Whatever response he was going to make was lost as they both heard a high voice exclaim, “Derek? Is that you?”
Knight winced and turned toward the voice with a very fake, hardly convincing smile. “Dawn. How are you?”
Reese followed his gaze and just a few feet away spotted a blonde with upswept hair moving in on them fast. She was also pregnant and accompanied by a staid-looking guy in his forties with gray at the temples.
“My ex-wife,” Knight whispered, his mouth still twisted in that serial killer smile.
“Oh, how fun.” Reese moved in closer to Knight, feeling an undeniable grip of territorial possession sweep over her.
Which was stupid. All Knight was to her was a good story and a couple of orgasms.
He lived in Chicago and she had a life in New York. A few days of fun, nothing more.
But she didn’t like the looks of Blondie wearing her designer zillion dollar black maternity dress. Reese wrapped her armaround Knight’s and snuggled up so her breast was brushing his bicep.
“Derek, what a surprise to see you at something like this. You were never one for big social events.”
Dawn reached out and took his hand in a big show of intimacy, as far as Reese was concerned. So she’d been married to Knight. Big whoop. She wasn’t now.
Reese inched in closer to Knight.
NINETEEN
Derek thoughtif Reese got any closer to him, they were going to be sharing DNA. While part of him was arrogantly pleased that Dawn was seeing him with a gorgeous woman like Reese on his arm, the other, more rational half, just wanted to get the hell out of there.
“Reese’s cousin is in the wedding,” he said, and hoped he could just leave it at that.
No such luck.
“The bride’s side?” Dawn asked.
“Yes.”
“I thought so.” Dawn laughed, a repelling and shrill sound that made him wonder how she could have changed so much in the last eight years. This was not the woman he had fallen in love with.
When Reese looked at her blankly, Dawn added, “You have that Jersey look to you.”
Oh, shit. Knight squeezed Reese’s elbow, praying she wouldn’t cause a scene.
To her credit, she merely spoke in a neutral voice. “Yes, I’m Reese Hampton. And you are?”
Dawn patted him on the arm again, like he was a pet she’d once had a fondness for. He felt his anger start to build and searched the room for an escape. They were still trapped in the reception line, but at least Dawn’s current husband looked like he was suffering equally, if that wince was any indication.
“I’m Derek’s first wife, Dawn Lansing. This is my husband, Bill.”
The wording further annoyed Derek. She was his ex-wife, not his first wife, since he’d never gone on to take a second wife.
“Have I met you before, Reese? Aren’t you one of Claire’s friends?”
Now that was really uncalled for. He wasn’t sure if the barb was meant to indicate he was old, or that Reese was young, but either way he didn’t like it. Christ, he was thirty-six, not even halfway through a normal life span. He was not old. Maybe Dawn was just jealous because Reese was gorgeous.
“No, she’s not one of my little sister’s friends. She’s a journalist. If you’ll excuse us...” he tried to hint, but Dawn cut him off.
“Have you been dating long? Is it serious?”
Bill roused himself from his squirming long enough to say, “Dawn, dear, that’s a little personal. Why don’t we head in? The line’s cleared a bit.”
Dawn wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was Reese. Derek recognized the challenge gleaming from Dawn’s eyes and it would have scared the shit out of him, except that Reese’s face had already accomplished that.