Page 11 of Fighting Mr. Knight

The injustice.

I free myself from the hard wall of muscle.

“Bonnie is paired with Jack for the wedding,” Sean explains to the wider group who“ooh”and“ah”with pleasantries.

I see some looks of recognition and I awkwardly try to hide myFriendsjumperwith my arms.

That’s poor dumped bridesmaid Bonnie,their faces say.How hard must this be to watch her best friend get married? And the best man is the man who left her? It’s like a Jerry Springer episode!

My face heats.

“Which means I’m the second luckiest guy in the wedding, after Sean of course,” a deep voice says beside me.

“Lucky guy, indeed,” Kate’s creepy uncle Dom says, staring freely at my breasts. “Be sure to save me a dance, Bunny.”

Ugh.

“I’mpaired with Uncle Jack,” Poppy wails, stamping her feet. “I’m marrying Uncle Jack. Not her!”

“And you’ll always be my favourite, sweetheart.”

He’stalking to Poppy.

Obviously.

But when I glance up, Jack’s staring directly at me.

4

Bonnie

For two hours, I play the role of a dutiful bridesmaid. I laugh at Sean’s mum’s unfunny stories and I pretend not to notice Uncle Dom staring at my tits.

Fortunately, Jack took a call before Max could go into any more details about our CVs. Jack’s mum and sisters are nice, so I guess I can’t tarnish them all with the same brush. His twin sisters are closer to my age, thirty at a guess, and pretty chatty. The flower girl, Poppy, one of the twins’ daughters, seems to rule the roost.

Kate offers to show us our rooms so that we can finally freshen up.

“Holy shit.” My voice echoes as we ascend the grand staircase. “It’s the English equivalent ofThe Shining.”

An explosion of paintings with people from centuries past stare down at us like an eerie dead audience.

“According to the website, these poor souls were murdered by the knight and still roam the castle. Legend has it if you look at them too long, you’re beckoning them from the other side,” I deadpan.

“What?” Nisha grabs my arm. “I don’t believe this shit, but I can’t unhear that now.”

“People have reported that they woke up in the middle of the night to find the knight watching them sleep.” I bite back laughter.

“Will you stop being an asshole?” Nisha hisses, stopping sharply. “I’ll be standing in the shower feeling like dead people are watching me instead of enjoying the billionaire bar of soap. If I hear noises, I’m gonna jump out the window. Next time we’re going to Ibiza.”

“Don’t worry.” Kate laughs. “Any loud moans or lights flickering will be the living Knight banging the bedposts. Did you know thatMichelle Allardis coming to the wedding?”

“The supermodel?” My eyes widen. “I didn’t realise he’s seeing her.”

“Uh-huh.” Kate smiles conspiratorially. “I don’t know how serious it is, but he must like her as he hand-picked her last year to be the Lexington hotel ambassador.”

I nod, remembering I had seen her in an ad for the hotel chain, and then I gawk up at the crucifix greeting us on the wall at the top of the staircase. “He might burst into flames if he gets up to anything naughty here.”

“You’ll know, Bonnie.” Kate smirks at me. “You’re staying in the room next to him.”

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