She smiled up at him as she put her mallet away. “You’re a very good teacher. I can now play croquet with confidence.”

He chuckled. “There are a lot of things I could teach you.”

She lifted a brow. “Oh really? Like what?”

Dawson was just about to lean close to whisper in her ear when Rachel appeared beside them. She gave him an apologetic look.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I need to borrow Kate for a minute,” she said. “Wedding stuff.”

The girl didn’t wait for a reply, but instead grabbed Kate’s arm and whisked her away and over to where the other women were standing.

“You can put your tongue back in now.”

At the sound of Bob’s voice, Dawson turned to see his friend standing beside him. He was so focused on Kate, he hadn’t heard the other man come over.

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

The other man laughed. “Come on. You’re practically drooling.”

Dawson opened his mouth to deny it, but then decided he’d only be wasting his time. He and Kate had probably been putting on quite a show during the croquet game. Anyone watching could tell there was something going on between them.

“You didn’t tell me Rachel’s maid of honor was so beautiful,” Dawson said.

Bob shrugged. “She was going out with someone up until a couple weeks ago. I didn’t think she’d be available.”

Dawson considered that. “Were she and this guy serious?”

“Kate doesn’t go out with a guy unless she plans to get serious about him.”

Dawson frowned. That didn’t sound like the Kate he knew. “Really? We agreed to hook up for the weekend, no strings attached.”

The other man looked surprised at that, then his brow furrowed. “No kidding? Well, I guess that means she doesn’t think you have any long-term potential or something.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“No offense, dude. Besides, nothing wrong with a getting a little somethin’ somethin’ from a beautiful woman, no strings attached. You should consider yourself lucky.”

Dawson did, but in the back of his mind couldn’t help but wonder what it was about him that made Kate think he wasn’t worth more than just a weekend lay.

“So,” Rachel asked excitedly, “what did you think?”

Kate almost laughed at the eager looks on her friends’ faces. “About croquet? It’s a lot more fun than I thought.”

Rachel’s brows drew together. “Very funny. I’m not talking about croquet and you know it. I’m talking about your night with Dawson.”

Kate lifted her chin. “How do you know I spent the night with him?”

“Because it’s written all over your face,” the other girl said. “You look like the cat that licked the cream.”

“Not to mention other, more delectable parts of a certain best man’s anatomy,” Kristen added.

Kate blushed.

“And if that didn’t clue us in, the way you two were all over each other when we were playing croquet would have,” Heather grinned. “I was thinking of telling you and Dawson to get a room, but then I remembered you already have one. Whose room did you spend the night in anyway?”

Kate shook her head. “You girls are awful. Okay, if you must know, we spent the night in his room.”

Her friends squealed in unison.

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Briana said. “How was it? Is Dawson as good in bed as he looks?”

Kate’s lips curved into a slow smile. “Better.”

“How much better?”

Her smile widened. “Let’s just say we were still going when the sun came up.”

More squeals.

“Now aren’t you glad you took our advice?” Rachel asked.

Kate’s gaze strayed to where Dawson stood talking to Rachel’s fiancé and she let out a little sigh of contentment. “Yeah, I am.”

“Whatever it is you’re thinking, Kate, stop right there,” Rachel ordered.

Kate turned to look at her friend in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

The other girl folded her arms and fixed Kate with a pointed look. “I recognize that wistful little tone in your voice. You’re thinking about what a wonderful husband Dawson would make.”

“No, I wasn’t!” Kate protested.

Rachel arched a brow. Beside her, the other girls were looking just as skeptical.

“I wasn’t,” Kate insisted. “But now that you mention it…”

“Don’t even go there,” Rachel warned. “This weekend is about having a fling with a seriously hot guy, remember? You’re not allowed to think of Dawson as anything more than a walking, talking sex toy. Got it?”

Kate wanted to protest, but then realized Rachel was right. If she tried to turn Dawson into yet another Mr. Right, she was only going to mess up what was probably the best sex she’d ever had in her life. “Okay, you’re right. I got it.”

“Good,” Rachel said. “Now pretend we’ve been talking about wedding stuff. The guys are coming over.”

Kate turned to see the men heading in their direction and her pulse quickened at the sight of Dawson. Their croquet game had gotten her all hot and bothered and even though they’d made love a few hours ago, she was eager to jump into bed with him again. From the sexy look he sent her way as he came to stand beside her, she suspected he felt the same.

Standing so close to Dawson made concentrating on conversation extremely difficult, especially since he casually slipped his arm around her waist. Kate was just trying to come up with some way for them to make a graceful exit when Rachel mentioned the sunset whale watching cruise the bridal party was going on that evening.

Kate felt Dawson lean close and put his mouth to her ear. “What do you say we skip the whale watching cruise and spend the rest of the day in bed?”

His breath was warm on her skin and she shivered with anticipation. As the maid of honor and best man, she and Dawson should really go on the cruise, but she had the feeling Rachel and Bob would understand.

Her lips curved into a smile. “Sounds like a plan.”

Kate turned her attention back to the rest of the bridal party just as Rachel suggested they all go inside to get something to eat. As everyone started toward the big double doors on the patio, Kate caught up with Rachel.

“Dawson and I are going to skip the whale watching cruise, if that’s okay,” she said to her friend.

Rachel grinned. “Staying here to wax the dolphin instead, huh?”

Kate felt her face color at the risqué words. She quickly darted a glance over her shoulder to see if Dawson had heard, but to her relief, he was talking to Bob and didn’t seem to be paying attention.

The other girl laughed. “Relax, Dawson didn’t hear. And of course, it’s okay. You two have fun.” She winked. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Then again, there’s not much I wouldn’t do.”

Kate just laughed. Sometimes her friend could be incorrigible.

“Ready?” Dawson asked, coming up beside her.

Eager to finally be alone with him again, she nodded. She’d been hoping they’d have the elevator to themselves, but another couple hurriedly stepped inside just before the doors slid closed. Telling herself she could wait a few more minutes, Kate forced herself to stand there patiently while the elevator took them to the fourth floor. When it came to a stop, she and Dawson quickly darted out the doors and practically ran down the hall to his room.

Once inside, Dawson urged her back against the wall and covered her mouth with his. The kiss was hot and demanding, and Kate let out a little moan of approval as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He kissed his way along the curve of her jaw and down her neck. “You’ve been driving me crazy all afternoon, you know that?”

She cooed as his mouth found the curved of her shoulder. “I have?”

He braced one arm against the wall and lifted his head to gaze down at her, his eyes smoldering with desire. “You know very well you did. Rubbing that gorgeous ass of yours against my cock. I was hard the whole time.”