I’d had a lot of sex. Too much. But none of it had ever made me feel anything close to the rush of emotion that I felt when I was with James. He’d been so tender with me, so loving, that it felt as if it was more than just sex for him, too.
But he hadn’t said a word about the future. He’d said he cared about me right now. And that was something, and I would cling to it when he was gone, but it was only what it was.
If he felt more than he was saying, it made it even worse.
“Hey.” He’d padded out to the living room in his sweats and nothing else. Of course, my traitor heart stopped when I saw him.
“Hey.” I got up and went to him. I ran my hands down his gorgeous chest and kissed him deeply. Because he was only mine for right now. And I wanted to remember all of it, every feel, every detail of him, for when I was alone again. Which would be all too soon.
James
“Can you do my cufflink?” I asked. I could manage on my own, but I wanted her to touch me.
Audrey clasped it and straightened my tuxedo jacket. “You look amazing,” she said, beaming at me. “I didn’t think you could look any hotter than you do in a suit. But wow.”
I laughed and ran my fingers down the pale lace of her dress. “You look stunning. I never knew I liked yellow until now.” Her hair was up in an elegant bun. Her gown was long and strapless, with beading along the waist. She looked like a princess. You would never know that she lived in a piss-poor tenement apartment in Southie. She wore the gown, jewelry, and flawless makeup regally, as if they were hers from the beginning, not some borrowed finery from her madam.
My gut twisted at the thought.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said, more casually than I felt.
“Are you nervous about the ceremony?”
“Not really—it’s more like adrenaline.”
She nodded and let out a shaky breath. “Me too.”
“Are you ready?” I asked, and she nodded. “Oh wait—I have something for you.” I grabbed a turquoise jewelry box from my dresser and handed it to her.
“What’s this?” she asked. He voice was a little shaky.
“Just a necklace,” I said, watching her face. “I saw it yesterday when we were walking down Newbury Street. I had the concierge pick it up for me.” I’d seen it in the window, and I’d immediately wanted to buy it. It was beautiful and understated. It was a gift, but it was a selfish one: I wanted her to have something on her body from me. So I would always be touching her.
“I thought you might like to wear it today.” She opened the box and pulled out the delicate gold chain. There was a pendant attached, with two interlocking diamond-encrusted gold rings.
“It’s so beautiful.” She sounded touched.
I went behind her and fastened it around her neck. “I just wanted you to have something from me.” I came around to face her, and I was suddenly embarrassed. My emotional boner was at full mast.
I was going to kill Cole for ever saying that to me.
She reached out and stroked my hot cheek. “James—I love it. I’ll never take it off.”
“It’s beautiful on you.” I smiled at her, pleased. “We should go. Happy occasions in my family don’t come around that often—we don’t want to miss any of it.”
The attendants in the lobby stopped and stared at us. “You look amazing, Miss Reynolds,” one of the girls called. Audrey smiled back at her shyly, pleased.
“I figured they’d be saying that to you,” she said.
“No one’s even bothering to look at me, babe,” I said. “You’re too stunning.”
Kai was waiting for us outside. It was a beautiful June day, the weather lustrous and bright. I held Audrey’s hand and led her to the car, careful of her long gown.
“If I may say so, Mr. Preston, Miss Reynolds is looking particularly lovely this afternoon,” Kai said stiffly.
I smiled at him. “You may say so, Kai,” I said, “and I agree.”
When I slid into the car next to her, I looked at her smooth skin in the sunlight, her hand clasped around the necklace I’d given her.
My whole world was centered around her now. Everything else—everything that had seemed crucial to me only last week—was muted in the distance. The thought had been creeping up on me, but now I knew it all at once, sitting and watching her like that.
She smiled. “What?”