Seth moved forward, coming toward me, rather than my sister. He said, "I never meant-"
Michael stepped between us. He was a good three or four inches taller than Seth and much broader. "Stay away from her, or you"ll get more than champagne in the face."
I smiled. He never did like anyone messing with me. Looking around his shoulder, I said, "You never meant to sleep with my sister while you were engaged to me? Really, Seth?" Not waiting for an answer, I glanced back at my mother. "And you happily turned a blind eye."
There was a ripple of noise through the crowd. Feeling as though I"d finally made my point-and let everyone know I was tired of rolling over and playing dead-I took Michael"s hand and dragged him away from the confrontation with Seth.
"I want to dance," I told him, not caring that I was a bit wet. I had on waterproof mascara. "Let"s go find a nightclub in the city."
"Fiona," my mother said in a tight voice. "Dinner hasn"t been served yet."
"That"s okay. I have a date tonight anyway. And I"m done with this scene." I squeezed Michael"s hand. "Dinner then dancing?" I asked him.
He grinned at me. "Whatever you want, babe."
"Have a lovely evening, everyone," I said as we made our way through the tight gathering and out of the tent.
I gloated all the way to the car. Before opening the door, Michael pulled me into his arms. "You definitely made a spectacle of yourself."
I nodded. "Yeah, well, I didn"t say anything that everyone in there hadn"t already heard on the street or read in the papers."
"Feel good to finally let it out?"
"Amazingly good. I never stood up for myself. It was long overdue."
"I"m proud of you." He kissed me. When he pulled away, I decided I wanted more. I kissed him.
When we finally came up for air, he studied me for a moment then asked, "Did you mean what you said?"
"About you being a "real man"?" I asked with a grin.
"About wanting me over him."
I twined my fingers in his lush hair and said, "I want you over every man." It was a truth I"d likely known all along, but some people took longer to reach an obvious conclusion than others. I"d never claimed to be a rocket scientist.
Michael drew in a deep breath then let it out slowly. "I"m only going to ask you one more time. Will you-"
"Yes," I said. I might have been trapped in breakup h.e.l.l after Seth, but with Michael, I was freed. I wouldn"t be fool enough to blow this again, especially now that I knew what I really had with him, and what I really wanted from him. When I"d thought I"d fallen a little in love last night, I"d only been taking the easy way out with myself. I"d actually fallen a lot in love. "I will try an exclusive relationship with you. And if it goes well, I will trek through New Zealand with you. Maybe even Italy, if I can swing it."
His arms tightened around me. "You won"t be sorry."
I kissed him again then said, "I never have been with you."
About the Author.
Multi-published, award-winning author Calista Fox (aka Ava McKnight) began her professional fiction-writing career in 2005, following an exciting career in PR, where she specialized in writing speeches and Congressional testimonies. Her books have received rave reviews, and she has won several contests with publication as the prize. She is also the recipient of Romance Reviews Today"s Best Book for its category and a Reviewers" Choice Award for Best Sci-Fi Erotic Novella. In 2007, Calista"s paranormal romance, One Wish, helped to launch the e-publishing venture for print publisher Red Sage Publishing, Inc. She is a college graduate and avid vacationer. She has traveled the country many times over by Lear and Gulfstream jets (thanks to the PR gig), always with her laptop in tow to capture intriguing story elements and exotic locales.
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Copyright 2011 by Calista Fox All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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