This Can't Be Love (Whispering Bay Romance 5)

“Crikey,” Sarah said. “This is fan-cy.”

He grabbed two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter and handed her one. “Isn’t it?”

Sarah took a sip of the champagne then briefly closed her eyes in ecstasy. “This is delicious.” She looked around the room. “Do you know all these people?”

He met the gazes of at least a couple dozen of Victoria’s friends and co-workers. “Some of them. I imagine there’s a whole group from the groom’s side that I don’t know.”

“How are you doing?” she asked.

“Fine,” he said. But I’ll be better once we get back to my place and I peel you out of that dress.

“I mean, are you okay?”

“What? Do you mean am I harboring any regrets about Victoria? Nope. Not a one.”

“Okay, good, because, you know, I’m here for you. Anytime you want to get out of here, just say the word.”

His cell phone pinged again. It was probably his mother, offering up some more advice on the garter or asking about the color of the flowers. He ignored it.

From across the room, he spotted Katie, one of Torie’s oldest friends. He put his hand up to wave. She rolled her eyes and turned her back to him. Okay. That was weird. Katie had always been friendly toward him. But, of course, he was the ex-boyfriend, so maybe he should have expected Katie’s cool reaction. Except, this was Torie’s wedding day and she was marrying someone else. She’d moved on. If Torie was happy, then Katie should be too, right?

He craned his neck searching for Ethan and Julie. It would be good to see a couple of friendly faces. He checked his watch. Ten minutes till countdown. He looked over to see Sarah studying the reception seating map. “We’re at table number four,” she said. “Julie and Ethan are at a table on the other side of the room.” Her forehead scrunched up. “Don’t you think that’s kind of odd?”

He looked at the seating arrangement. Mr. Luke Powers and guest, table four. Two of Torie’s cousins and their husbands, as well as an aunt, were the other occupants of the table. Which, yeah, did seem strange. Why would Torie seat him with family and put his best friends clear across the room?

“It was probably a mistake,” Sarah said. “Maybe the wedding planner got confused.”

If the wedding planner got confused, then Torie would have set her straight. Torie was the queen of micro-management, always insisting on reviewing every little detail of the smallest most inconsequential thing, including her grocery lists. He’d bet his last dollar that there was no confusion or mistake about this seating arrangement.

Luke was beginning to get a very bad feeling about tonight.

A soft bell chimed and an elegant, older woman dressed in black appeared with a mic in her hand, causing the room to quiet down. “Ladies and gentleman, on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Carson, they’d like to welcome you to the wedding of their daughter Victoria to Dr. Jeffrey Main. The ceremony will begin shortly. This way, please.” The doors to another salon opened and the crowd began to make their way inside.

Luke grabbed Sarah’s hand. “It’s show time.”

She squeezed his hand and smiled back and it occurred to him, not for the first time, that Sarah Jamison was a good person to have on your side.

* * *

Everyone had been wrong about Victoria. She wasn’t gorgeous. She was a freakin’ supermodel. The pictures in the Luke Powers gallery of beauty hadn’t done the woman justice. She didn’t just walk down the aisle. She floated.

There were three bridesmaids, all dressed in soft lavender, and while they were very pretty, they paled in comparison to tonight’s star. The groom, a good-looking man with blond hair in his early forties, looked appropriately dazzled by his bride, along with the rest of the wedding guests.

“I’ve never seen a more beautiful bride!” a woman sitting beside Sarah gushed. “Don’t you agree?” she asked them, her eyes clearly on Luke as she waited for his response.

“Absolutely stunning,” Sarah said. Luke smiled and nodded politely, but Sarah noted a level of tension in him that hadn’t been there before.

They ran into Ethan and Julie on their way into the ballroom where the clinking of silverware and the sounds of a twelve-piece orchestra warming up signaled that the reception was about to get under way.

Julie and Sarah oohed and aahed over each other’s gowns while the men looked on sheepishly. Julie said in a low voice that only the four of them could hear, “I say we get out of here. I’m game for some burgers if you are.”

Sarah laughed. “I wish.”

“I guess it would be crummy of us to ditch out now, huh?” Ethan asked.

They all turned to look at Luke, because only he could make this call. “It would be rude to leave this early. At least, not until I’ve had a chance to congratulate Victoria,” he said tightly.

Julie gave Sarah a look that said watch out, then she and Ethan made their way across the room. The cousins and their husbands were already seated when Sarah and Luke arrived at their table. They took their assigned seats and Sarah introduced herself.