Page 4 of Crash with Me (Seasons of Sizzle #3)

FOUR

SETH

Her smooth lips brush against mine, and my whole body comes alive.

It’s like I’ve been a tightly wound spring. The moment we touch—finally—I come apart.

The kiss starts off light. A gentle brush. But once we’ve breached the invisible wall keeping this arrangement of ours professional, there’s no holding back. A flood of desire rushes through me. Sliding my hand to cradle the back of her head, I angle my head and urge her lips apart.

With a gasp, she relents. Our tongues lightly touch, and the want inside of me rages into a need. A need as essential as taking my next breath or having a drink of water.

Kissing Heidi feels necessary. And I don’t want to stop.

But as much as I want to lose myself in the moment—to lose myself in her—the gasps around us remind me we aren’t alone. With a final nibble, sucking her bottom lip, I pull back and rest my forehead against hers.

We’re both gasping for breath. My thumb strokes the smooth skin behind her ear as we take deep gulps of air and let our heartrates return to normal.

“Well, then.” Stacey clears her throat. “I guess you showed them.”

I pull back slightly and search Heidi’s gaze for any sign of discomfort. She just gives me a smile. It’s almost shy and so damn sweet. It’s more than a little surprising, but endearing, coming from a woman who has been so damn confident from the moment we met.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Mmm hmm.” She rubs her lips together, as if she’s savoring my taste. “For the record, we can do that again any time you want.”

I chuckle. “I may take you up on that offer.”

“Please do.” She looks as if she wants to say more, but she pulls back and gives a polite smile as Kelly and Dad move toward us.

“That’s enough, you lovebirds,” Kelly says. “We have more planned this morning.”

Stacey narrows her eyes. “You have more planned?”

“Of course, we do. It is a party.”

“I thought it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding,” Stacey says. “And you want to spend more time together.”

“It’s bad luck to be superstitious,” Dad says. “Besides, we want this whole weekend to be a party.”

“And what would a party be without some games?” Kelly asks.

I groan inwardly. “Games?”

“That’s right.” She bats her eyes. “And I can tell the two of you are going to give us a run for our money with what I have planned.”

“This is a terrible idea.”

Heidi rolls her eyes at me. “It’s going to be fine.”

“We’re just asking for trouble.” I shake my head. “We’re going to give ourselves away.”

“You’re worrying about nothing.”

I lean my head toward hers and lower my voice. “We just met last night. Don’t you think that’s going to be pretty obvious when we’re going up against a handful of well-established couples in The Newlywed Game?”

She scoffs. “You’d be surprised how many ‘well-established couple’s’ know next to nothing about each other.”

“They probably know more than we do.”

“Maybe they do. Maybe they don’t. Either way, don’t you think it’ll be more suspicious if we back out?”

My shoulders slump. Damn it all, she’s probably right. If we back out now, it’ll only draw attention. Kelly and my dad will want to know why. And considering the way I’ve crashed their wedding weekend, I doubt either of them will let it go until they’ve questioned us to death.

We might as well answer a bunch of random questions instead of being faced with real ones.

I take a deep breath. “Okay. We can do this. But maybe we should have a signal or something.”

Her eyes widen. “You want us to cheat?”

“I didn’t say cheat. Just… you know… Maybe we can give each other a hint or two.”

She clucks her tongue. “And here I was thinking you were an honest kind of guy.”

“I am honest.”

“Says the man who just proposed we play dirty.” Her lips quirk up. “It’s a good thing I’m a play-to-win kind of gal. Just follow my lead.”

We move toward the two rows of chairs lined up at the front of the hotel’s party room. Stacey, who has been drafted into playing the MC, hands each of us a white board and marker.

“Who gave you the questions?” I ask.

“Who do you think?” She rolls her eyes. “But don’t worry. I plan to go off script. Just to keep things fair.”

I smirk. “That’s my baby sister.”

“I try. Now.” She gives a nudge. “Go on and take your seat, Bro. I guess you’re supposed to sit opposite your woman.”

Following my sister’s orders, I take the only remaining seat, to my dad’s right. He gives a grunt in greeting as I make myself comfortable. Or, as comfortable as I can be with my dad still eyeing me suspiciously.

Settling across from me, Heidi catches my gaze and winks. I immediately relax.

“It’s a funny thing,” my dad says.

“What’s that?”

“I keep trying to wrap my head around why you’d show up to my wedding with a woman you’ve never introduced to the family.”

I clench my jaw.

“Can you blame the boy?” his buddy Jim asks from his other side. “You’re marrying the last girlfriend he introduced to you.”

Dad’s glare grows more fierce, and I choke on a laugh.

Luckily, Stacey calls us all to attention before the two old guys can come to blows. “Okay, friends, family, and people who aren’t quite sure where you fall, but somehow ended up attending the wedding.”

There’s a rumble of laughter.

“We’re playing the Newlywed Game—or, rather, the Soon-to-be-Newlywed Game in honor of my dad and his”—she clenches her teeth in a tight smile—“bride. In this first round, we’ll ask this side”—she gestures toward Heidi—“questions about”—she points in my direction—“this side. You’ll have thirty seconds to write down your answers. ”

Narrowly resisting the urge to sigh—yet again—I uncap my marker and hold it poised to write.

“What”—Stacey says with dramatic flair—“is their favorite meal?”

I perk up at that. Flashing a grin across the aisle, I quickly scribble down my answer. I beam when it’s our turn to flash our boards as Heidi and I both hold up signs that say, “Smoked ribs with baked beans and corn on the cob.”

I shake my head as I wipe the board. I can’t believe she just asked one of the questions Heidi and I randomly discussed last night.

“What is their favorite TV show?”

We once again answer the same with his and her responses of Friday Night Lights . Stacey continues the line of questioning. Heidi and I ace every question in the first and second rounds.

By the time she’s made it through the list of questions provided by Kelly, only she and my dad and Heidi and I are still standing with perfect scores.

“Okay, we’re down to two couples.” Stacey arches an eyebrow. “It’s time for the final, rapid-fire question round. And to make sure no one cheats…” She looks down at the notes and gives a chuckle. “It looks like you’ll be playing this round blind-folded.”

“What?” My pulse quickens. “That’s not possible.”

“Why do you say that, son?” Dad asks. “Afraid you won’t know the answers

I dart a nervous glance at Heidi, who just gives me an encouraging grin. It’s not like we ended up needing to cheat. Somehow, every question had an answer we both knew.

But I’d taken comfort in looking up to find her encouraging gaze.

“I mean… How are we supposed to answer with our eyes closed?”

“You’ll be sitting next to each other,” Kelly says. You’ll point at the person who best fits.”

I frown, but I catch that neither my dad nor Kelly seems particularly happy about this turn of events. I perk up at that. This must be where Stacey decided to go rogue.

Well, good then. Heidi and I have already more than proved we know each other well. Or, at least, better than most of the other guests in attendance. Win or lose, we can walk out of this game with our cover intact.

As we sit down next to each other and one of the bridesmaids places blindfolds over our eyes, Heidi reaches over to take my hand. She gives it a short squeeze.

It’s a clear signal. As if to say, “I’m still with you.” It’s the kind of support and acceptance I never knew I wanted.

“If it’s anything about a short temper or kind of wild,” she whispers, “pick me.”

“And if it’s not?”

“Choose yourself.”

She releases my hand and we face forward. With our eyes covered, I’m even more aware of everything around us. I can practically feel people staring, and I can definitely hear their whispers.

But, I’m also even more in tune with Heidi. I can feel the warmth flowing from her body into mine. And I’m keenly aware of her scent. It’s the vanilla body wash she uses paired with a sweet, citrusy spray she misted on herself before we left the room.

It’s the same smell I woke up with clinging to my skin this morning. I can feel myself growing thick and hard at the memory of her body pressed intimately against mine.

“Ready, contestants?” Stacey calls out. “Let’s go. Who is most likely to plan a romantic night in?”

I hesitate a moment and point at myself.

“Who is most likely to start an argument?”

Though I doubt this answer, I follow her earlier instructions and point at Heidi.

“Who is most likely to be late to a date?”

I point at her again.

“Who is most likely to cry during a movie?”

With a chuckle, I gesture to myself.

“Who said ‘I love you’ first?”

Swallowing past a sudden lump in my throat, I press my thumb against my chest again.

“And, who is most likely to break the other’s heart?”

My own heart hitches. I don’t have to guess the right answer on this one. I point at Heidi without a second thought.

Of course, it’s her. When it comes to us, she holds all the cards. And she doesn’t even know it.

“I think we have a clear winner here, folks. Contestants, you can remove your blindfolds.”

Tugging it from my face, I blink at the sudden brightness. I turn to Heidi who is doing the same. Our gazes meet, and she grins.

“How do you think it went?” I ask.

“I guess we’re about to find out.”

“Thank you all so much for playing,” Stacey says. “And now, please put your hands together for our winners: Seth and Heidi.”

My jaw falls open and Heidi gasps, throwing her arms around me. Mine instinctively come up to wrap around hers.

I bury my face in her long, auburn hair, breathing in the sweet smell of vanilla and grapefruit.

I’m vaguely aware of my dad and Kelly bickering about who said ‘I love you’ first, but I don’t give them another thought. I’m too damn surprised, and too happy holding the woman in my arms to care.

“You think you’re happy now”—Stacey wiggles her eyebrows—“wait till you find out what you’ve won.”