Page 33 of The Best Man Problem
“Oh, but I—”
Her protests were cut off as they arrived in front of the man in question.
“Hey, Lincoln.” Kenneth glanced back to Marie with a puzzled frown but, at her wave, turned back and smiled at his friend. “I found you a new dance partner.”
“Did you now?”
Pale hazel eyes lit up, a smile curving Lincoln’s lips as he stared directly into her eyes. With their minimal height difference and her three-inch heels, they were on even footing. She might even be a half inch taller than him. Didn’t seem to bother the man one bit. He stood there, grinning at her like a fool. No. Not a fool. Like a predator about to devour his prey. And at the moment, she felt very much like prey. An offering by a sweet but meddling woman in love. Why did people in love always try and set up everyone they knew? Just because they were happy and lucky in love didn’t mean everyone else would be, too.
A buzzing sound came from Kenneth, and he dropped her arm to dig his phone out of his pocket.
“It’s my mom again. I better take this.” He brought the phone to his ear, leaving the dance floor with a wave. “Hey, Mom. What? No. Cousin Barry is allergic to shellfish, not peanuts.”
Lilly stared after Kenneth as he left, her attention catching on Marie talking to Rachel. The woman noticed her stare and smiled, giving her a wink and thumbs-up. Very different energy than the weird vibe coming off Kenneth as he led her over here. It seemed not everyone was on the Lilly-and-Lincoln train. In all the months she’d known the couple, this was the first thing she’d seen them not 100 percent agree on. The realization left a sick sense of dread in the pit of her stomach.
She turned back to Lincoln to find him smiling at her, a question filling his soft gaze. One she had precisely zero answer to. She was trying to be strong in resisting him, but she had about fifty-fifty support and opposition from the people around her right now, and the even split was not helping her give a firm no or yes either way.
Because if she gave this man her body again, she feared she just might lose her heart.
Chapter Ten
Lincoln smiled as Lilly gave him a considering stare. “What?”
She shook her head. “Your friends are about as subtle as mine.”
He laughed, a deep, loud rumble that filled his chest and warmed his belly. She had that right. The past two weeks, Marie had been making some not-so-subtle hints about Lilly and what a great catch she was. Preaching to the choir. What his friend didn’t know was he had firsthand knowledge of exactly how dynamite the woman could be. And not only in bed. Every moment he’d spent in her presence had been a fascinating discovery of a fierce and feisty woman who appeared cool and controlled on the outside but had a wild and passionate spirit burning within.
She could stand to loosen up on her rigid rules, and she definitely needed to join the age of updated technology, but he supposed no one was perfect.
“Shall we?” He held out his hand.
Lilly glanced to the dance floor, a slight grimace turning those sweet red lips. “Trust me, you do not want to dance with me.”
Actually, he’d like nothing more at the moment. While he’d much rather take her back to bed and pleasure her until neither of them could walk straight the next day, they were in public without a bed in sight, and that desire would have to wait.
“I don’t?” He tilted his head at her assuredness.
She gave a soft laugh. “I am a terrible dancer. I have zero rhythm, and more than one person has accused me of breaking their baby toe.”
He highly doubted the woman could dance poorly enough to break a toe. Unless she danced in steel boots. A quick glance to her feet revealed a pair of sleek and shiny blue high heels with tiny skyscraper picks that somehow held her up, making her his exact height. Maybe even half an inch taller. Lincoln didn’t care. At five foot ten, he wasn’t the tallest guy in any room, and he’d dated women in the past who matched or even exceeded his height. Never bothered him. Just made the journey to heaven a shorter one.
“In those killer shoes?” He whistled. “Stab me, maybe, but I doubt you could break anything.”
She glanced down with a smile. “You like my shoes?”
If he liked them any more, there’d be an uncomfortable tenting situation going on. As it was, he was having a hard time controlling his body’s reaction to this woman. The shoes were only one part of her alluring look tonight. The pale yellow dress, which complemented the shoes in color so perfectly he was sure she bought them together, clung to her curves, hugging every delectable inch of her body from the scoop of the collar, which was modest and yet revealed just the hint of teasing cleavage, to where it nipped in at her waist—a waist he vividly remembered grasping in his hands as she rode him with wild abandon. It fanned out, hitting her just above her knees, revealing the mile-long legs he still dreamed about. Having those beauties wrapped around him as he thrust into her was a memory branded on his soul.
“I love them.” He lifted his hand. “And I would love to dance with you in them. I promise not to mention any injuries you might inflict, even if there’s blood drawn.”
She laughed. “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Ten minutes later, he struggled to hold in the affirmation of her warning.
“I told you.” Lilly chuckled as he grimaced when she stepped on his toe for the fifth time. “I am a terrible dancer.”
The instructor had come by three times to help, but it seemed even the dancer with decades of experience and teaching under her dance belt had pegged Lilly as a lost cause. Not him, though.
“Put your feet on mine.”
