Page 44 of Before You Say I Do
Seeking her out.
Their stares met in mid-air, and Jordan froze.
She wanted to shout at Abby, tell her to not be railroaded into kissing the man. Even though it meant nothing. Even though it was just a bit of fun.
“Loosen up!” Gloria had said.
Jordan wanted to leap over the white leather low-slung couch in front of her, push the man aside and shield Abby from what was about to happen.
But she couldn’t. Instead, she gave Abby a tepid smile, and then a thumbs-up.
A thumbs-up? Really? Was she 12?
Seconds later, Abby leaned in and kissed the man on the cheek.
Delta shook her head, and held onto both Abby’s and the man’s arms. Erin and Nikita leaned in too. More discussion.
Then Abby shook her head, pulled her arm away, and almost ran up the four steps to their booth, not looking back. Just as she was about to make it to the top, she wobbled and fell sideways.
Jordan dropped to her knees as Abby righted herself, a frown creasing her face. One hand grasped her ankle as she sat up.
“You okay? What happened?”
Abby winced, shaking her head. “I think my heel broke.” She took off her cream heel and held it up. Sure enough, the heel was barely connected, flapping as she waggled it from side to side. She rubbed her side where she’d fallen. “Plus, that really fucking hurt.”
“Can you move your arm?”
Abby did so, wincing again. “It’s fine. It’s more my ankle. I don’t want it to be buggered for the rest of the weekend.”
Jordan put a hand under Abby’s armpit, helping her to a seat, just as Delta, Gloria, Nikita, and Erin arrived at the booth.
“What the fuck happened?” Delta’s face was stricken.
“My heel broke and I fell.” Abby leaned over and felt her ankle. She massaged it, then winced again. “It’s not broken, but I think I might head back.”
“Nooooo!” Delta said “We were just getting started. Plus, we’ve put in a whole load of requests for you.”
Abby glanced up. “For music or men to snog?”
Delta grinned. “A bit of both.”
“Just because I’m going home doesn’t mean you all have to. You can dance to all my records and you can share the men out among you. You’ll probably appreciate them more.”
“Nonsense!” Gloria said. “It’s your hen weekend. If you’re going, we all go.”
“And as your hen, I insist you stay put. Dance a little.” Abby nodded towards the bottle of booze. “If nothing else, we have vodka to drink and champagne ordered. So finish that, dance, then come home.” Abby glanced at Jordan. “You can take me home, then send the driver back for the rest, right?”
Jordan nodded. “Of course. Whatever you want.”
Abby gave a firm nod. “That’s settled then. Now, who’s going to help me up?”
Chapter 18
Abby wincedas she hobbled out of the cab and up the path to the villa’s front door. In all honesty, she wasn’t in quite as much pain as she’d made out, but it had seemed like a good ruse to escape having to kiss any more men. Particularly when Delta had deemed kissing them on the cheek “not really kissing”. Abby was glad to be back at the villa. She was especially glad to be here with Jordan, who was the polar opposite of the rest of her hens: calm, considered, and sober.
As they walked onto the terrace, Abby glanced at Jordan. “You know you said you’d do anything for me this weekend?”
Jordan nodded slowly.
