The Wedding Trap (Second Service #1)(30)
Author: Adrienne Bell

Over the last half hour, she’d made a game out of guessing which was which. Some were easy, like the single men who had been there since the beginning. She didn’t know many men that would placidly sit in a flower garden for the better part of an hour when their girlfriends were making them, let alone by themselves. Right now there were two of them.

There were a few couples, but it was easy to tell which were fakes. No snuggling. No kissing. Nothing in their physical demeanor that indicated a genuine connection.

A few people had come and gone, taking a quick gawk at the view, or the wedding party, maybe inspecting a bloom or two. Those had been the only ones that had provided any kind of challenge.

Maybe she should have been more vigilant, keeping an eye out for the people who wanted her dead instead of playing games with the good guys, but she couldn’t quite manage to keep her guard up after the long day.

Besides, Alex seemed vigilant enough for both of them. He’d insisted on staying close during the rehearsal, so he was seated in the front row of folding chairs. If anyone cared, they were tactful enough to keep their mouths shut.

The priest was going through the motions, telling the wedding party where to stand, what to say, where to go. Beth’s job was easy. All she had to do was stand at the front of the line of bridesmaids, pretend to hold a bouquet of flowers, and ignore Spencer glaring at her.

After another ten minutes, it was over. Just in time. Beth’s stomach was starting to grumble. The party broke up, agreeing to meet back at the restaurant in fifteen minutes for the rehearsal dinner.

Beth kissed Isobel on the cheek and went to Alex’s side, earning the stink eye from her mother.

"Beth," her mother snapped.

"I’ll just be a second," she said, rolling her eyes. She shouldn’t have bothered. Alex followed her over. Her mother gave them both a disgusted look.

"I don’t know why you insist on continuing with this disgusting charade, Beth. You have to know that all you’re doing is embarrassing yourself," she said, apparently not caring that Alex was right there.

"And I don’t know why you insist on believing the worst about me, Mother," Beth shot back. It was easier to be brave with Alex next to her. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do after he was gone. She didn’t want to think about it. Not yet.

"Because it’s usually true," her mother said.

Beth thought that after a lifetime of verbal slaps to the face from her mother that she would be used to the sting. She wasn’t.

“I’ll see you at dinner, Mom,” Beth said, turning away.

Alex kept pace with her as she marched away. He didn’t say a word. After a few steps, he reached down and took her hand. Just like a real boyfriend.

If only.

Sure, Alex had been by her side more in the last two days than anyone else in her life. He probably cared about her more than anyone else too. But, deep down inside, she knew it was because it was his job. His guilt over involving her in an international incident had kept him around.

But relationships had been built on stranger things. Hadn’t they?

Okay, maybe not. Especially not when she threw in the blackmail, the impersonation, and the death threats. Hell, the CIA was probably going to award him a medal just for surviving the weekend with her.

"Are you all right?" he asked as they rounded the corner of the hotel.

"Everything is fine," she said. Her lips were pressed together so tight that she had to force the words out.

Beth kept her mouth shut as she walked into the hotel and toward the stairs. Six flights of stairs should help get some of her pent-up aggression out.

"My mother has never been happy with me. Not once in my whole life.” She pulled away from Alex and rounded the first turn in the stairwell. "Everything I ever did was seen through the lens of what my sister, Chelsea, did before me. She got A’s, I got B’s. She got into Stanford. I got into State. She became a lawyer. I got a job in retail. She got married and had two children just as perfect as her. I…well…you know how I ended up. As far as my mother is concerned, the day I was born I was already in second place. Every day since, I’ve just become more of a disappointment."

By the time she was done ranting she had reached the top of the stairs. She was out of breath and felt a light sheen of sweat on her forehead. At least some of her anger had dissipated.

She turned to around. Alex was just behind her, looking as calm and put together as ever. Only the small smile that played at the corner of his lips gave her any clue about what he was thinking.

"You still think I’m crazy," she said, and started for the door of their room.

"No, I don’t."

“The first time we met you said your mother drove you crazy too," she said, flinging open the door. "What does she do?"

He was quiet behind her. Beth turned around. Alex’s eyes were flat.

"She drank.”

Beth stopped in the middle of pulling off her sweater.

Drank. Past tense. And Beth had the feeling it wasn’t because she’d checked into rehab.

“Oh,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

"Don’t be," he said, like it was the final word on the subject. "It was a long time ago.”

"Like that matters." She resisted the urge to rush to his side. She had the feeling that if she got too close he would freeze up. She turned and went toward the wardrobe instead. "She was your mom. Mine drives me bat-shit crazy, but if anything were to happen to her it would devastate me."

"She feels the same way about you," he said.

Beth felt a little bubble of warmth burst in her chest. Yeah, she guessed deep down she knew that. But Beth wasn’t about to let him change the subject.

"What happened to your mom?

"I was seventeen. She and I got into a fight one night after she’d been drinking. She grabbed the keys and before any of us could stop her she’d driven off and wrapped the car around a tree."

Beth froze as she was pulling down her dress. She couldn’t help it. He hadn’t used many words. He didn’t need to. She could see the scene crystal clear in her mind. He’d been a kid. His world had been turned upside down.

"You joined the Navy right after that," she said. It wasn’t a question.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"Doesn’t sound like your home had a lot of structure or discipline. You’re obviously a guy who values those things. So you found a place that had them. I may have only known you for a couple of days, but you’re a pretty easy read.”

“I know a couple of people who would disagree with you.”