‘It does if I’m going to have to drown my sorrows.’
Which she might well end up doing because she’d thought all she’d have to contend with was an overenthusiastic chief bridesmaid, but now it looked as if Beth—as she’d discovered she was called—was the least of her worries. Ugh. As she’d suspected when Dan had first issued the invitation this was turning into the wedding from hell, although not for any of the reasons she’d anticipated.
Bracing herself, Zoe scanned the guests near the vodka luge for a likely candidate. ‘Which one is she?’
‘The blonde.’
She followed his line of sight, craned her neck to see round a particularly tall man and her jaw dropped. ‘Natalie Blake?’
Out of the corner of her eye she noticed his jaw tighten. ‘Yes.’
‘She’s your ex?’
‘Do you have to go on about it?’
‘Crikey,’ said Zoe faintly, not entirely sure whether to be impressed or devastated but suspecting she was probably both.
Natalie Blake was a world-famous supermodel whose face and body were on display pretty much everywhere you looked and every time you switched on the television. She was one of the few celebrities Zoe had actually recognised this afternoon, and not just because the picture of her wantonly lying back on that billboard had inspired Zoe’s unforgivable descent into statistical inaccuracy relating to lingerie.
In the flesh she was also absolutely stunning, thought Zoe, watching as the woman who famously didn’t get out of bed for less than half a million dollars threw her head back and laughed at something while her thick blonde hair rippled down her back.
The knowledge that Dan had once been out with a stunning leggy supermodel, though, was kind of confidence crushing because how on earth would she ever be able to compete with such perfection? While there was nothing really wrong with her body she didn’t have the pneumatic curves and killer legs that were Natalie’s trademark, nor did she have any of her grace.
On the other hand, she thought, her self-confidence perking up a bit, neither did she have Natalie’s ice-cold heart. As she’d told Dan she’d never ruthlessly get rid of a baby without discussing it with the father.
So she could be mature about this, couldn’t she? After all, an ex was just that. An ex. And she had to take some sort of strength from that.
Since Dan seemed frozen to the spot Zoe inched closer and asked, ‘Do you want to say hello?’
‘Not particularly.’
‘Well, I think you might have to,’ she said, watching the sleek blonde spy them, smile broadly and make her way towards them. ‘Unless you want to go and take a turn round the gardens or something,’ she added, putting herself in Dan’s shoes and thinking that if it were she who’d come face to face with any of her exes, she’d want to run a mile.
‘No, it’s fine,’ he said tightly.
‘Would you like me to leave you to it?’
‘Don’t you bloody dare,’ he muttered, slinging an arm around her shoulder and giving her a swift hard kiss right there in the middle of the marquee that rooted her so firmly to the spot that she couldn’t have gone anywhere even if she’d wanted to.
By the time Zoe had collected herself, Natalie was in front of them, blinding her with such a dazzling smile and practically drowning her in such charisma that she could see why the woman was signed for multimillion-dollar contracts.
Resisting the weird urge to step between them and fling her arms out to shield him or something, Zoe reminded herself to stay cool because this wasn’t about her.
‘Dan,’ said Natalie, with a throaty kind of purr that completed the whole seductive package and made Zoe’s spirits nosedive.
‘Natalie,’ said Dan with such little emotion and looking so unmoved that she shivered in a way that had nothing to do with winter.
‘It’s been a long time.’
‘It has,’ he said. ‘This is Zoe Montgomery.’ He dropped his arm from her shoulders to her waist and pulled her in close and it gave her confidence a much-needed boost.
‘Oh, the ex-fiancée?’ Natalie smiled.
‘Long story. Pleased to meet you,’ said Zoe, holding out her hand.
‘Natalie Blake, and likewise,’ said Natalie, shaking it before turning back to Dan with that brilliant smile. ‘So how have you been?’
‘Fine,’ he said. ‘You?’