“Thank you,” Elliot said again.
Lena glanced up at him, wondering for the second time what exactly he was thanking her for. Because if it was for the kiss, he was stealing her line. Hell, she was seriously considering buying him a card, engraved with fancy calligraphy, the whole nine yards. That hadn’t been a mere kiss. That had been… She had no words to even describe it.
“For all the ideas on the foundation,” he said, though the heat lingering in his eyes suggested that wasn’t all he was happy with.
She hoped he was just a good mind reader and that she hadn’t actually said any of that out loud. As flustered as she was at the moment, it was a good possibility.
“You’re welcome.” Her voice came out steady and clear. It helped her regain a little of her equilibrium. Until she looked up and saw his gaze lingering on her lips. Their eyes briefly met, and the smile he gave her this time was pure male satisfaction. He’d drawn a response from her and he liked it. And dammit, so did she. In fact, if there wasn’t a room full of kids right next to them…crap!
She walked to the door. Play time was over. Time to get back to the real world. Where she was on her own and knights in shining armor didn’t appear out of nowhere to make promises they’d never keep.
“Hey, can we talk again? About the foundation? Maybe be a sounding board for finalizing things before I pitch it to my parents?” Elliot asked.
Say no, say no, say no. “Sure, sounds great.”
Elliot beamed at her. He leaned in and planted a quick, sweet kiss on her cheek. “I’ll see you later, Lena.”
Her name on his lips sent a tremor through her, like he’d run his finger lightly up her spine. If they hadn’t been in front of the day care, she would have turned around and plastered herself against him. Run her hands over every inch of his body. Discovered what other amazing things he could do with that mouth.
But they did have an audience, one of whom was the little boy she’d never in a million years want to disappoint or embarrass. So she shoved those tantalizing thoughts as far down as she could get them and stepped away from him. Maybe it would be better to avoid him for the rest of the week. The last thing she wanted was for Tyler to actually see an ill-advised public display of inappropriate lust. He’d just get attached and confused. Hell, so would she. Better if she just kept away, for all their sakes.
“Bye, Elliot,” she said, her voice not quite as steady as it had been a moment before.
She turned the doorknob and left him smiling in the hallway.
Chapter Five
Elliot watched the clock, waiting while the minutes ticked by at an insanely slow pace. After Lena left him outside the day care center with a raging case of blue balls and a hard-on that hadn’t gone away until long after he’d returned to his room, she’d proceeded to do her best to avoid him. He didn’t know what the hell gave, because she was obviously into him, too. But he hadn’t been able to get her alone for the rest of the day. And that morning he’d missed her by seconds at breakfast, only catching a glimpse of her beet red face as she and Tyler high-tailed it out of the dining room.
But she couldn’t avoid him now. It had been declared mandatory for all wedding party members to attend the dance lessons that had come as part of the wedding package. His mother might not have been thrilled about her last daughter marrying someone like Oz, but throwing anything less than a spectacular wedding was beneath her. So, everyone involved in the wedding would learn how to hold their own on the dance floor whether they liked it or not.
Elliot had been less than excited. He knew how to dance. But now, it was a total godsend. Lena couldn’t get out of it anymore than he could. Even better, the bridesmaids and groomsmen were expected to dance with the one they’d be walking down the aisle with. As the brother of the bride and the sister of the groom, Elliot and Lena were a matched pair. He’d be able to spend at least an hour with Lena in his arms, and there was nothing she could do about it unless she wanted to face the wrath of his mother. And nobody wanted to do that.
There was not a drop of guilt in him for using the lesson as an opportunity to get closer to Lena. He’d felt her reaction when they’d kissed. She was just as drawn to him as he to her. He knew Tyler made things…complicated. But not touching her again sent a streak of something remarkably like panic coursing through him. He didn’t want to examine the strength of that emotion too closely. But he wasn’t willing to let her go so easily.
The clock finally hit 10:45, and he jumped up and headed out the door. He tried not to rush, but he still ended up being the first person in the ballroom. The instructor greeted him politely and returned to setting up the music. Elliot shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked on the balls of his feet, needing some sort of outlet for the nervous energy running through him.
Oz and Cher showed up next, a few more of the wedding party filtering in behind them. Cher’s eyes widened in surprise. She came over and gave him a quick hug.
“Didn’t think you’d show up at all, let alone be the first one here.”
Elliot fought to keep his face neutral. “It’s your wedding. I don’t want to shame you on the dance floor.” He winked at her.
She snorted. “Yeah, right. You could dance circles around everyone here.”
“True. But Mom declared we all be here, so here I be. Maybe I can teach the instructors a thing or two.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Cher said, laughing.
Lena walked in, holding Tyler’s hand, and Elliot’s blood raced. She looked around the room with a polite smile. And then she saw him and froze. She met his gaze, and Elliot’s world narrowed down until he saw no one but her. They stood like two statues, just staring at each other. His heart beat in his ears, drowning out everything else.
“Elliot?”
He blinked, his eyes flicking to his sister and then back to Lena. Her cheeks flamed red, and she looked at the floor, then glanced around like she was making sure no one had seen them staring at each other.
“Elliot? Hello?” Cher said again.
Elliot turned to find Cher looking back and forth between him and Lena before turning a speculating look to her soon-to-be husband. Oz must have been watching them watch each other, too, though his look had a little less speculation and a lot more big brother protective instinct packed into the frown he aimed at Elliot.
Elliot cleared his throat and backed away. “Looks like my partner is here,” he said, making his escape as quickly as possible.
He felt like he should be reassuring Oz that his intentions toward Lena were honorable or something. Except one, he had no idea what his intentions were, long term at least, and two, if anything besides a kiss was going to happen between them, it was probably something he should discuss with Lena first. And she didn’t seem to want to discuss what had happened between them at all, let alone let anything else happen. Something he sincerely hoped he could change her mind about.
He came to a stop right in front of her, watching with growing amusement as she tried to look everywhere but directly at him.
“Elliot!” Tyler said, beaming up at him.
“Hey there, little man. How’s it going today?”
Tyler pouted. “I have to dance with a girl.”
Elliot laughed and squatted down so he was on the same level as Tyler. “Ah, it’s not that bad.”
Tyler didn’t look like he believed him. “Really?”
“Really. In fact, it can be a lot of fun. Especially if you are dancing with the right girl.”
He glanced up at Lena, and she looked back at him, her forehead creasing. She didn’t look angry. More puzzled. He knew the feeling.
Tyler mulled that statement over for a second. “I have to dance with Abby. I played with her at day care yesterday.”