Free The Wedding Rescue, Book Three (An Alpha Billionaire Club BBW Romance) by Alexa Wilder Page B

my chest. Fuck that. I never panicked, not over business, not over my life. Not the time Axel, Sam, and I were caught in a flash flood camping in the desert. And not ever over a woman.
    Yet there I’d been, commanding her to stay while my heart pounded at the thought that she’d walk out. What the hell was wrong with me? Leigha was different; I’d figured that out. And she was a seriously hot fuck. No question, the best I’d had despite her lack of experience—or maybe because of it, but it didn’t matter. She was just a woman. There were thousands of those, beautiful and available, right outside my front door.
    Why was this one so important? She thought I was a cheater? Fine, then get out. That’s what I should have said. Instead, I’d soothed her, kissed her, and taken her to breakfast. All the while refusing to give her back her purse. Keeping her purse was edging into stalker territory. She didn’t need her wallet since I was paying for everything. Ditto on her keys, since we were taking my car. They were all excuses. Stealing a woman’s purse and holding it hostage to keep her from leaving was nuts.
    That brought me back to everything being upside down. Normally it was a challenge to scrape these girls off. I’d trapped Leigha so she couldn’t leave me. Because I needed time for what? To fuck her until I got her out of my system? Or to convince her to stay?

3
Leigha
    I ’d love to say that seeing my sisters’ jaws drop at the sight of me didn’t give me a rush. To say that I was mature and confident all on my own, without the dress and jewelry, without Dylan on my arm. That I didn’t need to feel, for just one night, like I had the upper hand after years as the butt of their jokes. But I’d be lying. I’m not Mother Theresa.
    Knowing that I was wearing more than they’d ever be able to afford, and I looked fantastic in it, felt like a victory after years of their cruel taunts. Never mind that I couldn’t afford it either. My heart was getting all tangled up with Dylan, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate that the point of our arrangement was working out better than I’d hoped. I didn’t just have a date for the wedding, Dylan had turned me into a princess.
    A princess who had her mind in the gutter. While I was greeting the other guests, nodding along to introductions and shaking hands, I was acutely aware of Dylan’s hand on my back, the heat of his palm occasionally dipping low enough to cup my ass. The dinner was a moment of triumph and all I wanted was to get back to the room and peel away every scrap of Dylan’s tux so I could get my hands on the man beneath. Now that I’d gotten to know him, I didn’t want to waste our time together on this stupid wedding. Knowing my sister, she’d be getting married again in few years. I’d never get another chance at a man like Dylan.
    The cocktail hour was a blur of cheek kisses and polite hugs until we made our way over to Christie and Peter. They stood in the back of the room beside my mother, holding court as if they were visiting royalty. I smiled at my mother when she caught sight of me. Her eyes went comically wide before she called out my name and rushed forward, enveloping me in a tight hug. We were so different, my mom and me. She was bright colors and exuberance while I was understated and quiet. But wrapped in her tight embrace, the strong and familiar scent of her perfume in a cloud around us, my eyes got wet.
    “You look so gorgeous, baby. Like a dream.” She pulled back to cup my face in her hands, her eyes on mine, beaming with adoring love. “My beautiful girl.”
    Yep, no matter that we might be total opposites, I loved my Mom. Leaning in to kiss her cheek, I said, “You look great, too, Mom.” She really did. Her little black dress had an emphasis on the ‘little’ and her cleavage was the opposite, but she looked great, especially considering she was the mother of three grown daughters.
    She tugged me to her side,