Beauty and the Best Man (Dynasties The Lassiters)

“Been back a few days, right?”

“Yeah.” He knew where she was going with this and he couldn’t blame her.

“Still too busy to pick up a phone?”

He wasn’t surprised. Kayla Prince wasn’t the shy, retiring type. She didn’t play games. With her, you always knew where you stood. Whether you wanted to or not. “You really want to do this here? Now?”

As if suddenly remembering exactly where they were, she took a breath and nodded sharply. “You’re right. I don’t want to do this now. Actually, I don’t want to do this ever.”

“Liar.”

She flushed and her luscious mouth flattened into a tight, grim line. “You don’t have the right to expect anything from me.”

“Didn’t say I did,” he told her quietly. “But we both know we have to talk about what happened.”

“No, we don’t.” She shook her head and her long hair lifted and then settled over her shoulders again. “It’s over. Been over for nine months, Matt.”

“Kayla—”

She shook her head and stared up at him. “Don’t you find it just a little ironic?”

“What?”

“Nine months ago, you left without a word to me. And now you want to talk?”

Irritated, he said, “Come on, Kayla.”

“No,” she said, taking a step back as if she needed physical distance to maintain the emotional distance already shining in her eyes. “We’re in the same wedding. And that is all we share now, Matt. Let’s just get through the next weeks with as much dignity as we can, okay?”

There was plenty he wanted to say and more he needed to say, but as he’d just pointed out himself, this wasn’t the time or the place.

“Now,” she said, plastering her best professional smile on her face, “have some champagne, look around at what our artists have to offer and enjoy yourself.”

Sure, he thought as he watched her walk through the crowd, charming men and women alike. He’d enjoy himself. While his body was tight and hard and it was taking every effort he could draw on to keep from tossing her over his shoulder and striding out into the night.

* * *

By the time they arrived at the club where the band Evan wanted to hear was playing, Kayla felt as if every nerve in her body was on red alert. She’d felt Matt watching her all night and that had completely thrown her off her game. She was supposed to do her best by the local artists and though the show had gone well overall, Kayla still felt a needle of guilt because she hadn’t been focused on her job. Instead, she’d spent hours battling to keep her mind from drifting to Matt as often as her gaze had.

God, why did he have to look so good? He even had a tan from his time spent in California and that honey tone to his skin only made his green eyes gleam with an almost otherworldly glow.

She’d managed to steer clear of him until they’d arrived here at the club. Now the four of them were clustered around a tiny table and Matt took any opportunity to let his leg brush against hers. With every single touch, she shivered, and she didn’t think Angie was buying her excuse of still feeling the outside cold. Because these shivers weren’t caused by the frigid temperatures, but by the heat only Matt could generate inside her.

Darn it.

They really hadn’t been able to talk much, thank heaven, because the band had been playing nonstop since the four of them arrived. But even as that thought drifted through her mind, the small blessing ended when the music suddenly stopped and the lead singer announced they would be taking a break. Silence crashed down on the room and was broken seconds later by the rise of laughter and conversation from the surrounding tables. Now was her chance to leave, Kayla thought, but before she could speak up, Angie did.

“Evan and I are going to head home. I think we’ve heard enough, haven’t we?”

Evan nodded. “Agreed. We’ll keep the band we already have booked.”

Suspicious, Kayla looked at her friend in time to see her flash a secret smile at Evan. Just as she’d thought, Angie had set this all up as a way to force Kayla and Matt together again. Well, that wasn’t going to work.