When she was close enough Jake wrapped his arm around her, holding her hostage. “This is Char. I think a few of you guys went to high school together.”
“Really?” Char asked, not recognizing any of the faces.
“Yeah.” Jake squeezed her shoulder. “Really? Don’t you remember, Britney?”
“Ugh.”
A tall blond girl with a wide set mouth and brown eyes held out her hand. “It’s nice to see you again.” Mental note: Britney was nice and had a really kind smile.
“And Lillian.” Jake pointed to an Asian woman with blue streaks in her hair. Char had never seen her before in her life, but shook her hand anyway.
“I know you remember me.” The next girl said with a touch of venom in her voice. She was about as tall as Char, but curvy in a Kardashian sort of way. “Amy—”
“Stevens.” Char choked out. Clearly God was finished punishing Jake and had now moved on to her. Great. What were the odds? The same girl they’d gone to junior high camp with? And why the hell did Kacey have her in her bridal party? Seriously? To be fair, Kacey had never known why Char hated Amy. Char had been too embarrassed over her obsession with Jake to tell her. As far as she knew, Amy had kept in touch with Kacey. Technically, it was Char’s fault the girl was here; she’d been so focused on work that when Kacey had sent her all the details on bridesmaids Char had all but ignored her and just agreed to whatever. Ugh, now she regretted not thoroughly reading those e-mails. How had she missed Amy’s name?
“Great to see you again, Char.” Amy’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, and after a few awkward moments she touched Jake lightly on the arm. “So tell me about life. I’d love to catch up; it’s been ages.” And just like that Char was pushed out of the way. Jake looked back at her and gave her a pathetically kind smile, which just made everything worse.
If he was a jerk at least she could be angry with him.
But when he was nice or when she felt like he was pitying her? It sucked—hard.
“Here’s your wine.” Jace came up alongside her. “Hello, plastic surgery.” He shook his head and stared at Amy and Jake.
Char growled low in her throat and took the wine from Jace’s hand.
“You okay?” he asked.
Char let out a breath and faced him. Why couldn’t she like him? Maybe if she closed her eyes she could believe he was Jake, and not Jace she was kissing or touching.
Would every man fail in comparison to Jake? Would she forever live her life comparing them to him in the first place?
“Attention, everyone! Please take your seats!” The lady from the store moved to the middle of the room and slowly began removing different gadgets from boxes and setting them out on a black velvet tablecloth.
Char was no prude, but even she was shocked. Helpless, she looked to Jake but he was still engrossed in conversation. Her eyes darted around the room. Kacey was laughing, Travis was looking longingly at Kacey, and Grandma was…
Oh great. Grandma was dragging Petunia down the hall for the show.
It was going to be a fight of epic proportions.
Char cringed when the lights went off.
The table glowed.
Hell.
“Now.” The lady clapped her hands. “I’m Lola. I’ll be your pleasure consultant for the evening.” Jace choked beside her. She slapped his back and he wheezed out a “thank you”.
“To make this party more intimate, I’ve set up different tables and products in the spare bedrooms. I’ve also brought some wonderful lingerie from our romance line. Perfect for the bride!”
“Here, here!” Travis shouted.
The room filled with nervous laughter.
“Now…” Lola started at the far end of the table.
A half hour into the presentation Char was thankful the lights were turned down. Her face was probably as red as a tomato.
After the final product was displayed, Jace whispered next to her. “Does it make me less of a man to admit I didn’t know half of what she was saying?”