Waking Up Wed

by Christy Jeffries

  Why did he have to be so handsome? And so serene? And so damn tall?

  For a heartbeat, she almost wished she’d married him on purpose...

  Mia, the other maid of honor, had to grab Kylie’s elbow to pull her into position near the floral arch. Next, Maxine and Hunter came down the aisle toward them, but her mind didn’t register anything except Drew’s presence. She doubted this was how Pistole Pepe and Maddog Molly had felt when she’d walked through the doors at the Silver Rush Wedding Chapel.

  She needed to get a grip. Drew was just a man. She was recovering from a stress-filled week. Numbers. Focus on numbers. The prime factors of nine are three and three. The prime factors of ten are two and five...

  The ceremony began and she was almost to eighty-six when Drew ordered the bride and groom to face each other. Maxine thrust her bouquet at Kylie as Mia straightened the bridal train. While Cooper repeated his vows, Kylie couldn’t stop herself from looking at Drew. His blue eyes were staring just as intensely at her, and heat flooded over her skin.

  Had they said these same vows to each other? Had he promised to love her and cherish her? And had she promised to stand by him in sickness and in health?

  Kylie had romanticized the idea of marriage since childhood. But she’d never understood the sanctity of those solemn vows until that exact moment. Loyalty had been drilled into her since childbirth. Drunk or not, how could she walk away from a promise like that?

  How could he?

  Drew spoke the rest of the words to formalize their friends’ union, but she couldn’t help noticing how many times he looked at her when he got to the important bits. Maybe it was subconscious on his part. Or maybe he was serious when he’d told her that he didn’t take his promises lightly. She wondered if, once she told him he was off the hook in the daddy department, he wouldn’t sweat the whole “oath before God” thing so much.

  As Cooper kissed the bride, she shot another look Drew’s way and could’ve sworn that he winked at her.

  A burst of fire shot up from inside her chest and through her neck, into her cheeks.

  Almost the entire town of Sugar Falls was present today, and he had the audacity to wink at her. In full view and with everyone watching. Oh, the gossip that would be fueled if the town busybodies thought she was flirting with Saint Drew. But before she could speculate about a potential Winkgate, the two little boys who’d graced her with the black eye to end all black eyes last night ran up the aisle to fulfill their job assignments.

  “One, two, three, blow,” they shouted in unison before releasing a steady stream of bubbles in the air. The audience soon followed suit with the small white bottles Kylie had given the twins to pass out, and the new mister and missus walked down the aisle in a cloud of bubbles.

  “You are quite the enchantress,” Drew whispered to her as she waited for her turn in the bridal recessional. And her face grew even hotter. “I don’t know how you got them to listen to you.”

  Oh, he was talking about the twins. Not about her seductive appearance. Bummer.

  “I had four brothers,” she whispered back. “When it comes to little boys, you have to make them feel important and keep them busy. And I bought five gallons’ worth of bubbles, so they should be pretty busy for at least another twenty minutes.”

  “Good,” he said right before she departed to the sound of the bagpipes. “Because we still need to talk.”

  She caught his smile before she walked away, and the nerves zapping around inside her turned to butterflies. He was just as handsome as she remembered. Even more so in his formal navy uniform.

  But she wasn’t ready to have the overdue discussion yet. She’d been looking for the perfect man for so long, she didn’t think that she could handle another failure in her ongoing quest. At least, not publicly.

  Man, she needed a pint of Ben & Jerry’s if she hoped to get through the upcoming reception.

  Instead, she grabbed a glass of champagne from the tray of the first server passing by, wishing it was a root beer float, and tried not to guzzle it down while they posed for pictures after the ceremony.

  The terraced garden of the Snow Creek Lodge wasn’t that small, but Drew was never far from her sight. Or her mind.

  He finally moved in next to her when the photographer took the bride and groom away for some shots by themselves. “Hey.”

  She’d known this moment was coming, and it was probably best if she got it over with as quickly as possible. Just like pulling off an eyebrow-waxing strip.

  “Hi,” she said, looking around for another server. Or her sunglasses. Anything that would keep her from meeting his incredible blue eyes.

  “You’ve been pretty good at avoiding me all week.” Wow, he wasn’t even going to beat around the bush or make small talk. The man definitely said what was on his mind.

  Maybe if she could flag down one of the waiters, she could ask him to bring her a milk shake. “I wasn’t avoiding you so much as I was trying to figure out how I felt about everything.”

  “And how do you feel?”

  “Confused. Upset. Cheated. Relieved. All of the above.”

  “Why cheated?”

  “I don’t know. I guess because like every other girl, I’ve always dreamed of the perfect guy and having the fairy-tale wedding. Nowhere in my dreams did I envision marrying some stranger at a tacky wedding chapel in Reno.”

  “Why relieved?”

  “Because I got my...uh...you know...this morning.”

  “Your what?”

  The man was so straitlaced he didn’t even get her polite reference. Of course, she was too embarrassed to say it, either. “I’m not pregnant,” she whispered.

  “Oh.” Was it her imagination or did those broad shoulders of his just slump a little? He definitely wasn’t smiling. This wasn’t exactly the reaction she was expecting. Was he actually disappointed she wasn’t having his baby? He must not have understood her.

  Yet before she could tell the poor guy that he was off the hook, that they were both off the hook, two women approached them.

  “Dr. Gregson, that was such a touching service.”

  Elaine Marconi and her husband owned the local gas station, making her a prime source of neighborhood gossip. The woman was known to overindulge at parties with an open bar, and judging by the flush on her cheeks, today’s event was no exception.

  The other woman, Marcia Duncan, owned Duncan’s Market, another center for all newsworthy information about Sugar Falls.

  “I hope you’ll be willing to do a guest lecture at our Women in Crafting Crisis meeting while you’re in town,” Marcia said. “We’ve never had a licensed psychologist speak with our group.”

  “Thank you for thinking of me, but I’m a better listener than I am a speaker,” the always perfect Drew answered, being perfectly polite. As usual.

  Marcia’s eyes widened as if her Spanx were cutting off circulation to her brain, then blinked several times as if to regain her composure.

  “But we could really use your professional help,” the woman insisted. Kylie knew Marcia ran her market with a strong, meaty fist and probably wasn’t used to people telling her no.

  “Some more than others,” Kylie muttered before looking longingly at the chocolate fountain being set up inside the ballroom.

  When Drew smiled at her, acknowledging that he’d heard her impolite comment, her knees wobbled. She remembered how he’d looked in that hotel room, all bare chested and calm, and she almost wished she could be back there again.

  “Let me get settled here in town first, ladies. Then we can talk more about it at a later date.” Drew’s words took the edge off Kylie’s snide remark, which she doubted anyone else heard, judging by the way both women looked somewhat appeased.

  “Good Lord, Kylie,” Elaine suddenly said, as if she’d just now noticed Kylie standing right there. “What in the world happened to your eye? Was it another date gone bad?”

  Her hand shot up to the bruise and she silently cursed hersel
f for not grabbing her dark sunglasses when she had the chance. Despite the woman’s implication, Kylie didn’t date abusive guys.

  It had been a rough week, and if Kylie wasn’t such a lady, rigorously trained in poise and decorum by some of the best pageant coaches in the nation, she might have been tempted to unleash some violence of her own.

  But she was stronger than that. She was better than that. She saw that sympathetic look in Drew’s eye again and was briefly tempted to show him she wasn’t a woman to be pitied.

  “Actually,” Drew spoke up, “my twin nephews did that to her. It was an accident.” Was it Kylie’s imagination or had Drew stepped closer to her? She must have been suffering from some sort of knight-in-shining-armor fantasy because she couldn’t help but sense that he was riding to her rescue.

  “Oh, I’m sure it was. Are those adorable blond cuties yours?” Marcia turned her back to Kylie, putting her greasy appetizer fingers on Drew’s biceps.

  “They were just so sweet, blowing all those bubbles,” Elaine crooned in a voice that was one glass of chardonnay away from slurring. “You were so smart to come up with the idea for them to do that.”

  This was Kylie’s opportunity to slip away silently, while the ladies were busy slithering up to Saint Drew. But just as she started backing up, Drew’s hand shot out and snatched her elbow, pulling her to his side and back into the barracuda-infested waters with him. “Actually, that was Kylie’s brilliant idea. She has a way with kids.”

  Although she was capable of fighting her own battles, Kylie appreciated Drew trying to defuse the situation. But she didn’t know if she appreciated the strength of his iron-tight grip as he held her in place right next to him. Ugh. She knew the guy was made of solid muscle, but she wasn’t used to men being strong enough to maneuver her around however they wanted.

  “A way with kids?” Marcia’s laugh came out as more of a snort.

  “Kylie?” Elaine giggled like a teenage girl drunk on her first wine cooler. “Oh, Doctor, she may be good with numbers, but the one thing Kylie does not have a way with is kids.”

  “Or men.” Marcia snorted again.

  Kylie tried to pull away, but Drew’s hand was like velvet-covered steel—deceptively soft on the outside but rigid in its refusal to let go. Her emotions had been on a roller coaster for the past six days, and the last thing she could stomach was standing here and letting these two offensive women insult her in front of the first man she actually liked and respected.

  Oh, no. It was true. She actually liked Drew. Even though she knew nothing about him.

  Except that he was standing by her side and looking at her with a growing sense of concern. “Now, ladies,” he said. “I am under the impression that Kylie here can handle herself in any situation.”

  Perfect Drew was being his usual calm and diplomatic self. Sure, he probably thought he was protecting her, but he could protect her better by just letting her get the heck away from the reception. Why wouldn’t he let go of her arm?

  “Oh, we didn’t mean anything negative by it.” Elaine sobered up enough to stop smirking. Mostly.

  “Kylie, honey,” Marcia spoke up. “You know we think the world of you. We don’t think less of you for dating all those guys or dressing like you do. It must be so hard to be your age and still be single.”

  “I’m fine,” Kylie said through clenched teeth. Maybe Doctor Strong Arms thought he was helping her, but he was really just making things increasingly awkward. Even though her reputation wasn’t truly earned, she hated that these harpies made her seem desperate and inadequate in front of Drew, who looked less like a saint right that second and more like a warrior. His eyes darkened to a stormy blue-black, and she could see the pulse in his neck throbbing.

  Was he annoyed with Kylie? He couldn’t possibly believe what these women were saying about her. Could he?

  “Of course you’re not fine. Your best friend just got married and you still aren’t able to find a man for yourself. We should have been more sensitive.”

  “Don’t stress so much about it, honey. The right man for you is out there somewhere if you would just stop looking so hard. Have you thought about online dating?”

  The red haze blinding her eyes and the steam coming out of her ears were making it difficult to tell which woman was saying what. But then a finger brushed along her arm, and the anger broke long enough for her to glance at the man beside her.

  We’re in this together, Drew mouthed.

  She raised her brow, not sure she understood. Her eyes went wide when he snaked his arm around her waist and pull her tighter against his side.

  Apparently his annoyance wasn’t directed toward her at all.

  The women must have taken notice of his intimate and protective stance, because they paused midplatitude, mouths slightly ajar.

  Kylie couldn’t stop herself from rising to her full five feet ten inches—actually, over six feet in her gold-studded heels—and slid her free hand across Drew’s chest, feeling the quickening of his heartbeat.

  “Thank you for your concern, ladies, but as you can see,” she said, holding out her hand, displaying the tight wedding ring she still couldn’t get off and pasting on her best pageant smile, “I don’t need your sympathy, because I’m already married.”

  Chapter Four

  What had she just done?

  Drew barely managed half a smile at Marcia and Elaine before rushing off behind Kylie as she walked away from the two shocked women in strong, purposeful strides, pulling Drew’s hand with her.

  He hadn’t been expecting her announcement, and now he needed to reconfigure his next course of action.

  “How fast do you think word will spread?” he tried to joke as they made their way toward the patio doors. She didn’t answer because she was mumbling something about prime numbers and double scoops.

  When they were safely inside the cooler air-conditioned ballroom, she finally stopped her numerical chant and let out a deep breath. Thank goodness the guests were still enjoying the cocktail hour outside so that he could be alone with her for a minute. Together, they might be able to figure out how to deal with what they’d just publically acknowledged.

  “I’d wager sixty-five percent of the guests here will know by the time we sit down for dinner,” she said. “The other thirty-five percent will figure it out when I’m noticeably absent from the bouquet toss. And when you take into account social media, the rest of the town and half of my Boise State graduating class will know by tomorrow morning.”

  She slumped into a linen-covered chair and propped her elbows on the decorated table before burying her face in her hands. Could being married to him truly cause her this much shame? He pulled his own chair in front of her and sat down facing her.

  Well, he would wait her out. She couldn’t hide her head forever and pretend nothing had happened. Soon she’d be forced to look at him, once she was done with her pity party, or her multiplication tables, or whatever it was she was doing. But after a few moments, she still hadn’t looked up. What was she thinking?

  Heck, what was he thinking, letting her get sucked into the nest of those two vipers? He’d known the women had been taunting Kylie, and he could tell by the way her arm had been tensing in his grip that she’d been getting frustrated. But instead of being the trained observer, watching her to see how she was going to react, he’d blindly jumped right into the snake pit.

  And now the rest of the world was going to know that the naval officer they’d inadvertently designated as some sort of paragon of virtue was married to the town vixen.

  At least according to Marcia and Elaine. Fortunately, Drew was a patient man and knew there were two sides to every story.

  Apparently, he’d just made it clear that he was choosing her side. Like he’d told her in the hotel room back in Reno, they really were in this together. They needed to figure out a strategy to deal with this new development, stat. And it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have some backup support locked into place.
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  “Perhaps we should go find our friends and tell them the good news before they hear it from everyone else,” he suggested.

  “Oh, no,” she said, finally looking up at him with what could only be described as panic in her eyes. “I mean, yes. We should. And we will. But give me a second to get all my feelings in check. Ugh. I’ve been a shrink’s wife for all of a week and already I’m blowing it. My brothers always teased me for not being able to control my emotions. What have I done?”

  There went her face, back into her hands. Where was the Amazon warrior queen he’d seen back in that hotel room and then again outside a few moments ago with those busybodies when she’d flashed her ring in triumph? Kylie didn’t strike him as the type to just bury her head in surrender.

  “It wasn’t just you. I was right there with you and didn’t put a stop to it. You haven’t done anything that can’t be undone. So what if the town finds out about us? They don’t need to know the...uh...circumstances surrounding the...uh...wedding. I’m sure we can just explain—”

  She gasped. “Any moment, they’re going to find out that we’re married and then all hell will break loose.”

  It was as if she hadn’t even heard him.

  “Kylie, I’m sure Cooper and Maxine aren’t going to make a big deal out of our wedding. When we tell them what happened, they’ll probably just laugh it off.”

  “I’m not talking about our friends finding out. I’m talking about my family finding out. My parents are here.”

  “Wait. Why are your parents here?”

  “Because they’ve known Maxine practically as long as I have. When we cheered at Boise State together, she used to come home with me for holidays and breaks. What am I supposed to tell my mom and dad?”

  Funny, this was one complication he hadn’t anticipated. “Well, let’s go talk to your folks and let them know what happened and that we’re trying to fix—”

  “There you are, Kylie!” A very loud and very large man entered the ballroom with a smaller woman trailing behind him. “What’s this I’m hearing about you being married?”