Whether she’d been going for flirtation or just a joke, the question was typically tactless, and Megan reminded herself white-chocolate martinis weren’t a solution. Not since the idea of them alone had her stomach ready to revolt.
Connor stretched his arm across the back of Megan’s chair, the warmth of it permeating the tuxedo jacket he’d wrapped her up in as soon as the ceremony ended. “Not at all. Megan’s incredible and I see this relationship going the distance.”
Tina leaned forward, putting her best assets on display. “Relationship?”
A slow heat began to build in Megan’s cheeks as all eyes shifted to where Connor’s thumb ran a lazy pattern against her shoulder. He’d been attentive without being overly demonstrative throughout the evening, obviously making an effort to respect her wishes and keep their marriage under wraps at least until the ink dried on Gail’s matching certificate. But this line of questioning could lead them toward the truth in a hurry if something didn’t change.
Tina’s shrewd eyes darted between them twice, before she stepped back with a cool laugh. “Oh, Megan, tell me you didn’t?”
Her heart sank. Somehow Tina had figured it out. Gail, who was waiting as expectantly as everyone else, would never forgive her.
“Tell me you didn’t go and make another friend?” The last word fell with such disgust it took Megan a second to realize she hadn’t been discovered. She didn’t need to feel ashamed for hijacking her cousin’s wedding. Relief washed over her in a wave, buoying her mood enough she couldn’t contain the smile stretching across her face.
“What are you talking about?” Connor asked, casually enough. Only, something about his voice sounded off, and as she turned to face him, she didn’t like the look of his half smile at all.
“Nothing. It’s nothing, Connor,” she said, hoping he’d recognize the plea in her eyes for him to leave it. The plea and the promise that she’d explain later when they weren’t within glowering distance of Gail’s wedding party. “I’d love another tonic. Any chance you’d come to the bar with me?”
After a beat, the smile turned more genuine and Connor stood, offering her his hand. “How about a dance first.”
Before she could mutter a protest, he had her flush against his chest and was deftly leading her with his hands, thighs, chest and hips into the midst of the clubgoers. Moving in a way that was all easy rhythm and physical confidence. Nothing friendly about it.
Within a few minutes, she’d returned to the state that teetered between laughter and lust and was totally unique to her experience with Connor, leaving Tina and Jodie and all their barbs a distant memory.
* * *
Connor signed off on the open-bar bill for their group and then grabbed the tall tonic and ice Megan had requested, eyeing their table like a man about to face the gallows. Megan was still in the ladies’ room, but something told him waiting for her outside the door would smack of stalker. So rather, he made his way to the table prepared to deflect the pointed questions about his bank accounts, Reed Industries’ worth and whether Megan had managed to snag any of his sperm.
He was ready to get out of there. First, because his wife’s laugh, which was all kinds of sexy abandon, was proving to be a temptation he couldn’t resist much longer, and second, because Tina and Jodie, and even Gail, were grating hard. Pushing buttons he hadn’t known he had. Megan’s ability to let it roll off her back gave him the sense she’d had too much practice. And he didn’t like it.
As it turned out, Gail had kicked off her shoes and propped her feet on one vacant chair, leaving the only other available between Tina and Jodie, whose antics had vacillated between mildly annoying and downright nasty.
No, thanks.
Roy and his two groomsmen were huddled in the same kind of quiet conversation they’d been engaged in through the rest of the evening—excepting the ceremony, of course—the monosyllabic, extended-silence kind.