Every Little Thing (Hart's Boardwalk 2)

“Because he never promised me anything,” I repeated. “He tried to leave and I threw myself at him. I made him think it was just sex. Any normal hot-blooded male would have done the same. It’s not his fault I thought it was something more.”

“This is messed up.” Dahlia huffed.

“No. It’s just one of those things.” I brushed the conversation aside, wishing I could do the same with my feelings. “Now, can we look at dresses?”

There was a moment of quiet from my friends.

Jess pointed to a dress in one of the magazines. “We can rule out pink. I don’t want pink.”

“Good.” I was relieved for many reasons. “Pink clashes with my hair.”

FIFTEEN

Bailey

It was official: I was an idiot.

How else did you explain the fact that I was standing in the lobby of Paradise Sands Hotel knowing full well I was being manipulated by a would-be matchmaker?

Jessica had called me that morning.

“I need you with Cooper and me today. I want your opinion on our final plans for the reception room.”

Uh-huh. Yeah. I called bullshit. Except only in my head.

“Oh. Right. Well sure, of course,” I’d answered.

At the time I couldn’t believe the words had come out of my mouth. Only yesterday I was so sure that Vaughn’s absence was a good thing for me. But I let Jess manipulate me . . . because I wanted to see him. I wanted to be able to be around him and feel okay. To be strong. To have him finally know, or at least think, that he hadn’t gotten to me, that I wasn’t in the least bit humiliated.

Plus, I needed the distraction. Last night I’d been hanging out with Rex when he dropped the bombshell on me that he was attracted to me. Although flattered, I was also a little freaked out. I wanted to continue our friendship but I didn’t want to lead him on. So I’d told him about Vaughn and how I was still trying to work through getting over him.

In answer Rex insisted we stay friends. That he could wait for me.

He’d sounded sure.

I was not so sure.

Jessica led them through the hotel to the ballroom where the reception would be hosted. As soon as we stepped through the double doors, I envisioned how Jessica had described it would look on the day, and I knew it was going to be spectacular.

“I can’t believe you’ve managed to pull a wedding off in three months. That shouldn’t be possible.”

“No, it shouldn’t,” a wry, familiar, sexy voice said from behind them.

As my heart began to pound a mile a minute, I turned on my heel to face Vaughn. He wore his usual tailored suit, his hair perfect, everything perfect.

My body reacted to him, memories of our night together washing over me.

God damn it!

I hated that he could make me feel that way.

It’s just physical attraction. Nothing more.

His gray eyes were so hard to read. I wished I knew what was going on inside his head.

Oh yeah, sure, just physical attraction.

“I’m surprised Vivien managed to pull it off,” he finished, interrupting my inner war with myself.