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He could at least pretend to be civilized. And he didn’t want to let Lara down. Still, she owed him big time for this. Especially since he’d had to wear a monkey suit. God, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d worn a suit.
“Hello? Are you Butch?” His name was spoken with a slight sneer, and he glanced up at the man standing there.
A man whose face he’d seen several times.
Speak of the devil and he will appear.
Shit.
“I am. Who are you?”
He watched the other man swallow a grimace. Ahh, that hurt his ego, didn’t it?
“My name is Chandler Devout. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
He watched suspiciously as the other man held out his hand. But he wouldn’t gain anything by being rude. Think of Lara. Obviously, her family knew this dick.
Standing, he shook the other man’s hand. He was aware of everyone around them staring. Chandler Devout garnered a lot of attention. Hopefully, he’d go away soon.
Although . . . how had he known Butch’s name? He’d never met the guy before, and he’d never had any desire to visit Devotion. He didn’t even like being here now.
Kind of made his skin crawl.
“So glad you could make it.”
“Ah, thanks,” he said as he sat, hoping the other man would take a hint and leave.
Unfortunately, he took a seat next to him.
Jesus. What was up with this guy? And why would he be thanking Butch for coming? He didn’t think the other man liked strangers in his town.
Maybe he’s hoping to inject some fresh blood into the gene pool.
Okay, now his thoughts were going weird. It was all Tanner’s fault. He was constantly forcing them to watch horror movies.
“Although, it was rather late notice. But then, Lara, has always been slightly spontaneous. Like when she said she was going to Nashville. She just upped and left. The only reason we knew where she’d gone was because of the note she left. Her poor mother cried for days.”
This guy was making it sound like Lara was extremely inconsiderate when he would say she was the complete opposite.
“I thought she left because old Geoffrey was doing it with Emily.”
Chandler froze, his eyes growing ice cold. Uh, didn’t take much to crack his facade. The other man looked around quickly, then leaned into him.
“That was unfortunate, but Emily and Geoffrey are far better suited to one another.”
And that made it okay? Wow, this guy was a complete douche. And Geoffrey looked like he’d been sucking on lemons all morning. His face was pinched, he hadn’t stopped frowning, and he felt sure he’d seen him drinking from a flask earlier in the bathroom.
How did he know all this . . . something wasn’t right here.
Oh. Fuck.
“You’re Lara’s stepfather.” His daughter was Emily. The bitch.
“She didn’t tell you? That surprises me. I thought that was the reason you were here.” That last part was muttered, and he didn’t think he was meant to hear it.
“You thought I was here so I could meet you?” Jeez, this man thought a lot of himself. But then, he’d already known that, hadn’t he?
Why hadn’t Lara told him who her stepfather was?
Maybe she thought you wouldn’t agree to come?
She might have been right. Still, he couldn’t help but feel duped. Bad enough he was in Devotion, but to be at the wedding of the daughter of this crazy nut . . . who knows what he’d have said.
But he should have been made aware of the full facts.
The temptation to get up and leave hit him hard. No one could blame him. However, he couldn’t do that to Lara. She might have duped him, but he wouldn’t just walk off.
The idea of spanking her ass for this, though . . . yep, his hand was twitching.
“I didn’t come here to see you,” Butch told him. “Only reason I’m here is for Lara.”
The other man studied him. “Is that so? You know, I have an offer for you . . .” He glanced around as the music started. “Actually, this isn’t the time or place. We’ll talk later.”
Not if he had anything to say about it. Although, he admitted to some curiosity about what the other man wanted to talk to him about. He also wondered why Lara was staying in a run-down motel, using an old, crappy phone, when Chandler Devout had to be one of the wealthiest men in the state.
Made him hate that asshole even more.
A small, older woman walked down the aisle and he thought that she might be Lara’s mother, although there wasn’t a lot of resemblance.
He stood as everyone else did, watching as the bridesmaids started down the aisle. All of them were blonde and tanned. Pretty, but none of them caught his attention. He wasn’t sure why Lara was worried about her dress. All of their dresses seemed fine. A bit plain, but it was just a bridesmaid’s dress.
