Love and Other Surprises by Robin Wells Page B

edged his way to the foyer, where two bridesmaids were huddled in a conversation. They glanced up to give him coy smiles. Matt nodded abruptly and kept on moving, intent on avoiding being corralled into a conversation.
    He re-entered the ballroom and worked his way around its perimeter, scanning the crowd. There was no sign of Ali or Derrick. An unaccustomed anxiety gripped him. Where the devil
were
they?
    Matt was on his third lap around the room when he finally spotted Ali in the foyer. Thank goodness she was alone—but why was her face so flushed and pink? His suspicions made him clench his fists as he strode toward her.
    “Matt! I’m glad you came.” Ali smiled and started toward him, holding out both her hands.
    Matt took them in his. Her fingers were like ice. “You’re freezing,” he observed.
    “I was just outside with Derrick.”
    “I thought I told you to stay away from that worthless piece of trash,” Matt said harshly, dropping her fingers.
    The moment the words were uttered, he knew he’d overstepped his bounds. But it was too late; the statement lay between them like a gauntlet.
    She arched her eyebrows. “And I thought I told you I don’t need another big brother.”
    Matt couldn’t suppress a scowl. “Looks to me like you do.”
    Ali’s eyes flashed with indignation. “You have no right to tell me what to do.”
    Back off, Jordan. She’s right.
Matt drew a deep breath and struggled to regain his composure. He didn’t want this to escalate into a scene. “Maybe not,” he said, controlling his tone with an effort, “but I’d hate to see Robert’s little sister get mixed up with a lowlife like that.”
    Ali placed her hands on her hips and fixed him with an exasperated glare. “I have half a mind to leave you to your sordid delusions,” she said stiffly, “but the fact of the matter is that Derrick and the other groomsmen are decorating Justin’s car. I went to show them where it was parked. Someone had already pulled it around front, so I came back in.”
    “Oh.” Matt’s immediate sense of relief was extinguished by the realization he’d just made a fool of himself for no reason. He seemed to have developed a habit of doing that every time he got anywhere near Ali, he realized with chagrin.
    She was gazing up at him, her gray eyes bright and questioning. “What’s going on here?”
    Matt stared down at her.
I only wish I knew,
he thought.
    “Come on, Matt,” she prodded. “What’s the story behind your obsession with Derrick?”
    Matt shoved his hands into his pockets and shifted his stance. “I’ve already explained his reputation to you.”
    “I think there’s something more personal to it.” She eyed him challengingly for a moment. Matt’s thoughts flipped back to the highly personal feelings he’d experienced in her bathroom that afternoon and he swallowed hard. He couldn’t think of a coherent rebuttal to save his life.
    But Ali was looking at him expectantly, waiting for a response. He cleared his throat and motioned to an upholstered bench along the foyer wall. She sat down and he lowered himself beside her.
    “About a year ago, I ran into him at the Dew Drop Inn,” Matt began.
    “That the dive out on the highway?”
    Matt nodded. “We’d just finished the framework on a custom home we were building for a rancher, and I wanted to treat the carpentry crew to a round of burgers and beers. It was the only place near the job site.” Matt tried to find a more comfortable position on the narrow seat and ended up angling his knees toward her. “Derrick was playing pool with a bunch of oilfield roughnecks, and he was losing. He had a woman with him who was obviously crazy about him. And he, uh…” Matt found it difficult to continue.
    “What?” Ali was staring at him in open curiosity. Matt hesitated, and she tugged on his arm. “What did he do, Matt? You can’t start a story like this and then leave me hanging. It’s not polite.”
    “Well, neither is