Room 732: Bridesmaid with Benefits

And if he didn’t open his mouth he couldn’t offer any sinful invitations. Or kiss her.

Well…not properly anyway.

The slow, smoky, strains of a soul singer surrounded them and Johanna closed her ears to the seduction of the music. She kept her body stiff, made sure there was a socially respectable distance between them and looked resolutely at a point just over Ed’s shoulder, which just happened to be the balding patch at the back of the groom’s head.

But still, despite her best efforts, the surroundings slowly faded to black as the song enveloped them in its sexy embrace.

Gone were the impressive tear-drop chandeliers. The myriad fairy lights. The two hundred guests watching from the sidelines, waiting for the song to end so they could join the happy couple and the bridal party on the floor.

Johanna was conscious of none of it. Just her and Ed.

Dancing.

The familiar smell of him. The warmth of his chest, the heat radiating from his thighs, the alluring spikiness of stubble in her peripheral vision.

He stepped in a touch, invading that respectable distance, sliding his big, warm, hand onto the small of her back and pressed her closer. Johanna resisted. He tried again but she remained steadfast.

His low chuckle sent a shiver down her neck. ‘You know –’

‘I said, don’t talk to me,’ Johanna interrupted, keeping her gaze firmly planted on the back of Ronald’s head. She could do this if he just shut the hell up.

He chuckled again. ‘What, never?’

‘That’ll do for a start.’

‘Ooh,’ he murmured and she could hear the smile warming his already silky smooth voice. ‘I like it when you’re bossy.’

Johanna rolled her eyes. She was not going to be drawn into a sexually charged conversation. She was having this one dance with him then spending the rest of the night as far away from him, his elf-sewn suit and fate as possible.

‘Let’s just get through this dance, okay?’

‘Come on now,’ he said, his lips dropping far too close to the vicinity of her ear for Johanna’s comfort. ‘Is it that hard to dance with me?’

She swallowed. Dancing with him – in both senses – was the easiest thing in the world. And he knew it as well as she did. ‘Don’t talk to me.’

Another sexy chuckle. ‘I think you need to loosen up.’

The low suggestion was followed by him invading more of her personal space. His thighs brushed hers and even through the layers and layers of stupid ruffles she could feel her belly clench and her nipples stir again.

Loosen up? If she got any looser around this man Ed might as well just go ahead and put her under E for easy in his very extensive little black book.

‘I'm not having sex with you,’ she said out of complete desperation. If she said it out loud then maybe he’d believe her.

Maybe she’d believe herself.

He threw back his head and laughed this time. ‘It’s customary to wait to be asked.’

Johanna glared at him. ‘That’s the problem. You don’t ask, you just kiss me and my clothes fall off.’

He quirked an eyebrow. ‘I don’t believe you've ever objected.’

‘Of course I haven’t,’ she hissed. ‘I develop this kind of…insanity around you. It’s very annoying.’

‘So…’ he said and Johanna could already tell he was going to take the piss out of her just by the slightly amused tone of his voice. ‘Let me get this straight. You’re mad at me because your clothes fall off when I kiss you?’

Johanna knew it sounded churlish and she didn’t have an argument for her lack of reasoning. The fact was he did drive her insane and she wasn’t a masochist. So it was best to let him know up front that she wasn’t going to fall for his charming chuckle and his fabulous suit anymore.

She looked back over his shoulder. ‘Don’t talk to me.’

In a rare display of obedience, Ed graciously yielded and they danced on in silence. Johanna just wished she could relax enough to enjoy the night and take in the gorgeous ambience.

The ritzy Chatsfield Hotel had done an amazing job making the ballroom everything that Brie had wanted. Johanna knew for a fact it had cost Brie’s parents an absolute bomb.

‘Okay, so this will be a new thing for us,’ Ed said after a while. ‘Not sleeping together.’

Johanna pulled back and looked at him. A big mistake. This close up he was incredibly sexy. His square jaw covered in light brown stubble that her fingers ached to touch. Killer cheekbones that begged for the attention of her tongue. Sandy hair all tousled into a spiky do that on any other twenty-eight year old would have looked far too high school but not on Ed.

On Ed it looked stylish and sophisticated, completing his big-city, stock market hotshot look.

Which irritated her even further.

Even now – eight years later - she lamented that Ed had sold out. He’d been on track to be a lawyer and he would have made a brilliant one at that. He’d whipped her butt in debate class a zillion times during high school. He regularly wrote editorials for the uni paper that had made her cry and he’d aced every single exam.

And then he’d sold out to big money.

She shot him an exasperated look. ‘Sleepingtogether is a new thing for us, remember?’

He shook his head and tutted at her. ‘We’ve been sleeping together for two years. How can that be new, Jo-Jo?’

Johanna glared at him indignantly. ‘Three times in two years?’

He had the good sense to look sheepish. ‘Well…on and off.’

She arched an eyebrow. ‘More off than on, don’t you think?’

He gave a little shrug and smiled at her. Her underwear heated up, announcing its imminent departure. ‘If you say so, Jo-Jo.’

Johanna went on immediate alert. ‘Don’t call me that.’

‘You used to like it when I called you Jo-Jo.’

She had liked it. Loved it, in fact. When they’d been in high school and her stupid heart had thought his pet name for her meant he was as secretly into her as she was into him. But now it was just a reminder of all that wasted time and emotional angst as she’d waited for him to look beyond the bad hair and braces.

‘No. I always hated it,’ she lied.

‘Okay.’ He frowned down at her. ‘You’re angry with me. But I’m not entirely sure why? We haven’t even seen each other for seven months.’

Yes. Exactly. The last time she’d seen him he’d been naked and wrapped around her, her head tucked under his chin, his big hand warm on her bare belly. And when she’d woken in the morning he was gone. No goodbye kiss. No cute little note on the pillow.