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I couldn’t explain how he made me feel. I’d never experienced anything like it. Excited. Agitated. Electrified. Conflicted. Stimulated. Distressed.

I hadn’t been having a great time, but I’d had enough to drink that I was buzzed and feeling relaxed in spite of the awkward company.

Suddenly I was a tight ball of confused tension.

I hadn’t expected to see him. I wasn’t sure how to react.

I had so many questions every time I saw him. Questions I knew I couldn’t ask.

Had he been planning this all along? Why did he look like he was happy to see me? How did he make it so convincing? Was he maybe a little bit happy to see me?

The men approached the booth, and I rose for some awkward re-introductions.

I knew I’d met his friends before, but they hadn’t made an impression. I’d been too nervous on my wedding day to notice much beyond my own acute misgivings.

There was an unmistakable camaraderie between the men and the gathering as a whole.

There were lots of inside jokes being passed right over my head.

There was a sense of fond affection when the group of them were all together.

Seeing him with his friends stung a little.

He wasn’t cold with them. He wasn’t distant. He wasn’t mean. He wasn’t untouchable.

It was a dangerous thing for me to witness.

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

We all sat down, wives next to their husbands, the single girls on the end.

There was plenty of room, so I sat gingerly about six inches away from Calder.

“Closer,” he prompted in voice that managed to be both soft and hard.

It only took one word from him, one look, for my body to change. Go from solid to liquid. Chilled to heated.

I met his eyes as I obeyed.

He put his arm around me, pulling me close.

“How much have you had to drink?” he asked quietly.

I bit my lip and his eyes followed the motion. “I don’t know,” I said honestly, “I’ve lost count. More than my two drink limit.”

“How do you feel? Not going to be sick, I hope?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Good.” He smiled. It was a handsome hot smile, and I couldn’t tell who it was really for but it made my blood pound through my body a little faster. He leaned closer. “I was in the middle of a meeting when I saw that picture you posted,” he murmured into my ear. “I turned hard as a rock. Do you know how awkward that was for me?”

I shook my head.

“And then later,” he continued silkily, “when I was alone, I jacked off to that image. Is that what you wanted?”

He leaned back to meet my gaze.