Chapter 20
twenty
. . .
Lila
Hugh had kept his promise, and I’d finally given into sleep late into the night after he’d literally worshipped every inch of my body—and yes, I’d cried his name out more times than I thought possible. I remember a friend telling me orgasms were rare.
But not when you were with Hugh Reynolds.
They were as common as clearing your throat or blinking.
Just when you thought you were done, he was serving you up a big plate of pleasure.
My body was on a high, and it hadn’t come down.
And—I was still a freaking virgin.
I was giving the Virgin Mary a run for her money on this one.
I’d been naked in front of this man so many times, had endless orgasms, yet my V-card was still firmly intact.
“How the fuck am I supposed to keep my hands to myself with you wearing that dress?” Hugh said, as I reached for my purse. We were getting ready to head to the wedding.
“You like it, huh?” I twirled so he could see that it was backless.
My hair was in a chignon at the nape of my neck.
Hugh was wearing a fitted black tuxedo, and to say the man took my breath away, would be a massive understatement.
Tall and lean and gorgeous. His thick hair stopped at his shoulders, and he pushed it behind his ears, showing off those sage-green eyes.
“I do.” He trailed his fingers down my back and then moved beneath the waistband, which had some stretch to the fabric, and he palmed my butt cheek. “And that fucking Sebastian better keep his eyes off of you.”
“You better tone down that jealousy. This is temporary, remember?” I teased, patting him on the cheek.
“I was protective of you before—” He paused to think about his next words. “So no one will be the wiser.”
I liked that he was jealous. Because I felt the same about him.
I couldn’t stand the thought of Hugh with another woman.
I knew it was just because we were playing house and having fun.
Once I went back to my real life, he’d return to his, and all of this would be a faint memory.
But that didn’t mean I didn’t want to scratch out the eyes of any woman who looked at him right now.
Cage, Gracie, Finn, and his date, Sonia, met us by the elevators. Hugh had filled me in that Finn had only gone out a couple of times with Sonia, and it wasn’t anything serious.
“Good timing,” Cage said, and Gracie charged her Uncle Hugh, and he scooped her right up. She was wearing an adorable white flower girl dress, as she was going to be part of the wedding party today. “How’d you guys sleep?” Cage asked with a brow raised, as if he were questioning the arrangements.
“The best I’ve slept in years,” Hugh said, blowing a strawberry on his niece’s neck, and her head fell back in laughter, and I felt my cheeks heat at his words.
“Interesting for a man who never sleeps all that well. How about you?” Finn directed the question at me as we stepped onto the elevator.
I cleared my throat, wondering if they could all see through me. If they knew that I could have won an Olympic gold medal for the most orgasms collected in one night. “I slept well, thank you. How about you?”
“Not so well for me,” Finn groaned. “Sonia’s wave machine had me on edge.
There is nothing relaxing about the noises coming out of that thing.
I was preparing for a shark attack all night.
Or it might have been the strong incense she burned in our room, which had my stomach rumbling, thinking it was time for breakfast every hour. ”
Sonia rolled her eyes. “Finny, you know you loved it.”
Finn glanced over his shoulder at me and Hugh with wide eyes and gave us the slightest shake, making it clear that he did not enjoy it.
“Yeah, Finny. Stop whining. Try sleeping in a room with a four-year-old who sings in her sleep,” Cage said, winking at his daughter.
“Daddy…” Her head fell back in a fit of giggles against Hugh’s shoulder. “I was singing in my sleeps again?”
“Hey, that’s a sign of happiness. A kid who sings in her sleep. That’s a good life, man,” Hugh said, nodding at his brother and kissing Gracie’s cheek.
When the doors opened, Cage reached for Gracie and set her on the floor before taking her hand in his. “All right, remember what I told you about attending a wedding.”
“Don’t be a baby?” she asked her father, and we all laughed as we walked behind them.
“I didn’t say that. I said you were a big girl,” Cage corrected her as he led us through the lobby toward the bus that was shuttling us all to the Wayburns’ house for the ceremony and reception. “I said that big girls can walk down the aisle without stopping to chat with everyone in each row.”
She giggled, but it was drowned out by the fact that Sonia was talking a mile a minute to Finn, who looked like he was feigning interest, and Hugh leaned down so only I could hear.
“I didn’t want to throw you under the bus, Snow, but Gracie wasn’t the only one singing in her sleep last night.” His lips grazed my ear.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked, as we stepped outside.
“You like my head buried between your legs, don’t you?” His voice was all tease, and I squeezed my thighs together to stop the ache that was building.
“It wasn’t a terrible way to fall asleep,” I said as we walked toward the bus.
Hugh’s hand moved to my lower back as he guided me up the steps.
The pad of his thumb grazed the exposed skin just above the waistband of my bare back, and chill bumps covered my skin.
I’d never been like this before. I’d even wondered for years if something was wrong with me.
I’d wondered if maybe I was dead inside or missing something, as I’d never been that girl who was boy crazy or thought about sex all the time.
But, times had changed, and I was officially boy crazy—at least about this one in particular. I thought about having sex with him all the time.
And I hadn’t even had it yet.
But the way I wanted this man—it was indescribable.
Georgia and Brinkley were waving us over, and we all gawked at one another’s dresses.
“Where’s your date?” Hugh asked, as we took the seat in front of Georgia on the bus.
“He has a migraine.” She shrugged. “It’s fine. I can dance my ass off and have fun on my own, and I won’t have to worry about him.”
“Well, there’s a red flag,” Brinkley said, leaning in to speak as she sat in her seat beside Kaeran, who gave us a curt nod.
“You know I love me some red flags. I’ve yet to date a man who didn’t come with a whole slew of them.” Georgia smirked.
“I think Mom would call that emotional baggage. And you’ve always liked fixing broken things, Georgie,” Cage said from the seat beside her.
“I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” She shrugged, referring to their mom being a therapist.
Hugh bumped me with his shoulder, and I shifted my attention back to him. He was holding his phone in his lap and turned it for me to see a text from Finn in their family group chat.
Finn
This isn’t going to work out with Sonia.
Her sleep contraptions alone kept me up all night.
But I think the thing that put me over the edge was the fact that she traveled with a tripod and wanted to film us last night when we were getting busy.
That’s a hard no for me. It’s going to be a long day.
Feel free to interrupt as much as possible.
My mouth gaped open, and I chuckled before Hugh responded quickly and tucked his phone back into his pocket. I loved this about them. This family fiercely loved one another.
It was a short bus ride to the Wayburns’ house.
The estate was like something out of a magazine.
When we stepped off the bus, we were led through a gorgeous garden overflowing with the most beautiful peonies and hydrangeas I’d ever seen.
Lush trees offered shade, and white lanterns hung from every branch around the large, beautiful estate.
There were men in black tuxedos with tails sitting in three chairs, playing the violin.
I’d never experienced anything more elegant in my life.
We were each greeted with a glass of champagne before making our way to the rows of chairs on the expansive grass area.
Hugh introduced me to several family members that hadn’t been in attendance last night at the rehearsal dinner, and we took our seats in the third row back on the bride’s side.
Hugh and I sat beside his siblings, taking the two end seats beside the aisle.
Hugh said that Dylan had requested that he sit near an aisle so if she got nervous, she could find him easily.
I knew they’d always been close when we were young, and that bond had only deepened with time.
The sun was out, but there was a breeze swirling around us, making it the perfect temperature for an outdoor wedding. People flooded in, filling the chairs quickly, and there must have been a good two hundred and fifty people in attendance.
I looked up to see Sebastian escorting his mother to her seat beside her husband. She wore a gorgeous champagne-colored gown, and everyone was dressed to the nines. When Sebastian turned around to head back down the aisle, he spotted us and hurried over.
“Ah… I love seeing all of Dylan’s cousins,” he purred, as he smiled at each of them, and everyone stopped to say hello before Hugh’s siblings returned to their individual conversations that they’d had going on.
And then his gaze locked with mine. “Hello, Lila. Might I say that you are looking striking in that gown.”
A loud enough growl left Hugh’s lips that had Cage and Finn turning to see what was going on. Sebastian barked out a laugh.
“And hello to you, Hugh,” Sebastian said, his voice teasing. “I do enjoy seeing you all worked up. I’ll see you two at the reception. Save me a dance, Lila.”
He held up a hand before moving back down the aisle and out of view.
“Real smooth, brother.” Finn leaned in and chuckled.