By His Vow: Chapter 12

With a wide smile splitting my face and more margaritas than I can count right now warming my stomach, I lose myself in the beat of the music and the warm, strong hands that hold my hips hostage.

“Fuck. I love this song,” I scream, my head falling back against Cory’s shoulder as the heavy bass thumps through my body.

Honestly, I have no idea what the song is, but it doesn’t matter.

“You’re on a mission tonight, T,” Cory shouts in my ear.

“Been a long week, Cor. I fucking need this,” I say, rolling my body against his.

Last night was good, but every time I looked up and saw the anger lining Miles’s face, I was reminded of what I was trying to forget.

And then when he abandoned me to hook up with the server, it was all I could think about.

But this, right now, surrounded by my two closest friends, losing myself to the beat as sweat glistens over my skin and my head spins with tequila, is everything.

“Woo,” I cry out before slut dropping on Cory.

“Damn, girl.” He groans once I’m in front of him again. “You’re making me fucking horny.”

Giggling like a schoolgirl, I grind my ass against his cock, instantly finding the truth in his words.

Heat rushes between my thighs. The promise of oblivion is just too much.

Fuck. I want it.

A night of mind-numbing, easy, no-strings-attached pleasure.

My old life…

Sadness washes through me as the weight of what I’ve agreed to presses down on my shoulders again.

Squeezing my eyes closed, I try to banish reality and pretend for a few hours that I’m the same girl who walked into my father’s office yesterday.

Free, single, and ready to mingle.

More like eager and ready to get down and dirty.

I may be yearning for a quieter, simpler life in my aunt’s Cotswold cottage, but I love my life here. I love Chicago. I love being in a bustling city and having everything within reach. Not to mention the nightlife, the hot men…the opportunities.

England might be my destiny. It’s where I want to raise a family and grow old. But right now, I couldn’t ask for more than this.

“You’re going to need to look elsewhere tonight, buddy,” I shout in Cory’s ear as we continue to dance.

Lori is in front of us, pinned between two guys, laughing her head off at a joke we’re not privy to.

Seeing her so happy makes me smile. She hasn’t had it easy in life, so seeing her letting go and enjoying herself makes my heart swell with joy.

We met on our very first day at college. We were roommates.

I turned up with everything I needed, used to being educated away from home and ready to embark on this new part of my life. And then Lori turned up like a small, frizzy-haired, wide-eyed whirlwind.

She was so out of her depth that I’m not sure she even knew which way was up.

With only a small weekend bag with her belongings inside, she unpacked them and then looked at me with so much hope mixed in with the chaos, that I immediately fell in love with her.

She’s strong yet vulnerable. Thoughtful yet hot-headed.

Calm yet total fucking chaos.

I love it. I love her.

We come from two completely different worlds, and yet she is single-handedly the best person I have ever met in my life.

I just wish those who are meant to love her saw her the same way I do. They’ve no idea how much awesome they’re missing out on.

“I need to wee,” I announce before spinning around and planting a sloppy kiss on Cory’s cheek.

“Lor, bathroom break?”

“Yes,” she cries before skipping from her dance partners.

‘Drinks?’ I mouth at Cory as I grab her hand and pull her in the direction of the bathroom.

“Ugh, look at the line,” she complains.

My heart sinks as I take in the line of women waiting to do their business.

My eyes shoot in the direction of the stairs that lead to the VIP area.

We could be up there where I’m sure there are clean, empty bathrooms for us to enjoy. All I’d have to do is give my name and they’d unhook the barrier and wish us a good night.

But I don’t want to be up there with the businessmen and minor celebrities sipping champagne and attempting to look demure while doing it.

I don’t want to be demure. I want to be wild and sweaty. I want to feel my heart racing, stray hands gliding over my body, and my dress sticking to my skin.

Tonight, I don’t want to be Tatum Warner with the weight of the world and an imminent sham of a marriage pressing down on me.

I want to be free, and crazy, and careless.

“Are you okay?” Lori asks, her eyes bouncing between mine.

“Yeah, of course. Why?” I ask, trying to calm my racing heart. I might want to feel it pounding, but while I’m dancing and enjoying life, not while I’m freaking out about having my life stolen from me.

“You look a little manic. Did someone slip something in your drink?’

“What? No, don’t be silly. I’m just enjoying myself. Letting go.”

She narrows her eyes at me, able to hear the lie in my voice.

“Tate, I know what⁠—”

“Dance with me,” I demand, reaching for her hands and spinning her around in the line.

“Tate,” she warns.

“No, Lor. We’re not going there. Not tonight. I need this to be a future-free night. No thinking about tomorrow or⁠—”

“A certain man who rocks a suit like no other?” she adds.

“Exactly. None of that. Not so much as a fleeting thought about that asshole.”

She smirks.

“Stop it,” I hiss, knowing that her mind just ran straight to the gutter.

“Did you invite Matt out tonight?” I ask, shamelessly trying to distract her with her current online dating obsession.

She’s had a few over the years, but Matt has trumped them by far. He’s all she’s been able to talk about for days. Honestly, I’m amazed she’s allowed me to get a word in edgewise since her successful date last night.

I guess, as amazing as that was, I’ve kinda trumped it with my news.

Guilt knots my stomach. I don’t want to overshadow her incredible date with a great guy.

“Yeah, he’s out with his friends. We might meet up later,” she says, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

“You really like this one, huh?”

She smiles, getting this faraway look in her eye.

“He’s… perfect,” she breathes, her smile widening.

Finally, she forgets about my shit and embarks on telling me every single detail about their night.

She’s right. He does sound perfect. It immediately raises alarm bells.

No man is that perfect.

This is where my usually level-headed friend loses her mind.

She might be a strong, independent woman, but she’s got a soft-as-hell, romantic heart locked up inside her chest, and she’s desperate for it to be unleashed.

While I’m happy to stay single and play the field, kiss a few frogs, and laugh the whole time, she wants something more serious, something steady and reliable.

Her life has been anything but those things up until this point, and she’s desperate to settle down with a man who worships the ground she walks on.

I’ve no doubt she’ll find him. I just can’t help worrying that she’s trying too hard and attracting the wrong kind of guys.

She wears her heart on her sleeve when it comes to dating, and men know how to lure her in before quickly spitting her back out.

She’s still lost in her memories of the night before when we finally get to the front of the line.

As if we’re still two college students, the second a stall becomes free, we both slip inside.

I go first, seeing as she’s still lost in her Matt-induced haze, and then we switch before descending on the sinks—or, more importantly, the mirrors.

Predictably, Lor immediately starts fussing with her hair.

“What?” she hisses, making me roll my eyes at her.

I shake my head. “Nothing,” I mutter as I pull my red lipstick from my purse and reapply.

“You need to stop leading Cory on tonight,” she says absently.

My eyes snap to hers in the mirror.

“I’m not⁠—”

“Tate,” she warns. “You know how he feels about you. You’re just feeding it.”

“He doesn’t feel anything for me,” I argue way more defensively than I mean to. “We’re just friends,” I say a little softer.

“You’re not just friends though, are you?”

“So what, we’ve hooked up a few times?” My hands find my hips and I turn to her, glaring.

“I’m not judging, you know that, Tate. If you two want to bump uglies then that’s up to you. But you’re playing a very dangerous game tonight.”

“Why? Because of Kingston?” I balk.

She opens her mouth to respond, but I don’t give her time to say anything.

“He has nothing to do with this. I’m having a night out with my friends. A well-deserved night out,” I add.

“Shit. I know. You’re right. I’m sorry,” Lori says, stepping forward and holding her arms out.

I accept her embrace and wrap my arms around her, holding her close.

“This is so fucked up, Tate,” she whispers in my ear.

A lump crawls up my throat. I try to swallow it down, but it’s too huge. “I know,” I finally manage to say around it.

“I’m on your side. Always. You know that. I just think you should be careful. If Kingston were to see⁠—”

I jolt back from her hug. “You think he’s following me? Watching me?”

“No,” she says quickly. “I don’t have him pegged for a stalker type. But you know what this city is like. You can’t take a left turn without someone noticing and telling anyone who cares. You’re a Warner, Tate. And you’re about to be attached to one of the most powerful men in Chicago. People will be watching.”

“No one knows. Only you and⁠—”

“Everyone who saw the photo online earlier?” she asks, raising a brow.

“Fuck,” I groan, dropping my head into my hands.

“People know who you are, Tate. And they certainly know who he is. Like it or not, you’re hot gossip right now. I bet it would take us less than two minutes searching online to find you here. If Kingston wanted to, he could in a heartbeat.”

“He won’t,” I breathe, praying I’m right.

Lori smiles at me. “Just…don’t underestimate him. You know all too well what they’re capable of. Don’t be naive because you don’t want to believe what’s possible.”

With a sigh and a smile I genuinely don’t feel, I let her tug me out of the bathroom and toward the bar, where we find Cory waiting with a row of shots before him.

Oh god. This is going to get messy…

That thought isn’t enough to stop me, though. If anything, it spurs me on.

I swallow down the first one and reach for the second, but something makes me turn around.

I want to say that it’s Lori’s warning about what Kingston is capable of that sends a shiver racing down my spine, but something tells me it’s more than that.

Fuck.

I scan the mass of dancers before me but come up empty. I’m hardly surprised. I can’t honestly see him gyrating in the middle of a sweaty crowd.

He’s more…

My eyes jump toward the VIP area upstairs.

The glass is black from down here, preventing the mere peasants from seeing the elite looking down on them.

My skin prickles with awareness, all the hairs on my body lifting.

He’s there.

Watching me. I feel it.

Heat surges through me along with a powerful shot of adrenaline.

I wink, letting him know that I’m aware of him before throwing back my second shot and quickly following it up with a third.

“What the fuck are we doing loitering here? Let’s go and dance.”

A potent mixture of excitement and anticipation surges through my veins as I come to a stop in the middle of the crowd and drop down low again, sticking my ass out and grinding back up Cory’s body.

Lori watches me with a warning dancing in her eyes.

“Call Matt,” I shout. “It’s time to forget reality for a few hours.”