“It’s time for the wedding party to join the bride and groom,” the MC said as Fox ended the song to hand things back to the band, and dear God, she wasn’t ready for this.
Because her assigned partner for this dance was Jake.
“Try not to stab me with those heels.” Jake held out his hand.
“Sorry, I make no promises.” Heart thudding at the idea of being pressed up against him, she almost told him to partner Aroha, except that Juliet Nelisi was no damn chicken. Also, Harry had already stepped up to Aroha—with a quiet determination on his face that had been legendary during his time on the field.
Today it said he wasn’t open to trading partners.
Wrapping a wide-eyed Aroha in his thickly muscled arms, the former rugby loosehead prop swept her away.
Internally gritting her teeth, Juliet gave in to the inevitable and let Jake lead her to the dance floor. The feel of his arm sliding around her waist, all hard muscle and heat, threatened to steal her breath. Unlike Harry, he wasn’t overtly big, but he was so tautly muscled, with such wide shoulders that she felt intensely feminine and small in a way that was a shock to her system.
Juliet was used to being tall and shapely and owning it.
Maybe she needed to relax her friends-only rule. Because if this lunacy was what resulted from celibacy, she wasn’t impressed. Meanwhile, her nipples tightened to nubby points that made her grateful she was wearing a padded bra. The last thing she needed was for Jake to feel rigid boob-buttons poking his impressive chest.
As it was, despite the way he held her—with absolute respect—her breasts continuously brushed his chest. She’d never been exactly small up top, and he was built. Some friction was unavoidable.
Great. Now she was thinking about friction. About skin sliding against skin.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to do the yoga breathing she’d learned in a class her boss had organized for the entire E. E. Designs team. Except her inhale brought with it the scent of Jacob Esera. The same scent that made her want to snuggle her nose into the strong column of his neck and breathe deep.
Her hand clenched on his shoulder.
He glanced down, his jaw tight and no hint on his face of the devastating grin he’d sported during the dance. “What?” It came out kind of a terse growl. “You trying to dig your talons in and draw blood?”
Juliet smiled, oh so sweetly. “Oh, looks like you decided to return that stick to a certain part of your anatomy,” she said before she could stop herself. Seriously, it was supremely irritating that while she was all stupid tingles for him, he obviously couldn’t wait to get rid of her. If fate was going to laugh at her, couldn’t it laugh at him too?
A flush kissed his cheekbones. “Mature, Jules. Real mature.”
Even as her breath caught at the sign of human emotion, Juliet smiled with the poise of a nineteenth-century debutante. “If maturity means acting like an eighty-year-old geriatric with permanent grump syndrome, I’ll pass.” Actually, he hadn’t been too bad today—but he was a whole lot more… solemn and old than he’d been back in school.
Not the kind of age that showed in the face, but something deeper, more profound. Some of that could be explained by life and loss. He was a dad now—a good one—and he was a professional athlete at the top of his game. Yet those things didn’t explain the deep sense of “tightness” she felt in him, as if he was containing himself until his real self could only find freedom in tiny bursts.
In contrast, while his teenaged preoccupation with mag wheels and shiny rims had made her roll her eyes, it had been very human. “You still do the car thing?” she asked when he took the higher road and didn’t respond to her provocation. “That old junker you were obsessed with fixing has to be as good as new by now.” She’d gone for more than one ride in that car, sharing the back seat with another friend while Calypso and Jake sat up front.
“Some of us have responsibilities.” A pointed look at the hand she had on his shoulder.
A hand bedazzled with nails boasting diamantes and sparkles. She’d made plans to get the fun but deliberately over-the-top nails removed for the wedding in favor of a simple nude, but Charlotte had caught on and would have none of it.
“I want you to be you, Jules.” Fierce voice, hazel eyes intent. “Complete with dramatic nails and skyscraper heels. Just like I want Mei to look like she can kick everyone’s ass without breaking a sweat and Aroha to be all big hair and big heart.”
All Charlie had asked was that her bridesmaids and matron of honor wear midnight blue. It was the five of them who’d coordinated the dresses so that the styles meshed when they were together. Each suited the woman who wore it, and Juliet knew all of them were planning to wear the dresses again.
As for the nails… “Oh, these?” She gave Jake another dagger-sweet smile and deliberately dug them in. “They make great stealth weapons against disapproving old men.”
Thank heavens the song came to an end at that moment. Even her wall of snark and sarcasm was beginning to crumble under the weight of her battle against this aggravating one-sided sexual tug. While Charlotte and Gabriel and the others—Aroha and her hulking partner included—continued to dance on, she and Jake separated with alacrity.
The MC muted the lights at the same time until the dance floor held the spotlight.
Others from the crowd began to meander onto it, including a stunning blonde who made a beeline for Jake. Juliet couldn’t help glancing back to see his response. Smiling with every appearance of relieved happiness, he held out his hand.
Gee, she thought bad-temperedly, as if I needed any more evidence that the tingles are an unrequited joke at my expense.
Jake clearly had a type. Calypso might’ve been sweetly plump, but she’d been as blond as Jake’s current partner, with the same serene grace—a grace that Juliet would never possess. It was something you were born with; Juliet had always been too loud, too dramatic, too much the street fighter used to grappling for survival.
“Dance?”
She looked up to find herself facing another big man—this wedding was bursting at the seams with rugby players, current and former. “Sure,” she said and walked into his arms with the fervent hope that her hormones would fixate on someone—anyone—other than Jacob Esera.
Fate, however, wasn’t yet done cackling at Juliet.
8
Jake Starts a Fight (and Texts a Cat)
Even though he held an accomplished and beautiful woman in his arms, Jake was very aware of Juliet disappearing into the crowd of people milling around the dance floor. Her height made her easy to spot until she became lost in the shadows created by the muted lighting outside the dance area.
“I’m going to get a complex if you keep scoping out that seriously foxy bridesmaid.”
Jerking his attention back to Rachel, Jake flushed. He’d invited his former girlfriend as his wedding date because his parents liked her, and he knew her presence would make them happy and hopeful for him. They deserved that on this day. Rachel held no torch whatsoever for Jake and was well aware of his motives.
The two of them had broken up when they realized their relationship was just endless trying on both their parts; there was no passionate joy, no desire to simply hang out with the other person, nothing but two people who liked each other and didn’t want to cause hurt. It had been a relief to both of them when Jake turned to her and said, “Rach, you gonna be heartbroken if we break up?”