Don't Bite the Bridesmaid Read Online Free PDF Page A

face.
    “Thanks,” she muttered, her attention on her food.
    “I’m not saying—”
    “Drop it, okay?” Yep. She definitely thought he’d been critiquing her appearance. Dammit. He should clear the air, but that could be misconstrued. And he couldn’t afford for her to think he cared. She might get it in her head to pursue him.
    And he wasn’t sure he’d be able to resist her.
    They ate in silence, then Cindy came by to tell them it was almost time for miniature golf. Alice emptied her plate, despite his comment, which brought a smile to his face. The woman wasn’t going to change her lunch because of what she thought was a critical statement about her figure. Good for her.
    “Lucinda!” A loud voice called, hitting an octave that made Noah cringe. Edna waved from across the room, and Alice’s sister waved back.
    “One sec, Mom,” Cindy called back. Then to Noah, “She’s the only one who ever calls me by my full name.” He wasn’t sure if she was just making conversation, or if he was being very specifically warned not to call her Lucinda.
    Alice turned to him and Cindy went to tend to her mother.
    “So I guess I’ll catch up with you later?” he asked.
    A quizzical expression touched her face. “But we have miniature golf.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Oh, whoops, guess I forgot to mention golf. Cindy had a few more things planned than I thought.” She shifted her weight and looked at her fingernails, as if checking for a flaw in her manicure. “I hope you don’t mind.”
    He gritted his teeth at the thought of spending even more time in Alice’s company, with her tempting scent and sparkling smile. He could resist for a week. Only a week. One week of his very long life.
    “Sounds good,” he said. Besides, what was the worst that could happen while playing miniature golf?

    Mini-golfing, as it turned out, was very dangerous. Alice bent over her club at the ninth hole and examined her route carefully, and Noah did his best to keep his eyes away from her lithe form.
    Nearly twenty of the guests had turned out for the mini golf after-lunch game, but they’d divided into groups of four to six, and everyone moved pretty slowly through the course. The only good thing about the whole situation was the fact the course was indoors—this particular one, anyway.
    “Fore!” Alice called before taking her swing. She flinched as the bright purple ball bounced off of the windmill under which she’d tried to shoot it.
    He grinned when she turned around to complain about the obvious design flaws in the course.
    “I’m not entirely sure you can blame the course, dear,” Edna said, and Alice shot her a dramatic glare.
    “Just because you obviously paid extra for a magic ball doesn’t mean the course isn’t flawed, Mother.”
    Noah chuckled and took his own shot, and then laughed outright at Alice’s cry of outrage as his ball rolled through the windmill and right up to the hole.
    “Beginner’s luck,” Alice muttered, her anger obviously feigned.
    He’d told Alice the truth. He’d never played miniature golf. Apparently, even after two hundred years, the world still held its new experiences. He wished he could make The Council understand this. Then he wouldn’t be stuck on this ship, trying too hard to keep his desires at bay. He wasn’t accustomed to being new at anything, so he was relieved to find all it required was a healthy dose of coordination and a little luck. Surprisingly, he wasn’t the best of their five-some. Edna Shepard had him by two swings. Apparently, when it came to mini-golf, Alice’s mother had better reflexes than a vampire.
    They played through another four holes before one of Alice’s swings ricocheted her ball off a clown’s face to connect with the side of Noah’s head.
    He glared at her, rubbing the back of his skull and feigning pain.
    “I’m so sorry!”
    He couldn’t help the grin that rose to his face at her horrified expression. “You’re going to have to