by Cheryl Holt
“But I’ve never met his bride. Or Lucas’s either. I was in Europe when he got married. I was trapped in a blizzard and couldn’t fly out. After I returned, I never bothered to visit them.”
“Isn’t it time you did?”
“How do I just show up? How do I just walk in like it’s no big deal?”
“Honey, you brazen it out. You’re the Merriweather princess. Start acting like it.”
“I’ve deliberately avoided their wives. There’s been so much terrible gossip about them, and they’ll realize that’s why I’ve stayed away. They must hate me.”
Ah, the real crux of the problem.
“Who said bad things about them? Your mother?”
“Yes.”
“She’s an idiot. Why would you take her word for it?”
She chuckled, but miserably. “You make everything sound so easy.”
“That’s because it is easy. You’ll see. And I’ll be there, guarding your back. No one will hurt you; I won’t let them.” He pulled her to her feet. “Come on. Let’s get you ready.”
She rose too fast, the momentum carrying her forward so that, suddenly, she was pressed against him, her entire body stretched out the length of his.
He had a fleeting instant to feel every delicious inch of her. The pert breasts. The slender waist. The thin, shapely legs.
The air seemed to crack and sizzle with sexual energy. They both sucked in a shocked breath, then lurched away.
She frowned at him, and he frowned too. There was a potent and remarkable temptation brewing between them. So far, he’d done nothing to exacerbate it. Instead, he was working to lower her defenses, nudging her to examine her life, her choices, to recognize that she was unhappy.
If she was confused and distraught, and he was around and available and supportive, she’d be more likely to behave as he wanted her to behave. He’d developed some delicious fantasies that included things like stripping her naked and having raucous, slippery sex in the shower, but she was engaged to her precious Andrew, so he couldn’t proceed.
He was positive he could convince her to break her engagement. It was obvious she wasn’t eager to wed her fiancé, but she was having trouble admitting it. Matt was in a perfect position to steer her in a different direction, but he had to tread carefully. If he seduced her while she was still engaged, she’d end up feeling guilty and angry, and he’d bear the brunt of her remorse—which would ruin all his plans.
He paused, watching her, seeing that she was about to comment on their blistering attraction. Except that it dawned on her that this wasn’t a conversation they could have. Not when she thought herself to be in love and racing toward her marriage. She spun and stomped into the bathroom.
To his relief, she scooped up an armful of clothes and took them with her. Evidently, she’d decided to dress so they could head for her brother’s reception.
He went to the window and gazed out at the stormy sky.
In his dealings with women, he pictured himself as being extremely rational. He had sex with them and that was it, but where she was concerned, he was completely baffled as to how he should handle her.
Every pore in his body was jangling, his male instincts on high alert. Though the door between them was closed, he could smell her, could sense her every move, could practically feel her heat emanating through the wall.
He was suffering from the strongest urge to march over, to waltz in and seize what she wasn’t ready to give. He braced his palm on the cold glass of the window, centering himself, calming himself.
“Settle down, boy,” he muttered. “All good things come to those who wait.”
He grinned at his reflection, liking the odds, liking his chances.
* * * *
“Who is that?”
“Where?”
“Over by the door.”
Amy Dane Merriweather grabbed Dustin, her new husband, by the arm. They were in the front parlor of the old Merriweather mansion. It was the first and only room they’d refurbished in what they envisioned as a lifetime of effort to restore the town to its prior glory.
The grand house was packed with people, and she had to shift him so he could see who she meant.
A striking couple had stepped in from the foyer. They were regally posed, peering around as if they owned the place.
The guy was tall, buff, and macho, dark-haired and menacing, while the woman was petite, blond, and pretty. They were arresting and conspicuous, an intriguing combination of light and dark, danger and beauty.
“I don’t know them,” Amy said. “Are they friends of yours?”
“Oh, my God.” Dustin graced her with one of his rare smiles. “It’s my sister.”
“Your sister came? How cool is that!”
It had been a bone of contention for them. Amy didn’t have any siblings and had virtually raised herself and her two younger sisters, so she was relentless when family was involved.
She and Dustin had argued about sending an invitation to Brittney. Dustin had insisted it was a waste of time, that Brittney would ignore it. He claimed she’d heard too many negative stories from his mother about Amy being a gold-digger and mercenary who was simply after Dustin’s money. He’d worried that Amy would be hurt by Brittney’s disregard.
But Amy was a tenacious optimist. She’d sent the invite anyway, then had fussed and pouted over it, wanting to call Brittney, to introduce herself, then pester the poor woman until she agreed to attend. She’d restrained herself, though.
“Ha! She’s here, and I didn’t even have to badger or bribe her.” She elbowed him in the ribs. “I already know her better than you do.”
“Don’t get a big head.”
“Who’s the hunk with her?”
“He must be her fiancé, Andrew. I haven’t met him yet. Come on.”
He took her hand, and they wedged their way through the horde of guests.
“I thought he was a New York banker,” Amy said. “He doesn’t look like a banker.”
“What does he look like?”
“Not a banker.”
Amy studied the man with a heightened female interest, not bothering to conceal the fact that she found him to be yummy.
Dustin scowled, making her laugh.
“You’re drooling, Amy.”
“I can’t help it.”
“If you keep staring at him like that, he’ll think you’re loose and easy.”
“I am loose and easy, but just since I hooked up with you. I’ve been completely corrupted.”
“Aren’t I lucky?”
He swooped in and stole a quick kiss that had her grinning like an idiot, and she wanted to pinch herself.
She still couldn’t believe that she—plain, ordinary, small town Amy Dane—had snagged Dustin. She still couldn’t believe that he loved her, that he’d married her, that he’d abandoned his glamorous bachelor’s life in LA so he could live happily ever after with her up in the middle of nowhere.
As they pushed nearer to the front of the room, they passed Lucas and his wife, Faith.
“Brittney came,” Amy told her.
“Brittney?” Faith grinned too.
“Yes, with her fiancé from New York.”
“Oh, that’s so great!”
She and Faith rushed on, leaving the two brothers trailing behind. They burst out of the crowd, and Amy marched right up to Brittney, her hands extended in welcome.
“Brittney!” Amy gushed. “Hi! I’m Amy.”
Brittney hesitated, giving Amy’s outstretched fingers a fleet squeeze, then she let go. Now that Amy was closer, Brittney’s confidence wasn’t quite as evident as it had been from a distance.
She appeared nervous, as if maybe she’d been worried she wouldn’t be welcome, and Amy sighed with exasperation.
Merriweathers! Weren’t they the weirdest people ever?
“This is Lucas’s wife, Faith.” Amy gestured to Faith, and Faith smiled.
“Hello, Brittney.”
Faith
didn’t bluster up exuberantly as Amy had done, but there were reasons for her reserve. Brittney had likely heard even more horrid gossip about Faith than she had about Amy.
Amy had simply married a Merriweather son. Faith had taken a Merriweather son’s money and then married him. So she’d committed a double sin.
“Hello,” Brittney said to Faith.
Her brothers approached, and it was almost humorous to watch them. They could have been polite strangers, and Amy wanted to grab all three and bang their stubborn heads together.
Didn’t they realize how lucky they were to have each other? Didn’t they understand that they could move beyond the barriers that had been imposed during childhood?
It was a wedding, for pity’s sake. It was the perfect occasion for everybody to celebrate, for everybody to start over.
“Hey guys,” Brittney said to her brothers.
They murmured greetings in return, but neither hurried over to hug her. They grinned awkwardly, and it was the first time Amy had ever seen Dustin unsure of himself.
“You must be Andrew.” Amy spoke to Brittney’s companion.
“Nope,” the man replied. “I’m Matt Monroe.”
He shook Amy’s hand like a normal person, and he shot her a hot look that would have left her weak in the knees if she hadn’t already managed to latch on to Dustin.
“And you’re with her because…?” Dustin asked, sizing him up.
“He’s my”—Brittney frowned as she searched for the appropriate word to describe him—“my security guard.”
“Okay,” Dustin slowly mused, and he flashed a glance of concern at Lucas.
“Actually,” Brittney explained, “he’s Andrew’s idea.”
“Andrew hired security for you?” Lucas said. “Why?”
“Long story,” Brittney claimed.
Lucas gaped and glowered, and Amy was afraid he’d say something stupid or insensitive, that he’d pose indelicate questions or press matters that didn’t need to be currently addressed.
The Merriweather siblings had odd issues, and Amy wouldn’t have any sniping, wouldn’t have Brittney put on the defensive as to why she’d arrived with a macho god who wasn’t her fiancé.
With her wedding in full swing, Amy was intent on laughter and cheer and blessings raining down. She wouldn’t tolerate any friction, wouldn’t permit any discord that might make Brittney wish she hadn’t come.
Amy was so delighted, she couldn’t contain herself. She pulled Brittney into the tight hug her brothers should have bestowed but hadn’t. For a moment, Brittney hesitated, then she hugged Amy back.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Amy whispered.
“So am I,” Brittney responded.
Over Brittney’s shoulder, Amy saw Matt Monroe wink at Brittney. Then he let himself be swallowed up into the crowd so Amy could have Brittney all to herself.
“I want to introduce you to everybody,” she said. “They’re all dying to meet you.”
She clasped Brittney’s hand and led her away.
CHAPTER FIVE
“I’m so happy.”
“I can see that you are.”
Brittney twirled across their hotel room, arms outstretched, providing an indication that she’d studied ballet somewhere in her past. She’d had too much to drink, though, so she stumbled on the third turn, and Matt was there to steady her.
“Whoa, girl. Slow down.”
“Amy and Faith are so nice,” she said.
“Yes, they are,” he concurred.
“I think they like me. Don’t you think they like me?”
“I think they love you, kiddo.” He smirked. “Told you so.”
“Told me what?”
“That they’d behave like normal people and be very glad you came.”
He eased her down into a nearby chair, and she grinned, giving him a hot, searing look that made his heart race.
“Wasn’t it a beautiful wedding?” she asked.
“We weren’t there for the wedding.”
“Well, reception then. You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I do. The reception was great.”
And he wasn’t lying. He’d had a terrific time.
Lucas and Dustin Merriweather had actually managed to find themselves a couple of awesome wives. How they were able to convince two such marvelously ordinary women to join the dreaded Merriweather clan was a mystery.
Matt had spent the evening, working the crowd, posing innocent questions. He’d already known that Faith and Amy came from humble backgrounds, but he hadn’t been aware of their rough childhoods or how awfully they had struggled as adults.
If he hadn’t learned the facts for himself, if he hadn’t met them and seen them interacting with their husbands, he might have wondered if they were the gold-diggers they’d been accused of being in the media.
From the stories shared by their adoring relatives, it was clear that the two rich, handsome, notorious husbands were the lucky ones.
They had married wisely, had created loving, boisterous families filled with misfits. Among the guests, there had been a general consensus that Faith and Amy were the primo catches, the Merriweather brothers not so much. They had been fortunate in latching on to Amy and Faith while the latching on was good.
It was enough to make a man start believing in matrimony.
Brittney leapt up from her chair, and she grabbed his bad arm. He winced, but she was tipsy and silly and didn’t notice. She snuggled herself to him, her breasts pressed to his chest. She was swaying back and forth, as if they were on a dance floor and moving to the music.
“You didn’t dance with me all night,” she said.
“No, I didn’t.”
“I asked you six times!”
She was in a fine state, rowdy and talkative, her inhibitions completely shattered. If he wasn’t careful, she was going to end up precisely where he wanted her to be, which was flat on her back on the mattress.
He wasn’t the type of guy to take advantage of a drunken woman, though. With his hard body and macho attitude, females were always willing to hop into his bed, and he didn’t have to get them intoxicated to lure them there.
Brittney wouldn’t find it funny to wake up naked beside him in the morning. Somehow, he couldn’t envision her laughing about it when she was sober.
“Are you a lousy dancer?” She smiled up at him. “Is that the problem? Because I’m great at it, and I could have shown you what to do.”
“I like to dance. It’s just difficult for me. My arm’s wrecked, so I can’t hold it in certain positions.”
“What’s wrong with your arm? Did you hurt it?”
“Yes.”
“How.”
“In Iraq.”
“In the country…Iraq?”
“Yes.”
“Why were you in Iraq?”
“I was in the army, you goof. Why would you suppose I was there?”
“You were a soldier?”
“Yes,” he said again.
“That is very, very sexy.” She raised a brow and nestled herself even closer. “Do you have any pictures of yourself in your uniform?”
“I could probably dig one up.”
“I want to see what you looked like.”
She grabbed his ass, pulling his groin into hers.
He knew he should draw away, that he should put some space between them, but he wasn’t that noble.
“Were you wounded?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“How.”
“Blown up in an explosion.”
“An explosion!”
“It wasn’t bad,” he fibbed. “I messed up a couple of bones, had to have some surgeries and stuff.”
She scowled. “I don’t like it that you were hurt.”
“Came with the territory.”
He never discussed what had happened. The tale was too depressing, and there wasn’t any point in dissecting the details.
She’d had too many drinks, and
he didn’t want her maudlin, didn’t want her feeling sorry for him. The entire evening had been a grand success, and he only wanted smiles and laughter for the rest of the night.
“Dustin told me I was welcome to visit them anytime.” She beamed like a kid on Christmas morning.
“I heard.”
“When they get back from their honeymoon”—Dustin and Amy were headed to the Caribbean for a month—“he asked me to stay with them in the mansion.”
“I heard that too.”
“You’ll come with me, right?”
“Right,” he falsely agreed, wondering if he’d ever see her again after next week.
It was sad to consider that he might not. She was growing on him; he liked her much more than was wise.
“Can you imagine us snooping around in that old place?” she inquired.
“I definitely can.”
“Everything started there for my family.”
The ostentatious mansion had been the first one her ancestor, George Merriweather, had constructed with his new gold fortune. It was an infamous residence, built for his mistress—not his wife. Due to Merriweather neglect, it had fallen into terrible disrepair.
Amy and Dustin were planning to restore it. They were planning to restore the whole darn town. Matt thought they were crazy, that it would be an enormous amount of work—decades of it—but they were determined.
“The house will be so beautiful,” she said, “when Dustin is through.”
“Yes, it will.”
“And they want me to help them! They like me,” she said again. “They like me!”
She twirled him in several circles, making him dizzy. Then she spun away, practically skipping with delight as she went into the bathroom. Momentarily, the shower came on, and he walked over and sat on the bed.
He loosened his boots and belt, unbuttoned his shirt and got more comfortable. He lay on the pillows, listening to her.
It had been a long time since he’d shared space with a female. He liked the sounds and smells of being around her, liked the humidity of the hot water, the hint of shampoo and lotion wafting out from under the closed door.
He dozed off, content, exhausted.
When he roused again, she was stretched out on top of him, the brief touch of her lips to his own yanking him to consciousness. Her glorious blond hair was curled over her shoulders, her big green eyes ablaze with mischief.
