With her chest heaving for air, her heart racing, and her panties saturated in desire, she looked away. “Then what do you want from me, Gavin?” she asked, her voice an aggravated whisper.
He caught her by the chin and made her look at him, his eyes—that light, wild blue—blazing into hers. “Damn it, Emily. I want us! You belong with me, not him.” He half snarled the declaration. “Every part of you was made for me. Your lips were made to kiss mine, your eyes were made to wake up to me looking at you in my bed every morning, and your fucking tongue was made to roll my name off of it. I am more certain of us than I’m certain that I require oxygen to breathe.”
Like a thief in the night, his words nearly stole her breath. She looked practically on the verge of tears and went to speak, but Gavin suddenly brought his hand up and cupped it over her mouth. He gave a quick shake of his head. At first, she didn’t realize what he was doing, and then the sound of Dillon and Trevor’s voices cut through their frantic breathing. With widened eyes, Emily’s heart quickened as she stared at Gavin.
“Well, where is she?” Dillon asked, his tone filled with anger and concern. “And where the fuck is Gavin?”
A few seconds went by before Trevor answered, and as fast as Emily’s heart was pounding, she was sure Dillon could hear it. All Dillon had to do was round the corner of the terrace to find her and Gavin in the shadows.
“The room was too loud, and Gavin had to take a business call. He went upstairs to find somewhere quiet.” Trevor cleared his throat a few times. “Let’s go back in, and I’ll have Olivia check out the restrooms again.”
Emily heard Dillon let out a heavy breath, and then their footsteps receded back inside.
As the oxygen redistributed itself back into her depleted lungs, Gavin slowly dragged his hand away from her mouth. Other than the distant sound of laughter and conversation from the party, deafening silence descended as they stared at one another. Emily pushed herself from the wall and started to walk away, but as soon as she did, Gavin called out to her.
She came to an abrupt stop but didn’t turn to face him.
He slowly came up behind her, brushing his hands down her arms, his spoken words muffled into the crook of her neck. “I’d never hurt you, Emily. Stop fighting me. Stop fighting what you already know.”
With his touch heady and intoxicating and her heart still slamming in her chest, she didn’t turn around. She couldn’t. On shaky legs, she made her way back into the party, the sudden need for absolute numbness overriding her thoughts. She gave the room a once over to make sure Dillon wasn’t in her line of sight. As soon as she knew it was clear, she weaved through the guests, her mind racing a mile a minute with the fear that Dillon could’ve caught them. Her body jerked with a surge of adrenaline when she felt a hand grab for her elbow, but the tension in her shoulders deflated when she turned to find it was Olivia.
“Come with me,” Olivia quickly said, leading her to the front of the restaurant.
They stepped outside, and Olivia handed her a bottle of aspirin. “Tell Dillon you had a headache, and you sent the valet to bring the car around because you needed to get these from the glove compartment.”
“Dillon has the valet ticket,” Emily hastily whispered.
Olivia flashed a smile. “Don’t worry about it. I use to fuck around with him,” she motioned over to a lanky valet attendant that was watching them.
With a half smirk, Emily flicked her eyes in his direction and then back to Olivia.
“What?” Olivia chirped. “It was my pre-women days, and he owed me a favor. I already talked to him, and he said he would back up the story if need be.”
Emily nodded. “Okay. This will work, right?”
“Oh, your fiancé,” she replied, crinkling her nose, “is definitely pissed, but yeah, the excuse should work.”
With that, they walked back into the party, and as soon as they did, Emily’s gaze locked onto Gavin’s. He was coming back in from the terrace, watching her as intently as she was watching him. He strolled over to Stephanie, reached for her hand, and spoke to her for a few minutes. With Stephanie on his arm, he started making his way through the crowd, heading straight in Emily’s direction.
Olivia laughed, and Emily shot her a look. “Well, you have to find the humor in all of this, chick.” Olivia smiled.
It was far from humorous for Emily. It was painful, confusing, and drained her emotions dry, but before she could tell Olivia any of those things, Gavin and Stephanie approached them.
He wore a smile on face, but a glimpse of pain was evident in his eyes. “It’s getting late, so we’re gonna get going,” he said as he looked at Emily. “Just tell Dillon I’ll talk to him during the week.”
Emily nodded, wanting to somehow comfort him. After tonight, she felt they both might be going to bed, licking their wounds—at least she knew she would. “I’ll tell him,” she answered, her voice just above a whisper.
“It was nice to meet you,” Stephanie smiled. “Again, congratulations to you and your fiancé.”
“Thank you,” Emily replied.
Olivia leaned in to give Gavin a hug. When she released him, he cast one last weary look toward Emily, and without another word spoken, he and Stephanie walked out of the restaurant.
Although it came without alcohol, Emily felt numb after he left. Pain and confusion continued to crush in around her for the remainder of the evening. Olivia was correct. Dillon bought into her story of needing a dose of aspirin for a headache, but that didn’t make Emily feel any better. As she carried on conversations with guests, Gavin’s words echoed through her head, burning a hole in her heart and taking the last piece of something away from her. Just a few months before, Emily had believed she was able to see through and peel away some of his many layers.