Page 17 of One Night Only
He shrugs, taking a healthy sip from one of the glasses. “It’s a wedding.”
It’s a disaster. The potential to be one anyway.
I shift uneasily in my chair, watching the other tables fill up with guests. There’s a reason one-night stands are one-night stands. You’re not supposed to see each other again and, beyond a bit of small talk in the morning or the occasional booty call after, it’s worked pretty well for me. No messy emotions. No tangled threads.
This? This right here? A thread. A whole big yarn of it. And the last thing I need him to do is get himself drunk and broadcast what happened to all his friends and family. The family Annie wants so desperately to impress.
I take a long gulp from the water glass in front of me, only to choke on it as an elderly woman with heavy gold earrings sits to my right.
“Hello.” I smile. “I’m Sarah. Annie’s maid of honor.”
She gives me a brief nod and pushes the restaurant cutlery to one side, replacing it with a set from her purse.
Okay.
“I just flew in this morning,” I try, doing my best not to stare as she does the same with her water glass.
“Speak up,” Declan says in a low voice beside me.
“What?”
“My great aunt Eileen. She’s pretty deaf.”
I glance at him in surprise, but his attention is on the bread basket before us. I watch as he chooses two slices and adds one to my plate.
“I’m Sarah,” I repeat in a loud voice. “Annie’s maid of honor.”
The woman gives me a startled look. “Yes, I heard you the first time,” she says in normal tones before moving one chair away, sliding her knife and fork over with her. Declan gives a barely concealed snort beside me.
“That’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny. Oh relax,” he adds when I glare at him. “Aunt Eileen hates everyone. And from the look of Mam’s rejigged seating arrangement, there’s no one at this table you need to impress. Trust me.”
I don’t trust him at all.
I turn to the waitress as she reaches over to pour me a glass of wine. “You can leave the bottle. Thank you.”
Declan watches as I help myself to a generous amount. “That bad, huh?”
“I’m just catching up with you.”
“Well, you’re going to need a lot more than that,” he says, suddenly cheerful. “Uncle Trevor!”
A chinless man in an expensive-looking suit frowns at Declan as he takes a seat across from us.
“Which one are you?” he asks.
“Gerry’s youngest.”
“I thought you were in New York.”
“I’m visiting. My brother’s getting married, I don’t know if you heard.”
He grunts in response. “You got yourself a proper job yet?”
“I’ve got several,” Declan says ignoring my pointed look. It’s like he’s trying to rile the man up on purpose.
“You can’t rely on Harry’s charity for the rest of your life,” he warns. “You need security. You need to be able to provide for when you have a family. For when you have children.”
