Page 38 of Thoroughly Pucked
My stomach flips.
Ledger RSVPs to Dev’s invitation without a second thought. “Yeah, let’s do it,” he says as he moves next to him and slides his strong arms under my calves.
I don’t need them both to carry me together. Hell, I don’t need a man to carry me, period.
But they seem to want to.
Together, they carry me into the room, and I try not to think about how good it feels to be in their arms.
17
THE CURSE OF AN ASS MAN
Ledger
There are fucking rose petals on the bed. To make matters worse, they’re strewn into the shape of a giant heart. The second Aubrey steps into the bedroom of the suite, she lays eyes on them, then groans out a long and plaintive, “Seriously?Seriously?”
We’re right behind her in the doorway. I turn to Dev, feeling a little helpless. Is it the roses, the bed, or the whole damn suite? Or the reminder of what could have been?
She drops her head into her hand.
Ah, hell. Maybe she’s sad again. Or, more likely, maybe she’s going to beat herself up once more foralmostmarrying that turd bucket.
What do we do, I mouth to Dev. He’s way better with this emotional stuff than I am.
But Dev is at her service in no time, striding pasther toward the bed. “I’ll just get rid of those bad boys right now,” he says.
Aubrey lifts her face, shakes her head. “No, that’s not it.”
He stops as she spins around and flaps a hand to the living room. We passed through it to reach the bedroom, but now she’s turned back and is pointing to the coffee table across from a couch. A bucket of ice sits on the table, a bottle of champagne peeking out. Two flutes are next to it on the table. “It’s just…”
Maybe that champagne is getting to her? Hell if I know.
She cuts a path to the bottle and picks up a white envelope leaning against the bucket. Sliding a pink manicured fingernail under the flap, she opens it, reads, then bursts into big, rich peals of laughter, like she did on the grassy hill outside 7-Eleven yesterday.
I don’t get it.
Dev shrugs, seeming equally perplexed. When Aubrey looks up from the card, a smile has tipped her glossy lips. She must have reapplied her lip gloss in the car. Her mouth is shiny and entirely too kissable, especially when she laughs like that, all carefree.
Before she lets us in on the joke, though, she heads to the hotel phone next to the couch and stabs a button. In a few seconds, she says, “Yes, I’m curious if this champagne is complimentary.”
She’s quiet, but her grin grows wider. Wilder too. “Thank you.”
After she hangs up, she clears her throat and reads the card. “Surprise! Just a little something extra fromyour groom. Because you deserve it, my beautiful bride,” she says, then meets our eyes with glee in hers. Like it’s a graduation cap, she tosses the card high in the air. Her brown eyes twinkle with wicked delight as she grabs the neck of the bottle, tugs it out of the bucket, and waggles it in a way that’s far too sexy. But sheisholding a phallic object, so it’s not unreasonable for me to think dirty thoughts. “Champagne’s on Aiden tonight, boys!”
“I’ll drink to that,” Dev says.
“Such a shame he remembered to book his super-saver fare but forgot to cancel the Cristal he paid for.” I shake my head in mock sympathy.
“Karma’s a bitch.” She sings out the last word like it has ten syllables and heads toward the en-suite bathroom. She freezes in the doorway, though, turning into a statue of a woman, all long, lush red hair curling down her back, leading to a fantastic ass.
Wow. Just look at that backside.
That black skirt is doing illegal things to her body, hugging her nice and tight. But I really shouldn’t think about her curves, especially after last night, especially after Dev and I made a gentleman’s pact to give her the honeymoon she deserves.
Yet I can’t look away. Call it the curse of an ass man. I want to bend her over the bed and spank that fine flesh, to hear her yelp, then moan in pleasure, then beg for more.
After a few seconds in the bathroom entrance, Aubrey unfreezes, glancing over her shoulder, and…fuck my dirty fantasies. She’s even prettier like that, lips parted, something sly and clever flickering in those irises. “The tubisbig. Hope you brought your bathing suits like I told you to.”