Read Online Best Man's Conquest by Michelle Celmer - Free Book Online

ducked away from Ivy and shot him a look.
    â€œIt was an accident. And the doctor at the clinic said the swelling should be down in time for the wedding.”
    â€œYou had to see a doctor?”
    Deidre nodded. “I needed three stitches.”
    Why did it have to happen this week? It was just one more thing to put a damper on the most important day of Deidre’s life.
    â€œWho did this to you?” Dillon asked, and Ivy jolted at the sound of his voice. She hadn’t even realized he’d followed her.
    â€œDale’s girlfriend,” Blake all but spat out. “She swung her club and lost her grip. It went flying and pegged Deidre in the head.”
    â€œBut it was an accident,” Deidre said with a forced cheeriness that wasn’t fooling anyone. “Believe me, her aim is not that good. She can barely hit a ball much less a person standing fifteen feet behind her.”
    Dillon looked from Deidre to Blake. “Which one is Dale’s girlfriend? Tweedle Dum or Tweedle Dee?”
    Blake shrugged. “Who knows. I can’t tell them apart. When it happened, I was more concerned with stopping the bleeding than figuring out who was at fault.”
    The only thing concerning Ivy was Deidre’s pasty-white pallor and the dark circles under her eyes. The way she clung to Blake’s arm, as though without him there she might topple over.
    Dillon’s eyes mirrored Ivy’s concern. “May be you should go back to the villa and lay down for a while.”
    â€œNo! I refuse to spend the week of my wedding in bed feeling sorry for myself.” Deidre sounded awfully close to tears, and Ivy had the distinct feeling there was more to this than she was admitting. “I don’t want to talk about my head anymore.”
    Blake looked curiously between Ivy and Dillon. “So, what are you guys up to?”
    What he really meant was, what were they doing together.
    â€œWe were shopping and we bumped into each other,” Ivy said, shooting Dillon a look that said she knew damn well their meeting had been no accident. And if he said one word about what had happened, he would die a very slow, agonizing death.
    He just smiled. “That’s right, and I was just about to invite Ivy to lunch.”
    â€œPerfect!” Deidre gushed, perking up instantly. “We were looking for somewhere to eat.” She wove an arm through Ivy’s and clamped down. Hard. “We can all eat together.”
    The death grip on Ivy’s arm said very clearly that this was not a matter of choice. Ivy was going, even if Deidre had to drag her there.
    Seeing there was no way to get out of this without making a scene, and making matters worse in the process, Ivy plastered a smile on her face and said, “Great. Let’s eat.”
    Â 
    The second they were shown to a table inside the bustling, noisy café, Deidre said something about needing to freshen up, then dragged Ivy with her to the ladies’ room. Her grip on Ivy’s arm was so tight she was cutting off the circulation. When they were safely inside with the door shut Deidre finally let go.
    Ivy shook the blood back into her tingling fingers. “All right, what’s going on?”
    â€œI hate them,” Deidre spat with a ferocity that was completely unlike her. Angry tears pooled in her eyes.
    â€œI hate the Tweedles and I hate Blake’s brothers.”
    Deidre didn’t hate anybody. She was too sweet. But apparently even she had limits.
    â€œWhat happened?”
    â€œAfter I got hit, Blake went to go get the rental car. While he was gone, the four of them were—” Her voice broke and tears dribbled down her cheeks.
    Ivy rubbed her shoulder. “They were what? What did they do?”
    Deidre sniffled loudly and wiped the tears away with the heels of her palms. “They were…making fun of me. They were whispering and laughing.”
    Was it possible that they could be that rude?