by Leanne Banks
“Wow. I’ve never seen Colleen look like that before. She’s almost lighting up like a Christmas tree.”
“Hmm. Interesting. I think the two of them had something going in high school, but my mother didn’t approve because—” Nicholas broke off. “Incoming,” he said with a wry chuckle. “Looks like we’ve been discovered.”
Gina, dressed in silk with Molly happily ensconced on her hip, peeked behind the ice sculpture. “Inquiring minds want to know. When are you cutting the cake? If you don’t cut it soon, I fear your daughter is going to help. She can’t take her eyes off it.”
“Da-da-da-da,” Molly said, then reached for Gail.
Gail took the baby in her arms and kissed her soft cheek. “Do you think it’s time for cake?” she asked Molly. “Do you know how messy you’re going to get?”
“I’m armed with wet towelettes,” Gina said.
With much coaching from the guests, Gail and Nicholas cut a slice of the beautiful three-tier cake and fed each other a bite. Nicholas took a sly, secret lick around her finger, sending her an illicit thrill. Without batting an eye, he waved Gina and Molly closer, and he and Gail fed the baby a couple of bites.
“She can have a few more bites, but not too much if you want her to go to sleep tonight,” Gail told Gina, who would be caring for Molly while the bride and groom honeymooned in Italy.
“Three more bites,” Gina said with a sly wink. “Everyone except you two will want their sleep tonight.”
Gail felt her cheeks heat.
“You’re blushing,” Nicholas said against her ear.
“It’s not very nice of you to point that out.”
“Knowing that you blush over your entire body is a tremendous turn-on. Knowing I’m the only man to see your body blush turns me on even more,” he said, curling his hand around her waist.
She instinctively put her arms around him, and a few of the guests gave wolf whistles of encouragement. Gail withstood the good-natured teasing and affection, then escaped down the hall for a quick trip to the powder room. She ran into her brother along the way. “Having a good time?”
He embraced her. “It’s a great party. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
Her heart twisted at the concern in Adam’s eyes. “I couldn’t be happier. I’m still amazed.”
“You always wanted a big family,” he said with a grin.
“I did,” she confessed. “The Barones are wonderful. But the real draw for me is Nicholas. He takes up such a big space in my heart. I didn’t know such a thing was possible.”
Adam hugged her again. “I’m glad you’re happy. If you ever need anything…”
“I know I can call you,” she said. “I think some of your friends’ names were put on the guest list. Were any of them able to come?”
“Yeah, I was able to talk Steven Conti into coming when I told him your old college roommate Rose Trent was going to be here. He’s wanted to hook up with her for a long time. He mentioned something about how some of his family aren’t big fans of the Barones, but clammed up when I asked him about it.”
“I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t love the Barones,” she said, confused.
“Spoken like a loyal bride,” Adam gently teased.
She swatted playfully at him. “He was one of your roommates in college, wasn’t he?”
Adam nodded. “He’s one of the dotcom millionaires who stayed on top after a lot of them crashed and burned. If I can find him, I’ll make sure I bring him around to say hi.”
“Make it soon,” she said with a smile. “Nicholas wants to leave soon.”
“I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, I’ll eat some cake and see if any of the Barone cousins are interested in going out with the bride’s brother,” he said with a wink and headed back to the reception.
Gail continued down the hall in search of the powder room. She took another turn, then another, at last finding it. Colleen Barone was already there, pressing a cool towel to her face.
“Are you okay?” Gail asked, concerned at the sight of Colleen’s flushed cheeks.
“I’m fine,” Colleen said, appearing self-conscious. “I just…” She swallowed. “I just saw someone I didn’t expect to see.”
“Gavin O’Sullivan?” Gail asked.
Surprise crossed Colleen’s gamine features. “How did you know?”
“I saw you with him. Nicholas told me that you and he had once—”
Colleen pressed her hand to her throat. “That was a long time ago. I just didn’t expect to see him here and to feel so…” She took a deep breath and shook her head. “Enough about that. You’re the beautiful bride, and Nicholas looks so happy. I’ve never seen him this happy. I think we have you to thank for that.”
Gail’s eyes immediately filled with tears. “You’re so sweet to say that. Your family has been so kind to me.” She embraced Colleen.
“You’ve made it easy,” she said sincerely, returning Gail’s hug.
“Oh, no. I hope I don’t cry again,” Gail said. “I feel like a hyper sprinkler system.”
Colleen chuckled. “I’ll leave you to catch your breath and get back to the party. Will you be long?”
“Just a couple of minutes,” she said, and watched Colleen leave. After she freshened up, she walked down a long hall, but didn’t hear signs of the reception. She was all turned around. Her brain must have been jumbled by all the excitement. Hearing voices in a room, she decided to ask for directions. She pushed open the door and saw Maria in the arms of a tall man.
“I haven’t been able to look at anyone but you,” he said, his voice filled with wonder.
Gail blinked. Maria? The man looked familiar. Surprised, she stood still for a moment, trying to place him. Who was he? Then recognition hit. Steven Conti. But her brother had just told her he was interested in Rose.
Gail felt a surge of protectiveness for Maria. She bit her lip, not knowing what to do. The two of them were so focused on each other that they hadn’t noticed her. Steven appeared totally transfixed by Maria, and she by him.
Her heart contracted at the sight of them. She knew the feelings behind the electricity they shared. She and Nicholas shared the same electricity and love. Steven lowered his head and kissed Maria passionately. Gail looked away with the odd sense that she was watching some kind of world-shaking intimacy take place between the couple. Feeling like an intruder, she quietly backed away.
Distracted by what she’d seen, she took several wrong turns before she managed to find the reception. Nicholas greeted her as soon as she entered the door. “I looked in all the corners for you. I even chatted with Delores Forwood. She told me I’m the smartest man in the world to marry you,” he said, reminding her of the time they’d attended the mayor’s party.
She smiled. He made everything feel better for her. “Very nice lady. I’m embarrassed to admit I got lost coming back from the powder room.”
He gave a low chuckle and pulled her into an embrace. “That’s enough of a sign for me. It’s time for me to take you away from all this.”
Hours later Gail lay naked in her husband’s arms in the lavish honeymoon suite. She sighed with pleasure, relieved that the hustle and bustle was over. “You never really told me why you didn’t want to wait past Valentine’s Day for our wedding.”
“I don’t believe in the Conti curse, but—”
“Conti?” Gail interrupted, surprise racing through her. She looked up at him. “Conti curse?”
“I told you about the Valentine’s Day curse.”
“Yeah, but you never mentioned the Contis.”
“The Contis were my grandfather’s godparents and they expected him to marry their daughter, Lucia, but he eloped with Angelica.”
“Oh, now I remember. Sounds sticky,” she said, shifting to her side so she could look at Nicholas’s face. She would never tire of looking at him and listening to his voice.
“If that weren’t sticky enough, the Contis’ son, Vincent, had hoped
to marry Angelica.”
She winced. “So the Contis weren’t very happy with the Barones.”
“That’s putting it mildly. I told you how Lucia Conti put a curse on the Barones.”
Gail digested the information and couldn’t help remembering the passionate kiss that Steven Conti and Maria Barone had exchanged. She wondered if she should tell Nicholas, but she didn’t want to cause unnecessary concern.
He pulled her on top of his long, sexy body. “Enough about the Contis. I’ve got you now.”
The sexy growl in his voice heated her blood like sun on a summer day. She smiled and slipped her fingers through his hair. His arousal rubbed against her intimately. “We still haven’t finished the list.”
He took her mouth with a quick, but lethally seductive French kiss. “Did you have a particular one in mind?”
“Yes, I did,” she said, struggling with the distraction of how close he was to being inside her. “It involved Baronessa gelato, my mouth and your—”
He thrust inside her, taking her breath.
“Tomorrow,” he said, moving in thigh-melting rhythm. “We will get through that list,” he promised, and the look on his face made Gail believe him.
“What about when we finish the list?” she asked, sighing when he took her breast into his mouth at the same time as he thrust deeper into her.
“We’ll make another one,” he said. “Mia moglie. Il mio cuore.”
He sounded and felt so good she almost didn’t need to know what he was saying. Almost. “Translation?” she asked, her mind and body steeped in her connection with him.
He placed her hand on his chest over his heart. “My wife. My heart.”
Overwhelmed by a flood of emotion, she bit her lip to hold back tears of joy. “I’ve been practicing. L’amero per sempre,” she whispered. “I hope my pronunciation isn’t so bad that I sound like I’m talking about brussel sprouts, because I’m not.”
His eyes lit with passion and understanding, and she felt the velvet cord of their love twine them even closer together. “I will love you forever, too,” he said, and Gail counted her blessings, because she knew that she and Nicholas had found the love of a lifetime.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Leanne Banks for her contribution to the DYNASTIES: THE BARONES series.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0082-1
THE PLAYBOY & PLAIN JANE
Copyright © 2003 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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