BrickWall_Kobo (12 page)

“Jesus, my gear bag’s heavy but it’s huge.
This thing’s half its size and weighs more.
What do you have in here?
A sewing machine and a weight bench?”

His wry smile made her laugh, but she hoped he didn’t hear the breathiness in it.
Damn him.
Every time he smiled at her, her lungs reacted like she’d just finished a marathon.

She wanted to fan her face with her hand.
Instead, she reached for the dress.

“I never know what I’m going to need so I make sure I have everything.”

“Gotta love a girl who’s prepared.”

Her mouth twisted in a grimace that she quickly wiped away.
The last man who’d said something similar hadn’t been complimenting her.

Shane’s not Rich.

Maybe she should just keep chanting that little mantra for the next few hours.

Especially when she was pretty sure this man had meant it as a tease.
A sexy tease.

“I try my best.
Besides, I think you can handle it.”

She wanted to say something else, something that would make him as hot for her as she was for him, but couldn’t think of one damn thing.
And that wasn’t like her.
She wasn’t usually at a loss for words.

“Nice to know you have faith in me.”

That almost stopped her cold because she realized she did.
After spending only a few hours talking and a few hours rolling around in bed together, she
did
trust him.

Bad idea.

Telling herself to shut up, she smiled over her shoulder at him and continued into the church.

Since she’d been here before, she knew she’d find Faith in the basement.
Faith had decided to get ready in the church instead of arrive dressed.
With her chair, there was always the possibility that the dress could get caught in the wheels and that would be a disaster.

Kinda like this wedding.

She really needed to stop with the negativity.
It wouldn’t do Faith any good and it would only make Bliss feel bad when Jimmy turned out to be a decent guy.

Ha.

“Watch your head,” she said as she headed down the stairs.

“Holy— Uh, yeah.
You gotta be a hobbit to work here.”

Stifling a laugh, she shook her head instead and stopped at the bottom of the stairs to make sure he didn’t hurt himself.

When he’d made it out of the stairs in one piece and stood beside her, towering over her in the narrow hall, she met his gaze.

“Thank you.”

He shook his head, his mouth curved in a confused grin.
“Why?”

“Because you’re here.”

Shane wasn’t exactly sure what Bliss meant, but he couldn’t miss the sincerity in her voice.

He could’ve blown her off and told her he had nothing better to do tonight.
Which would’ve been true.
He had absolutely nothing better to do tonight than spend it with her.
And he didn’t mean that this was better than doing nothing.

No, he honestly meant he couldn’t think of anything he’d rather be doing than spending the night with her.
Even if it meant going to the wedding of two people he didn’t know.

But that wasn’t something you blurted out to a girl you’d just met.
It went against the guy code…whatever the hell that meant.

“Well, I’m here for whatever you need.
Just point me in the right direction.”

And there was her smile again.
The one that made him remember exactly how she’d looked in his bed two nights ago before—

Fuck, he needed to think about something other than her naked body.

“I’m going to take you up on that offer.”
Then she scrunched up her nose and shook her head.
“But not now.
Right now, I have to get Faith ready.
Let me introduce you and then I’m going to abandon you for about half an hour.
Sorry.”

“No problem.
I know how to amuse myself and not get into too much trouble.”

She laughed and his gut tensed.
Hell, he might embarrass himself standing here listening to her.

Then she did something he wasn’t expecting.
She crooked her index finger at him, her lips curved and a playful gleam in her eyes.

He bent because he didn’t want to deny her.

When their noses were almost touching, she closed the last few centimeters separating them and brushed a kiss across his lips.

His lungs fucking froze in his chest and he was pretty sure he had an erection no one would be able to miss.

All because she’d barely kissed him.

The only good thing… When she pulled back, she looked like he felt.

Like he’d taken a wicked slap shot off his helmet and gotten his bell rung.

Damn, he liked this girl.
A lot.

“I’m just gonna go find a place to hang until you’re finished.
I can meet your friend later.
You probably have a lot to do.”

She nodded, still looking shell-shocked.

“Sure.
That’s…” She took a breath.
“That sounds like a plan.”

Then she smiled and he couldn’t think of one damn thing to say.
So he nodded and turned to walk back down the hallway.
But before he walked away, he turned again, leaned forward and kissed her way harder than she’d kissed him.

* * * * *

“Shelly, I need to talk to you.”

Bliss knew something was wrong the second Faith’s dad stuck his head through the door and stared at his wife.
Frank’s expression made Bliss’s stomach clench.

Luckily, Faith was facing way from the door and couldn’t see her dad.
Her mom’s eyes narrowed for a quick second before she smiled in Faith’s general direction and hurried out of the room.

“If my brother’s kids are causing problems, I’m gonna strangle them myself.
Those little demons are adorable but they’re spoiled rotten.”
Faith paused, her expression solemn.
“I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done.”

“It’s been my pleasure.
I just—”

“Faith, honey.”
Her parents walked back into the room together and Bliss knew something had just hit the fan.

Because they looked pissed.
Not angry.
Not upset.

They looked pissed off and holding it together by a thread.

Shit.

Sheer terror flashed through Faith’s expression before she wiped it away and turned to face her parents.

“What’s wrong?”

Her parents paused and Bliss squeezed her hand before making a break for the door.
Whatever was going down, she figured Faith’s parents would want to break it to her alone.

As soon as the door closed behind her, she headed back down the hall, figuring she’d find Shane upstairs.
He surprised her by straightening away from the wall at the base of the stairs.

“So I guess you heard.”
He shook his head, disgust plain on his face.
“What a douche.”

She shook her head.
“Actually, I don’t have a clue what’s going on.
But you do, obviously.”

“Shit.
Yeah.”
He grimaced.
“I wasn’t eavesdropping but they weren’t trying to be quiet so…” He sighed.
“I’m pretty sure the groom took a powder.”

Bliss flashed cold then hot.

That bastard.
That absolute bastard.
I’m going to hunt him down and—

“Uh, Bliss?
You gonna be okay?
You look a little…”

“Furious?
Yeah, you could say that.”

Shaking her head, she sucked in a deep breath and tried to tamp down her anger.
But…oh my god, if Jimmy ever dared to show his face—

“No, I mean you look like you took a puck to the balls.”

She huffed out a laugh.
She couldn’t help herself.
And then she shook her head because that’s probably what it would feel like.
If she, you know, had the right equipment.

Shaking her head, she looked up into his eyes and smiled, though a second ago, she wouldn’t have thought she’d be able to smile at all tonight.

Dangerous man.

Her smile faded and she really hoped he couldn’t read her mind.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen but if you want to go…” She shrugged.
“I can call you a taxi?”

“Nah.
I’ll wait with you.”

He waved at a bench along the wall, and when they sat, his thigh pressed against her, radiating heat into her body.
If she leaned close, she’d be able to lay her head against his upper arm.
Snuggle into his side.

It surprised her how much she wanted to do just that.

Instead, she distracted herself by asking, “When’s your next game?”

“Day after Christmas.”
He paused.
“Not sure I’ll be playing.
Coach had me on the bench last game.”

Since that seemed like a touchy subject, she asked another question.
“What are you doing for Christmas?”

He shrugged.
“Sleep.
Eat.
Hang out with the guys who didn’t go home.
A couple of the booster club members invited us over for dinner so I’ll probably do that.
Then I need to get a good night’s sleep so I’m ready to play.
If Coach puts me in.”

“I think…I’d like to come to the game.”

She felt him shift beside her.
“You want me to get you tickets?”

“I can do—”

“Nah, it’s no problem.
We get comps.
How many do you need?”

She thought about her answer for several seconds.
“Is two okay?”

“As long as you’re not bringing a date, that’s not a problem.”

Smiling at his wry tone, she did rest her head against his arm for a few seconds.
“I will be bringing a man.
But he’s related to me.”

He tensed.
“Your dad’s a cop, right?
Am I gonna need bail money?”

She laughed, just a quick huff of sound.
“I’m not bringing my dad.
I’d like to bring my nephew.
He’s sports crazy.”

“Sure, no problem.”

She’d given some thought to bringing her brother Mike but…

But what?

She knew, she just
knew
, that Shane was a good guy.
An honest-to-god decent man.

She was so used to guys who lied to get what they wanted or told her what they thought she wanted to hear.

Shane seemed so genuine.

So why aren’t you going to bring Mike?

Because it was habit to keep her brother separate from her dating life.
Because you could just never be sure.

Down the hall, door hinges squealed and her head swiveled to see Faith’s dad emerge.
His chin almost rested on his chest, but she could see his hands clenched in fists at his sides.

The man was pissed.
And heartbroken.

Touching Shane on the shoulder, she leaned in.
“I’m just going to see if Faith needs me.”

“No problem.
Don’t worry about me.
I’ll be waiting here when you’re ready to go.”

She flashed him a smile and got caught for a second in the sincerity of those blue eyes.

You are in so much trouble.
This man is dangerous.

But it would be so much fun while it lasted.

* * * * *

“Do you want to come in for a drink?”
Bliss looked over her shoulder at him as she opened the door to her apartment.
“I’m afraid I might drink an entire bottle of rum by myself tonight and that wouldn’t be a good idea.
I don’t want to be hungover at dinner at my parents’ tomorrow.”

Shane had been hoping she’d invite him in, but he hadn’t wanted to count on it.
And he really didn’t want her to feel like she had to entertain him.

Bliss was upset.
And yeah, he totally got why.
He didn’t even know Faith and he wanted to punch her douchebag former fiancé.

He also didn’t want to make Bliss’s night any tougher than it already had been.

But he didn’t want to leave either.