Campbell sashayed to the rack of tan-peachy color dresses beside a slatted wood room divider.
“Isn’t the color gorgeous, Campbell?” McKenna said. “Susannah’s chosen blush champagne paired with white and silver for the color scheme. For a New Year’s Eve wedding, I think it’ll be stunning.”
Zane tried to tune out the women talking about how else Susannah would incorporate her color scheme. Who wanted to waste their New Year’s Eve at a wedding? Not him. Why did a bride have to ruin a perfectly good holiday and football night? From the color scheme, they chatted back and forth about whether to eat or check out dresses first.
Ridiculous. It wouldn’t take him and his buddies a minute to decide.You hungry? No. Me neither. We’ll eat later.Done. Issue settled. But women made every discussion as hard as finding hair on a frog.
Beam me anywhere but here, Scottie.
After deciding to eat later, McKenna told Campbell to select a dress to try on, but instead of simply grabbing one that became a huge decision, too.
“Do you have a preference, Zane?” Campbell asked, her voice husky and her eyes dreamy.
What had he gotten into? “Doesn’t matter. Whatever you choose will look great on you.”
Campbell grinned, selected a dress, and headed behind the screen. While she changed, McKenna poured sweet tea for Susannah. When she held the glass out to the bride-to-be, Susannah shook her head.
“Do you have anything more celebratory?”
McKenna stilled. Her eyes widened for a second before her chest expanded as she breathed deeply. Boy, the woman could pull it together fast.
“What did you have in mind?” McKenna asked, her voice pleasant and even.
“Do you have champagne?”
“We keep some in the kitchen.” McKenna smiled, excused herself, and returned minutes later with a bottle and two glasses. He almost chuckled. Leave it to McKenna to take charge and decide he wasn’t having any, but he didn’t mind. A bottle of Shiner, he could go for, but champagne wasn’t his thing.
“You want me to open it?” he teased, unable to resist.
“Not on your life.” A grin played at her lips. “Or rather not onmylife.”
He chuckled. Maybe McKenna possessed a sense of humor after all.
“What am I missing?” Susannah asked.
“A cork went haywire on me at AJ’s party. That’s how McKenna got hurt.”
“Ready?” Campbell called out. “I don’t want anyone to miss my entrance.”
Zane flinched. There was Campbell’s desperation for attention again. His easier and safer way out wasn’t looking as good.
“All set,” McKenna said, and Campbell stepped out wearing a dress, with a V-neck and tiny straps. Two small rows of ruffles ran from her chest down the front. Above the knee, a slit started. She strolled across the room, stopping in front of him, and twirled. Then she spotted the bottle in McKenna’s hand. “Champagne. What a fantastic idea.”
McKenna opened the bottle without mishap and poured the ladies a glass.
“You’re not having any, Zane?” Campbell asked.
“I’m a beer guy.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing.” The passionate invitation in Campbell’s eyes told him champagne wasn’t the only thing she meant.
Geez, he didn’t mind a little playful flirting. Hell, he might consider it his favorite sport, but with three women in his grandmother’s business, while Campbell tried on bridesmaids’ dresses for her best friend’s wedding, Campbell’s obvious seduction ploys felt wrong. Even a confirmed bachelor like him knew this should be about the bride and not Campbell getting a date.
Talk about weird. Who’d have thought he’d think that?
After a few sips of champagne, glass in hand, Campbell shimmied to the three-way mirror a few feet away. As Campbell preened, she craned her neck this way and that to catch glimpses of herself from various angles. “I’m not sure about this one.”
“What aren’t you sure about? Is there something you don’t like?” McKenna asked.
