“Good,” he told her, “because that guy is outside, asking for you. Nigel.”
Cheyenne frowned. “Nigel is here?”
Jesse took her hand, led her out of the church hall, into the sunshine.
Sure enough, Nigel was waiting on the sidewalk, looking winsomely apologetic. He wore a sports shirt and slacks, and Cheyenne saw his passport peeking out of one shirt pocket.
“If you came to serve papers on me,” Cheyenne told him, in an angry whisper, “you picked a really lousy time to do it!”
Nigel glanced at Jesse, then looked back at Cheyenne. “I’m not going to sue you,” he said.
Cheyenne, who had advanced like a storm trooper, backpedaled a little. “You’re not?”
“Of course I’m not,” Nigel said. “I was only trying to scare you into doing what I wanted.”
“And you’re here—in the middle of our friends’ wedding celebration because—?”
“Because I didn’t know there was a wedding until I got here,” Nigel said. “I came to apologize. Wipe the slate clean.”
“Did the company collapse?”
Nigel sighed, nodded. “My grandmother is waiting in England to welcome me back to the fold with open arms.” He paused, smiled sadly. “And a meat cleaver.”
Jesse’s grip tightened on Cheyenne’s hand.
“Forgive me?” Nigel wheedled.
“I forgive you,” Cheyenne replied. “Which does not mean I ever want to lay eyes on you again, as long as I live.”
Nigel grinned. “So long, Pocahontas,” he said. Then he leaned forward, kissed Cheyenne’s cheek lightly and turned to walk away.
Jesse and Cheyenne stood on the church steps, watching him go.
“Should I be jealous of that guy?” Jesse asked speculatively, after a long moment.
“No,” Cheyenne replied, turning from her past and looking up into the face of her future.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.”
“Why?”
“Because Nigel is gay. And that’s just one of the reasons.”
Jesse laughed. Then he pulled Cheyenne against him. Kissed her thoroughly—as thoroughly as if they were playing strip poker in his bedroom instead of standing in front of a church.
“What was that for?” she asked, once she caught her breath.
“Practice,” Jesse said.
“Practice?”
“Kissing. Churches. I’m kind of getting into the spirit of the thing.” He looked down at her, his eyes serious and soft. “Will you marry me, Cheyenne?”
She swallowed. “M-Marry you?”
He nodded.
“When?”
“When you’re ready. I don’t care how long it takes. I’ll wait.”
She smiled, slipped her arms around his neck.
The night before, she’d moved in with him.
She’d hoped for a proposal, but she hadn’t expected it to come this soon. “My mother was right,” she said.
Jesse looked puzzled. “About what?”
“There is such a thing as a happy ending. That’s what she said. Inside, a few minutes ago, when Travis and Sierra were exchanging vows.”
Jesse’s mouth turned up at the corner, in the way she loved. “Is this one of them? A happy ending, I mean?”
“More like a happy beginning,” Cheyenne said. “And happy beginnings always start with a yes.”
“Yes?” Jesse echoed.
Cheyenne kissed him again.
“Yes.”
ISBN: 978-1-5525-4852-3
McKETTRICK’S LUCK
Copyright © 2007 by Linda Lael Miller
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual-known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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