Kiss the Bride

by Lori Wilde

  But Nick did not stray far. He turned and reached back for her. Offering his hand to help her step out. His touch was a furnace, his body heat seeping into her skin.

  She took his hand and he pulled her gently across the seat toward him.

  Delaney felt the material of her pants tug tightly across her bottom. She heard a soft ripping sound, like the tearing of silk. She jerked her head around and saw that the seat of her pants had snagged on a small jagged hole in the aging metal. When she stood up, she felt the air against her bare skin and put a hand behind her to examine the damage.

  The tear was much bigger than she’d feared. She gasped at the six-by-six-inch square of nearly severed material that had once been covering her left butt cheek, but was now flapping in the Gulf breeze. Unfortunately, she also happened to be wearing thong underwear.

  “Hey, Uncle Nick, that was fun.” Nick’s twin nephews came walking toward them.

  “Please, you’ve got to help me out here,” Delaney whispered urgently to Nick. “Before the boys see me.”

  “What is it?” He ducked his head.

  “Put your hand on my backside and you’ll find out.”

  “An unorthodox request,” he said, “but okay.” He pressed his large palm flush against her bare flesh. “Uh-oh.”

  “Uh-oh is an understatement.”

  “Here, boys.” Nick reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out several one-dollar bills. “Go get yourselves some cotton candy.”

  “Mom said we can’t have any junk,” Jack said. “She says it’ll spoil our lunch.”

  The boys were peering at her curiously. Delaney gave them a shaky smile. “What kind of kids is your sister raising?” she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. “They can’t be bribed with cotton candy?”

  “Kids that will have all their teeth?”

  “Look at them, they’ve already lost teeth.”

  “Baby teeth.”

  “This isn’t funny,” she said.

  “Yes, it is.” He grinned.

  Her initial impulse was to get upset. Torn pants that had cost her a fortune. A blow to her dignity. Then she realized it was funny, and to get huffy was exactly like something her mother would do. It was just a pair of pants. No major catastrophe. As for her dignity, big deal. She was loopy from a cheap amusement park ride. Dignity didn’t figure into it.

  Delaney giggled. “Any suggestions, Detective? On how to make an exit without everyone”—she waved her hands at the twins—“seeing my… er… exit?”

  “I’ve got you covered. I’ll send the boys on ahead of us and I’ll walk with my arm around you, holding up the flap of the loose material with my hand.”

  “I’m going to need a new pair of pants. I can’t meet with the real estate agent and your grandmother looking like this.”

  “You and Gina are about the same size. I’m sure she’s got something at Nana’s that you can wear. Maybe not as snazzy as your outfit, but at least you won’t be naked.”

  “Stop teasing,” she pleaded. “I can’t hold still while I’m laughing.”

  “Where’s your car parked?”

  “Along the seawall about a block up.”

  “Come on, boys, we’re walking Delaney to her car. You guys lead the way to the seawall.” Nick’s arm circled snuggly around her waist and his big palm rested hot and heavy on her butt.

  Animal instinct tussled with her sophisticated demeanor. Her pulse pumped. Her skin tingled. Self-control had been drummed into her from birth, but nature was nature. Polished manners and civilized etiquette didn’t stand a chance against pure animal magnetism.

  Delaney wanted to scurry back to her car as fast as her legs would carry her, but with Nick’s leg in the knee brace, he couldn’t move fast, and she was left plodding along at his pace.

  “Ask him,” Jack whispered to Zack.

  “No, you ask him.”

  “You.”

  “No, you.” The boys pushed each other.

  “Ask me what?” Nick said.

  Jack and Zack cast looks over their shoulders at Delaney and Nick. “Is she your new girlfriend? We hope she’s your new girlfriend ’cause we heard Mama telling Nana that if you didn’t get a new girlfriend soon, you were going to turn into a grumpy old man and she’d have to go find Amber and kick her skinny butt for breaking your heart.”

  “My heart’s not broken,” Nick growled.

  “But you are grumpy,” Zack pointed out.

  “Who’s Amber?” Delaney felt Nick’s arm tighten around her waist.

  “Nobody important.”

  “Amber was his old wife,” Zack said.

  “Mama says she ran away on their honeymoon,” Jack added.

  “With a famous guy from TV,” Zack supplied.

  Delaney looked at Nick. “What’s this?”

  Nick rolled his eyes. “I’ll never live this down.”

  “What?”

  “Gary Feldstein. My wife left me on our honeymoon for Gary Feldstein. Can we drop it?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Hey,” he said. “Don’t apologize. You weren’t the one doing the horizontal tango in our stateroom with Feldstein. You have nothing to be sorry about.”

  She could tell he was embarrassed. She remembered hearing something on one of the tabloid television shows about the fact that comedian Gary Feldstein’s new bride-to-be had met him during her honeymoon with another man. To think that Nick was that man made her heart ache.

  “Your sister sounds really protective of you,” she said softly.

  “So is she your new girlfriend?” Jack asked. “Or not?”

  “Delaney’s just a friend.”

  Just a friend.

  Why those words would make her feel sad, Delaney had no idea. She couldn’t be anything more to Nick than just a friend. She didn’t want to be anything more than just a friend because she was engaged to another man. A sweet, kind, generous man who would be tremendously hurt if he could see her now, strolling down the seawall with Nick’s arm around her waist, his hand splayed across her bottom.

  She didn’t know how to deal with this conflict of emotions. Wanting Nick to like her as more than a friend, but very glad that he did not. Guilt over the fact she was here with Nick, instead of with Evan, and not feeling very badly about it.

  Honestly, she was a little miffed. Evan had gone off and left her for six weeks just before their wedding. But being miffed made her feel guilty again because Evan was doing such great work in Guatemala. What kind of person was she to be jealous of that?

  A small, petty person, that’s what she was.

  She started to draw away from Nick, eager to remove herself from his proximity, but then she remembered he was the only thing standing between her and revealing her bare butt cheek to the tourists strolling the seawall.

  Her stomach was in turmoil, her mind a mess. She wanted to sprint to her car and sit down ASAP, but of course she could not. She had to smile and walk slowly and pretend that she wasn’t turned on by the feel of Nick’s calloused hand. Meryl Streep couldn’t have done an acting job this good. Luckily, years of trying to please her perfectionist mother came in pretty handy at times like these.

  After what seemed an eternity, they finally reached her car.

  “This you?” Nick stopped beside her silver Acura.

  “Yes, yes.”

  “Boys,” he said, “stay here on the seawall while I walk Delaney around to the driver’s side.” Thankfully, the twins were arguing about Hank Blalock’s batting record and not paying them any attention.

  “You asked me why I was here,” she said. “Do you still want to know?”

  “Sure, if you want to tell me.”

  “Remember when we were driving past and I told you I thought I saw my mother here?”

  “Yes.”

  “She was talking to a patch-eyed woman and I came here to find her to ask her why my mother was talking to her. I found out her name was Paulette Doggett.”

 
“Why don’t you just ask your mother?”

  “I did. She lied.”

  “Did you talk to Paulette Doggett?”

  “No. It’s her day off. But I was wondering, since you’re a cop, if you could do a little investigating for me and find out exactly who this woman is before I approach her.”

  “I could do that,” Nick said.

  “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

  “Don’t mention it. Apparently this is my day to be chivalrous.”

  Delaney unlocked her car door while Nick’s hand stayed firmly in place. Heart thumping crazily, she turned her head to look at him. “I’m going to sit down now, you can let go.”

  “Ah,” he said. “All good things must come to an end.”

  Blushing, she sank down into the seat.

  “See you later, Rosy.” Nick shut the car door and walked back to the boys, who were now seeing who could spit the farthest over the side of the seawall.

  She sat there with the engine running, watching Nick corral the kids and feeling an emotion she couldn’t describe. She hadn’t found the one-eyed woman or her mother’s secret reason for visiting the amusement park, but what she had found was a part of herself she never knew existed.

  What she didn’t know was if she liked what she had discovered about herself.

  Or hated it.

  Nick brooded through Happy Meals at McDonald’s with his nephews. His maneuverings at the amusement park had backfired spectacularly.

  When he’d seen Delaney standing in the midway, looking out of place and a little forlorn, he’d made up his mind to put his plan into action. He’d flirted with her and crowded her personal space. He’d coaxed her onto the Ferris wheel ride. The torn pants had been an added bonus. He’d felt her tension, knew he’d unsettled her.

  But she’d unsettled him just as much.

  Using sex appeal to chase her off definitely had its drawbacks. If this was going to work, he would have to keep his mind on his objective—talking Nana out of selling the family home, while at the same time keeping his mind off this powerful attraction to Delaney.

  Nick plowed a hand through his hair. How had he gotten himself into this ugly kettle of sharks? He wanted a woman he could not have.

  His sister, Gina, would call it fate.

  Nana would call it the whammy.

  But Nick didn’t believe in all that bologna. Not anymore.

  And yet, in a matter of days, Delaney Cartwright had burrowed deep under his skin and he couldn’t figure out why. Why her? Why now? Why did he think she was so special? Once upon a time, he’d thought Amber was special too.

  Maybe it’s you. Maybe subconsciously you’re looking to turn the tables and get even with fate by falling for someone who’s already spoken for.

  Nick grimaced. He hated to think that.

  And yet, here he was, pining for a woman with a huge engagement ring on her finger.

  Aw, crap. The truth of it was, he was too screwed up for this. Even if Delaney wasn’t engaged—which she was—he had a lot of baggage he needed to unload before jumping into another relationship.

  The knee, for one thing.

  His grandfather’s death, for another.

  Delaney’s watch did stop the minute that you met her. Just like the clock on the wall at the party stopped when Nana and Grampa Leo met.

  Yes, but that wasn’t the first time he’d ever met her. If it really was the whammy, wouldn’t her watch have stopped when she threw the tarp over his head?

  He didn’t have the patience for this whammy nonsense.

  “Uncle Nick, the Ching Bada in my Happy Meal broke,” Zack said, handing him the pieces of a cheap plastic toy.

  Nick didn’t even know what the hell a Ching Bada was, but from the looks of it, the thing was some kind of weird cartoon character on wheels.

  Nick examined the shattered pieces. “Sorry, buddy, but I don’t think I can fix this.”

  Zack’s lip pouched out sorrowfully. “But I want it.”

  “I know, but sometimes we can’t have what we want.”

  Strange thing, the forlorn expression on his nephew’s face was exactly how he was feeling about Delaney. He wanted her, but he couldn’t have her. The situation was broken beyond his ability to fix it.

  One thing was for certain. Time wasn’t on his side. He had to get rid of Delaney and get rid of her fast, before he did something totally stupid. Like fall in love with her.

  In order to chase her away, he was going to have to turn up the heat and make sure he checked his heart at the door. He knew of only one way to accomplish his goal. Tackle getting rid of Delaney like she was an assignment. Use the three-pronged approach he’d developed. It had never failed to keep his professionalism in place undercover and his emotions tucked deeply away.

  Chapter 10

  For the rest of the week, Nick and his family worked to move Nana in with Trudie. They put the bulk of her things in storage, leaving only a bare minimum of furniture—at Delaney’s advice—in the house for the staging. Once they had her possessions relocated, they spent the weekend cleaning the place from top to bottom.

  By Monday morning, everyone else had gone home. Nana was ensconced at Trudie’s, and Nick was alone at the house. He would be living there during the renovations. It felt hollow and sad with everything gone and the sound of his footsteps bouncing off the vacant walls.

  Nana kept insisting this was a new chapter in her life, but to Nick, it felt like an epilogue. As he stared around the bare rooms, a moody thrust of emotions pushed against his throat. The book of his grandmother’s life was coming to a close, and he couldn’t do anything about it. He hated feeling powerless.

  This house—and his grandparents’ love—had been the sanctuary that had saved him after his mother died. For the house to go out of the family made him feel as if he were losing both his mom and his grandfather all over again.

  Being here alone strengthened his determination to undermine the house renovation process, no matter what it took. With the family dispersed and Delaney on her way over for their first real day of tackling the repairs, Nick paced the kitchen, rehearsing what he’d planned. The initial phase of “Operation: House Stager Ouster, Tactic #1—Know Thy Enemy” was now in play.

  Delaney appeared on the doorstep at eight A.M. dressed in a sleeveless floral V-neck tee, flip-flops, and clam-digger-style blue jeans. Her hair was pulled back in a carefree ponytail that swished about her shoulders whenever she moved. She had a sack of bagels and two cups of Starbucks coffee in her hands. The smile on her face wrapped him like an unexpected hug.

  “Good morning.” She beamed. “I brought breakfast. We need fuel to start the day.”

  Ah, clearly she was a morning person. Nick made a mental note. You never could tell what information would prove useful. “Come on in.”

  He held the screen door open and let her in through the mudroom, then led the way into the kitchen. He’d raised all the windows to let in the Gulf breeze—the house had never been equipped with air-conditioning—and while it was cool now, by noon the temperature promised to be in the high eighties.

  “It’s just me and you today?”

  “Yep.” And you have no clue what you’re in for. “No one else can afford any more time off from their jobs. We’re flying solo until the weekend.” He held out his arms and said mischievously, “I’m your crew. Do with me what you will.”

  She set the bagels on the kitchen counter. “It looks so empty,” she said. The word “empty” echoed in the room, underscoring her point. “It makes me feel a little sad.”

  Nick nodded. Yeah, try having it be your grandmother’s house and see how that feels.

  “I figured you for straight black.” She held out a grande cup of coffee to him. “No fancy blend.”

  “You pegged me.” He eyed her. “Let me guess. You’re a low-fat hazelnut latte with artificial sweetener.”

  She canted her head. “I guess stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason.”

&n
bsp; Reaching out to take the coffee from her, their fingers touched briefly against the cup and he almost fumbled it. Nick was very aware of how close they were standing, but he wanted to move even closer. Careful. Not too soon. That’s Tactic #2. We’re not there yet.

  “Bagel?”

  “What kind?”

  “Plain, cinnamon-raisin, and poppy seed. Not knowing what you like, I got all three.”

  “Plain.”

  She took a bagel from the sack. “Cream cheese?”

  “Why not?”

  She slathered the bagel with cream cheese and then held it out to him. Rather than taking it, Nick boldly leaned over and took a bite of it right out of her hand.

  Okay, so he was blurring the edges between Tactic #1 and Tactic #2. It was an intimate gesture calculated to throw her off balance, but as his head went down and Nick got a whiff of her sweet, gentle-smelling cologne, he was the one thrown off.

  “You’ve got cream cheese on your chin,” she said as calmly as if men ate from her hand every day of the week.

  Nick gulped. Where had his blushing Rosy gone?

  She reached over with her thumb, then dabbed his chin with a Starbucks napkin. “There.”

  Then Delaney raised the bagel to her mouth and nibbled off a chunk right where he’d bitten into it.

  She did it with such finesse he had to wonder if she possessed a few undercover tactics of her own. Blood pooled low in his abdomen. He stood there feeling awkward and unsure of himself, when just seconds before he’d been the one trying to unsettle her. How had she managed to turn the tables on him so swiftly? It was almost as if she knew what he was up to and was secretly paying him back.

  She glanced down and he followed her gaze to see her staring at his knee. “Exactly how did you injure it?”

  He shrugged. He didn’t like talking about it. “I’d rather not say. It’s sort of embarrassing.”

  “Hmm, sounds intriguing.”

  “Why, Rose, what in the hell are you thinking? Are you imagining me in a compromising position?” he teased. “Say, busting my knee falling from a chandelier during adventuresome sex?”

  “No, I wasn’t.”