“Hey, Jordan, are you ready?” Aidan called.
Darn. “Sorry, I’ve got to go take more photos at the park. But I’ll see you at the reception, right?”
“Sure. Harriet and I will be there.”
He nodded, excused himself, and prayed that he might finally get a chance to talk with her and share something of his heart.
It was funny being at a wedding reception as Jordan’s plus-one, but not really, as he had best man duties to fulfil, leaving her seated at this round table with Harriet and a bunch of Rachael’s cousins who were strangers. She and Harriet talked shop about Dream Match a little, and then she found out a little more about this Marty Roberts person Harriet seemed fond of. He was a local, a boilermaker, which wasn’t quite the kind of man she’d envisaged as suitable for someone as clever as Harriet. And while she gently tried to say this, to point out other available men, Harriet seemed to think she and Marty were fine.
“Come on, EJ. If I’ve learned anything about relationships thanks to Dream Match, it’s that we’re not supposed to judge others on their looks or status, but to consider their character and hearts.”
“Well, yes.”But,she longed to say,you could do so much better than a boilermaker.Where was the ambition with that? What did boilermakers even do? Make boilers?
“Jordan looks really good tonight,” Harriet said, motioning to where the bride and groom were being joined on the dance floor by their wedding party.
“Yes.”
Jordan did look surprisingly handsome tonight. She’d seen women looking at him, and felt the weirdest sense to fight them off. Which wasn’t kind of her, she knew. He was her friend, but she didn’t have the right to scare off potential girlfriends. When he’d looked at her so seriously before, she’d almost been tempted to ask if he had an interest in anyone.
She peeked at Harriet, wondering if she had an interest there, then instantly dismissed it. Harriet liked this boilermaker, didn’t she? Poor girl.
Then Neil Elton drifted across her path, and her stomach tensed. He was smiling at his date, a smile that instantly slipped as he saw EJ, and he blinked, then scowled.
His date glanced at him then at EJ, which made EJ force a smile. “Hello, Neil.” She nodded to the brunette. “Hi, I’m Emma.”
“Oh! I’ve heard about you.”
Hmm, that didn’t sound promising. EJ turned to Neil. “I didn’t realise you knew James or Rachael.”
“We used to work together,” the brunette chimed in, who still hadn’t given her name.
Still, that didn’t mean EJ couldn’t introduce Harriet, so she did. “This is Harriet Smart, my PA. She lives near you in Wooten Vale.”
“Oh, really?” Harriet looked eager. “Whereabouts are you?”
Perhaps Neil didn’t hear, as he shook his head and urged his date away.
Wow. Okay. “Rude.”
“Don’t let it bother you, EJ.”
“He’s taken up with his own importance, that’s what he is,” EJ fumed. Still, poor Harriet. She didn’t deserve to be scorned just because she was a PA.
EJ tucked her hair behind her ear and forced her attention back to the dance floor, working to get her feelings under control. She didn’t need to let Neil bother her. That only meant he’d win, and she had no time for petty-minded people. This was a time of celebration, and she was here to have fun.
Aidan Quinn, another of Jordan’s flatmates, approached and asked her to dance. He was a lawyer, so he had heaps of ambition, even if his Irish girlfriend meant he wasn’t available. She accepted and joined the dance floor, mouthing asorryto Jordan when he caught her glance. He shrugged, his smile easy, like he understood, and she noticed him continue watching. Which made her strangely self-conscious.
“I have to admit I’m more of a karaoke fan than a dancer,” Aidan confessed.
“You’re doing fine,” she encouraged, before asking him about his girlfriend.
As he shared, she noticed Harriet standing by herself. She caught Jordan’s eye and tilted her head to Harriet. He nodded, then went and asked Harriet to dance.
Satisfaction rolled through her at the sight of the two of them dancing. Except maybe the two of them looked a little too comfortable together, laughing away like old friends. Hmm.
The song finished, and she needed a drink, so she moved back to the table as Rachael was making the rounds. “Congratulations. You look beautiful, and everything has been spectacular,” EJ said sincerely.
“It’s so good to finally have things working out as I’d planned.”
