Jenna swallowed through her suddenly very dry mouth and scrunched her face sheepishly at Katy. “Sorry.” She grabbed the bouquet. Apparently it was time for the bride to pass it off and move on with the practice ceremony.
The rustle of fabric told Jenna everyone was moving, and she glanced behind her to see the other two bridesmaids had shifted toward the center, facing the bride and groom now instead of the minister. Right…
Jenna mimicked the action, holding the gaudy flounce of bows up a bit higher than necessary to attempt to cover her splotchy chest.
And the damn man still stared at her. Now he seemed to be laughing inside. His eyes were lit with mirth, and his smile broadened.
Jenna was completely, irrevocably flustered, and the bastard knew it. In fact, he relished it. Damn him. He stood there completely at ease, his form perfectly in line with the other groomsmen.
She knew he enjoyed her squirming mess of nerves far too much to pay any more attention to the mock service than she was, but he managed to keep himself from appearing to be a total idiot.
Damn him again. They’d never met, and already she wanted to slap him and run from the room for being so…fucking sexy and distracting. Didn’t matter a bit it wasn’t his fault she reacted to him so strongly. She still wanted to punch him.
Since he’d chosen to stare her down, she decided to return the favor and give back as good as she was receiving. Why should she be the only one feeling flustered from the weirdest standoff in history?
Jenna caught his eye and matched his gaze. She tried to stand still and keep from fidgeting. Relax your shoulders. She knew they were hunched, in part to hold on to the bouquet higher. Breathe. In. Out. Slow the fuck down. Her blood pressure had to be the highest ever, and her heart beat at a pace that couldn’t be safe.
All Jenna managed to do was drop the fake bouquet, which tumbled down the three steps and landed at the beginning of the aisle. “Shit,” she muttered before she could filter herself and keep the expletive from escaping. She whipped her gaze up and decided no one heard her before she quickly crept down the steps and grabbed the wad of ribbon.
When she resumed her spot, she found Mason biting his lip, his eyebrows raised in question.
Glad I can be of such comedic relief for someone. She blew out a deep breath and turned toward the minister, intent on paying attention for the rest of the rehearsal.
What had to have been less than twenty minutes seemed to go on for hours before the bride and groom finally took each other’s hands and headed down the aisle.
Jenna almost fell down the three steps when it dawned on her she would need to take Mason’s arm now and follow the happy couple.
“You okay?” he muttered toward her as she grabbed his arm tighter than necessary. He grinned and then chuckled.
“Fine.” Her voice squeaked. That one word sounded too high-pitched and sharp. She swallowed and tried again. “You must be Mason.”
“Indeed. Last time I checked my driver’s license. And you must be Jenna.” He said her name as though he were making love to her as they walked. It rolled off his tongue sensually with more syllables than the two it warranted. Or maybe she dreamed that part.
Jenna gripped his arm tighter, completely aware she was hanging on to his bare warm skin and not layers of dress clothes. She didn’t doubt she would leave marks from her fingernails, and she didn’t care. It was his fault for making her all flustered. He deserved to be marked.
She was impressed he knew who she was. Men weren’t known for sharing all the details of which bridesmaid they would be paired up with. Then again, Rafe wasn’t like most men. She could imagine him making sure his friends were all armed with the details. He seemed…obsessive-compulsive.
Jenna had only met Rafe a handful of times. She didn’t know him well, but she did find him to be a combination of high-handed and doting. She’d never been able to put her finger on it, but something about him was different. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him. On the contrary, she thought he was a marvelous choice for Katy. He clearly adored her and thought she hung the moon. But at the same time, he seemed to have changed Katy in some way. The woman catered to him more than Jenna ever pictured her friend doing with any man.
Mason jerked her from her thoughts as they exited the sanctuary. “You can let go now…if you want.”
Jenna yanked her hand free of his bicep. “Sorry.” She took several paces to one side to separate herself from the aura that surrounded the huge man and then turned and fled the room without glancing back.
She beelined for the restroom, ducked into a stall, and locked the door. Holy shit. Her breathing came out in heavy gasps as though she’d been running instead of standing still for half an hour at the altar. Sweat beaded on her temple, and her knees threatened to buckle. Maybe she had a fever.