“Right,” Madelyn nodded. “Now, the shoes. I want to make sure they look right.”
“They're hidden under the dress.” Gwen rolled her eyes and grinned at Ella. “I still say you should wear cowboy boots.”
“Hell to the no,” came Madelyn's response as she dug through a pile of tissue paper. She frowned as her hands came up empty. “They must be in the bedroom.
A knock on the door caught the women's attention. “Will you get that Clarissa? I'm going to go look for the shoes.” Madelyn disappeared into the bedroom.
“Who could it be?” wondered Clarissa, heading to the door. Before she could check the peephole, the door swung open and in walked Jace.
Jace, the groom. And Ella was wearing Madelyn's wedding dress.
Horror filled Ella's stomach like molten lead as their eyes met. He couldn't see her like this. It was bad luck. Not in his soon-to-be-wife's wedding dress. Not him. Anyone but him.
With whimper, she leapt from the stool, spilling her champagne all over the floor but managing to avoid the dress. She ran to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her and wishing that the whole hotel would just go up in flames around her.
Chapter Eight
Beautiful.
That was the only word that Jace could think of to describe what he had just seen. Even as Ella fled, spilling champagne all over the carpet, she was stunning. He didn't know it was possible for someone to be so breathtaking
ly lovely.
He looked at the three women staring at him, trying to figure out why Ella had just run from the room. They all shrugged at him, concern filling their eyes.
“Hey, Cousin. Madelyn is in there with her. She'll be fine.” Clarissa asked, settling back on the couch. He was surprised she could find it given the amount of tissue paper filling the room. “What's up?”
“Just coming up to check in on Madelyn,” he replied. He had always like Clarissa. She was one of the few people that Jace was actually glad to have at the wedding. “What are you all doing for lunch?”
“We have a tea service planned for this afternoon,” Clarissa told him. She crossed her arms. “No boys allowed.”
Jace was instantly transported back in time to when the three of them were younger and Clarissa and Madelyn would have elaborate parties, making sure to tell him just how much he wasn't invited due to his gender.
“Besides,” Gwen added, her smile kind. “We're playing dress up and fixing all the accessories and stuff, so you wouldn't want to be here anyway.”
“That's why Ella was wearing the dress.” Jace glanced back at the closed bedroom door. At least now he knew why she was wearing a wedding dress, but that still didn't explain why she had run.
“You know Ella?” Gwen asked, pouring herself a fresh glass of champagne.
“She helped show me around yesterday after I got lost,” he said. He left out the part where he found her completely and utterly amazing or the fact that he hadn't been able to think of anyone since.
“You mean, she helped hide you from Rosalind?” Clarissa teased. “I'm not surprised. She seems like a total sweetheart.”
“That she is,” Jace agreed. Clarissa's eyes narrowed for a moment, sensing that there might be more to his words than he meant. He shrugged, hoping that his observant cousin wouldn't get any ideas.
“Gwen, where's the other bottle of champagne?” Clarissa asked, holding an empty glass bottle and pouting.
“Oh, right.” Gwen blushed and set her very full glass down. “They're over here.”
While the two women were occupied opening and pouring a fresh bottle of champagne, Jace tried to figure out what was happening on the other side of the bedroom door. It was pretty apparent that Ella wasn't going to come back out while he was here, but he wanted to know why.
“I'm so sorry...” Ella's voice was muffled by the door, but she sounded absolutely mortified. “I know it's bad luck for him to see the dress before the wedding and I-”
“It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding,” Madelyn corrected. “Jace is not supposed to be up here anyway. There's no way you could have known that he was going to just walk in.”
Clarissa cleared her throat. “You planning on staying to try on tiaras with us?”
“No, no.” Jace shook his head and backed toward the exit. Tiaras were not on his to-do list today. “I'll go find my own lunch. You girls have fun playing pretty, pretty princess.”