Kit and Ivy: A Red Team Wedding Novella Read Online Free Page B

the flower.”
    Lisa nodded toward one of the seamstresses, who hurried over to remove the rose. “You could wear a large brooch there instead. Something in amethyst or pearl.”
    Selena looked at herself, imagining the jacket with something else in place of the flower. She looked at Ivy and Casey. “Say something.”
    Ivy brought her hands to her mouth and shook her head. “I can’t. I’m speechless.”
    “Take your hair down,” Mandy suggested, coming over to hold a hand out for the clips and bobby pins that held Selena’s dark hair in a tight twist. Her heavy hair fell down, drifted about her shoulders and spilled down her back.
    Fiona clapped her hands. “Selena, you’re gorgeous. You have to take that outfit.”
    “You don’t think it’s too much?”
    “Too much what?” Ivy asked. “Too stunning?”
    “Go show Val. You have to show him,” Eden urged.
    “No.”
    “Please, Selena. You’ll know it’s a hit when you see his face.”
    “I don’t need his approval.”
    “Oh, go on. What are you afraid of?” Ivy challenged her.
    Selena made a face. “Fine.”
    “Wait! Let us get out there first,” Eden said. “I want to see his face.” The girls hurried out the dressing room exit.
    Selena bent her neck this way and that, easing some of the strain from her shoulders. The girls had abandoned her. She looked back at Lisa, who gave her an encouraging nod. Refusing to hide in the dressing room, she put her shoulders back and walked down the corridor to the front room where Val sat.  
    His eyes locked on her midsection as she stepped in front of the women. His face tightened. He hadn’t looked at her eyes once. Freakin’ liar, Mr.-I-mirror-their-thoughts fashionista .
    “Walk toward me,” he ordered, motioning her forward with a wave of his hand.
    Oh. She so did not like doing this, but her feet had a mind of their own. She moved toward him with a slow prowl. He seemed fascinated with the way the jacket shifted over her waist and hips, hiding and exposing her navel. His blue eyes went dark as he looked her over from head to toe. He came to his feet.  
    Selena lifted her chin, prepared to take the outfit regardless of his reaction. Why the hell she was submitting to his perusal, she didn’t know. Too late to turn back now. He stood not a foot from her and looked down into her eyes.  
    “This is the one.” She didn’t answer him, didn’t want her agreement to be taken as submission when she’d already chosen this outfit. “What happened to the rose?”
    “I ditched it.”
    “I’ve brought you a selection of brooches so that the heart of the bow won’t seem bare,” Lisa said, indicating a velvet-lined tray one of her assistants held.  
    Val looked over the choices on the tray. He picked the very one Selena liked. It had a huge, halved pearl circled by several other smaller pearls set off by a dozen even smaller amethysts. He looked at Selena as he handed the brooch to the salesgirl. Selena didn’t look away from him as the salesgirl pinned the brooch where the rose had been, between her breasts. When the girl stepped back, Val’s gaze moved down Selena’s chest on its way to the pearl pin. His nostrils flared. Without looking away from her, he gave Ivy an order.
    “She sits at my table.”
    Ivy shook her head. “Sorry, Val. Owen’s already made it clear she’s to sit with him.”
    He did look at Ivy then. “Owen can join us.”
    “Yeah. I don’t think I’m going to get between you two,” Ivy said. “I already have the seating plan figured out.”
    “Then change it. If you want me to deal with Owen, I will.”
    “Oh, for crissakes. I’m not a toy for you and Owen to fight over. Ivy, I’ll choose my own table.”
    “There’s no need to worry about it. I’ll work it out,” Ivy told her. “I love your outfit. The guys won’t know what to make of you.”
    “They’ll make nothing of her. She’s our teammate,” Val snapped. To Lisa, he said, “I like her shoes, but