at him. “Did you really just call mebaby?”
“Yep. I wish I could say I was sorry about it, but it just came out and honestly? I’m not sorry. I can’t seem to help myself when I’m with you, but I’m rolling with it for now.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” I echoed what he’d said earlier, and those daydreams I’d been trying to ignore came rushing right at me.
With the help of the champagne, I let myself imagine that Colt and I could be happy together. I envisioned our wedding being much like this one, humble and fun, yet somehow classy and elegant all at the same time.
We’d dance the evening away. Then we’d spend the night making love until the early hours of the morning. Over and over again. As I thought about it, I finished my drink and he pulled me back to the dance floor as if he couldn’t stand being parted from me any longer and dancing was the only way we could get as close together as we wanted to be.
Having him gaze at me like this really was our night took me back to what we’d done last night, and the memories combined with my fantasy of making love to him until the early hours of the morning didn’t do me any favors. Neither did feeling his hard body against mine or the brush of his thigh against me every so often while we moved together.
I was getting much more turned on than was appropriate in public, and I could tell Colt was getting there, too. We didn’t stop dancing, though. Not until the DJ made us and we reluctantly parted, but even then, I struggled to let go of him when I had to.
Our time together, whatever it was we were doing with it, was quickly coming to an end. And all I knew for certain was that I didn’t want it to be over again just yet.
21
COLT
How long is this fucking thing going to go on for?It was starting to feel like the reception was never going to end. As much as I was enjoying seeing my sister so happy and dancing with Emma, I was more than ready to take her home and make love to her.
If the way she’d been looking at me during those last few songs we’d danced together was anything to go by, she wanted the same thing I did again. Unfortunately, however, we both had our parts to play and they weren’t over yet.
“It’s time for all the single ladies to gather on the dance floor,” the DJ shouted into his microphone as the last song tapered out. “Our blushing bride has her bouquet ready, and we’re about to find out who’s going to be next.”
There was an excited squeal from one side of the room, and a herd of Teddy’s friends from high school and college swarmed to the designated area. Emma gave me a look that made it clear that she was about as eager as I was to leave, but then she took a deep breath and smiled.
“That’s me,” she said, though she didn’t seem too happy about that, either. “I’ll see you on the other side.”