I turned and shoved a finger into his chest. “I’ve had enough, you pompous prick. Megs, I’m sorry, but I can’t anymore.”
My friend just waved me on. “Have at it. If you don’t, I will.”
“Babe, please…” Kevin whined.
“We’re done, you dick,” I snapped at Derek. “We were done the second you chose to keep playing tennis instead of taking care of me when my mom got sick. And we were over completely when you started parking your pecker in someone else’s garage while I helped her through chemo. And that means you no longer have the right to know anything or comment about anything in my personal life.”
As if to make my point, I grabbed a pass crab puff and shoved it in my mouth.
Derek just rolled his eyes. “Laney, calm down. There’s no need to get ugly just because you’re jealous.”
“Jealous?” I nearly choked on a mouthful of crab, only just managing to get it down. “You smug bastard. As if I could possibly be jealous ofyou?—”
“Come on now. Don’t cause a scene.”
It was everything I could do not to explode at him.
“I know it’s hard being single at these things. But don’t worry. You’ll find someone.”
“Actually, she already has someone. A husband, in fact.”
That was when we all turned to discover Ronan Black, standing by my side like he had been there all night. Like had no intention of going anywhere soon.
Like he belonged there.
9
PINS, SHOES, AND OTHER THINGS THAT DROP
RONAN
“Ronan?”
She was looking at me like I was nuts again. And maybe I was. After all, I’d just flown across the country with plans to ask my accidental wife to become my on-purpose wife (for a few months anyway), and instead of making this insane request like a normal person by, you know, taking her for coffee or something, I’d heard the phrase “cheating ex” and ambushed her and the snide dick standing beside her at her best friend’s rehearsal dinner.
Yeah, it was a lot.
But there was something in her voice that had me out of the hotel bed the moment she ended the call. She’d gone from open, if sad on my phone screen to the human version of a door shutting in my face. And it hadn’t been at the memory of her mother’s death or discussing her father’s subsequent abandonment (though if I ever met the guy in person, we were going to have words), but right when she mentioned the fact that she had to sit next to this prick all night.
I just couldn’t let her do it alone.
Right now, though, I was wondering if that was the best idea. Especially since I only knew where she was after secretly stalking her phone’s location.
Everyone was staring. Laney, of course, plus people I vaguely recognized from Vegas, the floppy-haired fucker next to Laney, and several other curious faces on the periphery. More than one did a double take that told me they had seen last week’s front-page article in theJournalfeaturing a big fat picture of me and my brothers along with the headline:It’s Anyone’s Crown Now!
The room probably wasn’t as quiet as I imagined, but to me, the whole pin drop thing was a legitimate possibility.
Bravado, Ronan. You got loads of it, and if there was ever a time…
I grabbed Laney’s hand and tugged her close. “Hey, baby. Sorry I’m late. Traffic was hell getting here from the airport.”
She still couldn’t speak, full mouth opening and closing like a beautiful green-eyed fish.
Simple as it was, her black dress stood out in a sea of pastel-painted bridesmaids and middle-aged women in spring florals. Her hair was fastened in a simple twist that allowed a few free strands to frame that heart-shaped face while she blinked up at me.
God, she was gorgeous. How the fuck had I forgotten?
Answer: you hadn’t, you asshole. It’s why you haven’t stopped thinking about her for the past three days.