Wow, that sure was helpful. I didn’t voice the words because I didn’t want to get into a bickering contest with Landen at Lucy’s wedding. I glanced around but didn’t see Amanda in the throng of people. “I’ll find her after I finish my drink,” I responded, bringing the glass to my lips again.
A bit of salt clung to my mouth and without thinking I licked it free. Landen’s eyes dropped to where my tongue swept across my lip then he reached out and took the glass from me before I could react. I was too distracted by the expression on his face to realize what he’d done until a few seconds later.
By then he’d put three steps between us, draining the liquid frommyglass as he walked away. Growling beneath my breath, I turned back toward Anthony.
“Think you can make me another one?” I asked.
His smile was no longer flirtatious as he pulled out another glass and went to work mixing up another margarita. “That the groomsman you don’t get along with?”
“Yeah, he’s a pain in my ass,” I sighed.
A smirk quirked Anthony’s mouth. “I’d say he feels the same.”
I frowned at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He glanced back up at me, stilling when he saw my face. “You’re not dating him?”
I laughed and shook my head. “No way. He’s one of my boss’s clients.”
The bartender finished mixing the drink and poured it into a salt-rimmed glass full of ice. He set it in front of me, releasing it immediately this time.
“Okay, I might be out of line here but I’m going to say something to you.”
I blinked at him. When he opened his mouth to speak, I lifted a hand, putting my palm toward him. “Hang on. I can already tell I need more liquor before I hear this.”
He chuckled as I took a large swallow of the truly perfect margarita he’d made me. It wasn’t quite as strong as the last one but it definitely had a kick.
“Okay, there,” I said. “I’m fortified.”
He shook his head, still smiling, but didn’t speak.
“Well?” I asked, gesturing with my hand for him to continue.
He leaned forward and put his elbows on the bar. That put his face closer to mine. I found myself leaning forward, wondering what in the heck he had to say.
“That groomsman has it bad for you,” he stated. I started to scoff, but he tapped the bar in front of me once, which shut me up. “As soon as he saw me flirting with you, I think he all but threw people out of his way to get over here. And you have no clue he feels that way. As someone who’s been in that position before, I can tell you it’s frustrating as hell.”
I studied him for a moment, took another sip of the cocktail, and then answered, “Then he, and you, have no one to blame but yourselves.”
It was his turn to blink, which he did as he reared back to stare at me. “What?”
I mirrored his earlier move, putting my elbows on the bar and leaning forward. “If you’re attracted to someone, especially if you’re a man and you want a woman, you need to communicate that. Some of us,” I said, gesturing to myself with one hand. “Aren’t great at reading body language or visual cues. If you don’t say, ‘Hey, I like you. Wanna go for coffee?’a lot of women would have no idea that you were attracted to them.”
I fished a five out of the bodice of my dress and dropped it in the tip jar. “Now you’ve gotten two tips for the day.” I winked at him, which brought a smile to his astonished face, and walked away.
I finished my margarita and started in on a glass of champagne before Amanda found me.
“Hey, Chelsea. We’re about to do the first dance then the bridal party will pair up for a dance as well.”
I nodded and she moved off toward Grier. As I sipped champagne, I noticed that Grier stood next to Marcus, Lucy’s first boss. He was a world-renowned photographer and actually very sexy. He and Grier were speaking in low tones and so intent upon one another that they both jumped when Amanda came up to them.
I watched, my eyes narrowing, as she gave them the same message she’d given me and moved away. I could see a flush in Grier’s cheeks and she looked vaguely uncomfortable, which wasn’t something I was accustomed to seeing. Grier was grace and poise personified. She was the youngest of us, but she gave great advice and I don’t think I’d ever seen her ruffled. She was what my mother would call anold soul. Despite her youth, I had a feeling Grier had experienced more hardship in her life than I ever would. Because of it, she had a depth of perspective that even I lacked.
I took a step toward them but stopped when Marcus said something else to her and Grier grinned up at him. They continued to talk, whatever awkwardness between them gone.
Deciding my intervention wasn’t necessary, I continued to sip the champagne as I walked through the crowd of people. When the glass was empty, I set it on the tray of a passing waiter and grabbed another.
A few minutes later, the first dance was announced and everyone gathered around the dance floor. As I watched Chris and Lucy dance, I forgot about my own frustrations.
