Chapter Seventeen
ALICE
Champagne, again.
I took a sip, a small one, noting that this was much better than the champagne at Lacey's party. But then, Jacob Winters seemed determined to mark his marriage with the best of everything, a reflection of the way he felt about his bride.
From across the room, I watched as they stood arm in arm, both glowing with happiness, the smile on Jacob's face so wide I thought his cheeks must hurt. Every once in a while, his eyes dropped to Abigail’s face, and I knew there was no treasure in the world he valued so much as her.
I didn't know Jacob Winters that well, only from his visits to the office, but he'd been friends with the Sinclairs since birth. In all the years since I'd met him, I'd never seen him like this.
Jacob was known as a shark: icy, determined, and ruthless. None of that was evident on his wedding day.
Taking in the crowded room, my arm looped through Cooper’s, I teetered between happiness and nerves.
This was our first public outing since he'd hauled me out of the engagement party only a week before.
So far, no one had brought up the incident.
Everyone was acting like Cooper and I had been together forever.
Everyone except for Lacey, who shot me vicious looks but otherwise kept her distance.
The music kicked up and Cooper led me out on the dance floor, swinging me into his arms. I’d known him for nine years and had no idea he knew how to dance.
“You know what you're doing,” I commented as he spun me out and reeled me back in. I couldn't remember ever seeing Cooper wearing that carefree smile before. He winked at me—another surprise—and said, “Dance class. Way too many years of dance class.”
I should have known. Of course, Lacey had sent all the boys to dance class. Pushing away the thought of Cooper’s mother, I said, “It paid off.”
“How did you know I could dance?” I asked as the song ended, easing into something with a slower rhythm.
Cooper pulled me into his arms, leading me in a slow foxtrot. “Alice, I don't think there's anything about you I don't know.”
“I'm not sure if that's romantic or creepy,” I said.
“Maybe a little of both,” Cooper admitted without remorse. “But if you're on the line, I'd go with romantic.”
I made a noncommittal noise in my throat. Secretly, I agreed, but I wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily. He glanced over at Jacob, now dancing with his new bride. “It was a nice wedding.”
Nice was an understatement. The wedding was at Chateau du Jardin, a vineyard and resort about an hour outside of Atlanta.
Luxurious didn't even begin to describe the place.
Jacob had reserved all the available rooms for family and friends, but most of the five hundred guests had made the trek from the city.
No one was going to miss the wedding of the decade.
Jacob and Abigail had been married in the atrium at sunset, the pink and gold rays streaming through the glass roof, the light gilding Abigail as she strode down the aisle.
As beautiful as the setting had been, I found myself getting a little weepy at the devotion in the bride and groom's eyes as they said their vows.
Weddings always got to me. My own had been a rushed affair, my husband and I two kids too stupid to slow down and think things through, in too much of a hurry to have a proper ceremony.
My mom hadn't mentioned it in years, but I knew there was a part of her that still hadn't forgiven me for depriving her of a wedding. I was her only daughter, and if my brother Pete’s wedding was anything to go by, she had more rehearsal dinners in her future, but not much else.
Even though my own marriage had ended in disappointment, I wasn't a cynic. It had been a privilege to watch two people so deeply in love pledge their lives to one another.
The excellent food and fantastic champagne didn't hurt either. Cooper had a room in the resort, and we'd arrived early, spending most of the day at the pool.
After the spectacle Cooper had made of us the weekend before, I was taking it easy on the champagne. Most of the guests had been partaking since well before the wedding and formal dinner. By now, everyone was loose and happy, exactly the way they should be at a wedding.
The rest of the Sinclair siblings were clustered on the far side of the dance floor with some of the Winters. When the music stopped, I expected Cooper to guide us in that direction. Instead, he led me to a quiet corner.
Angling his body to block me from view, he dipped his head and brushed his lips across mine. “You're making me crazy in that dress.” Lifting a finger, he tapped it against my lower lip, painted a deep, vibrant red. “All I want to do is pin you against the wall and kiss you.”
I felt my eyes flare with alarm. If Cooper kissed me my lipstick would tell the tale to every single one of the five hundred guests surrounding us.
“I know I can’t,” he said, reading my mind, “And that’s making me even crazier.”
Bending, he pressed his lips to the side of my neck just below the hollow of my ear. Heat speared through me, and I wobbled on my heels. His lips brushing my ear, Cooper murmured, “You need to carry around a step stool. I can't reach all the places I want to put my mouth. You're too short.”
“You're too tall,” I shot back. “It's not my fault you're so big.”
“At least I’m in proportion.”
I knew exactly what he meant. He was in proportion. Cooper Sinclair was big everywhere. “Anyway,” he went on, “I like you small. Makes it easy to pick you up and put you where I want you.”
He rested his mouth at my temple before straightening. “But not in the middle of the wedding reception. One scene was enough for now. We can make another scene later.”
“How about we not make any more scenes at all?” I asked, expecting Cooper to agree. Cooper wasn't exactly known as the wild man of the family. If one of them was going to make a scene it would be Evers, or maybe Axel. Not Cooper.
Defying expectations, he sent me a heated glance. “Oh, I can guarantee we’ll make another scene. Too many more parties like this and I won't be able to resist throwing you over my shoulder again.”
I rolled my eyes, but I didn't mean it. At the time, I'd been pissed as hell that he'd kidnapped me from the middle of the party, but now, looking back? Yeah, I wouldn't mind if he threw me over his shoulder again. That had been hot.
I leaned into him, the hard length of his body warm against my side. “You can put me anywhere you want when we get back to the room.”
“I plan to.”
Heat spiraled through me. We weren’t staying late at the reception. Not with that plush hotel room upstairs.
“You want another glass of champagne?” Cooper asked. “Or something else?”
“Champagne,” I said. “I think they're going to cut the cake soon.”
Cooper eyed the bar closest to us. People crowded around, the bartenders moving at top speed, the path between packed with people.
“Stay here. I'll be right back.” Cooper disappeared into the crowd.
The ballroom of Chateau du Jardin was massive and filled to capacity.
I didn't recognize most of the wedding guests.
The Winters family ran in very different circles than a lowly office manager.
I spotted Evers across the room with Summer, standing beside Axel and Emma.
I thought about going to join them once Cooper came back when a familiar figure stepped into my view.
Lacey.
She moved into my space, standing so close she loomed over me. I resisted the urge to retreat. I wasn't going to let Lacey intimidate me.
Unlike her impromptu engagement party the week before, Lacey hadn't bothered to stay sober for this party. Her eyes were red and bleary, her body loose and uncoordinated as she threw her hands wide and hissed down at me, “You got what you wanted, didn't you, you little slut.”
Oh, fuck this. I wasn't putting up with this bullshit tonight.
This was one of those retreat is the better part of valor situations, because letting Lacey Sinclair hurl invectives at me was not on my to-do list.
Have fun.
Dance.
Get Cooper naked.
Those were my priorities. Not humoring his bitter, drunk mother. I glanced over her shoulder for Cooper and stepped to the side, trying for a clean getaway.
Lacey was having none of it. Her hand shot out and closed over my wrist.
It was stop or fall.
I stopped.
“What do you want with me?” I asked, suddenly so very done with Lacey’s bizarre vendetta against me. “I have never done anything to you, Lacey. Anything. I have no idea why you hate me so much, but I’m sick to death of—”
“Oh, you know. You pretend you're so innocent, but you know.”