by Heidi Betts
The very next morning, he’d woken her with kisses that quickly led to another round of slow, languid sex, followed by breakfast in bed and the pronouncement that they were going ring shopping. As soon as he managed to stop touching her long enough to let her get dressed, they’d strolled hand in hand to the nearest jeweler’s he’d approved of, where he’d only let her look at the trays of rings that they kept under lock and key. Nothing from the average, everyday display case for his bride-to-be, he’d declared.
She’d walked out with the biggest, most beautiful engagement ring she’d ever seen. A three-carat, princess-cut diamond in a one-of-a-kind yellow gold and platinum floral setting with even more smaller diamonds dotting the band, it was nearly blinding in its brilliance. Showier than she would normally wear, as well, but she absolutely loved it, Eli had insisted, and for once she wasn’t going to worry about what anyone else might think. She was blissfully in love, happier than she’d ever been before in her life, and wanted to soak up every minute, every detail, every exquisite sensation.
Which was easier said than done, since she hadn’t yet told her family about the latest developments in her personal life, and wasn’t entirely sure how they would take it. On top of that, her mother had just been cleared on Thursday of all charges connected to her father’s murder.
This was the first Sunday dinner they would be attending since the news had broken, and the Kincaid family was sure to be in a celebratory mood. That was good; she hoped they would be equally willing to celebrate when she announced that Eli had asked her to marry him—well, she’d asked him, but he’d readily agreed, thank goodness—she’d said yes, and they intended to follow through with most of Laurel’s original wedding plans so that they could hold the ceremony next week.
Her mother was sure to think there was a reason for the rush down the aisle—especially since Lily was four months along with Daniel’s child—but Kara simply wanted to be married. To Eli. She’d spent most of her life longing for him; she didn’t want to waste a single minute more not being legally bound to him and beginning their life together as man and wife. She also had to admit that—because Laurel had seemed so disinterested throughout the planning stages—the wedding Kara arranged for her sister was very close to her own idea of a dream wedding.
She would be picking out her own gown, of course, and adjusting the color scheme and guest list somewhat. But otherwise, everything that was already in place was darn near perfect.
If only her father could have been there to give her away, it would be.
“Do you want me to go in first?” Eli asked, as though they were tromping off to the gallows and he was offering to get in line ahead of her. “Or would you rather we skip out altogether? We could call and tell them we’re stuck in traffic…or out of town on business…or were mauled by bears.”
She turned on him, eyes wide. “How in the world would we ever be mauled by bears?”
He shrugged. “I’m just trying to help, sugar. If you don’t want to tell them about our engagement, I’ll understand. We can even push back the wedding.”
“No!” Spinning around, she faced him, separated only by the dessert container that she was clutching like a life preserver. “We’re getting married next week if we have to fly to Vegas and elope. I’m just nervous about how they’ll react, considering that—until earlier this month—you were engaged to Laurel. Some of the details are going to be a little hard for folks to swallow.”
“And to explain.”
Her mouth twisted with frustration. “You see my dilemma.”
He smiled gently, lifting a hand to brush a stray curl away from her face and behind her ear. The gesture was becoming something of a habit for him…but a habit she liked. A lot.
“Our dilemma,” he said. “We’re a package deal now, darlin’. But I don’t think we have anything to worry about. Your family loves me. And your sister is the one who dumped me, not the other way around, so I’ve got that whole ‘innocent party,’ ‘sympathy card’ thing going for me.”
She chuckled. “You’re right. They’re going to feel sorry for you. If we can play on that, we may have a shot at catching them off guard with our news.”
“Here’s another idea,” he suggested. “We could tell them we’re engaged, tell them we’re hijacking Laurel’s wedding plans, tell them they’re invited…and then tell them we love each other, whether they approve of the circumstances of our relationship or not.”
Grasping her upper arms and tugging her slightly toward him, until the apple fritters nudged at them both, he added, “I’ve waited too long to find you, Kara. I’m not going to let anyone—not even your family—make me feel guilty or ashamed of how we got together.”
He looked positively ferocious. Brows drawn together, mouth pulled taut. She suspected he could take on those imaginary bears, if they showed up now and tried to maul them, and come out of the skirmish without a scratch.
But instead of being intimidated by his dark scowl, it calmed her. Warmed her from her very center outward, and seemed to wash away every last one of her frazzled nerves.
Smiling from ear to ear, she reached up to trace the line of his jaw. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
His features softened and he winked. “I recall you saying something along those lines this morning while you were on top of me, riding me like—”
Slapping a hand over his mouth, she shushed him, struggling not to flush with embarrassment even as a sudden wave of erotic memory and equally erotic need crashed over her.
“Now cut that out or we’ll never make it inside,” she told him sternly, doing her best to ignore the wicked sparkle in his brown eyes. “And for the record, I do love you, and I don’t feel the least bit guilty about or ashamed of how we got together, either. I only wish we’d been smart enough to do it a decade ago.”
Plucking the fritter container out of her hands, he held it aside and dragged her against his chest. He kissed her on the lips, long and slow, licking off all of the color she’d just applied in the car, she was sure.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured into her mouth, “we’ll spend the next decade making up for lost time, I promise.”
Then he turned her around and gave her a little shove toward the front door. “Now let’s go inside before you get cold feet again.”
Following his instructions—not quite as reluctantly this time—she opened the door and entered the wide foyer. Eli had just closed the door behind them, when Laurel appeared in front of them, almost as though she’d been waiting just around the corner, ready to pounce the second they arrived.
With a sigh and rolling eyes, she threw up her hands. “There you are. I was about to send out a search party.”
“We aren’t that late,” Kara insisted.
“No, but Matt and Susannah are in Georgia with Flynn. You know how Mama likes everyone to attend Sunday dinner when they can, so she’s been frantic you weren’t going to show.”
“I told her I’d be here.” She took the dessert container back from Eli and held it up for Laurel to see. “I even brought apple fritters.”
Laurel’s gaze darted from Kara to Eli and back again. Then a smug smile started to spread across her face.
“Hello, Eli. It’s nice to see you.”
“You, too, Laurel.”
“So…I take it everything worked out okay between the two of you,” she said without a hint of subtlety.
“Everything is fine,” Kara told her, and left it at that.
Apple fritters in hand, she started toward the dining room. As she passed her sister, she mouthed, “I’ll tell you later.”
In the dining room, the long mahogany table was already set with steaming plates and platters and bowls of amazing- looking food. Which was nothing surprising; Kara had grown up with meals like this, especially on Sunday afternoons. Chicken-fried steak, okra gumbo, red rice, potato salad, grits topped with real butter, pumpkin biscuits…and later, the apple-pecan fritters Kara had made from scr
atch while trying to fend off advances from Eli—to both her body and her baking.
“Kara!” her mother cried from her seat at the head of the table. She pushed back her chair and came around to give her a hug. “I’m so glad you made it. And Eli…”
Elizabeth beamed up at him, not settling for a polite handshake, but wrapping her arms around him, as well.
“You’re just in time. We were about to sit down and say grace, but I didn’t want to start without you.”
“We wouldn’t miss it,” Kara assured her.
Her brother RJ and Brooke, his fiancée of less than a month, as well as the youngest Kincaid sister, Lily, and her new husband, Daniel Addison, were already seated. But as Eli and the other women neared the table, both RJ and Daniel rose.
RJ greeted Kara with a kiss to the cheek, then moved to hold Elizabeth’s chair for her while Daniel helped Laurel and Eli helped Kara. True Southern gentlemen down to the bone.
Once they were all settled and had said grace, food was passed around until everyone’s plate was full. While they ate, they discussed a number of events that had impacted the Kincaid family over the past few months. The charges against Elizabeth being dropped…Lily and Daniel learning they were expecting a girl……RJ and Brooke’s recent engagement and talk of either an engagement party or shifting straight to wedding plans—they couldn’t decide which.
The general consensus, of course, was that Kara would be the one to help each of them plan whatever type of event they decided to throw. From party to wedding to wedding reception, and everything in between, she was the Kincaids’ go-to gal for that sort of thing. And she was happy to help.
But as the conversation turned to upcoming nuptials, she couldn’t remain silent any longer. Eli might say he didn’t mind putting off the announcement of their engagement or even their wedding, but she did, and the first step toward getting the deed done was sharing the news with her family.
She was lucky they hadn’t already noticed the ring sitting on her left hand like a live canary. But then, she’d spent most of the meal hiding it on her lap beneath the table.
Swallowing a last bite of potato salad, she washed it down with a sip of sweet tea, then cleared her throat to get her family’s attention.
“Actually,” she told them, reaching for Eli’s hand beneath, “Eli and I have a bit of news to share, as well.”
The entire table grew silent, all eyes on her…with the occasional roll to Eli and then back.
“Eli has asked me to marry him, and I’ve accepted. Not only that,” she rushed to get in before the collective gasp that filled the room could turn into a free-for-all of questions and comments and demands for details, “but we’ve decided to go ahead and follow through with Laurel’s original wedding plans. So I hope none of you have made alternate plans for next weekend.”
As soon as she finished, chaos erupted. The women squealed—especially when they saw her ring—and started talking at the speed of light. The men stood and came around to shake Eli’s hand and slap him on the back.
In only a matter of minutes, Kara started to wonder why she’d ever been anxious about telling her family to begin with. They were wonderful and supportive and genuinely happy for her, just as they’d been all her life.
The fact that Eli had been engaged to marry Laurel less than a month ago, or that he was suddenly set to marry Kara when they’d known each other forever, but never so much as flirted before didn’t even come up, though she was sure there would be questions—lots of questions—later. Her mother and brother and sisters simply accepted that she was an adult, and knew her own mind and heart well enough to know what—and who—she wanted.
While the men formed a small circle in one corner of the room for “manly talk,” Elizabeth insisted they needed to celebrate, dragging Lily and Brooke with her to the kitchen. Kara didn’t know if they would return with wine flutes and a bottle of champagne (and something equally festive, but non-alcoholic for Lily) or simply coffee and her apple-pecan fritters arranged on a fancy silver tray.
Rather than follow along, though, Kara grabbed Laurel’s elbow and held her back. The one thing that continued to plague her mind was that her older sister might still be harboring feelings for Eli, despite her continued assertion to the contrary.
She believed her sister, and yet…how could anyone not be head over heels in love with Eli? How could any woman—even Laurel—be ready to marry him, only to turn around and be content to see him spend his life with someone else?
Kara would certainly never be able to sit back and watch while something like that happened. Not now that she’d been with him, given him her heart and soul.
“Are you sure you’re all right with this?” she asked in a low voice so nobody else would hear.
Laurel gave a light, carefree chuckle. “Of course. Oh, Kara, I’m so happy for you!” She grabbed Kara up for another quick hug. “Eli and I were never meant to be together, but you…you two are positively glowing. You’re like separate electrical currents coming together to light up an entire city block.”
Kara’s throat tightened and she blinked to hold back tears. “I love him so much, Laurel. I never wanted to steal him from you, but seeing him with you was killing me.”
“I can imagine,” Laurel said with an even heartier laugh. “But you didn’t steal him from me. I gave him to you—freely and without hesitation. Or maybe Eli simply wised up and realized who it was he truly wanted.”
“Thank you.”
“I do have a question for you, though.” Laurel tipped her head. “Since you’re recycling most of my wedding plans—which is a fabulous idea, don’t even think about feeling guilty for that!—can I be your maid of honor? I mean, you were going to be mine, so it’s only fair.”
“Yes!” It was Kara’s turn to squeal. “Oh, yes, I’d love that! And Mama can be there, too, now that the charges against her have been dropped, thank goodness.”
“It’s all going to be absolutely perfect,” Laurel agreed. “In fact, you’ve inspired me. I’m tired of being so cautious and always playing it safe. You jumped into love with Eli feet-first, and look how things turned out. Meanwhile, I nearly married him because it was comfortable and easy. I need to be more spontaneous, take more risks. Live life instead of letting it just roll by day after day.”
Nibbling at the inside of her lip, Kara said, “Taking a chance did pay off for me, but…just be careful, okay? I’m all for spontaneity, but don’t go crazy or do anything dangerous.”
“No danger,” Laurel assured her. “I want to add a little spice to my life, not jump out of a plane head-first.”
A moment later, the other women burst back into the room with champagne and coffee to go with Kara’s fritters. Elizabeth also brought the phone with her so she could call Matthew and tell him the good news.
Soon after she’d spoken with her brother, Kara felt strong arms come around her waist from behind, and she was tugged back against the solid wall of Eli’s chest. She smiled, leaning into him with a sigh.
“Since I know my chances of ever being right again once we’re married are slim to none,” he teased, “I’d like it noted that I was right about this. You had nothing to be nervous about with your family.”
“You were right,” she admitted. “I’ll endeavor to listen to you and trust in your impeccable wisdom from now on.”
He chuckled just above her ear. “We’ll see how long that lasts. I’m guessing not much past the honeymoon.”
She gave a little hmph beneath her breath, only to feel him press a kiss to her temple.
“Speaking of honeymoons,” he murmured, “have you given any thought to where you’d like to go for ours?”
“Oh, lord,” she moaned, leaning against him even more. “Everything’s been happening so fast, I forgot all about that. Maybe we could go back to Seabrook Island and hide out in your suite again.”
Turning her in his arms, he tipped her head up and stared down into her eyes while tracing the outl
ine of her bottom lip with his thumb.
“Ocean Breezes may be one of the premiere oceanside resorts in the continental United States,” he said proudly, “but it doesn’t hold the greatest of track records for us, and I don’t want to take any chances. Not with our honeymoon.”
He made a good point, although she had a lot of wonderful, spine-tingling, swoon-inducing memories of her time there with him, too.
He must have been thinking the same thing, because a wicked glint filled his eyes. “Give some thought to something truly decadent. The French Riviera. The Greek Isles. The coast of Spain.”
Her heart leapt higher at each of his suggestions. She could picture them touring any one—or all—of those, and the images were hugely romantic.
“Yes, yes and yes,” she told him, puckering her lips to kiss the pad of his thumb as it neared the center of her mouth. “I’m not sure we should travel so far away right now, though. Not with Mama newly freed from suspicion and Daddy’s murderer still on the loose.”
Taking her hands, he threaded his fingers with hers, holding them down at their sides. “Then we’ll put it off until we can do it right. But keep those locations in mind. I’ll take you anywhere you like, for as long as you like. Provided we schedule plenty of time for me to get you alone. And naked. Several times a day.”
“Thank you,” she said, rising up to kiss him, wondering how she’d ever gotten so lucky as to end up with a man like this. Then again, she’d always known Eli Houghton was special. It was part of the reason she’d lusted after him for so long.
Pulling away, she fluttered her lashes and gave him her best come-hither look. “I’m not the least bit interested in fritters anymore, but if you split one with me and we gulp down a glass of champagne each, it will make Mama happy. Then I can come up with an excuse to get out of here, so you can take me home and get me naked. How does that sound, Mr. Houghton?”
His gaze smoldered, his brown eyes hot enough to singe the clothes from her body right in the middle of her mother’s formal dining room.
