All I Want Is You (11 page)

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Authors: Kayla Perrin

BOOK: All I Want Is You
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Had he cheated on Chantal before?
“Did you hear what you just said?” Mikki asked.
Chantal pointed her finger at her. “This is my wedding, and I won't have you ruining it. I'm sorry Alex dumped you, but deal with it. Better yet, call him up. Work it out.”
“Chantal—”
“I'm not listening to any more of your lies.”
Mikki stared at her sister, as if seeing her for the first time. And suddenly, the sister she thought had such a perfect life didn't seem quite so perfect anymore. In fact, she wondered if her sister actually believed her own words. It was almost as if Chantal was protesting too much, and Mikki got the sense that Chantal didn't
want
to hear the truth.
Would she truly turn a blind eye if Ken was cheating on her? Even while married? Would Chantal ignore infidelity so that she could present to the world this perfect image she wanted to maintain?
“Please don't make the mistake Mom made.” Their father had had a long-term affair, one that had crushed their mother, yet she had forgiven him. As far as Mikki was concerned, she shouldn't have, but her mother had argued that she was doing what was best for the family. But her parents' relationship had never been the same, and Mikki couldn't ever remember seeing her mother and father truly being loving with each other. Mikki didn't want that kind of marriage for her sister.
“So now you're turning a harmless comment into an
affair
?” Chantal asked, her chest puffing out with anger.
“Chantal, I love you. That's the only reason I said anything. I . . . I thought you would want to know.”
“Well, you would. Only you would tell me something like this on my wedding day and expect me to say thank you.”
“Chantal—”
“Go to hell.”
Chantal marched off, and Mikki watched her go, feeling helpless.
Chapter 13
Mikki left the bathroom a few minutes after her sister did and went back to the elegantly decorated ballroom. Chantal and Ken were on the dance floor, and Chantal was looking into her husband's eyes while stroking his face.
It was an act, Mikki suddenly realized. She was playing the part of someone who didn't have a care in the world.
Funny how Mikki had never seen through the façade before. She was betting that Chantal had her own doubts about Ken, but maybe being married to the son of a megasuccessful business magnate was more important to Chantal than being married to someone who would be faithful to her.
“Hey.”
At the sound of the deep voice, Mikki turned around. Saw Barry standing behind her. “Barry, hi.”
“Where did you disappear to?” he asked.
“Ah, the ladies' room.” Mikki forced a smile.
“Will you dance with me?”
“Of course.”
Mikki let Barry take her hand and lead her onto the dance floor. He held her close, and she swayed her body with his to a love song by Mariah Carey, but she felt like crap. Her sister was pissed at her, and her brother-in-law had groped her.
Could life get any more peachy?
Barry urged her closer, and Mikki was aware that she was stiff. She was trying not to react to the touch of the hands that felt better on her body than anyone else's had.
But as the song continued, and Barry splayed his hands over the small of her back, Mikki closed her eyes and leaned against him. She rested her head on his shoulder, breathing in the scent of his cologne. It was intoxicating.
He was strong, and he was gorgeous. And in his arms, Mikki believed that there were still some decent guys left in the world.
Suddenly, Mikki was emitting a sob. The emotion of the day and all that had transpired finally got to her.
Barry eased back and looked at her. “Hey,” he said gently. “What's wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Barry wiped at the tear that had fallen down her face. “You're crying.”
“Because I'm happy.”
“Those aren't happy tears,” Barry said. “Talk to me.”
More tears fell, and Mikki brushed them away.
Then Barry was taking her hand and leading her out of the ballroom. He led her through the main entryway of The Delano, with its regal columns, wide lobby, bar, and chic seating areas.
“Tell me what's going on,” he said.
Mikki shook her head, unable to find her voice.
“Tell me,” Barry urged.
“I . . . It doesn't matter.”
“Of course it matters,” Barry countered. “And since it's got you upset, it matters all the more.”
Instead of speaking, Mikki leaned against his very strong chest. He wrapped his arms around her, and she sagged against him. It felt good to be in his arms. It felt good to have him as a safe place to fall. He felt like an anchor in a stormy sea.
“Mikki . . .”
“My sister's new husband propositioned me about an hour and a half ago.”
Barry eased back to look down at her. Confusion streaked across his face. “What?”
“That was my thought exactly. Here I was, coming out of the bathroom and I see Ken. I congratulated him again about getting married, and he asked if I would sneak into the bathroom with him. After groping my ass,” Mikki added so that Barry would be certain that she hadn't misunderstood his intentions.
“Son of a bitch.”
“He was telling me how good I looked, and what he wouldn't do for a piece of me. I . . . I couldn't believe it.”
Barry said nothing, but Mikki could see that he was seething.
“I told my sister,” Mikki went on. “I felt I had to. Ken kept looking at me while they were dancing . . . and she just looked so happy. . . . But Chantal thinks I'm making this up, that I wanted to ruin her day because I'm jealous. And because I'm miserable over being dumped by Alex.”
Mikki began to cry again, soft little sobs that stabbed at Barry's heart. He didn't want to see her hurt. Not by Alex. Not by Ken. Not by anyone.
He never had.
He held her against his chest, her body quivering as she cried. Rubbing a hand up and down her back, he said, “For what it's worth, you did the right thing.”
Mikki looked up at him, and he saw appreciation in her eyes. “I had to tell her,” she said. “Maybe Ken was just being stupid, but if she talks to him about it now, maybe that will help him know better than to behave like an asshole in the future. Right?”
“Of course.” Barry couldn't imagine marrying the woman he loved and hitting on anyone else, much less his own sister-in-law. He was thinking that
asshole
was too nice a term to describe Ken.
“I think I'll have a talk with him too,” Barry said.
“I don't know,” Mikki said, frowning. “If you talk to him, maybe Chantal will be more upset.”
“Like I mentioned before, Ken was always spoiled growing up. We weren't that close, because . . . well, you know what I was like growing up. I would never run in Ken's circles, cousin or not. But if he thinks he's going to marry your sister and continue being a player, then it's time I have a talk with him, man to man.”
“Not today, please. Chantal's already angry with me. Let her have the rest of her wedding day. Maybe that's what I should have done, told her tomorrow.”
“Hey,” Barry said softly, placing a finger beneath her chin. He could see in her eyes that she was beating herself up. “Any time you told your sister would have been a bad time. I'm sorry Ken put you in that position. I thought he loved your sister. Maybe he does but thinks fidelity is only required of other people, not him. Or maybe it was simply bad judgment. Whatever the case, I'm going to talk to him, make sure he knows that if he ever hurts her, he'll have to answer to me.”
“I only wanted to protect her.”
“And I'm sorry your sister didn't realize that.” Barry stroked her soft cheek. She looked so beautiful. Her dark skin, her bright eyes, and damn, those succulent lips. Barry should be kissing her right now, not having to comfort this beautiful woman because Ken had acted like a bastard.
As he stroked her face and looked into her eyes, more tears fell. Barry brushed them away with the pads of his thumbs, suddenly certain that something else was wrong. “What else is going on, Mikki? What is it that you're not telling me?”
She eased out of his embrace and hugged her torso. “I guess I'm just starting to realize that love is an illusion. Here my sister has just gotten married, and her husband is already hitting on me. Then, last night, I found out that my ex was cheating on me. I can't believe that I was dumb enough to believe he was going to propose to me over the holidays, when the pig was actually having an affair. I feel like true love doesn't exist right about now.”
“Is that how you really feel?” Barry asked, holding her gaze.
Mikki averted her eyes, and Barry moved forward, framing her face. He wanted to kiss her, right here in this hotel lobby, erase from her mind any doubt whatsoever. Because while there were loser men in the world whose sole goal was to get into as many panties as possible, there were also men who knew how to cherish and respect a woman.
“I don't know how to feel,” Mikki said.
“Not every guy is an asshole, Mikki. Tell me you know that.”
Barry gently stroked her face with his fingers, and damn if it didn't send a delicious thrill through her entire body. Mikki knew what he was asking her. To tell him that she knew
he
wasn't an asshole.
“I know that,” she told him.
“Good.”
He continued to stroke her face, his fingertips sending tingles of pleasure through her. She was supposed to be angry with men right now, not getting turned on by one.
But the truth was, Barry was no ordinary man. He had proven that in the bedroom and out of it. He had a gentleness about him, as well as strength. He was one of the good guys. Something she'd known back in high school.
“Want to get out of here?” he asked, his tone deep and sexy.
Just the suggestion of them leaving had Mikki's body awakening in a sexual way.
“We can talk. We don't have to—”
“But I want to.”
Barry grinned. “I didn't get to finish my statement.” “You didn't have to.”
And then Mikki encircled Barry's waist, tipped up onto her toes, and kissed him.
 
 
Mikki didn't bother saying her good-byes to anyone, just slipped out of the hotel with Barry so they could get a taxi to the Marriott.
A short while later, they were hurrying into his room. Once Mikki and Barry crossed the threshold and he closed the door, he swept her into his arms and planted his mouth on hers.
Unlike the last time, their kiss wasn't frenzied, speaking of an urgent need to make love. Instead, it was deep and gentle, the kind of kiss that conveyed tenderness and caring as well as heat.
Mikki slipped her arms up Barry's chest and across the expanse of his shoulders. She moaned against his lips, the feel of him turning her on.
Bringing both of her hands to the back of his neck, she opened her mouth wider, loving it when Barry's tongue swept into her mouth, twisting with her. Goodness, his lips felt amazing. Warm and sweet. He tasted of the red wine they had been consuming, and it was more potent on his lips than it had been from her glass.
He kissed her as his body urged hers to walk backward to his bed, and only then pulled his lips from hers. Mikki sat on the bed and looked up at him. And she couldn't help feeling lucky. Lucky to be connecting on such an amazing sexual level with a man like Barry.
Those broad shoulders beneath the tailored black blazer, the bow tie around his neck that she so badly wanted to undo . . . Every time she looked at him, she was aroused.
Barry sat on the bed beside her, his lips finding hers once more. With one hand, he gently stroked the length of her neck, and when Mikki sighed with pleasure, he lowered his hand to the bodice of her dress. He cupped her breast, and again she moaned, and Barry deepened the kiss. He tried without success to move the dress from her breasts. His hands went back up to her neck and to the straps, which he dragged down her shoulders.
But when he once again tried to get the bodice to budge, Barry broke the kiss and asked, “Is this dress made of iron or what?”
Mikki chuckled against his neck. “It's a form-fitting bodice. You have to undo the zipper under my arm.”
And with that, Barry rolled her over. Rolled her over and then planted a kiss between her shoulder blades, one that sent a tingle of pleasure right down her spine. Then he took both of her arms and stretched them above her head. Finding the zipper, he began to undo it, and Mikki felt the material loosening against her skin. She was wearing a strapless bra, and Barry unsnapped that from the back. Mikki expected him to turn her back over, but instead, he used the tips of his fingers to tease the skin on her back. They went up, down, around, making her heady with desire.
Once again, his lips found her back. He kissed a path from the base of her spine up to her neck. Mikki couldn't remember anything feeling as good.
Then, placing a hand beneath her shoulder, Barry urged her over. His eyes met hers as he reached for the material at the front of her dress and now pushed it out of the way. His eyes held hers as her breasts were exposed. There was a look of heat and lust in his eyes, but also something else. Something that made the breath catch in Mikki's throat.
Because mixed in with the heat she expected, there was also a look of tenderness and appreciation.
Covering both breasts with his palms, Barry lowered his mouth to hers.
This time as he kissed her, Mikki felt a balloon of heat swallow them both. It was as though they were becoming one.
This was much more than simply sexual. At least, more than any sexual experience Mikki had had before. What was happening with her and Barry was ripe with meaning, although Mikki knew not what it meant—only that what she was about to do with Barry was going to be something beyond simply having sex.
His tongue delved into her mouth, tangled with hers, and soon she was panting. He began to tweak both of her nipples at the same time, and oh, the sensation. Her entire body was exploding with pressure points of pleasure. Her vagina was thrumming, and her nipples were as hard as rocks.
Barry moved his mouth from hers and brought it down onto one solid peak, sighing with satisfaction as he took her nipple into his mouth. Mikki gasped, tightened her hands into fists. He began to suckle her, slowly at first, and then more fervently, as if he couldn't get enough of her.

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