Knight In Shining Armour (The Wedding Series #1.5)

Chapter Two

The red numbers on my dashboard ticked by with every passing procrastinated minute. My hands gripped the steering wheel, my knuckles white, but my legs wouldn't move. The car sat parked on the high street. No engine ran, but my keys remained in the ignition and something still stopped me from exiting the car.

I was now probably a good fifteen minutes late to the dress fitting — and who knew what chaos already went on in there without me — but my body wouldn't get out of the car and walk into the shop. Of course, a part of me was eager to spend time with Felicity again. How could I not be? But I predicted a frosty reception — you wouldn't need to be a genius to work that one out — and that was something I wanted to avoid, especially because I didn't want to ruin her day. But Felicity was feisty, and in turn, it made me feisty. I couldn't go down without a fight.

This was going to be a disaster. Someone remind me why I agreed to this.

Because I couldn't let my sister or Felicity down, I reminded myself as I looked at the Manila folder sitting firmly in my passenger seat. I almost strapped it in to prevent any disasters.

If I backed out now, I'd be the worst person in the world for giving my sister a false sense of hope. Remembering her distressed face (and thinking about Felicity's probably similar expression) spurred me to make my final — and somewhat reckless — decision. I grabbed the folder and flicked through it, making sure I was definitely in the correct place. I decided I wasted enough time putting it off. Sighing, I turned off my ignition and stepped out of the car at last.

I took tentative steps along the high street, my eyes flicking between each shop, to find the correct bridal shop. My heart stuttered as I saw it.

More importantly; I saw her.

I retreated nervously to avoid being seen by her through the window. But I had seen her. Standing on top of a podium. In a freaking wedding dress.

I wasn't stupid. Of course, I knew I would witness her in a wedding dress if I attended the wedding dress fitting with her. But I didn't expect it to affect me so much.

God, she was beautiful.

Time had been extremely kind to her. Of course, she was stunning back when we were 18, but now she was something else.

She looked pretty much exactly the same as she did half a decade ago, except some of her features were more angular, losing the small amount of roundness in her teenage cheeks. Her brown hair was shorter than the long locks I was used to, only adding to how mature she looked now.

And don't even get me started about how seeing her in a wedding dress made my mind whir with all kinds of possibilities and daydreams.

But upon closer inspection, it didn't strike me as the kind of dress that Felicity would choose to be walking down the aisle in. Granted, I hadn't spoken to her properly for almost half a decade, so perhaps her clothing choices evolved. And I was no expert in bridal dresses — obviously — so I had a chance of butchering the terminology. The dress looked like it cost the same price as my apartment. It had a poofy, massive skirt, which looked like it would take up the entire width of the aisle. On top, she wore a sparkly bodice, which looked incredibly tight — so tight that I felt awkward looking at it for an extended period of time. To add to my awkwardness, the dress was strapless, leaving her arms and the top of her chest bare. Not wanting to look like I ogled her, my eyes darted away from her dress and I inspected her veil. It was as bright and grandiose as the dress, trailing down her exposed back, dotted with sparkles and sequins.

Shaking my head, I knew I couldn't stay here and stare at her for too long. I had to go in there and ruin her day with my presence.

Wonderful.