Chapter 15 #2
My breath catches at the demand. An excitement swells in my chest. The man’s hands leave my waist and familiar fingers slide in their place, a wave of rosemary and lemon overcoming me. I lean back against Reid’s chest, not even needing to turn around to know it’s him. Suddenly I feel like I’m home.
“What do you think you’re doing?” His voice is a low growl in my ear, his lips grazing my skin. Goosebumps raise on my neck.
I tilt my head back against his shoulder in an effort to look up at him without having to undo the embrace. He’s staring at me with a tightness in his eyes, his full lips pressed into a fine line.
“Dancing. What do you think you’re doing?”
“Trying my best not to look like a jealous boyfriend.”
I smile at his admission. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re not succeeding.”
I right myself and turn to face him. His fingers never leave my waist like he’s afraid that if he lets go someone else will swoop in. I reach a hand up and brush his dark hair off his forehead. Some about the intensity in his gaze softens at the contact.
“And last I checked, you’re not my boyfriend. Or is this your attempt at asking me out? Because if it is, it’s not very good.”
His jaw clenches. I’m not sure what I’ve said that would upset him, but he’s not my boyfriend. It’s simply a matter of fact, whether that thought makes my heart ache or not.
“If I were asking you to be mine, Jane, you would know.”
I arch a challenging brow, pushing down the horde of butterflies swelling in my chest at the word mine followed so closely by my name. “Would I?”
“It would be the most romantic moment of your life.”
Blame it on the tequila, but I feel bold, empowered, so I lean in closer to him, my lips just a breath away. I could lean in and press mine to his right now if I wanted to. “I thought you were so anti-romance,” I say to him.
His nostrils flare as he draws in a breath. His eyes drop down to my lips. “I’m not anti-romance. I’m just saving all my romance for the right person.”
“And who is she?” I tease. “She must be someone so special to break the famous Reid Matthews of his no dating spell.”
His eyes flick back up to mine, a new fire in them. “She’s the most special woman I’ve ever met.”
My heart stutters and I realize that I hope he means me. I want to be the one who breaks his no dating spell. I want to be the one he tries to be romantic for, even if he does exactly what my sisters and Jessica think he will by breaking my heart in the end.
But at this point, I think I’d rather find out and get hurt than spend more time wondering what could be if I would just take the stupid chance.
So I rise up on my toes, my lips a centimeter from his. His fingers tighten on my hips in anticipation, his chest freezing under my touch, but his heartbeat hammering through his black henley shirt.
A glass falls to the floor next to us, somehow louder than the thumping music, and shattering into pieces as stale beer spills across the dance floor. Bodies slam into us as they back up to get away from the spill, knocking me off balance and destroying my emboldened moment.
And just like that glass, everything around me shatters.
I’m back on the dance floor. I’m back to the music and the bodies and the bachelorette party. With a sigh, I settle back on my heels, staring up at Reid as I catch my breath. His own chest is rising and falling as his eyes bore into mine, a muscle feathering in his jaw.
Kate stops in front of us and props a hand on her hip, her eyes are affixed on Reid. “Reid, what do you think you’re doing here? This is supposed to be a ladies night.”
Suddenly, I realize I have no idea what Reid is doing in here either. I was so excited to see him that I never even questioned why he was here. I look at him with curiosity, waiting to hear his answer.
“I was walking home from work and saw you through the window.” His eyes never leave mine as he says this. “Dancing. With another man.”
“Oh, it’s a bachelorette party, Reid,” Kate says, waving a hand in the air. “Jason will dance with girls at his bachelor party. It’s fine.”
Reid dips his chin in a nod, silently dismissing my sister, but I know that he was talking to me.
Dancing. With another man.
He saw me with Adam and was jealous. So jealous that he stormed inside to break us up. That thought fills me with a thrill. I, Jane Sinclair, made the great Reid Matthews jealous.
“Alright, well it’s girls night, so it’s time for you to go,” Kate instructs. She makes a shooing motion with her hands and Reid takes a step back.
“I’ll walk him out,” I offer. Whatever she says in reply gets lost as a new song starts pounding through the speakers in an effort to get the morale back up in the bar.
I watch Kate saunter off, already back to waving her hands over her head on the dance floor.
My eyes catch on Jessica, who is glaring in my direction, her fingers curled around her drink so tightly her knuckles are white.
Her eyes slip to Reid, then back at me with a new fire in them before she turns around.
Reid drops my hips, but his fingers intertwine with mine, and just like that I’m back to focusing on him as he leads me to the door. I follow him outside into the night, a gust of wind has me immediately wishing I had a jacket tonight to wear over this black slip dress Kate forced me into.
But when Reid turns around and backs me up against the brick building, all the chill melts away into a heat instead.
“So I made you jealous,” I taunt.
“Incredibly jealous.”
“I didn’t realize I had that power over you.”
He presses his palms on either side of my head, caging me in against the wall. His voice is low and dangerous and tempting as he says, “Jane, you have so much power over me right now it’s ridiculous.”
I can’t breathe with him so close. I can’t think. I’m frozen, hypnotized by him. Finally, I get out, “Is that so?”
“All I want to do is talk to you. All I do is think about you and plan what I’ll say when I see you again or what I can do to win you over. I think about whether someone like you would ever want to be with someone like me.”
He draws in a breath to continue, but I press a finger over his full lips, effectively stopping him. “What do you mean someone like you?”
“I’ve never dated. I have no clue how to impress you or make you happy. And you’re this . . . this ray of light. I don’t feel like I deserve to even be in your orbit, let alone your presence.”
He drops his hands and rights himself, running his hands through his dark hair.
I’m still pressed against the wall trying to catch my breath.
He paces a few steps, and the idea of him leaving right now has me panicking.
So I call his name and he stops, turning his head to look at me with an expression full of hope.
A smile touches my lips, which seems to make his shoulders relax slightly. The fact that I can relax him the same way he can relax me makes me feel proud and thrilled and happy.
I smile at him. “I like it when you’re in my presence. In fact, I would like it if you were in my presence more.”
Now his lips are the ones curving into a smile and he steps back toward me, taking my hands in his.
He stares down at our intertwined fingers, opens his mouth, shuts it.
I find myself leaning closer in anticipation of whatever he might say next.
“When this whole wedding is over, can I take you out on a date?”
He sounds so nervous, and when he lifts his gaze to mine, I find a hint of worry in his bright gray eyes.
I nod vigorously, the smile still on my face. “I would like that.”
The nerves fade away, an excitement quickly replacing his features. “Thank god.”
A laugh bubbles out of me, until I hear my sister shout my name again from the door of the bar, music falling onto the street as she does so. “Jane! Come on! The bachelorette party is in here!”
“I’ll be right there!” The door slams shut, taking the music with her. I squeeze my eyes shut and groan. “That’s my cue.”
Soft, warm lips press to my cheek, lighting my skin on fire in their wake. My eyes pop open just as Reid pulls back. “I’ll see you soon, Jane.”
And with that he drops my hands and walks down the sidewalk. When he turns back after ten steps and finds me watching him go, he chuckles, ducks his head, then continues on.
As I watch him walk away, I lift my fingers to my cheek and rest my back against the wall, thinking about how this wedding can’t be over soon enough.