Chapter Four
Bristol fought to catch her breath. When Jamie cradled her face and looked into her eyes as if nothing in his life meant more than this kiss, an electric spark sizzled down her spine. The answering jolt darkened his hungry stare.
She wasn’t unhappy being alone, but her ill-fated relationship with Hayden had ensured she refused to play second fiddle anymore.
Looking back, she saw that he’d always gravitated to Presleigh.
Too often, he’d been happy to forego an evening with her to have dinner with her mother and sister.
Jamie, by contrast, couldn’t care less that her beauty queen sibling was even in the building.
She hadn’t felt truly important to anyone since her father—and Jamie was looking at her like she was the only person in the room.
“Good. I’m going to kiss you.” His voice turned husky, rough. His grip on her tightened as if he didn’t want to let her go. “I have to. I haven’t wanted to kiss anyone like this in a long time, and I’ve barely been able to think about anything but your mouth since I walked in.”
“Slick line.”
“Not a line. Absolute truth. So unless you tell me no, I’m going to taste every corner of your mouth. Memorize your flavor. Finally know what it feels like the exact second you give in to the pull between us.”
Her heart picked up speed until she could hear its beating in her ears. “Sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
He shook his head. “I’m banking on the hope that what I’m feeling for you isn’t one-sided. The way you’re looking at me says it’s not. If I’m wrong, tell me.”
“You’re not,” she breathed. “This is crazy. We met an hour ago.” But she still felt as if she knew him in some weird way on a soul-deep level.
Jamie made her hormones swirl and did something she couldn’t quite classify to her heart.
Walking away from him now simply because they hadn’t had a requisite date at Chili’s before sharing a movie didn’t make sense.
It didn’t have any bearing on whether they slipped into bed.
Hadn’t she vowed earlier to have flings? Jamie seemed like he’d qualify as the perfect one.
He leaned closer, his gaze focused on hers as his lids shut. She stopped breathing. Her heartbeat stuttered, then lurched. Bristol ached to know how being even closer to him would feel. Granted, he wasn’t her “type”. Right now, that didn’t seem to matter at all.
“Bristol?” She’d know that sharp voice anywhere.
“Yes, Mama?”
“Hayden and Presleigh have a few words to say to everyone. And she’d like you to pass out the cookies.”
“Damn it,” she muttered under her breath. When Jamie smiled down at her, his warmth went a long way to squelching her disappointment. He wasn’t letting her mother ruin their first kiss. She wouldn’t either.
“And Aunt Jean wants to know what she’s doing wrong with her chocolate sheet cake.”
“She probably used two-percent instead of buttermilk again,” she murmured to Jamie. “Sure thing. I’ll be there in a minute.”
After an annoyed little huff, the sound of her mother’s heels clicking away was a relief.
“Does she do that a lot?” he asked.
“Interrupt my love life. No. I don’t have much of one.”
“Excuse me while I indulge in a caveman moment and tell you I’m glad to hear that.” He chuckled. “I meant does she try to direct you.”
Bristol rolled her eyes. “All the time. She’s from a really old-fashioned family. If you’re not a wife and mother, you’re not really an adult. There’s no such thing as being a single woman who can look after herself in this neck of the woods.”
“And you have an independent streak?”
“Always have,” she said wryly. “But I need to get back to the party, or she’ll just badger me more.”
“Then let’s go.” He took her hand and led her toward the others.
“Thanks for not bailing.”
He scoffed comically. “I’m your boyfriend for the night. What kind of asshole would that make me to dump you in the middle of a party?”
“Someone a lot like Hayden.”
He laughed. “Yeah, stupid douche isn’t the image I’m going for.”
As they reached the gathering, Presleigh was still clinging to Hayden as if he was her sun and moon.
He flashed a smile down at her, as if he wanted everyone to know that he was enamored with his bride-to-be.
Bristol had once seen that expression directed at her, and she wondered what her younger sister would do if someone new caught his eye.
Presleigh spotted her and smiled. “Thank you, everyone, for coming. Invitations are in the mail, but Bristol also made delicious cookies and frosted them with our wedding date. She’s so clever.
” Her sister sent her an earnest expression.
“In fact, she’s one of the most important people in my life.
Bris, I love you so much. Please be my maid of honor. ”
Bristol felt her eyes widen and tried to keep the horror off her face. Wasn’t it enough that she’d given Presleigh her man and baked her engagement cookies? Now she had to stand next to her sister as she married the man who had once been hers?
“Is she fucking serious?” Jamie muttered under his breath.
Sadly, yes.
“I…um, thought you wanted me to bake your cake.” Bristol didn’t know what other excuse she could give.
“I do,” Presleigh assured with an excited shake of her head. “But you’ve always stood next to me in childhood. I want you to stand beside me as I become a wife.”
“It would mean a lot to both of us,” Hayden added.
Was this really happening? “Didn’t you already ask your friend Shea?”
“Yeah, but she and Corey”—she pointed at Hayden’s friend who watched with a glower on his face—“had that ugly breakup. Now they’re not speaking at all.
I finally decided that it was fate telling me that you should be the one to stand beside me.
Mama is going to walk me down the aisle since Daddy isn’t here. Please… It will be perfect.”
What a lovely piece of emotional blackmail, wheedling in front of almost everyone she knew so that she’d look like a bitch if she refused. Never mind that Hayden had left her for her sister, but she was apparently even second choice for Presleigh’s wedding party. “Um…”
“I’ve already picked out a dress and ordered it. It will fit perfectly and look fantastic. Please…”
It would probably look awful since she and Presleigh had polar opposite tastes.
Bristol took a deep breath. It didn’t matter.
As Daddy had always said, family was family—and they came first. As much as she didn’t want to do this, Bristol was choosing dignity over drama, so she refused to start a family feud over her pride.
“All right. I’ll do it.”
Jamie scoffed beside her. Yeah, she would have liked a graceful way out of this mess, too. But this commitment would last one day, over and done. Then she would step back and let Hayden and her sister live their lives.
“Thanks, Bris.” Presleigh looked as if she was going to tear up. “It means so much to me.”
Bristol smiled and tried to make it look genuine. “You’re welcome. On that note, the cookies are in the storage container in front of you if you’d like to pass them out.”
“They’re your cookies. Don’t you want to?” Her sister looked confused.
Her ego could pass up the stroke of hearing the cookies were pretty. A sugary shortbread topped with white icing and black piping to draw the June calendar, the treats had come out well.
“I’m good.” Bristol shook her head. “Jamie and I are going now.”
If he seemed surprised by her proclamation, he didn’t show it.
When her mother scowled in disapproval, Jamie glossed over that sour expression. “She promised to spend some time with me since we’re still getting to know one another.” He reached across the table and snagged a cookie out of the red plastic container. “Nice to meet you all.”
With that, he grabbed her purse from the table and all but pulled her out of the restaurant, taking a big bite of the pastry as they hit the door. Just outside, he stopped completely and moaned. “Oh, my god. This cookie is a foodgasm. You’re amazing.”
She raised a cocky brow and grinned up at him. “Did you doubt me?”
“No, and now I never will.” He moaned again. “No wonder Jayla manipulated you for cookies. I may have to steal her strategy.”
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be around long enough for that since she only did temporary relationships now, but that was all right.
He could flirt all he wanted. “How about an ooey-gooey cinnamon roll? They’re what I’m truly known for.
I’ll make you a pan…” She took a deep breath and decided to shoot her shot. “If you’re still with me come morning.”
He froze altogether—everything except his eyes.
They came absolutely alive. Dark, focused, demanding as he scanned her face to see if she was serious.
God, he really was hot. She couldn’t wait to see him without the black skullcap, without the clothes that hid what she felt sure would be a breath-stealingly hard body.
Not to mention that he was funny and nice and… seemingly on her same wavelength.
“Your place?” he asked.
“Is that a yes?”
He grabbed her shoulders, pressing their foreheads together. “That’s a hell yes. Lead the way. I’ll follow you on my bike.”
Bristol didn’t wait for Jamie to change his mind. She dug her keys from her purse and leveled him with a stare full of come-hither. “Keep up.”
“I will,” he vowed. “Once I have you naked and under me, I’ll take my time learning exactly what makes you come undone. And when I’m deep inside you, I’ll make you forget Hayden—and every other man who’s ever touched you. You won’t regret a damn thing.”
Bristol refused to regret anything. In fact, she was determined they would make this a night to remember.