The Engagement Embargo: A Meet Me at the Altar Novel Read online

  Leanna seemed to consider that for a long moment. Crossing her arms, she sighed. “I still think you need to talk to him. You may not be able to do anything right now, but…he’s not going to be off-limits forever. Think about it.”

  Skye was about to comment when the business phone rang. Leanna went and answered it, leaving Skye alone with her thoughts.

  And there were enough of them to make her head feel like it was ready to explode.

  The timing was all wrong; that was a given. But then again, how could she possibly have known Elliott would return her feelings?

  Whoa…don’t get ahead of yourself. He’s attracted to you. He could just be…you know…horny.

  Ugh…that would be her luck.

  Then something occurred to her; was that really such a bad thing? After all, this could be a very simple and sexy solution to getting over him.

  And why do I want to get over him? After all these years?

  For starters, after knowing each other for so damn long, if he hadn’t been interested in dating her before–or even in getting to know her better–why would he suddenly want that now? She’s been right there under his nose for almost twenty years.

  Refusing to dwell on that, Skye went back to their conversation earlier and how he seemed to mildly fixate on the friends-with-benefits thing. And the more she thought about it, the more she fixated on it.

  It was a practical solution.

  Elliott said he’d never use her like that, but…what if she was the one using him? They’d both be getting something out of it, and maybe during that time, Skye would realize she’d built him up in her head all these years and that he wasn’t so great. She’d see that he was too clingy or too needy or…or…too into Hallmark movies and rom-coms for her liking!

  Oh, who am I kidding? I love a good Hallmark movie too!

  Okay, maybe he had some gross habits or something else that would turn her off.

  She could only hope.

  Now she just had to come up with a way to let him know she had given their conversation some thought, and she was more than willing to help him pass the next several months until he was free to go out and fall in love again.

  Because she knew he eventually would.

  No matter how much he tried to deny it.

  It was after ten and Elliott tossed the remote aside because there was nothing holding his interest on TV. Hell, nothing held his interest all day since he dropped Skylar back off at her office. He’d gotten nothing done at work, his dinner was completely tasteless, and everything on television just wasn’t for him.

  So where did that leave him?

  Standing, he walked to the kitchen and grabbed himself a bottle of water and realized it was too early to go to sleep and that meant he was going to have to force himself to find something to read. Normally he was all for reading before going to bed, but he had a feeling tonight it would all just be a blur of words that didn’t sink in.

  Maybe I’ve got some melatonin around here someplace to help me fall asleep.

  With nothing else to do, he walked down the hall to his bedroom and then went straight to the master bath to look in the medicine cabinet for something to help him sleep. He scanned shelves and then looked in the linen closet and eventually found himself back in the kitchen, searching through the cabinets there.

  “Well, shit.” The next step was getting in the car and driving up to the twenty-four-hour pharmacy, and he was already searching for his keys when there was a knock on his door. He froze in place because no one ever came by at this time of night and certainly not without calling first. Grabbing his phone, he checked his doorbell camera and couldn’t believe what he saw.

  Skylar.

  A slow smile crossed his lips.

  She knocked again–louder this time–and Elliott quickly went to open it. “Skye,” he said breathlessly. “What are you doing here?”

  Looking up at him as she wrung her hands, her expression was incredibly serious.

  “Skylar?”

  “Here’s the thing,” she began. “I thought about everything you said earlier and I know you said you would never ask it of me–you’d never use me–but I don’t care. If given the chance, I’d say yes to it all. Friends with benefits, casual sex, I don’t care. I’ve thought about you–about us–for so many damn years that I’m sick of it.”

  He was pretty sure he was having a heart attack because he couldn’t believe she was actually here and saying what she was saying. “Skye, I…”

  She stepped into his house before turning to face him again. “Do you want me?”

  “You know I do.” And his hands began to twitch with the need to touch her and make sure she was real–that he wasn’t dreaming this. “But…”

  Reaching out, Skye placed a finger over his lips. “No buts. I don’t care if it’s just tonight. I just know that I’m going to continue to kick myself if I don’t do anything about this. About us.”

  Elliott gently wrapped his hand around her wrist before kissing her palm. She was being honest with him, so he owed it to her to do the same. “Before we do this–before we do anything–you need to know that I haven’t changed my mind. I know it’s a shitty thing for me to be saying right now, but…

  “Elliott…I…”

  “There’s a part of me that feels like I should tell you to go. To leave and just forget about this. You deserve so much more than someone who has sworn off relationships.”

  “But…?”

  “But…” he said huskily, “I really don’t want you to go.”

  She blushed. “I don’t want to go either.”

  He stepped in closer and shut the door behind him. “So…what happens now?”

  A shy smile crossed her face. “I was hoping we could save the Q & A for after.”

  “After?”

  She nodded, biting her bottom lip. “Yeah. After.” Then, because she was definitely the bolder of the two of them, she moved in close and kissed him.

  It was all the encouragement he needed.

  His hands reached up to anchor in her hair, but first he pulled out the clip holding it back. Then, her gloriously long hair cascaded down over his skin and it felt as good as he imagined it would. Skye pressed closer and wrapped her arms around him and it seemed crazy that they were doing this.

  While still standing in his entryway.

  As much as he hated to stop kissing her, he hated the thought of standing here even more. “Can we…I mean…would you mind if we…?”

  “Took this inside?” she breathlessly finished for him. “Um…yes, please.”

  Taking Skye’s hand in his, he walked to the living room and then stopped because…was this inside or did she mean…

  “Keep walking,” she whispered huskily, and so he did.

  In his bedroom, he let go of her hand and turned to look at her. His first thought was, “Yes! Finally!” while another was asking, “Why is Skylar in my bedroom?”

  He told that second one to shut up as he stepped in close and wrapped his arms around her waist. Then he simply let his gaze devour her. How had he gone for so long without realizing how stunning she was? The girl he’d known all these years had turned into a beautiful woman. There was a small smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and a few on her cheeks. She had a beauty mark next to her right eye that he knew she was a little self-conscious about, but he always thought it was cute. And her body? Yeah, Skye was always on the trim side without a lot of curves, but holding her close now, he knew the curves she did have were perfect.

  Stop thinking like that! You’re not supposed to be getting all romantic and attached!

  As much as his mind told him he shouldn’t, his heart seemed to have other ideas.

  “You’ve gotten quiet,” Skye said, interrupting his thoughts. “Are you having second thoughts?”

  Shaking his head, he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on the tip of her nose. “Never. I was just thinking that this is…new. Different. I’m afraid to do someth
ing wrong and ruin it.”

  She let out a soft sigh and moved out of his arms and Elliott feared he did exactly that.

  “I was hoping we could wait to talk about all of this, but I guess it’s smarter to do it first,” she said before sitting on the corner of his bed. “This is about…maybe satisfying some curiosity and helping you while you’re on this whole yearlong ban on dating. This isn’t about anything serious.”

  He knew what she was saying made sense, but it still felt all kinds of wrong to him.

  “There’s no chance of us falling in love because…well, you’re done with that,” she said firmly, and it was on the tip of his tongue to disagree, but he kept it to himself for now. “I think since we’ve both expressed an…interest, we owe it to ourselves to explore this.”

  Okay, that he agreed with, but…

  “Is this a one-time thing, Skye?” he asked and, unable to help himself, he sat down beside her, caressing her cheek.

  “I…I’m not sure. That’s why I had thought we’d wait until…after to talk about it. But if you’re not comfortable with this…”

  He pulled her to her feet and cut off her words with a kiss. Both hands gently cupped her face as he deepened the kiss, desperate to keep her from talking either of them out of this.

  For years he had talked himself out of acting on his attraction to her because he thought it was wrong and she’d never shown any interest in him other than as a friend. But knowing she was hiding her feelings just like he was?

  Game changer.

  For now.

  This was different.

  Skye was different.

  They had a history together which meant this wasn’t just a casual hookup. It couldn’t be. And over the past few months, he felt like they really got to know each other and that made this feel a whole lot more…intimate.

  Which should have scared the crap out of him and made him say “thanks but no thanks,” but he didn’t. He couldn’t.

  For all he knew, they were going to find that they weren’t the least bit compatible and this was a one-time thing and his curiosity would be settled.

  But if this kiss was anything to go by, they were not only going to be compatible, but combustible.

  Lifting her in his arms, he turned and guided them both down onto the bed. He stretched out on top of her and heard her hum of approval. Her arms tightened around him as her legs did the same.

  Their kiss turned wild, carnal, and it seemed crazy that they were doing this to each other after so many years of…not doing this to each other. But again, he wasn’t going to complain.

  Skye arched her back beneath him and gave him a nudge that sent them rolling and changing positions. She lifted her head as she sat up and smiled down at him. Her long hair was in sexy disarray, her lips were wet and slightly swollen, and she looked ready for more.

  And he desperately wanted to give that to her.

  His hands rested on her hips and gently squeezed, causing her to smile. “You’re really good at this,” she said, licking her lips.

  “Oh, yeah?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. Kissing. Really, really good at it.” She licked her lips again before reaching in front of her and pulling her sweater up and over her head. The plain white satin and lace bra certainly wasn’t designed for seduction, and yet on her, it looked sexy as hell. Skye glanced down at herself and frowned.

  “What? What’s the matter?”

  “I should have planned better,” she murmured as her hands came up to cover herself.

  Elliott was quick to slowly guide her hands away. “I like that you didn’t plan. In my head, I like to think that you wanted me so badly that you couldn’t wait and came as you were.”

  “I did,” she whispered. “I really did.”

  He lifted up slightly and cupped a hand around her nape and guided her back down for another kiss.

  And it didn’t seem possible for it to be hotter than the one before, but it was.

  They rolled all over the bed–each of them taking a moment to be the dominant one–and Elliott swore he was going insane with need. Skye’s skin was so warm and soft and he wanted to touch and taste more of her. When he couldn’t take anymore, he rolled her beneath him again and sat up and mimicked her earlier move of whipping his shirt up and off, tossing it to the floor. This time when he leaned back down, he kissed along her throat, her collar bone, and then the sweet valley between her breasts. He heard her soft hiss of pleasure before reaching up to lower the flimsy bra straps off her shoulders and down her arms so he could reach more of her.

  The first swipe of his tongue over her nipple had her humming with pleasure. Her hands raked up into his hair and held on. The longer he teased her, the louder she got. When he switched to the other side, she was panting his name and begging for more.

  “Elliott…please. I need…I want…” She was writhing beneath him and he knew exactly what she meant because he definitely needed and wanted more too.

  It would have been easy to go forward with this mindless passion. To simply strip them both and claim her. He knew it would be amazing and beyond satisfying, but there was something he had to say first.

  Lifting his head, he looked down at her. Her eyes were closed and she was still a little breathless and squirming.

  “Skye,” he whispered, and when she slowly looked up at him, the sight of her took his breath away. She was so beautiful and he felt humbled that she was here with him like this.

  She quietly said his name as her hand stroked his jaw before slowly skimming down over his shoulders before resting on his chest.

  Right over his heart.

  For a moment he reconsidered. Maybe speaking up would ruin the moment and then all of this would just go away. But there was still a twinge of reason swirling in his head and he knew better than to ignore it.

  “I just wanted to make sure you were still okay,” he said gruffly. “That we’re not going too fast or…or that you’re not having second thoughts.”

  Her expression softened and she looked up at him in a way most people only dreamed of. “Elliott Sullivan, I am 100% sure that this is what I want. No second thoughts.”

  Carefully, he lifted her hand from his chest and kissed it. “I really wanted to be sure. I thought that…”

  “Elliott?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Stop talking,” she said with a sexy grin. “We’ve been talking for almost twenty years. Now I’d really like…” She paused, glancing away, and he could see her blush.

  “Tell me,” he urged. “Tell me what you want.”

  When her gaze slowly met his again, she said, “I’d really like for you to…show me how much you want me.”

  A primal side of him that he didn’t recognize sparked at her words. He wanted to tell her how much he wanted her–to describe everything he wanted to do with her–but instead, he claimed her lips with his and did his best to prove it.

  The next time Elliott had a clear thought, the bedside clock read two a.m. Skye was curled up beside him with her head on his shoulder, their legs tangled together, and her hand on his chest.

  It was damn near perfect.

  “I should go,” she sleepily murmured. “It’s late.”

  He held her tighter. “And that’s why you’re not going anywhere. It’s too late and you’re too tired to be out driving.”

  “But…”

  “No buts,” he insisted before placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. “Besides, I like holding you.”

  “Elliott…” Maybe she was going to say more, but she yawned and seemed to drift off to sleep.

  It bothered him that she wanted to go, and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that if she were more awake, she would have argued with him as she got dressed.

  That’s what people do in casual relationships. They don’t spend the night…

  And while he knew that was a thing, it felt wrong where Skye was concerned.

  He agreed to her offer, her terms, but she fell asleep befor
e they could talk more about it. And that meant only one thing…

  They were going to have to do this again.

  And for the first time in months, Elliott fell asleep with a smile on his face.

  Chapter 8

  If you’re afraid of getting hurt and feeling severe pain, then avoid falling in love.

  Unknown

  Sneaking out of a man’s bed before the sun comes up was not something Skye enjoyed.

  Yet that’s exactly what she did.

  Going into work later that morning had her feeling a bit paranoid and she did everything she could to avoid Josie, but as the week went on, it got harder and harder to do. They had three events planned for the weekend and on Thursday afternoon, Josie cornered Skye in the office.

  “What’s going on with you?” she demanded.

  “I…don’t know what you mean.” Liar, liar, liar!

  “Skye, come on. We’ve hardly spoken at all this week and that’s been pretty damn annoying since we have all these weddings this weekend that we need to be communicating about!”

  “We have,” Skye argued. “I sent you emails and texts and…”

  Slamming her hands down on Skye’s desk, her friend glared at her. “We need to actually talk! There are too many details to manage by text!” She paused and straightened. “This is about Elliott, isn’t it?”

  Skye felt herself pale. “Um…”

  “Dammit, I knew it.” She shook her head.

  “Josie, listen. Let me explain…”

  “No, no, I get it. I never should have pushed you to go to lunch with him,” Josie said wearily, walking over to her own desk and sitting down. “And that was after I forced you to go and see him the day of the wedding.” She groaned. “It’s just…there are times when I can’t be there for him and I want to be, so I automatically think of you because you’re like a sister to him too!”

  Yeah, not so much anymore…

  “I get it. Really. It’s just that…”

  “Honestly, I don’t know how to act around him anymore,” Josie was saying. “Like I really feel bad about the way we all ganged up on him after Tracy ran off and things are safe when we’re around my parents because no one wants to bring it up. I know if we’re hanging out alone–just the two of us–that it’s going to be a topic I can’t avoid.” She gave Skye a sad smile. “I’m sorry I keep throwing you under the bus with him.”