And the warm feeling of his hand on my hip didn’t hurt, either.
Beau tipped his face close to mine, so his mouth was right at my ear. “Thanks for doing this.”
I huffed a laugh. “Well, it was my idea.”
“I know,” Beau said. “But still. You’re selling it.”
I grinned. “I’m a natural.”
“It’s been more fun than I expected,” he admitted. “Definitely more fun than I would’ve had if I’d let Mom bully me into going with some random woman.”
I hummed, turning that over in my mind as we moved to the music. “Why would you agree to that, anyway? I mean” —I glanced around the hall at the family members in attendance, and none of them were watching us anymore— “they’re a little stiff, sure, but no one’s been an asshole to us.”
Beau scowled a little. “I know. It’s not like they’re openly against it, but I know my folks would prefer me to be straight. And I’m just so used to not rocking the boat—I haven’t really seen the point in causing a big stink about it. I’m too busy to date anyway, so there’s no point in upsetting Mom for no reason.”
I nodded. I didn’t push, but that sounded like a crock of shit to me. It sounded to me like it wasn’t that he didn’t want to date—more like he was scared.
“What about your family?” Beau asked. “Are they cool with it?”
It surprised me a little, to hear Beau ask for details about my life. He’d made it pretty clear that regardless of what chemistry there was between us, he wasn’t ready to man up and try to be in a relationship for real. I thought he’d try to keep conversation polite and short, bordering on curt—but here he was, asking for details in a tone that suggested he was actually interested.
“Oh, yeah, they’ve never had a problem with me,” I said. “Well—my parents have had plenty of problems with me, but none of them related to my sexuality.”
Beau chuckled. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
“I came out when I was fifteen,” I continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Dare was my first kiss.”
“What?” Beau asked, startled. “Dare, as in Dante? The vice president of your club?”
“Yup,” I said, pleased with his shocked reaction. “The one and only.”
“Were you together?” Beau asked.
“No,” I said with a little shake of my head. “Just experimenting. We were kids. And we might’ve broken into his dad’s liquor cabinet.”
“For some reason that doesn’t surprise me either,” Beau said with an easy grin.
“It never really went further than that,” I said. It was a fond memory, though, both of us young and fumbling and trying to figure out what we wanted. “We’ve always been more like brothers than anything else. Especially now.”
A tap on my shoulder interrupted our conversation. “Mind if I cut in?”
I had to look down to meet Beau’s grandmother’s sharp eyes. She had a quick tongue and a quicker smile, as she’d proven at dinner, and I could tell from the gleam in her gray eyes that she was excited to get me alone.
“But of course, ma’am,” I said.
“Gran,” Beau said warningly.
“Please,” she scoffed. “None of this ma’am nonsense. Call me Patricia, I insist.”
I released Beau’s hand and took Patricia’s small, jewelry-laden hand in mine. She led me a few paces away from Beau, and he shot me an apologetic look, which I met with a beaming smile. He looked a little placated by that, and I kept my eyes on the broad line of his shoulders as he maneuvered through the crowd and toward the bar. Hopefully to get a drink for the both of us.
The music picked up, and I led Patricia in a quick, easy dance near the center of the dance floor. She grinned. “I’ve got to tell you, Tanner, I’m thrilled to see Beau with a date. A real date—not one of those dates he goes on to appease my daughter.”
“Oh?” I said. “Were you surprised to meet me?”
“Absolutely,” Patricia said brightly. “Beau’s not one to bring people around, honestly. It’s a shame. I’ve been dying for him to bring a handsome young man around.”
“And how do I live up to your standards?” I asked with a quirk of my brow.
Patricia peered at me with a serious, jokingly discerning expression. “Definitely more handsome than I expected,” she said. “And with more piercings. Gotta say, I’m not sure if Beau deserves you.”
I laughed. “That’s kind of you to say, but I’m pretty sure it’s the other way around—him being the life-saving firefighter and all.”
“Don’t let him convince you of that,” Patricia said. “Most of his job is just picking up old ladies like me when we fall down in the shower.”
“Patricia!” I said through a laugh, a little bit scandalized.
“What? It’s true! That’s why my shower has a built-in chair.” She cackled. “I mean it, though. You two are cute together. I can tell by the way he looks at you that he likes you a lot. He’s usually so wound up at events like this—you really bring some peace to him.”
My stomach flipped at the thought. Patricia saw Beau looking at me in a certain way? That didn’t seem right. We hardly knew each other, and he’d spent most of his time around me in various states of annoyance. I could tell when someone was ogling me—I’d caught it from a few women at this wedding, honestly—but what Patricia was describing sounded different. I wished I knew Beau well enough to see it myself. “Doing my best. He seemed pretty nervous about bringing me.”
“He gets a little worked up sometimes,” Patricia said with a sigh. “Heather can be a bit demanding. Sometimes I think that’s my fault for spoiling her too much when she was young. Can’t do anything about it now, though. But at the end of the day, Heather just wants him to be happy, and she’s trying to make that happen in a way she understands.”
“I’m just glad she was nice to me,” I said with a shrug.
“It’s hard not to be nice to you, you charmer,” Patricia said with a smirk. Her hands slid a little lower on my hips.
“Patricia,” I said with a teasing smirk. “You better watch it.”
“What?” she said innocently. “Can’t a woman have a little fun at her granddaughter’s wedding?”
“Well, when you put it like that,” I said, and then swept her into an easy dip that made her cackle with delight.
“You really are a charmer,” she said. As I steadied her on her feet, the music slowed down again, and Patricia’s expression softened a little, and she continued in a faux-serious voice that I had a feeling wasn’t so faux, “You better not let my grandson break up with you—he’s got a track record for that. I’ll be pretty upset if you’re the one who got away.”
Guilt chewed at me—guilt mixed with desire. When I’d impulsively cooked up this scheme, I hadn’t thought I’d feel bad about tricking his family. I’d thought it was going to be a fun little game for me, to flirt my way through an evening and make Beau flustered and offend a handful of rich people. But then his grandmother, who Beau was apparently very close to, had to go and be a wonderful, witty, grounded woman. And tricking her made me feel like an asshole.