Indiscretion

“Un-fucking-real.”

“What?”

The muscle in Dawson’s jaw flexed. “Nothing.”

I followed his line of sight and found a gorgeous brunette wearing a shimmery silver dress. “Who is that?”

“No one.”

We were all standing around in the parking lot, waiting to get on the golf carts and head to the ceremony. Guests were supposed to arrive at the other side of the park, but a few stragglers had shown up here, like this woman I’d never seen before.

Jack, one of the other groomsmen, pointed to the silver Mercedes. “Isn’t that Emily?”

Dawson grunted something that might’ve been a yes and looked away, but a few seconds later, his eyes found their way back to the woman. Lily had mentioned that Dawson’s ex had decided to come to the wedding, and I had a hunch that gorgeous woman was her. They looked like a matching set of hotness.

Ben walked over and laid a hand on Dawson’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. I had no idea she was bringing him.”

“Whatever,” Dawson grumbled. “I don’t give a shit.”

But it was clear he gave a whole lot of shit. I stood next to Dawson, watching the woman lean down to the rearview mirror and fix her lipstick before strutting our way. The guy with his arm around her back had highlighted hair and probably could’ve been a model for some brand that liked the look of fraternity douches. The two made their way to the corner of the lot where we were all waiting, but I noticed the woman’s steps falter when she locked eyes with Dawson. Definitely his ex.

One of the wedding attendants walked over and pointed to the golf carts waiting nearby. For a second I thought the show was going to end there, but then the woman headed right toward Dawson and me. She flashed a mega-watt smile and acted like there was a chance in hell Dawson might be happy to see her here. At least until she got close enough to notice his eye.

“What in the world happened to you?” she asked.

I felt tension radiating from the man next to me. Something had gone down between these two, and my gut said whatever it was, Dawson wasn’t in the wrong. He looked angry, but I sensed there was hurt underneath.

“Ceremony’s starting soon,” he grumbled. “You should get going.”

Mr. Phi Kappa Douchey put his arm around the woman’s back. “Come on, babe.”

I hated that this woman was standing there with a date and Dawson was all alone. So I decided to balance the score and grabbed hold of Dawson’s arm. “Honey, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

Dawson turned and looked at me like I had two heads, so I, of course, doubled down and snuggled closer. “You’ll have to excuse him. He’s a little embarrassed about the black eye. We were trying this new move…” I lowered my voice. “It’s sort of a reverse cowgirl, but you arch into a backbend and then…”

The woman looked as confused as Dawson, so I lifted my arms in the air to explain the position better and demonstrated by arching my back. When I felt a dozen eyes on me, I thought maybe I was making too big of a scene, so I brought my arms back to my sides. “Anyway, it’s my fault. When it hit, I started to flail and well, poor Dawson’s eye took a punch.”

The brunette’s mouth flattened to a grim line, while the douchey guy next to her flashed a dirty grin, and his eyes went to my cleavage.

I grabbed Dawson’s arm again, snuggling against his side. “Hope that wasn’t TMI.”

Dawson looked over like he was one-more-word-out-of-my-mouth away from feeling my forehead. But I was in too deep to abandon ship now. I fluttered my eyelashes. “Maybe we should make up a funny story like I punched you when you unexpectedly slipped into bed in the middle of the night so people don’t struggle with the truth. I think I made your friend uncomfortable, honey.”

The woman’s eyes bounced between Dawson and me. It was clear she didn’t know what the heck to say or do, so I helped out a little more. I flashed an over-the-top smile and thumbed toward the golf carts. “That way to the ceremony.”

She nodded, still looking confused, but she and her date walked away. I watched them climb onto the golf cart and start down the path into the woods, then grinned up at Dawson.

“She was definitely jealous.”

“Or thought you were insane. What the hell was that?”

My smile fell. “I was helping you.”

“Helping me what?”

“Make her feel some jealousy, too.”

“Too? I’m not jealous.”

I pursed my lips. “Your teeth were clenched so tight, it looked like you were going to crack a pearly white, Dawson.”

“Because that woman has a lot of balls showing up here with that asshole. He and I used to be friends. Not because I’m jealous.”

“I know jealous when I see it.”

“Did you hit your head with that cast on your arm?”

I scowled. “You don’t have to be a jerk. I was only trying to help.”

Dawson pointed to his face. “I have a black eye, and I’m going to have to sleep on a couch tonight. I think you’ve done enough.”

***

Ben and Lily’s wedding was the most beautiful ceremony I’d ever been to. There wasn’t a dry eye in the forest today. Even my partner had to wipe his eyes a few times. Though knowing him, he’d probably deny he had tears like he’d denied being jealous earlier.

Speaking of which, Mr. Grumpypants caught my eye from the other side of the dance floor and walked my direction.

I looked away, not wasting any more of my attention on a man who didn’t appreciate it. But when he arrived before me, he extended a hand. “Would you like to dance?”

I frowned. “There’s no obligation to ask me to dance just because I’m your partner in the wedding.”

“It’s no obligation.” He added, “Please?”

I rolled my eyes, yet placed my hand in his. Dawson led us to the dance floor and wrapped his arm around my back, pulling me close. I’d never admit it, but it felt damn good.

“I owe you an apology,” he said.

“Hmmm… Would that be for breaking my knuckles with your face, insulting my dog, or yelling at me when I was only trying to help? You’re going to have to be a little more specific.”

He smiled. “All of it. But I was referring to what you did with Emily this afternoon.”

“Her name is Emily, huh?”

Dawson nodded.

“There was a mean girl at my high school who made fun of my winter boots for being Schmuggs and not Uggs. Her name was Emily, too.”

“Must run in the name.”

“Is she?” I asked. “A mean girl, I mean?”

Dawson let out a deep breath. “She wasn’t always.”

“How long were you two together?”

“Not long. Three months. But we were friends for years.”

“Can I ask what happened?”

“You could, but that assumes I know the answer. We were casually dating, not exclusive or anything. One day she asked me if I’d been out with anyone else. I was honest and said yes. She didn’t seem upset about it. A few days later, I walked into our office to find her getting railed by a friend of ours. On my goddamned desk.”

My eyes bulged. “That sucks. Is it that guy she’s here with today?”

“It is.”

“For what it’s worth, he looks like a douchey frat boy.”

Dawson’s lip twitched. “His name is fucking Tad.”

“I bet he says bro a lot, and probably pronounces it more like bruh, too. Bruh, did you see that chick I went out with last night? She was smokin’.”

Dawson chuckled. “That’s pretty damn spot on. Though the ladies do love him, for some reason.”

“I suspect that’s only true when you’re unavailable.”

“Thank you. My ego was feeling as beat up as I look.”

“You said, ‘I walked into our office’… Does that mean you work with her?”

Dawson nodded. “She’s my partner.”

“Oooh. Messy.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Emily watching us. It made me smile that she didn’t seem happy. “Don’t look now, but your mean girl is at three o’clock, and she looks like she’s regretting her bad decisions. I think my ploy to make her feel jealous worked.”

“Wasn’t a hard job. Emily doesn’t like it when people are prettier than her.”

That stupid flutter went off in my belly yet again, even if he was just being nice.

“And for the record,” Dawson said, “I really wasn’t jealous. I’m more pissed off that she’s turned shit at work into a living hell. She acts like I’m the one who did something wrong, stomping around like it was me who screwed someone on her desk.”

“It sounds like maybe you hurt her by admitting you were seeing other people, and she wanted to hurt you back.”

The song we were swaying to came to an end, and the DJ asked everyone to find their seats. Dawson didn’t loosen his grip.

“Hang on a minute.”

I tipped my head up to look at him.

“Are we still playing a couple? You know, to piss off Emily.”

“Sure. If you want to.”

He slid one hand up my back, then brought it around to cup my cheek. Our faces were so close, his breath tickled my lips. Dawson stroked my cheek with his thumb. “I should probably kiss you then. You know, if she’s watching.”

My eyes slanted to where Emily had been standing. She was now sitting on her date’s lap, busy playing kissy face with him. But when my gaze returned to Dawson, the way he was looking at me took my breath away. He leaned closer, and it felt like we were the only two in the room. “Is she watching?”

I nodded.

He smiled. There was something almost sinister in the way his lips curved at the edges, and it made me wonder if he knew I was full of shit. But before I could debate it too long, he pulled my face to his and kissed me.

It was just a light brush of our lips. Probably enough to make his ex jealous, if she was watching, but definitely not enough to quell the desire I currently felt. I wasn’t sure what the hell came over me—maybe it was the year of celibacy, or maybe it was the glass of wine I’d had a few minutes before we hit the dance floor—but I needed more. And so… I decided to take it. Right here, right now.

My fingers tangled into Dawson’s hair, and I held him to me. Our lips parted, tongues collided, and gentle flew out the window. The kiss quickly grew desperate. Dawson grabbed a thick clump of my hair, and he yanked my head back to gain access to my neck. A moan vibrated between us, and I wasn’t sure if it was me or him. It felt like this man wanted to swallow me whole, and in the moment, I would have let him, even on the dance floor.

I was breathless and woozy by the time our kiss broke. Our chests heaved up and down, and I couldn’t feel my legs. When my hazy vision came into focus, I found Emily watching again. I cleared my throat, but my voice was still small. “She saw.”

A slow smile spread across Dawson’s handsome face. “Who gives a shit? That was for me, not her.”