Page 53 of Sweet Wicked Vows
“Thank you,” I exhaled. “I don’t know what happened. I think I’ve had too much champagne. Or maybe some bad shrimp.”
Jaxon’s breath tickled my ear. “Tell me what you need.”
To get the hell out of here. Run far away and not look back. To find a way to turn back the clock and to stop my father from getting sick. To find a way to convince him that putting me in charge was not the right answer.
I said none of that.
“Do you wish to leave?” he pushed. “Say the word, and we will walk right out those doors,douceur.”
“Again with that name.” I offered an attempt at a smile. “You really need to stop calling me that.”
“Evelyn.” His jaw twitched. The pressure of his fingers on my neck tightened. “You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to.”
“Yes, I do. I can’t just leave.”
He exhaled heavily through his nose. “Why the hell not?”
“It’s rude for the hostess to abandon her party. We’re the bride and groom.” Amazing how those two little words felt so detached from reality. “We can’t just walk out on our event. It’s not the proper thing to do. Think about what everyone will say.”
“Fuck proper,” Jaxon said with a devilish smile. The two dimples forming in his cheeks caught me by surprise. “Just for once, in this one moment, do something for yourself. Screw what everyone else thinks, fuck what anyone else will say. Do whatyouwant,not what is expected of you.”
Rules were invented for a reason. They kept the world in order, prevented chaos, and created boundaries. Breaking the rules was a thrill for sure. Most of my days in university were spent pushing the limits of the rules and teetering on the line of rebellion.
But I never crossed the line.
Dad always called me perfect. His perfect daughter. His perfect easy-going child. He raised me to appreciate the life he fought tooth and nail to build for us.
I followed the rules and social norms of our lives because I feared being a disappointment, of no longer being perfect in my father’s eyes. He’d given me so much my entire life, it felt only right to do whatever I could to keep his life stress-free.
Be the perfect daughter, no matter what.
Until now.
“I don’t want to be here.” I turned to fully face Jaxon. “I want to leave right now.”
“Your wish is my command.” His arm snaked around my waist, and before I knew what was happening, my feet were no longer on the ground. Scrambling to smooth my dress, I quickly flung my arms around Jaxon’s neck as he carried me across the gallery. My lips were inches from his neck. A black-inked line peeked out from his collar, daring me to follow it and explore below his shirt.
From an outsider looking in, the act was solely innocent. The way he carried me resembled the moment a groom carried his bride across the threshold. A couple guests laughed, a few whistled suggestively, while the oh-so-familiar feeling of judgmental eyes followed us out the gallery door.
Oxygen expanded in my lungs, and the uncertainty of making the right decision snuck up like an unwelcome visitor. I hoped, despite Jaxon’s face of sheer indifference and my beaming warm cheeks, that those watching on thought we were just two people in love who couldn’t wait to leave and be alone together.
Inside the gallery was a whole other tropical climate compared to outside. Cold air nipped my naked arms. When my feet finally touched the ground, Jaxon’s hands lingered on my hips. A strap of my dress fell from my shoulder and his hurricane hues flashed as if struck by lightning.
“Thank you.” I fixed the strap, noting the way his pupils widened, tracking the movement. “I’ll ring Saunders. He said he’d be on standby to take us home.”
“No need. I had Benny drive over the bike.” Jaxon began to walk around the back of the gallery. “Told him to park it back here for whenever I needed an escape route.”
“You were planning on escaping?”
“Like I said, I don’t like crowds.”
There, just like he said, was his motorcycle waiting to whisk him away.
What a completeasshole.He was planning on leaving me and I bet a hundred freaking dollars he would have done it without saying a single word.
He took two helmets out of the seat compartment.
“You brought a spare helmet.”