Bedding the Best Man(4)

A little breathless from the fast movement and excitement of Travis’s bold manner, even though I didn’t want to admit the last part, I said, “I pegged you as a lot of things, but rude wasn’t one of them.”

“Sorry. I can be a little impatient at times.”

I leaned back and glanced at his face. “A little? Patrick was trying to dance this song with me.”

He gazed a few inches down at me. The heels I wore gave me more height, I was six one now to his six four.

This close to him, I took in the color of his eyes. They were so clear blue; they reminded me of a cloudless sky on a perfect spring, amazing.

“He had two. He’s good. Unless there’s something more between you all than I or your brother knows about,” he challenged.

Damn it. There wasn’t a secret that could be kept in my family and I was pretty sure that Ronnie shared everything with Travis.

“That’s not any of your business.” I glanced away, but continued to sway to the song. The music relaxed me. I loved classic love songs and All the Man That I Need by Whitney Houston topped it for me.

I couldn’t help being caught up in the song and enjoying the strength of the man who held me. His hands were low on my waist, but a respectable distance from my ass.

His scent enveloped me. It was a combination of mellow/masculine suede with the metallic honey scent of saffron; an herb I loved. I couldn’t imagine another man being able to carry the blend as well as Travis. It was his uniqueness.

I didn’t want to lean in or feel secure in his embrace but that was exactly the emotion cloaking me. Resting my head on the back of my hand, resting on his shoulder, I closed my eyes and let myself take in the moment.

“When we were teenagers, I remember hearing this song blaring from your room when I was hanging out with your brother.”

I’d forgotten how often I used to repeat this song on my classic love song compilation CD I had. He remembered? “Oh, goodness. That seems like a lifetime ago.”

“Time has flown by. I think we have both evolved and matured into effectual adults.”

His words grabbed something inside me and tugged. Leaning back, I gazed up at him again. “Thank you for saying that. With my family I always feel like I’m performing against my old record.”

“You were quite the tempestuous girl. Ronnie and I would place bets on what you would get into next.”

“Ah.” I playfully swatted his arm and tried to look insulted.

“However, you’ve become a grade A consumer product analyst.” One of his hands moved to the side and lightly squeezed. “Speaking of that, congratulations on your promotion to division manager.”

“Thank you.” My heart swelled and I found myself flattered. With all the wedding planning and events with Ronnie, my promotion announcement had fallen flat. “You keep tabs on me?”

“It’s hard not to. Ronnie is very proud of you and he talks about your accomplishments often.” One hand glided up along my spine. I could feel the warmth of his hand between my bare shoulder blades in the diamond cut out at the back of the dress.

A frisson on heat raced down my spine and curled low in my stomach. “He does?”

“Yes.”

My chest was starting to feel tight and the urge to cry was welling up in me. I’d already been close to having tears fall once tonight, so I made light of the conversation to keep my bearing. “It’s because he and I are only two years apart and our other siblings were already stacking their 401Ks when we were growing up.”

He laughed. “Probably. With the five-year gap between Ronnie and your sister before him, you could say you and Ronnie are oops-baby one and two.”

“Exactly. My parents claim God knew they just needed a rest before the last two. I think they had forgotten what act got them the first four when Ronnie came along.”

“How did they end up with you?”

“Valentine’s Day and too much wine, my mother says.” I smiled.

His gaze lowered to my mouth, and began to darken.

My lips started to tingle and I refrained myself from licking them. For a moment, I was so caught up in the transitioning color in his eyes I forgot where we were and started leaning in toward him.

“Let’s cut some cake everyone!” The coordinator called out as the song came to a close.

Shocked that everything around me had faded to oblivion, I stepped back. I didn’t get far because of Travis’s hold on me.

His arms were slower to move and release me. When he did, he said, “Thanks for the dance.”

Agitated I smoothed my hands along the front of my dress. “Sure. Um, no problem. Anything for an old friend of my brother’s.”