The Unexpected Bride-Book One in Taming of the Shrew

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Eight

He fixed it again. However, it remained the same way he had placed it around his neck. He pursed his lips. Watching his reflection, he groaned, for the tie looked crooked. Whether he put the loop in the correct order or measured the length, it stubbornly hung from his neck like a string. And the color. Why was it so difficult to find a tie that would blend perfectly with his dress suit and secretly match Sharlene's eye color?

"Why don't you just abandon the tie? It would make your life easier."

An absent murmur greeted his sigh, but Nick rolled his eyes. He was not the only one in the room, yet his plight was his to solve. Pulling the disastrous knot from around his neck, he flew it onto the bed, where a couple of others were resigned to fate. He glared at the man's reflection.

"Even if you shoot daggers with your eyes, I am not leaving."

Christopher Billion. He was busy flipping through a magazine. Leaning on the head of his bed with legs crossed, he looked comfortable—far too relaxed.

"Your presence is unwanted...why are you here again?"

Nick asked for Chris's unwelcome visits always involved a personal issue.

Styled to perfection was his blonde hair. Dressed his best, as always, Chris was on a mission that went up in smoke. His presence in Nick's bedroom constituted such a guess. Reading a business magazine, something surprising and irrelevant, his eyebrows creased.

He soon closed it with a huff. His patience waned. Throwing it on the other side of the bed and abandoning his relaxed posture, he sat up. His unvoiced curiosity ate him from the inside.

"I heard your mysterious fiance and her family are coming for dinner. As your best friend, I felt offended since you had no desire to tell me about this special occasion."

Nick scoffed, but Chris ignored him, his voice layered with smugness.

"So, I made a point of duty to reschedule my other arrangements and decided to stick around."

"Is it because you are curious? You don't sound offended nor heartbroken, and by other arrangments, you mean your latest conquest, right?"

"Date, Nick. A date."

Chris stressed. His cute attempt at brushing the issue aside.

"Right."

Nick drawled, the least convinced, while discarding yet another tie.

Clearing his throat, Christ resumed.

"Yes, I had to postpone that because I want to meet your fiance face-to-face."

Deep down inside, Chris wanted to meet the girl who had his best friend fishing through his wardrobe for the perfect tie.

Nick raised an eyebrow.

"You would not have something mischievous in mind planned, right?"

"Heavens no."

Chris shook his head in denial, but he fooled no one.

"Of course, you do, Chris. It's in your nature," he spoke while settling on a bowtie as his last attempt. Turning his head, he fixed Chris with a glare. "But I'm warning you, Christopher Billion. Don't even try."

Waving his hands in the air and accompanied by an innocent look, Chris shook his head.

"Wow, wow, wow, Nick. Hold your horses. You and I have known each other for years. If I try anything funny, I know I'd be dead meat."

Humming, Nick took his word for it.

"I am glad you admit that fact. Now, I need your opinion. How do I look?"