Chapter 12
The sun hung low in the sky casting a golden hue over the sprawling lawn of St. Claire Manor, which had been rented out for a day of fun and games. It was a smaller group, only the family, the wedding party, and a few close friends, but all Henry could focus on was Elle.
She was bent over, ass up, holding a croquet mallet and practicing her swing. She was terrible but determined. Which he found utterly adorable. She was also going out of her way to avoid him. Hell, she’d barely made eye contact. After nonchalantly shaking his hand, as if he didn’t know what her O face looked like, she’d walked clear across the lawn and started swinging away, whacking up divots of grass as she went.
“Nice view,” Jake said, coming up behind him. Henry nearly punched him. “You going to go for the cliché approach and offer to help her with her swing?”
“I don’t need a cliché approach.”
“Well, you need something if you’re going to have any chance of winning this bet. The woman would rather pound sod than stand near you.”
This was Henry’s chance to tell his friend that he’d already won the bet. And in any other situation, with any other woman, he would have. Jake was like a vault when it came to information. So then why did Henry find himself hesitating?
Because he didn’t want to share Elle. And kissing and telling would be like sharing, and something possessive wouldn’t allow him to even consider it. Instead, he said, “I don’t need advice from second place.”
“Well, you’re running out of time. The wedding is in two days and then it’s game over. I’ve already ordered your hat. It’s going to look great with your figure. Really bring out the BS in your eyes. It might make your butt look a little big, but that can’t be helped.”
Henry turned to look at his friend, who was in linen slacks and a white polo shirt with a white cable-knit sweater-vest over it. Henry could barely even look at the white cleated shoes.
“Why are you dressed like that? This is croquet, not the PGA tour.”
Jake looked down at himself and shrugged. “Just because you haven’t gotten any as of late, doesn’t mean you get to crawl up my ass. The invitation clearly said croquet attire recommended. So I looked it up online. Croquet attire.” He gave a little Vanna White sweeping action with his hand to encompass his outfit.
“Maybe at a country club. This is just a friendly game.”
“Nothing is a friendly game when it comes to you.” Jake patted him on the back. “There’s winners and losers, and I intend to win. In fact, I already know who I’m going to ask to be my partner.”
“If you say my cousin, I will flatten you.”
Jake held up a hand in surrender. “Got that memo. I was talking about Elle. Unless, of course, you’re going to take some action and ask her.”
If today’s game worked that way, he’d have already been over there. But sadly, his sister liked to play things by chance. So the sorting hat would determine his destiny. Plus, partnering with Elle would mean being close enough to touch her and that would be as discreet as a cat burglar trying to rob a museum in the light of day.
Instead of explaining the rules, he said, “Don’t even fucking think about it.”
“Glad you’re not a cliché, bro.”
“Who’s up for some croquet madness?” Sarah said to the group. She was wearing a white shirt that said Bride, with a veil on her head. Next to her stood Wayne in all black, with the word Groom written in white across his chest. As he’d been over the past few days, he was holding Sarah’s hand in support while giving her the floor.
It had Henry questioning his initial reaction to the bloke. The longer he was around the couple, the clearer it became how madly in love they were. And Wayne hadn’t asked for a single thing, surprising Henry by picking up the tab for many of the meals they’d shared as a group.
“In this hat are the boys’ names written on pieces of paper. It will be ladies’ draw for partners,” Sarah announced. “Of course, Wayne and I will be on the same team because this is my wedding and I make the rules.”
Everyone laughed, but there was one laugh that he zeroed in on—Elle’s. It was low and throaty, and even from across the lawn it had enough punch to wrap around him and nearly take him out at the knees.
“So, ladies, come on up.”
Henry turned his body toward his sister, but his eyes tracked Elle the entire way as she walked from the lawn to the top step of the back patio, her hips swaying in a hypnotic rhythm. She was dressed in a pair of fitted black pants, knee-high boots that hugged her calves, and a pretty blue sweater that had a hard time staying on her shoulder. Her hair was loose today, playing in the gentle breeze and making his fingers twitch with the need to wind themselves around the red mass of waves.
Camilla was the first to pick and her eyes lit when she said, “Enzo. You’re with me!”
Henry didn’t have to send Enzo threatening older brother glares because his friend already knew she was off-limits, but he did anyway. Habits were hard to break.
Next up was Elle. She’d done her best to not look at him, but when she stuck her hand in and pulled out her paper, her eyes flicked to him. Not enough to where others would notice, but he did.
She’d pulled his name. He knew it by the look and now by the way she was worrying her lower lip in consideration—weighing her options, figuring out how she was going to play this.
All Henry could think about was how he was the luckiest bloke on the field because he was going to get to spend the next hour brushing up against, secretly touching, and softly whispering naughty things in Elle’s ear without anyone being the wiser. He was going to push all her buttons—the ones that set her off and turned her on. And he couldn’t wait.
“Who’s the lucky guy?” Wayne asked.
Elle looked up and with a bright smile that set off his inner alarm, she said, “Jake.”
Before Henry could call bullshit and demand to see her paper, she refolded it and shoved it back in the hat.
“Oh, Elle, here,” Sarah jumped in. “We need to take that out so Jake isn’t drawn again.” Sarah fished in the hat for the right paper and removed it from the drawing.
“What was that sleight of hand?” Henry asked, and Elle’s face went red with guilt.
“I’m sorry, what?” she asked.
“The paper. You put it back before we could confirm you were telling the truth.”
“Henry,” Mum scolded.
“She’s telling the truth,” Sarah lied, and he knew it was a lie because his sister couldn’t meet his gaze.
“Jesus, man,” Jake whispered. “You need some serious pointers on how to land a woman.”
“Afraid you’ll lose, Hank?” Elle goaded.
“To two Americans? Not on your life.”
“Then shut up and let’s play.”
Henry shut up, long enough for the rest of the people to partner up, then he casually made his way over to Elle. “Jake, huh? Funny, I could’ve sworn your hand hesitated a bit there, love.”
“What did you want me to do? Spend the next hour playing with your balls?”
“I couldn’t think of a better way to pass time.”
She rolled her eyes. “Discreet, remember?”
Oh, he remembered alright. He just didn’t like it. Not one bit. The first thing he wanted to do when he saw her was pull her into his arms and kiss her. Which was new for him since he wasn’t a guy who was usually into PDA. Then again, being someone’s secret was also new.
“Are you fraternizing with my partner, bro?” Jake asked, shoulder-checking Henry as he walked up.
“He was just giving me a few pointers,” Elle said.
Jake slung his arm over Elle’s shoulder. “You don’t need pointers from this guy. You are in good hands with me.”
Henry wanted to break his friend’s hand, but that would draw unnecessary attention.
“Henry,” Sarah called out. “You’re with Aunt Ann.”
Both Jake and Elle quickly smothered a burst of laughter, because Aunt Ann was old as dirt, half blind, and had arthritis. She could barely hold the mallet, let alone swing it. Last time they were paired together Henry had come in dead last. And he wasn’t planning on that happening again. Not today.
“What is the saying about second place being the first loser?” Jake said, and Henry flipped him the bird.
It took a few minutes for everyone to get in their places, but the game finally began. Elle wasn’t as bad as he thought—she was terrible. Which he knew pissed her off, because she was as competitive as he was. Her ball was going everywhere but where she intended it to.
So when she finished her turn, which ended with her ball in the weeds, Henry followed.
“You’re swinging it like it’s a golf club,” he said, coming up behind her. Not caring if it was cliché or not, he wrapped his arms around her and placed his hands over hers so that they were holding the mallet together.
Her head snapped over her shoulder and she glanced up at him. “What are you doing?” she hissed. “What if someone sees?”
“Love, you are in no-man’s-land. No one but the cows can see us.” That seemed to relax her a tad. “Now, do you want to learn how to swing or not?”
She wiggled her shoulders to shrug him off, but all she managed to do was nuzzle her bum into his crotch. He knew the second she realized her mistake because she froze. Her head slowly spun like it was on a lazy Susan.
“You’re hard,” she whispered.
“I’ve been hard since you walked out of my sister’s car in these ass-hugging pants.”
“But someone might notice.”
“All I care about is if you notice,” he whispered against the outer shell of her ear. “Did you notice me?”
“The second I got here,” she admitted in a whisper.
Not shifting his stance, he took a finger and tugged her hair over one shoulder, exposing her elegant neck. Leaning down, he pressed an open-mouthed kiss there. He felt her breath catch and when she exhaled it was on a small moan.
“Yet you greeted me last.”
“I didn’t want to seem too eager to get to you.”
“When you got to me, what did you want to do?” he asked, running his nose down the gentle slope of her neck to her shoulder and nudging her sweater down until it fell, exposing a lacy teal strap. He nipped at the newly exposed skin and her head dropped back against his chest.
“I wanted to kiss you.”
“Like this?” he asked.
Tilting her head up, he cradled her lower lip with his in a barely-there touch that had her hand reaching back and tunneling through his hair.
“More like this.” She tugged his head down until their mouths were fused together and it was his turn to moan. She may have spent the past hour ignoring him, but all her focus was zeroed in on him now and the sacrifice had been worth it.
Her lips toyed with his over and over, moving and cradling until her teeth came out to play, sinking into his lower lip with a stinging bite. If she wanted to get spicy, he could do spicy.
He spun her around and pressed her up against the nearest tree trunk where he sank his tongue into the depths of her mouth. She tasted like honeyed tea and fire—and felt like desire.
Digging his fingers into her hair, he tilted her head up for easier access, which he took advantage of. Her hands ran boldly down his spine to settle on his ass and she gave it a squeeze hard enough to make him smile.
So he wasn’t the only ass fan of the two of them? Good to know.
He kissed her lips, her chin, and was making his way down her neck to see just how far that sweater would fall when he heard his sister.
“You can’t be serious?” Sarah said, and both Henry and Elle jumped back as if they were fifteen and caught snogging behind the school bleachers.
Henry jerked around, expecting to find Sarah, and was relieved when all he saw was an open field.
“But the rehearsal dinner is tomorrow,” Sarah went on, and Henry realized his sister was still on the grass and just speaking loudly. Something she did when freaking out.
“Oh my god!” Elle said. “I thought we’d been caught.”
“Would that be such a bad thing?” He had to ask.
“Yes! I told you. Sarah doesn’t need the added stress of us hooking up.”
Henry shouldn’t be offended by the term hooking up, since that had been his preference for the past year. But coming from her, after that kiss, it didn’t feel right.
“Now,” she said, smoothing down her hair, which didn’t help at all. “How do I look?”
“Like you’ve been lipsing behind the tree.”
“You’re not helping.”
“Here.” Henry combed his fingers through her hair, ran a thumb over her lips, then tugged up her sweater. It didn’t take the dreamy haze from her eyes, but she looked presentable.
“Better?”
“Better,” he lied.
“Then I need to get back out there. You stay here. Count to sixty before coming out.” Her eyes dropped to his massive erection. “Maybe recite the periodic table first.”
He grinned. “Hydrogen. Helium…”
He watched her disappear and thumped his head against the trunk. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked himself.
He still didn’t have an answer to that question by the time he made it back to the party. He was surprised to find the game had stopped. Sarah was near tears, his mum and Wayne were trying to console her. The rest of the crowd was off to the side trying to give them privacy.
Panic settled in his chest as he strode across the lawn and straight up to Sarah. He nudged everyone out of the way and pulled her into his arms. “What’s going on?”
“Aunt Rose and Uncle Allan missed their flight and there aren’t any that will get them here before the rehearsal tomorrow. She’s supposed to sing ‘Ave Maria.’ What if she can’t practice?”
“She’s sung it a million times,” Henry said gently. “I’m sure she’ll be great at the wedding.”
“But I want her to be here at the rehearsal. It’s important to me.”
If it was important to his sister, then it was important to Henry. They didn’t have a big extended family, so every member was important.
Henry pulled out his phone. “Let me see if I can charter them a private jet.”
“No need,” Elle said, walking up with a cell phone in hand. “There is a train that leaves from France tonight and arrives with plenty of time for them to check in and rest up before the rehearsal.”
“Really?” Sarah asked with gratitude in her eyes and a watery smile on her face.
“Yup. It’s all booked, and they are on their way to the train station now. She said she’ll be singing ‘Ave Maria’ all the way here.”
Sarah threw herself into Elle’s arms and squeezed her hard. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You really are the best bridesmaid a girl could hope for.”