Runner-Up Bride

by Lisa Bingham

  Riley supposed she should admit to cutting it herself, but she didn’t have the nerve. Instead, heeding his “Come along, sweetie,” she trotted after Armand like an obedient puppy as he led her into the depths of his sanctuary.

  OVER THE NEXT FEW hours, Riley was steamed, soaked, massaged and plucked. Her nails were buffed, her brows waxed and her body drenched with all sorts of lotions and balms. The pedicurist nearly had heart failure when she caught sight of the state of Riley’s feet, and another block of time was devoted to pumicing her calluses, addressing the tiny scratches and painting her toenails.

  Finally, after she’d been wrapped neck to ankle in a terry robe and pieces of foam had been stuffed between her toes, she was helped into Armand’s styling chair by one of his assistants.

  “Well!” Armand said, as he slid the towel from her hair and began to massage her scalp.

  After hours of the same sort of pampering, Riley knew she shouldn’t have melted into a puddle of boneless Jell-O, but she couldn’t help it.

  “There’s not much here to work with,” Armand commented, as he tested the length of her hair.

  “I like it short,” she muttered, barely able to form the words because she was growing so lethargic.

  “And you have the cheeks for it. What I wouldn’t give for your bone structure.” Armand paused to pose her in the mirror, highlighting first one side of her face, then the other. “Not all women can get away with short-short hair.” He shuddered. “But then, I hate to think of those who think a hank of damaged, too-long hair makes them look younger.”

  Riley didn’t know how to respond to such a comment, so she remained silent.

  “I hope you’ll trust me enough to let me have my way with you?”

  She laughed softly. “Go ahead. After all the massages and steam treatments, I haven’t the will to argue.”

  “Good. Good! You were a bundle of nerves when you came in, sweetie. Now that we’ve relaxed your body, it’s time to make you as beautiful as you are—the makeup first, I think.”

  Riley was about to disagree with his remark about her beauty, but when he turned her chair away from the mirror and began to dab her cheeks with foundation, she didn’t bother. After all, she’d promised to let Armand “have his way.” If he made her look like a clown, she’d have time to take a shower before anyone but Dannette saw her up close.

  “Oh, Armand!”

  Riley’s heavy eyelids opened when Dannette approached. She was also swathed in a terry robe. Her nails had been freshly painted—a daring red instead of her usual pink—her makeup applied, her skin rehydrated and pampered. But what made Riley stare was her hair—or what was left of it. The dark locks had been trimmed close to her head on the sides and back, with only a puff of curls at the top. The stark style accentuated the woman’s exotic beauty in a way that the longer tresses had never done. In fact, the new hairdo made her look decidedly…wicked.

  Dannette grinned. “Do you like it?”

  Riley could only nod. She did like it. By whacking off a foot of hair, the refined parochial-school maiden was gone forever, and in her place was a sultry siren.

  Riley blinked, not wanting to appear as if she was staring. But she couldn’t help it.

  “I called Alex,” Dannette continued, “and he gave me permission to make some changes to the apartment. Do you want to help?”

  No. Riley did not want to help Dannette decorate her love nest. She didn’t want to do anything that might further the relationship Alex already had with this woman.

  But what can I do to stop it? her inner voice whispered. Dannette and Alex were going to be married, so she’d best accept the fact now.

  “Sure. Sure, I’ll help,” she forced herself to say.

  “Good. I want to surprise him with my new look and a new apartment all at once.”

  Riley sighed in resignation. Great. As soon as Alex saw the changes, Riley knew who he’d blame.

  The one and only Riley Page.

  ALEX LIFTED the safety gate to the freight elevator, took one step inside the main room of his apartment, then froze.

  Somehow, in the space of a few hours, the entire area had been redecorated. The air was thick with the odor of fresh paint, and he noted that his walls had been altered from the shade of beige he was accustomed to seeing to bright, jewel-like tones—one purple, one yellow, one apple green. Exotic African textiles draped his furniture, and modern photographs replaced the bland landscapes that had once hung on his walls.

  Overall, the sudden change should have been completely overwhelming, but to his surprise, Alex’s first reaction was a short bark of laughter. He had no doubts who was responsible for the alterations. The room fairly screamed Riley!

  “Surprise!”

  Dannette popped out of the kitchen, holding her arms wide. “I’ve been busy today, don’t you think?”

  He stared at her, wondering for an instant about the identity of this dark-haired imp with her closely cropped curls. Then, when he realized he was looking at his fiancée, he blurted out, “What in hell happened to your hair?”

  Dannette laughed gaily and patted her nearly shaved sides. “I had it cut—isn’t that obvious? Do you like it?”

  What could he say? What should he say? He didn’t dislike it, but the change in Dannette’s appearance was so dramatic that he wasn’t sure what he thought. All he knew was that the woman who faced him with such excitement was a stranger. Not just because of her hair—her exuberance was completely foreign to him.

  “It’s very nice.”

  She giggled. “You’ll get used to it. In the meantime, what do you think about the redecorating? It was quite a challenge to get the paint dry before you came home. Thank heavens you chose to work most of the day on the chocolate shop. Luckily, with the heat we’ve had today and a half dozen fans, the stuff was nearly dry in an hour.”

  Alex stared again at the room that had been transformed into a prism of color.

  “You did this?” he asked in disbelief. The decorating definitely wasn’t Dannette’s style—at least not the Dannette he’d thought he knew so well. His eyes returned to Dannette and he noted her attire—tight black trousers, boots and a leather jacket.

  “Have you and Riley been shopping again?” he asked, gesturing at the ensemble.

  Dannette grinned. “I bought the outfit myself. Isn’t it fantastic?”

  She twirled to give him a better look, and Alex was rendered speechless. He’d grown so used to Dannette’s conservative hairstyles and debutante-like wardrobe that he found it difficult to reconcile what he knew about this woman with what he was seeing. With each day that passed, Dannette was growing more and more like…like…

  Riley.

  But she isn’t Riley. She might have changed her hair and her clothes, but she isn’t Riley.

  Which left him with a hollow feeling in the region of his stomach as he recognized his own folly. He didn’t want an imitation of the woman he’d known all his life.

  He wanted the woman herself.

  At that moment, there was a soft rustle of cloth so faint that he shouldn’t have been drawn to it. But when Riley entered the room from the hallway, he couldn’t help looking at her.

  Her hair was windblown, her jeans and oversize shirt pleasantly mussed. She wore more makeup than he was used to seeing, but the subtle shadings merely highlighted her inherent beauty.

  “I’ve commandeered your bathroom as a darkroom, so if the door is closed…”

  Her statement dwindled into nothingness as she apparently caught the undercurrents that had begun to fill the room. Try as he might, Alex couldn’t look away from her. He couldn’t ignore the softness of her skin or the slight mounds of her breasts pushing against her shirt. She was barefoot, and he found that element of her appearance completely compelling.

  “I see you and Dannette have been busy.”

  Alex tried to keep his voice normal, but he doubted he succeeded. He was sure his gruffness betrayed him, making it clear tha
t at this moment he was far more attracted to his best friend than his fiancée.

  Riley’s gaze bounced from Alex to Dannette, but Dannette had turned away to adjust a print on the wall.

  “Not really. I gave her some of the African fabrics to use and a few photographs for framing, but other than that, she did everything on her own. She has a real flair for decorating.”

  “I was an interior design major in college, wasn’t I, Alex? I was even asked to take a teaching assistant’s position after I graduated. I think I told you as much.”

  Alex didn’t remember. He didn’t remember anything at all at this moment. All he knew was that Riley belonged here. The new and exotic furnishings set her off like the setting of a fine jewel. It was the sort of place a person could return to after a long day’s work, kick off his shoes and relax. Then, with the dimming of the lights, a few candles and flowers, it could become the perfect place for an intimate formal dinner. Or…

  Or a seduction.

  Again, his gaze clung to Riley’s and he wondered how she would react if she knew what he was fantasizing about. He and Riley had done their best to keep their relationship on a purely platonic level. But in the past few days so much had changed between them. His thoughts were swiftly becoming less those of a friend and more those of a lover.

  The idea jolted him like a flash of lightning.

  No.

  He shouldn’t think that way. He mustn’t.

  But no matter how hard he tried to deny his desire for Riley, he couldn’t. Nor could he suppress the yearnings that swept through him with such ferocity that he barely managed to contain them.

  “I’ve been thinking, Alex,” Dannette continued, although he gave her only half an ear. “After we’re married I’d like to work.”

  Work?

  He tried to concentrate on what she was saying. She was rearranging the setup of their relationship, and he should have been paying attention—especially since they’d originally planned on having a baby right away and that Dannette would be a stay-at-home mom.

  “I really think I’ve been hasty to give up a possible career without thinking about the consequences. The last few days have shown me clearly enough that I have a talent for this sort of work. Moreover, I like doing it. Would you mind terribly if I went for a few job interviews?”

  Mind? Of course he minded. The mere idea changed the dynamics of their marital roles. It wasn’t that he objected to his future wife wishing to have a career, only that it would change how quickly Dannette might be willing to have a baby.

  And that had been his only reason for marrying her, he realized suddenly. The one and only reason. He didn’t want peace, he didn’t want serenity. He wanted a child.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” he finally said, for lack of a better response.

  “Of course. Right now, you’ve got to shower and change for the rehearsal dinner.”

  Alex’s preoccupation shattered and he was jerked to awareness. “Rehearsal dinner? Tonight?”

  Dannette pulled a face. “I knew you’d forget if I didn’t remind you.”

  She closed the distance between them, stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Presbyterian Church, seven o’clock.”

  Then she was hurrying to the elevator.

  Alex waited until the clatter of the conveyance ceased and he knew that Dannette was out of earshot. Then, turning to Riley, he studied her greedily, knowing all the while that he should look away.

  “I like the apartment,” he stated softly, knowing that he had to touch her.

  Riley appeared uncomfortable with the comment. “I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  “I think you did.” He prowled toward her, unable to maintain the distance she seemed determined to keep. “It looks like you.”

  He hadn’t meant the statement to slip from his lips in a near caress, but once it did, he didn’t try to retract the comment.

  “I like it, too,” she admitted somewhat grudgingly.

  “You could live in a place like this, huh?”

  She was quiet and still for so long that he wondered if she was ignoring his question, but then she said, “Are you asking?”

  He was so close to her now that he could feel the heat radiating from her body and smell the faint perfume she always wore, even when on a mountaintop or in the depths of a rain forest.

  “What would be your answer if I did?”

  Again, she thought carefully before saying, “The way things are, there can only be one answer.”

  “What if things were different?”

  She shook her head. “Why think about the whatifs?”

  “Because I can’t seem to stop myself.”

  He reached out, stroking her cheek with his finger. Then, unable to control himself, he delved into her hair, pulling her to him, bending to take her lips with his own.

  He knew that the embrace was telling, that she could taste his frustration and evident desire, but he couldn’t seem to stop. He had to have this one moment, this one fleeting instant in time, and he intended to fully enjoy every second.

  Riley moaned against him, her own hands sliding beneath his shirt and spreading wide over his chest. He loved the way she did that, the way she tested the flesh she found and rubbed the pads of her thumbs over his nipples.

  Alex shuddered, drawing his head away a fraction of an inch, rubbing his nose against her cheek, inhaling her own special signature fragrance.

  “I don’t think I can stop this time,” he said. “Not on my own. Help me stop, Riley.”

  She shook her head, drawing him to her lips. “I can’t stop, either. Not tonight.”

  Along with the sensual urgency surging through his body he also felt a strong sense of inevitability about the rightness of this. Bending, he swept Riley into his arms and carried her—not to his room, but to the guest room.

  “I’ve imagined you here time and time again during your visit,” he explained as he set her on the bed, then lay beside her. “I don’t think I’ve had a decent night’s sleep since you arrived in the country.”

  “Me too,” she moaned, stroking his hair, his shoulders, nibbling at his earlobe, his neck.

  He shuddered. No woman had ever felt this way to him—so familiar, so exciting, so perfect.

  “I can’t believe we never did this before,” he whispered as he swept the shirt from her body, revealing a tiny scrap of silk and lace. “Sweet heaven, is this the kind of thing you usually wear under your clothes?”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  “I’m glad I didn’t know that before.”

  She laughed, a soft silky sound that sent goose pimples racing up his back.

  “There are lots of things you never knew about me, Alex. But now isn’t the time to discuss them. Now isn’t the time to talk at all.”

  And she was right. In this shimmering moment, all that mattered was the fact that they were together in each other’s arms.

  When Riley drew him to her for another souldrugging kiss, he surrendered, allowing her to entice him into the ecstasy that awaited them both. Their bodies began to move in heavenly unison.

  With frantic haste, Alex helped Riley to remove the rest of her clothing, then trembled with pleasure as she did the same for him. When he would have pressed her into the mattress, she shook her head, forcing him to lie back.

  His heart nearly leaped from his body when she straddled him, then bent to place sweet kisses all over his chest. With each intimate caress, he fell more and more deeply under her spell, until there could only be one outcome, one prize.

  Reaching for her, he guided her to his arousal. She went willingly, small groans of delight escaping her lips as she moved above him.

  Slowly, surely, Riley began riding him, controlling him. Their hands clasped, and he was glad for that saner point of contact. It helped him to hang on to his own raging passions long enough to watch her, to see the love and radiant sensuality that shone from her face. He was able to watch the emotions gather in her eyes, the
overwhelming need and desire that she felt for him. Him.

  And when her climax came, he watched the sheer pleasure inundate her body. The sight filled him with such happiness, such a rush of excitement, that his own body surged to its release, and the world and its cares shattered for an instant, and he cried out at the beauty of it all.

  When he returned to his senses, Riley had collapsed against him. He tucked her head under his chin and stroked her hair, not knowing what to say. He wanted to reassure Riley that somehow things would work out for the best for everyone.

  But he didn’t believe it himself, so how could he say that to her now?

  As if she sensed what he was thinking, Riley placed a finger over his lips and lifted her body enough to look at him.

  Her mouth tipped in its usual quirky smile. “No. Don’t say anything.”

  His lips parted automatically, and she shook her head.

  “Please. Let’s just enjoy this time together. Hold me, love me, and make the rest of our troubles go away.”

  “I’ll do my best,” he whispered, smiling against her lips.

  “My hero…”

  10

  RILEY DID HER BEST to keep a strict distance between Alex and her the moment they entered the church for the rehearsal. Not because she was ashamed of their lovemaking or regretted the stolen hour of passion. No, just the opposite. She exulted in the fact that Alex had been driven to make love with her. She’d been longing for much the same thing for so long. She could scarcely remember when she’d stopped looking at Alex as a friend and had begun to see him as more, so much more.

  She tried to remind herself that he wasn’t free, that they shouldn’t have allowed things to go so far, that Alex was about to be married—and to a woman who, against her will and plans, Riley really liked. Dannette wasn’t the stuffy debutante that Riley had assumed she would be. She was funny and bright and full of life. She would be devastated if she knew Alex had kissed Riley. That Riley had kissed him back.

  That they’d made love.

  Breathing deeply, Riley tried to immerse herself in thoughts of the chocolate shop. But within seconds, her brain latched on to a familiar refrain. Riley didn’t want Alex to marry Dannette. She wanted him to marry her.