The Wedding She Always Wanted

by Stacy Connelly

  “Have they?”

  “Yes.” She shot to her feet, wishing he hadn’t taken the pillow from her, so she could hit him with it. “I’m not going to suddenly decide Dan Rogers is perfect for me just because my parents like him. Although I’m not sure it’s any of your business who I date. I mean, this is all just for fun, right? Nothing serious, nothing lasting. Why would you even care if my parents did roll me out like some kind of welcome mat?”

  “I would care,” Javy ground out. His eyes had darkened to onyx with each word she spoke. He slowly pushed himself up from the couch, energy and anger barely restrained in each deliberate move. If she had felt stalked before, now she was staring at the predator seconds before he pounced.

  “Why?” Emily demanded.

  “Because,” he said as he reached out. “Because of this.”

  His hands closed over her arms and dragged her up against his chest. His mouth slammed over hers, and she tasted his jealousy, his anger, but beneath the masculine display of force, she tasted the passion he’d stomped out the night in his kitchen.

  Some purely feminine instinct stilled her every response—her jealousy, her anger, her passion. And she waited. For his kiss to soften, for his touch to gentle. Gradually, his hands eased around her back, and his kiss whispered against her lips in an apology. Only then did Emily wrap her arms around his waist and kiss him in return.

  But if she’d been waiting for his kiss to ask rather than demand, it seemed Javy had been waiting for her to answer. As soon as she did, he pulled back, even though she didn’t want him to go…even though she never wanted him to go.

  “Javy—”

  “I would care,” he repeated, picking up the conversation where he’d left off, though his voice now had a husky, hoarse edge, thanks to the breath-stealing, soul-stealing kiss. “Because the thought of you with another guy drives me crazy.”

  He backed away then, his gaze never letting go of hers as he walked to the door and left as quickly as he’d arrived. Only after he was gone did Emily wonder what Javy would say if he knew the truth. If he knew she’d never been with anyone. Not with Connor. Not with Todd. Not with any of the other guys she’d dated to make her parents happy.

  To a man with Javy’s experience, she figured it would be the one thing guaranteed to send him running without a single look back.

  Emily had expected her first night in her new house to be somewhat restless. After all, she was sleeping in a new bed, in a new place, with all kinds of new sounds to get used to.

  What she had not expected was to toss and turn most of the night, reliving Javy’s every kiss, every touch. She’d wanted him to stay, wanted him in a way she’d never wanted another man—with her whole heart and her whole body.

  But while she knew he would take very, very good care of her body, she didn’t know if she could trust him with her heart. The last few days had shown her how easily, how quickly Javy could disappear from her life.

  She wasn’t so naive as to think making love would keep him around, and despite her longing to have him stay the night before, she feared it would only be that much harder to let him go.

  The mostly sleepless night did not put her in the best state of mind for Dan Rogers’s dinner party, but man-induced insomnia wasn’t exactly the kind of thing that would work as an excuse with her mother.

  Walking up to the front door of her parents’ house, she hesitated briefly. The home where she’d grown up was no longer hers, but did that mean she was supposed to ring the doorbell like some stranger? She certainly hoped her parents wouldn’t simply barge into her house, but it seemed like knocking would only emphasize the uncomfortable distance that already existed between her and her parents right then.

  Making up her mind, Emily gave a quick knock before unlocking the door. She realized soon enough that it was a good thing she hadn’t expected anyone to let her in. No one was around. The family room and her father’s study were empty, and only when she made her way to the back of the house and the kitchen did she hear voices.

  Charlene had gone with Emily’s suggestion of hiring a personal chef to cook the night’s meal, and the chef had also arranged for a server. As Emily pushed open the swinging door, the two women were hard at work. She watched as they feinted and dodged each other, despite the spaciousness of the kitchen, checking on pans in the oven, pots on the stove and an array of vegetables readied for salads. The chef lifted a lid, setting free a burst of steam and the delicious scent of lobster bisque, which wafted through the kitchen.

  Overseeing every movement in the kitchen like a general prepping for attack, Charlene’s eagle-eyed attention broke for a second as she glanced at Emily. If she’d had any doubt about the importance Charlene was placing on that night’s dinner, her outfit would have spelled it out. The ice-blue pantsuit her mother wore was new, and an heirloom necklace decorated her throat—a strand of pearls brought from the safe only on special occasions.

  Emily was to have worn them on her wedding day.

  “Emily, I’m glad you’re here. If you could check the dining room one more time before everyone arrives…”

  Nodding, Emily gladly made her escape and headed toward the other room. She stopped short in the doorway. The room looked the same as always—narrow floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the backyard and pool, off-white wainscot giving way to gold-and-cream-striped wallpaper, and crystal chandelier hanging over a table large enough to seat twenty—except the table’s massive leaves had been removed, and the table was set for a cozy gathering of six.

  “How does everything look?” Charlene asked a few minutes later as she entered the room.

  “How does it look?” Emily echoed, realizing she’d been set up. “I’d say it looks a little small. Where are the settings for the other guests?”

  “What do you mean?” Charlene asked, averting her gaze to adjust a perfectly straight linen napkin.

  “You told me we were having six guests.”

  Her mother waved a hand. “And the table is set for six.”

  “So that’s you, Daddy, Aileen, her husband, me…and Dan Rogers. That’s one guest, Mother, not six.”

  Charlene sighed. “I kept the dinner party to family to give you and Dan a chance to get to know one another.” Her mother’s gaze pleaded with her to step back in line, to do what was expected, to make everyone happy. “Dan is intelligent, educated. He’s been with your father’s company for years.”

  “All of which makes him a perfect candidate to become Daddy’s partner but—”

  “He’s also single. He broke up with his long-term girlfriend a few months ago.”

  Crossing her arms over the twisted feeling in her stomach, Emily whispered, “Javy was right.”

  “What does he have to do with this?”

  Emily shook her head. “Nothing.”

  The doorbell rang, and Charlene glanced toward the sound before looking back at her daughter, anticipation clearly written in her eyes.

  Feeling bruised and battered from banging her head against a brick wall, Emily said, “I’ll get it.”

  As she walked down the hallway to the foyer, she knew she’d told her mother the truth. This wasn’t about Javy being right. This was about her. Despite buying her own house and moving in, she hadn’t changed as much as she liked to believe. She was still the same old Emily, faking a smile and doing what would make her parents happy, instead of following her own dreams.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Leave for a week, and see how things change.”

  Though the pre-reopening was for friends and family only, the restaurant was nearly packed, but Javy recognized the familiar drawl above the mix of music, laughter and nonstop talking.

  After setting a tray of guacamole, sour cream and salsa on a table already crowded with chips, taquitos and mini chimichangas, Javy turned to face Connor McClane. Connor stood in the middle of the restaurant, a pair of sunglasses pushed to the top of his head, tanned skin and wide smile signs of his recent return f
rom his Hawaiian honeymoon.

  “When did you get back?” Javy asked, slapping his friend on the back.

  “Just this morning.” Connor took a look around and asked, “Been busy while I was gone?”

  “Yeah. You?” Javy asked drily.

  Connor’s smile broadened, boasting his happiness with the woman he loved. “We had a blast,” he said. His expression quickly faded. “You could have told me about the restaurant.”

  Javy sighed. “The pipe broke during your wedding, hours before you were leaving town. There wasn’t anything you could do.”

  “I would have helped,” Connor insisted.

  “I didn’t need your help. Not this time.” Realizing how his words sounded when he should have been…when he was grateful for Connor’s help, Javy added, “Alex and his crew did most of the work, and the insurance money will cover the damage this time.”

  “Good. I’m glad.” Connor paused before adding, “I hear the restaurant isn’t the only change going on around here.”

  “Been talking to the in-laws?”

  “Yeah, I spoke with Gordon. He said you paid him back the ten thousand dollars.”

  Javy snorted. “Did he tell you he returned the check?”

  “No. Did he?”

  “Yep. Got it in the mail this morning.”

  Javy grabbed a beer from a huge galvanized tub and twisted off the top as if wringing someone’s smug neck. He passed the bottle to Connor before going back for number two. Javy had been furious when he opened the envelope that morning, especially following his argument with Emily the night before, but he couldn’t disguise a touch of respect for the older man.

  “Doesn’t matter, though. I’m not staying away from Emily,” he added.

  And he sure as hell wasn’t going to admit that right now Emily was staying away from him. Having dinner with her family and their newest selection of socially perfect boyfriends. Emily might have thought it was a simple family dinner, but Javy could read between the lines of her parents’ matchmaking.

  Gordon Wilson had found someone he trusted enough to hand over partial control of his company. If the guy was that smart, that educated, and good-looking to boot, why wouldn’t the Wilsons want Emily to go out with him?

  “The family’s just worried about Emily,” Connor said.

  “Emily can take care of herself. It’s what she’s wanted all along, but no one’s given her the chance.”

  Including me, Javy realized suddenly. He hadn’t really taken her decision to move out seriously, at least not as a long-term commitment, until he saw the house the day before. In a matter of days, she’d turned the place into a real home, not just some temporary abode to see how the other half lived.

  “If it isn’t my beautiful bride,” Connor said as Kelsey’s arrival broke into Javy’s thoughts. He watched his friend pull his new wife into his arms. “I missed you.”

  Laughter bubbled out of Kelsey, her brown eyes sparkling. “I was gone all of five minutes while I talked to Maria.”

  “Like I said, I missed you,” Connor told her.

  Kelsey rolled her eyes, but a blush of pleasure lit her freckled cheeks. “Can you believe this guy?” she asked.

  The question was rhetorical, but Javy was starting to believe. To believe that Connor and Kelsey had found the real thing. To believe maybe he and Emily could have it, too.

  Connor smiled. “That reminds me. I better go say hi to your mother. I’ll be right back.”

  Once Connor excused himself, Kelsey turned her speculative gaze on Javy, showing him how the five-foot-nothing redhead had given his friend a run for his money before they tied the knot. He also had a good idea exactly what Kelsey and his mother had talked about.

  He could have come up with an excuse and made his escape, but Kelsey was Emily’s cousin….

  “Did you know your uncle’s offering a partnership to one of his employees?” Javy asked.

  Kelsey’s eyebrows rose, her surprise evident, but her response was 100 percent Wilson composure. “I did.”

  “So tell me about this guy.”

  “Why?” she asked, but this time the surprise was completely absent. “Are you that interested in my uncle’s company?”

  He didn’t give a damn about Gordon Wilson’s company, except when it came to Emily. “I’m interested if the Wilsons think the guy is as perfect for the family as he is for the family business.”

  “Javy—”

  “You’ve met him, right?” he asked, pressing.

  “Yes, Dan Rogers has stopped by the house a few times to meet with my uncle. He’s always seemed like a nice guy. He had a steady girlfriend up until a few months ago, but evidently that’s changed.”

  “Evidently,” he bit out. When Kelsey didn’t reply, staring at him like he’d sprouted a third eye, he demanded, “What?”

  Kelsey leaned closer, sympathy filling her expression. “We’ve all been wrong. We’ve been worried about Emily getting hurt, but her heart isn’t the one at risk of getting broken. Is it, Javy?”

  Whatever denial he might have made stuck in his throat when a flash of blond hair across the room stole his attention. He did a double take as he caught sight of Emily making her way through the restaurant. He might have thought his mind was playing tricks on him, but his imagination had nothing on the real woman.

  She looked amazing in a black-and-white print dress with a flared skirt that emphasized her small waist and long legs. A black headband held back her blond hair, showing off her flawless skin, wide blue eyes and elegant features. Her smile lit the room as she stopped to talk to Anna.

  Vaguely aware of Kelsey taking the beer bottle from his hand, Javy thought he heard her say, “Tell her how you feel.”

  Or maybe that was his own conscience advising him after failing miserably last night to keep his mouth shut.

  He crossed the new tile floor to reach her, and everyone in the restaurant faded away as Emily met his gaze. A touch of color brightened her cheeks as he caught her hand and pulled her away from his cousin in midsentence. Finding a less crowded corner near the hallway to the kitchen, he leaned close enough to talk quietly. Close enough to catch the scent of her perfume. Close enough to see the pulse jump at the base of her throat. But not close enough to taste that spot of silky skin no matter how badly he wanted to…

  “I didn’t expect to see you here,” he murmured.

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “No. Don’t apologize. I’m just glad you’re here now.” His gaze traveled over her from head to toe. “You look…amazing.”

  Jealousy surged inside him—he knew that she’d gotten dressed up for another man—but he shoved the emotion aside. It didn’t matter who she’d been with earlier; all he cared about was that she was here with him now.

  “I left as soon as I could,” Emily was saying. “But I had to stay for a while. I’d promised my mother.”

  “I know.” He knew about familial commitments and obligations better than anyone. “I had no right to react the way I did last night.”

  The possessiveness he felt was as foreign as his earlier jealousy, especially since he had no claim on Emily. None but the one his heart had made.

  “It’s okay.”

  “No, it isn’t,” he insisted.

  She’d been right when she said her personal life was none of his business. But he wanted it to be. For the first time in years, he wanted more than fun, more than casual. But that street went both ways. If he expected Emily to tell him everything, he would have to do the same. Starting with Stephanie and the conversation he’d avoided that night at his house.

  “You were right, you know,” Emily said. “My parents, at least my mother, was hoping to welcome Dan Rogers to more than the business.”

  Dan had been everything her mother had promised: smart, educated, charming and handsome. He even possessed a sense of humor, which might have made the dinner party enjoyable if her every thought hadn’t centered around this party.

  Emily n
ever would have thought she’d have a reason to thank Todd, but their failed engagement had definitely shown her that something had been missing from the relationship. And thanks to Javy, she now knew what that something was. That instant rush of attraction, the longing to be with him, to talk with him, to laugh with him, to love him, grew deeper and deeper every day….

  It was something she certainly hadn’t experienced with Todd or with Dan Rogers. She’d never experienced it with any man but Javy, and she doubted she ever would again. And though the moment wasn’t meant to last, it was one she fully intended to enjoy here and now.

  Staring up at the planes and angles of his handsome face, she announced, “But I don’t want Dan Rogers, Javy.”

  His dark gaze scoured her features, and Emily feared how much she’d revealed. “Emily—”

  “A toast!” an exuberant voice called out, breaking the moment. “To the newlyweds.”

  A cheer went up from the two dozen or so people gathered in the dining area, and Emily caught sight of Kelsey and Connor in the crowd. “Is that…I didn’t realize they were back from their honeymoon.”

  “They got back this morning. I wasn’t sure they’d make it.”

  As Emily watched, Connor took Kelsey’s margarita from her hand, set the glass aside and pulled her into his arms for a kiss, which drew catcalls from the crowd.

  A kiss filled with so much love and tenderness, a shaft of longing pierced Emily’s heart.

  “You okay?” Javy murmured.

  Embarrassed he might have seen that longing written on her face, Emily immediately said, “I’m fine. I…” The speculation in his gaze sunk in, and she realized he’d misread whatever he might have seen. “I couldn’t be happier for Kelsey. Connor’s a great guy, and he’s been a good friend, but whatever we had in the past is just that—in the past.”

  Javy nodded, but Emily wasn’t convinced. Maybe because his past—a past he refused to talk about—was still so much a part of his present.

  A few hours later Emily didn’t have a single doubt that the reopening would be a huge success, judging by that evening’s party atmosphere. Laughter nearly drowned out the music playing in the background, and dozens of conversations were going on at one time.