Read Confessions of a Bad Bridesmaid Online
Authors: Jennifer Rae
She pulled her neck away and her hair slid through his fingertips. She turned to face him.
‘Edward...’
His eyes froze. The expression on his face froze; then it went hard.
‘I’m sorry, Olivia,’ he said quietly as his eyes turned away.
She felt the cold envelop her when his gaze left hers. He was embarrassed. Shocked that he’d done that. She could feel his mortification and it mortified her.
‘Maybe we should get to the village. Meet the others.’
Edward’s voice was rough, embarrassed, and Olivia’s whole body burned. He’d realised who he was with. He’d remembered last night.
That
was the look in his eyes. Shock, realisation, disgrace.
Olivia needed to move—to get away from Edward and his too-honest reaction. And from the awful feeling that she was beginning to feel much more for this man than she had a right to.
TEN
‘You never told
me, Will, how did you two meet?’ Edward looked at his brother. He was doing everything he could to avoid looking at Olivia.
Their walk down from the rocks had been awkward. Olivia hadn’t been able to get far enough away from him. What had made him kiss her neck he’d never know. Her skin was so silky and her voice was so sexy he hadn’t known what he was doing until it was too late. Until she’d pulled away and he’d realised he’d stepped over the line. He’d lost control. Which was not like him. She was bringing out the worst in him.
‘Actually, Olivia was going out with him first.’ Fiona’s little voice twittered.
Edward stilled. What the hell...?
‘What?’
‘No. That’s not—not right.’
Olivia was stuttering. What was she nervous about? He turned to look at her. He’d be able to tell what she was thinking if he looked at her eyes. But he couldn’t. She wasn’t looking at him.
‘I wasn’t “going out” with Will. I mean we went out. Once. But it wasn’t like he was mine. I mean, you only did it out of politeness—didn’t you, Will?’
‘You went out with Will?’
Fire throbbed in his neck. The idea of his brother’s hands on her was making him sick. He reached for his beer and sipped it, trying to look casual. Inside he was anything but casual. That silky skin, those beautiful breasts... Had his brother touched them? Edward’s shoulders ached. He was going to have to hit something. Very soon. Or, better yet, someone.
‘Yes. Once. That was how Will and Fiona met.’
Olivia’s eyes finally met his and her chin tilted up. Defiant Olivia was back.
‘You were going out with Will and he chucked you for Fiona?’
‘No.
No.
’
‘You bastard.’ Edward directed a hard look at William.
‘Settle down, mate, it wasn’t like that.’ Will held his hands up.
Edward turned back to Olivia and his knuckles whitened where his hands were clasped together. ‘Were you two together? Were you intimate?’
‘Edward—what a question! Intimate? Who talks like that?’ Will shifted in his seat. ‘No.
God
, no.’
Edward didn’t watch Will. He watched Olivia and the way her shoulders slumped when Will said, ‘
God
, no.’ Had she wanted to be intimate with Will? Did she still want him? Was that why she was dressing in short dresses and laughing so much? Was she trying to attract Will’s attention away from Fiona?
‘No! No... It was nothing, Edward! Will and I just went out for dinner. That’s all.’ Olivia looked up at him, her blue eyes glassy.
‘When was this?’ Edward asked quietly.
‘It was the night Will and Fi met. Eight months ago.’
‘Did you like him?’
Olivia coughed and glanced at Fiona, then at Will. Edward didn’t take his eyes off her. A slow, pink blush crept up her cheeks.
‘Of course I did. Will’s great.’
‘I see.’
He couldn’t look any longer; he had to turn away. Olivia wanted Will.
His
Olivia. Wait—what? Olivia wasn’t his. She didn’t belong to him. He’d just met her, and put her into bed, and kissed her neck that tasted like honey. Sweet and thick. His body went hard again. Damn thing. He wished it would settle down and do as it was told.
Edward heard Will slurp his beer. ‘What happened to you and that dolly bird you were getting about with, Ed?’
Edward glared at him.
‘You know—that woman with the hair. The perfect hair. You should have seen her, Liv. Her hair
was
perfect. Every day. Even when she’d just got out of bed. I tried to mess it up once, but it wouldn’t mess. It just fell back perfectly.’
‘Idiot,’ said Edward.
‘What happened to her? What was her name?’
‘Penelope.’
‘Penelope. Of course. Perfect Penelope. What happened?’
‘Nothing.’
‘You mean you’re still with her? Is she still perfect?’
‘Can we change the subject?’
‘OK. Sure. Let’s talk about me. Did I tell you they’re looking for a senior manager? Guess who’s in line for the job?’
Olivia couldn’t guess, and nor did she want to. She was still reeling over Perfect Penelope. Of
course
Edward had a perfect Penelope. All handsome, lovely, financially secure and mentally balanced men did. And when they had a perfect Penelope they didn’t want a Loopy Livvie. At least not for long.
The memory of Edward’s lips on her neck made her blush again. She caught him looking at her and self-consciously searched in her pocket for her lip gloss but it wasn’t there.
Damn it.
Why was he looking at her like that? His eyes were watching her as if he was trying to figure something out.
The fire they were next to was getting hot, so Olivia slipped the white jumper she had on up and over her neck. Her white T-shirt underneath came up, and when she untangled herself from the arms of the jumper she spotted Edward looking at her naked torso. Then his eyes bounced back to hers. She had to turn away. She couldn’t look at him. Not when the shame of that kiss flooded through her every time she looked at his lips or glanced at his long fingers on the tabletop.
He’d been angry at her all the way back, perhaps because he thought she was throwing herself at him. He probably liked women who waited, women who were more subtle. But Olivia’s mother had always told her she was as subtle as a fox in a chook pen. She’d never been good at hiding her emotions. It was probably why she had such bad luck with men. Maybe she should try holding back a bit more, teasing them. Ana was an expert at it and she had men flocking to her. But then Ana was six foot tall and looked like a Brazilian supermodel.
The lunch came and everyone ate silently. Olivia was glad Bunny and the others had already left. She knew Bunny would sense the tension. Then she’d tease her and Olivia would probably end up in tears. Or in a bar fight. And Olivia didn’t want to let her emotions show any more than they already had.
Edward didn’t look at her again. He was casually sipping his beer between bites—as if the kiss he’d planted on her neck earlier had meant nothing. As if he did that kind of thing all the time. He probably did. Or maybe he’d been thinking of Perfect Penelope when he’d kissed her.
Olivia stood abruptly. ‘I think I might head back.’
‘You all right, Liv?’ Fi looked up from her steak and chips. ‘You look a bit pale.’
‘I think the jet lag’s caught up.’
‘Do you want me to come with you?’
‘No, no. You stay. I’ll see you at the house.’
Before anyone else could protest she picked up her coat and left. Once outside she pulled the coat around herself, shocked for a second at the freezing wind, and put her head down to walk along the winding lane to the edge of the village.
Edward could have his Perfect Penelope. He deserved her and her perfect hair. They deserved each other. He was probably bad in bed anyway.
‘Olivia.’
Edward’s commanding voice made her stand stock still. He walked up behind her but she didn’t turn.
‘I’ll walk with you.’
Olivia didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what to say. She just waited for him to catch up, then kept walking. Edward said nothing more either. They walked in silence for a long time and the awkwardness grew. They rounded the corner and the village retreated behind them. Still they said nothing. Olivia pulled her collar up higher. The wind was getting stronger. Edward was silent next to her until she felt his hand on her arm.
‘This way.’
‘I thought the house was this way.’
‘Shortcut.’
His eyes were glowing, as if he had a secret. A smile lurked on his lips. She couldn’t help but follow him. They walked in silence for another ten minutes until they came to a very high black iron gate. The wind was blowing even more heavily and Olivia was grateful for the big puffy coat that made her look like a marshmallow man.
‘What is it? Where are we?’
‘I want to show you something.’
Edward’s voice had gone quiet. Olivia remembered what had happened the last time Edward had wanted to show her something. What was he doing? Trying to kill her?
She hesitated, shifting her eyes back to the road.
‘Olivia.’
Even through her gloves she could feel the cold of Edward’s fingers as he picked up her hand.
‘I’m sorry about before. I was just... I shouldn’t have... It won’t happen again.’
His eyes burned with sincerity. It wouldn’t happen again. A ball of disappointment dropped in her gut. Of course it wouldn’t happen again. He’d made a mistake, kissing her. She wanted to leave, go back to the house and pull the duvet over her head. But he was pulling on her fingers.
‘C’mon,’ he said, and locked his fingers together, crouching down.
‘C’mon, what?’
‘Jump.’
Olivia looked up at the locked black iron gates.
‘Are you scared?’
He had a challenging glint in his eye and sexy half-smirk on his lips. Olivia gritted her teeth against the flutterings in her stomach. She could resist him and his sexy smirk. She put one foot on his hands and jumped, clearing the gates and landing clumsily on the other side.
‘Are you all right?’ he called through the gates.
‘Yes. How are you going to get over?’
Edward found a foothold in the iron gates and started to climb. Then he jumped and fell lightly to his feet next to her.
‘Now what?’
When his fingers looped through hers the breath caught in her throat. He leaned in closer, right next to her ear, and said, ‘This way.’
They walked through what seemed like a very dense forest until they arrived at a wall of shrubs. Before them was an opening, and on either side was a tall, pale statue.
‘That one is Aesop and that’s Cupid,’ he explained. Climbing tendrils of ivy curled around their bases. ‘See here?’ He pulled her over to the statue of a cherub figure with wings, eyes closed and holding a ball of string. ‘Cupid says, “Yes, I can now close my eyes and laugh: with this thread I’ll find my way.”’ He moved her over to the other statue. It was an old man in a long cloak, holding a book. ‘But Aesop says, “Love, that slender thread, might get you lost: the slightest shock could break it.”’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Aesop represents Wisdom. Cupid thinks you can get through the maze guided by Love, but Aesop’s saying that you need Wisdom—or Love won’t last.’
‘Sounds deep.’
Edward chuckled. ‘I suppose it is a little. But when we were young we saw it as a challenge. Inside this maze are forty-nine statues. Each one represents one of Aesop’s fables. We’d bring a ball of string each and go through them all. We’d tie it to this statue and walk through. You had to figure out the meaning of each one before you could go on.’
Slowly Edward led her by the hand into the maze. The structure was still there but it had become overgrown. The hedges were growing low on the ground and some of them were growing into each other. Edward hacked at them with his hands and feet so they could get through.
The maze was beautiful. It felt as if they’d been swallowed up by it. Olivia couldn’t see out or any further ahead than the next hedge. She was glad Edward had hold of her hand or she was sure she’d get lost.
‘My string always broke. I’d lose my temper and pull it too tight.’
‘What about Will?’
‘Will would get distracted. He’d drop his string or lose it. Bunny would always run off chasing rabbits—which is how she ended up with the name Bunny. But James always made it through. Every time.’
‘James?’
‘There—look! The Cock and the Pearl.’
‘Excuse me?’
Edward smiled before pulling her up to a statue of a rooster with something round in its beak. ‘The Cock and the Pearl. It’s a fable about a rooster who was strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens when he saw something shiny in the straw. When he dug it out, it was a pearl. But he just threw it away.’
‘Why?’
‘What does a rooster want with a pearl? He’d rather have a single piece of corn than an entire string of pearls.’
Olivia looked up at him. She was sure he was trying to make a point, but she felt a little as she had when she’d been with Casper and Hugo. Confused and behind the conversation.
‘He would?’
Edward laughed and pulled on her hand again, leading her further and further into the maze. ‘Think of it this way: you could have six hundred pairs of those ridiculous boots you were wearing when I met you, but if you gave them to me I’d just throw them away.’
‘Those boots cost me five hundred dollars!’
‘But what good are they to
me
? They won’t fit, they’d be uncomfortable and I’d not have a thing to wear with them.’
She pushed his shoulder when he grinned.
‘But give me a good sturdy pair of runners and to me they’d be worth more than all your boots.’
‘So what you’re saying is one man’s trash is another man’s treasure?’
‘Sort of. I rather think it means that if someone doesn’t like you it’s a reflection on them—not you.’
He squeezed her hand and flashed a wide smile and her knees gave an involuntary wobble. Did he have to be so gorgeous?
‘What’s this one?’ she asked, trying to shake off the nervous stutter in her chest.
Edward let go of her hand and circled around the statue. ‘Ah...this one was tricky. Took us a long while to figure this one out.’
Olivia watched as he walked, his hands jammed in his pockets. He was looking up and she could see the shadow of his stubble on his face. He looked older, harder. He stood still for a moment. The muscle at his jaw worked and he seemed lost in thought. Olivia looked at the statue of a snake with its tongue out and its head up in attack. At his feet was a small boy who lay dead. She knew this one. Something about a farmer and a snake.
‘The snake bit the farmer’s son, didn’t he?’
‘Yes,’ said Edward quietly.
‘And then he bit his cattle.’
‘He bit his cattle because the farmer cut off part of his tail. In revenge for killing his son. But after his cattle were killed the farmer brought food and honey to the serpent’s lair. Told him he wanted to forgive and forget.’
‘But the serpent refused. He said that what they’d done to each other could be forgiven, but never forgotten,’ Olivia remembered.