The Best Man's Bride

by Anne McAllister

  She should have been frightened, and she was to a degree. But she had no defenses against this man. Not when he was like this. And in the morning, when life was back to normal, well, she’d just have to deal with it.

  But she’d have the memories, she thought, hugging the man and the memories close.

  Afterwards, he kissed her with a smile on his lips. And then they dozed in each other’s arms.

  Celina didn’t know what time it was that they came together a third time.

  It wasn’t quite yet light when she awakened to the feel of Jack’s hands on her body, stroking, smoothing, touching as if he couldn’t get enough of her. She sighed and stretched and purred. Then she rolled over in his arms, unable to resist, not even wanting to resist. She kissed his chin and rubbed her lips along the whiskery line of his jaw.

  “I want you,” he murmured in such a gruff low intimate tone, that she felt a shaft of longing shoot straight through her.

  “You’ve got me.”

  It was nothing but the truth.

  There was no defense against love.

  At least Celina had none. Not with Jack.

  If she’d thought she could get back her belief in the man she married without still wanting to be married to him, she was wrong. She couldn’t have one without the other.

  She didn’t want one without the other.

  And the truth was, she couldn’t stop touching Jack either. She slid her hands over his lean hard flanks, up the taut muscles of his back, then over his ribs and down his chest and abdomen, feeling hard muscles that trembled beneath her fingers. He sucked in a harsh breath as her fingers continued, moving lower, then lower still, finding him ready for her.

  He groaned. “Celie.”

  “Yes,” she whispered because there was no other answer. There was only Jack. Trembling. Needy. Hard as stone. Jack.

  She wrapped herself around him and let him into her body.

  Let him back into her heart.

  Their loving that last time was slow and languorous, all gentle touches, long smooth strokes and soft sounds. It made Jack rock and shudder and finally splinter. It turned Celina inside out.

  Afterwards they lay spent and sated in each other’s arms until their breathing slowed, until their hearts stopped pounding. Jack dropped gentle kisses in her hair, along the curve of her ear, down the line of her jaw. Then he turned her in his arms and snugged her back close against his chest.

  “I love you, Cel’,” he murmured. His breathing slowed. Almost instantly he slept.

  Celina laced her fingers through his, then brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it softly. “I love you, too,” she whispered, though she knew he didn’t hear.

  Then, hopes and dreams and fears tangling together, Celina kissed him softly and finally she, too, slept.

  “I’m going to quit the band.”

  It was Jack’s voice. She could hear it bare inches from her ear. Celina could even, once she had pried her eyes open, see his lips moving as he said the words again. “I’m quitting South Face.”

  She blinked. No it wasn’t a dream. It was Jack propped up on one elbow in the bed, staring at her, his midnight blue eyes gleaming with urgency and intent.

  “Quitting?” She could barely get the word out. “Jack, no! It’s you! It’s your life.”

  “No,” he said firmly. “You are.” He rolled to a sitting position, the sheet falling to his hips, giving her a view of all too much Jack in the flesh for her peace of mind. “There are other things I can do,” he insisted, his gaze focused intently on her still-blinking eyes. He didn’t even seem to notice that she was as bare as he was. Celina wanted to keep it that way. She tugged the sheet up over her naked torso.

  “I can still write for South Face,” Jack said. “If I couldn’t have sung after the operation, I would have done that.”

  “But you can sing,” Celie objected. “You said so.”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, but so what? It doesn’t matter. I can do the occasional concert for them – if you’re okay with that.” He actually looked as if he’d consider not doing it if she weren’t.

  “Of course I’m okay with it! But this is crazy. I don’t want to take away things that are important to you.”

  “It’s not crazy. It’ll be fine,” he said gruffly. “Touring gets old. And it’s playing guitar that appeals more than singing anyway. You know I’d rather play.”

  He’d certainly been interested in playing. But he had never shrunk away from performing either. “Jack, really ...”

  But he cut her off. “Tobe was talking to a couple of labels about me doing a solo album. You know, unplugged. All instrumental. I can do that. It may not pay what South Face could pay.” He paused and let a hint of reality sink in. “No, it won’t pay what I could make with South Face, but it doesn’t matter. We’re not going to starve. I’ve got piles in the bank. Enough for a lifetime and more. And the royalties from music sales won’t be drying up. We’ll be fine.”

  Of course they’d be fine monetarily. She never doubted that. But still she hesitated. “It isn’t that, Jack. It’s ...”

  “It’s right, Celie. Believe me. Trust me. Do you trust me?” He met her gaze urgently.

  Mesmerized by the intensity in his eyes, she could only nod.

  Jack took her hands in his, lacing their fingers together, holding them tightly. “It will work, Celie. I promise.”

  “Ah, Jack.” She squeezed his fingers in hers, wanting to believe.

  “I promise,” he said again, hoarsely. “We’re going to get married again. We’re going to have a family. I’ll do solo instrumentals. I’ll be underfoot every minute. You won’t be able to get rid of me!”

  Celina laughed. Or maybe she sobbed. She wasn’t sure.

  “Marry me?”

  Laughing and crying, she bobbed her head and flung her arms around him. “Oh, Jack! Oh yes, Jack. Yes.”

  “Well, there you are.” Maggie spoke up from the sitting room off the entrance hall when they came in the front door in the morning. She was seated on a sofa next to Jonas. Nico was leaning against the fireplace mantel. Carlo was pacing. Benedict, their father, looked as if he was sleeping. Anna was tapping her foot and holding what looked like a planner in her hands. At Maggie’s remark, all gazes turned their way.

  So much for returning unnoticed.

  It was nearly eleven. They should have got back hours ago. But after Jack had proposed – and she’d accepted – they’d made love again. And again.

  Until finally Celina had managed to glance at a clock and blanched, then scrambled out of bed. “We have to go!”

  Jack had cocked a brow. “Do we have a curfew?”

  Celina had been frantically searching for her underwear. Ah, there was her bra, under the dresser. She snatched it up and slipped her arms into it. “Maggie will have been expecting me hours ago. I’m working! Remember?” She struggled to hook it at the back.

  Jack, still lying in bed, had watched with lazy amusement. “I remember,” he said and stretched his arms over his head, then laced his fingers together and flexed them. “But not for long.”

  “Oh, dear.” That was true. If Jack was quitting the band, she’d certainly have to quit working for Maggie. “What will Maggie say?” she had muttered, as she found her underwear at the foot of the bed and tugged them up her legs.

  “She let me steal you away last night.”

  “You asked Maggie?” She had grabbed his hand and was pulling him out of the bed so she could change the sheets and put theirs in the laundry and leave Max’s friend’s lodge in decent shape, and at the same time she was gaping at the man who was grinning broadly even as he allowed himself to be hauled out of bed.

  “You work for her,” he countered. “Remember?” His grin was as mocking as his words.

  “But, you didn’t have to tell her!” Celina had protested then.

  Now Celina realized it was no wonder Maggie was looking at them speculatively. So was everyone else. Celina stopped de
ad at the entrance to the parlor where they were all gathered.

  “Did you tell everyone?” she demanded under her breath.

  Jack shook his head. “Just Maggie. And Jonas. And –” he shrugged “– well, I had to talk to Max.”

  “Oh, dear heavens!” She wanted to disappear beneath the floor. Or turn tail and run.

  But before she could do either, Maggie said brightly to Anna, “Jack will do it.”

  Jack went suddenly rigid beside her. “Jack will do what?” There was a note of caution in his tone.

  Maggie smiled at him. “You’ll take the boys for the afternoon, won’t you, dear? So they won’t have to attend that dreary luncheon.”

  “Of course he won’t,” Anna said sharply. Then, when Maggie raised her brows, the younger woman quickly moderated her tone. “I mean, it’s not at all necessary.”

  “It is if you want me to go to the luncheon.” The dowager’s spine was as stiff as if it had been built with an Erector set.

  Anna opened her mouth. No sound came out. Finally she managed a “Grandmother, I don’t think –”

  “I know you have far too much to think about to have considered how bored the boys will be, having to sit through an interminable meal with speeches and toasts and old ladies in outlandish hats.” Maggie smiled politely. “But having sat through them myself, I can speak with authority. And I am willing to subject myself to it this time ... because it is for Jonas –” she leveled a steely gaze on her grandson “– and his bride, and he doesn’t want to be there any more than I do. But only –” one more dramatic pause “– if the boys don’t have to. Jack will take them, I’m sure.” She folded her hands in her lap at the end of this pronouncement and smiled beatifically as she gazed around the room.

  There was a pregnant pause. Long enough for sextuplets to be conceived, nurtured in the womb, and finally born, Celina thought. Beside her, Jack was still as a tomb, then finally he said, “Sure. Why not? Celie can come with me.”

  An even longer pause followed that remark. If anyone in the room had not noticed that Jack had his fingers wrapped firmly around hers, they noticed it now.

  Jonas lifted his gaze from the sight of their intertwined fingers to look at Celina, his eyes narrowing. She tried to give him a bright cheerful smile in return. It must not have been very successful because at the sight, Jonas’s eyes shifted and he gave Jack a long hard stare.

  Jack’s fingers knotted firmly around hers. She didn’t have to turn her head to know that he was meeting Jonas’s gaze with an unblinking stare of his own.

  “What a lovely idea,” Maggie said brightly. She gave Jack a smile that was more warning than good cheer, then turned a much warmer one on Celina. “If you’re willing, my dear?”

  “Of course she’s willing,” Jack said before Celina could form any words at all.

  But Maggie kept looking at Celina, awaiting a response.

  “I’m willing,” Celina said firmly, then turned to Anna. “Perhaps Katja could come, too? I know she wanted to do something with her brothers.”

  “Katja has Miss Barnes,” Anna began.

  “Oh, let Katja go with them,” Carlo said abruptly. “Give Miss Barnes a break.”

  Anna’s brows lifted in surprise. But when Carlo persisted in looking impatient, she gave a little shrug. “Of course if Celina and Jack don’t mind ...”

  “We don’t mind,” Jack said firmly. “The more the merrier, right, Celie? Give us a little practice.”

  Celina blinked. So did Maggie.

  But Jack didn’t pay any attention. He turned to Anna. “Half an hour. Have them in the back garden. Okay?” he asked Celina. His gaze was glittering, intense. His thumb rubbed across her knuckles. “Okay?” he said again in a softer, more intimate tone when she didn’t reply at once.

  She smiled tremulously. “Yes.”

  Chapter Nine

  Jack was waiting in the back garden with maps of the local area when Celina came out of the stable door.

  She hadn’t known what to wear, and it seemed to matter now. She didn’t have a lot in her wardrobe that lent itself to casual. She’d brought things for work – and for armor. But she did have a pair of sunny yellow linen cropped trousers, which she paired with a thin summery knit top in lime green.

  She was a little late by the time she had finally put herself together and hurried down the stairs to see Jack waiting. His gaze settled on her the moment she appeared, and it didn’t move, instead lingering approvingly, making Celina self-conscious as she crossed the garden.

  Jack didn’t look self-conscious at all, though she gave him a leisurely perusal as well, taking in the faded jeans and the navy T-shirt that accentuated his shoulders and reminded Celina again of how muscular guitarists could be. He looked younger and happier now than she’d seen him in a long time.

  When he grinned at her, Celina’s heart did a somersault and she grinned back. The world felt bright and new. Maybe it was the sunshine or the warmth of an English summer day. Or maybe – just maybe – it was believing that she and Jack had a future together.

  He had a rucksack slung over one shoulder. “Snacks,” he told her. “And what feels like a five-course meal,” he added, hefting it a bit.

  “From the kitchen staff?” Celina guessed.

  “They even put in a picnic cloth,” he told her wryly, shaking his head. “I had to stop them from giving us glassware! Not much of an adventure.”

  “Well, not the roughing-it sort,” Celina agreed. “But we don’t need to rough it with the kids today. We just need it simple and fun. Can I carry something?”

  “Naw. I’m good.”

  He was good. Definitely good, Celina thought as she watched Jack pull off the rucksack and dig into the outer pocket to show her a sheaf of paper maps he’d printed.

  “Simon let me use his printer,” he told her. “I found some local history stuff we can check out. Not sure how much of an adventure it will be, but there are some caves.” His eyes were gleaming eagerly. “And a waterfall. And if we go far enough there’s a place called Mad Harry’s Folly.”

  “Mad Harry?” Celina was enchanted.

  “Dunno who he was. Some landowner probably.”

  “It doesn’t matter. The kids will be thrilled. All of them,” she added, aware of his own delight. “Even the big one.”

  Jack grinned. “Too right.”

  The door banged just then and the children came to swarm around Jack. He was the adventurer. He was the draw. And Celina was just glad to step back and watch. She’d often dreamed about how he would be with their own kids. And it turned out she wasn’t wrong. He was wonderful with them, as eager and enthusiastic as they were.

  He shared the maps with Mads and Casper and showed the boys how to read them and plan a route. They were as enchanted by the idea of the caves and the waterfall as he was. And their eyes got wide when they found the reference to Mad Harry’s Folly.

  “Let’s go!” Casper shouted and took off running up the lane with Mads in hot pursuit.

  “Should they be doing that?” Celina wondered aloud, watching them disappear into the woods through an opening in a fence that lined the lane.

  “They’ll be fine,” Jack barely glanced up from folding the maps and sticking them into the rucksack. “They need to blow off some steam. They’ll slow down soon enough.” He gave her a look that was almost gentle. “Don’t worry.”

  Celina did her best not to worry, shelving her inner-Anna and just following after him. She was along for the ride, she reminded herself. Jack was in charge. He turned into the opening, then waited for her and Katja, falling into step with them as they walked up the path that snaked through the woods. Up ahead Celina could hear the boys chattering happily.

  The path wound up the steep wooded hillside, but at least there was shade from all the trees, so it didn’t feel as hot as it would be in the open fields. Katja had tucked her small hand into Celina’s larger one. As they climbed she told Celina about the dress she was going to w
ear for the wedding. Celina listened and made all the appropriate comments – at least she hoped she did. Her mind was mostly on the man walking beside her, the man who, as they walked, took her other hand in his.

  Her gaze dropped instantly to where their fingers linked, then lifted again to turn and meet Jack’s eyes.

  “I’m entitled,” he said and ducked in to steal a quick kiss on her cheek. Katja prattled on, waist-high, and didn’t even notice.

  A moment later Mads reappeared and skidded to a half in front of them. Casper was a step behind. “Could we see the maps?” Mads asked. “There’s a fork in the path ahead.”

  “An’ we wanta figure out the path ourselves,” Casper put in.

  Jack happily handed over the maps. Two heads – one blond, one dark – pored over them. Mads traced the path with his finger. “The right fork,” he said and looked up at Jack for agreement.

  At Jack’s nod, he flashed a grin and started to give the maps back, but Jack shook his head. “Keep them.”

  Mads, who had a small day pack of his own, tucked the maps inside. “We’ll wait at the top of the hill,” he said. Then he and Casper took off again.

  Katja was slower than the boys, so Celina walked with her. “Go with them,” she encouraged Jack. “You should have a bit of fun, too. We’ll be along.” She made shooing motions with her hands. “Just go.”

  He looked briefly indecisive. Then he said, “We’ll be at the top.” And giving her hand a quick squeeze, he disappeared up the path following the boys.

  Someday, Celina dared to hope, he would do the same with their children, and her heart quickened at the thought. A family with Jack. It had been two years since she’d dared hope for such a thing. Two years since she’d let herself think about having a family at all. Without Jack in her life, there had been no one else she’d ever wanted a family with.

  And now ...

  Now there were tiny bubbles fizzing to life inside her and she couldn’t stop smiling.

  When she and Katja got to the top of the hill, she saw that the path opened into a grassy area with a bank of trees at one side near an ancient rock wall with a stile to climb over it. The boys had obviously climbed the stile for they were now balancing on the wall, walking along the top of it while Jack watched, hands tucked in the back pockets of his jeans.