by Jill Shalvis
And suddenly Annie was grateful Nat wasn’t here to bat her long lashes, and that she alone could look at this man.
He had a streak of dirt over one rock-hard pec and a bruise forming on his equally rock-hard jaw. She had a terrible urge to touch it.
“Well, I’m not interested, either,” she said to him. A big, fat lie, but she had no qualms about speaking it, not when her own pride was at stake. “I don’t covet other people’s fiancés. Not one little bit.”
Confusion flickered over his face. “What?”
Annie had plenty to say on the matter, but she didn’t want to hear what a fool she was, so she whirled on her feet, taking herself and her destroyed bridesmaid’s dress right out of his presence.
And this time, luckily, both nipples stayed where they belonged.
CHAPTER 5
THE LAST THING Kyle wanted to do that night was play dress up again, but as the best man, he had little choice.
It was bachelor-party night. A time where grown men made utter fools of themselves, all in the name of wedded bliss.
Only a few more days, he told himself, and then he’d be finished with all wedding duties. Not that he didn’t feel happy for Kevin, but who’d have thought having his brother get married would be so torturous—on him.
“Uh, Kyle? There’s something you should know about tonight.” Kevin pulled into the restaurant parking lot where the party was to take place, turned off the car and looked at him.
Uh-oh. Kyle leaned his head back against the headrest of Kevin’s car and reminded himself that he loved his brother. “Why does the tone of your voice make me quiver in fear?”
“Hey, after facing Jimmy Tarintino, anything else should be a breeze.”
Kyle studied Kevin’s smile and decided it was a fake one. “What the hell have you done?”
“Oh. Well.” Kevin looked straight ahead and shrugged. “It’s no biggie, really.”
“Then why are you sweating?”
Kevin let out a little laugh. “Have I mentioned I love you, man?”
“Spill it.”
Kevin took a deep breath. “Lissa really wanted to be with me tonight.”
“It’s called a bachelor party, Kev, not date night. No fiancées allowed.”
“Yeah.” Kevin bit his lip. “She didn’t want any strippers.”
“Which is why we didn’t get any.”
“She wanted me to get a good night’s rest before the wedding.”
“Which is why we’re doing the bachelor party tonight, two days before the wedding.”
Kevin closed his eyes and dropped his head into his hands. “She really wanted to come.”
“Yeah? So did Mom.”
Kevin was silent.
And Kyle’s stomach sank. Kevin had done something stupid, he could feel it. “Tell me you didn’t invite Mom.”
“Worse.”
“You told Lissa she could come.” When his brother just groaned, Kyle sent his gaze skyward. “Terrific.”
“She invited herself,” Kevin said into his hands. “All the bridesmaids are coming, too. It’s a bachelor-bachelorette party.”
“Funny, Kev. You’re a funny guy.”
“I’m not kidding.”
“Ah, hell.” Kyle closed his eyes and pictured the scene perfectly. Lissa would be there.
Which meant so would Annie.
“Let’s look at the bright side,” Kevin said from behind his hands.
“There is no bright side.”
Kevin dropped his hands and stared at him for a moment, then let his shoulders sag. “You’re right. There is no bright side.”
* * *
KYLE ENTERED the restaurant, expertly dodged the crowd that immediately swallowed Kevin, and headed straight to the bar.
The bartender was drying a glass as he eyed Kyle’s maneuver. “You’re good.”
“Yeah. Something stiff. Straight up.”
The bartender’s brows lifted. “Buddy, maybe you’d better rethink this getting married thing if you’re stressing already.”
“I’m not the groom, I just look like him. If I was the groom I’d have hung myself by now.”
The bartender slid him a drink.
Kevin came up and sat next to Kyle. “Hey, Kyle, I thought you stopped drinking after Uncle Joe tossed back one too many and wrapped himself and your beloved Jeep around a tree.”
“I’ve gotten over both losses.” Kyle slid his fingers around the cool glass and thought of the evening ahead.
Lots of required smiles.
Required politeness.
And worse, lots of Annie. He took a long swallow.
Kevin stared longingly. Lissa had asked him not to drink tonight, so they’d have clear memories to last them a life time. Kyle shook his head in disbelief.
Clear memories.
Why anyone would want clear memories of getting locked to another person was beyond Kyle.
Besides, he wanted some help forgetting the events of the day. How he’d nearly bought it. How he’d nearly bought it for an innocent—irritating—woman with the biggest, most expressive gold eyes he’d ever seen.
Kyle went utterly still and ran that last thought again. Yep, he’d just been waxing poetic over a pair of eyes.
He tossed back the rest of the drink and waved for another, which came promptly. He lifted it to his lips but Kevin was just sitting there, looking a little regretful that he’d promised Lissa he wouldn’t quench his thirst.
And with a regretful sigh, he passed the glass to Kevin. “Be quick about it, and don’t tell her I gave it to you.”
His brother put a grateful hand to Kyle’s shoulder and took the drink in one swig. “Oh, yeah.” He put a fist to his chest. “That’s going to do the trick.”
“Doubt it,” Kyle muttered.
“Well, look who’s here.”
Kyle didn’t turn because he knew that slightly nasal, slightly whiny voice. Lissa. The woman his brother had decided to marry. The woman bound and determined to set up Kyle to the same fate.
“Hey, baby,” Kevin said with a smile. “You look real pretty tonight.”
Lissa beamed. “It’s my prewedding glow.”
“No, it’s you,” Kevin said, and slipped his arms around her.
Kyle looked away and tried not to puke.
“Well, well, well,” Lissa said to Kevin. “You’re sitting next to the man who single-handedly destroyed one of my bridesmaid dresses.”
He could feel her dark eyes boring into the back of his head and wished he had his drink back.
She put her face in front of his and he prepared to die.
“I wanted to thank you,” she said, surprising him.
“Look, I’m sorry about the dress,” he said a little defiantly. “And the tux.” Okay, he wasn’t sorry about the tux. “But I wasn’t thinking about the clothing while trying to save—”
“I know,” Lissa said, and her smile was genuine. “Kyle, I meant it.” She leaned in, and kissed his cheek. “I really did want to thank you. And so does someone else.” She pulled back and gestured to the woman standing next to her. “Kyle, I’d like to formally introduce you to one of my bridesmaids.”
Kyle looked into the gold eyes he’d never forget. She wasn’t wearing any horrendous pink creation now, but cream slacks and a thin sweater to match, both of which seemed sedate, and almost boyish, after what he’d seen her in earlier.
He liked it.
Everything about her, from the tip of her leather shoes to the top of her head, screamed elegance and sophistication. Her hair had been tended to, the golden waves falling past her shoulders. She wore little makeup, but she didn’t need it. She looked natural. Stunning.
And very much like a princess. A very…angry princess.
“It’s one of my mother’s fondest wishes to have her best friend’s daughter in my wedding,” Lissa said. “You don’t know much about my family, Kyle, but my mother called some very famous people her friends.”
Kyle co
uld care less, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Annie. A woman he’d drilled Kevin about, and now knew the basic facts. She really was royalty, one of the Three Jewels of Europe, so nicknamed by the European paparazzi. German was her first language, though she’d been taught English at the age of two by a British nanny, which explained her almost-British accent.
Yet, she was so utterly…real. Tough. Amazing. And he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
Annie seemed similarly afflicted, although he had to admit, while he felt his eyes soften as they landed on her, her eyes most definitely did not soften. In fact, they sparked fire.
Lissa, oblivious to the tension, continued, “Kyle, this is Her Serene Highness Andrea Katrine Fran Brunner of Grunberg.” Lissa turned to Annie. “And this is Kyle Moore, Annie. Kevin’s brother.”
When neither Annie nor Kyle moved, Lissa let out a little laugh. “You two do remember each other, right?”
Remember? He’d never forget. God, she was beautiful. So serene, so quiet and calm. Nothing like the kick-ass woman he’d traipsed with to hell and back today.
But then he looked into her eyes again, caught the flashing emotions, and saw his Annie.
His Annie? Oh, boy. Not good.
“Well, at least we won’t have that sort of excitement tonight,” Lissa said, smiling into the quiet tension. “No gunmen hanging around here, trying to ruin more wedding plans, not to mention wedding clothes.”
What would Annie say if she knew Kyle had grown rather fond of that ill-fitting pink satin dress? And that it had little to do with its inability to keep her perfect nipples hidden?
It gave him pleasure to remember how strong she’d been. He couldn’t remember respecting a female more, and suddenly his forced smile felt warm and real. He stood, getting ready to make a little joke about how well she cleaned up.
But she stepped forward and stabbed a finger into his chest. “I remember you just fine.”
Really? he wanted to say. Do you remember that first heart-stopping sensation when I kissed you, just before you punched me?
Do you remember how we both melted, for that brief moment?
Or how about afterward, when we were both safe and there was that strange sense of loss because our time together was over.
But Annie didn’t look like she would enjoy a trip down memory lane. Clearly, she was furious.
Confused, Kyle looked at Kevin, who was gesturing to the bartender for another shot. No help coming from that department.
“Why did you let me think you were the groom?” Annie demanded.
He looked at her again. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“Yes, but…I never told you I was the groom.” Because the idea was so ridiculous, he laughed, and she poked him again, harder. “Stop that,” he said, grabbing her finger.
“I made several mentions of the wedding,” she spat out, pulling her finger free. “And you…”
“And I…what?”
“You wore that tux.”
“Yes, but I sure as hell didn’t say I was getting married.”
“Yes, but…” She trailed off, staring at him, wide-eyed.
“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “You’re catching on, now, aren’t you? I was wearing the tux because I’m in the wedding, too. Just like you.”
She made a low sound that managed to perfectly convey that this was still all his fault.
Kevin, on his third shot of liquor now, snickered, but cut it off at a look from Lissa.
“Look,” Kyle said, trying to appease, “I had no idea you had me pegged as the groom.”
“Well you should have figured out what I was thinking and corrected me,” she said with another stab to his chest. “A woman would have.”
He grabbed her finger, and this time held on. “I’m not a woman.”
“I…” She swallowed hard. “I did notice that much.”
CHAPTER 6
KYLE STARED AT ANNIE.
Annie stared back.
Kevin lifted his arm for another drink.
Lissa shook her head at the bartender.
Kevin just grinned, already happily drunk. He turned that grin on Annie, who merely lifted a brow at him. For whatever reason, that made him laugh. “So…you really thought Kyle was me?”
“Well…” Annie divided a look between brothers.
Kevin just kept grinning. “Hey, tell me the truth. Now that you see us both together, you’d never make that mistake, right? Because clearly…” He stood and spread his arms. “I’m the best-looking one.”
Lissa smacked Kevin on the back of his head.
“Hey,” he complained, then let out another stupid grin. “She loves me.”
“You should have told me,” Annie said to Kyle.
Frankly, he was still blown away by what she’d assumed, and it took him a moment. “If I’m ever engaged—” God forbid “—I won’t be lusting after a beautiful, scantily clad woman in pink satin while on the run for my life, believe me.”
“You—” She looked confused. “You…lusted after me?”
“And I sure as hell wouldn’t have kissed her,” he finished.
“You what?” Lissa shrieked.
Kevin, who’d just sat down again, nearly fell off the stool. “Whoa.”
“It was nothing,” Annie said firmly, lifting that gold gaze to Kyle’s. “Right?”
The earth had only moved, worlds had collided, hearts had bumped. “Right,” he lied as their eyes connected. Held.
Shimmered.
“Nothing at all,” Annie repeated, more slowly now, her gaze still locked in his. “And…”
Although they all were on the edge of their seats—especially Kyle—whatever else Annie had been about to say didn’t come.
It was as if it was just the two of them. As it had been earlier. Scared and dirty and alone except for each other.
Unable to help himself, Kyle stepped a little closer, just a little.
Big mistake.
She smelled like some exotic flower, and his nose itched to press even closer.
“My God.” Lissa stared at them, then let out a little laugh. “You two…together…who’d have thought that the sweet little princess and the hard-ass cop—”
“Hey, I’m not a hard-ass,” Kyle said.
“Yes, you are,” Kevin said.
“And call me sweet little princess at your own risk,” Annie said. “But back to this.”
“You mean you and Kyle,” Lissa said.
“Yes. No! There is no me and Kyle.”
“But about the kiss—” Lissa started.
“Yeah, about the kiss—” Kevin said.
“Forget the kiss,” Annie said tightly. “It lasted only a second.”
“So there was a connection,” Lissa clarified.
“No,” Annie said, glaring at Kyle. Don’t you dare tell them about what happened between us, her eyes demanded.
Too bad Kyle didn’t respond well to demands. Never had. “Now there’s no reason to get anyone’s panties tied in knots.”
Annie shot him another silent dagger.
Oh, yeah, that anger in her eyes was a definite turn-on. “Kevin and Lissa just want to know what happened, right?”
Lissa’s and Kevin’s heads bobbed in collective agreement.
“But nothing happened!” Annie said through her teeth. “Nothing.”
“Okay,” Kyle said with a shrug. “Whatever. I was only there. What do I know?”
“Really,” Annie said, weaker now in the face of Lissa’s open curiosity.
Ooh, if looks could kill, Kyle thought as he absorbed Annie’s staggering death look, he’d be dead as a doornail right here on the spot. “At least you remember who saved who, right? Because I definitely came to your rescue, Princess.”
Annie fisted her hands in her hair and let out a strangled scream of frustration.
“And as the victim,” Kyle went on, feeling pretty damn pleased with himself for some reason, “it’s understandable you�
�d want to grab on to the person that saved you. It’s a hero-worship thing, very common. Just try to restrain yourself.”
“Oh, this is ridiculous! Leave it alone, all of you!” Annie let out a slow breath when Lissa blinked in hurt surprise. “I’m sorry. It’s just that it was nothing. He is nothing.”
“Hey,” Kyle said.
But Lissa was standing in front of him, blocking his view as she hugged Annie tight. “Don’t you worry about a thing, Annie. Not one thing. Forget about Kyle. Focus on the good news. I have five seamstresses working around the clock to replace your dress. Everything will be fine. Just fine.”
Annie paled at the mention of the dress being remade, and Kyle thought maybe he enjoyed that even more than bickering with her. “Oh, Annie?” he called as she was led away by Lissa. He lifted Kevin’s shot glass in a silent salute. “Can’t wait to see that dress again.”
She sent him a roll-over-and-die look before she allowed Lissa to pull her away.
* * *
HERO WORSHIP, MY EYE! Annie thought, so furious she could hardly see. She stormed out of the bar and through the restaurant, toward the wall of French doors at the far end. She figured fresh air would help cool her temper.
It didn’t.
She figured the gorgeous view of tall mountains and mesas would help soothe her.
It didn’t.
Unbelievable how riled up he could make her. He was just a cop. A tough, remarkably quick-witted and sharp cop, yes. Traits that under any other circumstances she might even admire.
Might. If he didn’t drive her so crazy.
And he thought she worshiped him. Ha! “The only thing I feel for him is the insane need to wipe that smirk right off his face,” she muttered, gripping the balcony railing with white knuckles.
“Careful,” came a low, unbearably sexy, unbearably familiar voice. “You’re talking about the guy who rescued you.”
“You,” she fairly spat out, refusing to look.
“Yeah.” She didn’t have to look to see his smug expression, she could hear it in his voice. “Me.”
Her fingers gripped the railing even tighter as her mind and body warred. One wanted to look at him and the other wanted to—damn it—look at him.
She refused. “I came out here to be alone. As in just me.”
