“I remember,” she said, obviously reading his mind. Her hands trembled as she started lifting bottles off her tray and setting them down on the table.
Carson ignored the beer she placed in front of him, his eyes never leaving hers. Her nervousness practically radiated from her pores, and he could tell she was both embarrassed and uncomfortable. He wanted to say something, ask her why she’d hurried off that night, ask her if they could talk when the reception ended, but all of his friends were watching him curiously and he couldn’t seem to form any words.
A short silence fell, until Jessica finally cleared her throat and said, “Um, okay, so I’ll be back in a while to check on you guys.” And then she whisked off like a scared bunny.
Another silence.
“Well. That was awkward,” Will finally said, his voice dry. He reached for his beer and took a long sip. “What exactly happened at the club that night, man?”
“Nothing,” Carson muttered.
He hadn’t told any of the guys about the closet fuck. The encounter had totally messed him up, made him reevaluate his lifestyle, and he hadn’t wanted to talk about it with anyone, especially guys like Ryan and Matt, who were still so hooked on the notion of casual sex.
“Nothing?” Ryan echoed. “Then you won’t mind if I ask her out, right? Because, jeez, she is hot.”
Carson clenched his fists. “Don’t even think about it.”
Ryan nodded. “That’s what I thought.” He grinned. “Nothing, my ass.”
He was watching her again. Holly could feel his eyes on her as she handed a glass of red wine to the mother of the bride. She had to force herself not to turn her head. Lord, that gaze was burning her up. Her skin felt so hot she was tempted to sprint toward the waves and dive in, but she doubted the cold water would lower her body temperature.
He’d been sending those sizzling glances her way for three hours and she was past the point of cooling down. She was so turned on she could barely breathe.
www.samhainpublishing.com 25
Elle Kennedy
She knew he wanted to talk to her. She could see it every time she delivered another tray of beers to his table. But each time she walked over there he just stared at her with those killer blue eyes, a million questions on his face. Well, she didn’t want to answer any questions. Wasn’t the point of one-night-stands that you weren’t supposed to make excuses? She’d been upset that night, she’d wanted to forget about Steve, so she’d propositioned a stranger and had sex with him in a closet. Then she’d crashed down to earth after a spectacular orgasm, realized what she’d done, become mortified and ran away. Why couldn’t they just leave it at that?
And why wouldn’t her clit stop throbbing, damn it? It was getting hard to walk with that ache between her legs.
Fortunately, the party was dwindling. Most of the guests had wished the bride and groom well and headed out. Even the happy couple had left. The only people who remained were a few couples laughing over wine, and the four SEALS.
Zoe walked over to her. “Vanessa said to start packing up.”
“Thank God. My feet are killing me.”
They headed over to the buffet area. Holly spent the next twenty minutes wrapping up the leftovers, gathering empty bottles, and making countless trips to and from the catering van. When she finally finished, she was relieved to find that everyone was gone.
The tables on the beach had been folded up, the guests had taken off, and only catering staff remained.
Her sexy SEAL was nowhere to be seen, which obviously meant he didn’t care enough to question Jessica and had decided to call it a night.
That should have been a relief, and yet a part of her was a little disappointed. Carson was probably the best-looking man she’d ever met in her life. Definitely the best lay of her life—not that she had a lot to compare him to. She’d only slept with two other men—
Steve, and a boy she’d dated in her senior year of high school.
She shouldn’t care that Carson had left. They were nothing more than a couple of strangers who’d happened to have sex one night. She didn’t know him. He didn’t know her.
26
www.samhainpublishing.com
Heat of Passion
But…
Darn it, she’d liked the way she’d felt that night with him. She’d liked being Jessica, not thinking about how much she disliked her life, not worrying about having to take care of anyone but herself. She’d been in control, lived for the moment, seized the pleasure.
And tonight, with Carson sitting at that table watching her all night, she’d felt that way again. She’d forgotten about being late for work, about her stupid broken bra, about everything but the fact that a really sexy man was undressing her with his eyes.