Chapter 4

We danced and acted silly on the dance floor and I was trying my best not to look for him. Hanna kept her part of the promise and made sure we were noticeable on the dance floor. Mike got bored with us after a few songs and went back to his seat to play with his phone. Seriously, I was even surprised he stayed that long. I have to talk to him alone in the near future and see how he is coping with the whole situation.

Hanna and I continued dancing for a while and I caught a glimpse or two of him during the evening, but that was about it. I haven't seen him on the dance floor at all and I haven't seen much of Serena either. Not that I complained about the latter, that woman just rubbed me the wrong way.

My feet were killing me in my new shoes at that point already and I decided to take a break and go to the ladies' room while Hanna returned to the table for a drink refill.

When I reach around the corner my eyes stop on a man standing in front of the doors of my intended destination. Of course, the man of the hour.

In the moment of panic, I hesitated glued to the spot, negotiating to turn around and just coming back later or simply walk down there and pretend nothing happened. I was considering the two options seemingly too long when he looked up from whatever he was doing on his phone and his eyes stopped on mine.

I froze for a moment, unable to move under his stare. How is it possible a complete stranger can enrapture me so completely? My body and brain reacted to him even from a distance. He just had this aura around him that always made me momentarily suspended at the moment.

And then I mentally smacked myself. I am not doing the whole too-dumbstruck-to-talk act again.

I took a deep breath and continued on my way there. His eyes never left me, assessing me from the bottom up. I felt goosebumps rising from my toes all the way up as if my skin would be wired to his eyes roaming all over me. I started approaching him and all the while desperately trying to assess what he is thinking, but his face was carefully hidden from any emotion. Well, it's now or never.

"Hi there," Hi there?? What am I, in elementary school? Why am I so awkward around him?

"I sort of wanted to thank you for not telling everyone for the incident that happened the other day. I am still very sorry and I wish I could make it up to you."

I was really trying to be polite, but even to my ears, that sounded a bit suggestive. My subconscious is not as subtle apparently. I think he noticed my unintentional innuendo as something heated passed through his eyes, but he masked it quickly.

He didn't reply anything for a while, just kept on looking at me with those intense green eyes, silently assessing me. It seemed I couldn't stop staring at him either, drowning in his beautiful eyes, waiting for him to make a move. Why I reacted this way to him was beyond me.

After a while, he released some of the tension by giving me a small nod and flashed his sexy dimple-smile my way.

"Don't worry about it. You were actually kind of cute. Oh, and I've told Brian. I didn't know it was top secret." He was mocking me, but he said it with lightness in his voice and a warm smile, which made me relax somewhat. Did he say I was kind of cute?

"It's OK really, just not one of my finest moments. Can we start over?" I extend my hand in front of him, waiting for him to reach out.

"Hello, I'm Jessica Cavanagh, Becca's sister. It's nice to finally meet you."

He was assessing the situation for a bit and then started grinning while shaking my hand.

"Nice to meet you, Jessica, I'm Jake Adams. Brian's best man. I've heard so many good things about you. I didn't know you look that stunning, though."

My eyes open in shock at his words and suddenly I feel extremely hot in my clothes. The fact that he is still holding my hand doesn't help at all. I felt the energy buzzing through me where his fingers were touching my skin and I involuntarily shook.

"I'm s-sorry?"

His voice became lower and quieter, and he pulled me an inch closer making me inhale his cologne at our proximity.

"I said you look extremely beautiful and you should know how to accept a compliment."

I was feeling dizzy from being surrounded by the smell of his cologne that screamed 'sex' and his words got me tingling in all the wrong places.

He continued, "But since you are basically my almost brother's sister-in-law, I shouldn't touch you. And it's a real shame if you ask me."

Almost-brother's sister-in-law? And I thought my mind was a jumbled mess of weird words.

I felt shivers going all over my body and on impulse I've pulled my hand from his. I couldn't let him think I am so hopelessly attracted to him that I cannot control myself.

"What makes you think I want you to touch me? I barely know you."

His eyes framed with thick eyelashes women would kill for assessed my expression, clearly thinking about a way to respond. Once again he reached with his hand to put a lock of hair behind my ear and was about to reply when the bathroom's door opened and Serena walked out.

She gives me a nasty look and on instinct, I step a few inches away from him. Something like annoyance crosses his face, but before I could figure out what he is thinking, Serena puts hands around his neck, whispering something in his ear.

Guessing this is my cue, I give him another glance and head inside the ladies' room, locking the doors and letting out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. What the hell just happened?

After ten minutes of deep breathing, I somewhat calmed down and got out of the ladies' room. My muscles released from the pent-up tension when I realized there is no one standing on the other side.

Hanna is waiting for me when I enter the main room and I notice the party is coming to an end. We decided to say our goodbyes to the remaining guests and my family, and head to her car.

I desperately try not to think for the rest of the night about the fact that Jake and Serena already left while I was having a pep talk with myself in the bathroom. I shouldn't care what he is doing anyway, right?