Charity Case - The Complete Series - Piper Rayne Page 0,191

badly did I piss him off?

I open the bathroom door and step out to see most people are still enjoying cocktail hour and the doors to the actual dining hall haven’t opened yet.

Sliding by a bunch of mingling groups, I say brief hellos and let a few older relatives hug me, pinch me and tell me how old they feel seeing me grown up.

Caiden and Molly are scanning the place cards on the table.

“Aunt Chelsea, do you see us?”

I help them, finding each of them their placecards. “You’re table nine.”

“Nine?” Caiden asks.

“Yep.”

Molly looks over the cards again. “All the kids are at table nine. I don’t want to be at a kid’s table.”

“Sweetie you are a kid.”

“Hey!” she exclaims picking up a card. “What’s Dean’s last name?” Molly asks, staring at a card.

“Bennett.”

Molly’s eyes widen and she shows the card to Caiden whose eyes bulge out. “What did he do to be put at the kid’s table?”

Molly shrugs.

I grab the card, clearly seeing that a seven has been made into a nine. I’m pretty sure Zoe or Sky had something to do with this.

“Do you think he’ll dance with me?” Molly asks.

I start to fix one of her curls that’s gone array from the wind by the fountain, taking out a bobby pin and repositioning her hair. “I don’t think he’s coming.”

“Wrong,” Caiden says.

“I know it’s disappointing, but you’ll still have fun without Dean.”

“You’re wrong, he’s here,” Caiden says with a tone that suggests I’m an idiot.

My hands freeze, the bobby pin falling from my mouth and it’s all I can do to keep Molly’s hair between my fingers until I can secure it again.

Dean stands at the entrance doors, his eyes searching through the crowd. Lucky for him, his height is an advantage. He meets my eyes and a small, shy smile crosses his lips.

Someone bends down next to me, and then hip checks me. “Go.” Zoe nudges, taking her daughter’s hair from my hands.

I walk toward him, and he walks to me. Our eyes don’t waver from each other.

“I know you might not want me here,” he says. “But I couldn’t leave you alone here tonight.”

“What?”

“I get that you want your space and I know we have a ton to talk about…”

“Did you not get my message?” I ask.

A confused look crosses his face and he digs out his phone. Scanning through his missed calls, his eyes light up. “I have no idea how I missed it.”

“It doesn’t matter. You’re here.” I step forward and he doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around me. “I’m sorry. That’s all the message says. I’m sorry for everything. You’re right I was still holding you at arm’s length.”

“I can’t expect you to shift gears so fast. It’s me.” He steps out of our embrace, his palm sliding down my arm until he has my hand in his. Guiding us outside, the stifling Chicago summer heat feels like walking into an oven.

“We really need to think about moving.” He doesn’t stop us until we’re on the side of the building where no one can see us.

He cages me in with my back against the brick wall. “I can’t spend another night without you beside me. Please don’t make me.” He gently places a chaste kiss on my forehead.

“Okay. I questioned how much you’d fight for us and I was wrong to do that when I wasn’t even willing to fight myself. So, Dean.” I hold his face in my hands. “I’m in this. One hundred percent whether it ends in I do, or I want a divorce.”

“We already did the I do part.” He smirks.

“We did the divorce part, too.”

He laughs, stepping in so we’re chest to chest. “So, we’re all good again?”

“Yup.”

“Man, we’re so mature now. Not even a dish broken.” I laugh remembering the crazy fights we used to have when we were younger. I guess that’s the good part of sharing a past. They see you change for the better.

“We should go in, cocktail hour is going to end soon.”

“We need to talk about the baby, but for now I’ll take a kiss.” He leans in, capturing my lips, his tongue moving at a slow and easy pace.

“You call that a kiss?” I question when he closes it.

“Oh, my little freak is back in full effect I see.” He grabs the back of my neck, tilting it to the side and slams his lips to mine, displaying how bad he wants me from the way our tongues fall in