I glared at her and she gave me the ‘play nice for her sake’ look. I screwed my eyes up and frowned at her. She knew how I felt about Damon Winters.
“Sure,” I said and looked at Damon who was now smiling at me smugly.
I wished I could wipe that smug smile off his face by throwing an ice-cold glass of water in it. But this was my best friend’s week, and I would do anything for Hayley. Even if it meant doing Damon’s best man work for him while having to endure his overbearing company.
“I have an appointment to get my hair fixed at eight tomorrow, so meet me in the hotel lobby at nine-thirty sharp.” I narrowed my eyes at Damon. “That’s nine-thirty in the morning.” I gave him a tight smile.
“Thank you, Carla,” Drew said with relief shining in his puppy dog eyes. I could see why Hayley fell for the man.
CHAPTER 2
Damon
“Sure,” I agreed with Carla’s meeting time.
I must remember to set my alarm on my phone, I thought.
My face ached from the smile I had to plaster on it. What was I thinking? Carla and I could barely spend a few minutes in each other’s company without her becoming all prickly. Not only did I have to team up with her to do some of the mixed planned events for the week, now I had to pretend to rely on her to ensure I was able to secure the venues for what I had planned for the lads.
I instinctively couldn’t resist annoying Little Miss Perfect by cutting off her hair. Anyone would’ve thought her hair was made of gold and nothing could match that. Well, her hair would grow back but my wristwatch would not have been the same if it broke. Besides, you could hardly see the chunk that had been cut.
“That’s settled then,” Hayley smiled at Carla and me. “I’m really looking forward to everything you have planned for us, Carla.”
“I’m so excited for you both,” Carla squeezed Hayley’s hand. “I have put an itinerary with each of the guests’ welcome baskets in their room.”
Carla looked over at me. I could see the smugness shining in her eyes.
“We’ll need to print off the men’s itinerary once we’ve secured all Damon’s venues,” Carla smiled at me sweetly.
Princess Carla was not as sweet as everyone thought she was. The little witch had talons that could rip a person’s flesh open if you weren’t careful. From what I could remember from college, she was also highly competitive. Not many people went up against Little Miss Perfect and won. Those who did soon relented and basically begged her to take their place. She was cute, spunky, and hellishly sexy, all wrapped up in a sweet, enchanting bundle of evil.
There were two things that had almost made me miss my best friend’s wedding. I hadn’t forgotten our last year of college, and the first of those things had been knowing I’d have to spend time with princess Carla. The other was the fact that I’d been living and studying in France for a few years and things were going quite well up until a few weeks ago. For the first time in my life, I’d not wanted to leave and was actually happy. I was doing what I loved and was dating an incredibly beautiful French girl who happened to be the daughter of the owner of the vineyard I was studying some wine-making techniques at. Things had gone great until she’d faked a pregnancy to try and trap me into marrying her. She was desperate to be able to get to America to follow a modeling and acting career. The way that women could act... she was truly an Oscar-worthy subject. Only she wasn’t going to pursue her chosen career as my wife. Sure, I adored the woman. Who wouldn’t? She was passionate, had long silky hair, a body most models would die for, and legs that went on forever.
But I did not like to be lied to or manipulated, and I most certainly was not going to fall into any feminine trap. So, I had made sure she wasn’t pregnant. That was easy as she’d cracked like an egg when I’d turned the tables on her and told her I was sterile. Not that I was actually sterile, but I had seen a buddy of mine entrapped this way. Of course, if she had actually been pregnant, that would’ve been a different story.
“Damon,” Carla’s voice shattered my deep thoughts.
“What?” I looked at her questioningly. “Sorry, I was just trying to think of backup plans in case you’re not as popular with my initial venues as you think you are.” I gave her a smug smile back. Take that Little Miss I-organized-everything-months-ago.
“You know,” Carla turned to look at Drew and Hayley, “I just remembered that I can’t actually go with Damon tomorrow.”