Ready for Romance

by Debbie Macomber

  Ready for Romance

  Debbie Macomber

  For Jessica,

  who caught the wedding bouquet first

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Epilogue

  Coming Next Month

  Prologue

  Jessica Kellerman looked both ways, then slipped around the corner of the Dryden four-car garage. She flattened her body against the wall and moved cautiously, one infinitesimal step at a time. It was vital no one see her.

  Evan’s vehicle, a fancy sports car, was parked just outside the garage—and in direct view of the house. She needed to be quick.

  Squatting down by the side mirror, she withdrew a bright red tube of lipstick from her pocket, opened it and heavily outlined her lips. Taking a soft white rag from the pocket of her jeans, she wiped his mirror clean and then kissed it several times. The imprint of her mouth was left in bold red.

  Jessica sighed with satisfaction as she carefully opened the door on the driver’s side and crawled into the front seat. The mirror over the dash was next. Her heart was pounding hard and fast, but it wasn’t entirely due to her fear of being discovered. Her heart rate tended to accelerate whenever she thought about Evan.

  There wasn’t a man in all of Boston who could compete with Evan Dryden. To think she’d lived next door to him all these years and hadn’t noticed until recently what a gorgeous hunk he was! As far as Jessica was concerned, he was the handsomest man in the universe.

  She remembered the exact moment she had realized her destiny. She hadn’t been the same since. The Dryden estate, Whispering Willows, was next to her own family’s, and she’d often spent time in the huge oak tree spying on the two brothers. Damian was in law school now and Evan in college. Being an only child, Jessica was left to invent her own amusement, and spying on the Dryden brothers had always been great fun.

  Jessica had been sitting in the tree one day when Evan had walked to the pond and stood on the footbridge tossing rocks into the water. His back was to her and she held her breath, wondering if he’d seen her hiding in the thick foliage.

  She must have made a sound, because he turned abruptly and stared into the tree.

  “Jessica?”

  She didn’t dare move or even breathe.

  He stared upward and the sun cut across his shoulder, highlighting his handsome features. It was then that she realized Evan wasn’t just an ordinary boy. He was an Adonis. Perfect in every way.

  After that she started having dreams about him. Wonderful dreams about him falling in love with her. Dreams about them marrying and having a family. It seemed so…so right. It came to her about a week later that fate had thrown them together. They were meant for each other. The only problem was that Evan had yet to make this discovery for himself.

  Jessica had recently turned fourteen and Evan was much older. Six whole years, but it might have been a hundred for all the notice he gave her.

  That was when Jessica decided she had to take matters into her own hands. She was a woman of the world, and when a woman knew what she wanted, she went after it. It, in this case, was Evan Dryden.

  Jessica soon discovered she wasn’t nearly as dauntless as she would have liked. She must have phoned him ten times or more, and each time he answered, she lacked the courage to so much as speak, much less tell him about her undying love. Each call had ended with her replacing the receiver and stewing in frustration.

  She’d always been better at expressing herself with the written word, so she’d taken to writing him love notes, pouring out her devotion. She let her best friend read one such note, and the girl claimed it was the most beautiful love letter she’d ever seen. Unfortunately, Jessica hadn’t found the courage to sign her name.

  This latest trick, planting kisses on his rearview mirror, was sure to accomplish what nothing else had. He’d know it was Jessica and he’d finally come for her, and together they’d ride into the sunset in his sports car.

  Outlining her lips with a fresh coat of brilliant red, Jessica was about to kiss the interior mirror when the car door was flung open.

  “So it is you.”

  Her heart sank all the way to her knees. Slowly she looked over and her eyes connected with Damian Dryden’s. He was taller than his younger brother, dark and handsome in his own way. She was certain the day would come when some girl would feel as strongly about him as she did about Evan.

  “Hello,” she said, pretending it wasn’t the least bit out of the ordinary for her to be sitting in his brother’s car kissing the mirrors.

  “You’re the one, I bet, who’s been phoning at all hours of the night.”

  “I’ve never called past ten,” she denied heatedly, then realized her mistake. It probably would have been best to pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about.

  “The notes on Evan’s windshield have been from you, too, haven’t they?”

  She could have denied that, but it wouldn’t have done any good. Feeling trapped in Evan’s car, she swung her legs around and gingerly climbed out. “Are you going to tell him it was me?”

  “I don’t know,” Damian said thoughtfully. “How old are you now?”

  “Fourteen,” she said proudly. “I know Evan’s older, but I was hoping he’d be willing to wait for me to grow up so we could get married.”

  “Married!”

  Damian made the word sound ludicrous and Jessica bristled. “Just wait until you fall in love,” she challenged. “Then you’ll know.”

  “You aren’t in love with Evan,” he said gently. “You’re too young to know about things like that. You’re infatuated with him because he’s older and—”

  “I most certainly do love Evan,” she flared, stuffing the lipstick tube in her pocket. She wasn’t about to stand there and let him ridicule her. She might only be fourteen, but she had the heart of a mature woman and she’d made her decision. Someday she would marry Evan Dryden, and nothing Damian could say or do would stand in her way.

  “I’m sure my brother’s flattered by your devotion.”

  “He should be. The man who marries me will see himself as the luckiest man in the world.” Her words were fed by pure bravado.

  Damian laughed.

  Jessica had been willing to overlook his earlier statements, but this was unforgivable. Hands braced against her hips, she glared at him with all the indignation she could muster, which at the moment was considerable.

  “You might be older than Evan, but you don’t know a thing about love, do you?”

  Her question appeared to amuse him, and that only served to irritate her further.

  “When a woman makes up her mind about a man, nothing can change the way she feels. I’ve decided to marry your brother, and not a thing you say or do will have the least effect, so save your breath. Evan is my destiny.”

  “You’re sure about this?”

  At least he had the courtesy to wipe the grin off his face.

  “Of course,” she said confidently. “Mark my words, Damian Dryden. Time will prove me right.”

  “Does my brother have a say in this?”

  “Naturally.”

  “What if he decides to marry someone else?”

  “I…I don’t know.” Damian had zeroed in on her worst fear—that Evan would get married before she had a chance to prove herself.

  “There’s something else you haven’t considered,” Damian said.

  “What’s that?”

  He grinned. “I j
ust might want to marry you myself.”

  One

  Jessica Kellerman’s time of reckoning had arrived. For the first time in eight years she was about to face the Dryden brothers. Evan didn’t concern her. She suspected he wouldn’t even remember what a nuisance she’d made of herself. Then again, he just might. But Damian was the brother who worried her most. He was the one who’d caught her red-handed. He was the one who’d mocked her and suggested her devotion to his brother was a passing fancy. Now she was forced to face him and admit he’d been right. She sincerely hoped Damian would have the good grace not to drag up the past.

  Swallowing her dread, Jessica walked into the high-rise office building in the most prestigious part of downtown Boston. The building was new, with a glistening black-mirrored exterior that towered thirty stories above the ground. The Dryden law firm was one of the most distinguished in town, and in Boston that was saying something.

  Jessica’s footsteps made tapping sounds against the marble floor in the lobby. Although she’d been in this part of town often—the university wasn’t far from the business section—this was the first time she’d been inside the impressive building.

  She was nervous, and rightly so. The last time she’d spent any time with either of the Dryden brothers she’d been caught kissing rearview mirrors.

  Looking back, she knew she’d been a constant source of amusement to the brothers and their respective sets of parents, as well. Young love, however, refused to be denied. Risking her family’s censure, Jessica had diligently sought Evan’s heart all through high school. It wasn’t until Benny Wilcox asked her to the graduation dance that she’d realized there were other fish in the sea. Sweet, attentive, good-looking ones, too. Yes, Evan had been the man of her dreams, the one who’d awakened her to womanhood. She held her love for him in a special place in her heart, but was more than willing to forget the way she’d embarrassed herself over him, praying he did, too.

  Although Jessica had let her infatuation with Evan die gracefully, neither set of parents had. Particularly, Lois and Walter Dryden. They thought the way Jessica felt about Evan was “cute,” and they mentioned it every now and again, renewing her embarrassment.

  When Walter Dryden heard that Jessica had recently graduated from business college with a certificate as a legal assistant, he’d insisted she apply with the family firm. In the beginning Jessica had balked, but jobs were few and far between just then, and after a fruitless search on her own, she’d decided to swallow her pride and face the two brothers.

  She was warmly greeted by the receptionist, who gave her a wide smile. Jessica smiled back, hoping she looked composed and mature. “I have an appointment with Damian Dryden,” she said.

  The woman, who appeared to be in her early thirties, with large blue eyes and a smooth complexion, glanced at the appointment book. “Ms. Kellerman?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Please have a seat and I’ll let Mr. Dryden know you’re here.”

  “Thank you.” Jessica sat in one of the richly upholstered chairs and reached for a People magazine. She’d dressed carefully for this interview, choosing a soft dove gray suit with a double-breasted jacket. The silver-dollar-size buttons were made from mother-of-pearl with flashes of deep blue and white. She wore high heels, hoping to seem not only professional, but sophisticated. Her glossy brown hair was sophisticated, too, cut in a flattering pageboy. She’d grown up, and it was important Damian know that.

  Jessica hadn’t even scanned the magazine’s contents page when the elder Dryden brother appeared. She’d seen Damian often, from a distance, but this was the first time they’d spoken in months, possibly years. She’d forgotten how tall he was, with broad shoulders that tapered to slim hips. She remembered how much he enjoyed football as a teenager, and how good he was at tackling the opponent. From what she remembered about Damian, he preferred to tackle problems head-on, too. She knew him to be aggressive, hardworking and ambitious. He’d taken over the leadership of the law firm upon Walter Dryden’s retirement three years earlier, and the firm, which specialized in corporate law, had thrived under his leadership.

  “Hello, Jessica. It’s good to see you again,” Damian said, stepping forward.

  “It’s good to see you, too.” She stood and offered him her hand.

  He clasped it with both of his own. He wasn’t an especially large man, and at five eight she wasn’t especially small, but her hand was dwarfed in his. His grip was solid and strong, like the man himself.

  “I’ve come to talk to you about a position as a legal assistant,” she said. The direct approach would work best with Damian, she felt.

  “Great. Let’s go to my office, shall we?”

  She was struck by the rugged timbre of his voice. It exuded confidence, sounding deep and firm. Little wonder Damian was one of the most sought-after corporate attorneys in Boston.

  He motioned her to be seated, then walked around behind the deep mahogany desk and claimed the black leather chair. He tilted it back slightly, conveying ease and relaxation.

  Jessica wasn’t fooled. She sincerely doubted that Damian knew how to relax. His mother, Lois, had often voiced her concern about her elder son, complaining that Damian worked too many hours.

  “Thank you for seeing me on such short notice,” Jessica said, crossing her legs.

  “It’s my pleasure.” He rolled a pen between his palms. “I understand you recently graduated from college.”

  She nodded. “I have a degree in early-American history.”

  The motion of the pen between his palms froze and a frown creased his brow. “Unfortunately we don’t have much call for historians here at the firm.”

  “I realize that,” she said quickly. “About halfway through my senior year, I realized that although I love history, I wasn’t exactly sure what I planned to do with my degree. I toyed with the idea of teaching, then changed my mind.”

  “And you want to be a legal assistant now?”

  “Yes. I was dating a law student and I discovered how much I enjoyed law. You see, we often did our homework together. But rather than register for law school and invest all that time and effort, I decided to work as a legal assistant—sort of get my feet wet and then decide if becoming an attorney is what I want to do. So I went to business college and got a certificate.” She said all this in an eager rush. “Your father suggested I come and talk to you,” she added, winding down. She opened her purse and produced her certificate for his inspection.

  “I see.” The pen was in motion again.

  “I’m a hard worker.”

  Damian smiled fleetingly. “I don’t doubt that.”

  “I’ll work any hours you wish, even weekends. You can put me on probation if you want.” She hadn’t meant to reveal how much she wanted the position, but despite her resolve, she couldn’t keep the anxiety out of her voice.

  “This job means a great deal to you, doesn’t it?”

  Jessica nodded.

  “I think,” Damian said casually, “you’re still infatuated with my brother.”

  He spoke as if it had been only a few days since she’d all but thrown herself at Evan. Heat radiated from her cheeks. “I…I don’t believe that’s a fair statement.”

  Damian smiled shrewdly. “You’ve had a crush on Evan for years.”

  “Perhaps, but that has nothing to do with my applying for a position here.” She closed her mouth and collected her composure as best she could. She should have known Damian wouldn’t conveniently forget their encounter all those years ago.

  “It’s true, though, isn’t it?” Damian seemed to take delight in teasing her, which infuriated Jessica. She clamped her mouth shut, rather than argue with the man she hoped would employ her. “I was there the day you put kisses all over his rearview mirror, remember?”

  Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded.

  “I watched you look at him with those big worshipful eyes. I’ve seen plenty of other women do the same thing since, a
ll gazing at my younger brother as though he were an Adonis.”

  Jessica’s eyes widened at the use of the term. That was exactly the way she’d viewed Evan. A Greek god.

  “It’s true isn’t it, or are you going to deny it?”

  Jessica’s mouth refused to work. She opened and closed it a number of embarrassing times, not knowing how to respond, or if she should even try.

  Cathy Hudson, her best friend, had claimed it wasn’t a good idea to apply for work with a family who knew her so well. Jessica was about to concede that Cath was right.

  “I did have a schoolgirl crush on your brother at one time,” she confessed, “but that was years ago. I haven’t seen Evan in…heavens, I don’t remember. Certainly not any more often than I’ve seen you. If you believe my past feelings for Evan would hinder my performance as a legal assistant, then there isn’t anything more I can say—other than to thank you for your time.”

  Damian’s smile was slightly off kilter, his eyes bemused as if, despite himself, he’d admired her little speech. Slowly a look of sadness crossed his face. “Evan’s changed, you know. He isn’t the man you once knew.”

  “I’d heard from my mother that he’s been unhappy recently.” She didn’t know the details and hoped Damian would fill in the blanks.

  “Do you know why?”

  “No.”

  Damian gave a soft regretful sigh. “I might as well tell you, since you’ll find out soon enough yourself. He was in love possibly for the first time in his life, and it didn’t work out. I don’t know what caused the rift, and neither does anyone else, not that it matters. Unfortunately, though, Evan can’t seem to snap out of his depression.”

  “He must have loved her very much,” she whispered, watching Damian. He was genuinely concerned about Evan.

  “I’m sure he did.” Damian frowned, apparently at a loss as to how to help his brother, then shook his head. “We’ve ventured far from the subject of your employment, haven’t we?”