Read Online The Wedding Fling by Meg Maguire - Free Book Online

crossed.”
    She felt close suddenly, and welcoming. Warm and soft as the fire’s glow. It’d take so little to dip his face to hers. Such a tiny movement, yet such a huge nerve on Will’s part, considering his arrangement. And even if his already questionable ethics took a hike, here was certainly not the place, not with all these witnesses.
    Yet he could feel her inviting him, could see it in the way her gaze flicked from his eyes to his mouth to her hand on his knee. He could feel it as surely as he could feel his own body begging him to accept the invitation. There was something reckless and needy in her eyes, something that resonated inside him and brought his own impulsive, bad-idea desires to a steady boil. He wanted her, as badly as he could recall wanting any woman, the ache made deeper by his conflicted conscience and the impossibility of the setting. His brain felt fuzzy and he swallowed, his attention focused on her lips.
    Loud laughter from the party woke him from the trance. Realizing things were taking a sharp turn in a dangerous direction, Will sat up straight and cleared his throat. “So.”
    For a split second he saw disappointment tense her pretty face, then Leigh withdrew her hand, her tone turning light. “So?”
    “Got it out of your system now? Bit of slumming to wash away that Hollywood glitz?”
    “I’m not slumming.”
    “But you’re going back. Back to your parties and premieres? You say you want to be a nobody, but come on. You’ll miss that, right? Not today, but eventually.”
    “I’ve had my time to play dress-up and be the center of attention. Now I just want to be this, you know?” She stretched out her legs, digging her heels into the sand. “Just plain old me.”
    Will did the same, flexing his feet beside hers, intrigued by how small and pale hers were. “And so this is plain old you?”
    “Yup. This is the most I’ve felt like myself in ages. Being around all these people who don’t already have some idea about who I am, based on some character I played in a movie.”
    Will stole a glance at her profile, liking plain old Leigh. When they first met, he’d thought she must be a glutton for attention, to bail on her wedding day. Now he suspected it was more than that. Some awful mess she’d decided to tackle, not merely a dramatic near-miss with a silly, youth-clouded whim. Not a cowardly mad dash toward freedom and away from regrets and responsibility, as his mother’s flight had been.
    “What’s your ex like?” Will asked. “What does he do, back in California?”
    “He’s a musician. Or was. When we met he was in a band.”
    “Rock star?”
    She laughed, a weak sound. “Not quite. But his band was sort of an indie hit. They could go really far if they wanted, but he got bit by the Hollywood bug after we’d been together the first year. Now he’s really ambitious about the scene, more than actual music. He was talking about producing. And he wants to open a club. Just like you.” Leigh turned to stare at Will, her eyes narrowed with curiosity. “Actually, nothing like you.”
    “No?”
    “He wanted to open a club, and make it the trendy new place to be. You sound like you want the opposite of that.”
    “Booze plus sand plus music,” Will agreed. “Pretty basic formula.”
    “Sounds more my speed than what Dan wanted.”
    Dan.
    “Sounds very nice,” she added with a yawn. “I’ll be sure to check it out when it opens.”
    “You do that. First round’s on me.” Actually, all her rounds ought to be on him, if his funding came through as he hoped. “You look bushed. You want me to walk you back to your place?”
    Leigh frowned, but nodded. “I haven’t gotten a decent night’s sleep in days. But I’m sure I can find my way back by myself. The moon’s nearly full.”
    Will stood, helping her to her feet. “Can’t let guests wander around in the dark unchaperoned. I’ve broken enough rules for one night. I should at least pretend to be a