Friday Night Brides (14 page)

“First of all, I didn’t badger you.”

“Whatever. Now tell me!”

Angie sighed. “Don’t you think it’s odd that he’s never brought a date to any of the events Mrs. J has? Or any of the shows? We’ve all done it at one point or another. But Logan’s always alone. And he flirts with everyone.”

“So…?”

“So maybe it is a red flag that he’s not looking for a relationship. Hailey is! Hailey is the poster child for wanting a relationship. She may think she can do this fling thing but I think if Logan were to tell her it’s all he wants—right to her face—she’ll bail.”

“And forever wonder…”

Angie nodded. “Exactly.”

“Well that sucks.”

“You should have just let me drop it.”

“Yeah well…curiosity and all that.”

“You know me, I tend to think of the worst-case scenario in everything. She’s going to be fine. But I think it would be helpful if I don’t talk too much around her tonight. I don’t want to scare her off.”

“Good point.” Ella grabbed her purse and room key. “So let’s go and eat and when we see her later on downstairs for the show, let’s keep the conversation neutral or show-related.”

“I hope I can keep my mouth shut.”

They walked out of the room, the door closing behind them. “Then pick on Becca. We know she’s having a sexy dinner with Max right now. And really, I’m doubting food will be involved at all. If you feel the need to talk about anyone’s sex life, go to hers. She’ll turn twenty shades of red and that should help you get your mean-girl fix.”

Angie laughed. “You know what, Ella?”

“What?”

“I think I may have underestimated you all these years. Behind your tiny Tinker Bell exterior, you’re a little bit of an evil genius.”

Ella beamed. “Coming from you, that is definitely a compliment.”

****

The fashion show was its usual success.

Everyone was happy and excited and planning to meet up for drinks down in the hotel bar.

Hailey felt like she was going to throw up.

Up in her room she checked her reflection for the tenth time. Everything was perfect. She looked—if she did say so herself—stunning. Her hair was perfect. Her makeup was perfect. And her dress, paired with a pearl necklace, was the perfect balance of sweet and sexy.

Perfect.

Yeah, she needed to work on her vocabulary because right now the word
perfect
also felt boring.

A quick glance at the bedside clock showed it was almost eleven. The show had ended a little over an hour ago and she knew everyone would have had time to go back to their rooms and do what they needed to do and be down in the bar by now. She had purposely waited to go—she wanted to make a bit of an entrance. Smiling one last time at her reflection, she took a steadying breath and let it out slowly before grabbing her purse, which contained condoms and her room key.

After the show, the girls had asked her if she wanted them with her, but she had said no. They were all a little surprised by the admission. Something like this was huge and normally they would all be around for emotional support. But Hailey had looked at Becca—who was wrapped in Max’s arms—and knew the two of them had better things to do than come and watch her hit on Logan. Ella was yawning and Angie had briefly mentioned in passing how Sean was supposed to call her tonight. So yeah, it was the right thing for Hailey to be going solo.

Her heart was beating frantically on the way to the elevator and she was seriously glad she had ten floors to ride down to calm it. Looking down at her white shoes, she frowned.
Maybe I should have gone with something a little less bold
, she thought.
Something a little less stiletto and more kitten
. The doors rang as they opened and when she looked up, she gasped.

Jack.

“Well, look at you, Princess,” he said with a smile. “Hot date?”

Stepping inside, she mentally groaned. Ignoring him for a moment, she hit the lobby button. “Just going down for a drink.”

Beside her, Jack smiled and nodded as he moved a little closer, his hands clasped in front of him. He inhaled deeply. “Where are the girls? They meeting you down there?”

Why wouldn’t he just shut up? “No, actually. They all had plans. I just thought I’d go and meet up with everyone from the show and have a glass of wine.” She glared at him. “That’s allowed, you know.”

He held up his hands in mock surrender. “I never said otherwise.” Then he studied her. “You sure put in a lot of effort for the hotel bar. You sure you don’t have a date waiting for you?” he teased.

Hailey couldn’t help it. She rolled her eyes. “Why are you so interested? And what are you doing roaming around the hotel? Don’t you have some place to be?”

Jack nodded. “Same as you, Princess. Hitting the bar for a night cap.”

Well damn, she thought. There wasn’t time for a snappy comeback; the doors to the lobby opened. Jack motioned for Hailey to go first and she could feel him staring at her back. Unfortunately, there was no way to get rid of him now and that meant he was going to be watching her hitting on—and hopefully leaving with—Logan.

They walked in the direction of the music playing and at the door to the lounge, Hailey stopped and looked around, clutching her purse in her hands. It didn’t take long for her to find Logan. He was standing near the bar talking to a couple of guys—one was another model from the show, but she didn’t recognize the other one.

Jack had stopped beside her and seemed to know who she was looking at. He let out a low chuckle.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“You’re down here for Logan?” he asked incredulously, unable to hide his grin. “That’s what this is all about? The dress, the heels…” He motioned to her entire body. “Whatcha wearing under your dress, Princess? Silk or lace?”

Her eyes narrowed at him. “You know what? You’re incredibly crude,” she snorted. “And you know what else? It’s none of your business. Logan and I talked earlier and he mentioned he’d be down here. And if you look around, so are a lot of people from the show.”

“And if you’ll notice, most of them are dressed casually. You’re the only one who looks like she’s going to a cotillion and not a bar.”

“I’m not…” She snapped her mouth closed. He had her there. Maybe it would have been smarter to go casual, but it was too late now.

Jack leaned down and whispered in her ear, “You are and trust me, you’re wasting your time.”

The feel of his breath on her skin had her tingling unexpectedly. Hailey pulled back and stared at him.

Jack nodded. “Look, you’ve got no reason to believe me, but…believe me. If you’re thinking of going in there and hitting on Logan, you’re going to be disappointed.”

Every fiber of her being told her to believe him, but he had said it with just a hint of condescension that had her spine stiffening. With a forced smile, she simply walked away and made her way to the bar.

“Logan!” she said as she got closer.

“Hailey!” he replied, beaming at her. “Look at you! Beautiful as always.” He wrapped her in his embrace and for a minute, Hailey felt like all was going to be right with the world. When he pulled back, he kept one arm loosely wrapped around her waist. “Let me buy you a drink.”

She smiled back at him. “Thanks, I’d love a glass of white zinfandel with a twist of lime. Please.”

Logan ordered for her and then turned to his friends. “Hailey, you already know Jimmy,” he said, motioning to Jim Miles, who had been modeling for Enchanted for two years now. “And this is George.”

Hailey reached out and shook his hand with her smile still in place. “It’s nice to meet you, George.”

“You too, Hailey. Logan talks about you all the time,” George said.

“Really?” she asked sweetly. “All good stuff, I hope.”

“Of course,” Logan said, hugging her close again. Then he looked a little beyond her. “Jackson! Good to see you! I thought you were heading back upstairs?”

Jack shrugged and gave Hailey a smirk. “I was thinking about it, but then I spotted Hailey and decided to have one last drink.”

She glared at him briefly before turning back to George. “So George, do you live here in Charlotte?”

He reached out and snagged Hailey’s drink from the bartender and handed it to her. “No, no, no…I’m back in Raleigh. But I’ve never been to one of the shows and Logan’s always telling me how great they are, so I decided to tag along with him.”

“Oh,” she said, keeping her smile in place. “That’s nice of you.”

Her mind was rioting. Something seemed…off. She couldn’t quite comprehend why one of Logan’s buddies would give up a Friday night to come to a bridal show—especially one that was three hours from home. Friends didn’t normally do that sort of thing. The only time she knew of people doing that was when they were…

Oh.

Slowly, she looked over at Jack and saw what almost looked like an apologetic smile on his face—as if he realized that it was finally hitting her.

Oh.

Taking a larger drink of her wine than she should have, Hailey carefully put the glass back on the bar. Without being too obvious, she put some distance between her and Logan—and backed right into Jack. His large hand rested low on her hip and combined with his entire body behind her, Hailey felt the need to sag against him for support.

And later she’d have to examine the fact that she was really enjoying the feel of him, the heat of him, the…everything of him.

“George and I have been living together for about a year,” Logan said as Hailey realized she hadn’t been paying attention. “He normally works on the weekends but I convinced him to come with me this time.” The two smiled at each other before facing Hailey again.

“That…that’s great!” she said cheerily and when she saw Logan’s arm go around George’s waist she felt…relieved.

Wait…
what
??

It hit her that she honestly felt relief. For so long she had been pining after the Logan that she had created in her mind and when she started to see him for who he really was, Hailey felt that maybe she was hanging on for the wrong reasons.

Like she didn’t want to admit she’d been wrong.

That was something she was going to think about later too. For now, she kept a smile on her face and listened to George talk about his work as…go figure…a lawyer. Great. It was completely unfair that Logan was the one who got to date a lawyer.

“I think the day is finally catching up with me,” she said a few minutes later. “I think I’m going to head up to my room.” Leaning in, she hugged George, Jim and Logan goodbye and did her best to keep her back to Jack. There was no way she could look him in the eye right now. “Thanks for the drink! I’ll see you next Friday!” she said with a wave as she maneuvered around Jack and quickly walked out of the bar.

Fearful she was going to trip if she ran in her stilettos, Hailey quickly pulled them off and ran for the elevator, hoping to jump in one before anyone saw her.

With a sigh of relief, the doors opened just as she was approaching and she stepped in, hit the ten button and sagged against the side of the elevator. The doors were just starting to close when all of a sudden Jack stepped in.

She wanted to cry.

To his credit, Jack didn’t say a word. When the elevator doors slid closed, he kept his gaze focused straight ahead, as if Hailey wasn’t standing two feet away. She noticed how he didn’t hit a button, but to question it would require her to speak to him, and right now, she just wasn’t sure she could do that.

Finding out Logan was gay wasn’t an issue. It didn’t change the fact that she thought he was a great guy; it just meant she could now focus on how he was a great friend. Her real issue was that Jack had called it weeks ago and then he had stood there and witnessed her finding it out for herself.

He did warn her.

More than once.

It was her own fault she chose to ignore the warnings.

Quietly, she took her key from her purse and kept her gaze trained on the floor until the doors opened. When they did, she stepped around Jack and finally released the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

Hailey made it only a few steps when Jack came up beside her, took her hand in his and began to walk.

“Hey! What are you…?” They stopped at the room across from hers and she realized Jack was opening the door. “Jack? What in the world…?”

As soon as they were in the room, Jack spun her around until her back was against the closed door. There was a fierce look in his eyes that made Hailey’s go wide..

No one had ever looked at Hailey this way. His eyes were such a deep green that she couldn’t make herself look away. She kept waiting—waiting for him to say something, to do something—but he didn’t. He stood close enough that they were almost touching—she could feel the heat of him again—but he made no move to really touch her.

It was maddening.

Her breathing was slightly ragged and for the life of her, she couldn’t say why. Hailey wasn’t afraid of Jack. Not really. He was the first man who didn’t treat her like she was fragile and this little detour into his room had her feeling a little manhandled.

And she actually liked it.

Taking a steadying breath, she let it out and slowly licked her lips. Jack’s gaze narrowed in on that movement, but still he said nothing.

Frustration and…arousal…were battling within Hailey. This was getting ridiculous! Why had he even brought her here if he wasn’t going to do anything? The least he could do was tell her why! He owed her that much! Then she stopped that train of thought because really, she didn’t want to talk.

She wanted Jack to kiss her.

And if she was reading the situation correctly, it would seem as if he wanted that too. Maybe she should just tell him it was okay, that he could kiss her, that she wanted him to.

Damn.

Hailey knew immediately what she wanted to do. Hell, she had been preparing herself all day to make a move on Logan. She figured she’d flirt, have a drink with him and they’d go back to her room where they’d make love. It was going to be sweet and perfect and…boring. It wouldn’t be that way with Jack. She had a feeling it would be wild and frantic and anything but sweet and boring.