Chapter 6
Chapter Six
That Saturday, Billie stared at her reflection and smiled. The floral dress was new, and it made her feel beautiful and feminine—and she realized she hadn’t felt that way in years until Marcus had kissed her senseless the other night.
Damn him.
Now it was like her body was coming alive again and demanding some sexy attention. Her only hope was to meet someone at Iris’s wedding today or pick up batteries on her way home.
Because she’d worn them out in the last few days.
Damn Marcus and his kiss.
It wasn’t like she’d been living like a nun for a decade. She’d dated plenty and slept with other men, but there hadn’t been anyone long-term and certainly no one she could envision a future with the way she had with…
“Ugh, stop thinking about him! Weddings are notoriously great places to hook up with someone!” she told herself.
Plus, Iris had mentioned she had a lot of single male relatives who were coming without a plus-one, and all the groomsmen were single and also coming without dates, so…
“I’m okay with a one-night thing. With any luck, it will be good enough to hold me over for a while.”
That was her mindset when she left to pick up the wedding cake and cupcakes at Books instead, the woman he found was so much more.
Unfortunately, he also couldn’t stop thinking about that damn letter. It was an easy excuse—a lie—but he couldn’t let it go. So he forced himself to think about that day—how he’d come home from work early because they were leaving that night for a romantic getaway. They’d made big plans, and he was looking forward to them so much, but when he walked in the door and was met with silence, he knew something was wrong. He’d called her multiple times, but she didn’t answer. Then he walked into his bedroom and knew she was gone. Her clothes were gone, all her toiletries were gone—pretty much every trace of her was gone.
By the time he walked into his home office, he was both devastated and furious.
That’s when he spotted the ring.
Once that moment came to mind, Marcus remembered what he did next and possibly why he didn’t see the letter.
He had swiped everything off his desk and sent it all crashing to the floor. Things broke, papers scattered, and basically, he had trashed the space.
It had taken several days before he attempted to clean everything up—and even then, his housekeeper helped. He remembered telling her to get rid of anything of Billie’s so…
That solved the mystery of the missing letter.
But instead of simply telling himself to move on, it felt like he needed to go back to Sweetbriar Ridge and let her know.
At least…that was the excuse he told himself.
The reality was that he just wanted to see her again.
The wedding had provided the perfect reason if anyone asked, and now that he was here and sitting next to her, he wished they could be alone.
And not only because he wanted to explain what he remembered.
“Ladies and gentleman, for the first time as husband and wife,” the DJ called out. “Mr. and Mrs. Jared Nelson! Give them a hand!”
Everyone got to their feet, and it brought Marcus fully back to the present. Servers were walking around putting glasses of champagne on everyone’s tables as the DJ introduced Iris and Jared’s first dance. He always thought it was a bit sappy to have a big wedding with so many people coming just to watch you dance and eat cake. It was a silly tradition as far as he was concerned. But when all the guests were invited to join the bride and groom on the dance floor, he did the only thing he could.
“Care to dance?” he asked Billie.
She stared back at him with wide eyes, but they were standing there alone since all of their friends had gone out to dance.
“We want to make sure the happy couple lives happily ever after, right?” he prompted.
He didn’t take it as a good sign when she glanced around frantically, as if searching for anyone else to dance with but him, but she eventually accepted.
As soon as she was in his arms, everything in him seemed to relax. It was good to hold her. She smelled positively delectable, and her dress was even sexier than the one she wore the other night. He gently pulled her a little closer and…
“Thank you!” the DJ called out. “Please take your seats so our best man can make his toast!”
They were ushered back to their tables and he knew it would be awhile before another opportunity presented itself. Salads were being placed on the table, toasts were made, and for the next hour, it was almost impossible to say a private word to her.
A brief window opened up when everyone got up to dance again, but Billie had excused herself and he’d lost sight of her. When she returned, it was time to cut the cake, and then it was more sitting and eating. It was beyond frustrating. After dessert, people were dancing and he looked to see where she was, but she was chatting with one of the groomsmen.
Actually, she looked like she was flirting with one of the groomsmen and he was flirting right back!
What the hell?
It was completely illogical for him to be jealous, but that’s exactly what he was. She had kissed him less than a week ago and she was already flirting with someone else? While he was standing right here?
“You’re looking a little fierce there, buddy,” Steve said as he stepped up beside him. He looked in the same direction Marcus was and nodded. “This has got to be crazy awkward for you.”
Why deny it?
“Yup.” Turning, he picked up his glass of champagne and drank it down. “It’s not even logical, but…”
“Yeah. I’m sure.” He paused. “It’s been a long time. I mean…how long has it been since you two last saw each other?”
“Monday night,” he said, his eyes never leaving Billie. “We went to dinner.”
“Oh, uh…”
“Before that? Ten years.”
“Ah. I get it now.” Another pause. “Are you hoping to get back together with Billie? Because…that would be…I thought you two…”
“We have unfinished business,” he murmured. “I’ve been trying to get a moment alone with her all night, but she never stands still. Except now when she’s acting all giggly with that groomsman.”
“Kirk’s a great guy. Seriously, one of the best. We’re both…” He looked at Marcus and must have realized he wasn’t helping. “I think I hear Caitlyn calling me. Good luck.”
Alone, Marcus knew he could do one of two things. First, he could get himself something to drink and mingle. He knew most of the people here and it would be fine. The other option would be to walk across the room and insert himself right in the middle of Billie and Kirk and do his damnedest to convince her to give him a few minutes of her time.
He knew the right thing to do.
But he went the other way.
Drinking the last of his champagne, he put the glass down and strode across the room, making a beeline toward where the two of them were still talking. Billie spotted him and immediately frowned, but that just encouraged him.
“Hello, darling,” he said smoothly, moving in close beside her. Glancing at Kirk, he said, “Marcus Calloway. Good to meet you. Have you and Jared been friends long?”
“Uh…Jared’s my cousin,” he replied slowly, curiously looking between him and Billie.
“I was wondering if we could have a moment in private,” he asked silkily. “After the way we left things the other night, I realized there was more to talk about.”
“It was nice meeting you, Billie,” Kirk said with an amiable smile. “Have a good night.” He turned and walked away, blending into the crowd.
“Well, thank God he’s gone, right?” Marcus said with a short laugh.
“Are you insane? Why would you do that? What is wrong with you?”
“I wanted to talk to you, but you’ve been avoiding me.”
“With good reason!” Groaning, she moved away from him. “Seriously, what were you thinking?”
Before he could answer, she stormed away.
“Alrighty then…” Casually, he followed her and was relieved when she walked out of the ballroom. He found her walking down the long hallway. No one else was out there, so he called out, “Could you please just give me a minute? I’d rather not chase you around the hotel!”
Fortunately, that stopped her. Spinning around, she waited for him to catch up. “What could you possibly have to say that was so important that you had to interrupt my conversation with Kyle?”
“Kirk,” he corrected, secretly thrilled that she didn’t really know that guy. “I wanted to tell you I kind of had an…epiphany.”
Hip cocked, arms crossed, she glared at him. “An epiphany? Really?”
Nodding, he told her about what he remembered about the day she left and the days that followed, including trashing his office.
“That’s not an epiphany, Marcus! That’s just you remembering what you did!” Muttering a curse, she paced away for several feet before facing him again. “So, in typical fashion, you didn’t listen to me. You heard what you wanted to hear and then, when you realized you were wrong, you decided to come here and ruin my night!”
“How did I ruin your night?” he demanded, feeling more than a little defensive. “I thought you’d be happy to know that I’m admitting I was wrong! Jeez, there is no winning with you!”
“How did you…? Gah! Seriously, did you not understand that I was flirting with Keith?”
“Kirk,” he corrected again with a super brief smirk.
“Whatever! And you just waltzed over like we’re a couple and scared the guy off!”
Shrugging, he replied, “Clearly he scares easily. You don’t want someone like that.”
“You have no idea what I want! You never have!” More pacing. “Dammit, Marcus, just…leave me alone.”
This time when she turned to walk away, it was back toward the reception. He had no choice but to follow her. When she reached the open doorway, she stopped so abruptly that he walked into her, his hands instinctively going to her hips to steady them both.
Her back was pressed against his chest and her bottom was…well…that was pressed against a part of him that instantly came to attention.
Great…
“Everybody, let’s give a final round of applause to Mr. and Mrs. Jared Nelson!” the DJ was saying. Apparently, the reception was ending and the bride and groom were leaving.
Marcus slowly pulled Billie away from the door, but neither of them altered their position. He could smell her perfume, feel the warmth of her body, and it was wreaking havoc on him.
It had always been like this for him. Billie Donovan had been his greatest temptation and weakness. He thought ten years apart would have killed it—especially the way things ended—but it hadn’t. Right now, he wanted her just as much as he always had.
Throngs of people were exiting and somehow, they were in a shadowed corner out of anyone’s view. She was already pissed at him, so he figured he had nothing to lose by lowering his head and placing a soft kiss on the side of her throat.
Her soft moan and the way she tilted her head to give him better access were encouraging.
In any other situation, Marcus was a man who said exactly what was on his mind. But right now, he was afraid to say one damn word that would ruin the moment.
Sighing his name, Billie pressed back against him—almost grinding against him in the sexiest way—and he knew he had to put all his fears aside because he wanted her.
“Tell me to stop,” he murmured as he continued to kiss her throat. “Tell me you don’t want this.”
One hand reached back to pull him closer. “I can’t.” Her voice was a breathless whisper. “I want…I need…”
“Tell me,” he begged right before she spun around, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and kissed him.
It was just as desperate and needy as it had been the other night. They were each fighting for dominance and to get impossibly closer. If he could, he knew he would lift her up, pin her back to the wall, and take her right there.
One kiss blended into the next, leaving them both fighting for breath. “I have a room,” he told her between kisses.
“So do I.” More kissing.
“I’m on the sixth floor…” And more kissing.
“I’m on the fourth. It’s closer. We can get there faster.” And still more kissing, until…
Pulling back, Marcus looked down at her with a mixture of passion and frustration. “Ugh…why do you always have to be right?” he demanded before claiming her lips again. Billie was infuriating, but it didn’t stop him from wishing they were upstairs right now.
This time, she was the one to break the kiss. Suddenly, she was all cool reserve, smoothing a hand over her hair. Quickly glancing around, she asked, “Should we go inside and say goodbye to everyone?”
Was she serious right now?
Crowding her in close again, he said, “We’ll invite them to brunch tomorrow if you’d like, but for right now, all I want is to go upstairs and finish what we started.”
For a moment, he swore she was going to argue or correct him, but instead, she took him by the hand and led him away. “There’s a set of elevators back here—far away from the lobby. One of the servers told me about them when I delivered the cake. It will get us to the room faster.”
Groaning, he kissed her one last time. “Less talking, more walking.”
Then, laughing like they were two kids afraid of getting caught, they took off for the elevators, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so alive.