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Contents:
Prologue
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
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Prologue
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"She's not coming. I knew it!"
Trevor McQuillen shifted uncomfortably. There was nothing more terrifying than being alone with an unhappy bride on her wedding day. Except perhaps a crying unhappy bride. When tears pooled in Kate's eyes, Trevor knew he had to take action. "Listen, maybe she just got caught up—"
"No, she's not here because someone told her Eric was going to be at the reception. She told me not to invite him and I swore I wouldn't, but I—I just had to do something!" Her bottom lip began to quaver. "I just wanted her to be happy. Like I am with Mike. Viv and Eric belong together and I thought once she was here, with all the sentimentality of the wedding—" She broke off on a gulp of air and a noisy sniff.
Okay, Trevor schooled himself, don't panic. Five minutes, that's all Mike had asked. Keep her company for five minutes until her dad arrived. Trevor had commanded sensitive covert operations in four different countries over the past five years. Surely he could handle one crying woman. Mike would never forgive him if he handed over a blubbering bride.
So he did what Lieutenant Commander Trevor McQuillen did best. He assessed the situation and took command of the operation. Kate wanted Vivian to be in her wedding party. If Trevor could fly halfway around the world to stand up for his best buddy, this Vivian could certainly get over herself and whatever problems she'd had with Eric to do the same for her best friend. "Do you know where she is?"
Kate was rubbing her nose with a wad of tissues, and his barked order made her jump. "Wha—? Where Viv is?"
Trevor clamped his jaw tight and willed the tic under his right eye to stop jumping. For once he was happy he was an only child. In a gentler tone, he said, "Yes, ma'am. If you'll direct me to where she is, I'll go and get her. Bring her here."
Kate was already shaking her head, but the way her watery blue eyes lit up with hope, Trevor knew he was going to do this, even if he had to personally put this Viv into her bridesmaid's dress and truss her into the back seat of his rental sedan.
"She's—she's probably at home. I got Tricia to call her, but she didn't pick up."
Trevor had no idea who Tricia was—probably one of the dozen or so bridesmaids presently dressing and chattering in the room above the alcove they were standing in. "But you think she's there?"
She hiccupped and nodded. "I don't know where else she'd go." Fresh tears threatened as she gulped in a deep breath. "What was I thinking to play matchmaker on my wedding day?"
Trevor wondered the same thing, but time was of the essence here.
"I just thought it would be so romantic, you know?" She tried to smile as her breath hitched. "I know they still love each other. What better place to realize that than at a wedding?"
"But you believe she's at home now?" Trevor silently begged her to focus on the solution, not the problem. He'd been risking his life for too long making solutions happen despite people's refusal to focus. Apparently turning civilian wasn't going to end that job description. At least not yet. "How far away is it?"
"Five, maybe ten minutes tops."
He handed her his handkerchief when her tissue finally gave out, trying not to wince when she used it noisily. He shook his head when she offered it back to him and searched the alcove for something to write with. He took the wedding program from the pocket of his dress uniform and scooped up the little half pencil from a box filled with little envelopes. "Directions?"
Kate looked uncertain. "What if she—? I mean, I … don't want to—"
"This is your wedding day and you want her to be here to witness your vows to Mike, right?"
She nodded, dabbing at her pink nose.
"She will probably be upset with herself later if she misses it, so you're really doing her a favor. If it will make you feel better, I'll make sure she knows she can leave right after the ceremony and avoid … whatshisname."
"Eric. He's her husband. Or was," she corrected immediately when he frowned. "They got divorced eighteen months ago, but they're both miserable," she rushed to add.
Trevor really didn't want to know about all that. Right now his mission was to make sure his buddy's wife-to-be was happy and ready to get married. He didn't want to think about the fact that he was meddling in anyone else's life, much less their love life. He'd personally guarantee Viva ride home after the ceremony. Everyone would be happy.
He pushed the pencil and paper at Kate. She smiled through a fresh rush of tears. "Mike was right. You really are hero material. Thanks for saving my day." Her lip was trembling again. "Thank you so much for doing this."
Trevor nodded, silently praying for her to hurry with the directions so he could make his escape. When she handed the paper back, fingers trembling, he scanned the directions to make sure he could understand them. He'd lived in the area as a child and had been back when he could to see his grandmother, but she'd passed away years ago and his job with the Special Forces hadn't allowed him to come back very often since then. Things seemed to change every time he came back to this small suburb of Richmond, Virginia.
He gave Kate what he hoped was a reassuring nod. "Have your father tell the reverend to give me twenty minutes. I'll have her here ready to go."
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Chapter 1
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Christy Russell was not a morning person. Or an afternoon, or middle-of-the-night person, either, depending on what shift she was working. She'd worked so many in a row now she'd totally lost track. All she knew was that she had no shifts of any kind for the next seventy-two hours. No pager, no cell phone, no emergency call ins. The world could come to an end and probably would given her luck, but she was not gracing the hallways of the Richmond General Hospital's ICU until Monday afternoon at four.
Three days. And she planned to remain unconscious for as much of the first one as possible.
And she would if they'd just stop that banging. Whoever "they" were. She grumbled in her sleep. Banging, banging, banging. She tossed one way, then yanked the covers over her head as she turned the other. Pound, pound and yelling. She wasn't going to listen to any yelling. Uh-uh. She was unconscious. Off work. Not available.
She sunk deeper into dreamland. Still, the noise followed. Someone calling for Viv. Ah, she thought hazily. Viv, not Christy. Good. She smiled and nestled into her pillow. No Viv. Viv gone, she remembered dreamily, then blocked the disturbance out once and for all by tugging her pillow over her head and sinking fully into the waiting arms of the Sandman.
"Get up, Vivian."
Mmm. The Sandman had a deep, sexy voice. She burrowed deeper under her pillows and blankets. Maybe he'd crawl into her dreams with her and bring that sexy voice with him. What else would go with such a sexy voice? she wondered dreamily.
"You're late for a very important date."
Date. Yeah. She'd go on a date with that voice. He sounded so real, so close. "C'mere," she murmured, mentally reaching for her dream man.
"Come on, wake up."
Strong hands. Yeah, they went very nicely with that voice. Strong, warm hands. A little rough, but then she could handle a demanding lover. Lord knew, it had been so long, she had a few demands of her own.
"Vivian, time to wake up. Now."
She frowned. "Viv?" she mumbled. Why did her dream man want Viv? That wasn't very nice. After all, she'd conjured him up, shouldn't he be wanting her? What kind of dream was this anyway?
"Vivian." Her dream man was becoming demanding, but not the way she'd like him to.
"Go 'way." She'd think up another dream man. It was bad enough she wasn't getting any action in real life, but
she'd be damned if she'd put up with her own dream man choosing someone else over her.
And then her dream man was using those nice, strong hands to pull her covers off and yank her pillow away. How rude! Consciousness tugged at her, only her brain and most of her body weren't really willing to catch up. Which wasn't surprising given she was probably the world's heaviest sleeper.
"There's going to be a wedding in fifteen minutes and you're going to stand up for your best friend."
"Huh?" She had no idea what sort of whack dream this was, but she was really beginning to hate it. She flopped back on the bed and once again swore off convenience-store microwave tamales. Well, right before bed, anyway. They were one of her major food groups and she wasn't going to be so hasty as to swear off them forever. Food. Maybe she should dream about that…
"Oh, no, you don't."
She was being hauled upright again. This really must stop. She was sure she was telling him, but the words were all fuzzed up in her brain. All she wanted to do was sleep, dammit. Couldn't they just leave her alone to sleep? And just who the hell were they anyway?
She tried to struggle, but her arms were all sleep-gimpy and the Sandman was much stronger at any rate. "Whas going on? Hey!" This last came out much more clearly as she was unceremoniously dragged from her nice warm bed, or Viv's nice warm bed. Maybe that's why her dream man wanted Viv; it was her bed after all. Hmm… She began to drift again.
Then was awakened by her own shriek when she found herself turned almost upside down. "What the hell?" She blinked her eyes furiously, trying to clear the cobwebs. "What are you doing?" This demand was delivered directly to the very hard, very broad back of… Wait a minute. Her dream man wasn't real. Was he?
No, she must still be asleep after all. Okay, so no tamales or frozen cheesecake treats. Sheesh.
But she swiftly realized her predicament had nothing to do with sugar-and-spice overload. Because the warm, well-muscled forearm strapped across the back of her thighs was definitely real.
She began to struggle in earnest now as full consciousness was rudely and irrevocably thrust upon her. "Who the hell are you? Put me down!"
"Your best friend is crying her eyes out in a church on what should be the happiest day of her life and so you're going to put aside whatever personal problems you might have and go make her happy."
They were already heading down Viv's stairs and she grabbed his waist to keep her head from banging against his back. She couldn't string two coherent thoughts together, much less make any sense of what was happening to her. But one thing would certainly help. "Put. Me. Down."
But the hard body presently manhandling her wasn't remotely intimidated by her best ICU nurse voice. Okay, okay, she told herself. Calm down, wake up, think, think. What was he talking about? A wedding. Wedding.
"Oh! You must mean Kate Winchell."
"Nice of you to remember."
She finally put it together. He thought she was Vivian and Kate had sent him here to bring her matron of honor to the ceremony.
But the breath she'd planned to use to inform him of his dire mistake was oomphed out of her when he stepped off the front porch and headed toward a silver sedan. She forgot all about warning him when warm, humid air brushed her legs. Her very bare legs. Oh my God! "Wait just a damn minute! I don't have any clothes on!"
She heard a rustle of plastic. "I've got them. You can dress at the church."
"But I'm not—"
"Save the excuses. Whatever they are, you can swallow them for the twenty minutes it's going to take for my buddy to marry the love of his life." He shifted her as easily as a sack of potatoes so he could open the door. "A woman with apparently lousy taste in best friends," he added, clearly disgusted. "But she deserves a nice wedding day and I'm going to make sure she gets it."
Christy was dumped in the front seat of the car, quite rudely she thought, and was just winding up to deliver a blistering speech to enlighten this … this Neanderthal Kate had apparently sent to get Vivian. But all the words and a goodly amount of the venom she'd been building since the moment he tossed her over his shoulder died in her throat the instant she came face-to-face with him.
He was very possibly the most gorgeous Neanderthal she'd ever laid eyes on.
And speaking of eyes. At the moment, his were mere inches away from hers as he leaned in to get the seatbelt harness. They were blue. Lord, were they ever. All the poetic words ever used on a greeting card couldn't describe just how blue those eyes were.
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Better not to speak until she was sure she wouldn't drool. Not that she could be any more humiliated at this point. No makeup, puffy eyes, bed hair … and wearing white cotton underwear. Oh, yeah, she was a real temptress. Not that she wanted to tempt the guy. But her body didn't seem willing to register that reality. Oh, no, her body was exceedingly aware that white cotton or not, she wasn't wearing very much of it. And his hands were hovering close to … well, close to places she really shouldn't want a stranger's hands to hover. But she wanted them to anyway.
God, she was tired. That had to be the reason she waited until the last possible second before smacking his hands away and taking the seat belt from him. One second later and his knuckles would have grazed … well, she didn't want to think about what those knuckles would have been grazing against Her nipples were thinking about it far too much already, thank you very much.
"Buckle up," he said tersely and stepped back, apparently oblivious to the near riot he'd created with her hormones.
Sleep deprivation—she was sure that was the only reason they were all in a dither. That and a severe lack of love life. Tough combination, and after the eyeful she got watching him as he straightened, she decided she couldn't really blame her nipples one bit.
He locked her door and shut it tightly, making her flinch. Venom buildup returning, she thought, scowling as she watched him walk with a rigid preciseness that made the military uniform he wore seem redundant. But damn, if he didn't fill that uniform out. And men in uniform didn't even make the top ten on her list of things to fantasize about. "Well, that could change," she murmured, mind wandering. Of course, in her fantasies the man in uniform wouldn't be a rude, Neanderthal, hormone-inducing jerk. Well, except for the hormone-inducing part. That would probably be okay. And those eyes, those would work.
God, she was punchy. How had she let this happen anyway? Yawning fiercely, she let her head drop back on the headrest. She knew Kate Winchell, but only through Viv. Christy had met her fiancé, Mike, at a July Fourth picnic once. He was a former Special Forces guy, she couldn't remember with what part of the military, but given the uniform, she guessed this was one of his pals. Her eyelids drooped and her mind was tugged back toward dreamland as she vaguely wondered if she and her blue-eyed Neanderthal Man would have hit it off if they'd met at a picnic. Maybe he'd wear that uniform … and let her take it off later, alone. Somewhere where they could have their own private display of fireworks. Oh, yeah, that would be great…
She almost leaped out of her skin when he slammed his door shut. Which put him inside the car. Right next to her. Her and her rioting, fantasizing hormones. And her barely clad body. She hunched down a little and shifted toward the door, not that he hadn't already seen everything. And it didn't make a bit of difference, nor did the fact that her brain knew she'd never give this guy the time of day after the way he'd treated her. Her body was still back at her fantasy picnic, getting ready to explode a few fireworks.
Okay, so she'd been pulling too many double shifts. She had school loans to pay off and a fixer-upper condo that was turning into a money pit of nightmare proportions. She had priorities. And they didn't include fireworks. In or out of uniform.
But her gaze slid over to him anyway. Along his thighs, so nicely outlined in his crisp dress pants, to the belted jacket that covered … well, things she didn't need to be visualizing as she was over-stimulated enough at the moment. But she didn't look away. No, she had to look
at his hands … and oh, Lord, what hands they were.
She might not have men-in-uniform fantasies, but she definitely had a thing about hands. And his were … perfect. Wide palms, long fingers, blunt nails, all capable and strong as they gripped the leather-wrapped steering wheel. They'd be just as strong and capable gripping her hips. She tried not to squirm, tried not to imagine. But perhaps, just maybe, her priorities needed readjusting a tiny bit.
The man just kidnapped you from your own bed for chrissakes!
She jerked her gaze back to the passenger window. She had no right fantasizing about this guy. So what if he thought she was someone else? Breaking and entering, kidnapping … all those things were still against the law. And just because Kate was sniffling, well, she shouldn't have set Viv up to begin with! Christy should be furious, not fantasizing!
The headache she'd almost medicated away earlier crawled back inside her head with renewed force. She needed to be in bed and there was a perfectly good one not fifty yards away. So what in the hell was she doing letting this guy drag her to an event she hadn't even been invited to?
She turned to face Mr. Gorgeous Neanderthal Man and tell him just that, but just as abruptly decided against it. Oh, no, there was a much better way for him to learn of his giant faux pas. Swallowing a smile, she leaned back in the plush leather seat, deciding to just enjoy the short ride to the chapel. He'd learn soon enough that he'd plundered the wrong bed. Or the wrong woman anyway. She let her eyes drift shut as she imagined the humiliation payback that was going to be his when they pulled up in front of the chapel and— "Oh my God!" Her eyes flew open.
He hit the brakes. "What?"
"I'm not wearing anything!" Which she already knew. What she hadn't factored in was that they were heading to a church where everyone else would find out she was only wearing her underwear.
He scowled and resumed his race to the church. "If you'd been here with everyone else, you wouldn't have this problem."
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