“Tomorrow. Six-thirty at the house. We’re taking the wedding party to dinner after.”
“Who’s in the wedding party again?” he asked, the sinful sparkle in his eyes aimed directly at Avery.
“Oh, please, Spencer. You have a mind like a steel trap and never forget anything. You know it’s just you and Avery. She’s my best friend and maid of honor. Don’t pick on her.”
They were the only attendants for the small intimate wedding and the next two days were going to be like a never ending double date. Karma was having a good laugh at her expense.
“Okay.” He nodded to Ryleigh. “And you’re feeling okay?”
“Great.” She smiled and rubbed a hand over her belly. “Morning sickness is gone. Although why they call debilitating nausea that lasts twenty-four hours a day ‘morning’ is beyond me. But currently all is well.”
“Good.”
“Okay, you two, I have to go meet Nick. But feel free to use my office for restoring diplomatic relations.”
“You don’t want to play referee?” Spencer asked.
“Not even a little. Be excellent to each other,” she added sternly on her way out the door.
When she left Avery and Spencer eyed each other. His expression was challenging but he didn’t say anything. The silence was making her nervous and she needed to fill it. Partly because there would be no massive wedding party to buffer them during the rehearsal festivities and ceremony. And partly because she also had to work with him. And travel with him, which was worse than working with him.
“About the jerk comment …” She took a deep breath and met his gaze without flinching. “I was simply stating an opinion. I’m sorry if it hurt your feelings.”
“You don’t look sorry,” he said.
That’s because she was only sorry he’d overheard. “It’s all on the inside.”
“Unlike your stated viewpoint, which you put right out there. One that didn’t allow for the fact that I have any feelings.”
From where she was standing, he didn’t. “Do you?”
“Of course.”
The teasing tone and gleam in his eyes didn’t convince her but the combination made her pulse pick up more than she liked or even wanted to acknowledge. He was too handsome, too sexy, too confident, too smooth. Too much of everything that left her too little peace of mind. Filling the silence had only made her nerves more nervous.
Now what?
“So, it’s good we talked.” Avery slid her hands into the pockets of her black slacks. “I should be going now.”
“It’s quitting time, right? Is there somewhere you have to be? Do you have plans?”
“No.”
“We should go get a drink,” he said.
No, they shouldn’t. “Why would you want to do that?”
The words just popped out of her mouth. She didn’t mean to be rude, but definitely could have been more tactful.
Surprisingly he laughed. “It never occurred to me I needed a reason to ask a woman to go for a drink.”
“Well, you asking just came out of the blue for me. We don’t have what you’d call a going-for-drinks kind of relationship. It sort of took me by surprise.”
“So, you’re saying I do need a reason?”
She could feel the skepticism and suspicion on her face, but tried to suppress it. “Not exactly.”
“That’s okay. I can come up with more than one.”
“Such as?”
The way he folded his arms over his broad chest made his shoulders look even wider. Her mouth went dry and there was a hitch in her breathing. It was okay with her if he thought she was unreasonable and not worth the trouble, but that could put a speed bump in her career.
“If we had a drink together, we’d get to know each other better.”
“Good luck with that.” She resisted the urge to put her hand over her mouth and simply mumbled, “Sorry.”
He grinned. “It would ease tension and make the wedding festivities more fun and the trip to Dallas more relaxed.”
On what planet? “Look, Dr. Stone—”
“Call me Spencer. It’ll be easier that way. Especially at the rehearsal dinner.”
Nothing about it was going to be easy. “Whatever I think about you, I’d never do anything to spoil my best friend’s wedding day. And I’m a professional businesswoman. My personal feelings, whatever they are, will not affect my ability to do my job well.”
“So, you’re opposed to getting to know me?”
“It’s not really necessary,” she hedged.
“And that’s a no to a drink?”
“Yes, that’s a no,” she said.
“Okay.” He stood and looked down at her before saying, “See you later, Tinker Bell.”
Avery stared after him for several moments. Over the years she’d spent a lot of time by herself but for some reason alone was bigger after sharing space with Spencer Stone. Probably because he’d taken up so much of her space and now it was emptier. Plus, she felt a little guilty for speaking her mind, which was weird. The guilt, not the speaking her mind.
Even though he was the same type as her first love, it wasn’t fair to cast him in the same mold as the guy who’d gotten her pregnant and then joined the army to avoid her and any responsibility for his child. She wasn’t normally a person who judged someone else based on rumors, hearsay and innuendo. But she had a weakness for guys like Spencer Stone and in her experience it didn’t end well. Avoiding him altogether was the wisest course of action.
Fixing hearts might be his medical specialty, and by all accounts he was very good at it. But he was also good at breaking them—and she wasn’t about to make hers an easy target.
It was a perfect evening for a wedding, but Spencer Stone was incredibly grateful he wasn’t the one getting married. He held beating hearts in his hands and performed life and death procedures every day without breaking a sweat but the pressure of committing to another person forever made him want to poke a sharp stick in his eye.
But if Nick was determined to go through with it at least Mother Nature had given him perfect weather. April in Las Vegas was worth tolerating summer months when the temperature was hotter than the face of the sun. In the groom’s backyard the air was somewhere in the low seventies. A sky with wisps of clouds was changing from blue to brilliant shades of orange, pink and purple as day faded to twilight. He supposed it was romantic if one was into that sort of thing.
Not his job right now. He was standing in the groom’s backyard doing his best man duties. Several years ago he and Nick had met in the doctors’ dining room at Mercy Medical Center and hit it off right away. Spencer had missed the first wedding because it had all happened so fast, but he hadn’t missed the changes in his friend when the marriage fell apart. As if Spencer hadn’t already been overthinking commitment, the negative impact on Nick from that experience really gave Spencer pause.
But now his buddy was tying the knot again with the same woman. And having a baby. It all looked perfect and Spencer envied them. He wasn’t brave enough or dumb enough to take the step unless he knew it was the absolute right thing to do. In his life mistakes, both professional and personal, weren’t allowed.
Nick stood beside him under a flower-covered arbor that had been set up and decorated for the