Sweet Texas Fire by Nicole Flockton Page B

chapel. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but a wedding gown wasn’t it. He’d been struck dumb by the way her dress hugged her every curve, and when she started walking toward him, he had to stop himself from striding down the aisle, scooping her up in his arms, and kissing her senseless. His instant reaction to her dressed as a bride baffled him. They merely tolerated each other. Their toast confirmed that. Still, he’d been very controlled with their first kiss as husband and wife. Their first kiss ever.
    He glanced to his right, into the bedroom he’d chosen, and imagined Charlotte lying on the bed, waiting for him to possess her. He couldn’t help it. He was a male having a dinner with an attractive female in a hotel room. Who wouldn’t think of taking her to bed?
    His body yelled at him to disregard the rest of the meal. He wanted to lift her from her chair and carry her over to the bed. But he wasn’t going to go all Neanderthal on her.
    “What are you thinking so hard about, Gage?”
    “I’m not sure I should tell you.”
    “Really? You do know the rules now.”
    “Rules? What are these rules?”
    “Being married, you have to tell me everything that goes on in your mind.”
    Gage leaned back in his chair and reached for his champagne again. “Is that so? I suppose if I have to tell you my every thought, then you have to do the same.”
    “Oh, no, that’s not how it works. Only you have to bare your secrets. I pick and choose which ones I want to let you in on.”
    “That hardly seems fair.”
    “It is what it is. You should look it up in the rule book.”
    “I’ll make sure I do that.”
    They finished the meal in silence, and once they were done he cleared away their dinner plates before replacing them with the dessert ones.
    “Here you go.” He lifted the lids to display matching bride and groom cupcakes. “It may not be fancy, but what is a wedding without wedding cake?”
    “Please don’t tell me you’re going to smash this in my face. I don’t get that tradition. It’s not something we’ve ever done in Australia.”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it. Why ruin a perfectly good cake by doing that? I’d much rather eat it. Although”—he smiled wickedly at her—“I’m all up for sharing.”
    “Settle down, Cowboy. I don’t share my cake with anyone.”
    “Not even your brand-new husband?”
    “Nope, not even with him.”
    “Maybe I will smash my cake in your face then,” he mused.
    She quirked an eyebrow and a challenging look entered her eyes. “You do recall me saying I have three brothers, don’t you?”
    He held his hands up, cupcake and all, in surrender. “Fine, forget I said that.”
    “Good.” She was about to take a bite when he remembered something else.
    “Wait, don’t do anything yet.”
    Without waiting for a response, Gage strode into his bedroom, fished out his phone from the top drawer, and popped it into the holder in the top of the clock radio. A few seconds later music wafted through the room.
    “Perfect,” he murmured to himself as he walked back to the balcony and sat down. He picked up his cupcake and broke a bite off for Charlotte. “You want a taste?”
    Instead of taking it from his fingers like he thought she would, she scooted her chair around so they were sitting side by side. He bit back a groan as her leg brushed his, sending the sparks of desire that he thought he had under control firing through him again. The temptation to take possession of her increased when she took the piece of the cake from his fingers and moaned in appreciation.
    “This is good cake. Here, try mine.” She repeated his action and held it out. Gage wrapped his fingers around her wrist and directed her hand toward his mouth. He kept his eyes locked with hers, satisfied with the way they opened wider when he took the cake she held out and swirled his tongue around her fingers.
    Oh yes, perhaps Charlotte wasn’t as immune to him as she thought she was.