Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men #9)(5)

God, strike me dead now. If there was anything worse than watching the guy you were pining after marry another woman, it had to be spending any time in the company of Colton Gamble.

“Why...?” I demanded, glaring enough that hopefully he’d get the hint and behave for once in his life. “Couldn’t you have just been decent for once in your life, dropped all that annoying shit, and merely said I looked nice?”

“Nice?” He snorted, his brown eyes sparkling with delight. “The bride looks nice. My sisters and little nieces look nice. You...no, you don’t look nice. You look f*cking delicious.”

Against my will, heat coiled in my stomach. That’s what I hated most about Colton. His pesky annoyances I could handle and swat aside without another thought. It was the way his stare could make my thighs quiver and breasts go all heavy that made me boil and stew.

He was the complete antithesis of his brother. Where Brandt was humble about his appearance, Colton knew how hot he was and liked to play it up. Brandt seemed to work for everything he had while Colton had a laziness about him as if he just sat back and let the world come to him. His personality was so loud and domineering, I wasn’t sure what was important to him, except maybe himself, while Brandt wore his feelings for others right there on his sleeve for the world to see. Brandt’s presence was soothing and put me at ease. He was a nice, safe guy to crush on. Being near Colton always made everything inside me twist and tighten with...I don’t even know. Annoyance? Dread? Awareness? Excitement?

Whatever it was, I hated it. And worse yet, I swear, he knew how much he affected me. His grin always bore that smug, arrogant smirk, as if he could read every dirty thought in my head. I hated that too...almost as much as I hated him.

Okay, maybe I didn’t hate him per se—I didn’t even really know him—but I could definitely do without all that freaking mess he caused inside me. Messes were just...messy. And I did hate messes. I was the kind of girl who thrived off order and control. It only took one glance at Colton to know those things did not exist in his wheelhouse.

Propping his elbows onto the table, he rested his chin in one hand as he regarded me thoughtfully. “You looked lonely sitting over here all by your sexy self. I decided I just couldn’t allow that.”

I ignored how sweet it was that he’d been concerned about my well-being at all, and I sent him a dismissive glance. “I’m fine.”

He lifted an eyebrow, spearing me with an intense stare that made me squirm inside as if I could feel him poking through all my innermost thoughts. “Are you?”

Drawing in a breath, I tore my gaze from him and scanned the room, needing something else to focus on. When I spotted Brandt leading his bride toward the cake and punch, I blinked rapidly.

No. No, I wasn’t fine. Not at all. I was a freaking lonely mess inside, and I hated that too.

Messy, messy Juli. We couldn’t have that.

Across the table, Colton leaned toward me. “Tell me something, Julianna. What’re you doing here?”

His question made me squint. Veering my attention back to him, I shook my head, confused. “What do you mean? This is where my place card was.” I lifted my card to show him the name Julianna Radcliffe printed neatly on the folded piece of cardstock. “Where else would I sit?”

But he shook his head. “No. Not at this table, here. What are you doing at this wedding, here?”

My lips parted. Feeling suddenly unwelcome and small, I narrowed my eyes at the source of this crappy feeling. “I was invited,” I bit back.

Colton sighed and glanced momentarily toward the ceiling before meeting my gaze and murmuring, “Didn’t mean you had to come.”

“What?” Back straightening and chin lifting, I said, “Do you have some kind of problem with me, Little Gamble?”

He laughed. The bastard was half a second from making me cry and slink away from this stupid reception with my tail tucked between my legs, and he had the audacity to laugh in my face. Jerk. I should claw his motherf*cking eyes out. And all this time, I’d thought he liked me when he flirted mercilessly. Every time he saw me, in fact, he made some comment about wanting to get into my pants.

Knowing he didn’t want me here made me feel betrayed by all his previous false acts of seduction. It made me feel as if no one wanted me, anywhere.

As if no one would ever want me.

But then he said, “Hell no, I don’t have a problem with you.”

Confused, I frowned.

Colton only smiled and tipped his head to the side. “What? Have I not made that clear enough every single second I’ve ever spent in your company? Because, you know, I could try harder.”

“Dear God, no!” Against my will, my body settled with relief to learn he didn’t dislike me after all, except the relief pissed me off, because I didn’t want to care what he thought of me. “Then what the f*ck is your deal?” I demanded, cursing myself because I cared a hell of a lot more than I wanted to.

I didn’t want to like him; it drove me crazy that once I realized he was in a room he was the only thing I could focus on or think about. It’s like the bastard stole my attention against my will, and I hated that. But I couldn’t seem to stop it.

“I don’t have a deal,” he answered flippantly, making me rumble out my aggravation. “I’m just curious why you decided to torture yourself and attend this wedding only to watch the guy you’re crazy about marry someone else.”