Quest (Shifter Island Book 4) by Carol Davis Page A

scowl, and for a moment Allison thought she intended to stomp over there and insist on taking over the wheel.
    Then, abruptly, she turned back to Allison.
    “If you bail on me for my wedding, Allison Hayes, I will never speak to you again. Do you understand that? Luca or no Luca. Or any other excuse you plan to come up with. This is not a joke to me, Allison. It’s my wedding .”
    “I know it’s not a joke.”
    But that seemed to be all that Julie was willing to say.
    Really, it was all she needed to say.
    “Okay, ladies!” Gina called out brightly. “Let’s go have some fun!”
    She had apparently finished her conversation with the guy at the door and had gathered the other bridesmaids together. With a sly look that seemed to hint that she had something very naughty in mind, she grabbed Julie and Allison each by a sleeve and tugged them toward the entrance.
    The club was already pretty packed. As they moved through the crowd—with Gina herding them like a border collie—Allison couldn’t see any available seating, and she hoped Gina didn’t intend for them to stand up all evening. Then they moved off to the left, where a low, arc-shaped couch was peppered with glow-in-the-dark Reserved signs.
    It was pretty close to the stage, Allison saw. With a little luck, they’d have a great view of the band.
    Gina had apparently taken note of Julie’s serious distress with Allison—or maybe Julie had given her an earful sometime earlier in the day. Either way, she deposited Allison at one end of the couch and Julie at the other. There was a self-satisfied look in her eyes as she sat down next to Julie, then began chattering into Julie’s ear.
    Fair enough, Allison thought. Gina had very plainly wanted to be maid of honor in the first place. Now, for all intents and purposes, she was.
    She was glad that the waiter brought their first round of drinks almost right away. It gave her something to hold on to, something to toy with, and while it didn’t exactly ease her thirst, it tasted good. Nothing else had, all day. Everything she’d tried to eat had tasted like sand.
    She hadn’t seen Luca since the night before, when he’d gone into the bathroom. When she woke up a few hours later, he was gone. There’d been no sign of him all day today, and by the time she left the motel to come over here to the club, he still hadn’t come back. He hadn’t called, hadn’t given her any indication of where he was or whether he was planning to return. She’d tried not to worry about it; after all, he had said he just needed some time alone. And heaven knew, so did she.
    He was right about all this having moved very fast. A few days ago, he’d been just someone from her past. A very nice part of her past, of course, but someone she rarely thought about any more. She’d been focused only on getting back to work, on what she’d need to do during the next few weeks to make up for the time she’d been away. She hadn’t thought seriously about being with a man at all, let alone planning long-term, rekindling something that might last forever.
    Was that even possible? With someone who confused her so much?
    The deejay started up a new song, and Gina tugged Julie out onto the dance floor, where they immediately disappeared into the crowd. Isabel and Pats got up too, although they clearly didn’t intend to dance with each other. They zeroed in on a couple of hot-looking guys, and a minute later the four of them were all bumping body parts, changing partners easily, sizing each other up.
    “You want to dance, pretty lady?”
    Allison looked up from her drink to find a good-looking blond smiling at her. She glanced away, but it didn’t deter him.
    “No strings,” he said. “Just a dance. Feel like gettin’ my groove on.”
    He didn’t seem predatory, didn’t look like his hands would be all over her before he’d even offered her his name. In fact, he seemed very gentlemanly as he gestured toward the dance floor—almost as if