Extreme Danger (McClouds & Friends #5)(113)

The service had been brief and beautiful. While the bride and groom exchanged rings, Nick’s hand slid beneath her own, and his fingers threaded through hers. It made her heart thud, and her face flame hot with emotion. How did she dare interpret that gesture?

No. Don’t even. She couldn’t afford to make silly assumptions. Life was too uncertain. He probably just didn’t like to hear her crying.

She’d sniffed the tears back, gritted her teeth and clutched Nick’s strong hand, hard, so he couldn’t change his mind and pull it back.

The bride and groom’s passionate kiss released the tension. The room exploded in a storm of hoots, whistles and wild applause. Nick turned to her and gave her a hungry, possessive kiss, like he was staking his claim, in front of everyone.

God, it was enough to make a girl dizzy. Confused. Dangerously hopeful. The handholding, the jealous grip around her waist, the way he introduced her to everybody as his girlfriend…wow. To think that she, Busy Becca with the glasses and the To-Do lists, was this hot, sexy, mysterious guy’s girlfriend. It seemed so wonderfully improbable.

The party had been great, just as Nick had said. The food was great, the wine was wonderful, the music was blazing hot, and his friends were all so nice to her. Everybody had made such a big fuss.

The band ended their set, and the DJ put on some interim music as the catering staff began distributing the plates of wedding cake. Nick escorted her back to their table and pulled out her chair.

“Gotta go check the surveillance set-up,” he murmured into her ear. “Save me a piece of cake, babe.” And off he went. Becca ran her eye hastily over the other occupants of the table, trying to remember their names. The black-haired guy with the wicked grin was Seth, the willowy silver blond with him was his wife Raine. Margot was collapsed in her chair looking exhausted, and no wonder, with that enormous pregnant belly of hers. The hunky blond guy hovering anxiously over her was Davy, one of the brothers of the equally hunky blond groom.

In fact, she’d never seen such a high concentration of good-looking people in one room in her entire life. Eye candy everywhere.

Then there was the pretty brunette, Erin, who had an adorable baby she was discreetly preparing to nurse under her midnight blue shawl, while her husband Connor looked on adoringly.

She met Margot’s eyes. The woman was smiling at her, like a soft-eyed madonna. “You’re really good for him,” she said quietly. “I’ve never seen Nick smile like that. He was even laughing. It’s incredible.”

Becca blushed. “Oh, yeah. If there’s one thing I’m good for, it’s comic relief.”

“Uh-uh,” the silver blonde named Raine said. “He’s head over heels. And about time. We were all starting to worry. We’ve been trying to fix him up with our single girlfriends for years, but nothing stuck.”

Becca felt vaguely panicked, as if their easy assumptions about a happy ending could somehow jinx her dawning hopes. “Oh, no, we just met,” she said. “It’s not—I mean, we haven’t—we’re definitely not, um, stuck. Yet.”

“Oh, no,” Seth said, chortling. “Not stuck. Just locking lips every ten seconds. And for what? To confuse us? For the record, it’s working.”

“Margot. I’m hurt. Why didn’t you seat me at the lovebirds’ table? The one with Nikolai’s new little friend?”

Becca turned at the sound of that husky, sensual alto voice. It was a woman she’d noticed in the bridal party. A spectacular beauty with a corona of braided dark hair and tilted golden eyes, resplendent in a bronze taffeta evening dress trimmed with dangling jet beads.

“Because I didn’t want you to scare her to death and put her off us all forever,” Margot said, in a warning tone. “Be nice, Tam.”

“Bullshit. If she can handle that foul-mouthed lout Nikolai, she can handle me.” The woman named Tam pulled out Nick’s chair and sank down next to Becca, with a whispering rustle of full skirts. She gave Becca a slow and not particularly friendly once-over.

Becca shrank back. Her simple bias cut dress in dusty pink was very pretty, particularly with the aggressive way that her new bustier propped up her boobs, but the outfit was no match for the other woman’s Marie Antoinette splendor.

Tam reached out, and plucked the spaghetti strap of Becca’s gown. “Nice dress,” she said. “Good color for you and it showcases your breasts. But those glasses are harsh for a pretty pink flower like you. And someone has to break it to you, honey. When you’re wearing cool-toned pink, don’t go for hot red lipstick. It hurts the eyes.”

Becca’s hairs prickled. She resisted the impulse to cover her slut red mouth with her hand. “I’m not a flower,” she said in a very clear voice. “And what a lucky thing it is for us both that I don’t need your approval.”

Tam froze for a moment. She blinked. A slow smile curved her perfect mocha-painted mouth. “I was hoping you’d have backbone, just to make things more interesting,” she said. “You’ll need all of it to wrangle that man into shape. No woman’s ever succeeded so far.”

“Good. That’s just as well,” Becca said loftily. “I actually prefer to be the first. That way I can break him in properly.”

Seth, Davy and Connor all coughed and sputtered into their coffee. Tam applauded slowly. “Ah. That’s the spirit. I’m starting to see why Nikolai lost his head. The dewy green eyes that go blink blink, the big bouncing tits, the alabaster skin. Laid out naked on Zhoglo’s altar.”