Trevor’s eyes open wide. “Never.” He turns our hands until our fingers intertwine. “This isn’t about Duncan. I like you. I liked you from the moment I saw you, right here in the glow of fake embers.”
We lean closer, our lips once again touching. “I like you too, but tomorrow is about my best friend. I don’t want her thinking about anything but her big day and…”
“And?” he asks.
“Her crazy family.” I giggle recalling Grandma Helen. “Seriously, she has enough on her mind.”
Letting go of my hand, Trevor’s warm palm skirts up and down my arm. My flesh ignites as butterflies flutter to life in my stomach. And then, it’s more. The Fireball, wine, lack of sleep, and irresistible attraction all move together, brewing a terrible queasiness inside of me.
“Oh,” I say, jumping up. “I’m going to be sick…”
Chapter Four
Shana
My eyes close as I hold tightly to the cup of coffee and shake my head. “Oh dear Lord, I threw up.”
Trevor laughs. “In the fire pit.”
“All over the glowing red rocks.” Setting the coffee cup down on the table, I cradle my head. “No. That can’t be. I kind of go blank after that.”
“Then you missed my finest hour.”
Peering upward I smile. “That competition thing. According to Kimbra, if I experienced your finest hour, your brother wins. She says she couldn’t forget.”
“Oh, that’s mean,” Trevor says. “Believe me, neither would you.”
“Right. Because nothing turns a man on like a puking woman.”
“Hey, my competition with my brother has nothing to do with notches. Eat more of your toast, and let me fill in the blanks.”
Pulling my knees up to my chest, I wrap the robe over my legs and nibble the edges of the toast as Trevor speaks.
“You were embarrassed about the little accident in the fire pit, so much so that you didn’t want to go back into the bar. You made us leave through the hedges.”
“Oh no. Really? I’m not sure I want to know more.”
Trevor sits back with his cup of coffee and smiles. The way the green glistens in his eyes eases a bit of my embarrassment. “Are you sure? It’s pretty good.”
“Okay. I do.”
“We slid out of the patio through the hedges, but the patio isn’t on the ground level.”
My blood races as I try to remember. He’s right. I had to ride the escalator up to the lobby level. The same level as the bar. “I seem to remember that there was a parking garage.”
His laugh rings through the suite. “And a fence, which I must say, you scaled very nicely in your dress and heels.”
“My dress ripped!”
“Yes.”
I peek under the robe. “That’s why I have on your shirt.”
“That,” he says, “and because once we made it back into the hotel, via some questionable ‘employee only’ tunnels, your purse was missing. You went to the desk, but as the bellman said, they wouldn’t give you a new key without your identification.”
“That’s how I ended up here in your suite.”
Trevor nods as he finishes the last of the bacon.
“So we didn’t…”
He stands and moves closer, each step predatory, his green gaze never wavering, until he is standing right in front of me. Offering me his hand, I take it and stand. His solid chest presses against my breasts as he reaches for my waist, holding us close until our hearts beat against the other. “Shana Price,” he breathes my name. “We didn’t make love. Not because I didn’t or don’t want to. It’s that last night you weren’t in a position to consent. If it ever happens—which I’m still hoping it does—I promise, you’ll remember.”
By the way my insides flutter and pinch, I am most certain he is right about that. “What now?”
Trevor leans toward me until our lips connect. Bacon and toast, lingering cinnamon, and coffee may not sound like an intoxicating concoction, but it is. I’m lost as we melt together.
“Now,” he says, “we have a wedding to attend. Tomorrow, time will tell.”
“Tomorrow,” I say sadly, “I’m headed back to London.”
“And I’m headed back to Washington.” Taking a step back, he lifts my hand and kisses my knuckles. “And if you think that distance is going to stop me from learning more about the most amazing woman to ever end up in my hotel suite, you’d be wrong.”
“I would?”
“You would. And if you don’t want the bride and groom to know, we’ll keep it between us.”
“Our secret night,” I say, as much a statement as a question.
“Our secret one, my lady. However, you should know that each time I look at you during the wedding and at the reception, I’m imagining what our future could hold.”
“How will I ever be able to concentrate on Kimbra?”
“She can have you today. I want what’s after that.”
“Time will tell.”
Not The End...Only The Beginning!
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Another One
ALEATHA ROMIG
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of the Sparrow Webs, Infidelity, and Consequences series
*Cover photograph by Regina Wamba, design by Letitia Hasser at RBA Designs
Contents
Author’s Note
Another One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29