Page 123 of Your Fault

I felt Nick’s warmth a few minutes later. My whole body shook when his jacket brushed my lower back. Will and my mother were right there in front of me. Their eyes turned toward the recent arrival.

“Hey, Son,” Will said distractedly just before a woman came over to say something to him. My mother smiled nervously and turned to listen to the woman’s instructions about the photos.

I looked back at the gardens. Nick said nothing, but his finger traced a line from my shoulder to my wrist in a way that was both subtle and incredibly tempting.

I turned, thinking I would warn him with my eyes that the best thing he could do was leave me in peace—no touching, no alluring stares, no kisses or anything like it. But whatever warnings I thought I’d issue got stuck in my throat when I saw him there, so close, right in front of me, and more imposing than ever.

His mouth said nothing, but his eyes said everything. I felt as if he were stripping me nude as they traveled over my body, their gaze palpable, as if he were stroking me with his hands. I could already feel his lips kissing me, moist and delightful, on every inch of my bare body.

God, stop it, don’t think about that right now.

He bent over to kiss me on the cheek.

I closed my eyes and breathed in his familiar scent, which was mixed subtly with the aroma of tobacco. Had he been smoking? Was he as nervous as I was?

“You look gorgeous,” he whispered in my ear before standing up straight and acting like nothing had happened.

He walked past me to the journalists while I stayed there stunned, watching him. They peppered him with questions, and he responded while I observed from a distance. The way he moved, the way he talked smoothly with all those people dying to know about the youngest Leister, the self-assurance in his every movement…

He stepped back to type something on his phone. Just then, I felt mine vibrate.

By then, Nick had put his away and returned to answering questions, and his father had approached him. The cameras were trained on the two men. I looked down at my screen:

I’m going to take off that dress so slowly I’ll make it the longest and most erotic night of your life.

An inopportune heat made my body glow from my toes to my cheeks. I looked to both sides, hoping no one had noticed the effect his words, his mere presence, had on me.

Finally, they let us into the salon, where the waiters were serving glasses of champagne on elegant glass trays. There was glass and crystal everywhere, and candles…yes, hundreds of candles and soft white lights that invited you to settle in, talk, spend an unbelievable evening.

Now that people were mingling, Nick came over to meet me.

“Did you like my present?” he asked as we walked off, leaving the journalists behind us.

I needed some distance from him. We had promised we’d work things out once everything was over, and I wanted that night to end as quickly as possible.

“No presents, Nick. I want to get this night over with and forget that you came here with another woman.”

He sighed and brought a hand up, evidently meaning to caress me, but then he realized he couldn’t. He closed it into a fist and brought it down by his side. I looked away, frustrated—by the situation, by everything.

“I could fuck all this up, Noah. I could do it. All I want right now is to bury my hands in your hair and kiss you until I’m breathless… Just say the word, and I’ll do it.”

I bit my lip. I knew he was telling the truth. If I asked him to, if I told him how much I was suffering that night, nothing would make him happier than to ruin the whole event on my behalf.

But Will had asked us to behave, and I wasn’t going to turn our parents against us even more.

“I’m good,” I assured him, even as I dreamed of him wrappinghis arms around me just then. I missed him. I missed our moments, touching each other, our kisses. I missed the Nick and Noah moments; two weeks had been too many, and the night before hadn’t sufficed for us to get everything out and fix our problems once and for all.

I realized my mother was watching us from a few feet away. People were noticing us, damn it. Every eye was on Nick.

“You need to go. People are looking at us, and the last thing I want is for us to have done all this for no reason.”

Nick looked to either side, then back at me.

“It’s just a couple of hours. Then I promise I’ll devote myself to you, body and soul… until everything is back to the way it was before.”

His words hung in the air between us for a few infinite seconds.

Until everything is back to the way it was before.