Then everything happened and went to hell at once.
I was so focused on trying to remember this indescribable feeling that I forgot the mayor’s wife’s first name and had just gotten two fingers into the inside of my elbow because of it. Collin’s fingers dug in harder and he leaned in to whisper for me not to show my pain as his dad and the mayor continued talking, and an unwelcome hand came to rest on my other arm.
My lips parted slightly as I tried to breathe through the pain from Collin’s fingers, and my eyes narrowed into slits the second I recognized that the meaty hand resting on my other arm belonged to my father-in-law’s coworker Ren. All of it was too much, and my mind whirled with the sensations slamming into me over and over again.
Pain, pain, pain. Breathe, I silently commanded myself. Don’t show it. Stop messing up in front of Collin. Pain—get away from creepy Ren’s wandering hands! Pain. How could I have messed up something so simple? So much pain! Both of you please stop touching me! I internally screamed, all while the party and conversations went on around us, nobody having a clue that anything could be wrong.
“There’re a lot of big pockets here tonight,” Collin’s dad was saying to the mayor. “This will be great for the firehouse and their charity.”
My head snapped up and eyes widened at the word firehouse, and instantly I knew the familiar energy in the building—the one I’d thought was lost forever. I sucked in an audible gasp when my gaze locked on dark, murderous eyes. But Knox’s eyes weren’t fixed on mine; they were locked on Collin’s hand still digging into my arm.
Collin moved fast. Suddenly I was in his arms with his mouth on mine. His blue eyes showed me everything his words couldn’t, since we had an audience.
His mom and the mayor’s wife made sounds of affection, and his dad laughed loudly. “These two; you can’t take them anywhere. Two and a half years in, and they’re still in the honeymoon phase.”
Collin pulled away and glanced back at the group to shoot them a wink. “Can you blame me for not being able to keep my hands off her?”
The mayor, Ren, and Collin’s dad all laughed this time, and the women whispered while sending me knowing smiles.
“Speaking of honeymoon,” the mayor’s wife said with bright eyes as she leaned in toward my in-laws. “A little birdie told me that the two of you will be sneaking away for another honeymoon soon after your anniversary party in a couple of weeks.”
My mother-in-law blushed through her smile. “Can you believe we will have been married thirty years?”
When Collin looked at me again, the other voices faded away as he held my gaze in warning for tense seconds. His handsome face was still in place for the public as he brushed some hair back from my face and nuzzled behind my ear. “Do not test me tonight, Harlow.”
My eyes darted past his shoulder to where Knox was staring at us. Even from across the room I could tell his breathing was rough, and the murderous expression he’d had a minute ago had deepened. His hands were fisted at his sides, and he was walking toward us.
As Collin found the spot at my wrist and told me not to show any pain, I pled with Knox, using only my eyes, for him to stay away. For him not to interfere with this. But he didn’t stop walking, and I stopped breathing as he went right past us, his head turned enough for me to see him shoot one last look at Collin.
I blew out a relieved breath and my body sagged into Collin’s.
Collin kissed my neck and mumbled, “Good girl.” He released me only to pull me against his side as he tried to find his way back into the now semi-heated discussion about the new chief of police in Richland. I wasn’t surprised to hear the mayor hadn’t been happy about an outsider taking over, either—they liked keeping their people in all the places that had any kind of power.
“Don’t you look rather beautiful tonight,” Ren said quietly a couple of minutes later.
I murmured what I hoped was a polite “Thank you,” but stilled when he touched my bare shoulder this time.