Read Online Baiting the Maid of Honor by Tessa Bailey - Free Book Online Page B

her. “Last night, when we met outside the
    restaurant, you looked stressed. Mind telling me what about?”
    She moved beside him on the path, flashing him a look. “When you made your gentlemanly hair-
    pulling offer? I nearly fainted dead away at the sweeping romance of it all.”
    “I would have caught you. By the hair, of course.” He circled his hand around her wrist, then fit
    their hands together as if it were natural for him to do so. It wasn’t, but he felt the ridiculous urge to
    put her at ease. “Still waiting on an answer.”
    Julie merely sighed. “A work meeting that morning had made me late for my flight. There was a
    big”—she waved her free hand around as she searched for the right word—“ hullabaloo over whether
    or not we should offer One-Eyed Jack at the New Orleans Saints stadium. You know, in those fancy
    air-conditioned suites? I’m sure you know the Saints are the biggest rivals of our dearly beloved
    Falcons, and Daddy doesn’t want our whiskey anywhere near them. No, sir. Thinks it’ll put a jinx on
    the Falcons.”
    Reed hid his shock. He’d known Julie came from money, but the heir to One-Eyed Jack Whiskey?
    Holy shit. He’d had no idea. Not that it changed a damn thing. “And how did you manage to straighten
    out this little hullabaloo ?”
    She smirked at him. “I told Daddy I’d have him committed if he fought me on it. Can you imagine?
    Superstition has no place in the business world.”
    “I thought all Southern girls were superstitious.”
    “Oh, I am. Within reason. I would never invite thirteen guests to a dinner party. Or eat chicken on
    New Year’s Day. It’s just plain silly to tempt fate.”
    “I see.” Reed realized he was smiling and shook his head to clear it. “So who is Serena?”
    When her hand went stiff in his, he wanted to kick himself. Based on the phone call he’d overheard,
    he knew the subject was likely a touchy one. This is why he never made small talk. They walked in
    silence for a moment, then she turned to him with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Serena was my
    older sister. She passed a few years back.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    She nodded in acknowledgment as if she’d heard the words so many times they no longer held any
    meaning. He understood that too well. Growing up, he’d heard the same words countless times in
    reference to his own mother. After she’d died, he couldn’t go anywhere without having pity leveled at
    him from every direction, from people who’d never given him the time of day before. When the
    appropriate time limit for grief over her death had passed, they’d begun issuing “sorrys” for different
    things, as if the pity were transferable. They were sorry about his shabby lifestyle, living in a trailer
    on the outskirts of town. Sorry about his father’s gambling habit. Everything under the sun. Sorry, boy.
    Again, he recalled Julie’s words to her mother. The way she’d sounded so dejected as she’d spoken
    them, as if it were far from the first time. “If Serena was the perfect one, what does that make you?”
    Julie kept walking, but the action looked involuntary. As if her legs were moving without her
    permission. “I think you’re aware I didn’t come out here with you for a heart-to-heart. Stop trying to
    make this personal. We’re not friends.”
    Maybe that’s the problem . Reed banished the unbidden thought as quickly as it appeared. This
    desire to peel back her layers, to figure out what made her run like the Energizer Bunny, unnerved and
    confused him. “You came out here with me knowing how badly I want to be inside you. There’s
    nothing more personal than that.” Jesus. Since when?
    She came to a stop, studied him. Her mask slipped just a little and he felt an answering tug in his
    chest. “Fine. Tell me how you got that horrible scar on your back and I’ll tell you why Serena was the
    perfect one. The one who never let my parents down. The one who was supposed to take over