With This Ring (1) (2 page)

Ah, a bitter
groomsman. There’s nothing better.

“I sleep just
fine. They’re usually divorced before the first anniversary anyway.”

Drew’s laughter
shatters the peacefulness of the garden.

“You’re funny.
And sexy. Two fantastic qualities in a woman.”

I look away for
a moment, blushing. G
et it together, Lily.

“And you’re MIA
when you should be at the altar with your best friend,” I say trying to be
stern, but failing miserably.

Drew sighs
heavily. “I know. Tell ya what. I’ll play nice if you save me a dance at the
reception.” He gives me a grin that he must use often to get women into his
bed.

“I don’t dance
at the reception. I work at the reception.”
Good for you, Lily. Stay focused
on the job.

“You can take a
break for one song. Let your loud-mouthed assistant run the show for the length
of one song. Four minutes.”

“Three minutes.”
Wait, did I just say that?

“Deal.”

Shit.

With an arrogant
smile, Drew rises to his feet and offers me his hand.

“Let’s go watch
my best friend make the biggest mistake of his life, shall we?”

I slip my hand
into his. The touch of his skin makes me a little lightheaded, and his fingers
tighten around mine as I try to maintain my balance.

“You okay?”

“Stupid shoes,”
I mutter.

“Right.”

Drew’s cocky
grin is back.

Damn him. He
already knows the effect he has on me.

Chapter 2

Drew

I’m sitting in
this garden, pissed as hell. How can Nick marry
her
? She’s just going to
ruin his life. Kellie is a bitch of Titanic proportions and only cares about
herself. This is so fucked up!

So, I sit in
this garden, trying to decide if I am going to get in my car and leave, or
stick around for my friend. I’m deep in thought when I hear someone say my
name.

I look up and
see the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on in my life. She stands
there wearing a simple skirt and jacket that shows off her curves. I start to
imagine what she would look like in just those heels and I get lost in that
thought. I could just tear her clothes off and take her right here in this
garden. Nobody’s around and it would help me forget the mistake my best friend
is about to  make. But, she seems pissed about something. I’ll have to try
to get close to her at the reception.

***

Lily

“My dear
friends, you have come together in this church so that the Lord may seal and
strengthen your love . . .”

The ceremony,
with its five hundred guests, is beautiful and extravagant, just as the bride’s
family requested. There are so many flowers the church smells like a garden.
The bouquets have roses and gardenias, two of my favorite flowers. Everyone is
decked out in their finest. There are more diamonds in this room than at Harry
Winston’s.

Sierra and I
stand at the back of the sanctuary, keeping a close watch on the proceedings. I
have my fingers crossed that the ceremony goes smoothly and we can move on to
the reception. More than once, though, my eye drifts to a certain groomsman.

No one should
look that hot in a tux.

I start to
imagine what Drew would look like out of that tux.

I shake my head
and concentrate on the ceremony. The priest has announced it’s time for the
Rite of Marriage.

“Nicholas, do
you take Kellie to be your wife? Do you promise to be true to her in good times
and bad, in sickness and in health, to love her and honor her all the days of
your life?”

“I do,” the
groom says, loud and proud.

I look over and
see Drew rolling his eyes.

The priest then
turns toward the bride. “Kellie, do you take . . .”

But Kellie is furiously
shaking her head and backing away from her fiancé.

“I can’t do
this,” she says softly.

Gasps and
shrieks fill the air.

“Oh, shit,” I
mutter.

Sierra’s fearful
eyes meet mine. “What’s happening?”

Before I can
answer, the bride is running. I helped her pick out the hooker-heels, so I’m
impressed at the speed at which she barrels down the aisle. Her mother is
bawling, her fiancé is stunned, but it’s the laughter of the rogue groomsman
that catches my attention.

In that moment,
I finally find something unattractive about him.

***

Stars twinkle in
the sky above the church’s memorial garden. The guests are gone, the vendors
have been paid, and the leftovers have been sent home with anyone who’d take a
dish. Sierra, devastated that her first big wedding was a bust, went home hours
ago, leaving me to deal with the fallout. My duties complete, I’m now sitting
in the dimly lit garden, my blazer on the bench next to me, with a bottle of
Cristal I bribed from the caterer. I might have promised him dinner on Friday
night in exchange. That part of the conversation is a little fuzzy. Actually,
the whole night is becoming fuzzy, which is fantastic because this is one
night—and one client—I’d love forget.

It’s not the
first time I’ve dealt with a jilted groom, or bride for that matter, but it’s
never pleasant. From a purely selfish standpoint, I’m just happy we have our
no
cancellation
policy; otherwise, we’d be closing our doors quicker than I
feared.

“How’s that wine
treating you?”

I jump at the
sound of his voice. It’s unmistakable and sexy. But then I remember he’s the
asshole that laughed at his broken-hearted best friend.

“It’s champagne,
and it’s treating me just fine.”

Drew steps
closer. His tie is undone, which is maddening. There are few things I find
sexier than a loosened bow tie. I’ve always found it fascinating how one small
scrap of ribbon can have so many possibilities in the bedroom.

Then I realize
I’m sitting in a church garden thinking about bondage.

I look down at
the bottle.
How much have I had?

“May I join
you?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re
a dick.”

Drew laughs and
sits down anyway. “I
have
a dick, or I
am
a dick?”

“Both.”

“Well, I can’t
deny that,” he says, leaning back against the bench. “Is there a particular
reason you find me so offensive?”

I take another
long sip of champagne.

“Because you
laughed,” I reply.

“And laughter is
a sin?”

“It is when your
best friend is being dumped at the altar!”

Drew chuckles.
“I told you he was making the biggest mistake of his life. Kellie is a spoiled
brat and the biggest bitch that ever walked, and she proved that tonight. What
I really want to do is take out an ad in the morning paper that says
‘Congratulations on Dodging that Bullet’ but that would be a dick move,
so . . .”

I roll my eyes
and stare up at the sky. Tonight just reminds me, once again, why I will never
be a bride.

“I accepted long
ago that I’m never getting married. Why would I? My parents fought all the
time, every boyfriend I’ve ever had cheated on me at least once, and most of
our couples end up divorced before the ink is dry on the marriage license. I’ve
seen what happened tonight probably a dozen times, but that doesn’t make it any
easier to watch, and I certainly don’t make jokes about it. Not to mention, I
really needed this event to lead to other events, and while tonight’s epic
failure wasn’t my company’s fault, having our name attached won’t be good for
business. I have no idea what we’re going to do.”

I’m rambling
now, but his body is suddenly brushing against mine, and the heat of his skin
is driving me insane.

“Your business
is in trouble?”

His voice is
close, too close, and I feel his warm breath against my ear. For some
inexplicable reason, I tilt my head, and I shudder when I feel his nose glide
across my neck. His hand finds my knee before sliding beneath the fabric of my
skirt.

“We may have to
close,” I whisper, trying not to squirm as he lifts my skirt a little higher.
“Nobody wants a wedding planner.”

“I want a
wedding planner.”

The champagne
has made me tipsy, but I’m not drunk. I know what I’m doing, and I know what I
just heard. It wasn’t a subtle proposition.

Neither is this.

My inhibitions
long gone, I spread my legs a little wider in invitation for him to continue up
my leg. I feel my nipples getting hard, and I know they are visible through the
thin lace of my camisole. Drew leans in closer and starts to kiss my neck
softly while running his hands up to my panties. He lightly strokes my clit
through the thin cotton, and my breath starts to speed up. A small moan escapes
me; he stops and leans back.

This is a
mistake.

Drew reaches for
me, pulling me into a standing position in front of him.

“God, you’re
sexy,” he murmurs, placing his nose at the apex of my thighs. He inhales
deeply, and I’m grateful he’s holding my hips because my knees nearly buckle at
the sight.

Leaning away
from him, I slip the tie away from his collar before finding the buttons of his
vest and shirt. I make quick work of them and push the shirt open. Just as I
thought, he has incredible abs that are just begging to be licked. He reaches
for the button on his pants and pulls them down as I lift my skirt around my
waist.

“Come here,
baby.”
Baby?

He puts his
hands on my hips and guides me down onto his lap, facing him. At this point,
the only things separating us from indecent exposure are my cami, my lacy
panties, and his boxer briefs. I shift against him, and we both moan as I brush
against his erection.

Drew gazes at my
body and watches his hands as they roam over my breasts, squeezing and tugging
my nipples.

“Undo your
hair.”

It’s more a
command than a request, which makes me very willing to obey. I find my hair-tie
and give it a tug. Drew captures my hair in his hands before grabbing the nape
of my neck and pulling me close, crushing his mouth to mine.

Soft, urgent
lips taste and tease, making us groan into each other’s mouths. His tongue is
searching out mine and we start to tangle them together. I rock against him,
and I swear I hear a growl resonate from his chest. My hands have a mind of
their own, roaming aimlessly across his broad shoulders and his muscular
stomach. I shift a little and I find him, hard and throbbing. I lightly stroke
his erection and he pushes himself against my hands.

“You want it?”
he whispers against my mouth.

Of course I want
it; I haven’t had sex in over a year!
Instead of expressing that thought, I
pull back and ask him the only question I need an answer to.

“Condom?”

“In my pants.”
He
certainly is prepared.

I get up to get
his wallet out of his slacks, which are still around his ankles, and toss it in
his direction. While he takes care of the condom, I begin to step out of my
pumps.

“Keep ‘em on,”
he says gruffly, his voice filled with lust.

Again, it’s a
command.
And it’s hot.

Drew pulls me
back toward him, pushes my panties to the side, and slips two fingers inside
me, pumping them in and out a few times. He suddenly withdraws them, leaving me
breathless and wanting.

“Wet and ready.
You really are perfect, aren’t you?”

I nearly
convulse when he places his fingers in his mouth, and I know I am going to fuck
him right here and now. I start to get up again to take my panties off, but
Drew stops me and rips them open. It’s the only motivation I need, and I sink
down, groaning loudly as he fills me. I kiss him hard, and his hands wrap
around my hips, pulling me tight against him as we begin to move.

“Fuck,” he
groans, burying his face against my neck.

I rock
frantically against him, letting my worries drift away with every thrust of his
hips. It’s quick and wild, which is exactly how it should be. No complications,
no emotion, no romance.

Just hot sex
with a hot guy that I’ll never see again.

He grabs my ass,
and lifts me slightly, urging me to arch my back. He thrusts deeper, and I
whimper when his tongue finds my nipple through the camisole. He sucks hard,
and when he gently bites down, there’s no more holding back. Screaming his
name, I see stars as my orgasm washes over me. Drew crushes his body against
mine and holds me as wave upon wave of pleasure quakes through me. He thrusts
his hips twice more, and I watch his face as his entire body convulses, leaving
him sweaty and breathless.

Oh. My. God.
That was one of the hottest things I have ever witnessed.

We hold each
other tightly until our bodies calm. After a few minutes, I begin to tremble
from the chill in the air. I slowly climb off him. He pulls up his pants while
I straighten my skirt and put my jacket back on. When I turn back around, he’s
standing there with the bottle of champagne. His eyes never leave mine as he
takes a swig from the bottle.

“We just had sex
in a garden. In a church garden.”
I can’t believe I just did that! It was
incredible!

“Talk about a
religious experience.”

“I’ll say.”

We both grin,
and I’m glad this isn’t awkward.

“I should head
home,” I tell him.

“You shouldn’t
drive. Let me give you a lift.”

“That’s okay.
I’ll call a cab.”

“Allow me.” He
reaches into his jacket and pulls out his cell. He gives the cab company the
address of the church and quickly ends the call.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Drew steps
closer, lifting his hand and letting it drift across my cheek. He lowers his
head, letting his lips brush gently against mine. It’s sweet, innocent, and
such a contrast to what just happened between us.

“Can I see you
again?” he asks.

“You mean, can
you fuck me again?”

He grins. “I’d
feed you first. What about dinner Friday night?”

“I . . .
think I already have a date Friday night.”