Second Thoughts by Diana Xarissa

Author:Diana Xarissa [Xarissa, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-09-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Penny felt herself flushing. No doubt Douglas was simply being friendly, but the invitation felt more than friendly. “I don’t know…” she began.

“I have several different options for you to choose from for the champagne toast,” he said. “I could try to describe them all to you, but it may be easier if you simply taste each one.”

He was just trying to finalize her wedding arrangements, Penny realized, feeling embarrassed for thinking anything else. “I don’t drink when I’m driving,” she replied.

“Why don’t I follow you home and then take you back to the Riverside with me? I can have one of the hotel’s cars take you home when we’re done.”

“I don’t want to cause anyone any inconvenience.”

“It’s not a problem. I’d offer to drive you home myself, but I may join you in a glass or two of champagne and I don’t drive when I’ve been drinking, either.”

“I didn’t realize that I had a choice for the champagne toast.”

“You don’t have to choose. I can simply supply something appropriate, but I thought it would be nicer for you to have something you truly enjoy.”

Penny opened her mouth to argue further, but stopped when Kevin and Tamara came back into the room, carrying another mannequin. They were laughing and talking like old friends, and didn’t seem to notice Penny and Douglas for a moment.

“…or four times before I finally gave up,” Tamara was saying.

Kevin laughed. “I can believe that,” he said. His eyes met Penny’s and he frowned. “I didn’t realize you were still here,” he said quickly.

“We were just leaving,” Penny replied. “I’m going to go and taste champagne samples for the wedding toast.”

“Have fun,” Kevin told her.

“You don’t want to join me?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I promised Tamara that I’d help her here. Does it have to be tonight?”

Penny glanced at Douglas who shrugged. “Yes,” she told Kevin. “It has to be tonight.”

“I’m sure you’ll pick something wonderful,” Kevin told her. “I’ll be here, struggling to dress mannequins until midnight.”

“We won’t be working until midnight,” Tamara said quickly. “Another hour, maybe two, and we’ll be done. I may have a bottle of wine lying around somewhere. It isn’t champagne, but I think we’ll have earned it. Which reminds me, Penny, do you want to stay here the night before the wedding? I mean, Kevin, you can stay too, but typically just the bride stays.”

Penny thought for a minute. “That might be nice, actually, even though the wedding isn’t until the afternoon.”

“It lets you relax and not worry about anything on your special day,” Tamara told her. “You can sleep late and then I’ll make you whatever you want for breakfast. Your wedding party can join you whenever you like and I can do snacks and wine or champagne for you while you’re getting ready. I can even arrange for someone to come and do everyone’s hair and nails that morning.”

“We aren’t really having a wedding party, but my close friend is going to be a witness. I’d

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.