“Thanks. For what it’s worth.” But he smiles for a split second.
He then looks around, and I follow his gaze, realizing Hayley is not at the bar.
“Where’s Hayley?” he asks.
“Oh, she’s not coming back. Knowing her, it’s her way of making sure we’re together with nothing to do but get to know each other.”
“I see.”
“She actually rigged it, so I’d end up writing about a best man for my next book.” He looks hopelessly confused. “Like I said, long story,” I add.
His mouth twitches, his eyes crinkling a little at the corners, hinting at him maybe having a decent personality when he’s not in the middle of getting stood up by a girl and making a scene. “So, she’s determined to get us together during this whole thing, huh?”
“She’s a determined sort of person. She once convinced me to get bangs. It was not a good look for me, but she’d talked me into it.”
“That’s pretty persuasive.” He’s fighting back a grin now.
“Yeah, she’ll kill it in the courtroom. Nobody will have a chance against her.”
“Look”—he finally relaxes, his shoulders lowering to a regular height instead of being up around his ears—“I’m not the guy you met back there. Really, I’m not. I let my anger get the better of me, and I shouldn’t have. Especially out in public. I really am sorry for how I acted.”
I mean, I did threaten to throw pineapple at him. “I understand. I saw you at your worst—at least, I hope that was your worst.”
“You’ve never seen me when my college bracket falls apart.”
“Ugh, you like college basketball?” I wrinkle my nose and roll my eyes. “No way we can even be friends.”
“I played back at school. I was on a basketball scholarship actually.”
“No kidding. Couldn’t cut the pros?”
“Oof.” He winces. “Low blow. Actually, I blew my ACL and just wasn’t the same after that.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have joked.”
“It’s okay. I wasn’t pro material. And I’m good with money and numbers, so …”
“So, it worked out the way it was meant to work out.”
“Seems that way. I guess everything does. Either that or it’s what we tell ourselves to make up for having no control over our existence.”
Hmm. He’s an interesting person. A little dark maybe. A pessimist. I’m hardly a ray of sunshine most of the time myself.
But he’s smart. I have to give him that.
And gorgeous—when he isn’t ready to strangle somebody.
Though I’m still not completely sure about him. Whether we’ll be a fit or not. But I can at least get to know him better over the week. It seems like we’ll get along fairly well.
“Do you really have a ton of best-man things to do this week?” I have to ask.
“Nah. We’ll drink the night before the wedding, but that’s it. We already had the bachelor party—what there was of it. Zack didn’t wanna do anything he’d end up feeling guilty over.” He chuckles. “A few of the guys were disappointed. Zack told them to get lives. They told him to stop being so p—I mean, so whipped.”
I know what he was about to say and appreciate that he held back. Okay, so he’s a decent enough guy. “How did you feel about it?”
“I didn’t care. We played pool and drank scotch and went back to my place to watch a game. I’m fine with that. I got all the partying out of my system back in school.”
I’ll have to keep an eye on him this week and see if that’s really true. It’s all well and good for a person to pretend like they don’t party.
But a guy like him? On an island resort? With bridesmaids probably ready to fall into his bed?
We’ll see.
“If you want,” he offers, “maybe we could grab dinner whenever Hayley’s busy with the family. Knowing Kylie, she’ll have her jumping through hoops and opening doors and pulling out chairs for her.”
“I’d love to see her try,” I admit with a laugh. “Nobody gets Hayley to do anything she doesn’t feel like doing.”
“Then, you’ve never seen Kylie in action. Don’t get me wrong; she’s a great girl, and I think she’s perfect for Zack. But she’s Type A if there ever was one. And this is her show.” He spreads his arms in a shrug. “We’re just the supporting cast.”
“I hope you know I’m going to use that line in a book someday.”
He winks with a killer smile that lights up his whole face and makes him handsomer than ever. “So long as I get a cut of the royalties and a glowing thank-you in the notes.”
CHAPTER SIX
“So, you’re the famous Kitty Valentine.” Hayley’s godmother gives me the once-over without bothering to make it look like she’s doing anything else.
All I can do is shrug with a goofy smile since what’s a girl supposed to do when she hears that? She made it sound like there’d been reports of me, like killing and eating men foolish enough to wander into my den.
“That’s me. I guess it’s better than having you call me infamous,” I offer.
She sniffs, swirling her wine. “I was going to but thought it would be rude.”
Oh. Well then.
She smiles in a way that reminds me of Grandmother’s so-called friends. I wonder if the two of them have ever crossed paths.
“Hayley raves about you all the time,” she explains. “She’s very proud.”
“I’m proud of her too. She’s going to have an amazing career.”
“I am certain she will, though I wonder if she’ll ever manage to eclipse her brother and sister.” She raises her glass of wine in Kylie’s direction.
Kylie gives her a distracted smile. I hope the girl will be able to enjoy her own wedding at this rate. She’s wound so tight. Will she even remember any of this, or will it be nothing more than a few brief flashes of memory and a lot of disappointment at her plans not going right?
I really hope that’s not the case.
Rather than remind Hayley’s godmother that there shouldn’t be any competition between Hayley and her siblings, I manage to make an escape.
I can see why Hayley wasn’t looking forward to tonight. Actually, I can see why she wasn’t looking forward to coming on this trip.
Not that it isn’t nice. Not that Kylie and her bridesmaids didn’t put a ton of work into it.
It’s just feels so … forced. Like, manufactured fun.
Kylie taps a fork against her wineglass, signaling for us to be quiet. I’m waiting at the bar in the small banquet room while everybody else mingles.
“Thank you all so much for being here. We know it’s not easy to take time out of your busy schedules to celebrate with us this way, and it means the world. It truly does.” She mimes applauding all of us, and most of the room follows suit.
I don’t. I mean, I’m not family, and I get the feeling she isn’t talking to me. Not that she’d be rude, but I’m just a guest. Practically a freeloader really.