Best Man with Benefits (Wedding Dare, #4, McCade Brothers, #3)(37)
Before any part of her could bother to deny she’d fallen for him, commotion erupted on the other side of the ballroom. Christine yelled at Tyler, poked him in the shoulder, and yelled some more while Kady stood between them like a referee between two battling coaches. Finally Tyler stalked off in one direction, and Christine hobbled away in the other. Kady lost it and burst into tears.
Apparently even smart, tough, slightly intimidating soon-to-be-sister-in-laws had their limits, and Kady’s ended somewhere around watching her brother and her best friend tear into each other mere days before her wedding. Sophie couldn’t really say why she rushed over to comfort Kady. She had Colt to lean on, and he was already running over, but maybe because her own frustration and disappointment were so close to the surface, she empathized. Kady had signed on for a fun-filled week with friends and family, leading up to what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Instead she’d gotten a bunch of drama and conflict. Sophie slapped a lock on her own conflict and drama and headed over to do whatever she could.
In the end, “whatever she could” didn’t turn out to be all that much. Kady was understandably upset by the scene in the ballroom, and Sophie didn’t have the first clue what had gone down between Christine and Tyler, let alone any idea how to fix things. She left Colt and Kady at their door with an utterly useless, “Don’t worry. Everything will work out.”
Right. Why would either of them take comfort from the platitudes of a woman whose idea of conflict resolution generally involved running away? That had to change. She stiffened her spine and marched to the elevator. New Sophie was extremely capable of speaking her mind, and someone was overdue for an earful.
When the elevator opened on six she steamed out and strode past her room and straight on to Logan’s. She raised her fist to pound on the door, then hesitated when a little voice in the back of her head whispered, What if he’s in there with Regan and they’re…
They’re in for a rude interruption… She banged on the door, and had her fist poised to do it again when the door swung open. Logan grabbed her by the arms and hauled her into the room. Before she knew quite what had happened he’d slammed the door behind her and had her backed up against the hard surface. Her breath rushed out in a startled gust.
“Let go of me,” she said and tried to shove him away. He didn’t budge an inch, but the press of his body against hers set five-alarm fires in all her vulnerable zones. She had a quick mental flash of her wispy new panties disintegrating from the heat.
“Whose attention were you after in that dress, Sophie?” His voice held a note of something primitive she’d never heard before, and certain overstimulated intimate muscles fluttered in reaction.
“Why do you care?” She couldn’t help scanning for signs of Regan, but she saw no evidence of the statuesque brunette. “Seems like you were too busy with Regan to notice anyone else. Where is she? Don’t tell me she’s come and gone already. How disappointing.”
“Regan?” He looked confused for a moment, and then…he burst out laughing. The jerk. Mild-mannered, introverted Sophie officially left the building and stands-up-for-herself Sophie slugged him in the stomach.
She might as well have punched a wall. He barely flinched, but her hand wept from the impact with his unyielding abs. Following instinct, she brought her throbbing knuckles to her mouth.
He drew her fist away from her lips and kissed it. “Feel better?”
“No.” She yanked her hand back. The bastard had the nerve to grin at her. The little groove appeared beside his mouth and she had an uncharacteristic urge to slap it off his face.
“How about now?” He snuck his hand under her skirt and stroked her sex through the microscopic panties that offered no defense whatsoever.
Her whole body tensed at the contact. The power of speech fled. All she could do was cling to his shoulders and stare up at him helplessly while the wet sounds of his long fingers sliding in, out, and around her private parts like he owned them filled the otherwise silent room.
A low, appreciative groan rumbled from Logan’s throat. He dropped his head until his lips were next to her ear. “Now I know why you’re so cranky. This little scrap of underwear you’ve got on is soaked. Must be very…uncomfortable.”
She’d bite her tongue before confirming, although obviously, her body was giving him all the confirmation he needed. That scared her, realizing what little control she had over her reactions to him. She was mad, damn it. She shouldn’t be holding her legs open and grinding against his hand like a desperate woman unable to resist his touch.
“This sweet little spot needs some TLC. Here’s the deal, Soph. You admit it was me you thought about when you got dressed this evening, and I’ll kiss it better.”
Her eyes nearly crossed at the notion of his mouth replacing his hand. Her inner muscles issued their own answer. He must have felt the spasm because he whispered, “Should I take that as a yes?”
She pressed her lips together—her own pathetic version of defiance.
“Stubborn? I should warn you, I can be stubborn, too.” So saying, he removed his hand. She wanted to burst into tears at the instant and overwhelming feeling of deprivation. “Who were you thinking about tonight?” he repeated.
Pride forbade her from admitting she’d dressed for him and tried to turn herself into the kind of woman a man like him belonged with, because she’d failed so miserably he’d spent the entire time in the arms of another woman and barely spared her a second glance. She didn’t know what kind of game he was playing with her, but she wanted no part of it…except now he was kissing his way down her throat, and into the vee between her breasts, and she couldn’t find the willpower to tell him to stop.