Thunder - Willow Summers Page 0,12
traits were starting to show.
“Excuse me,” he said as Janie fell on her butt.
“Really?” Janie asked from the floor. “Get a hold of yourself, woman. If you go to the wedding acting like this, it’ll be high school all over again, and when you call me crying this time, I’ll do something that gets me sent to jail.”
“Sorry! Sorry. I know.” Madison took a deep, calming breath. “He’s just a surprise, is all. And the stain. They just threw me for a loop. I’m good.” Kinda.
“For the last time, it’s not a stain. It’s a wet patch. It’s already drying.” Janie switched on the blow dryer, yelling over the noise, “You’re going to have a lot of surprises tonight. You’ll probably see some of the same old jerk-offs that made James into an asshole in high school. You’ll see the mean bitches we used to hate. I’d tell them what you do for a living, act unaffected, and walk away. If you stay and talk, they’ll just belittle you, and you’ll start sounding like a nerd. Talk to people you don’t know.”
“How do you know all those people will be there?” Madison yelled into the suddenly quiet room right as Janie clicked off the blow dryer. A moment later, ice and liquid rattled in a shaker in the kitchen. Colton was making a drink. He’d made himself at home rather quickly.
“I’m not positive, but a bunch of his crew, including him, went to college locally. They probably stuck together so they could constantly relive the glory days in high school when they mattered.”
Madison heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of her newly untarnished dress. “Thanks, Janie. That would’ve sucked.”
“Yup.” Janie yanked the plug from the wall and headed toward the bathroom.
“Sorry about that,” Madison said, weaving through the boxes as Colton poured his martini. “And about the mess.”
“It’s no problem, really.” He put the shaker down and lifted the glass, slightly held out as though he were waiting for something.
“Oh.” Madison kept her distance from her drink, holding it at arm’s length. She clinked her glass with his. “Cheers.”
He winked, something she’d only seen people do in the movies. He must’ve practiced. And she was glad he had. It worked.
He took a sip of his drink with those very shapely, very kissable lips.
“Right.” She tore her eyes away. “I had you get here a bit early so I could brief you.”
“Great.” He shifted into a power stance, his six-foot-two frame dwarfing her tiny kitchen.
“Right,” she said again, drawing out the word and realizing this might’ve been a very big mistake. “This is my ex-boyfriend’s wedding. I—”
“How long ago did you break up?” he asked.
“Oh. About ten years, I think. Before high school ended.”
“He was your first boyfriend?”
“Yes.”
“You lost your virginity to him?”
“Yikes.” Madison reached for her drink. She’d chance the spillage.
“First love, first screw, first guy who fucked her over,” Janie supplied in a breezy tone as she walked in, taking a seat next to Madison, who was still standing. “Mind making me another one of those?”
“Of course.” Colton set down his glass and reached for the shaker with the finesse of a practiced bartender.
“No. You don’t have to do that.” Madison hurried around the island and braced a palm on his bicep.
Good God, it felt like stone. Hot, bulging stone.
She yanked her hand away and vaguely pointed a finger instead. “You don’t have to do that—you’re a guest. She’s just a lazy cow. Don’t mind her.”
“Yes, I am,” Janie agreed.
“It’s fine, really.” Colton smiled down at Madison, showing even, white teeth.
“This is never going to work,” Madison blurted into his face. “They’ll know I hired you. I’m going to make a fool of myself.”
“How are they going to know you hired him?” Janie asked, gesturing for Colton to keep making the drink.
Madison raised her eyebrows to her hairline and hooked a thumb toward Colton’s face. “Hello?” She waved her hands in front of his upper body. “Like…hello?” She ran her hand in front of her face and body. “One of these things is not like the other.”
“Isn’t she annoying?” Janie asked Colton. “She does this all the time. Her last boyfriend was a douche, with a capital D, yet she thought he was on her level.”
“You’re just mad because he dumped me,” Madison interjected. To Colton, she said, “Janie is very protective. He was fine. It just didn’t last. It was nobody’s fault.”
“He was an idiot,” Janie said as Colton measured alcohol.
“Regardless…” Madison gave her friend a