The Christmas Pact(20)
Someone tapped a fork to their glass, and the entire room joined in until there was a symphony of tinkling crystal. Apparently that meant the soon-to-be bride and groom had to kiss—a tradition I’d never heard of before tonight. But it had happened at least a half-dozen times already, with Bradley making each kiss last longer than the one before. I watched Kennedy’s face as he took in the sight of his smiling brother and glowing ex-fiancée kiss. Bradley was basically a shorter, less handsome version of Kennedy. He was also a showboat. He bent Felicity back in a dramatic dip, and the room erupted in applause.
Kennedy stopped our waitress as she attempted to walk by. His words were starting to slur. “Another gin and tonic. Make it a double.”
I frowned and looked at her. “Please. He meant to say please.”
After she walked away, Kennedy leaned toward me. He reeked like the crap he’d been guzzling all night as he attempted to whisper in my ear. “I’d like to hear you say that underneath me.”
My brows furrowed. “What?”
“Please. Come on. Say it again for me. Use that breathy, sexy voice you had while I was rubbing your neck the other night. I’ve been dreaming about you begging me to put my hands on you again all week.”
I put my hand on his chest and nudged him to back up. “First of all, if you think you’re whispering…you aren’t.” I waved to his aunt seated on the other side of him who was eyeing us curiously. “Second of all…” I leaned in close and actually whispered, “…while it’s nice to know you’ve been dreaming about me all week, you won’t be hearing me beg for anything. I don’t beg. And not because I’m above it, but because I don’t have to. If I were beneath you like in your dreams, you’d be the one begging. And lastly, I don’t do drunk and sloppy.”
Kennedy started to laugh. Not a quiet, polite laugh, but a full-blown, loud, drunken belly laugh. His brother, finished with his public display of affection, walked over and put his hand on Kennedy’s shoulder. Bradley smiled, oblivious to the condition of the man seated next to me. “I’m so glad you decided to come, little bro.”
Kennedy snickered and mumbled, “You know where else I used to come? Inside your….”
Oh no. My eyes widened. He’d said it pretty low, so I wasn’t sure if Bradley heard it or not, but I wasn’t waiting for a punch to land to find out. I stood abruptly. “Can you excuse us? I need to go to the ladies’ room. Kennedy was just about to show me where it is.”
Kennedy looked up at me with a frown and swayed back and forth in his seat. He pointed to the other side of the room. “It’s right over there.”
I tugged at his elbow and dragged him to his feet. “Yes. But I might get lost. So why don’t you show me.”
He turned to face his brother. “She probably wants to suck face some more. She does this thing where she—”
I gave him a hard tug. Bradley laughed. Luckily he mustn’t have caught the part about coming inside his fiancée. He slapped his brother on his shoulder. “You two lovebirds go have fun.”
I hooked my arm with Kennedy’s and guided him through the restaurant toward the restrooms. Once we got there, I turned to face him.
“Look, we don’t know each other very well. But in the short time I’ve known you, I’ve learned that you have a lot of pride, and I don’t think you’ll be very happy with yourself tomorrow if you make a scene here tonight. So I think we should call it an evening and head back to your mother’s house.”
Kennedy seemed to struggle to focus, blinking several times as he looked back and forth between my eyes. Then his shoulders slumped. “Okay.” He sounded a little lost.
“Thank you. Why don’t you go into the men’s room and splash some water on your face, and I’ll go say our goodbyes.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Okay.”
I waited until Kennedy went into the men’s room and then went in search of his mother. She didn’t seem at all surprised to learn that we were leaving.
“Kennedy isn’t feeling that great, Suzanne, so we’re going to head out.”
She smiled sadly and took my hand. “I understand. This has to be tough on him. Though I think it’s good that he came. Sometimes we walk away, but don’t fully pull the door shut behind us and that keeps us from moving on.” Suzanne rubbed my arm. “I have a good feeling about you two, though. I’ve worked with couples my entire life, and sometimes you just know.”
I thought her love-connection radar was pretty off, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I simply smiled. “Thank you for a lovely dinner.”
Kennedy was still sulking as we climbed into the back of the Uber. “You okay?” I asked.
He stared out the window for a long time, and then surprised me by reaching over and taking my hand from my lap. He weaved his fingers with mine. “Thank you,” he said.
“You’re welcome. That’s what friends are for.”
He brought our joined hands to his lips and kissed the top of mine. “Friends, huh? Is that what we are?”
Well, considering every hair on my arms and neck raised the minute any part of his body touched mine, I was thinking perhaps there was a little something more between us. But it was stupid to entertain a conversation with a drunken man. I nodded. “Yes, we’re friends.”