Confessions Of A Bad Bridesmaid. Jennifer Rae

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      Edward realised he was being unforgivably rude, but he was in no mood to be picking up Will’s friends from the airport. Well, technically it was Fiona’s friend. Fiona—who was nothing to him. Yet they thought it perfectly acceptable to interrupt his day to make the two-hour round trip to the airport and on to his parents’ house. And then the girl wasn’t there. His normally calm demeanour was in danger of cracking.

      ‘If you had checked with Fiona you would have known about the new flight time.’

      Her voice was cool and steady and somehow it irritated him even more. She could at least have the decency to sound shaken. Or guilty. How about guilty?

      ‘I do apologise. You’re right. I should have checked with Fiona. Would that have been before or after my two o’clock meeting with the Prime Minister?’

      It had been the Minister for Trade, actually, but she was annoying him. He flicked her a glance. She seemed the sort not to give a toss about anyone else. Self-centred, vain, and with an over-inflated idea of her own attractiveness if her unsuccessful attempts at flirting were anything to go by.

      Although, he grudgingly admitted she had a sort of innate sexiness he couldn’t put his finger on. She was wearing too much make-up, and her long, dead straight blonde hair, obscene fur jacket and tight leather pants were a little too Chelsea for his taste, but something about the curvy figure he’d held against his chest made his trousers feel a little tighter. And when she’d fallen she’d looked up at him, hair strewn across her face, her sexy light-coloured eyes looking at him so trustingly. Was it any wonder his groin had reacted so violently?

      An unconscious smile lifted the corner of his mouth. Those perfect pouty pink lips had formed a little ‘o’ as he’d pushed her pert ass into the car and he’d felt an urge to pull her head around and kiss her. Her lips were all glossy and full and...

      Great work, Winchester. All it takes is a hot body and a set of shiny lips and your mind is out of control and veering into the gutter. Nothing but a caveman.

      Thankfully she appeared to have enough brains to remain silent. For exactly three minutes.

      ‘I would suggest before you saw the Prime Minister, in case he prattled on a bit. Then you would have known you had to get out earlier and could have hurried him up.’

      ‘Hurried him up?’

      ‘Yes. Hurried him up.’

      ‘The Prime Minister?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Of Great Britain?’

      ‘Yes.’ She turned those big eyes his way finally. ‘He’s only a man.’

      Only a man. That simple phrase summed up her stupidity. And he didn’t have the patience for stupid. He decided right then that, no matter how delectable her lips, she didn’t deserve another moment of his conversation and shut his mouth tight.

      It took another three whole minutes for her to speak again.

      ‘Where are we going?’

      ‘I should have thought that was obvious.’

      ‘The bloke at the pub told me I was almost there.’

      ‘My parents’ house is twenty minutes away. You had a long way to go in those...boots.’

      ‘But I was going to Fiona’s—I need to get changed.’

      ‘We’re going to be late as it is. There’s no time for you to get changed. What you’re wearing is fine.’

      Edward sneaked another look at her outfit. She would certainly stand out. His sister’s tedious friends would have their avaricious tongues hanging out, making complete nuisances of themselves over her. But she was stubbornly persisting.

      ‘I have been on a plane for twenty-four hours, a bus for an hour and I have trudged up a hill...in the snow. I want to get changed.’

      ‘I’m afraid it’s too late.’

      ‘Fine. Stop the car.’

      ‘What?’

      ‘I said, stop the car. I’ll get changed in the back seat.’

      ‘You don’t need to change; you can freshen up when we get there.’

      ‘I don’t want to freshen up—I want to change. Stop the car.’

      Seeing he was getting absolutely nowhere, he stopped protesting. But he let his knuckles whiten on the steering wheel as she got out and shuffled to the rear of the car.

      From the boot she pulled out all her bags and hauled them into his car, dragging them across his leather seats. He winced, but remained silent and started to drive again. He was determined not to be late. Or any later than he already was, so he suppressed a frustrated sigh.

      ‘Where is my dress? I can’t find it...’ She seemed to be muttering to herself, so Edward didn’t bother answering.

      She zipped open one brightly coloured bag and began searching through seemingly endless articles of clothing. Edward concentrated on the road.

      ‘This weekend is nothing but a damn nuisance,’ he muttered.

      Picking this girl up was a damn nuisance. But it had to be done. As attending this tedious event had to be done. His mother would need him and Will would need him and it would all fall apart if he wasn’t there. Fixing everything. Making sure everything ran smoothly. He squared his shoulders and sat up straighter. If he wasn’t there things would not go well, and he wasn’t prepared to let that happen.

      ‘Sounds like someone is not in the party mood.’

      Party mood? No, he was not in the ‘party mood’. And now that babysitting an over-tanned party girl had been added to his ever-increasing list of things to take care of his mood was becoming increasingly blacker.

      ‘We are not here to “party” this weekend. It’s a wedding.’

      Her head snapped up and he glanced at her again. Those light-coloured eyes had gone wide. Were they blue or grey? He couldn’t quite make them out.

      ‘I’m not sure what kind of weddings you’ve been to, Little Mr Sunshine, but the weddings I attend are always a great place to party.’

      A tendon in his neck throbbed. You’re here to make sure everyone is all right, he reminded himself, gripping the steering wheel with even more force. You just have to get through the weekend. Although he was sure this woman and her ‘party mood’ were going to make it feel like months.

      He glanced in the rear-vision mirror just as she held up something sparkling and purple and sure to be vulgar.

      ‘What is that?’ He couldn’t keep the distaste from his mouth. Why did women feel the need to cover themselves in sparkles? They looked much better in nothing more complicated than a simple dress. Granted, that body of hers wouldn’t look too bad in a tight dress, but sparkles were his pet peeve.

      ‘Don’t СКАЧАТЬ