AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Michael and Suzy have booked a table to take us to dinner,” she told Connor when his call ended, in case he planned to bolt off on a hot date, forgetting all about the bridal couple.
His mouth flattened. “I’m quite sure Michael and Suzy would prefer to spend a quiet evening together before the rush of tomorrow’s wedding.”
Why hadn’t she thought of that?
As they started down the stone steps that led to the courtyard, Victoria noticed with surprise that Connor dwarfed her. It wasn’t often that a man made her feel downright dainty.
In the courtyard Suzy and Michael caught up to them. After tomorrow Victoria knew their friendship would never be the same again. A sense of loss filled her, yet she’d never seen Suzy look happier.
She remembered Connor’s clever suggestion. “Wouldn’t the two of you prefer to have dinner alone tonight?”
Suzy dumped a basket of hymn books into Victoria’s arms. “Here, you’ll need to give these to the ushers to hand out tomorrow at the door. And of course we want to take the two of you out—we’ll have the rest of our lives to spend alone together.” Suzy gave Michael a bittersweet smile and Victoria wondered if he, too, had seen the shadows in Suzy’s eyes as she spoke…or knew the reason for them.
The way he put an arm across Suzy’s shoulders and pulled her close suggested he did. “Victoria, you’re Suzy’s oldest friend, and Connor’s the closest thing I’ve got to a brother. It will be great for the four of us to have dinner together.”
Michael was so nice, Victoria decided. Maybe Suzy hadn’t made a mistake. About to give Michael a grateful smile for setting to rest the doubts that Connor had raised, Victoria paused as she intercepted the glacial look Connor shot Michael.
What was that about?
Yet Michael, bless him, smiled in the face of Connor’s icy disapproval. He clapped a hand on his best man’s shoulder and leant forward to murmur something that caused Connor’s pale eyes to flare with suppressed emotion as he shot Victoria a look of intense dislike.
What had she done to deserve that? The unexpected unease he’d already roused in her coalesced into a hard ball of antipathy.
As Michael went to fetch his car, Suzy added, “After dinner I’m going home—alone.” She winked suggestively at Victoria. “I told Michael it’s unlucky for him to see the bride before the wedding and I’m determined not to do anything that might tip the scales against us.”
“You shouldn’t be getting married if you need superstitious hocus-pocus to make it last,” Connor said from behind them, causing both women to start.
As surprise—followed swiftly by hurt—flashed in Suzy’s eyes, Victoria swung around and saw no levity in the man’s strange eyes.
Outraged that he’d attacked sweet, effervescent Suzy the moment Michael had vanished, she forgot her own reservations about the hasty marriage. Coldly she pointed out, “But Suzy and Michael are getting married. They love each other. And there’s not a thing you can do about it.”
“Love?” Connor’s eyes glittered in the dwindling sunlight and his sharp bark of laughter caused Victoria to bristle defensively. “Is that what women call it?”
“It’s what Michael calls it, too.” A chill enveloped Victoria. She must be mad to challenge this man. “And what gives you the right to sit judgment on what Michael and Suzy feel for each other, anyway?”
He stared down his nose at her. “Love is overrated.”
Hoisting the basket of hymn books to stop them falling, she said, “If you’re that cynical then perhaps you shouldn’t have agreed to be Michael’s best man.”
“Victoria—”
“No, Suzy.” She broke free of the bride-to-be’s restraining arm. “What he said was rude and uncalled for.”
Suzy looked decidedly uncomfortable.
“Can I take those for you?” Connor had the basket before she could object.
“Thanks,” she said ungraciously.
“It looked like you were about to drop them.”
The superior tone annoyed her afresh. Victoria wondered if the hard, handsome man in front of her had ever apologized to anyone. He would, she vowed. “Are you proud of yourself?”
“For helping relieve you of the basket?” He tilted his head sideways. “I suppose I am.”
“That’s not what I mean.” And he knew it. Splaying her hands on her skinny hips, Victoria faced Connor down. She was taller than Suzy by a head, yet Connor still loomed over her. For a moment her resolve wavered; then she stiffened her spine. “Is that what you wanted?” She nodded to Suzy where she stood, her shoulders sagging. “You’re going to ruin her day if you carry on like this.”
