“I love that movie,” I admitted. “So, how are things at home? With Nan gone?” Rush hadn’t brought up Nan once since we’d been home. I knew she wasn’t invited to the wedding and it made me feel so guilty. But the fear that she would make a scene and ruin our wedding was real.
“Quiet again. Dad does his thing. I do mine. Dean does his. They’ll be going on tour in a couple of months and it will be really quiet.”
I felt sad for her. She didn’t have anyone really. Living in that big house with a father like Kiro had to be lonely. Then with him gone just her being there. That was no life at all. Money couldn’t buy you everything. Harlow was proof of that.
“Why don’t you have Kiro buy you a house here? It’s beautiful here and there are people our age everywhere. Cute guys,” I flashed her a teasing smile. As perfect as Harlow looked appearance-wise I couldn’t imagine her with a guy. She was so shy. How would she ever open up to one and get to know him?
“I can’t ask Dad that. I’m at UCLA on a full ride scholarship. He would have to pay for my tuition if I went somewhere else. And I do get out and go to my classes,” she trailed off. I knew from being there that although she went to her classes she had no friends.
“I think he can afford it,” I assured her.
She shrugged but didn’t reply. I wasn’t going to badger her now. Maybe later. “I need to go get dressed. I have a salon appointment for a manicure and pedicure in an hour. You wanna come?”
She shook her head. “No, thank you. I think I’ll just take a nap. We left so early and I didn’t sleep any on the plane.”
Nodding, I took that as my cue to leave her alone.
***
It was late in the afternoon when my dad and Captain arrived. I was just finishing up getting ready for the rehearsal and the party that followed. We were having a wedding party in the ballroom at the Club. I hadn’t wanted a bachelorette party and Rush hadn’t wanted me to have one either. He’d been worried about where Bethy might take me. Then when Grant had brought up the bachelor party he had quickly shot that idea down. This was our alternative. We decided to party together with all of our friends. Woods had gladly supplied the ballroom for us and had his kitchen staff catering it.
The rehearsal was in thirty minutes and people would start arriving soon. Rush walked down the stairs in a pair of tan slacks and a white linen shirt and my heart missed more than one beat. He was beautiful. His hair was styled in a messy look. The white shirt made his silver eyes look brighter and his skin darker.
“You’re gorgeous,” I breathed as he came to a stop at the bottom of the steps.
“Hey, that’s my line,” he teased pulling me to him and pressing a kiss to my lips. “You’re breathtaking,” he replied.
“Mmmm, so are you,” I murmured against his lips.
GRANT (yes, you read that correctly)
My brother was actually getting married. I knew it would happen the first time I saw him go ape-shit crazy over Blaire but damn, actually seeing them rehearse it had been real. Too damn real. I felt like I was losing him a little. It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy for him because I was. It was just that he’d been my partner in crime for as long as I could remember. Now he would be Blaire’s.
I took a glass of champagne from the tray as a server walked by me. I might as well take the bubbly shit until I could get something real at the bar in a few minutes. Scanning the crowd I thought about Nan and how f**ked up I’d let shit get. I needed something to help me forget her. Not that I wasn’t over her because I was. She’d made sure of it. Crazy bitch.
A pair of the sexiest eyes I’d ever seen locked with mine and I froze and studied her. I hadn’t seen her before. Ever. I’d never forget those f**king eyes. It wasn’t the color that drew me in because from here I couldn’t tell what the color was. It was the slant to them and the heavy eyelashes that fanned over them. Women paid good money for false eyelashes that could never look that good. I trailed my eyes down her face until I landed on one big ass mouth. SHIT. My c**k stirred to life. It was wide and her lips were so damn full. A girl with a mouth like that was every man’s fantasy.
I was almost afraid to let my gaze travel any further. If it kept getting better I was going to f**king unload in my damn pants. I didn’t have time to think about it though because she turned and like a wisp of air she was gone. Long brown hair swayed as she moved, brushing just above of her waist. Holy mother of Jesus her hair was all the way to her perfect little ass. I took off after her. I didn’t know who the hell she was but she wasn’t getting away from me. I needed to have a taste of that mouth and see her eyes light up with pleasure as I pulled that long hair back and pounded into her.
Talk about a f**king distraction. She was the only damn distraction any man needed for anything. Hell, she could make me forget my own damn name. She slipped out of the ballroom and into the hall. She walked quickly but so quietly that no one around her seemed to notice. How did people not notice her? Was I hallucinating? What man with a c**k didn’t lock eyes on her and not drink her every move in?
I stepped into the hall seconds after her and glanced around. At first I thought I’d lost her but then I noticed movement to the right and the long brown hair was peeking around the corner. She didn’t see me but I sure as hell saw that hair. I walked as quietly as I could in her direction.
“Calm down. It was just a guy. A really, really hot one but just a guy,” I heard her voice saying softly as I got closer to her. What the f**k?
“Deep breaths. You’re a big girl. You can handle a guy looking at you,” she said in the same whisper.
I stopped before I got close enough for her to see me. She was talking to herself. I’d made her nervous. How? When a female looked like that she had to be used to guys eye f**king her from across the room. She started chanting that I was just a guy again and I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. That was just all kinds of adorable.
“He could be an alien from Krypton. Then you’d need to be worried. Maybe we should go check him out and make sure,” I said casually. Her entire body tensed and she didn’t move a muscle. Nor did she turn around and look at me. She kept her back pressed against the wall she’d been hiding behind. The only thing that moved was her hand. It looked like she’d used it to cover her mouth. She just kept getting cuter.
“Probably safe. Rush and Blaire don’t much care for the alien sort. They’re prejudiced that way,” I continued, hoping my ridiculous conversation would make her smile and relax. Because I wanted her relaxed. At least enough so that I could get a taste.
She still didn’t move. Her hand remained firmly over her mouth and she was frozen in place. I stepped around the corner and into the small cubbyhole she’d found between two pillars in the wall. Even with my back pressed against the other wall our bodies were almost touching. Her eyes went wide with surprise as I slipped into her hiding spot with her.
“I’m guessing you can’t talk much with your hand over your mouth like that. How exactly do you plan on talking to me?” I asked and smiled encouragingly. I didn’t want her to think I was dangerous.
She slowly moved her hand away and let it fall to her side but she remained plastered against the other wall as if to get as far away from me as possible.