She raised a brow, daring him to contradict her, but he wasn’t going to takethatbait. Buck was having trouble enough not feeding into his mother’s delusions of a sweet romance while trying to keep his eyes off Bobbie.
“So,” he chuckled, “give me your final words of wisdom before we go get our pictures taken. I know you’re dying to deliver them.”
Ellen Sothard sobered. “Fine. I’ll say this only once, Buck. Bobbie is a nice girl. You thought so once, and I have a feeling you still do. I also know you remember her brothers who arenotso pleasant.”
That was an understatement.
Ellen continued. “That pair still have their sticky fingers embedded firmly in Bobbie’s businessandin her life, although I’m not sure to what extent. Idoknow they’ve managed to curtail any love-interests she might have harbored, and she’s still alone. I’m thinking it’s time for the poor girl to have someone close to her who’s completely on her side. Somone who cares about her well-being instead of what they can get from her. The question is, do you think you can be that person?”
Buck gave a deep sigh.
Well?
Put like that, he’d be an asshole if he refused.
CHAPTER 6
The weekend had seemed extra long.
Not because of the work that the wedding had entailed. Bobbie was used to that, and really, everything couldn’t have gone smoother. The guests, as well as the Sothard matriarch had all been extremely pleased with the food and the service.
Whathadsucked, was Buck’s presence. He’d clearly made a point not to approach or confront her, but every time Bobbie turned around, there he was, standing casually in his form-fitting tux, throwing his gorgeous head back to laugh at something someone said.
Bobbie had no idea if he knew what he was doing; if he was purposely taunting her, or if he was so unaware of her presence that his actions—highly exasperating to Bobbie—had no bearing on his behavior.
Dammit all.She really hadn’t been able to keep her eyes off him, and that was on her, but it still sucked.
At least he hadn’t danced with anyone but family, so she hadn’t had to witness what his arms would look like around a date.
But that wasn’t for a certain person’s lack of trying.
Spencer’s high school ex, Stacy, had made a supreme effort.
First, the woman had made that scene where she’d wept over Spencer’s marriage, then she’d hung onto Tabitha like she could somehow find herself married to her long-time ex, via absorption.
After that, Bobbie had watched Stacy regroup, only to approach Buck again and again. Bobbie found herself having to turn away and bite her tongue not to intercede.
The drunker Stacy got, the more passes she made at Buck. Bobbie sighed, remembering. Couldn’t the sad-sack have picked one of the other four available Sothard brothers to hit on?
Well, three.Seifer was a bit on the young side. Not that it probably would have stopped Stacy.
Luckily, from what Bobbie had witnessed, Buck had no interest in placating the clinging vine, and he’d eventually called a cab and sent her home. Alone.
That, at least, had mitigated any drama surrounding Buck for the rest of the evening, and Bobbie had carried on until the last guest had departed, without making a fool of herself.
The next hurdle, the “all day” brunch on Sunday had seemingly lasted forever as well. Bobbie had been running one of the buffet stations because a server had called in sick, and sure enough, Buck hadn’t seemed to be able to get enough bacon, home fries, or eggs that happened to be placed right in front of Bobbie.
Sure, he’d done nothing more than nod and smile at her while she dished things up, but that semi-aloof attitude had left her feeling…discomfited, instead of relieved, as she’d imagined.
Had she…wanted him to engage her in conversation?
On Friday, she’d told him in no uncertain terms, that a discussion between them wouldn’t be happening.
Why then, did it feel like the calm face he’d presented toward her over breakfast-meat, was slowly changing her mind?
Dammit.He had to be doing it on purpose. He probably remembered how it used to irk her when she was being ignored. Not thathe’dever done that back in the day. But a lot of the kids at the Vo Tech they’d attended had snubbed her because she not only lived on the wrong side of the tracks, but her ne’er-do-well parents had split.
And yeah, she still hated being unacknowledged.
