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At the door, Angel rang the bell.
A pretty young woman with perfectly styled, bleached-blond hair pulled the door open.
“Leilani,” she said. “I’m glad you finally made it.”
Leilani gave Brook a tight smile. “Me, too. Sorry I’m late.”
“It’s okay. We started the party without you. The seamstress should be ready for you next.” Brooke looked from Leilani to Angel and gave him a sultry smile. “And who is the delicious man with you?”
Leilani gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. She didn’t like the way Brooke was running her gaze over Angel or the sexy voice she’d used on him.
“Brooke,” she said tightly. “This is—”
“Angelo.” Angel smiled and held out a hand. “I’m Leilani’s boyfriend.”
Leilani fought to hide her shock at Angel’s announcement. It helped to see Brooke’s sexy smile fade to disappointment.
Take that, bitch.
Leilani smiled up at Angel. “I hope you don’t mind that I brought him. I loaned my car to a friend in need.”
“No, it’s quite all right.” Brooke backed into the foyer, holding the door wide. “Please, come in. The girls are in the formal living room getting pinned. Alyssa called a few minutes ago. She’ll be here in five minutes. An errand she had to run took longer than she expected.”
She led the way into a formal living room with ultra-modern, white leather sectional sofas, glass and stone accent pieces and multifaceted chandeliers raining light onto the occupants.
Six bridesmaids stood around the room, wearing the peach dresses in various stages of being pinned for alterations.
The woman with the pincushion attached to her wrist like a bracelet handed a dress to Leilani with a frown. “You’re much smaller than the size I was given,” she said as if it was Leilani’s fault that she’d ordered the wrong dress size. “We’ll have to see if we can alter it enough to fit without taking it completely apart and starting over.”
Brooke laughed. “Don’t mind Susan; she’s just getting tired after fitting all of us. You can change in the powder room down the hall, first door on the right.”
When Leilani moved toward the hallway, Angel followed.
Brooke stepped between them. “Why don’t you have a seat while she’s getting dressed? Can I get you a drink?”
Angel’s gaze met Leilani’s over Brooke’s shoulder.
“Get comfortable,” Leilani said. “I’ll be right back.” She almost smiled as he frowned, clearly unhappy about being trapped in the room full of women.
Leilani hurried to the bathroom, unwilling to leave him alone with Brooke for longer than necessary.
In record time, she flew out of her dress and into the one she’d been handed, only to discover the garment was four times too large on her petite frame. It hung like a loose moo-moo, exposing more of her body than she liked without the advantage of a bikini beneath it.
Wrapping her arms over her chest to keep the neckline from draping down to her belly button, she left the bathroom and hurried back to the formal living room.
When she entered, all gazes turned to her. The other bridesmaids snickered.
Angel sat in a corner chair, a glass of whiskey in his hand, his gaze meeting Leilani’s, a slight frown denting his forehead. He mouthed the words,Are you all right?
Leilani’s heart warmed at his concern. She gave a brief nod, crossed to where he sat and handed her cell phone to him.
Susan, the seamstress, clucked her tongue and advanced on Leilani, shaking her head. She grabbed a handful of fabric at the back of the gown and pulled tight. Using a set of large fabric clamps she secure the clump of fabric in place.
Leilani was able to lower her arms without embarrassing herself in front of Angel and the others.
Working quickly and efficiently, Susan pinned the gown to fit Leilani’s small waist, the swell of her breasts and hips and brought the hem up eight inches.
The poor woman would have her hands full, reworking the dress for Leilani.
