Falling for the Groomsman (6 page)

Chapter Seven

The tension in Christine’s shoulders increased as they neared the lodge. Her phone lit up and she glanced down at it.

Where did you go, Red?

Her heart sped up. He’d been texting her since she walked out of Spago with Joe, the guy she’d been halfheartedly flirting with after the Tyler incident at the bar, demanding to know where she was. She’d been ignoring him, but… Biting down on her lip, she jotted off a quick text.

You want me that bad? Come find me, Doc.

A short pause, then:
You got it. Game on.

A contradictory shiver crept up her spine. The man was good. Heck, even his texts made her want him.
Please. You were never in the game in the first place.

A reply came back within seconds, but she ignored it. Joe was commenting on the weather and she nodded politely, hoping he wouldn’t notice how distracted she was. He was some distant cousin of Colton’s—handsome, charming, and built like a freaking football player. Everything a girl could want in a wild one-night stand. And…he might as well have been a rip-out poster for all the desire he brought out in her.

Zilch. Nada. Zip.

She was half tempted to kiss him anyway, just to see if she could pretend enough to have a little fun, but wasn’t that beside the point of
actually
having fun? This was supposed to be her opportunity to cross another item off her list. She was supposed to have a make-out session with this guy in the elevator. Maybe even more, if it went well.

But all she could think about was
Tyler
.

Finally, they reached the lodge.

“So, Christine.” Joe smiled at her. “Would you like to get a drink with me?”

She should say yes. She should take him up to her room and lose herself in his touch. Forget all about Tyler Dresco. But she couldn’t. It felt…wrong. Forced.

Dull and boring.

“I think I’ll just crash. I have a headache.” It wasn’t a lie. She had a headache, and its name was Tyler. She forced a smile to lighten her rejection, pressing her fingers against her temple. “Good night.”

“Oh. Yeah, sure.” He dug in his pocket for his room key, and held open the door. Once she passed through, he gave her an awkward hug. Yep. Nothing. All those muscles pressed against her did less to stir her emotions than a cocky smirk from Tyler did. “Catch you later, Christine.”

“Thanks again for walking me back.”

“Anytime,” he vowed, his eyes trying to catch hers.

Christine smiled, even though it felt fake, and wrapped her arms around herself. The dude gave up on flirting with her and left. She sighed and looked over her shoulder, not sure what to do with herself now that her plan to get it on was ruined. Broken. That’s what she was. Or maybe not. Maybe her problem was Tyler and the way he made her feel. He made her feel like he was the one.

He wasn’t. He never had been.

So why couldn’t she get him out of her head?

She headed toward the elevator door. A footstep squeaking on the floor was her warning she wasn’t alone anymore. She turned around, eyes wide when she saw who stood there. “What are
you
doing here?”

“You told me to come find you. I did.” Tyler’s face seemed deceptively calm. But she could see the irritation bubbling beneath the smooth surface. He was angry. Or was he…jealous? No. Not possible. “According to you, that means you’re mine now.”

She shook her head. She hadn’t been planning on him
actually
finding her. He was supposed to be at the dinner party, damn it. “Excuse me? I don’t remember—”

“‘You want me? Come find me, Doc,’” he said, his voice low and dangerous-sounding. “Well, I found you. Now I’m prepared to collect.”

She backed off a step, her heart racing way too fast. Sure.
Now
she got turned on. Son of a mother’s hairy knee. “That’s not quite what I meant.”

“Where were you?” he asked, crossing the foyer. “And who the hell was he?”

“None of your business.”

He stopped in front of her, his gaze dark. “Who was that man?”

“None of your business,” she repeated, heading for the elevators one backward step at a time. He sounded jealous. God, that was so freaking hot. “Good night, Tyler.”

Tyler growled and caught her elbow. “Not so fast. Tell me who that was and what you were doing. Did you kiss him? Did you let him touch you?”

“He just walked me back.” She watched him through her lashes, inspiration striking. “Or maybe he was my lover, and we stole away for a few minutes of privacy. Which do you think it was?”

His eyes darkened. “I think if it were me you left with instead of him, I would’ve buried my cock inside of you until you were too tired to stand, let alone leave with another man again.”

Oh my God. Her knees weakened, and her stomach twisted with desire. He said the boldest things to her.
Dirty
things. Was he like this with everyone? “How come everyone says you’re so sweet and kind and quiet, but with me you’re so bossy and…and…dirty?”

“I have no idea. I don’t act like this around other women,” he said, his voice agitated. He headed toward the elevator, towing her alongside him. “Maybe you bring out the worst in me. Shit if I know.”

Worst…or best? “Gee, thanks.” She tried to pull free by wiggling her arm, but he didn’t budge. “What are you doing?”

“I’m taking you upstairs.” He watched her with a raised brow when she did a spin thing, trying to pull free. “Are you going to stop dancing in circles around me?”

“Are you going to stop holding me captive?”

He let go of her. “All you had to do was ask, Sherlock.”

“Oh. Silly me,” she drawled. “I should have thought of that.”

The elevator doors opened, and he motioned her in front of him. She debated closing the doors on him, but refrained from doing so. She wouldn’t stoop to such juvenile tactics, because then he’d know how much he affected her. He hit the button for the third floor and settled into the corner. “Come with me to my room.”

God help her, she wanted to. She wanted to stop working on her stupid sex list and start
doing
the things she’d written down. Apparently if she wanted to actually have fun, it would have to be with Tyler. But could she? How could she hold her head up high if she…?

Wait a second. A plan started to form, and she ignored the warning bells going off in her head. She knew how to have some fun,
and
cross an item or two off her list.
Get payback on Tyler
and
Make out in an elevator
. Two birds with one stone. The plot had a tinge of revenge to it, but that only made it all the more naughty. How…
empowering
that would feel. To leave him wanting as he’d once done to her. She turned her head to the side, her heart speeding up. “Why would I want to do that?”

“I think you know why.” He crossed his arms, his jaw ticking. “You’re playing a game with me. How about if we stop playing, and start having some real fun?”

She flopped her head back on the wall, her hands splayed on either side of her hips against the cool metal. “But why would I want to have some real fun with
you
?”

He cursed under his breath and crossed the elevator, backing her even further against the wall. “Red, you think you know me, but I’ve learned a few tricks in the past eight years. I’ll bet my ass that we both have.”

Make out in an elevator. Oh God, here we go.

“What a fine ass it is, too.” She braced her hands against his chest right over his heart, lifting her head in challenge. Hers sped up from his simple touch. “I’m gonna need to see one of those new tricks, because I’m sorry to say, your old ones weren’t too memorable. Impress me.”

He gripped her chin, latching gazes with her. “Done.”

He melded his mouth to hers without a second’s hesitation. As his tongue slipped inside her mouth, his leg slid between hers. When he pressed his knee against her aching core, she moaned into his mouth. God, why did he have to be the one who brought her body to life in ways no one else ever could?

It wasn’t fair.

The elevator door opened, and he broke off the kiss. He caught her hand before heading out the doors and led her down the hallway, their steps hurried yet somehow in tune with each other. They reached his door within seconds, and he swiped his card key.

Unfortunately, the walk gave her a chance to come back into her head. She couldn’t do this. Couldn’t go in his room with him. She’d kissed him in the elevator. That had to be the end of this…this
thing
they had going between them.

She couldn’t cross
all
her items off her list with
him
.

The green light flashed and he opened the door for her. “After you.”

“Um.” She shook her head and backed up a step. “I’m not going in there with you.”

“Let me guess.” He crossed his arms. “The damn list again?”

“Yeah.” She lifted her chin. “You’re not on it.”

He closed his eyes for a second, his jaw flexing, and grabbed her by the hand. He dragged her inside, closed the door behind them, leaned against the door, and crossed his arms. “You’re not running away again. We need to talk about this. About what happened in Mexico. You’re obviously holding a grudge.”

“We had sex. Then we didn’t see each other.” She sat down on his bed, clinging to the comforter for dear life. “There’s nothing more to say.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. I know you too well for you to pull that shit with me, Red.”

She glared at him, hating him right now for trying to barrel past the defenses she had in place. She didn’t like to think about that night. About how he had made her feel. But she knew he wouldn’t stop harassing her about it until he got his stupid apology out of the way. “You don’t know me at all.”

“I know enough, and there’s something I have to say.”

She sighed. “Fine. Say what you have to say and then I’m gone.”

He pressed his lips together. “I’m sorry I fucked up all those years ago. I’m even more sorry it took me so long to contact you again. I’ve…I’ve regretted it every single day of my fucking life.”

Oh, he did, did he? Well, tough. He could kiss her butt. She laughed, but it sounded forced even to her ears. “Oh, please. Stop trying to sound all mature and responsible in front of me. The only reason you contacted me at all
now
is because we’re stuck in a hotel together. So don’t act as if you made this huge step. You didn’t.”

“Okay. Fair enough. You’re right.”

“Great.” She blew out a breath and stood. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…?”

He dragged his hands down his face. “Christine, can you just let me get it all out in the open?”

“Why?” She fisted her hands. “Where was my chance to ‘get it all out’ when you ran away from me?”

He glared at her. “Fine. You’re right. Say what you need to say now. Let’s do this.”

So she could hear all the reasons he didn’t want to be with her back then? Yeah, thanks but no thanks. If she needed her self-esteem knocked down a peg, all she needed to do was call one of her exes. She didn’t need Tyler for that. “I don’t
want
to.”

“You need to. Yell. Scream. Hit me if you want.” He crossed his arms. “I’ll allow it.”

“You’ll allow it?” She prowled across the room and shoved his shoulders hard. He didn’t budge because he was already against the door, and also because he had so many freaking muscles. “I don’t need your permission, and I definitely don’t need to air my grievances to feel better about myself, and neither should you. Get over it. It was years ago.”

“Well, we can’t all be so lucky,” he snapped, his eyes flashing. “Only you can be so perfect.”

“Fine. You want to know what I
think
? What I
feel
? You’re supposed to be this sweet, nice, kind guy…and what are you to me? An asshole!” She pushed his shoulders again and he let her, not even so much as lifting a finger to defend himself. “You were my first guy, and you took me and
left
. You’re a…a…
dick
!”

His jaw flexed and he opened his mouth. “Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t…I didn’t know what I was doing back then.”

She shook her head. “You knew
exactly
what you were doing.”

“Not with you. Never with you.” He dragged his hands down his face again and met her eyes. “All of my life, I’ve remained in control under every situation. The one time I stopped thinking and let my emotions rule me was that night with you. When it was over, and rational thought came back, I…I panicked. I was leaving, and we were so young…and now it’s happening all over again. You get to me, Red.”

She pushed him again. “Yeah, well, did it ever occur to you I panicked back then, too? That you left me in the hallway, alone and practically naked, with no one to talk to? I couldn’t even talk to my best friend about it, because she was your freaking sister. To this day, she thinks some guy named Rick took my virginity that night in Mexico.” She swallowed hard, wishing she could stop the words from flowing out. But they were like a dam. Once released, there was no holding them back. “And now I’m supposed to stand here letting you apologize so
you
can feel better? Fuck
you
. You deserve to feel like shit about something for once in your perfect, golden life.”

“You’re right.” He swallowed hard. “I do.”

“You want to know what the worst part was? The other thing my therapist told me?” she asked, laughing and yet way too close to tearing up at the same time. Freaking fantastic. She never cried. Not anymore. “Yeah. I got one of those after you. But anyway, she told me I didn’t even want to be with anyone else, because none of them compared to you. No one will
ever
compare to you.”

He closed his eyes for a second. “Fuck, Red. I—”

“No.” She barely resisted the urge to stomp her foot. “Don’t you dare
Red
me, damn it
.
Go on. Say it. Say you’re sorry.”