Alpha Charming | Rheon

THREE

The guests were all gathered in the dance hall after the ceremony. Reyna and her husband Alexander were seated at their own table at the far end of the room while waiters strode in and out with trays of food and drink balancing on their hands. While the newlywed couple and their guests enjoyed dinner, I wandered off to take some pictures of the decorations near the entrance.

The dance hall itself was beautifully decorated. Champagne-colored drapes and twinkling fairy lights adorned the ceiling, hand-carved pedestals perched underneath each window, each decorated with a crystal vase containing a bouquet of white and peach-colored roses. White and gold tablecloths covered the tables, and the crystal glasses alone were enough to afford an entire year's rent on my apartment.

After the incident at the chapel with my phone ringing and me barely surviving the first-hand embarrassment, I tried keeping it low key and avoided as much eye contact with the guests as possible. But even with my back turned on them, I had a strange feeling I was being watched.

Acting casually, I appeared to be photographing the deer skull on the wall near the entrance with the gold-painted antlers. However, after the third shot, my camera's screen faded before switching off.

"Shoot," I muttered to myself and felt around my pockets for the spare batteries.

My fingers brushed against several cylinder-shaped objects. But in the process of retrieving them, my hand caught on the inside of my pocket. I cursed under my breath as the batteries, among other things, dropped to the floor, clattering against the marble tiles. My first instinct was to drop to my knees to stop them from rolling too far, but someone beat me to it.

I watched dumbfoundedly as the very same man from earlier crouched before me, picking up the objects one by one before rising to his full height to meet my eyes. He's a full head taller than me and his gaze alone was enough to give me a fever.

"I think you dropped this," he stated and dangled the batteries in front of my face.

"Yes, thank you. I completely forgot to change the batteries after the ceremony -"

"And this as well."

My words caught in my throat when I saw what he had in his other hand - a very obvious, cylinder-shaped feminine object. A tampon.

Shit.

His mouth corner twitched up, betraying his amusement. My heart nearly broke through my ribcage when he slipped the little object into my pocket, the heat of his fingers seeping through my jeans and into my skin.

"Best not to let anyone else see," he leaned down to whisper in my ear.

No doubt, my face is beet red, if not redder. How much bad luck can one person have? First my phone ringing during the ceremony, and now this? But no matter how much I'd like to die of embarrassment that moment, my eyelids still fluttered at the smell of his cologne and his warm breath fanning against my neck.

Just as I regained the ability to think straight, he stepped back and casually made his way back to the guests as if nothing ever happened. My eyes travelled across the length of his back and legs, appreciating how that suit clung to all the right places, how broad his shoulders were, how soft his hair looked...

I blinked when realizing that I am shamelessly checking him out, and mentally scolded myself. This was wrong, I'm dating Matt and we're happy. We make a good team.

My inner conflict came to an end when the maid of honor stepped onto the raised platform where the orchestra was playing. She tapped the microphone a few times to get everyone's attention. Realizing the toasts and speeches were about to begin, I crossed the room to crouch between the stage and the head table where Reyna and her husband were seated. With my back turned on them and the guests, I readied my camera and waited for the first toast to begin.