She was beautiful...and way too reminiscent of his ex-wife. Being just out of a divorce, weddings were not high on his attendance list, but he couldn’t let Destin down. Nor did he want to bring his baggage to the happy day.
Toni turned his head to where the groom was staring lovingly at his bride. Toni supposed he’d done the same at his wedding.
This isn’t want I signed up for.
He tried to shake the angry voice of his ex-wife from his head. He lifted his glass to his lips. Empty. When the show was over he’d head to the bar, and then everything would be all right.
Fortified by his new plan he looked up and prayed the spectacle would soon be over. There was a shot of whiskey with his name on it. Toni focused on the bride, who had stopped midthrow and was waving at someone. His thoughts were wiped from his brain.
Danica let her curling hair fall around her shoulders and made her way from the cake station into the crowd of single ladies. He licked his lips, as if trying to taste the icing that had landed on her cleavage again. And what a stunning bosom it was. She was tall and hourglass shaped with full hips that he couldn’t take his eyes from as she walked in her heels.
“That’s too much woman for you, bro.”
Toni chuckled.
“There is no such thing as too much woman, Leo.”
Leo laughed in agreement and slapped him on the back.
“You can’t have all of ’em. Save some for the rest of us.”
“Don’t worry, brother. I only want one.” He was half kidding, thinking that a good night’s sleep didn’t sound so bad. But as Dani stood close to the back and slightly away from the women jostling for position, he couldn’t help but imagine her naked in his sheets.
The bride tossed the bouquet and he compared the scene before him to the game-winning goal in the World Cup. The girls moved as one toward the airborne flowers. The blonde in the red dress dove. Dani put her arms up for the block. The blonde grazed the bouquet and tipped it into Dani’s hands.
The crowd oohed.
But Dani swatted it into the hands of a young flower girl while the blonde lost her footing and hit the ground.
The crowd ahhed.
The blonde looked pissed. Dani sauntered away. And Toni headed for the bar.
* * *
Dani put the top layer of the wedding cake in the refrigerator for the newlyweds, closed the door and officially ended her maid of honor duties. Although the DJ was still playing, the party had thinned out once the bride and groom conspicuously disappeared. And it took Dani a minute to realize that her friend Liz had also left with one of the groomsmen, which meant the Dani would have to enjoy one last drink alone.
She found a seat at the bar, ordered a shot of whiskey, and paid no attention to the tall, broad-shouldered man with his back to her. Her thoughts drifted back to her encounter with the best man. Who did he think he was arguing with her over the wine? He looked damn good in a suit though. And those eyes, they glittered like a rainbow after a storm.
Dani cursed her weakness for tall, handsome and cocky.
As for Andre, when she got back to New York, she’d put an end to their sexual relationship.
If she could just find a sweet, humble, not shorter than herself man, then life would be perfect. Okay, maybe he could be a little shorter than her, but he’d have to have muscles to complement her figure.
And he’d have to be cool with her work schedule. Running a kitchen was a 24/7 job, which is why she had a penchant for sleeping with her coworkers. She sighed. This cycle had to stop.
Dani’s gaze darted back and forth, and then she pulled out her phone and opened up her dating app. Swipe left, swipe left, swipe left. Someone brushed by her back and she pulled her phone close. No one needed to know how pathetic she had gotten to be swiping at a wedding. When the coast was clear she made one more swipe.
“He’s cute,” said a deep accented voice behind her.
Mortified, Dani sat up and pulled her phone to her chest, ignoring the goose bumps his voice sent down her bare arms. Slipping her phone back in her purse, she slowly turned and met Toni’s amused steady gaze.
His hair was spiked like he’d been running his hand through it, but he still looked gorgeous.
“Stop sneaking up on me.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he said with a smirk. “Aren’t there enough eligible men here for you?”
They both turned when one of the more inebriated guests fell off his chair.
She chuckled and turned back to him, her gaze caught in the ripples of his chest as he too laughed.
“Um, No. And I’m not really looking for a guy, I was just having a drink before I went to bed.”
“What a coincidence. Me too.” He downed his whiskey and held up two fingers. “Bartender, two more.”
Dani held up her hands, then gestured toward the empty stool. “No, no, I’m not trying to be that guy.” But before she could slip away he leaned in so she could feel his warm breath on her cheek.
“Then how about we find more of that icing, and you can tell me which body parts you want me to lick it off of.”
Shock had her turning her head slowly, unsure if she had heard him correctly. His heavy-lidded gaze held hers and an explosion of sexual heat shot to the tips of her breasts, which were now diamond points, down to the V between her thighs, which felt on fire, and down her legs to the tips of her toes.
Time slowed and her heart pounded.
“It’s just one night,” he whispered, sensing her hesitation. “I’m going back to Milan tomorrow.”
“Milan? I didn’t know you were from Milan.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Without breaking eye contact, he brought the back of her hand to his lips and kissed the warm skin, making every cell in her body shiver with unnamed desire. Suddenly nothing mattered but him.
“Let’s go,” she exhaled, hoping she had enough icing to cover him, as well.
They left the reception separately with a plan. Dani would grab the icing and meet Toni in his room, which sat ocean side on the ground floor of the resort.
Unfortunately Dani was out of icing, but they still had a case of Clos left and what better way to enjoy a $1700 bottle of champagne then before, during and after sex.
Dani was inside the walk-in pantry when two strong arms appeared by her temples.
“I got impatient.”
Toni was at her back, reaching over her to help keep the wine locker open and simultaneously kissing his way down the back of her neck.
“There is no more icing. I’m improvising.”
She pulled two bottles from the slats, and then backed into him to shut the door.
“I like how you think. Mmm, you smell like vanilla,” he said low against her nape. He was a solid wall of muscle and she shamelessly rubbed her body against him. His hands found their way over her hips and ran up her front to cup her breasts.
She struggled to keep hold of the bottles, feeling exposed to his roaming hands, and tightened her grip. Never would she waste such a beautiful bottle of wine, and never could she walk away from the pleasure this man was offering.
The briefest thought of Andre came and went, replaced by a sense of entitlement.