Baiting the Maid of Honor (4 page)

“Good choice,” she threw over her shoulder as she clicked away on her sky-high heels.

Reed and Brock watched in silence as Regan joined Julie and Logan’s conversation. With an arm

draped over Julie’s shoulders, she appeared to be regaling them with a funny story. Reed couldn’t

help but smile when her fingers slipped inside Julie’s purse and replaced
his
room key with Logan’s,

just in time for her story to wrap up. Without a backward glance, she sailed off toward the bar.

“That’s one hell of a woman,” Brock remarked beside him.

“Careful. She’s trouble.”

“Uh-huh. The good kind.”

With a shake of his head, Reed turned his attention back to Julie, trying to decide how he felt about

being on the receiving end of a seduction meant for someone else. She held a fresh glass of

champagne in her hand and she’d started squinting at Logan as if she couldn’t see him quite clearly in

her tipsy state. Why he found that trait…insanely cute…he couldn’t begin to imagine. What he
didn’t

find cute at all was the way she’d begun swaying toward Logan, using his arm for balance.

She’d clearly reached her limit for the night and Reed didn’t take advantage of women. But the

alternative was someone else taking advantage of her, and he couldn’t allow that either. He’d let her

come to him in the dark, thinking he was Logan. Then he’d erase Golden Boy from her memory

completely.

When Julie said her good-byes and left the lounge, anticipation heated his belly. He tossed back the

remaining third of his beer and headed for his room. To wait for his girl.

Chapter Five

Julie’s bare feet sank into the carpeted hallway as she crept toward Logan’s room. Halfway there,

she’d noticed her lack of footwear, but for the life of her couldn’t remember taking off her heels. And

in her happily buzzed, slightly groggy state, going all the way back seemed like an awful lot of effort.

Julie cast a look over her shoulder, looking for—what? Was she hoping someone would stop her?

Give her an excuse to turn back?

She prowled down the hallway with renewed determination. A full-grown woman feeling guilty

about good old-fashioned sex. Just plain pitiful. That’s all it would be. Two consenting adults

blowing off a little steam.

Her head dropped forward as she failed to convince herself. If she’d been comfortable with the

notion of casual sex, she would have come right out and asked Logan for it in the lounge, instead of

skulking around the resort like some kind of cartoon robber. She’d never been good at this sort of

thing. After consuming a bottle of champagne, the idea of sneaking in and out of Logan’s room,

remaining hidden in the dark during the entire physical transaction, had seemed like a genius plan. No

small talk or awkward attempts at seduction. She wouldn’t have to worry about which way to tilt her

head or if she was smiling too much. In the dark, none of that would matter. She’d been so sure of her

strategy, but now that the moment grew near, she felt her courage waning.

Well, that was half the reason for her hesitation, anyway.

The other half stood approximately six foot three inches tall and oozed irreverence from every

pore. Reed. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her once in the lounge, except to address Regan. She’d liked

being the center of his attention. Which didn’t make a darn lick of sense. Their acquaintance so far

had been brief, but she was certain of one thing.

She didn’t like him. With the thought came another uneasy glance over her shoulder.

Julie would be the first to admit her life had been easy. She’d grown up privileged and given many

advantages. Throughout her life, she’d encountered the look permanently etched on Reed’s face.

Disdain. Mockery. He probably assumed he kept every thought hidden, but she could read him like a

book. This entire wedding and all its frippery was an inconvenience to him and for some reason, he’d

decided to make her the source of his annoyance.

Yet here she stood outside Logan’s door, thinking about Reed instead. All the more reason to knock

on Logan’s door and put the giant bastard out of her mind. Involuntarily, she winced at thinking the

word “bastard,” even if she hadn’t said it out loud. Her Aunt Sylvie would skin her alive for having

such an unladylike thought. Tomorrow she would try to find Reed’s silver lining, Julie resolved with

a nod. No sense in holding on to any hostility when she was determined to relax and enjoy the

weekend with her rarely seen friends. If she felt any attraction for him, well, that would end tonight.

Once she seduced another man in the dark…without any discussion beforehand, Reed would be out of

her head. She just needed to go on in and have the sex.

Julie glanced down at the key in her palm, which she’d squeezed so hard, it had left an imprint.

Stop being a coward.
You’re a good girl every second of your boring life. You wanted to step

outside your comfort zone? Here is your opportunity.
With a fortifying breath, she slid the key into

the lock. Then she hesitated. Did she want to do this? Obnoxiously, Reed’s image swam through her

mind once more. It wouldn’t be right, would it? To seduce one man while thinking of another? She

started to remove the key, but the door swung open.

A big hand snaked out through the opening and pulled her inside. Before she could utter a single

word, the door slammed shut and her back hit the hard wood. In a split second, she’d gone from the

bright hallway to complete darkness and it took her a moment to get her bearings. The quick

movement made the champagne in her system kick up a bigger fuss than two grannies competing in an

apple pie bake-off.

As she attempted to steady herself, she felt warm hands circle her bare ankles. At once, awareness

raced up her calves and weakened her knees. Her breath hitched in her throat as those hands stroked

higher up the backs of her legs, fingers dragging lightly on her skin and shooting lightning to her core.

Higher, until they reached her thighs, which were already flexing in anticipation. Then she felt damp

pressure trail over the inside of her knee. A mouth? When the unmistakable sensation of a tongue

licked over the flesh of her inner thigh, she slumped back onto the door with a breathy moan.

Briefly, she wondered why this felt so right, when seconds ago, the idea of being with Logan had

felt infinitely wrong. Rational thought fled as seeking, greedy hands followed the tongue’s path,

kneading and smoothing as they went. They could have only one destination. She needed to be touched

there so badly, she ached beyond the barrier of her panties, where she’d grown increasingly wet.

Julie’s thighs began to part when it registered how fast they were moving. How, in mere seconds,

she’d gone from seducer to
seduced
. Before the door opened, she’d had every intention of backing

out, yet now this man’s touch had transformed her into a willing participant. His roughness felt

unfamiliar, but her body responded as though it had been…
expecting
this kind of treatment from

someone.

Just not from Logan.

From Reed, though…yes. Her heartbeat accelerated as the hands, the mouth on her legs became his.

Oh, God
. Lust twisted in her belly. A man like Reed would move fast, give her one choice only. To

receive pleasure. She shouldn’t like it. Shouldn’t need it. And this wasn’t Reed touching her, it was

Logan.
Logan
. Confusion shone through the growing need. They needed to slow down so she could

figure out where it was coming from.

She stayed his ascending hand with her own. “W-wait. Aren’t you going to…”

His growl of frustration vibrated against her thigh and she sucked in a breath. Julie’s brow

furrowed as she heard the noise. A noise so unlike the congenial best man. Was it possible she’d

misjudged him? She thought they were two like-minded people, interested in polite, tidy sex, but

maybe she’d been mistaken. That’s what she got for judging a book by its cover. Once again, an image

of Reed popped into her mind, but she determinedly stowed it away.

“Aren’t you going to at least kiss me first?” No answer. “I’m not playing coy or anything, mind

you…I just reckon, well, that it’s the decent, honest thing to do is all. Under the circumstances.”

He sighed loudly and she felt him rise to his feet. His larger frame crowded her against the door,

fitting them together in a way that was blatantly indecent. She felt his arousal, thick at her belly. Her

breasts flattened against his chest in a way that felt sinful and divine simultaneously. Warm breath

puffed out against the top of her head.

“Kissed where?” His voice was a rough, almost inaudible whisper that bathed her in blistering

heat. “Your mouth? Or the slick little pussy you’re hiding from me?”

Julie gasped loudly in the darkness, her entire world tilting on its axis. No one had ever dared to

speak to her in such a crude manner. She opened her mouth to demand an apology when a loud sound

echoing in the room brought her back to reality. She realized it was her own heavy, panting breath.

No. No way. It couldn’t have turned her on. She couldn’t actually
like
his foul words. Could she? Her

body hummed like a swarm of bees, the body she continued to press against him so very intimately.

Begging for even more contact.

What are you going to do, Julie? Walk away when you’re finally feeling something with a man?

When someone has finally succeeded in evoking an emotion other than mild interest?

“Both.” She swallowed hard, unable to keep the image of Reed at bay this time. His mouth. His

tongue. She wanted them so bad it pained her. “Kiss me in both places.”

She felt a ripple of shock go through him, and her body answered it. With a loud groan, his mouth

came down on hers, hard and punishing. He kissed her almost angrily, forcing her lips apart and

sweeping his tongue inside in a way meant to provoke her. Incite her. Julie couldn’t get enough of his

hard mouth moving like a brand over hers. She dug her fingers into the collar of his shirt and tugged

him down as she pushed higher on her toes to meet him. They kissed furiously until breath ran scarce,

pausing to draw air and bite at each other’s lips. Not one single coherent thought could be formed

around the heat coursing through her, concentrated on the apex between her legs. She felt needy, out of

control,
hot.
With a sound of frustration, she clutched his shoulders and hitched her legs up around his

waist.

An animalistic sound tore from his throat as his hips notched firmly between her thighs. Julie

opened her mouth to issue a demand for more pressure, but her backside slammed into the door with

the force of his thrust before she could voice her need. She cried out into the encompassing darkness

as he growled into her neck.

“More. More. More.”

“More what, baby?” His grated whisper sent electricity racing down her spine. “This?” He hooked

his arms beneath her knees and spread her legs so wide Julie winced at the twinge of pain. Then he

positioned the bulging length that pressed insistently behind his fly over her sensitive flesh and

grinded her back against the door. Teeth sank into her shoulder as he drove himself against her over

and over. Julie dimly registered the sounds of the door bumping and squeaking in its frame with each

potent, demanding thrust. Pleasure, foreign and intense, spiraled through her system, rendering her

incapable of anything but feeling. Taking what he’d correctly judged she needed. Her thighs tightened

around his waist as she felt the dam inside of her giving way. She bit her lip and absorbed five more

thrusts, his erection sliding with a mind-numbing friction over the sensitive part of her still shielded

by silk underwear. Then she lost her grip on the present, sensations imploding within her like a

ticking time bomb. She squeezed his hips between her legs and rode out her orgasm, his hands digging

into the flesh of her bottom to help her get as close as humanly possible while her hips bucked.

His hard mouth worked over hers, swallowing her strangled cries, growling and thrusting his

tongue deep with each of her frantic movements. When she came down from her climax, breath racing

in and out past her lips, she heard his muffled whisper at her ear. “Oh baby, I could have come, just

like this. With your fuck-me thighs opened up wide for me on the door. Now?” He laughed darkly.

“Nothing will satisfy me unless I taste all that heat first.”

As he levered her against the door with his body and began to strip off his shirt, a tingle of

uncertainty raced over Julie’s skin, almost enough to blot out the unmistakable longing. She somehow

battled the latter feeling and focused on his words. Since she’d entered the room, he hadn’t spoken