As she stormed past them and began to slam open drawers, she noticed out of the corner of her eyes that the men were exchanging looks. She suspected they knew she was a bridesmaid and that she had overheard them, and were probably now trying to figure out the best way to extricate themselves from the situation.

She knew she came off as an abrasive, bossy bitch. She also didn’t care. Impressing these men? Not on her list of things to do that day.

And they just didn’t know when to take a glare for an answer. “You here for the engagement dinner?” one asked as she rifled through a drawer.

Edie looked up and gave him a nut-withering stare just as her fingers closed over a Band-Aid. With her prize in hand, she lifted her head high, straightened her cat-hair-covered clothing, and walked back out of the kitchen, taking care to hide her limp as much as possible.

As the door closed behind her, she heard one of the men say, “What did I tell you? The bridesmaids are gonna be weird.”

“Christ,” said another.

Full of indignation, Edie limped back toward the red dining room, wrapping the Band-Aid around her finger and blistering the three men in her thoughts. Why did guys have to be such jerks the moment anyone’s back was turned? Also, who told those guys they were getting laid? Really. Being in the bridal party did not automatically make her someone’s date.

It wasn’t too hard to find the red dining room again. After returning down the hall, Edie just listened for the low buzz of voices. She pushed the door open and gave Gretchen a smile as she slipped into the crowded room. Her friend looked excited and nervous all at once. She didn’t need to know about the horrible things the men in the kitchen were saying. This was her night and it was going to be an awesome one, damn it.

“There you are,” Gretchen said, hurrying back over to Edie and taking her arm. “Come on. I want you to meet my Hunter.” She gave Edie’s arm a meaningful squeeze as she pulled her through the mingling people in the room. Off to one side, Bianca was talking with a man, a wineglass in her hand. Jeez, how long had Edie been gone that Bianca had already found someone to latch on to?

“Hunter, this is my friend from college, Edie. She’s the one who gave me Igor.” She moved to Hunter’s side, releasing Edie’s arm, and gave her friend a challenging look.

Edie could see why Gretchen was practically bristling. Hunter was . . . well, “unpleasant” to look upon would be the kindest way to put it. Deep, gouging scars bisected his face and made one corner of his mouth pull down in a ghastly fashion. Edie offered him her hand to shake, and noticed he was missing his little finger. No wonder Gretchen was so fiercely protective of him. People could be cruel when they perceived a deficiency. Edie and her leg sure knew about that. “It’s very nice to meet you,” she told him. “Gretchen speaks very highly of you.”

“Oh?” he asked, voice rich and velvety. He looked over at Gretchen again, gaze heated, and Edie nearly swooned at how he looked at his fiancée. It was like he wanted to eat Gretchen up with a spoon. She wished a man would look at her like that, damn it.

“You must have the patience of Job for putting up with Gretchen,” Edie teased.

He gave her a stiff smile, his scarred mouth curving a little. “Not patience, just love for her.”

Gretchen put her fingers to one side of her mouth and mock-whispered, “And I suck a mean cock.”

Hunter’s face turned a blotchy red, which, Edie was sure, matched her own. “God, some people never change,” Edie commented.

Gretchen just gave Edie a radiant look, clearly in love. “I hope you won’t mind that we did assigned seating tonight. I thought it’d be good to get everyone used to one another over the next year. Plus, I’m totally matchmaking.” She gave her friend an outrageous wink. “Lots of good bachelors here tonight, if you’re interested.”

God, no. “I’m not,” Edie told her, and tried to keep the smile in her voice. “But I’m sure Bianca will be.”

Gretchen wrinkled her nose. “Which is why I didn’t invite her. Oh well. She can sit with Cooper.”

“Can you show me where I’ll be sitting?” Edie asked, because her knee was throbbing.

“Of course,” Gretchen said, and stood on her tiptoes to give Hunter a kiss right on his scarred cheek. Then she turned to Edie and gestured at the lovely table.

The long wooden dining table was set with seven seats on each side and one at each end of the table. Edie’s assigned seat was stuck somewhere in the middle of things, which made her cringe because if she had to get up for any reason, it’d be a mess. But she said nothing and sat down at her place, noting she was sandwiched between a “Magnus” and a “Reese.” She looked around for Bianca, but she was still in a corner, lost in conversation with a guy. Since there were both booze and bachelors here, she’d probably ignore Edie for the rest of the dinner.

A sour-faced butler swung by and filled Edie’s wineglass. She thanked him and took a sip, feeling conspicuous as the only person seated at the table. Hopefully something would happen to rescue her soon.

She shouldn’t have thrown the thought into the universe; no sooner did it cross her mind than the dining room doors swung open and the three men she’d run into over in the kitchen came in. The guy with the bright green-gold eyes met her gaze and gave her a challenging look as he sauntered into the room behind the other two, then took a swig from his beer. Ugh.

“Are you guys all beer’d up?” Gretchen called. “Okay, let’s everyone take our seats, then. Look for your name card and please make yourself comfortable. Once we’re all in place, we can start with introductions.”

Edie waited, watching as the others in the room shuffled around the table, looking for their names. She began to inwardly cringe as the guy with the green eyes moved around the table slowly and began to head in her direction. Keep on going, she thought. Keep on going. Karma surely couldn’t be that cruel—

He pulled out the chair next to her and flashed her another grin. “Looks like we meet again.” He set his beer down on the table next to her.

She picked up her wineglass and took another swig, ignoring him. This evening was rapidly going from bad to worse. As she watched, others sat, and she fixed her gaze on a pregnant woman who looked like Gretchen—had to be Gretchen’s younger sister Audrey—being helped into her chair by a handsome man with a rakish goatee. He gave her a kiss on top of her head and then moved to the far side of the table, sitting next to Edie. “Hey there, lady. Hope you don’t mind if I sit with you?”

“Fine with me,” she said, forming a smile for him. At least there was one person she’d be able to talk with tonight. She’d just have to pointedly ignore the beer-drinking caveman on the other side of her.

A moment later, everyone was seated . . . everyone except Gretchen and Bianca. Bianca blinked her big dark eyes and gave Gretchen a sad little smile. “I know I’m interloping on the party. I’ll just go wait in the kitchen or something. You guys have fun without me.”

A few of the men made protesting sounds. Edie noticed that one man in particular got up, as if about to offer his chair.

“Oh, stuff it, Bianca,” Gretchen said, her tone irritated. “Go sit in my place. I’ll come sit with my honeybun here.” She went to Hunter’s chair and promptly dropped into his lap.

“All right,” Bianca said in a shy, kittenish voice. She gave everyone a tiny little smile and then sat in the spot at the very end of the table—next to two men who lit up at the sight of her. Yeah. Edie wondered how it was that Bianca hadn’t been invited to the party and was suddenly everyone’s favorite, whereas Edie was one of the freaking bridesmaids and she was stuck between a married guy blowing kisses at his wife and a beer-drinking jackass who was disappointed he wasn’t going to get tits.