The Wedding Trap (Second Service #1)(9)
Author: Adrienne Bell

"What about Spencer?"

Isobel’s expression turned serious. Nothing sucked the air out of the room like mentioning Spencer.

"I don’t know why you spend so much time worrying about what Spencer thinks. I sure as hell don’t, and he’s about to become family."

Beth went to the sink and looked in the mirror. She combed her fingers through her hair, smoothing out an invisible tangle. "I just do. I just want to have a small moment where I get the better of him. It doesn’t have to be big."

Isobel came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Well, give up on that dream. It isn’t going to happen. It would mean that Spencer would have to see his own flaws, and men like him just don’t do that. It just isn’t in him. It’s some male defense mechanism, I guess. You’re just going to have to write him down in the mistake column of your life, and console yourself with the fact that you are a thousand times better than him, whether he ever sees it or not."

Beth looked up at Isobel’s reflection in the mirror. It was a nice speech, one she would have benefitted from hearing two hours ago, before her life had tipped upside down.

"But you can do all that after the wedding," Isobel said. "First, hit the hell out of that Charlie out there all weekend long. Do it for those of us who can’t."

"Isobel!"

"What, I’m getting married. I’m not dead."

Isobel turned Beth around and pulled her into a hug. A moment later, the bathroom door swung open and Isobel’s mother walked in.

Mrs. Munoz was every bit as graceful as her daughter. It was easy to see where Isobel got it from. Beth had spent so much time at the woman’s house growing up, she’d come to think of Mrs. Munoz as a second mother, one who cooked spicier food and didn’t complain about how Beth was wearing her hair.

"Is everything all right?" she asked when she saw the pair hugging and the tears in Beth’s eyes.

"Of course," Beth said, wiping them away.

"Beth starts crying every time I mention the wedding," Isobel said, covering for her. "She promises that she won’t do it during the ceremony, but I wouldn’t put money on it."

"Neither would I," Mrs. Munoz said.

***

Charlie wasn’t at the table when Beth got back from the ladies room. She looked around the restaurant, but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Her heart hitched in her chest. Maybe he’d run off. Maybe this had all been part of some sick game he was playing, getting her hopes up and then ditching her.

Or maybe he was breaking into more cars. Or rooms. Maybe she was better off not knowing what he was doing.

Or maybe, just maybe, he’d gone off to the bathroom.

“Charlie said he had to run an errand," Mr. Munoz said when Beth sat back down in her seat. His vague answer wasn’t terribly reassuring.

One by one, people starting leaving. It was starting to get late. But for some reason, the thought of going up to her room didn’t sound appealing. There was too much going on in her head for her to sit up in bed, waiting for a knock on the door. She didn’t even want to think about how she was going to sleep with a stranger so close. Was he planning on sleeping on the chair, or did he expect her to give up half the bed?

After her conversation with Isobel in the bathroom, Beth wasn’t entirely sure which one she wanted.

What she needed was a little courage, a little determination. So, she headed toward the bar instead of the elevator.

Isobel and Jordan passed her on their way out. They looked so sweet together. Isobel’s arm was tucked around Jordan’s side. When they stopped, Jordan tilted his head down on top of hers. Beth couldn’t help but smile. They were good together.

"Are you going to be all right on your own?" Isobel asked. There was a world of meaning behind her concerned look.

"Yeah. I’m pretty sure that I can manage the 10 p.m. lounge crowd by myself," Beth said.

"That’s not what I meant."

"I know. I’m good."

Isobel gave her another intense look. "Are you sure?"

"I promise." Beth shook her head and tried to laugh but it came out a stuttered sigh. "Take her to bed, Jordan."

"Will do," he said, starting to lead Isobel away. He stopped after a few steps and turned back. "Oh, Beth."

"Yeah?"

"I really like Charlie. I’m glad he could finally make it to something."

Beth forced the smile to stay on her face until Isobel and Jordan disappeared inside the elevator. Then her shoulders slumped, and she sighed for real.

She went to the lounge, and found a small table tucked into a corner. It was swallowed by shadow, the lights from the bar barely reaching it. The darkness suited her mood perfectly.

It took the waitress a few minutes to notice her.

"I’ll have a Cosmopolitan,” Beth said, when she finally came to take her order.

"And a soda water,” a deep voice said behind the waitress. Charlie stepped into view. "I hope you don’t mind if I join you.”

He pulled off his jacket and slung it over the back of the chair before he sat down.

Apparently it wasn’t a question.

"Go right ahead," she said. If he noticed the sarcasm in her voice, he didn’t show it. "Did you get your errand done?"

He nodded.

Beth considered probing further, but decided against it. Maybe with something like this it would be better to have plausible deniability. Wasn’t that what they called it in the movies?

"Good for you," she said.

He looked at her but said nothing. The silence stretched on and on. Beth glanced down at her hands, then to the other tables in the lounge. Finally, she looked at the bar. She could feel Charlie’s gaze on her, and as much as she didn’t want to admit it, he was making her nervous. It felt as if he was looking inside her, studying her.

"So," he said after an interminable minute had passed. "Talk to me about Charlie."

Beth turned back to him, her eyes wide. "I thought you didn’t need to know anything. You’ve been playing him all evening."

"Not those details. Tell me how you came up with him."

Beth didn’t miss the command in his voice. He was a man used to asking questions and getting answers. For a second she thought of tossing off some flip remark, but then thought better of it. This day had drained the fight out of her.

"I first came up with Charlie when I was in the seventh grade."

His brows shot up, and Beth felt a little thrill of accomplishment. She wouldn’t have guessed that there was much in this world that still managed to surprise him.

"Billy Demers asked Hailey Cranston to the spring dance instead of me. I didn’t want anyone to know how upset I was, so invented Charlie. I told Hailey it didn’t matter because I already had a boyfriend who lived one town over."