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

  “It’s okay,” she said, feeling incredibly grateful that Josie had no idea about how she really felt about her brother.

  “No, it’s not. I’m going to have to sit down and hang out one-on-one with him, eventually.” Pausing, she shook her head. “Oh, and while we’re on the subject of my family, they’re all coming in on Monday to start planning my grandparents’ anniversary party.”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but…why?”

  “Because we have to plan the party.”

  Skye fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Yeah, I got that. What I’m saying is…why do they need to come in? It seems to me you can do all of that from the comfort of your parents’ home over Sunday dinner and then just fill me and Leanna in on what you need us to do.”

  “You’re not going to believe this, but Nana is insisting on being treated like any other client. She wanted to make the appointment and come in and see our presentation.” She shook her head again. “Personally, I think she’s adorable and Pop-pop told me to indulge her and let her pick whatever she wants for the party.”

  “We’re giving them a discount though, right?”

  “Well, I didn’t want to just assume,” Josie replied. “We’re just going to have to wait and see what it is that they want to do and then figure out all the costs. Oh, and get this, they booked the event space at the arboretum for it because that’s where Pop-Pop proposed all those years ago. How cute is that?”

  Unable to help herself, Skye sighed dreamily. “That is incredibly romantic.”

  Josie shrugged as if she didn’t agree.

  “You don’t think it’s romantic? They’ve been married sixty-five years, they’re renewing their vows, and doing it in the spot where he proposed! Hallmark would make a movie out of this if they heard about it!”

  But Josie just waved her off. “Of course I think it’s great and I’m happy for them. But it’s more sentimental than romantic. Plus, it’s probably the only place they have a connection to from way back then. Everything else has been either torn down or changed into something different.”

  All Skye could do was stare.

  “What? Now what?”

  “Seriously, who hurt you as a child that you are this jaded?”

  “Ugh…not this again. I’m not jaded; I’m just practical.”

  “No, you’re jaded, and it’s hard to see how you and Elliott are related.”

  “Another thing we’re not doing again,” Josie argued and then let out a long sigh. “Can we please just focus on the weekend events now–face-to-face–and then work on a plan for my grandparents?”

  “Of course.”

  They had a lot to cover and Leanna came in and joined them a few minutes later. They called in a dinner order to be delivered and worked until after nine. By the time she walked through her front door, Skye was exhausted. Tossing her purse down, she padded into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water before heading into the bedroom to change into pajamas.

  Whipping her bra off felt like a religious experience, and she was down to just her panties when there was a knock on her front door. Grabbing her robe, she slid it on and tried to think of who would be showing up at this time of night. Maybe it was one of the girls because she had forgotten something at the office. Or maybe it was her neighbor Mrs. Gayle; she always picked up any packages that got left on Skye’s porch while she was at work. Or perhaps…

  “Skye? Are you in there?”

  Elliott.

  She hung her head and let out a long breath because she knew they were going to see each other again.

  But secretly she had hoped to be the one to initiate it when she’d be wearing more than her robe and panties.

  There was no way to avoid him so she walked over and opened the door. “Hey,” she said with a small smile.

  “Hey. Mind if I come in?” He looked slightly disheveled–his hair was its usual scruffy self and his glasses were slightly askew. It must have been a long day if he’d already taken out his contacts.

  Skye stepped back and once he was inside, she shut the door and leaned against it.

  “You just getting home from work?” he asked, walking around her living room. Her condo was definitely smaller than his place, and right now, she felt a little self-conscious about it.

  Pushing away from the door, she replied, “Yes. We’ve got multiple events this weekend so we had to go over all the specifics, and then we worked on some plans for your grandparents’ party. They’re coming in Monday afternoon to talk about it.”

  He nodded and walked over to the fireplace and studied the pictures she had on the mantle. “I heard they booked the arboretum. They used to take me and Josie there when we were kids. My grandfather can tell you every kind of plant and flower there. I always thought that was amazing.”

  “It is,” she agreed and then waited to see if he was going to call her out on sneaking out the other morning.

  Looking at her over his shoulder, he smiled. “Meanwhile, I couldn’t name even one flower or plant and that’s why I got poison ivy seven times.”

  That made her laugh softly. “I remember you having it a few times. I had no idea it was that many.”

  He nodded. “Yup. And every time after it cleared up, he would take me back out and point it out to me and explain how to recognize it and then…” He held up his hands. “I can do coding for multiple computer programs at the same time and remember all kinds of crazy tech stuff, but I could never remember to look at the kind of grass I was walking through.”

  “That’s because it wasn’t important to you. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “Tell that to thirteen-year-old me who cried from all the itching.”

  She laughed softly at that and wrapped her arms around her middle. “What are you doing here, Elliott?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

  Walking over to her, his expression was unreadable. “Why’d you leave without waking me up?”

  Dammit.

  Unable to look at him, she shrugged. “I shouldn’t have even stayed the night. That’s not part of what we agreed to do.”

  Now he moved in even closer but didn’t touch her. “Actually, we didn’t get to agreeing on much of anything. We said we’d talk, but then we didn’t.”

  Skye felt her cheeks heat with remembrance. “It was late and I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes open.”

  “No one’s blaming you,” he said softly. “I was just disappointed to wake up and find you gone.”

  The sigh was out before she could stop it and she looked back up at him. “This is the kind of thing you’re supposed to be avoiding, Elliott.”

  He took her by the hand and led her over to the sofa so they could sit. “Okay, I think you and I are not quite on the same page with some of this, so why don’t you lay it out for me–what you think it is we’re supposed to be doing.”

  Ugh…

  When she sat back on the sofa with a little more force than intended, her robe gaped open at the top and at the bottom–essentially exposing a whole lot more of herself than she intended. With a small gasp, Skye did her best to cover herself, but when she looked up at Elliott and saw his heated gaze, she was lost.

  There was no way of knowing who moved first, but the next thing she knew, they were kissing and Elliott was gently tugging at the tie around her waist. His mouth slanted over hers over and over as his hands seemed to be touching her everywhere. It was madness and such a turn-on to know he was just as needy for her as she was for him.

  Because she was totally needy.

  All week long she had thought about what would happen when they saw each other again and while the practical part of her brain tried to reason that nothing would have to change, the woman who still harbored a fairly large crush had hoped for this particular scenario that was being played out right now.

  She wanted to remind him how he was the one who wanted to talk, but…

  Later.

  There would be plenty of time later.

&n
bsp; Breathless, Elliott stared up at Skye’s bedroom ceiling. Beside him, she was also trying to catch her breath and just thinking about why they were both breathing hard made him smile.

  Round one had been out on her sofa.

  Round two had been in her kitchen.

  Round three brought them to the bedroom, and he was fairly certain that he couldn’t get up and walk, even if someone put a gun to his head.

  But what a way to go…

  Yeah, she completely rocked his world–again–and he had a feeling they weren’t going to have their talk tonight either.

  Not that it mattered. He wasn’t interested in having a list of rules–didn’t feel like they needed them. They weren’t strangers; they were friends, and as such, they should be able to sort of go with the flow until one of them didn’t. Rules would complicate things, and Elliott knew that Skye tended to thrive on things being organized and well-planned, but that wasn’t going to fly where sex was concerned.

  Turning his head, he looked at her and smiled. Her eyes were closed, her skin was flushed, and he couldn’t resist rolling toward her and lazily touching her.

  At the first touch of his hand on her shoulder, she jumped slightly. “You scared me,” she whispered.

  “Sorry.” And yeah, he couldn’t help but laugh softly. “You were maybe expecting someone else?”

  “No, but I just wasn’t expecting you to…you know…touch me.”

  Frowning, he stared at her. “Why not?”

  Now it was her turn to turn and stare. “What do you mean, why not?”

  “Why wouldn’t I touch you again?”

  Rolling onto her side, she faced him and shrugged. “I just thought we were…you know…done.”

  Ah…now they were getting someplace.

  Rather than answer, he took his time letting his hand caress her from shoulder to shoulder and down to her breasts. He kept his touch light as he circled her nipple and he loved the sound of the slight catch in her breath.

  When she didn’t stop him, he skimmed lower–over her stomach, up and over her hip, and down her thigh. She was soft everywhere and he couldn’t make himself stop. It wasn’t until his hand rested on her bottom and squeezed that she let out a little moan of pleasure.

  “Elliott…”

  He might not be able to walk, but he could certainly roll them both over and kiss her while he continued touching and pleasuring her. And once he had Skye beneath him, he rested his forehead against hers. “I’m not leaving tonight,” he told her, his hand now moving on to other spots on her body that he knew drove her wild. “I’m staying and I’m not sneaking out in the morning.”

  Her head thrashed from side to side as she began to pant from his touch, and he had to admit it was an extremely satisfying sight.

  “Are you okay with that?’ he asked gruffly.

  “Yes,” she said frantically, arching beneath him, seeking more of him.

  “Good.” And with that, he kissed her and it was wet and wild and he swore they shouldn’t be like this again so soon.

  And yet…they were.

  Who was he to argue?

  Early the next morning, Skylar’s alarm went off and Elliott had to wonder what time it was. It had been some time after one when they finally crashed.

  She was in his arms and groaned sleepily as she rolled over to turn off the alarm.

  “What time is it?”

  “Six.”

  That was when he normally got up, but it felt much earlier.

  Neither of them moved for several minutes and when the alarm went off again, Skye turned it off and slowly climbed from the bed without a word. He watched as she padded to the bathroom and shut the door, and then promised himself he’d just close his eyes for a minute.

  “Elliott?”

  “Hmm?”

  “You need to wake up,” she said, shaking him slightly. “It’s getting late.”

  Late? It had only been a minute, maybe two…

  Then he turned and focused on the clock and saw it was after seven. That had him sitting straight up and when he looked at Skye, he saw that she showered, put on makeup, did her hair, and got dressed. “Why did you let me sleep?” he asked, scrambling from the bed.

  “I didn’t let you sleep,” she replied tartly, “I was getting ready for work! I thought you would get up on your own!”

  Well…shit. She had him there. He totally should have.

  He walked naked from her bedroom and out to the living room to get his clothes and heard Skye in the kitchen. When he joined her, he was dressed and doing his best to wake up a bit more. Without a word, she handed him a travel mug of coffee.

  “Thanks.” Stepping around her, he added milk and sugar and took a sip. “So, what time do you have to be in?”

  “Eight,” she said as she continued to move around the kitchen, cleaning things up from their escapades in there the night before. When he tried to help her, she told him it wasn’t necessary. “You probably need to go home and shower and change, right?”

  It didn’t take a genius to figure out she was pushing him out the door.

  “Yeah,” he murmured before taking another sip of his coffee. “Can I see you this weekend?”

  She stopped and looked at him oddly. “Um…”

  “I know you mentioned you had a couple of events, but I have no idea what that means in terms of your time, so…”

  Combing her hair behind her ear, she seemed flustered. “It’s going to be a pretty hectic weekend, Elliott. I’m not going to have any free time. I’m sorry.”

  It was probably for the best because he didn’t want to push too much where she was concerned. Besides, this was probably a good time for him to start going out with the guys again.

  It was time.

  With nothing left to do or say–not really–he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “Not a problem. Don’t work too hard and tell my sister I said hello.”

  Skye’s eyes went a little wide–like she was expecting him to argue a little more about the weekend or…

  “I can’t tell Josie you said hello! Then she’ll want to know where I saw you and why I saw you and...”

  “Okay, okay, okay,” he said calmly, trying to soothe her. Without thinking, he wrapped her in his arms and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  She nodded and when he let her go a minute later and walked out the door, he felt a little out of sorts–like leaving her like that felt wrong.

  But this was who he was now. He wasn’t looking to get involved or committed or date or whatever you wanted to call it. Even if there wasn’t an embargo, he wasn’t that guy anymore.

  But as he pulled out of Skye’s driveway, he wondered if he was only fooling himself.

  Chapter 9

  Sometimes you have to forget what you feel and remember what you deserve.

  Unknown

  Monday morning, Skye finished her second cup of coffee and was already pouring her third when Leanna peeked into the office. “They’re here,” she said cheerily before walking away.

  This was the meeting with Josie’s grandparents and as much as she knew it was going to be a very sweet meeting, she was still battling some exhaustion from the weekend. Three events that all ran long meant she had very little sleep and add that to her night with Elliott and…yeah…she needed a few days off to get caught up.

  With her coffee in one hand and her tablet in the other, she made her way to their consultation suite and froze.

  Josie’s entire family was there.

  Including Elliott.

  He caught her eye and raised his coffee mug to her with a smile, and she knew she had to just smile in return and take a seat or someone would accuse her of acting weird.

  Which…she was.

  So, with a smile, she walked into the room and took her seat–on the opposite side of the table from Elliot–and then said her hellos to everyone. Josie sat at the head of the table and began the meeting.

  “Okay,” she sai
d, smiling from ear to ear. “Nana and Pop-Pop, tell us what you envision for your party.”

  “Whatever my Millie wants, we’re going to do,” her grandfather said, holding his wife’s hand. “She’s given me the best years of my life and I want her to have the perfect day.”

  Skye found herself getting a little teary by that sweet declaration and carefully dabbed at her eyes without being too obvious.

  Except when she looked up, Elliott was watching her and gave her a smile that told her he had seen it.

  Refusing to focus on that, she turned her attention back to his grandmother and what she was describing for her day–lots of her favorite foods, all their friends and family, some of Leanna’s most famous cakes, and music so everyone could dance. She wasn’t overly specific and that’s where Josie chimed in with suggestions before Leanna gave them a list of dessert selections. Honestly, Skye wasn’t particularly needed here, but it would look strange for her to excuse herself so…she sat and listened and made notes to refer back to later.

  Before she knew it, Josie was wrapping things up. “I hope none of you have plans for lunch, because I have food being brought in and Leanna has a selection of cupcakes for us! So just give me a few minutes and we’ll have everything set up in the tasting room!”

  This was Skye’s chance to leave, but she got caught up talking to Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan, then Leanna asked her to help set up the dessert, and the next thing she knew, she was sitting in the tasting room and had a plate full of food in front of her–compliments of Elliott.

  Dammit.

  “You looked ready to bolt so…I brought food,” he said with an easy grin as he sat beside her.

  “If you knew I wanted to leave, why make me the plate?” she asked quietly–and possibly with a little more snark than needed.

  His laugh was low and throaty and shouldn’t have been even the least bit sexy, but…it was.