woman shout her name in surprise.
I sank down on the stone pavers beside the gazebo. The position of the stars told me it was late. The reception would have to wind down soon and Bash would be irritable if I was still wandering around instead of ready to help clean up.
Polaris, otherwise known as the North Star, winked at me. Funny, I’d never given stars much thought when I was a kid, but I’d read so many books in prison and some of them were on astronomy. So now I knew all about stars. I knew all about history and poetry and stars and goddamn Shakespeare. I’d never been a fan of books until I was locked away. Then books and all the mysteries they contained became my best and only friends. If I hadn’t spent years in a cell I probably wouldn’t know one quarter of the shit that occupied my head these days.
But I’d know other things instead. Like how to dance with a beautiful woman without grinding her like a sex-starved freak. Like how to have a casual conversation about music and movies and work and fun. I would have known all kinds of things.
Maybe I would have even known about love.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Evie
My legs still hadn’t lost their rubbery shakiness when Stone’s broad shoulders melted into the darkness. He’d moved on with swift silence, like a giant, excessively muscled cat.
Apparently he was able to recover quite quickly from that sexually charged moment by the lake. I, on the other hand, still hadn’t quite caught my breath. The feel of his hands on me, the heat of his body, had been so startling, so thrilling. When his lips touched my neck I nearly lost control and sank to the ground in a conquered puddle. I’d never been so turned on in all my life.
If he’d wanted more I would have let him take it. Just like that. Some virtual stranger.
Not just any stranger, but one who had apparently spent years in prison for a vague crime.
A stranger who was both shy and bizarrely eloquent when he talked to me even as it seemed like the effort was strangling him.
A stranger who was so insanely sexy that I understood for the first time in my life that ‘panty-melting’ was a real quality possessed by certain men.
Stone.
I didn’t know his last name. Considering how quick he was to escape me, it wasn’t likely that I ever would. Maybe he had a girlfriend.
Or…shit…a wife.
I shook the notion off as highly unlikely. He might have just decided it was disturbing when some needy, nerdy chick clung to him in the darkness.
My face was hot as I slowly made my way back to Briana’s reception. Laughter burst from the night and somehow seemed directed at me. I wasn’t being coy when I told Stone that men were persistent mysteries. They were. At least the ones who crossed my path.
“Evie!” Kendra materialized from the dancing crowd as soon as I rejoined the party. The bridesmaid dress we both wore looked far more glamorous on her tall figure. “Where have you been?” she demanded, appraising me. “You look strange. Guilty.”
“Went out for a smoke,” I lied.
“You don’t smoke.”
“I started tonight. That’s why I look guilty.”
My friend studied me with a frown. Then she shook her black hair and grabbed my hand. “They’re cutting the cake.”
“Good. I’d like some cake.”
Kendra looked me over shrewdly. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. By the way did Briana’s cousins say anything?”
“Like what?”
“Well, I think there was some nutty girl in a flapper bridesmaid dress telling people to go fuck themselves in the ladies’ room.”
Kendra’s mouth twitched. “I hadn’t heard that.”
“Good. She must have left then.”
I clapped along with everyone else while Briana and Gavin cut the cake. I waved and blew kisses as they left the wedding.
Then I went home and tossed and turned for hours until I let my fingers stray between my
I sank down on the stone pavers beside the gazebo. The position of the stars told me it was late. The reception would have to wind down soon and Bash would be irritable if I was still wandering around instead of ready to help clean up.
Polaris, otherwise known as the North Star, winked at me. Funny, I’d never given stars much thought when I was a kid, but I’d read so many books in prison and some of them were on astronomy. So now I knew all about stars. I knew all about history and poetry and stars and goddamn Shakespeare. I’d never been a fan of books until I was locked away. Then books and all the mysteries they contained became my best and only friends. If I hadn’t spent years in a cell I probably wouldn’t know one quarter of the shit that occupied my head these days.
But I’d know other things instead. Like how to dance with a beautiful woman without grinding her like a sex-starved freak. Like how to have a casual conversation about music and movies and work and fun. I would have known all kinds of things.
Maybe I would have even known about love.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Evie
My legs still hadn’t lost their rubbery shakiness when Stone’s broad shoulders melted into the darkness. He’d moved on with swift silence, like a giant, excessively muscled cat.
Apparently he was able to recover quite quickly from that sexually charged moment by the lake. I, on the other hand, still hadn’t quite caught my breath. The feel of his hands on me, the heat of his body, had been so startling, so thrilling. When his lips touched my neck I nearly lost control and sank to the ground in a conquered puddle. I’d never been so turned on in all my life.
If he’d wanted more I would have let him take it. Just like that. Some virtual stranger.
Not just any stranger, but one who had apparently spent years in prison for a vague crime.
A stranger who was both shy and bizarrely eloquent when he talked to me even as it seemed like the effort was strangling him.
A stranger who was so insanely sexy that I understood for the first time in my life that ‘panty-melting’ was a real quality possessed by certain men.
Stone.
I didn’t know his last name. Considering how quick he was to escape me, it wasn’t likely that I ever would. Maybe he had a girlfriend.
Or…shit…a wife.
I shook the notion off as highly unlikely. He might have just decided it was disturbing when some needy, nerdy chick clung to him in the darkness.
My face was hot as I slowly made my way back to Briana’s reception. Laughter burst from the night and somehow seemed directed at me. I wasn’t being coy when I told Stone that men were persistent mysteries. They were. At least the ones who crossed my path.
“Evie!” Kendra materialized from the dancing crowd as soon as I rejoined the party. The bridesmaid dress we both wore looked far more glamorous on her tall figure. “Where have you been?” she demanded, appraising me. “You look strange. Guilty.”
“Went out for a smoke,” I lied.
“You don’t smoke.”
“I started tonight. That’s why I look guilty.”
My friend studied me with a frown. Then she shook her black hair and grabbed my hand. “They’re cutting the cake.”
“Good. I’d like some cake.”
Kendra looked me over shrewdly. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. By the way did Briana’s cousins say anything?”
“Like what?”
“Well, I think there was some nutty girl in a flapper bridesmaid dress telling people to go fuck themselves in the ladies’ room.”
Kendra’s mouth twitched. “I hadn’t heard that.”
“Good. She must have left then.”
I clapped along with everyone else while Briana and Gavin cut the cake. I waved and blew kisses as they left the wedding.
Then I went home and tossed and turned for hours until I let my fingers stray between my
Similar Books
