I break into a totally unladylike coughing fit, and Colin islaughing.
“Yeah, you can’t gulp that stuff, Elle,” he says through chuckles while reaching his arm around me to pat my back. “It’s potent.”
I cut my eyes up to him while dragging in a breath through my totally constricted throat. “You don’t say.”
I hide my mouth with my wrist while I continue to cough, and he’s still chuckling, but now he’s also dabbing choking-induced tears below my eyes with the side of his hooked index finger.
“Just breathe, Elle.”
I suck in another breath. “That tastes like a leather punch in the face.”
Colin heaves another deep chuckle and moves his hand from my face to wrap his arm around my back, pulling me against him for a hug. The lingering leather-smoke flavor in my mouth heightens his scent of spice and woodsiness, and it’s suddenly as potent as the supremely manly whiskey.
I tell myself it’s all part of the charade when I let myself rest my cheek against his clavicle while he holds me in this casual embrace. But somewhere in me, there’s a stab of disappointment. One that’s not all that different from the one on repeat from my entire life with my parents. One that seems to say,You seem like you should be trust-worthy, but everything you’ve ever done proves that you’renot.
8
“ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE okay?” I ask Elle, hand firm on her back. She does another slight wobble in her heels while we plod across the main drive of the property back to the guest cottage. “You could go back to the room and go to bed.” I lean closer to her ear and lower my voice. “Between the mixer and dinner, we’ve pretty well established that you’re with me, and everyone would understand if you—”
Elle halts on the stone pavers and does an impressive twirl-around for her tipsy state. “I’mfine.” She grips the lapels of my jacket at my waist. “I want to see what’s going on with Isla and this guy she’s marrying.” She pitches forward so that her chest is flush against mine and lifts her chin to speak in my ear. “I don’t think she wants to marry him. I think we should rescue her.”
I can’t stop myself from laughing, andfuck. We’ve only been here for a few hours, and this is already the pinnacle of indulging in that hope I felt when we first collided months ago; that sense I had about her that she could’ve been the one good thing in my life when nothing has ever been good.
Elle and I would’ve been great together.
If only she hadn’t ended up being my goddamned employee.
Nevertheless, something inside feels good about the fact that I was right in that very first moment. Something else feels evenmore goodabout having these two days to indulge in what could’ve been. But at the same time, something feels the opposite ofgoodbecause I know she’s a missed opportunity.
But fuck it.
I’m having a good time, and Elle’s having a good time, and the Reyes fam loves her and believes the charade, and Archer’s not blowing up my phone, and as soon as I can get some one-on-one time with Ernesto, I’m going to nail down the bottom line of this weekend.
That’s moregoodthan I’ve had in a long time, and I’ll take it.
“You think we shouldrescue her?” I ask through another light chuckle.
Elle pulls her face away from my ear and stretches her green eyes comically wide. “Yes. It’s totally obvious she doesn’t want to marry this guy.”
I check our surroundings and lower my voice. “That is obvious, but I’m pretty sure if we helped her break off the engagement, there would be noone. Million. Dollars.”
Her lips form a perfect circle. “Oh.” She nods emphatically. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s not do that, but you should definitely keep an eye on her.” She punches my chest with her index finger. “You need to go to that wedding.”
And since she’s tipsy enough to be playful with me right now, I go ahead and allow myself the indulgence of pretending this is exactly what itcould’ve been, and I wrap her into a tight embrace. “Are you going to come with me?”
Elle snickers, her hands splayed across my chest. “You want to take me to stay in a European palace for a weekend? Hell yeah, Colin, I will totally come with you.”
She doesn’t mean that, and if I ask her about it later, she’ll definitely renege. But it’s still fun to pretend right here, right now.
She knows I know she’s kidding and continues to snicker. I laugh again, and the playfulness and the hope cause me to briefly forget myself. I pepper the side of her neck with kisses that cause her to giggle wildly for a second before her fingers anchor into my chest, and she exhales a hitched breath.
And then Ireallyforget myself, and it seems she does, too.
I pull my face away from her neck just as she turns her head toward me, and our lips collide in a deep, delicious, wine-flavored kiss. It’s dark enough out here that there’s less concern for propriety in front of prying eyes, and this kiss goes a lot longer and deeper than the one from earlier.
Elle’s hands have once again made their way to the knot of my tie, and she uses it to pull me as close as possible. One of my hands is in her hair—andGod, I’ve wanted to get my hands on that hair—and the other is firmly in place at the base of her spine. All of it is a tangle of lips and tongues and heat radiating between the connection of our bodies, and I’m not as tipsy as she is, but I’ve had enough to drink to strip the filter off my mouth.
“I want to fuck you,” I growl against her lips.
