Rory (Hope City #7) - Maryann Jordan Page 0,19

phone back into her pocket.

“Belinda’s a good girl. She’s just probably nervous and wants to make sure she gets your approval on everything.”

“Well, I’m just glad there aren’t many teacher workdays in the school year!” As they pulled into the station, she commented, “Your brother’s wedding is this weekend, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, tonight’s the rehearsal and tomorrow is the wedding.”

“I always like weddings. Especially if good food and good music are plentiful. Everybody’s happy, or at least they should be.” She cast a sideways glance toward him. “You taking a date?”

He sighed, scrubbing his hand over his face. One of his recent hookups had been near him at the pub when his group of friends toasted Sean over his upcoming wedding. He’d seen the speculative gleam in her eye, noticed her cozy up with her breasts tight against his arm, and her wide eyes staring up at him. She’d even gone so far as to suggest he should have a date for his brother’s wedding, intimating that she was going to be free. It was one of the many reasons he’d realized hooking up with someone from the Celtic Cock was not the best idea. Continuing to run into someone that he had spent the night with even after they both agreed it would only be one night was something he hated to do. Glancing to the side, he realized Shania was waiting for a response. “I thought about it, but no. I’m not dating anyone and the idea of asking a casual acquaintance and having them around my family just didn’t appeal to me.”

She barked out a laugh. “Afraid your mama would get the wrong idea?”

“Hell, you know my mom. She’d either like the girl and start wanting to plan my own wedding, or she’d ferret out that I had no interest in the girl and would be furious that I’d brought a hook-up to a family event.” Pulling into the station, he drove the ambulance straight into the bay. “It’s all good, though. Blay isn’t taking anyone either, so I won’t be the only one without a date.”

Rory leaned against the side of the church and stared across the expanse of grass in the park leading down to the Inner Harbor in the distance. The wedding was over, and as one of the groomsmen, he’d finished with his required photographs. He’d thought the photographer would never stop having them pose. Pictures of the groomsmen. Pictures of the groomsmen with Sean and Harper. Pictures of just the McBride brothers, and then the McBrides and the Kings. Family pictures. Wedding party pictures.

Those were the hardest. Somehow, it had seemed he’d been placed next to Sandy for most of those photographs. There was no doubt she was as beautiful as ever. Her thick, pale blonde hair was pulled away from her face and arranged in a loose bun near the back of her neck, with wispy, curled tendrils waving about her face. The bridesmaids were all wearing light blue dresses, and Sandy’s showed off her curves and made her blue eyes stand out even more. Her silver, heeled sandals gave her several added inches, but she was still tiny. Considering the other bridesmaids were his sisters, he tried to convince himself that was the only reason he noticed Sandy. Shaking his head, he grimaced.

He had never been able to get her parting words to him out of his mind, and sometimes at night, they rolled around in his head. You took in other people’s opinions and made them your own. Ever since the previous evening during the rehearsal and accompanying dinner when he’d had to be around her a lot, her accusations haunted him. He had always prided himself on forming his own opinions about people.

During the past months, he’d seen her occasionally at the pub, sitting at the bar with Harper and more recently with his sister, Caitlyn, and Bekki King. Always looking gorgeous. Always with a huge smile. Usually with a circle of men around her. Never with any one man, though.

The previous evening, he’d spent more time in her presence than he had in months. She was friendly to everyone although she avoided him. A whirling dervish when it came to making sure Harper had everything she needed, she’d taken her Maid of Honor duties seriously, and from what he could see, Sean and Harper lacked for nothing. She’d gotten along with the rest of the McBrides and Kings, but when her gaze turned toward him, her smile didn’t