Scott #2
Unable to help myself, I moved behind her, caging her in, using the excuse to reach for a mug dangling on the hook above her head, though there were already plenty sitting on the sideboard.
Pressing my body closer than necessary, I lowered my head and spoke low.
“If you’re thinking anything like the things I’m thinking right now—the things I’m remembering—no wonder you’re blushing. ”
“Scott.” It was barely a whisper. A plea filled with sexual frustration. I could practically smell the pheromones coming off her. Could swear I could hear the rapid pulse of her heart.
With more strength than I possessed, she pulled away, one hand holding on to the buffet as though she needed the anchor.
Then she hit me with a half-amused glare.
“Okay. I’m blushing. But also, there are people here.
And you’re engaged. And I’m an idiot for overlooking that fact just because you flashed your sexy smile and your dazzling blue eyes at me. ”
I set the mug I’d taken down so I could brush my knuckles along the length of her index fingers.
“No one’s here. The Montgomerys went to church.
My parents are gone. Kendra’s out for her run.
And I’m not going to be engaged for much longer.
And you are not an idiot. You’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. And did you say you think I’m sexy?”
The glare lost to the amusement. “I said your smile was sexy. And if you haven’t figured out that I think you’re sexy by now then you’re the idiot.
” She reined in her smile. “But I can’t keep doing this.
I can’t keep lying to Kendra. It doesn’t matter that your relationship isn’t real, we have to tell her about us. I don’t even know what ‘us’ is.”
The last part was spoken with an exasperation that pulled at something foreign in my chest. I wanted to fix her. I wanted to ease her. I wanted to make her feel better.
Knowing we were pretty much alone, I took the risk and tipped her chin up toward me. “Hey. We’re figuring that out, remember?”
“I can’t introduce you to people as the guy I’m figuring things out with.”
“I don’t know. Works for me.” Her lips were plumply swollen from the night before, and God, I wanted to kiss her. I didn’t even care if it evolved to fucking, I just wanted my mouth on hers, wanted to steal her breath and give her mine.
I barely managed to restrain myself, rubbing my thumb across her bottom lip instead. The corner was turned downward into a frown. Obviously, I was doing a poor job at easing her.
I dropped my hand but stayed standing just as close. “Do you want a label? We’re mutually exclusive, more than fucking—boyfriend fits that, doesn’t it?”
“You make it sound like you’ve never been a boyfriend before.”
“I haven’t.” I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d seen the same woman more than once in a month. I’d definitely never told one I’d be exclusive.
Her brows knit like I’d said the most baffling thing she’d ever heard. “And you’re willing to be my boyfriend?”
“I want to be your boyfriend.” I hadn’t realized how much it was true until I said it. Now that I had, it sounded baffling to me as well. I’d assumed those kinds of desires didn’t grow in me. Like I was bad soil and emotions related to commitment and fidelity and devotion would never take root.
But even though it was newly bloomed, I recognized the pinch in my torso as just that—a desire to be committed and faithful and devoted to Tess. It was scarily fast. Inconvenient, on top of that.
And I didn’t care in the least. I wanted to be with her. “Though it sounds so juvenile. Boyfriend. What kind of a word is that? Manfriend seems more appropriate.”
“That’s not a thing.”
Her laugh made me smile. “Whatever you call me, I just want to be yours.”
“You are so fucking smooth.”
“You keep saying that, and I think you mean it as criticism, but also I think you like it.”
“I do.” Her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, and I could tell the weight of the tension between us bore into her as deeply as it did me. “We still have to tell Kendra you’re my...you’re mine.”
“Probably best to tell her the engagement is off first.”
“Fine. Whatever. We just have to tell her ASAFP. Otherwise, this feels like cheating, and when your dick isn’t in me, it doesn’t feel like cheating in a good way.”
My pants tightened at the mention of the beast inside them. “Maybe that means I just need to have my dick in you more often.”
This time her cheeks actually got pink. “As soon as Kendra knows, then you bet.”
“Well. As I said, my parents have left. So telling Kendra will have to wait.”
A different kind of tension pulled between us. Not the sexy kind. The kind of tension that caused her body to stiffen and turned her tone hard. “Why do you have to talk to them first? This is between you and Kendra.”
I shifted so my hip rested against the sideboard. “It’s really not. It’s between me and my parents, and it’s between my parents and Kendra.”
“That makes no sense. She’s engaged to you. Not your parents.”
“I don’t know what sort of arrangement they may have made with her.
” I flat out didn’t trust Kendra. It wasn’t personal.
I didn’t trust anyone willing to make a deal with my parents.
The fact that she was Tess’s boss only made it worse.
She had the ability to mess with things Tess cared about.
She could pull the DRF from the Sebastians, and I didn’t want Tess to lose that because of me.
I also didn’t want to scare her with the possibility. “It’s best if I don’t mess with it. Let my parents handle her.”
Tess took a slight step away. “Do you hear yourself? If I were her, and you didn’t come to me first, I’d be pissed.”
“You aren’t her.” The way her expression tightened told me I’d said the wrong thing. I stepped closer. “And that’s good that you’re not. This isn’t a situation you’d ever be in.”
“I can still sympathize with how she’d feel, and I’m telling you, she’d want to know.
” She held my stare for several beats. “Look, if I don’t tell her, what is she going to think later when she finds out about us?
She’s going to be hurt to learn I was secretly fucking her fiancé, and with every other reason she has to be mad at me, I don’t want to give her one more. ”
I heard her. I did. What I heard was that she didn’t understand. How could she? It was impossible to explain the pressures of the Sebastian world. To explain the dangers and the power my father had. There were rules that had to be abided. There was a process.
Patronizing as it was, all I could give her was my experience. “Tess. You have to trust me.”
It was another wrong thing to say. Her shoulders went back, her arms crossed over her chest. “Either you tell her or I do, Scott. One way or another, Kendra needs to know.”
“Kendra needs to know what?”
At the sound of Kendra’s voice, we both took a step back from each other and turned to face the woman between us. Figuratively. She was still at the dining room doorway, swigging back expensive bottled water.
I scanned her quickly, looking for signs of how much she’d heard. It must not have been much because her posture was loose, her expression casual.
Except, during the time I studied her, she was also studying us.
“You guys are looking awfully cozy,” she said suspiciously as she came farther into the room. “What’s going on?”
“There’s lemon poppyseed,” I said, thinking quickly. “Your mother is concerned about your carb intake. Tess thinks what you eat is your business.”
Kendra shook her head. “Tess would never let me know there’s lemon poppyseed. She knows I’m an addict, and she’s a good enough friend to keep me from my vices.”
So that was a fail. If I’d been better on my game, I would have guessed. I didn’t know her well, but it wouldn’t have surprised me if that was one of the job duties Kendra expected from her assistant. Watch my diet. Count my calories. Keep me thin.
Tess didn’t try to come up with anything better. “She needs to know the truth,” she said to me with finality.
Then, before I could think of anything to stop her, she turned to Kendra. “You need to know the truth, K. Scott and I didn’t just meet last night. We knew each other before.”