Free Closer Than A Brother by Hadley Raydeen Page A

sorry, man. Just got tied up with—”
    “Don’t lie to me,” Jason said, cutting him off. “I know you too damn well for that.”
    Shane shut up immediately. Jason knew he was thinking about her—how he still felt—how he would always feel for Danielle. “Is she here, man?”
    “Where else would she be? She’s the maid of honor. Last I checked she was headed to the restroom with Brandi. I’m going to warn you now before you see her. She is looking mighty fine in a black dress. You might have to watch out on that one.”
    Shane let out an exasperated breath. “Damn it. Which way to the bar? I’m going to need it.”
    * * * *
    His back was to her, but she knew him anywhere. Shane threw back a swallow of dark liquid and placed it back on the bar. “Can I get another, please?” She heard him grunt to the bar tender.
    She sauntered up to the bar and slid into the seat next to him. “A cosmopolitan, please?” she asked. He didn’t turn to look at her. He watched the game above the bar instead.
    “I’ve missed you, Shane,” she finally said after the bartender brought the drinks.
    “Really?" he said coldly, still refusing to look at her.
    “Yes, really,” she snapped. He gave her a side glance before looking away. She wasn’t getting anywhere with him like this.
    She cleared her throat when he didn’t respond. “We are going to talk about this. It can be tonight, it can be whenever you’d like, but mark my words, Officer Matthews,” she breathed close enough so only he could hear. “You and I are going to have this conversation. Now as maid of honor and best man. We need to get our asses together and help our friends. We may be having our own issues, but they deserve nothing but the best.”
    She threw back the rest of her drink and set it on the bar. “Now that we got that out of the way, shall we?” She waited for him to finish his drink. He stood up and towered over her. Piercing her with the deepest, sexiest eyes she had ever seen, she watched as his mouth formed the words. “After you, Danielle.”

Chapter Twelve
    “You look beautiful,” she whispered to her best friend. “Everything is going so smoothly, sweetie. This is your day,” she said.
    “Don’t you dare cry, Danielle! If you do, I swear I will cry right here and ruin my makeup, and then I’ll have to kick your ass.”
    She laughed at her friend. “We can’t have the bride kicking ass before she says her I dos.” They laughed together.
    “Have you talked to him?”
    “No, not really. We aren’t talking about this now.” They heard the music starting to play for the bridal party. “We agreed to be cordial for you and Jason.”
    “You will talk to him before you go back to New York?”
    “I’m not going to press the issue,” she said, shaking her head.
    “You are really asking for that ass kicking,” Brandi growled at her as they watched the other bridesmaids disappear through the church doors, into the sanctuary. “This could be you, sweetie. You deserve the same happiness that I have with Jason. Don’t deny yourself that, because you have some preconceived idea about the two of you. Let your heart love.”
    Danielle stepped toward the door. She turned to her best friend. “I love you, Brandi. Congrats on this day. You have such a great guy in there.”
    The minute the door opened for her, she stepped into the beautiful, cathedral-ceiling sanctuary—a gorgeous setting for a wedding. She was so glad Brandi was blessed with the elegance of this surrounding. She smoothed a hand down her red satin dress, waiting for the doors to shut behind her before she stepped onto the white silk that would lead her down the path to meet her escort.
    The wedding planner had each step planned carefully and she would meet Shane halfway down the aisle. He would then escort her to her spot at the front of the church. She kept the smile on her face as she walked toward him. Step pause, step pause. Her heart beat to the same rhythm.