Chapter Sixteen

Bachelor party time. Lance wondered if something was wrong with him, because the thought of the party only exhausted him.

He also wasn’t in that big of a hurry to hang out with a bunch of dudes, not when there was a certain woman taking up all his brain space.

But he’d do anything to make his brother happy, so he put on his game face and climbed into the limo.

There was another black limo ahead of them, and through the windshield, he watched as Stacy, her bridesmaids, and the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about walked toward it. The women were laughing, and he was glad to see that Charlotte was part of the group.

Since he wouldn’t be around her and a lot of horny guys most likely would be, he was less glad about the fitted purple dress that showed off her hourglass figure, along with a few inches of thigh. She’d put on fishnet stockings that immediately made his mind dive into the gutter, and if she could see him now and read the thoughts written across his face, she’d definitely reprimand him.

“Where are they going?” he asked, and his brother shot him a smug expression.

“Why?”

He grunted.

“Jealous of your girl going somewhere without you?” Hunter asked.

Yes, yes he was. His gut clenched and burned, and he curled his hands into fists. But what he said was, “She’s not my girl.”

“Why not?”

“She works for the Mustangs, and there are rules against it.”

“So can I—?”

“No,” Lance said, with enough bite that Hunter lifted his hands in the classic backing-down signal.

Mitch’s smugness moved into punch-it-off-him territory. “I knew it. Mom’s going to be thrilled.”

“Like I said, it can’t happen, and it would be better not to crush Mom’s dreams, so I’d rather you not mention it.”

“Fine.” Mitch reached inside the stocked minibar and dug out the booze as the limo pulled away from the hotel. “But it’s not like we can’t all see it, Mom included. You should’ve heard her when they got back from the nail salon. It was Charlotte this and Charlotte that, and ‘I’m so glad Lance finally found a nice girl.’”

When he’d suggested bringing her along to his brother’s wedding, he thought it’d keep his mom off his case. While she’d dropped the blind date requests and hadn’t given his number to any women so they could randomly call him, she was going to end up disappointed.

Something to worry about later. He only had so much room in his brain for worries. Right now, every ounce of his focus was on rebuilding the team.

Or it should be.

If he was being honest with himself—which he was really trying not to be—it was on the other limo and how it and Charlotte were going in the opposite direction.

Three stops and countless drinks later, half the guys in the wedding party were one more shot away from belligerence. Lance had stuck to mostly beer and a tumbler of inordinately expensive whiskey, and now he was beyond ready to go back to the resort and put the night behind him. He’d been over the party scene long ago, and clubs had never been his thing.

Mitch looked at his phone, his face illuminated by the bright screen. He shifted forward in his seat and told the driver, “One more stop.”

Lance bit back a groan as Mitch rattled off the name of what sounded like a pretentious club. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Pretty soon these guys are going to be stupid enough to end up in the tabloids. You, too.”

“Oh, and you don’t want me stealing your most-eligible-bachelor-status thunder?”

Lance whacked the back of his brother’s head, earning a laugh from him and most everyone in the car. “You can have all the thunder, jackass. I just want to go back to the hotel and live out my bachelor status by going to bed.”

“If you want, you can ask the driver to take you to the resort after he drops us off, and I’ll just have him come back for us afterward.”

Thank God. Lance didn’t want to sit in a club and watch the guys drink, and he didn’t want to brush off women’s advances, the way he had at the last place. It was hard to explain that he was taken when he wasn’t.

Although he was.

Dammit, it was complicated, and he hated when people said stupid shit like that about their relationship status. Either you were in one or not. He didn’t want to be in one. Didn’t have time.

But…

“Okay, you guys have fun,” he said when the limo pulled up to the curb. The smile Mitch gave him sent foreboding prickling across his skin. He was about to be the brunt of a joke, he could sense it.

“I should probably mention that the reason we’re coming to this particular club is because the girls are here. Which means that Charlotte is here, too.” His brother’s grin widened. “Still want to go back to the hotel, old man?”

Lance lifted his middle finger.

But then he climbed out of the limo, and at the thought of seeing Charlotte, every ounce of tiredness that’d crept into his body melted away.

…

Charlotte laughed as their group danced around the center of the floor, their moves exaggerated and extra sloppy thanks to the alcohol they’d consumed.

They’d done a pub crawl of sorts, hitting bars up and down the outer banks. Somewhere in the middle they’d also stopped at a luxury lingerie and beauty boutique where the employees had taken their spree in stride. Then they’d ended up in this club, where they’d had another round of drinks. Thanks to all the dancing, Charlotte’s buzz was already fading, which meant other thoughts were creeping in.

I probably should’ve called Dad back. What if I’m not being supportive enough, and that makes it harder for him to succeed?

No, it’s okay to take a day to figure out how I feel, and I’m not thinking about that for another hour. Or two?

It’s not like she could have an intense conversation like that at a noisy nightclub, and the girls didn’t seem as if they’d be stopping anytime soon.

Stacy’s Bride-to-Be sash slipped down her shoulders, stopping around her waist.

Charlotte stepped toward her and readjusted it. “Those moves are too awesome to be constrained. Not to mention I’d never forgive myself if you tripped and sprained your ankle or something.”

Stacy giggled and grabbed Charlotte’s hands, swaying and spinning her before pulling her in for a hug. “I’m so glad you came. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Lance so happy, too. He’s usually sorta grumpy.”

“Oh, he’s plenty grumpy still. I drive him crazy.”

“Yes, you do, but in a good way.”

“I’m not sure that’s a thing,” Charlotte said with a laugh, but Stacy nodded, her mini-veil bobbing with the movement.

“It is. And you can’t disagree with a bride before her wedding—it’s a rule.”

“Well, I am a rule follower.”

Stacy gave her a sloppy grin. “Good. You know, ever since Lance’s last girlfriend cheated on him, he hasn’t dated at all. That and the injury turned him into a hermit, and Maribelle’s been so worried about him. I told her that when the right girl came along, he’d get it together.”

Charlotte didn’t know what to say. Everyone was getting the wrong idea—hell, even she was. Earlier today he’d listened to her, and they’d had a great afternoon, getting a ton of work done and culling down their list to their top picks for several positions.

“I’m not disagreeing with the bride-to-be, per se,” Charlotte started, “but you should know that Lance and I aren’t a couple. We just work together.”

“Okay, but then why is he striding over here like he’s coming to claim you?”

Charlotte whipped around. She thought Stacy would laugh about how she’d proved her point by pretending Lance was at the club, and how fast Charlotte had turned to check.

But there he was, striding toward her exactly like she’d said, and even as she told herself it wasn’t a big deal and the rest of the guys were heading their way as well, a thrill shivered up her core.

His gaze was predatory, and her flight instinct should really be kicking in about now.

But if she was in fact his prey, she couldn’t even pretend that she didn’t want to be caught.