I suppressed the male ego side of me that wanted to gloat about having the most beautiful woman as my date and ignored all the envious stares. “Let me introduce you to my family.” I put my hand to the small of her back and guided her over before my mother felt the need to push aside guests to get to us.
“Mom, this is my friend, Willa Stanton. Willa, this is my mother, Evelyn, and my Aunt Shelby.
“Well, aren’t you as lovely in person as you are on TV.” Mom smiled, looking nervous. She probably saw this as some sort of opportunity I was bound to mess up. “Isn’t she gorgeous, Shelby?”
Aunt Shelby nodded, and Mom continued on, gushing about Willa’s dress, and hair, and makeup, until Willa had to feel like she was back in her pageant days.
“Doug doesn’t tell me much about his friends from work. How old are you, dear? You play a teenager on TV but I’m sure you’re older than that.”
Willa smiled. “I’m not even in my twenties anymore.”
“No, I suppose not. Although, the new Strength Warriors look like babies.” Mom laughed to herself. “That’s the way these things work, I suppose.”
Shelby linked Mom’s arm with hers. “Nice to meet you, Willa. Come, Evelyn. I don’t think you’ve met your new daughter-in-law’s godparents.”
I let out a sigh of relief when they left and glanced at Willa. If she was bothered by the attention, she hid it well. She’d affixed a pleasant expression as she surveyed the crowd. “It was a nice wedding, Doug. Where are we supposed to go now?”
“Cocktail hour.” I guided her over to the white tent where they’d set up a bar, and we waited our turn. She got a white wine spritzer while I ordered a Coke, and then we each took an appetizer, some sort of paste on a sesame seed cracker with little red things on top. Our eyes met as we each took a tentative bite.
Oh, it was bad. I could see it mirrored in her face. The paste managed to burn my throat, while still tasting like mud.
She took a long sip of wine. “Um, I’m afraid to try another appetizer, but if I don’t, I’m going to get tipsy soon.”
“What does that look like?” I asked, half-teasing, half-curious.
“Strangely, I get kinda cranky and mouthy. Your best bet is to find me something to eat.”
We walked around together, trying not to be obvious as we trailed waiters, checking out what was on their tray. The sardine pâté appetizer was a big pass, but we took the next one, large cocktail shrimp in some kind of sweet sauce.
“Feel better now?” I asked.
“I’d feel better if you grabbed a few more for me.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You like ordering people around, don’t you?”
“You have no idea.” Her eyes sparkled, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what she meant by that.
I did manage to grab the last few shrimp, getting the stink eye from my mother, who thought I was ignoring my date in favor of the most popular appetizers. She shooed me back to Willa and watched to make sure I returned.
Willa smiled right at her and took both shrimp appetizers out of my hands, eating them in quick succession.
Willa
Once we started dancing at the reception, any hesitation I had in coming disappeared. I’d always wanted to dance with Doug. I knew he’d be good, but I didn’t know he’d be this good. We did the cha-cha, got down toStayin’ AliveJohn Travolta style, waltzed. It didn’t matter. Doug moved me in each style effortlessly, his face a little too serious, though I could tell he was having fun too.
And I had to admit, as I spied cell phone cameras aimed our way, he was right about this date. Footage of us dancing together would get leaked in a few months, when we were household names and everyone was searching for proof we were together.
Some guy cut in on Doug in the middle of a Whitney Houston song, and I had to remind myself not to growl. Doug and I weren’t a couple yet, and refusing to dance with anyone else would indicate we were. Doug headed over to get a drink, and I turned on my most charming smile for my new dance partner.
“What’s your name, stranger?”
The guy beamed. “I’m Vince Grand. Owen and I have known each other since we were kids. What about you?”
“I’m a friend of Owen’s brother, Doug.”
“He asked you to be his date, huh?” The way he said it, as if it explained everything, irked me.
“Yes. Is there something wrong with that?”
