Summer Breeze Kisses - Addison Moore Page 0,306

my neck.

“Him, that’s who. Serena, he’s your professor!”

“Yeah, well, it turns out he’s one naughty professor. There’s not one nice thing about that boy.”

“He’s a man, Serena.”

“So I’ve noticed,” I spit the words out as if it were a vile fact, and a part of me is convinced it is.

Shep breaks free from their stronghold and makes his way over.

An entire gaggle of choking noises emit from my throat. “He’s coming this way,” I hiss in the event Sunday wants to laud his manly attributes for all to hear. “Keep it down. The last thing Shep Collins needs is a stroke to his ego.”

She gives a sly glance over her shoulder. “He’s going to get stroked, all right. A man like Shep won’t make it too far into the singles’ scene looking like that.”

My stomach drops, heavy as a bowling ball. Sunday is right. Shep Collins is far too hot for his own custom Italian britches. That boy looks as if he’s about to get lucky tonight. Heck, he doesn’t just look the part. It’s etched onto him like fire over stone. About ten girls just sighed in his direction. And if you listen closely enough, you’ll hear every ovary popping in all forty-eight contiguous states. He flashes a smile, bright as lightning, and, oh hell, there go Alaska and Hawaii.

“Sunday.” Shep pulls her into a quick embrace. The scent of his spiced cologne hits me like a drug. Instantly, I’m intoxicated. I hate what a hypnotic effect cologne has on me. Sure, it depends on the host as to how viscerally I respond, but I refuse to believe that this hormonal imbalance I’m suddenly experiencing is anything other than my love for the woodsy scent. “You look stunning as usual.” He offers a quick peck to her cheek just as Trixie and Rush call her over.

“Thank you.” She does a little curtsy. “If you’ll excuse me.” She shoots me the stink eye, and I know what that look means. She thinks she’s right. She really does think I’m into him. Ha! It will be my pleasure to prove her wrong. So what if Shep and I swapped a little spit? He’s still as ornery and off-putting as ever. I am certainly not into Shepherd Collins.

“Aren’t you looking dapper today?” I suppose it would kill him to throw a compliment my way, so that makes me the bigger person.

Shep’s chest expands wide as an ocean. His eyes rake over me, doing that broken elevator thing as he takes me in. “I don’t think there are enough words in the English language to describe how you look, Serena. You are aware you’re not supposed to outshine the bride.”

My body spikes with heat, and a nervous giggle bubbles out of me for a solid minute straight. How quickly I’ve morphed into a vapid schoolgirl who just had the cute boy notice her. God, can I get any more annoying? He most likely felt compelled to say those things because he sensed how tense I was.

“Thank you, I think.” I glance down at my little black dress with a white bow cinched around my waist. It’s light and strapless, the perfect combo for an outdoor North Carolina wedding in July. Sunday and I went to the salon earlier and got our hair done together. Believe me, I needed to be pampered after having that run-in with that brute this morning. For a second, I think about bringing it up, but to be honest, the last thing I want to discuss at Sunday’s wedding is a murder investigation I’m involuntarily a part of.

A thought comes to me, a far more entertaining topic of conversation. “This old thing?” I give a sly smile his way. “I can’t help it. I always seem to be the best dressed person wherever I go.”

“Ah…” He tips his head to me, letting me know he remembers our little game well. As much as Shep and I don’t get along, there was a long stretch where we actually did. One of the things we got a kick from was playing the hell out of the humble brag game.

“And thank you as well.” He gives his lapels a quick tug. “I have a habit of being fearfully dapper on a daily basis.”

“Believe me, it doesn’t go unnoticed. But then, I have to endure my fair share of unstoppable catcalls myself.” I blow over my nails before buffing them against my chest. It’s two to one and I’m up.

Shep’s eyes connect with