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“Great.”
“I’ll drive myself.”
“Fine.”
I’d half expected him to argue and say he’d take me in his truck and the flash of disappointment I felt at his easy agreement unsettled me. It was all just too much. All the heat, all the doubt, all the months of wanting, finally about to be appeased. I pulled away before the song was over. He let me go like it didn’t bother him in the slightest.
Huffing out a breath, I looked for someone I could sit with, since I really didn’t feel like dancing anymore. My eyes landed on Lucy, Matt’s sister, leaning back in a white foldout chair, running her hand over her baby belly.
“Hey.” I flopped down in a chair next to her, folded my arms and scowled at my strappy silver sandals.
“Hi!” She looked gorgeous in a dark blue, flowy maternity dress, her blond hair hanging loose down her back. “Have those shoes offended you?”
“No.”
“Well, something’s got you stirred up. It wouldn’t be a certain dashing best man who goes by the name Gabe Walker, would it?”
“It’s not my fault he’s so annoying.”
“I dunno. You’re the only person I’ve ever met who finds himannoying.” Her green eyes danced mischievously. “I can’t help but wonder if all your annoyance is hiding something.”
“Like what?”
“Like I couldn’t say, since I can’t read minds.”
I could feel her eyes on me, watching me closely, so I continued to stare down at my feet.
“Maybe you want him more than you’re prepared to admit, and that scares you for some reason.”
“I thought you said you can’t read minds,” I grumbled. Because she’d hit the nail on the head. He did scare me. The way he made my heart squeeze and my pulse race freaked me right the fuck out. My strategy of keeping him firmly at arm’s length for months had been a good idea. So why the hell had I just propositioned him? Must be all the wedding vibes. Yeah, that was it. I was a closet romantic and weddings really did it for me, especially ones as sweet and loving as Zara and Matt’s had been today. I’d watched that girl fall to pieces under the weight of her divorce and her scuzz-bucket of an ex-husband’s lying ways. Then I watched Matt swoop in, put all the pieces back together, and give her the glow she always wore these days. I couldn’t be happier for them, even though I knew that was a path I’d never walk myself.
“What. The. Actual.Fuck.”
“What?” Lucy straightened, turning around to see what had grabbed my hostile attention.
“Gabe! What’s he doing?”
“Talking to your parents. What’s wrong with that?”
“Why is he talking to them, though?”
“Because it’s a social gathering. It’s quite normal for people to chat to each other at social gatherings, you know.”
My eyes narrowed as I watched my dad take a pen from his shirt pocket and, grabbing a napkin, draw something on it, then show it to Gabe. I could see Gabe’s frown of concentration from where I sat as he studied the napkin and found that insanely hot, for some incredibly dumb reason. Then he took the pen and drew something on the other side and showed it to my dad, who nodded enthusiastically. I was dying to know what they were talking about, but there was no way I was going to go over there to find out.
“Hey.”
A distraction. Thank god. “Hi,” I smiled at Zara, looking beautiful in her slim-fitting off the shoulder white dress. The dress accentuated her height without overdoing it and with her brunette hair pulled back in loose curls and her blue eyes smoky I just had to say, “Did I tell you how gorgeous you look?”
“A few times, yeah,” she replied with a smile, dropping into the seat next to me.
“Great wedding,” Lucy observed, making Zara smile even more.
“Thanks.” She gazed around happily at the tables with their floral centerpieces, the fairy lights spangling the roof of the marquee, and the various potted plants that edged the dance floor. All the flowers had come from her own garden, a beautiful legacy from her great aunt Ruby, who’d left her the house she now lived in.
“I hate to ask, but… Your mom really did decide not to come?” Lucy murmured quietly.
Zara stiffened slightly. “She did. That was the risk I took when I refused to do things her way. I can’t say she didn’t warn me.”
