He smiled warmly at Grandma Crawford, before his eyes fell to me. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“That’s a good boy. Now I must go and find that son of mine and demand a brandy.” Grandma Crawford, seemingly happy with his answer, shuffled over to where Eden and Ky were talking to guests, and left me alone with Josh.
“Come dance with me,” his husky voice said, more demanding than asking.
“We are being watched,” I whispered.
“By who?”
“Tori.”
Josh shifted his stance and looked over his shoulder. Tori was standing on the other side of the yard with Eden, but her gaze was focused entirely on Josh and me. The moment she saw Josh looking, she smiled, and I swear she pushed her boobs out.
“I don’t care who’s watching us. I want to dance with my date, even though she’s been avoiding me most of the night.”
“You’ve been busy.”
“Come dance with me, Ashy.”
I chanced a look at the hand he held out and sighed. The thought of being in his arms as our bodies swayed together was overpowering, and something I couldn’t deny that I wanted. I was failing miserably in the promise I made to myself that I’d stay away from him, that I would avoid any situations with the potential of making me lose control.
My hand joined his as if magnets were pulling us together, and Tori was forgotten. The warmth it provided was overpowering, and immediately I panicked at the sensation it sent through me. On instinct, I began to pull away, but his hold tightened, taking away any chance to escape. As he led me to the impromptu dance floor, I smiled at Grandma Crawford, who looked at us with a wistful expression.
When we reached the middle, Josh wrapped his arms around my waist and I wrapped mine around his neck.
“So why have you been avoiding me?” he asked softly. “And don’t use Tori as an excuse.”
“She has been hanging off you all night. I am not a fan of being a third wheel.”
He leaned down until his breath hit my ear. “You are number one, always.”
The music floated through the air, and silence fell between us while my brain screamed at me. You are number one. As our bodies began swaying along to the seductive tempo, I lost all sense of control and reason. Being in his arms, feeling the firmness of his body pressed against mine and his words penetrating my deepest memories, made me lose my inhibitions. My fingers found the edge of his hair on the back of his neck, and my nails ran through the thickness. He groaned softly, and his eyes slammed shut as he shifted his body closer to mine. My hips pushed into his, and his fingers dug into my skin through the satin covering my body in silent warning.
“Remember where we are, Ashy,” he muttered in a thick voice. “Even though it feels fucking incredible and I want to taste those sweet lips of yours again, I know I can’t.”
Realization slammed into me, and my hands jumped, moving to a safer, less tempting, and less risky place on his back. With a sigh, I dropped my head to his shoulder and closed my eyes as I got lost in the movement.
“You aren’t encouraging my desire to give up men.” I took the chance to inhale the mixture of his aftershave and soap that I adored. “Maybe London men will be less tempting.”
“You aren’t moving to London,” he said sternly.
“I am.”
“Nope.”
“Josh, I am moving to London. You have no say.”
“I might not have a say, but your heart and body will, and my plan is to make you completely forget about the fucked up idea to run away to London. Now if we don’t stop talking about this, and if you keep firing that sassy mouth of yours, I’m going to want to rip your dress off your body and fuck you in front of my family to show you how serious I am.”
I gasped and pulled my face away from the confines of his shoulder. This was the first time he mentioned anything about fucking me. My stomach twisted, my heart hammered, and my breathing died. His eyes burned into mine with a fierce look of possession and ownership. I couldn’t stop myself from dropping my gaze to his lips. My champagne buzz was causing me to think of highly-inappropriate things, like wanting him to rip my dress clean off my body, slide into me, and make me forget all my fears and insecurities that revolved around him.
“You think I don’t want to fuck you?” he asked disbelievingly, and took a step back to stare at me.
“Stop saying that.” I dropped my gaze and focused on the collar of his shirt.
“Stop saying what? I’m not going to hide the fact that I want inside you,” he whispered with intent and purpose. The heat of his breath on my ear and the closeness of our bodies collided fiercely and sent me into an uncontrollable spin of emotions. He wanted inside of me. He wanted to claim me again. Oh, how I had wished to hear those words so many times over the years, but now I was cynical. I was bruised and damaged. I had given up all thought of having Josh, because we were so different now.
I dropped my head back to his shoulder and his arms tightened around my waist. This wasn’t a conversation to be had in the middle of his parent’s backyard with his grandma watching closely. As the second song began, our bodies swayed in perfect sync. My head was still resting on his shoulder, his arms were snaked around my waist, and his hands were positioned on the small of my back. I didn’t think anything could shatter the comfort I felt right at that moment. I was so devastatingly wrong. Josh’s body went rigid and his arms tightened almost to the point of pain around me. My head shot up with a gasp and I looked at him. His features turned fierce and stone-like, and his eyes had transformed into almost pure black. Hatred was beaming off him as he looked over my shoulder, and it confused the hell of me.
My confusion didn’t last for long.
“What the fuck?” Josh hissed and removed his arms from around my waist. It all happened in a flash. He pushed me behind him protectively, and didn’t let go of my hand. Just as I was about to curse at him for nearly ripping my arm out of its socket, I saw my past collide headfirst with my present.
Lachlan was walking through the crowd, his eyes latched firmly onto me, with Ky and Eden on either side of him. He walked with a cocky step, his lips smirking and arrogance beaming off him. This could not be happening. My reflexes ignited and I squeezed Josh’s hand tightly in a silent demand to gain some of his strength to face the unknown.
“Surpri—” Eden started, but was interrupted by Josh’s fury.
“Get the fuck out of here!” Josh roared and pushed away from me, leaving me standing with my mouth agape and my fists clenching at my sides. Eden jumped out of the way as Josh barreled toward Lachlan. Shock registered on her face, and she immediately looked at Ky before her eyes flew to me.
Ky rushed at Josh, just as he reached Lachlan. “What the fuck, Josh?” Ky demanded, confused at his brother’s reaction to seeing who he thought was my boyfriend.
Josh didn’t answer Ky, as his entire focus was squarely on Lachlan. He got in his face and stood chest to chest in an intimidating stance. Josh shifted forward quickly, and pushed his shoulder into Lachlan’s chest, sending him stumbling backward. Lachlan refused to break his stare on me, and the longer it remained the more on edge I became. I was beyond angry—I was furious, I was murderous. I glared at him with every ounce of disgust I had.
“What are you doing here?” Josh demanded. I had never witnessed Josh this furious before. The vein in his neck was pulsating, and the air around him thundered with the intent to destroy Lachlan.
Finally, Lachlan looked away from me and turned his glare to Josh. “I was invited here by my friends to surprise my girl.”
My fury reached a fever pitch. How dare he come here and say this shit. I felt my eyes moisten with unshed tears. Not tears of sadness or remorse, but rather complete and utter frustration. I wanted this over.