by Lori Foster
Brad smiled, his light brown eyes lighting up like candles. “I’ve never been happier in my life.”
“So you say now,” Gabe joked, giving his new brother-in-law a friendly punch on the arm.
“Trust me,” Brad said, “when you find the right girl, there is nothing in the world that feels more perfect. Nothing at all.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Gabe shifted his weight uncomfortably. “It seems like I’m surrounded by women who would like to be anybody’s ‘right girl.’ Weddings seem to cause some weird chemical imbalance in women. If I asked any one of the single women here if they’d run off to Vegas to get married tonight, I think they’d do it in a heartbeat.” He gazed around the room, shaking his head. “And they don’t even know me!”
“Which is the only way they’d agree to it,” Gabe heard Charlotte mutter darkly behind him.
He spun around. “There you are…”
But she wasn’t. He caught a glimpse of her weaving away from him, disappearing into the party guests. Before he could follow, Brad spoke up.
“Was that Charlotte?” Brad craned his neck to squint at her disappearing form. “You know, this morning when I saw her walking up the aisle, I barely recognized her. It was probably all those curls…and I don’t remember the last time I saw her in a dress.”
“The hangover didn’t help,” Gabe added, trying in vain to track her. “I dragged her to the bachelor party last night and bet her she couldn’t drink as much as I could.”
Brad scowled. “You brought a woman to my bachelor party?”
“No, I brought Charlotte. There’s a difference.” When Brad didn’t look mollified, Gabe shrugged. “I kept her off in the corner, Brad. Besides, she’s been one of the gang for years, and we didn’t do anything even remotely shocking.”
“It’s the principle of the thing, Gabe. You know, No Girls Allowed?” Brad shook his head, finally laughing a little. “And Charlotte’s not a bad-looking girl, either, when she gives it a shot. I can only imagine what she looks like when she’s not green. Of course, it might help if she didn’t look like she was plotting your murder, either.”
“She’ll get over it. It might take a while, but she always does. Hell, half the time her practical jokes are worse than mine.” Gabe laughed. “Did I tell you what she did last week—”
“Hi, Gabe.”
The two men turned to see a lush-lipped blonde, staring at Gabe with deep blue eyes. Her voice was husky, but slightly overdone.
“I’ve been watching you run around all night, Gabe. You’re missing out on a great party. Want to dance?”
Gabe sighed. “Sorry, I’m looking for someone right now. Maybe later.” Like in twenty years.
“You sure?” she drawled, making a seductive little shimmy that did nice things to her dress. “Whoever you’re looking for could probably wait a little while.”
Gabe sighed even harder. Charlotte, where the heck are you? “Really, I’m sorry.”
The woman pouted. “Suit yourself.”
“Whoa.” Brad watched her shimmy back into the crowd, then turned to Gabe. “You’re out of your mind! How could you turn down an opportunity like that?”
“She had ‘husband-hunter’ written all over her, and I don’t play that anymore.” Gabe shuddered. “No, thanks.”
“Aw, come on. It was one dance. You could find Charlotte later….”
“Let me explain something,” Gabe said seriously. “When I was younger, I had a few serious relationships. One even came close to marriage. All of them ended like train wrecks.”
“Ouch.” Brad shook his head. “But what does that—”
“My friends were the only thing that got me through them,” Gabe said seriously. “That’s when I figured it out. I don’t do commitments anymore. Why should I? I party with the guys whenever I want, I have a job most men would kill for, and I have a best friend who knows me inside and out, who’s there for me twenty-four, seven. Women come and go….”
“With a rather high turnover rate, in your case,” Brad interjected.
“But friends are forever.” Gabe smiled smugly. “If I just stick to that, I have, literally, the perfect life.”
Brad laughed. “I’ve got to admit, it sounds attractive. But there’s just one problem.”
“At the moment, it’s Charlotte,” Gabe conceded. “But she never stays mad at me for long. She’ll feel better as soon as she gets even.”
“The problem is,” Brad continued, “you’re going to fall in love one of these days. And that’s going to throw your perfect life for a loop.”
“Never happen.” Gabe winked. He’d caught sight of Charlotte, speaking with some young women over by the side of the dance floor. “I’ve got it all under control.”
Before he could make a move toward Charlotte, the women swarmed over to where he and Brad were standing.
“Oh, I think it’s wonderful,” one of the women gushed.
He blinked at her. “What is?”
“That you want so desperately to adopt a young child to love, you’re going to ask someone to marry you tonight!”
Surrounded by beaming, hopeful faces, he looked over to the other side of the room to see Charlotte grinning at him from ear to ear.
“Yup,” Brad said, patting him on the shoulder. “Obviously. You’ve got it all under control.”
CHARLOTTE WOULD HAVE BEEN enjoying her revenge on Gabe a lot more if his sister and Dana hadn’t finally cornered her. Reluctantly, she went up to the hotel room the Donofrios had rented, flanked by the two girls, as if she were a prisoner. While she had managed to avoid the aunts, these two could not be dodged.
“I’m telling you, Charlotte,” Bella wheedled, “this book will solve all your problems.”
“Why are you punishing me?” Charlotte groaned, throwing herself on the king-size bed. “I got here, even though I was green as spinach and my head was ready to explode. I even wore pink, for pity’s sake! What do you want now? My blood?”
“We just want to see you happy…and we want you to read one little book,” Bella said, calmly taking off her wedding veil. She grabbed her dark-rose traveling suit off a low chair in the corner. “Don’t let her get away, Dana,” Bella instructed, her eyes glinting mischievously as she held up a wispy little nothing of white lace. “I have to get into Brad’s surprise gift.”
“No problem,” Dana said, her eyes never leaving Charlotte.
Charlotte sighed. There was no escape.
Dana tossed the slim paperback on the bed. Picking it up, Charlotte read the cover out loud. “The Guide… How to Go from Miss Wrong to Mrs. Right in One Year.” She groaned again, pushing her face into a pillow. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“It worked for me,” Dana said, tugging Charlotte into a sitting position. “And it worked for Bella. You can’t argue with success. Bella’s practically glowing. Don’t you want to be as happy as she is?”
“Bella got the last good man on earth,” Charlotte muttered, eyeing the pillow. She would have made another dive for it, but for all of Dana’s petite, sophisticated looks, the woman had the grip of a wrestler. “Why is it when your friends get married, they suddenly expect you to?”
“You’re twenty-eight, Charlotte,” Dana said firmly. “Hear that ticking? That’s your biological clock.”
“I’m hitting the snooze button.”
“Denial,” Dana announced, grabbing Charlotte’s chin and angling her face until they were eye to eye. “You’ve been out of the dating scene for too long. Ever since you graduated from college, you’ve been burying yourself in that design firm and hanging out with those guys…what do they call themselves?”
“The Hoodlums,” Charlotte said.
“Right. I don’t know how many sets of baggy jeans and grubby sweatshirts I’ve seen you go through.”
“Everybody wears casual clothes at work,” Charlotte argued. “I’d look stupid in anything else!”
Dana rolled her eyes. “You can dress c
asually and still dress like a female, Charlotte. As much as you complain about it, you look good in a dress. And your hair looks cute curled.”
“Dana, you know I can’t curl my own hair to save my life.” She gestured to the ringlets that were now sticking haphazardly around her head. “I look like I’ve been electrocuted.”
Dana huffed. “It’s not that bad, and you know it. What’s really bothering you?”
Charlotte just sat there for a minute, silent. There was something bothering her. It had all started when she got to the church and Gabe had reminded her: four tours of duty as a bridesmaid.
Always the bridesmaid.
She glanced at the book. Miss Wrong…
As much as she touted that she was “single by choice,” the truth stared her in the face whenever she looked at her friends. Beside Dana and Bella, Charlotte had always felt like a dull brown wren standing next to exotic birds. They were beautiful and sophisticated. What’s more, their beauty was complemented by flirtatious, sparkling personalities. No, Charlotte Taylor was about as sparkling and mysterious as a glass of milk.
She didn’t want their arguments, or worse, their pity. So she couldn’t tell them all that. She wouldn’t.
“I just don’t see what the big deal is,” Charlotte finally answered. “I know I’ve only had one serious relationship, but it was a really convincing experience, believe me. Now I’m enjoying my life. I’ve got a great job and great friends. Please, couldn’t you just let it go?”
Before Dana could respond, Gabe popped his head through the doorway. “Hey! The car’s revving, and so’s the bridegroom,” he yelled. “Where’s Bella?”
“Getting her traveling suit on,” Dana answered, obviously irritated with the interruption.
“Good grief,” Gabe said, walking in and rolling his eyes. “What is it about women that takes them so long to get dressed? It’s never taken me that long to get clothes off of a woman.”
“And Lord knows, you’ve had practice,” Charlotte muttered, clambering off of the bed.
“You and I need to have a little talk,” Gabe said, his eyes glinting with dark promise.
She grinned. “We can discuss it when you do my laundry for two months, O unlucky one.”
“Gabe, you’re not helping,” Dana complained, glaring at him. “We were discussing important things before you breezed in and brought your…your Hoodlum, ‘just one of the guys’ vibes with you.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“I was talking to Charlotte about her future,” Dana said, offhandedly gesturing toward the book on the bed. “You’re distracting her. Can’t you just wait in the hall?”
“Distracting her from what?” Gabe asked, then stopped as he glanced to where she’d gestured. “Oh, no. Not that.”
“Not what?” Charlotte said, frowning.
“Tell me you’re not going to read that!”
Charlotte saw where he was pointing and quickly made a dash for it. Gabe dove onto the bed, grabbing the book at the exact moment she did.
“Let…me…see…this,” he said, tugging stubbornly.
“Like hell I will!”
“I’m ready,” Bella sang, opening the bathroom door, only to gasp in horror as she caught sight of her brother and her bridesmaid tussling. Dana simply shook her head. “What is going on here?”
Taking advantage of Gabe’s momentary distraction, Charlotte made one last yank at the book. She managed to tug it away from him, but overbalanced. In a cloud of watered silk, she went flying over the edge of the bed, landing with a heavy thud.
“Got it,” she crowed triumphantly, then rubbed her head. “Ouch.”
Bella sighed. “When are you two going to grow up?”
“Never,” Gabe replied. “We’re going to be chasing each other with squirt guns when we’re in a rest home together. Come on, angel, I’ll give you a hand up.”
With muscular grace, he helped her off of the floor. Then he promptly snatched the book out of her hand.
“You dirty…”
“The Guide. Oh, good grief,” he snickered, thumbing through pages and reading passages aloud. “Be dramatic, but be demure. You’re a woman. Be a woman.” He guffawed, ignoring the trio of women glaring at him venomously. “What else would you be? A hamster?”
“Oh, give me that,” Charlotte snapped, yanking it back out of his hands.
“You don’t want to be Mrs. Right in one year, anyway,” Gabe said with certainty, then narrowed his eyes. “Do you?”
“Of course not,” Charlotte replied by instinct, then stopped. Well, it wasn’t really a matter of wanting to be. It was a matter of knowing she couldn’t be. Still, did she want to be?
Yes, a tiny voice inside her whispered, surprising her. In one year or one decade, she wanted to be right for someone. She wanted to find someone right for her.
“Charlotte might not think it’s what she wants, but she hasn’t had enough experience to say definitively,” Dana said firmly. “She’s got a lot going for her when she tries. If she’d just put her mind to it, she’d be a knockout. A real head-turner.”
“Given a little time and a little effort,” Bella added, crossing her arms, “I doubt it would take a whole year to find some guy who would fall all over himself to marry her!”
Charlotte felt a sudden burst of panic.
“And a gorgeous one, at that,” Dana added enthusiastically, building momentum.
“She’d have him at her feet in a month,” Bella said.
“Now, let’s not get crazy here,” Charlotte interjected, not liking the direction this was going at all.
“And she’d get a proposal in a matter of months, if she really went all out,” Dana said, nodding. “Three months, easy!”
Gabe shook his head, throwing a casual arm around Charlotte’s shoulders. “Why push her? Charlotte’s my best friend, and I know her better than anyone. You can’t tell me that she’s going to read one stupid paperback, get a new hairdo or something, and suddenly turn into a wife. That’s ludicrous.”
Charlotte had been about to protest, also, but not in those words. “Not that I have any interest—”
“She’s not even from the same planet as those women that do The Guide thing,” he continued. “I mean, the women who use that as a game plan go at it like pros. They’ve got the looks, the moves, the whole nine yards. They turn men into putty.” He grinned at her. “We both know you’re not like them, Charlie.”
The three women stared at him in silence for a long moment. Charlotte was the first to recover.
“Thank you,” Charlotte said, her voice frosty. She pushed his arm off of her. “Would you like me to turn the other cheek, so you can hit me with another backhanded compliment?”
“What? Oh, come on, angel,” he said, tugging at one of her cockeyed curls with a look of amusement. “We’re talking about a marriage proposal in three months. Let’s get back to the same zip code as reality.”
“I’m not saying it’s what I want,” she said, trying to maintain as much dignity as she could. “But if I really wanted Mr. Right, I could get him. I’m just happy with my life the way it is now, that’s all.”
“Really?” Gabe’s eyes lit up, and Charlotte immediately mistrusted them. “And you actually believe that?”
Charlotte’s temper flared, hot and dangerous. “Try me.”
“No, thanks,” he said, chuckling. “If we’re going to bet, I’d like at least a minor challenge.”
Charlotte’s blood began to boil. She privately didn’t think she was some skilled seductress, granted. Hearing him announce so easily that he knew she wasn’t was something else entirely.
“You’re on. I’ll bet you ten bucks I could.” It was stupid, but her pride pushed her to it. She was single by choice, and that was the lie she was swearing to. How dare he turn on her like this!
“Ten bucks? Seriously?” Gabe’s eyes widened, then that damned amusement grew more pronounced. “Come on. It’s not like we’re bett
ing on football here. Or who can hold their liquor better, for that matter.”
Now her head was pounding. She wanted to smack that smug grin off his face. The words tumbled out before she could think about them. “One hundred dollars, Casanova. And I’ll be wearing things that would make even you blush.”
“That in itself would be worth betting on. Sometimes I think you were born in a sweatshirt,” he said, his grin growing. “One hundred dollars is still child’s play, angel. Maybe make it two months, and we’ll talk.”
“Two months,” she agreed, her voice low. “And two hundred dollars.”
Finally, some of his amusement slipped. “Charlie, come on now. You’re getting in way over your head.”
His patronizing tone threw gasoline on the fire. “Five hundred.”
He was no longer smiling. In fact, his face looked grim. “This is ridiculous. I’m not going to listen to one more—”
“One thousand dollars.”
Dana was staring at her, speechless. Bella’s mouth had fallen open.
“One thousand dollars says I get a marriage proposal in two months,” she repeated, staring at Gabe’s face as if there was no one else in the room. Her hands bunched in fists at her sides. “One thousand dollars says you don’t think I can do it. That no man would have me.”
He paused, then looked at her shrewdly. “Only if you make it one month.”
He waited for her to back down.
She didn’t waver. “Deal.”
“You don’t want to do this, Charlie,” he said, giving her a little shake. “You’re losing your mind!”
“And you’re losing your nerve,” she said, smiling coldly. “Put up or shut up, Gabe.”
They stood toe to toe for a long, maddening minute. Gabe studied her, not blinking. Then he smiled, a megawatt-bright smile.
“You’re bluffing…and I’m calling you.” Battle lit his eyes, and he held out a hand. “You’re on.”
With a swift motion, Charlotte grabbed his hand in a hard shake.
He stared down at her for a moment longer, then shook his head. “Fine. I’m going to go downstairs and tell the men you’re taking your time,” he said to Bella. “I’m sure you’re going to want to stay a few more minutes to work on a game plan. That is, before Charlotte drops a grand in a month.”
