Chapter 3 #2
When the bartender pushed the drinks across the bar, Jodi picked up the bourbon and her champagne, and Shaun collected her own glass of champagne and the double vodka tonic Tommy had requested before making their way back to the table.
She was painfully aware of Kasey’s eyes on her, and she felt her skin growing hot.
She had chosen a long sleeved, black top with a deep cowl neck that left the tops of her breasts and an eyeful of cleavage on display, paired with a dangerously short, sparkly, sequined gold skirt that hit high on her thighs.
However, it was the thigh high, black high heeled boots that encased her legs and left a swath of bare skin between the tops of the boots and the hem of her short skirt that seemed to catch his attention the most.
Shaun stared stonily at Kasey as they approached, then as she handed Tommy his drink, he tugged her wrist, bringing her down so he could capture her lips with his. He hadn’t forgotten the way Kasey had been holding her at Shane and Cassie’s wedding either, apparently.
Free had risen from his seat, and he motioned around the table as he said, “Kasey, you remember Jodi—" Shaun watched as Kasey tipped his head and grinned warmly at the tiny brunette standing beside her.
“Hiya, doll,” he said, reaching out a hand toward Jodi, and Shaun’s belly flip-flopped at hearing that drawl again. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
Jodi laughed, holding out her left hand. He examined the glittering diamond on the third finger and whistled, making Jodi blush.
“If you ever get tired of this grumpy old man, you let me know, doll,” he murmured and winked.
Free elbowed Kasey in the side and they chuckled together.
Tommy rose to his feet, standing close beside Shaun, sliding one hand low on her back.
She leaned into him as Kasey’s eyes sliced toward the two of them.
Free continued with introductions, motioning to them as he said, “Kase, you remember Jodi’s sister, Shaun? You two met at Shane and Cassie’s wedding several months ago.” Shaun fought the urge to roll her eyes. Like any of them had forgotten they’d met before.
“Nice to see you again,” he drawled, and one side of his mouth tugged upward just the slightest, making Shaun grind her teeth together as he extended his hand to her.
She placed her hand in his for the briefest shake before pulling it back.
He turned those gray-blue eyes to Tommy, extending his hand.
Shaun held her breath as Tommy gripped the other man’s hand, and she could see the muscles in both their forearms tensing with how tightly they were gripping.
“And this is Tommy, Shaun’s fiancé,” Free kept on, his deep voice neutral, but Shaun’s stomach felt like it had dropped out of her butt when Kasey’s face hardened. He kept his eyes on Tommy’s face as they dropped hands.
“I guess double the congratulations, then,” he murmured, though it lacked the warmth or even the arrogant teasing from a moment ago.
His words were edged with a bite. He let his eyes glance over her for the sparest moment before looking toward the bar, and then said, “Nice to meet you. Excuse me, I think I’ll go grab a drink. ”
As Kasey sauntered toward the bar, Free and Jodi joined him, leaving Shaun and Tommy alone at the table.
“I don’t like the way he looks at you,” Tommy muttered, glaring stonily at Kasey’s back.
“He’s just a pompous asshole,” Shaun said and shrugged, setting down her champagne flute on the black linen tablecloth. Looping her arms around Tommy’s neck, she leaned in for a kiss. “Besides, you’re the one that gets to kiss me at midnight.”
Tommy grumbled something unintelligible over the loud music and planted his hands on either side of her waist.
After finishing her glass of champagne, Shaun wandered over to the bar and stood to Jodi’s other side, as far away from Kasey as possible.
Tommy headed outside and Shaun’s face fell in annoyance.
He had taken up smoking cigarettes again but was hiding it from her.
She didn’t care either way, but the sneaking and lying bothered her.
If he couldn’t be honest about smoking, what else could he keep from her?
The bartender came over and caught her attention, pointing to her empty glass, and she shook her head, leaning forward on her forearms on the smooth bar top. “Can I get a Paloma?”
The bartender nodded and turned away to mix it. Jodi leaned over and said, “Oooh, that sounds delicious. Maybe I’ll get one of those next.”
Shaun laughed when Free leaned over and murmured, “Do you remember the last time we had tequila? I ended up in jail.”
Jodi laughed and said something about “Guess it’s a good thing Josh isn’t going to show up and provoke you into a fistfight this time” but Shaun wasn’t paying attention.
Her eyes met Kasey’s over Jodi and Free’s shoulders, and he raised his glass, which was filled with a dark amber liquor and took a sip.
Her belly did that annoying little flutter when she watched his lips on the rim of the glass, his eyes never leaving hers.
The bartender came back with her tequila and grapefruit cocktail and Shaun thanked him, adding it to their tab. “I need to use the restroom, I’ll be right back,” she whispered to Jodi and then headed across the room.
Staring at herself in the mirror in the blessedly empty women’s powder room, she pressed her palm to her stomach, between her ribs and belly button, the knot of anxiety and annoyance that she always felt around Kasey making her wish she’d either eaten more at dinner, or not consumed as much alcohol.
Washing her hands, she left the ladies room and made her way down a short, dimly lit hallway back toward the door that led to the main room. She stifled a startled yelp when a hand clamped on her wrist at the same time she heard a low, husky drawl from behind her, saying, “Shaun—"
She swung around, colling with his impossibly hard chest.
“Kasey!” she exclaimed, hating the breathlessness in her voice at the feel of his strong, warm fingers clasped securely around her wrist and the way his body was angled against hers from thigh to chest. “Let go.”
But he shook his head, his fingers tightening on her wrist. “Since when are you engaged?”
“What?” Shaun gasped, stunned by the hard edge in his voice.
“Since when are you engaged to that buffoon?” he asked, his words coming out low and laced with animosity.
“Tommy and I have been engaged since Labor Day weekend,” she snapped, tugging at her wrist to no avail. His fingers were like a vice around her wrist. “Not that it’s any of your business, Kasey!”
“I don’t like him,” he muttered, his eyes narrowing.
A shocked, ugly snort of laughter escaped her, and then she hissed, “I don’t care if you don’t like him! I don’t like you!”
Lowering his mouth to the shell of her ear, he whispered, “Your body tells a different story, darlin’.”
Shaun couldn’t stop the shiver that ran along her entire body when his breath fanned over her ear. But she steeled herself and hissed, “Fuck you. Believe it or not, but not every woman you meet is going to drop to their knees at your feet, you conceited jackass.”
“Don’t be makin’ promises you can’t keep, darlin’,” he murmured, making her shiver again. Damn him. “I’d love to see you on your knees in front of me—”
White hot fury washed over her, and before she could even think of the consequences, her palm had cracked across the side of his face.
She’d never struck someone in her life! What was it about this man that brought out the absolute worst in her?!
She panted in the dim hallway and yanked her wrist out of his grasp. His jaw tightened and fear skittered over her as his eyes narrowed, but then his lips curved into a dangerously dark smirk, and he took a small step toward her so that his mouth was close to her own.
“I can’t wait to unleash all that fire, Shaun. You’re going to burn me alive, baby,” he drawled, his voice a husky murmur. “You’re fucking exquisite. And he can’t handle you.”
“And you think you can?” she sneered, but desire had curled low in her belly. Fucking traitorous libido.
“Wouldn’t you like to find out?” he asked, his lips moving against the skin of her cheek.
“No,” she whispered.
“Liar.”
“I will slap you again,” she warned through her teeth, but she wasn’t sure if she was speaking to him, or herself this time. “Fucking try me.”
“When you kiss that limp noodle at midnight, I dare you not to think about me,” he whispered and then chuckled when he caught her wrist in his hand as she raised it as if to strike him again.
Bringing her palm to his mouth, he pressed a hot, open-mouthed kiss to the center of it, and she sucked in a shocked breath as heat spiraled through her.
“Fuck you,” she grated out, though it didn’t hold the same weight as earlier, her heart hammering so hard inside her chest it hurt.
“Is that an invitation?” he asked, then laughed when she snarled at him.
She tugged on her hand and stepped away from him, putting several feet between them. “You’re despicable.”
He slid his hands into the front pockets of his slacks and her eyes dropped to his lap involuntarily.
He was hard behind the fly of his slacks, and the way his hands were shoved in the pockets pulled the fabric even tighter across the front.
Damn if she didn’t want to know just what he was working with under there…
She snapped her eyes to his and he grinned wolfishly, sauntering closer to her, one step, then two. The fucker was practically prowling.
Without touching her, he leaned in just close enough and whispered, “Don’t forget to think about me, darlin’.”
And then he brushed past her and passed through the door into the main room, leaving her alone in the dimly lit hallway, her breathing labored and her heart still hammering in her chest.
As the ball dropped on the tv screen, Shaun looped her arms around Tommy’s neck and kissed him with everything she had.
But fuck if it wasn’t Kasey’s mouth she imagined slanting over hers as the clock struck midnight.