Chapter Four
Hannah
I was in a frenzy the whole day. It felt like I was in a race against time. My last to-do before going to help my sister put her dress on, as well as changing myself, was to place the guests' name tags on the tables. I was partnering up with Chase for this. Oddly enough, I ended up partnering a lot with him during the day. For some reason, the more time we spent together, the more susceptible I became to him. Every time I caught a whiff of his cologne, I had to steel myself because my mind raced all the way down Inappropriate Road.
Currently, I was holding the guest list, instructing him where to put the name tags. I tried to do it alone in the beginning, but working together was much faster. When I reached the table where he was sitting with his brothers at the wedding, I realized there was one free spot.
“Did someone cancel at the last minute?”
“Duncan was supposed to bring his son, Jeremy, but then he changed his mind. Thought it was too much excitement.”
“Wow. So wait, Duncan is married?”
“No, he's a single father.”
I pressed my lips together. Okay, clearly this was a sensitive topic. I didn't want to butt in, just simply make conversation.
“How old is Jeremy?”
“He's ten. Duncan changed his mind at the last minute about bringing him. My mom is watching him this weekend.”
“He often stays at your parents’ house?”
“He alternates, but he's staying with Mom more than with Dad.” He probably must have realized I was confused, because he added, “They divorced a long time ago.”
“Sorry about that.”
He shrugged. “Marriage isn’t a guarantee of anything.”
I was starting to understand more and more why he was a marriage skeptic.
We had two more tables left. As we moved on to the next one, I told Chase, “Give me some of those name tags. We’ll be faster like this.”
I came up next to him, reaching out. When he handed me a stack of cards, our fingers brushed. I loved the feeling of his bare skin on mine.
I licked my lips, and Chase exhaled sharply. He looked from the stack of name tags to me. Could he feel this current between us too? Or was I making this out to be more than it was? I couldn't believe I was so susceptible to him. What the hell had happened?
He was much taller than me, and he tilted slightly forward, towering over me. He had to be more than six feet tall.
“Oh, Hannah. Here you are,” Blair said, coming to us. She’d been busy the whole day, too, even though I tried to take as much work off her hands as possible. “Come on, we have to go change.”
I checked the time. “Damn it, you're right. We’ve got one table left. Everything done on your side?”
She nodded. “Yeah, just finished the collage for Josh too. Knox said he'll talk to the DJ about it so he can decide what the best time would be to play it.”
“What collage?” Chase asked.
Blair turned to him. “It’s a surprise. A collage of pictures in a slideshow about how we met and stuff, but I also reached out to some of his childhood friends and got some pics. It’s the least I could do considering he's giving me the wedding of my dreams.”
Chase looked intently at my sister and then smiled. Right then and there, I realized he was starting to warm up to her.
“That's a great idea," he said. "Josh always had a bit of a nostalgic streak.”
“I know,” Blair said, “and that's what I love about him. It's very romantic.”
She sent me an air kiss and said, “Come on. I need to start dressing, and the photographer wants you there for the whole process. I’ll talk to the caterer about the entrées while you finish up here.”
“Perfect.”
After she left, Chase and I went to the last table. “Your sister really knows Josh.” He was so close behind me that I felt the heat of his body.
“Well, they are getting married, so I would hope she does,” I teased.
“You'd be surprised.”
“What do you mean?”
As we finished putting the name tags on the table, he looked straight at me. “His ex played him. She got him to buy her an apartment in London and then dumped him.”
My jaw dropped. “That's insane.”
“No, it's just cruel. And unfortunately, that's how the world works. But your sister is different.”
"Josh is lucky. Blair is amazing.”
Chase looked at me intently. How was I only now realizing how full his lips were?
“Hannah, are you ready?” Blair called.
Chase stepped to one side, and I got another whiff of his cologne. Maybe it contained pheromones.
“I'm coming,” I said loudly. “See you later, Chase.”
“I can't wait.”
***
I sighed. My sister was truly the most beautiful bride in the world, and I wasn't biased in the slightest. She looked utterly happy on the dance floor with Josh.
Mom came up to me, giving me a half hug. "They look amazing, don't they?"
"I agree," I said, returning the embrace with all I had.
"You've been great today. The way you took care of everything was wonderful."
"I had a lot of help," I said. She took care of quite a few things herself.
“I miss your dad today, a lot. And your gran,” she whispered.
“I miss them too.” Especially Gran. Dad had passed away a long time ago, but we lost Gran two years ago. I couldn’t believe how much my life had changed ever since. I’d inherited Gran’s inn, given up my job in finance to dedicate myself to it... and my husband dumped me because of that.
He never loved you, Hannah .
I didn’t want to spoil my mood by thinking about him. This was my sister’s wedding, and nothing would ruin it if I had anything to say about it.
“That Chase can’t take his eyes off you, can he?” Mom asked.
My stomach somersaulted. Chase was on the other side of the dance floor, eyes fixed on me for whatever reason.
“What?” My voice was a bit uneven. “No, no. We’re just keeping tabs on each other so we can work together in case something unexpected comes up.”
I’d been telling myself that all day. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it didn’t explain the buzz in my body when he was close. And the fact that he looked sexy as hell in that tuxedo did not help said buzz. I hadn’t expected him to want to help with the preparations—not in a million years. The man was full of surprises.
“Hmmm... if you say so,” Mom murmured.
Once the first dance was over, I knew I could relax. This part of the evening was split between dancing and all sorts of games. Josh and Blair had wanted to keep the guests entertained. Finn and Knox were in charge of keeping things running.
I snapped pictures of Josh and Blair. They had a professional photographer, of course, but I wanted to have a few pics of them on my phone. They both looked blissfully happy.
I felt just a little twinge in my chest. I'd love to have that, too, one day, but I wasn't sure I'd ever really risk my heart again. Gary had stomped on it with both feet, and I still hadn't recovered. I wasn't sure I would any time soon.
"Mom, I need to go. I'd like to check with Finn and Knox to make sure they don’t need my help with anything."
She hugged me again, and I headed to the other side of the room. The two brothers were in the corner of the games area, near a table, when I approached.
"Hey, guys. Anything I can help you with?"
"No, we're good," Knox said. He was writing on a piece of paper.
"What's that for?" I asked.
"These are the cards for the Dare or Dare game."
"But I thought Josh and Blair wrote those out.” The idea was to pick a dare for each guest.
"Yeah, they did. But I thought of a more appropriate one for Chase," Knox said, winking at me.
I laughed. "Okay."
"Just maybe don't tell him."
"You're setting him up?" I asked.
Knox looked shocked. "We're doing no such thing. What Josh and Blair wrote was vanilla, and my brother needs to be kept on his toes."
"I like you two so much," I said, anxious to see what they had in store for Chase.
"Why, thank you," Finn replied.
Since Josh and Blair had finished their wedding dance, more guests joined them out on the floor. I truly enjoyed dancing, but these were songs best meant for couples. I'd feel like a weirdo all by myself.
After three songs, the DJ spoke into the mic. "We're going to mix it up tonight. Now it's time for the first game of the evening. It's called, as I understand, 'Dare or Dare.'"
The guests cheered. I hadn't heard of it before either, but I assumed it had to be similar to Truth or Dare, except there was no truth. Maybe they made you pick from two dares?
It turned out I was wrong. You looked at the card that had your name on it, and on the back side, there was a dare. There was no option. You had to do it. But they were all in good fun, like choosing your significant other's favorite sweets from the dessert table.
I wondered if they had a card for me. I hadn't asked Blair, but suddenly I wanted to be prepared.
I got up from the table, smiling at my neighbors. I was sitting with Mom, an elderly lady, and some of my sister's childhood friends. Even though the age gap wasn’t significant, we didn’t have the same friends.
I headed straight to the bride and groom’s table.
"Sis? Something wrong?" Blair asked me.
"Oh, no." I glanced at her feet. She'd taken off her shoes.
She laughed. "Don't judge me. I can't even feel my toes anymore. I should've gone for a lower heel. I wonder if my feet will fit back in these shoes at all."
"I'm sure they will," I said. "Hey, did you make a card for me?"
She kissed my temple. "No. I figured you'd prefer to stay out of it. You're my hero, you know that?"
Josh turned our way. "I agree. We're so lucky. Chase and his brothers were great too. By the way, I wrote his card. I've got something fun in store for him."
I opened my mouth and closed it again. No, I'd promised Finn I wouldn't spill the beans. I was looking forward to seeing what he had in store for his brother.
I went back to my table, looking over at the DJ as he announced the next player. "All right, the next card is for Chase Sterling."
Chase was sitting at the table right next to mine. He straightened up in his chair, frowning, and glanced at Josh, who just gave him a huge grin.
"All right, your dare is 'take the maid of honor for a dance to the music of our choice.'"
I gasped and immediately looked at Finn, who held his fist in front of his mouth, obviously trying to hide his laughter.
"Oh, I don't believe him," I muttered.
Josh looked perplexed. That’s what you get for agreeing to keep secrets for people you don't know, Hannah, I chastised myself.
I expected Chase to protest or flat-out refuse. To my astonishment, he stood up and walked over to me, holding out a hand. "May I have this dance?"
I put my hand in his and barely held back a gasp as the touch ran right through me, not just the tips of my fingers. The buzz I’d felt earlier when he’d been near me was nothing compared to this. How on earth was I supposed to dance with him?
Taking a deep breath, I got up from my seat.
"Sure," I said. "This is unexpected."
He put his other hand on the small of my back. This time, I didn't manage to compose myself. My stomach somersaulted, and I exhaled sharply.
"Josh will pay for this," Chase said.
"Josh didn’t write the dare. I mean, he did initially. But then Finn and Knox messed with it.”
“They’re unbelievable," he said on a groan. The sound was downright delicious.
"Hey, I'm going to take that personally," I teased him. "Dancing with me isn't that bad.”
“You'll change your mind once you hear the song they picked."
"How would you know what they chose?"
"Because I know my brothers."
And then The Weeknd's "Earned It" started blasting through the sound system, and I understood what he meant. The song was extremely sensual and sexy.
"I'm going to kill them," he said.
"I’ll gladly help you," I replied, my cheeks heating up.
"By the way, this song is on a lot of top 10 lists of music appropriate for a striptease. But dancing is enough. You don’t have to actually take your clothes off," Knox's voice resounded in the microphone. "Unless, of course, the maid of honor requires it."
The guests laughed again.
"N-No," I stuttered before realizing he hadn't seriously meant it as an option.
Oh good Lord. I was breaking out in a sweat.
Chase chuckled.
"What's so funny?" I murmured.
"Your reaction. You looked like you were considering it.”
"I wasn't," I said a bit too quickly. "It's just all taken me by surprise."
Chase zeroed in on me. Up close, his eyes seemed darker. "Let's give them hell, Hannah."
Wait a second. He knows how to have fun? It'd seemed unlikely until now.
Chase started moving his body, and I was shocked again. He had fantastic rhythm. The world around us seemed to fade. I didn't hear the gasps, the snickers; I only had eyes for him. My body was moving of its own accord, but I wasn't too worried. Dancing was my thing, and I didn't need to focus on it.
The music was easy to dance to, and although Chase’s moves weren’t suggestive, in my mind’s eye, I could practically see him taking off his clothes. He looked insanely sexy in his tuxedo, but I was betting he would look even better completely naked.
He took my hand, swinging me around. I nearly lost my balance—not because I was a bad dancer but because I didn't expect it.
“Are you okay with taking things a bit further?” Chase asked.
“Hell yes. I hope they’re watching.”
“They are,” he assured me.
When we were face-to-face once again, he held me close, and our bodies were moving in sync. It felt so sensual that I couldn't even look at him. I fixed my gaze on his shoulder.
"You're a great dancer—” He spoke into my ear, his voice gruff and low, and it sounded as if he stopped midsentence. What else did he want to say?
He moved his hand up from my lower to my upper back, then the back of my neck. For a split second, I was certain he was going to kiss me.
You’re totally losing it, Hannah. This is just a dance.
Why, then, was my pulse erratic? My mouth dry?
To my astonishment, I realized that we were approaching the end of the song. I hadn't had nearly enough of feeling his body against mine. His abs brushed my stomach on every move. I was so close that I could smell his cologne—or maybe it was his shower gel.
Once the song ended, we both stopped and glanced at Finn, who looked stunned. Knox was clapping, and out of the corner of my eye, I peeked at Chase. His smile was very smug.
Hmmmm.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the best man and the maid of honor,” Finn said. “I've got to admit, when I picked the song for my brother, I intended to trick him. For anyone wondering, these two didn't know each other before yesterday. They just met because of the wedding, but you wouldn't know it based on their chemistry. We'll see if they end up honoring the long-standing tradition of the best man and the maid of honor becoming ' friends .'” Finn’s emphasis with air quotes had me choking.
“For fuck’s sake. He doesn’t have an off button,” Chase said, obviously noticing my embarrassment.
Finn gave the mic back to the DJ. My face was flaming hot again. Even more so than when we'd been dancing.
"What did you do to him?" I asked.
Chase turned to me abruptly once we left the floor. "Why would you assume I did something to him?"
"Because this seemed like payback.”
“That's because you don't know my brothers too well. They like to have fun.”
I fanned myself. “I need some fresh air. It’s stuffy in here.”
Even though the gazebo wasn’t enclosed and didn’t have windows, the roof somehow kept the heat in.
"Want to take a few steps out on the beach?" he asked.
My heart leaped into my throat. Deep down, I wondered if that was a good thing or not.
"Sure, let me just grab my phone. I want to double-check the list again, see if I'm forgetting anything."
"You're doing a great job, Hannah." Chase waited by the edge of the gazebo while I headed to the table.
“Well done, you,” my seat neighbor said while I took the phone out of my purse. I couldn’t place the woman at all, and Mom wasn't at the table to ask. She was elderly—possibly in her seventies. How did she know my sister?
“Thanks.”
“Those were some moves. How long did it take to learn them?”
“They weren’t rehearsed. We were just winging it.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Really?”
“Really. His brother pulled a prank on him.”
“Hmm... well then, you make sure you jump his bones.” She’d lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Based on his moves on the dance floor, I bet he’s great in bed.”
My eyes bulged. “I’m not... we’re... I mean....” Holy shit, why can't I speak coherently?
She winked at me. “Well, that man looked like he wanted to do way more than dance with you. If I were about forty years younger, I’d definitely try my luck.”
I smiled politely before leaving the table. Chase was waiting for me just outside the gazebo, holding two glasses of champagne.
“Let me check the list first,” I muttered, glancing at my phone as we slowly walked toward the water. “Everything looks good.”
Then, out of habit, I checked my email. I stopped in my tracks, drawing in a deep breath. No, no, no . I had more cancellations at the inn.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
I lowered my phone. "Honestly, no. I'm in some trouble, but talking about it tonight won't help."
"What's wrong?" He sounded concerned, and I appreciated that, but there was nothing I could do from here.
I shook my head. "I really don't want to talk about it. I'll deal with it when I get back. Things have to get better. Anyway, I want to enjoy my time here."
"When are you leaving?" he asked.
"Tomorrow evening. You?"
"The first flight in the morning.”
“Wow. That's very early, right? You’re going back to San Diego? It's the eight o’clock one?”
“Six o’clock," he corrected.
I winced. "Why would you book that willingly?"
"I have a meeting as soon as I get back.”
“But it’s Sunday.”
“I know. I set it up before they set the wedding date, and I didn't want to cancel at the last minute. You know how finance can be"
"Yeah, I worked a few years in it myself."
"Not anymore?" he asked as we walked outside. I accepted the glass of champagne from him, taking a sip. "I thought Josh told me he met you at a finance conference."
"He did," I agreed, "but I was out of the industry by that point.” I didn’t say out loud that I’d gone there because I was facing the prospect of needing to get a full-time job again, and I’d wanted to make a few contacts. Then I decided to give the inn my all this summer season.
"How come?"
"I inherited my late grandmother's inn on Point Loma, and I wanted to give it my best shot at making it run."
"That's very commendable." I couldn't tell if he was serious. Gary had been so adamant that it was a mistake. It was the final nail in the coffin for our marriage.
"Look, I think there's a wooden walkway on the beach," I said.
He nodded, then asked, "So, are your problems tonight related to the inn?"
I sighed. "Let's not talk about it, okay?"
"Sure. Whatever you want."
He was walking fairly close to me; I could feel his body heat surrounding me like a blanket. I took one sip and then another one, my body relaxing. We walked close to the water but didn’t stray from the wooden path, so we didn’t have to take off our shoes.
I took a few more sips of the champagne, and then the glass was empty. "Oh God, I've drunk this whole thing already!" I exclaimed.
Chase laughed.
"I think I can already feel the bubbles going up to my head."
"Want to sit down?" he asked, pointing to a bench.
"Yeah, let's do that," I said. "Just for a few minutes."
He put a hand at the small of my back, leading me to the bench. The contact instantly made my skin simmer. I was so sensitive ever since our dance, and the champagne wasn't helping. Once we sat down, he took his hand away, and we just watched the waves.
"You know what would be perfect now?" I asked.
"What?"
"A firepit, and s'mores too," I said as I peeked at him. It was semi-dark here because there was quite a distance back to the hotel.
"I never learned how to make smores," Chase admitted.
"That can't possibly be true. Everyone knows how to do that. It's one of the finest pleasures in life. And the art of roasting the perfect treat is a valuable skill. I love s'mores. All that gooey chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker goodness," I said, humming. "I think we should go back. I need some water. My head is starting to spin."
Chase chuckled as he finished off his champagne. "You didn't eat?"
"Honestly, I was a bit nervous, so I barely touched any food."
"Then let's go back," he said. He reached out to help me up, but I rose to my feet faster, and then I somehow managed to catch my heel between two wooden boards. I lost my balance, and Chase put a strong arm around my back, lifting me up and holding me against him.
I pinched my eyes closed, and when I opened them, I realized how close he was. His lips were practically on my cheek, and I wanted to kiss him right there.
"Damn it, why can't I unsee your dance moves?" I asked. Worse, I couldn't unfeel his body against mine, especially now that he was holding me against him.
He laughed. "What?"
"You were so damn sexy, and you weren't even trying." I gasped, realizing I'd said the last part out loud.
Then Chase's mouth was on mine. He kissed me deeply and wildly. My entire body hummed. I couldn't get enough of feeling his lips against mine, his hand pressing into my back. I groaned, lacing my arms around his neck, pulling him even deeper. I ran my fingers through his hair. His smell was addictive; I had to know what it was.
With a groan, I pulled back, and the world around us came into focus again, making me realize just who I was kissing. This was Chase Sterling, Josh's best friend and best man, and proclaimed marriage skeptic.
"Hannah," he whispered, raking a hand through his hair.
I took a step back. "Chase!” Even though we were surrounded by darkness, I could feel his eyes on me. "I didn't mean to.... I don't know what to say."
"You don't need to say anything." His voice was low and gruff, and it was so damn delicious that it was messing with my mind.
Just then, we heard someone calling my name. It sounded like Josh.
"Crap, I think they need us," I said. “I hope nothing went wrong.”
"After you." He pointed ahead, and I walked with hurried steps, careful not to catch my heel again.
"There you are," Josh said when we arrived back at the gazebo. "Where were you?"
"We needed a bit of air," Chase explained.
"We need you for pictures."
"Sure," I said, quickly heading straight to the photographer—and I felt Chase watch my every step.