Epilogue
EPILOGUE
TESSA
One week earlier
Wedding of Nora Robin Davis
to
Ethan Alexander Dupree
As they finished dancing, the woman in Grant’s arms blushed an adorable pink, and I wondered what he had said to put the blush on her cheeks. It didn’t matter. This night, however amazing, didn’t matter, and Grant didn’t matter. I hiked up my skirt and began to walk back toward the B&B, figuring I’d take a break from watching Grant for a while. I still had the key to what would be the bridal suite, though right now it remained packed with bridesmaid bags.
Back in the room, I packed up what was left of my belongings, then began tidying other people’s as well. We’d left the room a mess, which would hardly be romantic for the bride and groom. I was just finishing clearing off the table and television stand when I heard a knock. My eyes swung right, towards the door to the hall, but it hadn’t come from there.
Turning around, I found myself face to face with the dividing door to the next room. The room was set aside for my parents, but I would’ve bet anything I owned it wasn’t either of my parents on the other side. Crossing the room quietly, I lay one hand on the door and the other on the handle, hesitating for a single second before I twisted the knob and let the divider swing open between us.
“Oh, it’s you,” I grumbled, unprepared for the swell of emotion I felt seeing him, and covering it quickly with sarcasm. “Did you bring Alicia up? I’ll leave.”
“You know I didn’t,” he replied softly. “I’d dance with you all night, but you don’t want that, I’m willing to bet.”
Of course he would say that. As if it were that easy. I rolled my eyes. “Do you know how many questions we’d get? Besides, how would it look after you’ve been trying to get with Claire all week? People will assume you couldn’t get Claire so you’re settling for me.”
“Do you think that?”
“I’d be stupid not to wonder,” I muttered.
“Tess,” he said, tucking a tendril of hair behind my ear. It was one of the tendrils that was meant to be out, and I pulled the hair out from behind my ear again with a scowl. Unbothered, his fingers trailed until he cupped my chin in one palm. He was warm, and I wanted to lean into his touch, but I resisted. His words were gentle. “I always thought I was supposed to be with a girl like Claire—someone who could say the right things when I never can, someone who’s charming and liked by everyone—but that was never what I wanted. I want a woman like you.”
I barely concealed my laugh, because it was, quite possibly, the worst pick-up line ever uttered by a human. “Did that sound romantic in your head?” I asked.
He was quiet, undoubtedly replaying the words. “I didn’t mean you’re not charming,” he said suddenly. “I mean, you charm the hell out of me, Tess. Of course you’re charming. And people like you.”
“You’re babbling,” I said, chuckling. “I’ve never seen you babble before.”
He inhaled deeply. “That’s because I learned a long time ago not to try to explain myself when I say the wrong thing. I usually just say, ‘ I’m sorry. That came out wrong,’ and leave it at that.”
“But I’m lucky enough to get the babbling version of Grant Dupree?”
He arched a brow. “Would you rather I stick with the apology instead?”
I shrugged a single shoulder, and he ran his finger along my bare skin. Goosebumps erupted in his wake, and I suppressed a shiver. “No, there’s something oddly charming about watching you fumble and bumble,” I said, reaching up to hold his lapels. They were cool and smooth, and I ran my hands up and down them.
“Can I kiss you, Tess?”
I kissed him instead, grabbing him by the lapels and pulling him close enough to reach on tiptoe. He cupped my face, holding me in place with slow, leisurely kisses that only made me want more. I didn’t think he was going to move from this doorway, so I pushed us forward, walking until Grant’s legs hit the edge of the bed. I thought he’d fall back on it, but he held steady.
I pushed again, but again he didn’t give, this time grasping my ass and spinning us until my back was pressed to the wall. I hiked up a leg, wanting more, and he pulled it up even higher, slipping his arm under my knee so that my body was open to him. He was still wearing his pants, but I imagined he could feel the intense heat through my panties.
“God, Grant, yes,” I moaned as he made a single thrust, and I tried in vain to unbutton his pants, my lips finding his bristly jaw and the throbbing pulse at his neck. Finally, I was able to push his pants down his legs, and only underwear separated us. He thrust forward again, harder this time, and I whimpered at the hard line of his cock as it rubbed the silk of my panties. Desperately, I pushed the boxer briefs out of the way and wrapped my hand around him.
“Tess—Tessa,” he said suddenly, his body still and taut. “We need a condom.”
Well, fuck. We absolutely did. “Do you have any?” I asked.
He nodded behind us. “No, but Jock’s bag is right there, and he was bragging about having a box earlier.”
Grant set my foot back on the floor and I didn’t waste any time digging into Jock’s bag. I didn’t owe the man who constantly hit on me despite my stated disinterest anything. “I can’t believe he thought he’d need a whole box tonight,” I muttered as I yanked a single condom off the strip and tossed the box back into the bag.
“Let’s not complain about Jock,” Grant murmured, ripping the package open with his teeth. “He’s saving the day, here.”
Grant rolled the condom on and pressed me up against the wall once more. I could hardly breathe, and it felt as though Grant had the only oxygen in the room. I pushed him back only enough to get my own panties off, but I didn’t know what to do with them. I couldn’t very well leave my panties in my parents’ hotel room. Low on options, I tucked them into his pocket. “If those get lost in here I’ll have to change my name and move to a new town,” I whispered, hoping, at the very least, he’d take good care of them.
Grant slid his hands up my legs, hiking my dress up until it bunched around my waist, then hooked his arm under one of my knees again, leaving me pressed against the wall and wide open to him. A second later, he pressed inside me, and I moaned, letting my head fall forward until my forehead rested on his shoulder. “You feel so good,” I groaned as he began to move slowly in and out of me.
“Fuck, Tess, you’re perfect,” he whispered, picking up the pace, filling me with each deep stroke. I pressed my lips to his neck, wanting to keep quiet but unable to stop the little moans that escaped me with each thrust.
“Oh, fuck,” a voice said, and I looked up like a deer in headlights before it occurred to me to bury my face in Grant’s neck instead. Grant let go of my leg, covering me completely as he looked behind him and saw what I already knew. Hudson was there, and he’d seen me before I had the sense to hide.
“Shit,” Grant grumbled. Hudson had turned and was walking out, probably to tell Claire. He already had his hand on the doorknob when Grant said, “Hudson, wait.”
Grant yanked up his pants while I straightened my clothes. Hudson kept walking, and Grant followed him quickly, reaching the door at the exact moment I heard Claire’s voice. My eyes went wide in horror. There was no way out of this, no deniability if Claire walked in.
Grant slipped out the door, holding on to the handle as I looked around the room frantically. There was the bathroom, but being caught hiding in the shower would be next-level embarrassing. We were on the third floor, and I was in a gown, so I wasn’t jumping out the window.
My eyes caught on the connecting door. It remained open to the bridal suite. I ran, slipping through the door and closing it with a snick only seconds before I heard Emily on the other side.
“No one’s here,” she said loudly. There were other voices, and I ran out the door, knowing I had only one chance to get off this floor and back downstairs while they all were talking. I turned to the fire stairs and took them at a near run, bursting out into a back garden seconds later. I smoothed my dress, took a deep breath, and began to walk back to the wedding, acutely aware that I was not wearing panties.