Page 72 of The Wedding Favor

“It’s bad, isn’t it? Missy said it was a Western theme. She said the ladies had to wear pink.”

He stood behind me and met my gaze in the mirror. “It’s not bad. Exactly.”

“I look like Dolly Parton’s less classy cousin. But”—I picked up the black cowboy hat I’d found at a thrift store and held it out to him—“you’ll look like my date, so there’s that.”

“Are you kidding? This is why you insisted I wear jeans.” He glared at me. “You said cowboy boots were, quote, ‘hot.’”

“And you believed me? Do I look like a cowboy boots kind of girl?” I stepped closer and set the hat on his head. “If I have to do this, so do you.”

“How long have you known about this cowboy thing?” He looked at himself in the mirror. Of course, he looked amazing in the hat. And the jeans. And the boots. I suspected he looked good in everything. Jerk.

“Long enough to know you wouldn’t like it.”

He adjusted the hat and slowly a grin overtook his frown. “I don’t know. I think I look pretty good.”

“You’re adorable.” I snatched my purse from the bed and stuffed my room key in it. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Your outfit’s really not that bad,” Abe said, trailing behind me as I stomped to the elevator. “I kind of like it.”

I stopped and spun around so quickly, he almost ran into me. “I will lose all the respect I have for you if you truly mean that. This is”—I waved a hand down my body—“a human rights violation or something.”

His mouth twitched as he fought a smile. One of his hands trailed down my arm and captured a hand. He weaved our fingers together and tugged me toward the elevator. “Will you say yeehaw for me? Just once.”

“Not on your life.”

“Maybe there’ll be a mechanical bull. You’ll have to ride it.”

One of my eyes twitched. “No.”

“Hayrides? Maybe we’ll rustle some cattle after dinner.”

“Why did I bring you again?”

He smirked. “Because you were desperate and I offered?”

“Shut up,” I said, doing a poor job of hiding my amusement.

The elevator dropped us off at the top floor of the hotel. A sign led us to a private room. Abe pulled open the door and ushered me inside. We were right on time and so was everyone else, it seemed. Aidan and Missy were at the front of the room wearing sashes that read BRIDE and GROOM. Microphone in hand, Missy was in the middle of a speech.

Abe let go of the door and it slammed closed. Missy’s voice trailed off as the whole room turned to stare at us. I stared back. It took almost a good ten seconds for my brain to understand what I was seeing.

No one, not a single person, was wearing a cowboy hat, or boots. No one else had fringe. Heck, most of them weren’t even wearing pink. Rage overtook embarrassment as my eyes found Missy’s. At least she wasn’t laughing. She bit the corner of her bottom lip and stared at me with big blue eyes. Next to her, Aidan’s gaze jumped between Abe and me, like he couldn’t figure out where to focus.

“I am going to kill her,” I whispered.

Someone started to giggle. Abe squeezed my hand. I hadn’t realized he was still holding it.

“Iris, I am so sorry!” Missy said over the microphone. “I forgot to tell you we changed the theme.”

She forgot to tell me? I knew the color of the underwear she was wearing under her wedding dress. But she forgot to tell me not to dress like Rodeo Barbie?

I closed my eyes and counted to ten to rein in the rage filling every part of my body. Anger was one of those emotions I rarely showed. But at this very moment, the struggle was real.

“Do you think I can strangle her with that BRIDE sash?” I asked.

“It would probably take too long,” Abe said.

Aidan took the microphone from Missy’s hand. “What Missy was saying was we’re grateful you could join us. Now, let’s eat.”