The Bridesmaid's Checklist: Laura's Wedding (BCL Book 1) (4 page)

“Even better,” Josh said, tearing me away from my thoughts. “Can't wait to get her all hot and panting.” He kept teasing me, but I couldn’t respond.

“Finally, drinks are here,” Edward said. He grabbed two mimosa glasses from the waiter’s tray, gallantly giving Laura the first before he served himself the second.

“Great! Let’s toast. For an epic wedding!” Josh held up his glass.

Everyone held a drink but me. I had the most unappealing glass of Perrier in the world before me, and at the moment I regretted not having ordered something else. 

Without asking, I grabbed Josh’s glass and gulped down every single drop of that mimosa.

“Oh, that’s rude, Kassie.” Laura frowned at me once more. “You said you didn’t want one.”

“I didn’t know we were toasting,” I said. Or that I would need one so desperately.

I knew she was about to start really noticing my strange behavior, so I needed to compose myself and act like everything was just peachy.

“But now Josh has nothing to drink,” Laura stated.

“That’s all right. Kassie gets what Kassie wants.” For whatever unknown reason, Josh was backing me up. At that moment, I was thankful. “I wanted a beer, anyways,” he added.

As a gesture of apology, I called the waiter. “I would like another mimosa,” I said. “Oh, and he wants something, too.” I pointed at Josh so he could order his drink.

Laura frowned at me; now she knew something was going on. “Excuse me,” she said. “I need to use the Ladies’ room.”

I knew what she was doing. She was trying to get me alone with her so I could explain myself.

It wasn’t happening.

I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to say. She expected me to join her, but I didn’t feel like having a conversation with her about just how wonderful Edward was. So I stayed put. Laura looked around, trying to find some company to the restroom.

Josh saved the day for the second time.

“Yeah, I have to go too. I’ll come with you,” he said as he stood and playfully offered Laura his arm.

“What a charmer, Josh. We’ll be right back.” They left, but not without Laura shooting me another one of her looks. The one that said,
‘We’ll talk about this later.’

I wasn’t about to be alone with Edward. I’d rather sit through Laura’s questions and babbling than stay here with him.

“Laura, I’ll come with you,” I said lightly, as if I’d suddenly changed my mind.

Laura really surprised me when she said, “Oh, nonsense. Keep Eddie company. BRB.”

Tragic, really tragic.

I should have taken my chance when I had one. Now I was alone with a man I wanted to avoid with every part of my being.

We were quiet for a few seconds before he said, “I see that you’ve been doing really well, Kassandra.”

He loved to say my name, rolling the syllables on his tongue. I’d loved it, too, once. Now I hated it.

“Yeah, well, thanks.” 

“You look mouthwateringly beautiful,” he added.

The man had no shame. What exactly was he trying to do?

“Why are you trying to make me uncomfortable?” I asked.

“I wasn’t,” he said, as if this was completely boring him, nothing more than a brunch with old friends. Which, in a way, it was. “I simply wanted to loosen the tension between us before Laura noticed.”

So he didn’t want to cause a scene. Good—that was good.

“I can’t believe you’re marrying her. I can’t believe you’re marrying…anyone. What am I supposed to do with all this?” At least I managed to speak honestly.

“Nothing,” Edward stated. “You aren’t supposed to do anything. Leave things as they are and make no comments.”

I didn’t exactly understand what he meant. Was he trying to make me feel better? Or was he threatening me? It wouldn’t be that easy.

“No comments? How dare you—”

“We’re back!” Laura surprised me and interrupted my almost heated outburst. “Were you talking about how wonderful I am and how lucky you all are to be part of my life?” She batted her eyelashes at
Eddie
and smiled at me.

“Of course, honey,” he reassured her.

The nerve.

Asshole.

I knew Laura’s new paramour was going to be a complete jerk. I simply didn’t have any idea how much more of a dick he could make of himself.

“I knew it. It was exactly the same conversation Josh and I had,” she said, grinning, and sat down. “Oh, great, the food’s here.”

The waiter arrived with our food, and on his tray were Josh’s beer and my mimosa. He was kind enough to take both drinks from the tray and place them on the table.

I grabbed my second mimosa and drank the whole thing in one swing before the waiter placed the hot dishes on the table.

“I’ll be needing another one of these,” I said to the waiter.

“Calm down, babe. There’s plenty of time to celebrate.” Josh patted my thigh a little too amorously for my taste. But I let it go. I was more scared about the meaning of his words.

Celebrating.

He’d just reminded me of my other pressing anxiety. Wedding preparations had just started.

I
thought I would be happy once I got in my car and on my way home.

I was wrong.

The part of the equation I hadn’t contemplated was that my
friends
thought I was unable to drive due to (and I quote)
‘excessive drinking.’

Unbelievable.

As if my drinking was unjustified.

“I told you I could drive myself home,” I repeated for possibly the fifth time.

They discussed how
Eddie
didn’t like anyone touching his toys, or driving his car, as was the case. Well, guess what? I didn’t like my car driven by other people either. But did they listen to me? No. They just decided, and now I had to deal with the handsome blond driving me home.

“I know, babe. But after five mimosas, we didn’t want to take any chances,” Josh lightly said. “Besides, I’m really curious to know what happened between Eddie and you. The tension was almost palpable in the restaurant.” He glanced at me.

I couldn’t believe it.

Had I been that obvious?

Now that I thought about it, yes. I was possibly too apparent.

“Do you think Laura noticed?”

“Not really. She thought the tension was between you and me, not really between you and Edward.” At least he
tried
to ameliorate my shame. Regardless, Josh wanted to fish for information, that much was obvious.

“This is
so
bad,” I said.

“Not really,” he repeated. “I explained to her that the tension between us was sexual. That it’ll go away after we sleep together.”

How did he so simply assume I would have sex with him? “Not in a thousand years.”

He laughed at my response. It always got under my skin how he was so sure of himself. Problem was, he reminded me too much of Edward. Today I learned why.

“So, that’s what happened, right?” Josh asked me insistently.

“What happened?” I, of course, was playing dumb. I knew exactly what he wanted to know. I simply didn’t want him to know it.

“You had sex with him.” This time, he didn’t ask a question; he made a statement. As if it was a fact.

I hated that he was right.

I simply ignored him. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of an answer.

“Was it before or after they got engaged?” Josh curiously asked once more.

How dare he infer such a thing? “Shut up!” I had to take a deep breath. “I would never sleep with any of my friends’ lovers. There’s plenty of men out there for me to fool around with, and I don’t need to get my picks from their drawers.”

When have I ever done such a thing? Not once.

Josh had followed me around enough to notice who I’d taken home. Guys I picked up at bars and met on the spot. I rarely had the same guy twice, or even fuck buddies. My thing was one-night stands, and that was about it.

Okay, I wasn’t a whore, but I was perfectly happy being single. And it wasn’t as if I’d slept with thousands of guys—not really. I just fooled around more often than anything. However, I didn’t do relationships. Not since Edward. He was my first and only. Been there, done that. Not interested anymore.

“But you
did
fool around with him.” Josh was really persistent. And observant, apparently. “I might not know you that well, and I have to say that that’s entirely your fault, but I know him. He’s had you before and he’s proud of it.”

“Well,
Eddie
can blow me!” I couldn’t contain myself anymore.

“That’s way more information than I needed,” Josh said with humor in his voice. Anyone could tell he was enjoying himself.

I, on the other hand, was not.

“It’s not what you think it is.” I knew it would be a better choice to explain myself after my outburst. I didn’t like the idea of Josh thinking something totally inaccurate. “It happened a long time ago, during my senior year of college. Long before he met Laura, I promise.”

He listened attentively and, after a moment, he asked, “Then, what’s the problem?”

“I don’t like him.” It was that simple.

Josh gave himself another minute before he chuckled and said, “Oh, I see. He dumped you.”

“He used me. I dumped him,” I corrected.

No one dumped me. Not even Edward.

“Burned, I see.”

This guy was so going to pay for making fun of me so much. “He plays with women. Just like you,” I replied. Eat that up, Mr. Know-it-all.

“Hey, stop judging me.” He didn’t sound offended, per se, but at least he gave me the satisfaction of not correcting me. That’s how I knew he didn’t like my comment.

“Besides,” he continued, “if it’s any comfort, he’s head-over-heels for Laura.”

At the moment, it didn’t provide much comfort at all, but in a way, I was glad he was really into her. Maybe this time, his feelings were real.

“Just thought you might like knowing,” Josh clarified.

“Good to know.” As if it mattered. It didn’t change what Eddie was.

We were quiet for a couple of minutes, listening to a silly hard rock station he chose. To be honest, I let him; they were playing 80s music, and I’ve always been into it. Even still, I would never admit that to him.

Josh finally broke the silence with a question that caught me off guard. “What about you? Are you with anyone at the moment?”

“None of your business.” It didn’t take me long to respond, though. It really wasn’t any of his business.

“That’s a no.” How he decided that my response was equivalent to a
no
was beyond me. After my
answer,
he made yet another personal question. “What about you and me hooking up?”

“Not happening.”

I needed to be very clear with him. There was no
we
or
us,
as in a relationship. He could surely get some women of his own.

Or maybe that was the problem.

“Been having a hard time with the ladies recently?” If he was getting up close and personal with me, then I was getting up close and personal with him. Tit for tat.

“Ladies come to me on their own. Thanks for your concern,” Josh explained with some kind of satisfaction on his face. “I just happen to want you.”

That was a bit shocking—his sincerity. Under different circumstances, I might have considered it, but…

“Not interested,” I repeated before I could even finish my own thought.

“We’ll spend a lot of time together before the wedding. You’ll change your mind.”

I couldn’t wait to prove him wrong. “Womanizer isn’t exactly my type,” I explained.

“Womanizer isn’t exactly what I am,” he defended.

Did he think I was blind? I’ve seen him in action. Always in the best clubs. Surrounded by the most beautiful women. Everything around him was always shiny, expensive, and extravagant.

Certain signs indicated whether or not a man was a womanizer. One just needed to be observant.

Yep. I learned all those from Edward, and I could see them all on Josh’s face.

He was a womanizer.

“Doubt it. I’ve seen you in action,” I said, voicing my thoughts out loud. Part of them, at least.

“And there’s much more for you to see.” He had a never-ending supply of flirting. He knew exactly what he was doing.

We stopped our conversation until we arrived to my apartment complex. I lived in one of the best areas of L.A., and even if it wasn’t the most expensive, it was expensive enough. I worked hard to own a place like this one.

Josh didn’t seem impressed by it.

Well, then. It was time for him to get a cab and go back to the restaurant where he left his own car.

He drove into the parking lot and passed security with a smile on his face. As if he belonged here and he wasn’t only visiting.

“This is good enough. Thanks,” I said after directing him to my parking spot.

He turned the car off. “Won’t do, babe,” he said as he gave me my car keys and a peck on my cheek. “I’d rather walk you to your door.”

“You’re a pain in the ass,” I commented, dramatically cleaning his kiss from my face and grabbing the keys he offered. Then I got my purse and exited the car, slamming the door in the process.

It was infuriating. Treating me as a lousy drinker.

It took more than five mimosas to get me drunk.

He came up behind me as I stopped at the elevator. I ignored him, and then he whispered in my ear, “I may be a pain in the ass, but I’ll gladly make it feel better.”

For an unknown reason his comment made me laugh. I was used to men making observations of my ass—I had a really nice one, if I did say so myself. I worked hard on it and I was proud of the outcome.

Josh walked behind me to my door. I knew exactly what he was doing back there; he could admire as much as he wanted, because that was as far as he was going to get.

Enjoy the view,
babe
.

When we finally reached my door I said, “This is me. Thanks.”

“How about a thank you kiss?” His eyes sparkled, the dimples showing on his cheeks as he smiled at me. It was really cute.

Just for kicks, I kissed him on one of those dimples. They were nice. I’d forgotten about them.

“That just made my day,” Josh said. Then he kissed me back, too close to my mouth to be honest, but he kept it light and natural. When he smiled again, those dimples I’d recently rediscovered framed his cheeks.

How could they suddenly make me feel that he was too cute to believe?

He grabbed a curl which had fallen from my bun and placed it behind my ear. “I’ll call you later,” he said, softly exhaling.

“You don’t have my number,” I told him. I have never, ever given him my number.

“Sure I do,” he said with a mischievous grin on his face. I stared at him. “Take it easy, Kass,” he interrupted, taking me completely by surprise. “It’s going to be a long wedding.”

Kass. No one calls me Kass.

But somehow, it sounded nice coming from him.