Rush: The Season (Austin Arrows Book 1)(56)
“Yeah,” I whisper. “I need to kiss you, and I can’t do it with your brother in the room.”
Her smile is slow and sexy and it makes my dick jump.
Gently cupping her cheek, I lean down and press my mouth to hers. I don’t want to mess up her makeup, but I can’t help myself. I haven’t kissed her since the day we went to breakfast, and it’s been killing me ever since. In an effort to take things slow, I haven’t pressed for anything more. It doesn’t help that our schedules don’t mesh.
Her hands grip the lapels of my suit as she pulls me closer. In her heels, she’s got to be almost six feet, which makes the kissing thing a whole hell of a lot easier.
“You look stunning,” I mumble when our mouths separate. “And f*ck, you smell good.”
“Thank you. I was gonna say the same about you.” Her thumb swipes across my lips, and I assume she’s wiping lipstick from them. It doesn’t look like hers is smudged, though.
I take a deep breath, willing my dick to chill the f*ck out. I think about Spencer waiting for us on the other side of the wall, and that pretty much takes care of my problem. Taking her hand, I lead Ellie back toward the living room but pull up short when I hear Noelle talking.
“You don’t need to apologize,” she snaps. “It never happened, okay? I’m good with that.”
“Noelle, I just don’t want you to—”
“Enough.” This time she’s speaking at regular volume, and it’s obvious she’s pissed. “I said it never happened. You have to pretend it didn’t, too.”
When Spencer doesn’t say anything, I turn to look at Ellie. Her eyes are wide and she’s clearly processing what she heard. I’m curious to know what didn’t happen, but I damn sure won’t be asking about it. At least not tonight.
Pretending we didn’t just eavesdrop on what was likely a pretty important conversation, I turn to Ellie and smile. “You ready?”
Ellie nods.
I lead her into the living room, ready to face off with Noelle and Spencer, but…
They’re gone. The room is empty.
I lift an eyebrow at Ellie. She shakes her head slightly as she grabs a small purse.
I peer up at the stairs. “Is Bianca here?”
“Nope. She’s staying with Gabby tonight.” I notice something spark in Ellie’s eyes, and I’m not sure if that was an invitation or merely fact.
I’m not quite sure what to do with that information, so I tuck it away for later.
Right now, I have to focus on getting to the dinner without thinking about getting Ellie out of that dress. That will come soon enough.
If I’m lucky.
Ellie
I’m nervous.
Like, seriously nervous.
Although Kingston eased some of my tension with that unexpected kiss back at my house, I’ve all but forgotten that now that we’re in this huge ballroom with all these people.
And there are people everywhere.
Old, young, tall, short, rich, uber-rich … they are all present and accounted for. I’ve seen Phoenix, as well as his husband, Tarik, and their wife, Mia. They greeted us when we arrived. It appears that Spencer and Kingston are the only players here tonight, though, which means we pretty much know no one. I’m simply glad that Noelle is here. I’m not sure how I got lucky enough that my brother needed a last-minute date, but I’m not going to question it.
We mingle for a few minutes while we sip ridiculously expensive champagne from fancy crystal flutes, and then we make our way over to the section that has been reserved for dinner. I notice that the tables are decked out in white linen, and there are large, exotic flower arrangements in the center, along with several candles flickering around them. It’s nicely done, but I shouldn’t have expected any less. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Mia, and the woman will spare no expense when it comes to drumming up money for the charity that means so much to her. Spencer told me the story about how her father died by suicide. I’m sure that was incredibly difficult for her to deal with. I can’t even imagine how hard it was. And the fact that she’s a proactive supporter of raising awareness and helping to eliminate the negative stigma associated with mental illness shows how noble and incredibly strong she is.
I hope they accomplish what they’ve set out to do tonight. If they don’t, it certainly won’t be from lack of trying.
Kingston seems to be following Spencer’s lead. I’m not sure that’s such a good thing since my brother seems terrified to be here. He’s done dozens of these things, so you’d think he wouldn’t be quite so antsy, but he is. I can tell because he continues to thrust his hands in his pockets over and over, a tell of his. Even with Noelle at his side, he looks like he wants to crawl into a hole.
“Ready to eat?” Kingston asks, taking my hand and leading me to the table we’ve been assigned to.
I smile and nod as Kingston pulls my chair out. He sits to my left, and Noelle takes the chair on my right with Spencer beside her. That leaves two other seats at the table, and I briefly wonder who will occupy those.
My curiosity is sated rather quickly when Amber North walks up. If I hadn’t already reconnected with her back when Spencer was laying the ground rules for mine and Kingston’s pretend relationship, I would’ve recognized her anyway. Hell, she dated my brother for so long, and at one point, I even thought she would eventually be my future sister-in-law. I don’t think I will ever forget her face. But the face next to hers… It surprises me to see Colton Seguine in tow. He looks relaxed as ever and quite handsome in his tux.