With that, I march right back the way I came, circling to the other end of the deck rather than going back inside. I half expect Reese to follow me, but the next voice I hear belongs to Sig.
“I don’t know what’s more beautiful—this view or you.”
I turn to find him standing behind me, hands in the pockets of his black slacks, dark hair blowing in the breeze. His grin is as playful and light as ever, immediately putting me as ease.
“Wow, you get many girls with lines like that?” I ask with a smile of my own.
“This is the first chance I’ve had to try that one out. How’s it working so far?”
I hold out my hand and see-saw it back and forth. “Meh.”
“Then tell me, O Aloof One, how does a guy like me impress a woman like you?”
“Why would you want to?”
“Because you’re gorgeous and mysterious and you dance like you’re dancing just for me. You fascinate me. Do I need to go on?”
I’m very flattered and I don’t really know what to say, but, as usual, the stand-offish Kennedy who learned to function in self-preservation mode from a very early age rises up. “I dance like that for everyone. It’s my job.”
Rather than being offended or acting like a typical man with wounded pride, Sig grins. “Hell, I know that, but you don’t have to ruin it for me. I’m a man. A big one. With a big ego. Let me think it’s all for me, woman,” he teases.
I laugh. “Fine, fine. It was all for you.”
He nods and grins at me. “That’s a little more like it.”
Sig moves in closer to me, staring down into my eyes for a few seconds before he turns to stand at my side, offering me his arm. “Shall we?”
With an exaggerated shake of my head and roll of my eyes, I curl my hand under his elbow and let him lead me through another door that empties into the rotunda and main dining area. The first thing I see when I step over the threshold is Reese, standing at the other end of the room, talking with Brian and glaring at me.
Even in his aggravation, just the sight of him is enough to make my stomach flip over. He’s so gorgeous, still so much the guy who turned my heart and my world upside down—dark hair that curls just a little around his collar, glittering eyes that see right through me, a jaw that makes my fingers itch to stroke it. And his lips…I’ve always thought Reese’s mouth was the most perfect God ever created. Turns out it’s part angelic, part evil. The evil part being the one that made me promises that he never intended to keep, of course.
As always when I get enthralled with the Reese that I loved so long ago, the hurt girl resurfaces to prevent me from making the same mistake twice. It’s her that gives him a frosty smile and turns her attention to Sig at my side. My grin gets deeper and more genuine, however, when, from the corner of my eye, I see Reese’s expression turn thunderous.
It makes me want to giggle.
Take that, you egomaniac!
My mood going into the dining room is generally lighter, even more so when I realize there are no seat assignments and I can sit wherever I want, which just so happens to be sandwiched between Sloane, who I really like, and Sig, who evidently really likes me.
The meal is delicious and the company delightful. Although Reese responds to comments and comports himself in a polite enough way, I can practically feel the tension humming just beneath his unaffected façade. As much as I hate to admit it, it thrills me.
He’s made it known that he wants me, that he intends to have me. And I have made it known that I intend to make sure that doesn’t happen. We are admittedly engaged in a battle of wills. But something deep inside me realizes that this is only the beginning, that Reese has yet to really even exert himself, and that when he does, this battle is going to become much more difficult for me. And much more dangerous.
But that’s partly what makes it so thrilling. Somewhere in the back of my mind and the bottom of my heart, I wonder if I’m really strong enough to resist. Or if I even really want to. I wonder if there’s a part of me that wants to get back what we had all those years ago, when love was still young and fresh and perfect and unscathed, to get that back even for a moment. Or a month. Or a summer. If that would even be possible.
On one level, I seriously doubt it. But on another level, I believe I’m strong enough to test those waters without crumbling into a thousand pieces when things don’t work out. I’ve already given Reese those tender parts of myself. What’s left now is harder, harsher. Stronger.
It’s the rise of one dark brow that jolts me from my silent reverie. Reese is watching me. And I, lost in thought, have obviously been watching him.
Hurriedly, I turn my attention to Sig at my side, laughing at whatever he’s laughing at, but having no clue what we’re even talking about. Without looking back at him, I can almost feel Reese’s amusement. His amusement and his predatory eyes.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - Reese
I’ve kept a loose eye on Kennedy the entire evening. I’ve watched her flirt with Sig. I’ve watched her interact with Sloane and Hemi. I’ve watched her try her damnedest not to look at me and try her best to ignore me.
And, best of all, I’ve watched her fail.
I’ve seen the little glances my way. I’ve observed the way she tucks her hair behind her ear when I speak and I’ve seen the way she smoothes the chills on her arms when our eyes meet. I can feel her attraction to me like the humidity in the air. It makes me want to strip her bare, to lay her on the table and lick the moisture from her skin while everyone else watches. And wants her. Yet can’t have.
While it frustrates me that she’s hell bent on resisting me, it also excites me to some degree. The feeling of conquest when she does give in—which she will, I have no question—will be even greater. And my baser instincts thrill at the notion of that.
So, in the end, I grit my teeth and bear it because I’m smart enough and strategic enough to let her have this time before I really start working on her. I’m content to let her think she’s winning. Until I’m ready to win. And then it’s game over. Simple as that.
After a glass of brandy in the lounge, the excitement of the day starts to wear on everyone. One by one, they all start to make their excuses and head for bed, Kennedy included.
Of course, Sig offers to walk her to her cabin. It sets my teeth on edge, but I smile and nod my goodnight to them anyway. As I watch her walk out of the room, head high, shoulders square, Sig’s hand on the small of her back, I get a pang of…something. Something I felt a long time ago…for a girl I met in the woods.