“Liar. You’ve danced with almost every man here. Speaking of which, who knew Butch Benoit could dance like that?”
“His mother was a ballroom dance instructor.”
“How do you know?”
Lauren shrugged. “No idea. Must have heard it somewhere. Did you try the ambrosia salad? It’s amazing.”
“Stop trying to distract me with food. You’re not changing the subject.”
“Fine. I’m pretty sure I heard Butch’s mom was a dance teacher from—”
“You are going to dance with Ryan before this party ends. I don’t care if I have to stand on a chair and announce to everybody that he has to dance with you.”
“If you do that, I’ll go to the library on Tuesday and check out every Nicholas Sparks book you have and not bring them back so you’ll have to tell everybody you don’t have any of his books. Forever.”
“You wouldn’t.”
Lauren smiled over the rim of her champagne glass. “Oh, I would.”
“Fine. But you’ll be sorry you spent all that money if you don’t at least dance with him.”
“I bought the underwear and the dress for me, you know.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Enjoying the party?” Rose was standing right behind them and they both jumped.
Lauren hoped she wasn’t blushing as hotly as it felt like she was. The woman was practically a mother to Ryan and if she’d overheard their conversation, Lauren would just melt into a puddle of humiliation on the grass.
“We’re having a great time,” Hailey said, which was good since Lauren’s voice didn’t seem to work at that moment.
“Good. They’ll be cutting the cake soon.” Rose smiled. “And then Paige will be tossing her bouquet. I hope one of you girls catches it.”
Lauren thought it would be hard to catch the flowers with her hands clasped behind her back, but she didn’t say so. She wanted no part of the bridal bouquet. And neither did Katie, who had come up behind her mother, judging by her expression.
After Rose reached between them to grab a few crackers and then wandered off, Lauren slapped Hailey in the arm. “Thanks a lot.”
“She wasn’t there long enough to hear anything good.”
“Neither was I,” Katie said, stepping closer. “What did I miss?”
“Lauren’s being a chickenshit and won’t ask Ryan to dance.”
Katie looked her up and down, then shook her head. “Total waste of that dress if you don’t.”
Lauren returned the look. Katie looked nice, if unremarkable, in a skirt-and-jacket set that was a little too big. If Lauren had to guess, she’d say it was something pulled out of Rose’s closet. “I haven’t seen you dancing with Josh.”
Katie scoffed, but the color in her cheeks gave her away. “Please. I can barely walk in these shoes, never mind dance.”
“You’re wearing flats,” Hailey pointed out.
“And they’re slippery in the grass. I tried to get to the French onion dip before little Brian could double-dip his carrot stick and almost ended up on my ass.”
“You’re both chickenshit,” Hailey declared. “Now come on, I want a good view of the cake cutting.”
Hailey pulled her forward and she shouldn’t have been surprised when they ended up only a few feet from Ryan, who was talking to Sean and Kevin. She wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but she was so close that she really couldn’t help it.
“I haven’t seen Liz for a while,” Sean was saying. “She’s going to miss the cake.”
“I haven’t seen Drew, either.” That was Ryan. “Joey and Danny were looking for him because they made a sign to cover the back window of Paige’s car, but Lisa wants them to make sure Mitch won’t get a ticket because it blocks the whole back window.”
“Drew and Liz are both missing, huh?” Kevin asked, and the suggestion was obvious in his voice.
“Don’t even think about it,” Ryan said. “Drew’s Mitch’s best friend. He knows if he messed with his little sister, Mitch would break him in half. Drew might have gotten called away for an emergency or something.”
Ryan turned around, probably to look for Liz, and Lauren froze when his gaze fell on her instead. She felt like an idiot, standing there staring at him with the glass of champagne halfway to her mouth, but the look in his eyes seemed to hold her and not let go.
The man was not impervious to the dress, that much was obvious. With the way he was looking at her, she was surprised the fabric didn’t spontaneously combust, and she shivered all the way to the tips of her shoes.
He crossed the space between them in a couple of steps. “You look beautiful tonight. Are you having a good time?”
“Thank you. And I’m having a great time. Your family knows how to throw a party.”
“I hear the champagne’s really good.” He nodded at the glass in her hand.
“It’s not only really good, but there’s a lot of it. And somebody keeps refilling my glass when I’m not looking.”
His grin made all the nerve endings in her body sizzle. “Don’t do anything you don’t want showing up on Steph’s Facebook account.”