tugging the lacy cuff higher. Darby squirmed in her seat before curling her fingers around the sides of the chair.
To anyone watching it might have looked like she needed them for balance, given how she was perched on the very edge of her chair. But the way she bit her bottom lip, close to the corner, and then let it slide through her teeth said more about a threat to her internal equilibrium than being close to falling off the seat.
“If you don’t think you can handle this…” He trailed off.
She grinned, resting her foot on his thigh as he worked the garter up to her knee. “I think I’ve got it covered.” Her foot slid to the inside of his leg, a move he countered by deliberately raking his thumb up her inner thigh as he fit the garter in place.
Bryce’s fingers lingered on her skin for a few seconds after the music ended, and Darby struggled not to betray how much their little performance had ignited every inch of her body, the heat licking along her skin from the inside out.
Last night she’d been drinking, but unfortunately this time she couldn’t blame the alcohol.
In the space of ten minutes she’d gone from shock to anger to a numbness she’d been counting on to get her through the rest of the evening. If she was numb she didn’t have to think about what Thomas Lancaster had admitted and whether things would have turned out differently if she’d known the truth years ago.
If she was numb she wouldn’t have to convince herself that it was all in the past and didn’t change anything. Knowing the truth didn’t undo how she and Bryce had treated each other since then. Didn’t erase the cold shoulders and scathing comments they’d lived and breathed in each other’s presence until this weekend.
She reached blindly for the woman who had routinely cut him down and walked away without a second thought, needing to be that woman, but somehow couldn’t make herself fit back into that mold.
Feeling Bryce watching her, she forced a smile. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
He didn’t smile back. He stared at the ground, his jaw clenched as he let his hands drop back to his sides.
“Say something…something disturbing.”
“What’s wrong?”
He raised his head. “If I stand up right now, everyone in the room is going to know what touching you did to me.”
“What it did to you…? Oh. Oh. ” An unexpected smile widened at the knowledge he’d been just as affected. “So you’d like the verbal equivalent of a cold shower.”
A muscle in his jaw ticced. “Something along those lines, yeah.”
She dropped her leg and leaned forward as though she were keeping him from standing.
His gaze fell to her chest. “The view really isn’t helping.”
“Sorry.” She bit her lip to keep from laughing.
His lips curved. “No you’re not.”
Keeping a straight face, she went with the first disturbing thing to pop into her head. Disturbing for her, anyway. “Dante—”
“Not cold enough.”
She laughed. “When Dante and I were fourteen, I walked in on him masturbating while listening to Abba and looking at my mother’s fashion magazine.”
Bryce made a choking sound.
“Or taking another approach, I can tell you about the time he dislocated his shoulder falling out of Suzanne Winchester’s bedroom window after her father walked in on them fooling around.”
Bryce managed a laugh this time.
“And it gets better. The only thing he had on at the time was his socks.”
“And he told you all that?”
“Suzanne did, not realizing there are some things sisters just don’t need to know about their brothers.” She cocked her head, studying him. “Did that help?”
“Enough.” The word sounded strained and he looked at the garter peeking out from beneath the edge of her dress long enough to make her think he’d like nothing better than to slide his hand back up the inside of her thigh.
Darby made a move to tug her dress down, but he beat her to it, then rose to his
To anyone watching it might have looked like she needed them for balance, given how she was perched on the very edge of her chair. But the way she bit her bottom lip, close to the corner, and then let it slide through her teeth said more about a threat to her internal equilibrium than being close to falling off the seat.
“If you don’t think you can handle this…” He trailed off.
She grinned, resting her foot on his thigh as he worked the garter up to her knee. “I think I’ve got it covered.” Her foot slid to the inside of his leg, a move he countered by deliberately raking his thumb up her inner thigh as he fit the garter in place.
Bryce’s fingers lingered on her skin for a few seconds after the music ended, and Darby struggled not to betray how much their little performance had ignited every inch of her body, the heat licking along her skin from the inside out.
Last night she’d been drinking, but unfortunately this time she couldn’t blame the alcohol.
In the space of ten minutes she’d gone from shock to anger to a numbness she’d been counting on to get her through the rest of the evening. If she was numb she didn’t have to think about what Thomas Lancaster had admitted and whether things would have turned out differently if she’d known the truth years ago.
If she was numb she wouldn’t have to convince herself that it was all in the past and didn’t change anything. Knowing the truth didn’t undo how she and Bryce had treated each other since then. Didn’t erase the cold shoulders and scathing comments they’d lived and breathed in each other’s presence until this weekend.
She reached blindly for the woman who had routinely cut him down and walked away without a second thought, needing to be that woman, but somehow couldn’t make herself fit back into that mold.
Feeling Bryce watching her, she forced a smile. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
He didn’t smile back. He stared at the ground, his jaw clenched as he let his hands drop back to his sides.
“Say something…something disturbing.”
“What’s wrong?”
He raised his head. “If I stand up right now, everyone in the room is going to know what touching you did to me.”
“What it did to you…? Oh. Oh. ” An unexpected smile widened at the knowledge he’d been just as affected. “So you’d like the verbal equivalent of a cold shower.”
A muscle in his jaw ticced. “Something along those lines, yeah.”
She dropped her leg and leaned forward as though she were keeping him from standing.
His gaze fell to her chest. “The view really isn’t helping.”
“Sorry.” She bit her lip to keep from laughing.
His lips curved. “No you’re not.”
Keeping a straight face, she went with the first disturbing thing to pop into her head. Disturbing for her, anyway. “Dante—”
“Not cold enough.”
She laughed. “When Dante and I were fourteen, I walked in on him masturbating while listening to Abba and looking at my mother’s fashion magazine.”
Bryce made a choking sound.
“Or taking another approach, I can tell you about the time he dislocated his shoulder falling out of Suzanne Winchester’s bedroom window after her father walked in on them fooling around.”
Bryce managed a laugh this time.
“And it gets better. The only thing he had on at the time was his socks.”
“And he told you all that?”
“Suzanne did, not realizing there are some things sisters just don’t need to know about their brothers.” She cocked her head, studying him. “Did that help?”
“Enough.” The word sounded strained and he looked at the garter peeking out from beneath the edge of her dress long enough to make her think he’d like nothing better than to slide his hand back up the inside of her thigh.
Darby made a move to tug her dress down, but he beat her to it, then rose to his