Chapter 24 #2
“Well, well, Little Trouble,” Clay murmured against my ear. The minute I’d stepped off the stage after a rousing and highly off-key version of “It’s Raining Men” with the girls, he pulled me into his arms. We’d been dancing ever since. “This has been quite an educational evening.”
“Has it now?”
“Indeed. I thought you weren’t going to sing?”
“I mean, you’ve met Ever. She’s a bit like a steamroller.” The minute she’d decided the ladies were getting up there, no one stood a chance of backing out, and believe me, I tried.
As we moved to the slow country song, the room faded into nothingness around us. It was the first time all night my family and half the town did not surround us. Every nosy busybody in the Falls had stopped by the table to say hello or eavesdrop or just get a look at Clay. Especially the women.
It had been like a new flavor had dropped at Scoopdelicious, the way all those hussies descended on the man.
To think I liked some of them before, but no more.
If Sally Thompson had gotten any closer to him, I thought she might get stuck.
The other women, young and old, married and single, weren’t any better.
There was one point I almost dragged him out.
For his own safety, of course. It had nothing to do with the raging jealousy that coursed through me at every flirty wink and come-hither glance.
“What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours? You look like you’re ready to fight someone.” His hands on my hips held me tight to him, making it impossible for me not to notice his erection.
“Maybe I am. You think I could rip Sally’s extensions out with one pull?” I glanced over his shoulder at the woman, who was currently trying to make time with Beck. Yeah, like that was going to happen.
“Which one’s Sally again?”
Tipping my head back, I shoved at his chest. “Don’t you pull that on me. You’re like a steel trap with names.” All night, no matter how many people I introduced, he hadn’t missed a single beat.
“Fine. I know.” His low voice sent shivers down my spine. Fire danced in his eyes as he tipped the corner of his lips up in a teasing grin. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“I’m not worried.” Oh, I was, but not about Sally. My sanity was another question.
He tucked my hair behind my ear. The move both sensual and gentle. “Let’s not talk about her or anyone.” His hand lingered by my ear, before traveling down my back, leaving goosebumps along the way. “I want to enjoy the feel of you in my arms.”
We found our rhythm as one song blended into the next and then the next. Everything faded away until it was only us.
Only the feel of his muscled back as I curled my arms around him.
Only the sense of safety as he cocooned me, leaning down to accommodate our height difference.
Only the sound of his heartbeat as I rested my head on his chest.
Dancing in Clay Montgomery’s arms was a pretty nice place to be.
I liked the thought and the sensation more than I should, which fucking terrified me.
I could not catch feelings.
I tried to tell myself I felt this way because it’d been so long since I’d had a relationship or even a casual boyfriend. So long since I could lose myself in a man’s arms. So long since I had felt desire and a mind-boggling attraction.
Maybe if I kept reminding myself, I’d actually believe this was nothing special because, in reality, spending time with Clayton Montgomery was quickly becoming one of my favorite things.
Something I could get very used to.
The song entered the final refrain before giving way to a more upbeat country song, one I absolutely loved.
As I listened to the words, I couldn’t help but feel a certain kinship with them.
This relationship, or whatever it was, wasn’t forever.
It was barely for now. I knew that, but a part of me didn’t want to acknowledge it.
If I wanted to keep my sanity, and that was questionable at the moment, I needed to leave his arms, and I didn’t only mean right now.
I couldn’t risk this going further. My head and my heart agreed.
Unfortunately, my body was not fully on board.
So, which one should I listen to?
“Reese?”
Clay’s hushed voice, barely audible above the noise of the bar, touched every inch of my skin. Each nerve ending tingled at the sexuality, the emotion I heard in the way he said my name. Could it be I wasn’t the only one feeling whatever it was I was feeling?
What good would it do if he felt it too? Another few nights was all we could get out of it.
Shouldn’t I at least get that? Something to hold on to long after he left?
There’d be plenty of songs for the other times, for the time it took my heart to heal. I bit back a groan at my stupidity. One night of good sex and some stellar banter did not a relationship make.
“Sorry, lost in my head there for a minute.” Trying to step back, I froze when his arms tightened around me.
“Well, that’s not good at all. I thought I had your full attention, because you damn sure had mine.
” His voice dropped low, that familiar darkness weaving around me.
“I thought about nothing but you. How you felt in my arms. How you’ll feel under me later.
How you’ll take my cock in that sexy mouth of yours. ”
My knees threatened to buckle, and if it weren’t for Clay’s hold, I would have slid to the floor in a panting heap with my family laughing hysterically somewhere in the distance.
“You can’t say things like that in public.” I tried to look around to see if anyone had heard what he said.
Tunneling his hand in my hair, he held my head steady.
“Are you going to stop me? I don’t think so.
Because you want me to say them. Do them.
” His lips brushed my ear. “In private and in public.” His free hand skimmed down the side of my torso, the bare skin at my abdomen feeling as if it were on fire.
Gently, as if he had all the time in the world, his thumb trailed back and forth below my breast, tease and temptation with every swipe.
My hand flew to his, halting the motion. “Stop it,” I hissed. Except I wanted him to continue.
Wanted to feel everything he promised and then some. I knew it was more likely I’d get screwed in the end, and not in a good way, but I couldn’t care when he was so close and his hands felt so good on my body.
“Turn down the heat, you two, unless you’re going to put on a show.” Ever chuckled as she strode up behind us. “And then please tell Logan ‘cause I think he’s going to be sick.”
I looked over at my family. The guys looked like they wanted to drag Clay out back, while the girls were winking my way and looking at Clay like he was a snack.
The man in question let me go, only long enough to turn me around and pull my back to his chest, until I nestled against his blatantly obvious erection.
“Later, Little Trouble. I’ll spare your brother’s delicate stomach.
” With a kiss to the top of my head, he strode away, right into the lion’s den of overprotective Henley males.
I took up a spot next to him, sipping a glass a wine I didn’t really want.
What I wanted was to be alone with him. To feel him on top of me for a little while again.
Instead, I listened and watched quietly as Clay held court with everyone.
He could bring out creative ideas and wild suggestions from every direction.
Even after all the work I’d put into coming up with a plan, I hadn’t seen this much animation.
This much enthusiasm for their dreams and visions.
From talk of Henley’s Speakeasy dreams to creating an event space from the rarely used barn; from Logan’s restaurant to Owen working for us, everyone had the chance to chime in.
All the while Clay listened, paying attention to every detail. Those intelligent and shrewd eyes of his didn’t miss a beat, challenging my relatives with questions and possible complications.
It didn’t deter any of them. My family was excited, so why wasn’t I?
Because I’m scared. I’m scared this is all going to go to shit, and it will be my fault. I’m scared my family will suffer because I let myself get played.
I’m scared this isn’t what Gramps would have wanted.
The thought of him not agreeing with the expansion hung over me like a guillotine blade.
No matter how many times I told myself he’d approve, I always doubted myself.
By the time I’d gotten the courage to do any of this, Gramps was gone.
He didn’t know what I wanted, what I dreamed of.
Would I be here now if Gramps was still here?
Would I have heard disapproval in his voice and put away everything I’d dreamed of?
Lost in thought, I didn’t even notice Will James walk up behind me, until my ex-boyfriend slid his hand around my waist and tried to pull me up and against him. “Next dance, beautiful? It’s been a while.”
“Really?” I slapped his hand away and stared up at the man I’d dated a couple of years ago. He was tall, lean, and not half-bad looking though he couldn’t hold a candle to Clay. One was a boy pretending he was grown and the other was all man. I knew which I preferred. “Hands off, Will.”
The temperature surrounding the table dropped as all conversation ceased. Clay turned icy eyes Will’s way. “Excuse you,” he growled, his arms snaking around my waist and pulling me close to his body. The move was unmistakable in its dominance. “She’s with me.”
My panties dampened—again—at Clay’s possessiveness, the sheer desire I heard in three simple words.
Will looked at Clay and sneered, which was beyond ludicrous. Will could barely hold down a job his father didn’t get for him. “I heard someone new was sniffing around Reese.”
“Like you sniffed around every female in a hundred-mile radius, you utter jackass,” I shot back, rising to my feet. The man had cheated on me more times than I could count, and now that someone else seemed interested, he was going to do this shit?
Clay’s hand curved around the nape of my neck and threaded into my hair, the move sensual and proprietary and wholly a turn-on. “She’s with me,” he repeated, right before he tugged and my head tipped back.
The flair of heat in his green eyes should have warned me, but nothing truly could have prepared me for the way he laid claim to my mouth and parts of me I didn’t really want to think about in that moment.
Instinct told me this wasn’t normal for Clay.
He didn’t make a spectacle of himself in a small-town bar.
Didn’t kiss a woman in front of her family and half of said town, as if he couldn’t get enough.
Then again, he’d done it on the street earlier, and he did the exact same thing now.
Acting solely on instinct, my hands dove into his hair, anchoring him closer, lost in the feel of his mouth and his tongue dueling with mine.
I blocked out the music and the comments I was sure my family was making.
He lifted his head with a lick at my lips and turned his smirking face Will’s way. “She’s. With. Me.”
I knew he didn’t mean with-with, like we were together, but my heart gave a little gallop when he repeated the words a third time.
In that second, I let myself think about what it would be like.
To be together. To be the one he looked at and touched with such need burning in his gaze all the time. To know he was mine in return.
It would be fucking stupid and dangerous and disastrous, is what it would be.
But it would be oh so good too.
Ignoring Will’s sputtering attempt at a comeback, Clay dragged me out of the main bar, down the secluded hallway, heading to the seldom-used backroom.
He didn’t need to protect me from Will, the man more lover than fighter, but it was kinda fun to watch.
The billionaire’s feathers were more than a little ruffled.
I was about to tell him we could go back since I was sure Will would have slunk off by now, when he pushed me back against the wall.
“Mine,” he growled again, before taking my mouth and stealing every bit of air.
He didn’t just take control, he grabbed it by the throat.
And I willingly let him.