That froze me from any craziness, like flinging myself at him as I’d been tempted to do. If Bones wasn’t surprised to see me, then he knew I’d be here. But how did he know that? And the most important questions—How did he find me? What did he want?
Now wasn’t the time to find out. This was Denise’s wedding. I wouldn’t ruin it by causing a scene. Thank God and all his saints, I thought, that my mother isn’t looking closely at the groomsmen. She’d have no hesitation about ruining Denise’s day in a spectacular way. Whatever Bones had in mind, I’d deal with him after the wedding.
Or I’d pass out. Whichever came first.
Without further drama, I took my place by Felicity. She leaned over and hissed in my ear as Denise began her walk down the aisle.
“Don’t even think about the hottie; I call dibs.”
“Shut up,” I replied, too low for the guests to overhear. My palms were sweating and my knees felt like jelly. How was I ever going to make it through this wedding? Bones’ nearness was unbelievable. For four and a half years I had dreamed about him, and now I could reach out and touch him. It didn’t even seem real.
Randy took Denise from her father’s arm, and they held hands. The appointed justice began the modified version of the wedding vows sans religious references. Bones turned and faced the man when the rest of the groomsmen did.
The ceremony was a blur. I had to be nudged by Felicity to accept Denise’s bouquet when it was time for the ring exchange. When the justice finally pronounced them man and wife, I was relieved. How terrible of me. This was my best friend’s wedding, and all I wanted was for it to be over so I could have a moment to pull myself together.
Denise and Randy ascended back up the aisle, and I nearly ran when it was my turn to follow them. Philip tried to restrain me to a sedate walk, but I yanked on his arm to speed him up.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” I lied in desperation. What I had to do was take a moment alone to recover my blasted equilibrium. “Tell Noah not to wait for me; I’ll go straight to do the pictures afterward.”
As soon as we left the sanctuary, I bolted for the ladies’ room, my flower bouquet forgotten on the ground where I’d dropped it.
The bathroom was on the other side of the club. Once inside, I sank to the floor by the sink. Oh God, oh God, seeing him made every emotion I’d tried to forget come roaring back with pitiless intensity. I had to get control of myself. Fast. My head fell onto my bent knees.
“Hallo, Kitten.”
I was so preoccupied with my breakdown that I didn’t hear Bones come in. His voice was as smooth as I’d remembered, that English accent just as enticing. I snapped my head up, and in the midst of my carefully constructed life crashing around me, found the most absurd thing to worry about.
“God, Bones, this is the ladies’ room! What if someone sees?”
He laughed, a low, seductive ripple of the air. Noah had kissed me with less effect.
“Still a prude? Don’t fret—I locked the door behind me.”
If that was supposed to ease my tension, it had the opposite result. I sprang to my feet, but there was nowhere to run. He blocked the only exit.
“Look at you, luv. Can’t say I prefer the brown hair, but as for the rest of you... you’re luscious.”
Bones traced the inside of his lower lip with his tongue as his eyes slid all over me. Their heat seemed to rub my skin. When he took a step closer, I flattened back against the wall.
“Stay where you are.”
He leaned nonchalantly against the countertop. “What are you all lathered about? Think I’m here to kill you?”
“No. If you were going to kill me, you wouldn’t have bothered with the altar ambush. You obviously know what name I’m going under, so you would have just gone for me one night when I came home.”
He whistled appreciatively. “That’s right, pet. You haven’t forgotten how I work. Do you know I was offered a contract on the mysterious Red Reaper at least three times before? One bloke had half-a-million bounty for your dead body.”
Well, not a surprise. After all, Lazarus had tried to cash a check on my ass for the same reason. “What did you say, since you’ve just confirmed you’re not here for that?”
Bones straightened, and the bantering went out of him. “Oh, I said yes, of course. Then I hunted the sods down and played ball with their heads. The calls quit coming after that.”
I swallowed at the image he described. Knowing him, it was exactly what he’d done.
“So, then, why are you here?”
He smiled and came nearer, ignoring my previous order.
“Not happy to see me after all these years? Do you know why I wanted to catch you unawares? So I could see your eyes, and know what you felt in that very instant.”
Danger. Danger. Less than a foot separated us. I’d never been able to resist him touching me, and I wasn’t about to test my willpower now. Frantically I tried to think of a way to distract him.
“Have you met my boyfriend?”