Baiting the Maid of Honor (Wedding Dare #2)(10)

When she pulled open the door, his fingers curled around her elbow, bringing her to a stop. She didn’t turn around to face him, but she could feel his lips moving in her hair. “I’m going to let you get away with the lie tonight, pixie, since I made you come hard enough that I’ll be able to relax. For now. But I need to make one more thing crystal clear before you leave.” He traced her ear with his tongue. “If you need servicing while we’re stuck in this fancy-ass hotel for a week, I’m going to be the one to do it. No one else. Not Golden Boy. Not even your right hand.” He let go of her arm and she swayed, frowning when he laughed under his breath. “And when you slip between your sheets tonight, think about this. I will service you so hard you’ll be booking another week here just to recover.”

Julie slipped out into the hallway and walked toward her room down the hall without remembering a single step of her journey to get there.





Chapter Six


Reed strode purposefully down the hotel corridor, his mood best described as surly. Although to be fair, the description fit him on his best day. Today, however, his frustration had a name, an ass that didn’t quit, and lips he’d spent the better potion of the night envisioning inching down his stomach.

Julie Piper. A hellcat disguised as Tinker Bell.

After the condition she’d left him in last night, he’d woken from his shitty attempt at sleep with the intention of finding her and laying more groundwork. Whatever the reason, he wanted the stuck-up rich girl in his bed. Like hell. And when something pulled him from his casual indifference long enough to make him want it, he went after the damn thing with single-minded determination.

It was this driven intensity that had pulled him out of the backwoods slums of rural Tennessee and made him a SWAT team leader in bustling Atlanta. A position he didn’t take lightly or for granted. He knew how easily his life could have gone the other way. If he’d let it.

Yes, Reed didn’t make a habit of allowing obstacles to come between him and the thing he wanted. However, this appeared to the first time that specific something was a someone. He didn’t have time to question the anomaly, though. Not if he wanted enough time to work the blonde out of his system. He had a feeling it would take longer than a week to rid himself of the clawing lust she’d cursed him with, but a week was all he had. Time was of the essence. If avoiding him was her plan, he would simply have to make it difficult for her.

After breakfast, he’d gone for a three-mile run outside on the resort grounds in an attempt to dull the sexual frustration. It hadn’t worked. Not at all. He figured unless he could get Julie to give in to their mutual need, he’d wear out the soles in his sneakers before the week ended.

Jesus, the way she’d pumped those hips as she came… Reed gritted his teeth at the memory. He’d wanted to push those panties to the side and give her a good, hard f*ck against the door. The first in a series of many good, hard f*cks he planned on giving her. The only thing that held him back was the chance that she actually thought he was Logan. Oh, he knew she’d convinced herself of it, at least partly. Call him arrogant, but he knew when a woman was interested in what he had to offer. Julie was interested. Now he had to convince her of that.

The alternative would be to abandon the chase. Let her and Golden Boy hook up, like everyone probably assumed they would. Hell, they looked like a goddamn Banana Republic advertisement standing next to each other. Reed paused in the center of the lobby, deciding which direction he would take to find Julie. He also took that moment to erase the image of Julie and Logan together. He’d never been jealous a day in his life, not over a woman. The feeling had to go and there was only one way to get rid of it.

Realizing he had no clue where Julie would be in the middle of the day, he drew his wedding itinerary out of his jeans pocket with a heavy sigh. He was carrying around a damn wedding itinerary. On pink and gold stationery with the words “True love doesn’t have a happy ending because it never ends” in raised script along the top. God help him if his team ever saw it. The very idea made him feel ill.

His gaze narrowed on the list. The next planned meeting wasn’t until six o’clock. Wine and Dine Welcome at Spago. Reed groaned inwardly. He’d rather chug nails. Would it be so much to ask for a Beers and Wings night? Or an Everyone Plan Your Own Shit Because We’re All Adults and Don’t Require a Glittery Schedule night?

He considered his options. He could go check her room, although he wasn’t likely to find her there in the middle of the afternoon. Turning on his heel, he headed in the direction of Spago. Julie didn’t seem the type to sit still for five minutes. Her being the maid of honor and all, he had a feeling he would find her already decorating for tonight’s event, unable to stop herself from being a way hotter version of Martha Stewart. A walk to the other side of the hotel proved his theory correct. When he ducked under the doorjamb into the lounge, he found her halfway up a ladder hanging a string of garden lights. Her calf muscles flexed as she pushed higher to reach the ceiling, her dress billowing mid-thigh.

His pulse kicked up at the thought of surprising her with his tongue trailing up her thigh. He could love her with his mouth right where she stood. Reluctantly, he decided against it. If he startled her and she fell off the ladder, it wouldn’t exactly help his cause. Having made the decision to wait until she descended, Reed leaned against the doorjamb and watched her impatiently as she changed the placement of the lights six different times. Then her cell phone rang, making her jump and wobble on the ladder. Reed sprang forward, but she caught herself in time and answered on the third ring. He slumped back against the door with a slowly released breath.