Stealing the Groom: A Stealing the Heart Novel (Entangled Bliss)

by Weiss, Sonya

  Amelia squinted, attempting to see her surroundings with each flash of lightning. The view was too foggy, but she could feel the air thickening, burning her throat. “What’s wrong?”

  Chad moved toward the fireplace. “I think the chimney is clogged. I’ll have to put the fire out.”

  Amelia’s eyes stung from the thick smoke and she fumbled to open the front door. When she got it open, the cooler temperature rushed at her and the world smelled fresh and clean, the way it always did in rain.

  She took in a welcome lungful of air and turned around to call out for Chad when his hand closed around her waist. “Go! Now!”

  With the momentum of his movement, he propelled her through the doorway. He kept going until he pulled her off the porch after him, until they were standing in the middle of the gravel road with the hard rain pouring over them.

  “What happened?” Amelia shouted to be heard above the noise of the storm.

  “Look.” Chad pointed to the living room.

  Through the open doorway, Amelia could see flames dancing along the wall beside the fireplace. They raced upward to the ceiling and within seconds the window blew out, raining shards of glass onto the porch.

  Frightened, Amelia gasped, unable to speak.

  “We’ve set fire to your grandfather’s cabin,” Chad said in disbelief. “The fireplace wasn’t clogged. Something caught the roof on fire.”

  Her grandfather was going to be so disappointed about his new cabin. She felt terrible for destroying his property with this crazy plan of hers. Once she made sure Chad was safely away from Claire, Amelia was going to have to get out of town again just to avoid her grandfather’s wrath.

  “Well, look on the bright side…,” Amelia began slowly, her voice shaking.

  “Yeah, I know. We aren’t in it. You and your optimism. Always seeing the good side of everything. Except my marriage, of course.”

  “I was going to say the rain should keep the fire from spreading to the woods.” She shivered and sneezed, followed by a bout of coughing. The shorts and T-shirt that were perfect for the heat earlier today were no match for the rain and dropping temperatures here in the woods.

  “Unbelievable. I should have known this getaway wouldn’t end well.” She could make out Chad glaring at her in the dim light while she coughed. “I swear, if I survive this, it’s the last time I let you talk me into anything.”

  She snorted. “Ha! You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want to be. You said so yourself in the limousine. You admitted you don’t really want to marry Claire.”

  “We don’t have time to argue this. I’m going to see if I can get to the car phone.”

  Amelia cringed when a bolt of lightning popped across the sky. She was uncomfortable in storms and knew how dangerous they could be.

  Fortunately, Chad was back in seconds, shaking his head. “The tree damaged the limousine’s back doors too. They’re wedged and I can’t get them open. Come on, let’s get out of the weather. There’s nothing else we can do standing here. We’ll find a phone somewhere and notify the local fire department.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders when she coughed again.

  “My throat’s a little irritated but I’m fine, I promise. We passed a cabin on the way in. Maybe it’s even Mrs. Foster’s place. She mentioned it would be easy for her to be the caretaker for my grandfather because she had a cabin not far from his.” Amelia struggled to keep her balance as they pushed forward on the slippery road in the dark. Her tennis shoe slid in a patch of mud and Chad steadied her.

  “Well, it’s not as if we can get any wetter,” he said as he stepped in a mud puddle. Water covered his ankle, sloshing above the top of his sock. He grunted and shook his black leather shoe. “Nice. The situations I let you get me into…” His voice trailed off.

  “The situations? As in plural? Name one that’s been as hectic as this one.”

  “Parachuting with you two summers ago when my chute didn’t open,” he reminded her.

  “Your reserve did.”

  “I thought I was going to have a heart attack.”

  “You didn’t, though.”

  “Probably because my heart was in my throat the entire time. Don’t forget the near-death experience when we went on that white-water rafting trip.”

  “I thought you were calm that whole time.”

  “Before or after I had to jump in and rescue you?”

  “Admit it. At least you’re never bored when you’re with me.”

  “Hard to be bored when you’re busy praying to stay alive. How you and I have remained friends for all these years amazes me at times.”

  “Blame our grandparents, who were best friends long before we were even born. We inherited each other. We’re practically family.” Amelia smiled up at him even though he couldn’t see it in the darkness.

  “You and I are such complete opposites.”

  “You know that old saying. Opposites attract,” Amelia quipped and wiped her soaked bangs away from her eyes. Water ran down her face and she blinked to clear her vision.

  Lightning flashed and Amelia quickened her pace, drawing closer to Chad.

  “Yeah, opposites attract,” he admitted, “but you and I operate with entirely different life views. That’s why I stopped going on all those so-called adventures you kept taking. You’re far too willing to take dangerous risks without ever stopping to consider the consequences.”

  His words dissipated their lighthearted banter and her eyes narrowed. “Is that why you were suddenly busy every time I asked you to go places with me?”

  “You know you take too many risks.”

  “Maybe I do take risks, but you’re stuck in the same old rut. Always ready with a pen and paper trying to figure out what the worst possible outcome could be and then choosing the safest path.”

  “Nothing wrong with being cautious,” Chad said, indicating their predicament with a pointed sweep of his hand.

  His smugness irritated Amelia. “Except when being cautious equates to not really living at all. The only danger in your life right now is the risk of getting a paper cut.”

  Chad stopped in the middle of the road, hands on his hips to glare at her, his mounting frustration evident. “Not really living? What the hell are you talking about?”

  “You, Chad. I’m talking about the way you live or rather the way you don’t live. Thanks to your screwed-up childhood, you have a need for control and order. Not once in your life have you ever strayed from the path your grandfather oh-so-carefully mapped out for you,” Amelia blurted, losing her patience.

  She probably shouldn’t say the words on the tip of her tongue but Amelia couldn’t help herself. Extreme situations called for extreme actions. “Forgetting your dreams of becoming a basketball coach in order to step into position as Vice President of Walker Industries straight from business school. Check that one off the list.”

  “My grandfather needed me.”

  “Uh-huh. Even if that were true, what about the rest of your life to-do list?” She went on in a rush, “Marry so you’ll get your full shares in order to hold on to a business and the millions of dollars that won’t make you happy in the end. Avoid love so you’ll never be hurt like your father. Got all those lined up just waiting to be checked off. That’s living?”

  “Are you finished?” His voice was dangerously low.

  “Oh, no. I’m just getting started. I should have told you this years ago.” She shoved her soggy bangs away from her eyes again. “You have never once done anything spontaneous in your entire life. Even on the adventures you’d go on with me, you made sure you did a risk assessment and had a power of attorney in place with your lawyer for the business in case you didn’t make it back.” Amelia poked him in the center of the chest.

  “When are you going to live? Live with gusto? Live your dreams? Go after what you want and to hell with the consequences?”

  “You’re saying that you think spontaneity equals living?”

  “Yes. Chad,
sometimes you have to stray from the same old routine. Break the rules. Stop centering your life around what you should do. Do something for absolutely no reason at all even if it doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Something that doesn’t make sense?”

  “Yes.”

  “Break from the routine, you say?”

  “Exactly,” Amelia said, pleased he seemed to finally get it, though she did wonder at the anger in his voice.

  “Spontaneous and breaking from routine. Right. In that case, I can check both of those off the list right now,” Chad said, putting his hands on her waist. He swung her around into his arms to face him. Off balance, her body fell against his.

  Before she could recover, he lowered his head and his lips claimed hers. Angry. Out to prove he thought she was wrong and he was right. His lips were…

  Demanding.

  Softening.

  Coaxing.

  Taking.

  Giving.

  All around them, the storm raged.

  The kiss was unlike any Amelia had ever experienced. His hand splayed across her back, urging her against his body as he pulled her into a world she longed to stay in.

  Their bodies fit as if they’d been poured from the same mold. Emotions pummeled her. They shouldn’t. It was wrong. But if felt right and oh so good. Then Amelia gave up trying to think and gave in to the feel of his lips on hers. She slid her arms up around his neck and pressed into him.

  Chad abruptly pulled his head back, his breathing uneven. “Amelia…”

  “I know…” She’d been about to say the kiss had rocked her too, but before she could, he destroyed the haze of desire surrounding her.

  “That was a mistake,” he said in a flat voice.

  She blinked and exhaled, not knowing what to say to that. How could he so quickly toss aside the kiss? Friends did not kiss friends that way.

  “I don’t understand what just happened. One second we were arguing and I never meant to kiss you. I don’t…I mean…”

  “Forget it,” she snapped, turning away from him. In the dim, rainy light, he couldn’t see her confusion, but she felt it down to the marrow in her bones. Everything was wrong now. She knew Chad. He’d want to sweep the kiss under the rug and pretend it hadn’t happened because kissing a best friend sure as hell wasn’t in any of his plans. No matter how much he’d seemed to enjoy it.

  “We should go,” he said quietly, his tone not displaying any hint of how he felt.

  Amazed her own voice sounded so normal, she pointed the direction they’d come from. “Looks like the rain has put the fire out. Do you want to go back?”

  “No. We don’t need to risk inhaling any more smoke fumes and we don’t know if the cabin is structurally sound. The other cabin should be around the next bend. If not, we’re going to have to devise a way to find shelter in the woods. I’m getting too cold.”

  Cold? How could he be cold? Amelia’s insides were still on fire from the kiss. Her lips tingled from the taste of his.

  “I think I see something,” Chad said as the storm continued to quiet and the rain now fell in a soft drizzle.

  Amelia peered into the short distance. She saw a cabin similar to the one her grandfather had purchased. This cabin had a longer porch and sported several large ferns hanging across the front.

  She nodded. “That’s the place we drove past. I remember the plants.”

  The rain started falling harder again. Hand in hand, they made a run for the cabin’s front porch, arriving breathless and shivering.

  Chad pounded on the thick door with a closed fist. “Anyone home?” Wiping at a small window, he tried to peer through the dirty glass into the darkened cabin. “I don’t think there’s anyone here. I can’t see a light or any movement.” He shivered, his teeth beginning to click together.

  “I should have grabbed jackets before leaving Sweet Creek. I didn’t expect the temperatures to be so much lower in the mountains. Not to mention, I thought we’d be inside, not outside in a monsoon,” she said, easing even closer to him. They needed to share body heat. “We’ll have to break in.”

  “Less than twenty-four hours in your company and you’re steering me down a criminal path.”

  “Are you going to break in or am I?” she asked, mentally kicking herself for the situation they were in. They were miles from the next home. Besides, she didn’t want to roam around in the dark. Bears and other animals that might see them as a tasty dinner inhabited the woods. Poisonous snakes slithered around out there as well. No thanks!

  They wouldn’t be stuck in a storm, if not for her. When it came to Chad, the more she tried to help, the more she messed things up. The only difference she’d made in his life since stopping the wedding was to make it worse.

  This was why it was always better to keep moving. If she didn’t get too entrenched in a situation, then she didn’t have to worry about the fallout. She didn’t have people depending on her, so there was no way she could let them down.

  He darted back down the steps to pick up a rock. “Stand back.” He slammed it against the window and the glass shattered.

  When the shards stopped falling, he reached in through the space he’d created and lifted the window latch. “Hold the window up, I’ll go in first.”

  “Be careful. There might be dogs.”

  “Great,” Chad grumbled. “Just what I need. To be wet and mauled.” He whistled, waited for a moment, then hefted himself over the windowsill and disappeared from view.

  Amelia could hear his footsteps crunching around on the broken glass before he unlocked and swung the door open. “No power here either.”

  “Think we should start a fire?” she quipped.

  “Very funny.” Chad groped his way in the dark and Amelia heard his muffled exclamation as his foot connected with something solid.

  A pause, then, “There’s one bedroom and I found the bed. Judging from the throbbing in my foot, I’d say it’s made of iron. Blankets smell a little musty, but at least we can get in and we’ll be warm and dry.”

  “Think the owners will mind the break-in?” Amelia made her way toward Chad’s voice and bumped into him.

  His hands dropped to her hips to steady her and she was thankful for the darkness. He couldn’t see the flush that she felt creep up her cheeks.

  “I think they’ll understand. And I can financially compensate them for any damages.”

  He quickly lowered his hands and backed up. “Besides, didn’t you say this was the Fosters’ home? Let me see if I can find a phone.”

  “I think it could be the Fosters’ home. I have no idea if it actually is.”

  “You…you know what…never mind.” Chad rejoined her in the living room, fumbling over furniture. Something heavy fell and hit the floor. “I found a phone.”

  She heard the hope in his voice followed by disappointment when he said, “Damn cordless phones. Completely useless in a power outage.”

  He moved about the room and a door creaked open.

  “The pantry has some canned goods in it, but I can’t tell what they are. There’s a small bathroom and I felt towels on a shelf in there. So when it gets light out tomorrow we can eat. I’ll try to find some matches and candles or a flashlight.”

  Guilt arrived and sat heavily on Amelia’s shoulders. “Well, if you find some light, we can take a shower before we get into bed,” Amelia said, determined to take charge of the situation and force everything to turn out right.

  “And you didn’t even buy me dinner first,” Chad teased, mimicking a prudish voice.

  “Even with your good sense of humor I’m surprised you can joke about this.”

  “How can I not? All in one day, I’ve been kidnapped from my wedding, seen my limo trashed by a falling tree, fled a burning cabin, and walked in the worst storm I’ve ever witnessed. And let’s not forget my first foray into breaking and entering. If I wasn’t such a levelheaded guy, I could develop some serious issues.”

  Amelia swatted at him. “I
’m going to undress and leave my clothes in here so they don’t wet the bathroom floor and make me slip. Pass me a blanket and turn around while I take my clothes off.”

  “I can’t exactly see you clearly in this small amount of light, Ame.”

  “Chad…”

  “I’m turning.”

  She quickly shed the wet clothing and wrapped herself in the scratchy blanket, tucking it around her. Fumbling forward a few steps, she spread her clothes out on the back of a chair where they promptly began to drip on the floor.

  “Don’t take all the hot water,” he said.

  “You know I never do,” she grumbled and lightly moved her fingertips over the wall until she reached the bathroom. She managed to locate one of the towels and an unopened bar of soap. Sure, this cabin wasn’t the Hilton either, but they were out of the storm and had a place to sleep.

  She showered quickly, toweled off, and then covered herself with the blanket again.

  “Your turn,” she said and felt along until her hand bumped against the bed. She climbed onto the lumpy mattress. She scooted and turned with her face toward the wall. The springs squeaked and groaned as she moved.

  Chad’s wet clothing rustled as he removed them and she concentrated by running through her to-do list.

  Get home. Check her e-mail to see if the editor of the travel magazine had liked the photos she’d taken of the vacation getaway in Florida.

  Book the next flight out of town so she could get back to work. Try to stay out of Chad’s life since she’d made such a mess of it.

  Try to forget the kiss they’d shared.

  A few minutes later, she heard the shower water start up. Flowing over Chad… He was a good…no…a great kisser. What else would he be great at?

  She slapped her forehead. Was she coming down with a case of lost-her-mind? She needed to think friend thoughts. Go to her Zen place. But she couldn’t shake that kiss.

  Her Zen place dissipated like fog in the sun when the bed dipped and Chad climbed in beside her. They’d slept in the same bed numerous times through the years. Shared a tent every summer camping out with their families. This was the same. No big deal. Except that it was, now.