Chapter Fifteen #2
Cheri led Anna back downstairs. They snagged a bridesmaid who was made up to look more like a victim in a virgin horror flick than an attendant in a military wedding. “Kaci’s in room 254,” Cheri said with the same inflection she might’ve given to a weather report. “She’ll be down in a minute.”
The girl scurried off toward Kaci’s momma.
Even though the matriarch wasn’t in sight, Anna knew she was that direction because of the flood of teary-eyed girls heading away from her.
Cheri flashed a dimple. “Still gotta watch out for my little brother.” They entered the ballroom, where most of the chairs were occupied for the ceremony.
Exactly the same as they had been for Jules and Brad’s wedding.
She sent a silent prayer to Kaci’s daddy that this one ended better for all involved.
Cheri gestured behind the door. “Here you go.”
Jackson stood at ease, waiting. He cocked a brow at Anna. “Any other problems?” His lips did their telltale twitching in the corners.
“Nope. You?”
“Let Lance have a go with him. The good professor’s promised to be civilized.”
Anna felt her jaw hang.
Jackson chuckled and offered her his arm. “Sometimes, Anna Grace, us menfolk know what we’re doing.”
“But only sometimes.”
“Nah.” His eyes crinkled. “Most of the time.”
The wedding went off without a hitch, thanks, Anna was sure, to Jackson’s insistence that they flank Dr. Kelly while he watched his ex-wife marry her new love.
And as far as she could tell, it took only one little throat-clearing from Jackson to keep Dr. Kelly in his seat when the justice of the peace asked if anyone objected.
When the bride and groom finished their vows, Dr. Kelly headed for the door.
Jackson followed, but was back beside Anna before the couple finished their first kiss.
Anna lifted an eyebrow.
Jackson nodded.
So that was that. No more ex-husband wedding crashers.
Once the wedding party departed the room, the guests were ushered out into the hallway for the open bar while the hotel staff set up the ballroom for dinner.
Jackson got sucked into a discussion with a couple of captains who worked for him, but he gave her a smile that promised she’d have his attention soon enough.
She wandered through the crowd talking with friends.
Lance had invited everyone in the CGOA, and Kaci had invited the entire physics department and half of the other departments on campus.
Because, she’d said, if her mother was paying for a party, then by golly, they were having a party.
And it was definitely a party. By the time dinner was announced, Anna had relaxed enough to have forgotten her bad memories of The Harrington.
But then she sat down at her assigned seat.
And found a face from her own past smiling hesitantly at her. Slightly crooked teeth, medals just this side of off-center, wary guilt in his eyes.
She couldn’t stifle a surprised gasp. Her heart pounded, then spun as though her chest were in a centrifuge. Her fingers and toes iced as if they’d been dipped in liquid nitrogen. Her breathing went shallow and rapid.
He wasn’t supposed to text her.
He wasn’t supposed to email her.
And he sure as hell wasn’t supposed to show up here, where he’d publicly dumped her then left her, and sit there smiling at her like he was stupid enough to think she’d consider smiling back.
Her blood pulsed in her head, thrumming and swirling and crashing through her veins until it was louder than the din of the wedding guests around them.
If he ruined this wedding, she’d dip his extremities in liquid nitrogen, chop them off, and shoot them up on a firecracker.
She leaned back and folded her arms to block the view of her rapidly rising and falling chest.
Not all his extremities.
Just one.
Neil’s smile faltered faster than his iPod had sunk in Kaci’s pool. “Hey, Anna.”
As if he were supposed to be here.
As if they were friends.
As if he was an idiot.
Anna could’ve asked him a million things. Why he was here? Who helped him get in? How had he arranged to be at her assigned table? What in hell did he hope to accomplish?
Instead, she pointed to the door. “Leave.”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She looked to her left, and found Jackson watching her two tables over. His gaze flicked to Neil, then back to Anna. “Okay?” he mouthed. He looked as disappointed as Radish did upon being denied fried chicken.
The spinning in her chest stopped and a fire licked up in its place. She glared at Neil again. “What would your mother say if she knew you’d crashed a wedding?” she hissed.
Neil’s cheek twitched. “My mother? What does she have to do with anything?”
Anna stood so fast her chair tipped. She snatched her place tag and pointed at Neil with it. “Southern hospitality might dictate you’re welcome to stay, but I’m not Southern, and you need to get the hell out of here. You are not ruining this wedding too.”
“Maybe we could—”
“Excuse me, Anna Grace.” Jackson was suddenly beside her, his drawl bordering on dumb redneck. “Wondering if you might do me a favor and switch places.”
Her eyes darted between her ex-husband and the man she’d hoped to strip out of his uniform tonight.
Neil’s brows dipped in the pouty-disappointed look he used to get when it was her turn to pick the movie for date night.
Jackson stayed cool and calm and Jackson-like.
She finally settled her gaze on him. “I—”
“Don’t need any help,” he finished. He put his hand at the small of her back and nudged. Go on, his gaze said. Cool your jets and take it outside later.
Great. Now he’d do the man thing with her ex-husband.
Jackson’s lips quirked up. Just a smidge, right there in the corner.
The room was growing quieter and people were starting to notice. She lifted her chin and headed for Jackson’s seat. Kaci and Lance were laughing with Cheri. Kaci’s momma was adjusting the straps on the dress of a junior bridesmaid. They hadn’t noticed. Maybe this reception was salvageable.
If Jackson and Neil both survived sharing a meal.
Anna’s new seat was between two of Lance’s cousins.
They had almost as many stories about their misspent youths as Kaci did about hers.
Still, it wasn’t enough to distract her.
And when dinner ended and the cake was cut and the toasts done—without any overtly awkward moments this time—Neil dropped into the seat Lance’s cousin abandoned.
“Listen, Anna, can we talk?”
She stood. “Nope.” Jackson was still at the other table, nodding politely to one of Kaci’s older female relatives, but she knew he was watching.
Waiting to be asked to help, she supposed.
And she couldn’t decide if she appreciated it or not.
“I’m sorry you’re upset,” Neil said. “If you’d give me a minute—”
She didn’t let him finish. She was too busy walking away.
Kaci and Lance were on the dance floor, happy and blissful. She hoped they stayed that way for many, many years.
She herself would’ve been satisfied with just being happy. But Neil was following her, so she went the one place he wouldn’t follow.
Not in uniform, anyway.
Five minutes later, Cheri joined her in the bathroom. “From Jackson.” She handed Anna a margarita. “And I introduced your friend to three of the bridesmaids, so he’s currently occupied if you want to come out.”
“I’m not hiding,” she said. “I’m avoiding making a scene.”
Cheri laughed. “Too bad. C’mon. I’ve got lots of practice being a wingman. You’ve earned a nice time tonight.”
She and Cheri returned to the ballroom. On one corner of the dance floor, Neil had his own fan club. He was slow-dancing with two women while three more giggled and watched. He looked as happy as if he were being pecked to death by a couple of loons. “You’re good,” Anna said.
“Have to be.” Cheri flashed a cheeky grin. “Now let’s have a party.”