25. The Real Moment
WEST
I’m back inside my room, still buzzing from everything that just happened on the dinner cruise. It was amazing, but I’m kicking myself because I didn’t say how I felt.
God, I know I’m a total chickenshit, but every time I get close, it feels like the fear will swallow me whole. I’m trying not to beat myself up too much as I throw off my jacket and tie.
I’m brushing my teeth when there’s a gentle rap on my door. Too gentle to be Skye.
I approach it, and my hand hovers on the handle for a split second because unexpected knocks usually mean bad things. I swing the door open to find... nothing. No one. I lean out the doorway, my head swiveling left and right. Maybe it’s a prank?
“West,” comes her soft voice that hits me hard. My head turns, and there she is—Eva—tucked into the shadows, almost blending in with the dark wood paneling of the hallway.
“Hey,” I whisper. “Thought you were a ghost. You okay?”
“Can I come in?” Her eyes are big and earnest.
I step aside. “Sure. But if you’re here for the mini-bar snacks—they’re all gone.”
“Very funny.” She brushes past me with the faintest scent of raspberry vanilla trailing behind her.
“Make yourself at home,” I tell her as I close the door, trying to sound cool, collected, and definitely not like the sex we just had blew my mind. Keep it together, man.
“Wow, your room’s better than mine.” She glances around.
“Only the best for the next Groomsman to Groom hopeful.”
“About that,” she says, and tingles shoot up my spine. She approaches me, her hands instantly roaming over my chest.
“God, I love it when you do that.” I close my eyes.
“You do?” She untucks my shirt and runs her hands up again, this time on my bare skin. “How about this?”
“God, yes. I love everything you do. You can just have me, any way you want, Manhattan.”
“Is that so?” She meets my gaze, her eyes all fire. “Then I want you inside me, West. And not just once.”
I swallow hard, my entire body reacting to her words. The words I’ve fantasized about hearing from her a thousand times—and they’re even better in real life. I’m fighting to keep the emotion out of my voice, but it’s useless. “Same. I’m fighting it so hard, but I can’t stay away from you. Nothing has ever felt this good.”
She brings her mouth to mine, her lips soft, tender, like she’s trying to speak through a kiss what words can’t capture. This is what I’ve been waiting for, what I’ve been dreaming of since the day she walked into my life.
We stumble backwards into the room, over to the bed, never breaking our kiss. Our bodies press against each other, fitting together like two puzzle pieces that were always meant to fit together.
Eva’s hands are in my hair, tugging it as if she can’t get enough of me. I grip her waist, pulling her even closer until there’s no space left between us.
My mind flips through all my flirting over the past few days. The women are roller coasters of excitement. But next to Eva, they’re just... rides. Temporary thrills. My voice is low when I say, “With you, it’s just… everything.”
“That’s why I’m here,” she whispers.
There’s no rush this time, not like our frantic encounters before. My fingers trace the hem of her dress, lifting it gently, methodically over her head. She stands there, beautiful in her vulnerability, and I can’t help but marvel at her. Every curve, every line of her is a testament to the battles she’s fought—losing her mother, then her business, and always being her family’s pillar.
“Hope you didn’t plan on getting any sleep tonight,” I whisper against her skin, feeling the heat radiating from her.
“Sleep is overrated.”
We’re playing a high stakes game, but it’s clear as I look into her eyes—that deep blend of resilience and tenderness—she’s worth the gamble.
With practiced ease, Eva unbuttons my dress shirt and slips it off my shoulders. Her hands, those that make beautiful edible creations, now navigate with a different purpose as they unbuckle my belt and slide down my pants. I kick them off.
“These,” she says, tugging at my boxers and smirking with the confidence of a woman who knows exactly what she wants, “must go.”
With a quick tug, they fall and my dick springs free. I love watching the want in her face as her eyes drink me in, and it makes me harder than I’ve ever been. I feel like a king standing before her.
I lean in, my lips blazing a trail from her jawline down, slowly down, to where her heart thunders like wild horses. When I finally land at her core, the shuddering sound she makes—God—it’s better than any noise I’ve ever heard.
“West...” she murmurs, her voice hitching as I worship her with my tongue, the flicks and swirls drawing out whimpers that crescendo into the desperate cries of her coming apart.
Enough—I need her, all of her, wrapped around me. I grab a condom, ripping the packet open with teeth. It’s on in no time, and I’m crawling up her body, intent on making her scream out my name over and over.
“Hi there,” I say, smiling down at her, skin to skin now, her softness driving me wild. Her scent makes me feel almost high.
“Stop grinning like you know you’re going to have me begging for more,” she breathes, pulling me in.
“Am I wrong?”
“No.”
Our lips meet, and I dive into the kiss with everything I have, putting every moment I spent loving her from a distance into each stroke of the tongue. But here, now, I’m exactly where I belong. With her.
I push into her, inch by inch, and her hands claw at my back, nails leaving love trails that I’ll wear like medals of honor. “West, please,” she whimpers, and it’s intoxicating.
“Patience, Manhattan,” I say softly, but fuck, my dick is already pulsing. Every cell in my body wants to rush this, to claim her with a fevered urgency that would require an apology afterward. But not now—tonight is about savoring, about worshiping this woman who brings out my most intense feelings. Someday I hope I can tell her that. I will tell her that.
“More,” Eva gasps, her hips rising to meet mine in a primal plea. I hold her gaze, my eyes locked onto her piercing ones, a silent promise that I’m here for all of it—the good, the messy, and everything in between.
“Ask nicely.” My voice is low and rough.
“West... please,” she says again, and I don’t think I can hold off another second, but I do.
“Since you asked sweetly,” I whisper, and we start moving together. Our rhythm is heated but measured, none of the frenzy from earlier. It’s slow, deliberate—like every stroke is a word, a sentence, a paragraph etched onto our skin. And there’s no fear this time.
“Fuck, you feel incredible.” I let out a shuttering groan, and she flashes me a wicked curve of lips that shows she knows exactly the power she holds.
“There we go,” she murmurs, and I realize if she’s able to talk, I’m not doing it right.
So I go deeper, harder until her words are whimpers. No doubt that this is more than sex—this is the kind of connection that anchors. And hell if I don’t want that with Eva.
“West,” she cries. “Jesus, don’t stop.”
I obey, pushing up her knees so I can go even deeper, a dance as old as time, yet uniquely ours. Heat coils tighter, a spring wound to the brink of shattering. “Eva,” I gasp, her name a plea, a proclamation.
“Oh my God!” she cries out, fingers digging into my back like she’s claiming me for eternity.
I’m thrusting so hard, so out of control, but I can’t stop myself now—I’m pure primal, groaning as I watch her perfect boobs jiggle up and down as I drive into her.
And then it happens. That cataclysmic rush as we both come apart, our names tangling in the air. I come so hard I don’t know when the deep pulsing will stop, and God, it’s incredible.
We collapse, a sweaty, panting heap of limbs that can’t quite figure out where one ends and the other begins. The sheets are twisted, the pillows are on the floor, and if this memory foam isn’t remembering, it damn well should be.
I roll off her, still trying to catch my breath, feeling a high that no drug could ever touch.
“Holy shit,” Eva breathes out, her hair a testament to what just happened.
“Understatement.” I turn to face her, propping myself up on an elbow. She’s all flushed skin and bright eyes, looking like a goddess who decided mortals might be fun to play with after all.
After a moment where the only movement is me swirling my thumb over her hand, she says, “Are we really doing this?” Her gaze pierces me through the semi-darkness.
“I think we just did. Twice.”
“No, you dork.” She swats at my chest. “Having meaningful sex when we’re supposed to be dating others?”
“Oh, that part.” Air catches in my throat at the reminder. “You think some lines are blurring?” I ask, even though I know the answer.
“Little bit.”
“Right.”
Ugh. There’s reality, rearing its ugly head again.
And as sure as I am about Eva, the thoughts creep back in, and I run a hand through my hair. Groomsman to Groom. My folks’ store. Her father’s firm in New York. Those things aren’t going away. “Okay, so during the night, we’re this West and Eva.” I wave a hand back and forth between us. “In the day, we’re the West and Eva intent on doing what we’ve got to do to secure our families’ futures.”
“Right. Pact partners by day, lovers by night.” She nods. “No thoughts of the future.”
“Exactly,” I say, but the weight of reality presses down. I’m agreeing to no thoughts of the future, but that’s a lie. I think about it all the time, and every version includes Eva. But screw it, I’ll deal with that later. “For now, let’s just... be.”
“Us,” she finishes.
“Us,” I echo, pulling her close again, her warmth seeping into my bones. We lie here, side by side, letting the moment stretch until it fills the whole room. The whole night.
I’ve got her here with me now, and that’s all that matters.
It’s the butt crack of dawn, and Eva’s leaving my room to get going on her day. The rehearsal dinner is tonight, so she’s overloaded. We’re out in the hallway when she brings me in for a kiss. Then I hover my lips over hers. “That was amazing. You’re amazing.”
Her mouth meets mine, and our tongues tangle together instantly. We’re seconds into this, and I’m already anxious to pick up right where we left off for the fourth time last night. Our bodies mesh together, feverish. I pull away just enough to say, “I’ve never wanted anyone so much.”
“Same. It’s everything.”
We’re a scramble of zippers unzipping as I try to open my door, but it clicked shut, and I don’t have my keycard. I don’t want to tell her this—to ruin the moment. So our hands are roaming everywhere when I hear something crash.
We pull away, our eyes wide, and my dick instantly deflates.
“What was that?” she whispers.
Footsteps pad down the intersecting hall, and we rush over to see who it is, but by the time we get there, the person’s gone.
Eva looks at me, her face ghostly. “Who was that?”
“A kid?” I offer, trying to think positively. “I mean, who runs away?”
“A kid.” She nods, looking relieved.
I hope to hell we’re right.