by Stacy Dawn
His hands came up as if to ward her off. “Wait, before you rip me apart, I meant it as a compliment.”
Eden gaped, unsure if she was stunned by the unexpected compliments, or how the cowboy knew she was about to lay into him. Okay, Shane wasn't a cowboy in the literal sense of the word, but with his faded jeans, worn leather jacket, sandy-brown hair curling over the collar, and a five o'clock shadow already kissing his strong jaw line, the moniker fit.
And she'd always been a sucker for a good cowboy movie.
“Like what you see?”
“What?” She blinked a few times only to find warm brown eyes twinkling down at her in amusement. “N-not really,” she lied, covering her discomfort by whipping the scarf around her neck and heading off down the sidewalk.
His laughter followed, growing nearer like the large broad shadow closing in on her.
“Nice try. We'll leave it for now, but if you're looking for Saks Fifth Avenue…you're headed the wrong way, Red.”
Red? Unsure if the accolade was simply a veiled insult or not, Eden pivoted one eighty, flipped up the fur-trimmed hood to cover the wind-blown strands and refused to raise her gaze from the sidewalk.
“Look, I'm sorry.” Laughter laced his apology.
“Yes. You sound very sorry.”
“No, really I am. Brad warned me not to tease you.”
Eden stopped, turned on her heel, and frowned up at Shane. “He warned you not to tease me? Why?”
A broad shoulder shrugged. “Guess he thought you were above a little ribbing.”
“Well, I'm not.” She wrenched back the hood letting the cold air cool her cheeks. “I mean, okay, I didn't realize you were teasing me, but that doesn't mean I can't take a good-natured joke just as well as the next person.”
“See, now I've offended you.”
His wide smile and relaxed stance were in direct opposition to the apprehensive tone. “You're teasing me again.”
He held up his thumb and forefinger close together. “Maybe just a little.”
She smiled. She couldn't help it. “Brad says you work in construction?” she inquired, forcing the subject off herself as they continued down the sidewalk.
“That's right. Family business. We do mainly residential homes and renovations.”
“How long have you known Brad?”
“His family moved into the neighborhood when we were five.”
“Wow. I didn't realize you've known each other for so long.”
“Yep. Grade school, high school, first hangover—me, not him—I haven't managed to coax him into that one yet.” Shane's hand fitted itself to the small of her back as he confidently gauged the traffic and guided her through an intersection. “College...and now wedded bliss.”
“Remarkable considering you're so...” She motioned her hand up and down the massive length of him. Tall, handsome, ruggedly hot. “Opposite.”
Amusement creased the corners of his eyes. “I know. Apples and oranges, my mother always said. But you can't choose your friends—or is that your family?” He smiled down at her and winked. “I always get that one confused.”
Blood pumped a bit faster through her body. His attentive gaze gave her a bit of a confusion problem herself.
****
Eden had to hand it to Shane. For having to babysit his friend's fiancée, he was being a good sport.
For two hours, he regaled her with anecdotes of his friendship with Brad as they strolled around the massive Rockefeller Center area. She wondered if he realized the majority of the stories ended with Brad bailing him out of various schoolboy capers. Then again, by the mischievous glint in his eye as he spoke, he probably had.
She liked the way he focused on her as he spoke. He included her in the stories and seemed genuinely interested in her responses. Brad himself always seemed focused on two things at once. Though she was used to the vague expressions and wandering eyes of those listening to her talk about numbers and figures, she enjoyed having someone keep her entertained for a change.
Shane's amiable personality made him an easy person to get along with, too. She could certainly see how Brad and others would be drawn to him.
Yes, she supposed it helped that he was handsome. Again, the opposite nature of the friends came back to intrigue her. Brad's good looks came from a more classical frame and efficient disposition while Shane had the rugged features of a Marlboro Man—a little dangerous, a little mysterious, and all too sexy.
“I've been a gentleman long enough,” he started, staring intently into her eyes. “Why don't we go somewhere a little quieter?”
“P-pardon me?” she choked. Her distracted mind wound her own thoughts with his words, creating a flash image of Shane being ungentlemanly-like in a very intimate way.
“I'd be remiss as a best friend if I didn't bring up the suddenness of the marriage. How about we find somewhere to sit and grab a coffee.”
His hand returned to her back, directing her into a little café. Oh, okay. That made far more sense than what she’d been thinking. And had her brain been working like normal, she would have wondered when he would get around to the interrogation.
Eden slid onto the chair he held out and waited until Shane returned with two mugs of steaming coffee before she began. “I don't know if I would call the marriage sudden,” she began, adding a good dose of sugar to her cup. “We've known each other for two years.”
“In a working environment. Kind of different than a romantic one,” he noted, lowering himself onto the seat across from her.
Eden couldn't help a little snort. “What? I'm supposed to wait for Prince Charming to ride up on his trusty steed and sweep me off to his castle?” She tossed a sardonic smile over the rim of her mug. “Romance is a fabrication of the entertainment industry. Love at first sight, loving someone forever—they're as make believe as the prince these days.”
“Wow. Jack Frost has nothing on you, lady.”
She laughed at his teasing tone. “I'm not that cold. I just don't believe in all the frivolity of romance. I believe in respect and acceptance. In compromise and loyalty. And if you're lucky, perhaps a form of love grows from these…eventually.”
He chuckled. “Don't go getting all sentimental on me.”
Her gaze caught on his large, capable hands raising the mug. A faded scar grazed one knuckle and a spattering of hair brushed the back. As the mug reached his full lips, her sight traveled up to find brown eyes smiling down.
She whipped her gaze down to her own cup. “Don't worry about us, Shane. We know what we're doing.” Unusual silence drew her attention upward. His lowered brow over one eye screamed disbelief.
Eden relaxed back in her chair. “What if I told you my parents had an arranged marriage?” she offered in response.
“Really?” Shane leaned his arms on the table.
“Yes. My grandparents arranged everything when they were both still children. They were married a few weeks before immigrating to America. My mother held great respect for my father, and he adored her.” She leaned forward on the short table. “The only difference between us is that I'm arranging my own marriage. Picking the most compatible, stable man. Don't you think the situation is better that way?”
“I think marrying someone you're in love with would be better.”
“Better for whom? The woman blinded by false words of love, or the man fooled by a surgically enhanced body?” She tapped the table with an index finger. “My friend Leah—the one coming tomorrow—she's a divorce attorney. I can't tell you the number of times she's prospered on the sudden blinders being lifted from her clients’ eyes. People rush into marriage on the excuse of romantic whims and end up in court less than a year later. Irreconcilable differences is just a fancy phrase for incompatibility.”
“Little cynical, don't you think.”
“Not cynical, realistic.” She shifted straighter in her seat. “Brad and I are both thirty. We’re two intelligent adults far past the blush of youth's fancies and irr
ational hormonal urges.”
“Thirty?” His eyes rounded and he slapped a hand to his chest. “Bring out the walker and oxygen tanks already.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha.”
He laughed and settled back in his seat.
His jovial scrutiny of her lasted longer than she was comfortable with before he shook his head.
“I'm still not convinced. You are, after all, getting married on Valentine's Day.”
She waved off his comments. “Coincidence—not that I need to convince you,” she said pointedly, “but basically, Brad and I are both tired of the mundane repetitiveness of dating. As I said, we know we're compatible and between our companies' new image push and the benefit of tax breaks, a marriage just makes sense.”
“Not a romantic bone in your body, is that what you're saying?”
“Guess so.”
His irksome laughter spoke volumes and sounded a lot like, Lady, have you got a lot to learn.
Chapter Three
Lady, have you got a lot to learn.
Thin auburn brows creased over pretty blue eyes only proved there was a seed of doubt in there somewhere. Maybe all the seed needed was a little nurturing.
“Could we head to Saks now?”
Shane suppressed a chuckle at the way she scooted out of the seat. He threw back the last swallow of his coffee and followed. By the time they reached the Fifth Avenue store, Eden's back thankfully didn't stand so ramrod straight as he held the double doors open.
“I need to get a small gift for Leah. To thank her for coming tomorrow.”
“What'd you have in mind?”
She stopped in the middle of the entrance chewing on her bottom lip. “I'm not sure. Her tastes are totally opposite to mine.” Eden glanced up. A thoughtful expression softened her features. “Kind of like you and Brad, I guess.”
“Sounds like my kinda woman,” he teased, wiggling his brows until she laughed.
“Yeah, you'd probably like her. She's a little out there. Enjoys a good party and falls in love at the drop of a hat.” Eden spread her arms and gazed down at herself. “She repacked my suitcase so don't get used to the new look. These are her clothes.”
He couldn’t resist a long gaze at her length. “She's got good taste.”
“She should.” Eden headed toward the jewelry gallery. “She shops like a maniac. Your arms would be full of parcels faster than you could say, 'charge it'.”
“No-o-o, thank you. I prefer the simple life.”
“Then that's one thing we agree on.”
A brilliant curtain of hair swung over her shoulder as Eden turned and graced him with a contented smile. Shane's footsteps stuttered. The breath hitched in his lungs, and his stomach dropped to the floor.
The strange sensation ended as fast as it had begun.
Must've been bad coffee.
Yeah, the coffee. That had to be the reason.
He caught up to Eden in two strides. A pale polished nail tapped her chin as she studied a silver necklace set displayed on the counter.
In the glass cabinet below, a chunky link of gold caught his attention. “You said Leah's a little out there. What about this bracelet then?”
Eden's gaze followed his finger to the gold circlet, which looked like a miniature belt complete with glittery buckle.
“Yes! It's perfect. She'll love it.”
At her small squeal, an attendant came over and quickly removed the item from the cabinet for their approval. While the woman boxed up the bracelet and rang in the sale, he watched Eden's delicate hand brush over the glass countertops as she perused the sparkling wares.
“So, should you be picking something up for a special lady?”
Her attempt at indifference failed miserably and Shane couldn’t help but chuckle. “Nope.”
“No one has grabbed your romantic cowboy heart yet?” She fluttered her eyelashes.
The dramatic action caught him off guard. A grin widened his lips. Well, damn! There is a bit of playfulness in there after all. “Cowboy, huh?”
“Well, uh...” Pink tinged her cheeks as Eden averted her gaze.
Before he had time to delve further into this new attribute, he watched her awkwardness fall away to stunned silence.
“Eden? You okay?”
“They look just like my mother's.” Her voice barely hit whisper level.
He moved beside her and looked through the glass case to a pair of soft-textured, old-fashioned ivory cameos.
“May I show one to you?” the attendant asked.
“Please,” Shane said when Eden remained distractedly silent.
The moment the salesclerk placed the cameo in her hand, Eden's finger quivered over the raised features and delicate gold frame. “It's identical.”
“It's lovely,” Shane agreed.
The reverent awe in the smile she aimed at him brought the strange sensation back to his chest and stomach. A fullness that didn’t disburse even when she looked away.
“My mom used to wear her cameo every Sunday. I always thought it the most beautiful object in the world.”
“What happened? Did she lose it?” He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth, getting his answer in the shallow mask of pain marring her heart-shaped face.
“No. She died when I was twelve. We buried it with her.”
Damn. “Eden, I'm sorry.”
Her arm stiffened beneath his hand.
“No, don't be. I just...” Her brows creased. “I just hadn't thought of it in years.” Her index finger slowly circled the frame. “I hadn't really thought about her in years.”
The added words beneath her breath didn't slip past his ears. “You should have the cameo,” he said, trying to keep his tone light. “Hey, like something old and new for your wedding, all at the same time.”
“You're right.”
Her smile returned full force and nearly blew him right off his feet. How could she say she didn't believe in romance when she stood there before him smiling like that and in love with a cherished memory?
“Let me,” he insisted, reaching for his wallet in his back pocket.
“No.”
The hand on his arm was firm though her smile still held.
“Thank you, but no.”
Shane conceded, something in her demeanor telling him she needed to do this herself.
The attendant wrapped each item in the department store's signature box tied with a silver ribbon. Though she accepted the offer to have the bracelet delivered to her hotel room, Eden kept the cameo close, placing the small box securely in her purse.
A thin layer of snow covered the ground as they made their way back onto the sidewalk. Cutting through Rockefeller Center, he noticed her step was lighter since her find at the jewelry counter. The crisp breeze played with her long auburn strands and her laughter teased his ears as they stopped to watch the antics of young ice skaters on the large outdoor rink. A new buoyancy radiated from her. One Shane found rather appealing—not that he would cut in on a friend's girl, of course.
But if things had been different...
Immediately, he erased the thought from his head and instead focused on his ward's longing expression. “Wanna give it a go?”
With a lifted hand, she shaded her eyes against the bright sun. “Excuse me?”
Shane nodded toward the ice. “Skating. We could rent skates.”
Her smile teetered. “No, no. It's been years.” Eden vaulted from the wall they'd stopped at.
By the anxious look on her face, he figured she’d probably landed on her butt once too often as a kid. Maybe her mask of controlled independence came from no one being there to pick her up. Maybe she gravitated toward Brad because they’d both had to rely on themselves growing up.
Maybe he should stop theorizing on things that didn't concern him and catch up with her. “Where would you like to go now?”
Her gaze scanned the area as she slowed her pace. “I should probably get back to the hotel.”
Fluffy snowflakes floated down, one landing right on her nose. Shane chuckled at the way her eyes crossed to stare at it before rising to the cotton-filled sky with a childish grin.
So much potential. Did she know how much potential she held to shine?
Again, his mind wandered. Who was the woman before him? The crisp, efficient businesswoman getting married in an executive lounge? Or a sexy, playful... “Snow angel.”
“Pardon?” She shined up at him, her cheeks glowing apple red in the brisk February air.
Her smile stole his breath, or was it the wind—in all honesty, he wasn't sure. “You look like a snow angel.”
The words popped out the same way his hand came up of its own accord to wipe away a snowflake from the corner of her eye. As if in slow motion, his fingers brushed down her cool cheek to push back a windblown strand of hair before sliding slowly down the length, mesmerized by the dark reds and golds threading like glistening filament through his fingers.
The boundaries of his vision closed in on the woman before him. When his gaze found hers, the most beautiful eyes stared back at him, silver flecks reflecting in their wide blue depths.
The shrill of a cell phone cut into the hazy bubble surrounding them. Eden jumped back, confusion etched in frown lines on her face as she fought with her small purse to retrieve the phone. Her gaze flicked over the screen then back at him for a brief moment. “It's Brad. Maybe he's done early.”
Keen as a pin, the hopeful edge to her voice burst the bubble, effectively bringing Shane back to his senses. He turned away to wipe a shaky hand over his face. What the hell had he been doing?
“Brad! Hi. Yes, yes, he's taking good care of me.”
Shane turned back to find a brilliant blue gaze flicker toward him, and that unusual wind came again to rob him of breath. At the rate he was going, he didn't think he could handle this strange weather much longer.
“What? Oh, okay. Yes, of course I understand. Fine, I'll see you later then.” She snapped the phone closed and dropped it back into her purse. “They're still working on the merger problems.”
“Let me guess, he's pushed back dinner?” What an idiot. He’d give up a meeting to spend time with a woman like Eden any day of the week—what was Brad’s problem?
