“I’d like that. Arturo’s at twelve-thirty?”
“Perfect. See you then you, lucky, lucky girl.”
“Bye.”
Alex took the receiver from her and put it on the hook. “Did Leah want to do something with you tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let my presence stop you?”
She averted her eyes. “Because I’m not in the mood for a movie.”
“What are you in the mood for?”
He’d finished his dessert. She put hers in the fridge, and washed his plate. Anything to give her hands something to do.
“After the most fabulous meal of my life, I’m too full to do much of anything except lounge in the other room and watch a little TV before I go to bed.”
“That sounds good to me too. Shall we see what’s showing on the cooking channel?”
She was amused by the suggestion, a smile broke the corners of her mouth. She headed for the living room and picked up the remote from the coffee table. “Do you watch it often?”
“Sometimes when I can’t sleep.”
Reese purposely sat down in a chair next to the couch so they’d be separated. “If you want to stretch out, make yourself comfortable.”
He eyed her intently. “You don’t mind?”
“Of course not. After working so hard in my kitchen, you deserve a rest before you have to go home.”
“Then I’ll take you up on your offer.”
CHAPTER NINE
T ONIGHT the Japanese chefs were having some kind of contest. Though it was entertaining, Reese couldn’t possibly concentrate. Her eyes kept straying to the sight of Alex’s hard-muscled physique lying on his side. He’d propped his dark head on one of the cushions, the picture of virile male contentment.
They made desultory conversation and chuckled over some of the chefs’ antics. At one point she made another comment, but Alex didn’t answer.
He’d fallen asleep. The problem was, Reese had never been more wide awake.
Too restless, she went to the kitchen for the fabulous dessert he’d made. While she ate it, she switched channels to a movie classic made in the forties. One her aunt had particularly loved. But it didn’t hold her interest. When it was over and the ten o’clock news started, she realized this situation couldn’t go on any longer.
After turning off the TV, she got up from the chair and walked over to the couch.
“Alex?”
There was no answer.
“Alex?” She bent down and nudged him gently.
His eyes suddenly opened. “Reese?”
“Yes. You’ve been asleep for the last hour. It’s getting late.”
“You want me to leave?”
What a question. “I need to go to bed. If you’re too tired to get up, you’re welcome to stay on the couch tonight. I’ll bring you a blanket and a pillow.”
“I’d rather go to bed with you.” He reached up and pulled her down so she half lay on top of him. His mouth closed over hers. “Umm. You taste of brandy and figs. Could anything be sweeter or more luscious?”
His hungry mouth sought hers until her own passion started to spiral out of control. Unlike their last kiss at the party, they didn’t have an audience. He might just decide this could go on indefinitely. That was because he was missing his girlfriend. No way was Reese going to be a substitute!
“We’re not being taped, Alex,” she cried, wrenching her lips from his. “Wake up.”
“I know the difference between fantasy and reality,” he murmured. “For your information I’m very much awake and am looking forward to spending my wedding night with my new bride.”
He kissed her mouth again as if his desire for her was insatiable.
“Enough’s enough, Alex,” she said crossly. “I enjoyed this day with you very much. The food was divine. But now it’s over and you need to go home.”
She eased herself away and stood up on rubber legs.
He stared at her through slightly glassy eyes. “From here on out, my home is with you, wherever you are.”
“Be serious, please.”
“I’ve never been more serious in my life. You’re my wife now.”
“Obviously you’re in one of those dream-like trances and can’t wake up. Lie back down while I get you some covers.”
“Only if you lie down with me.”
He started to reach for her again, but she backed further away from him. “You’re beginning to make me nervous.”
“I’m nervous, too. I’ve never been a husband before. It appears I have a very reluctant bride on my hands.”
“Stop it, Alex!”
“Stop what? If you don’t believe you’re Mrs Alex Kieris, then take a good look at our marriage license and certificate.” He pulled two folded papers out of the pocket of his cargo pants and handed them to her.
In a daze, she opened them to see what he was talking about. The license looked like the prop she’d used during the taping. But when she saw the names, they read Reese Bringhurst and Alex Kieris.
The marriage certificate had their real names typed in, dated with today’s date. A Pastor Martin Rippon had signed both papers. She also noted the names of two of the cast members who’d used their real names to be witnesses.
She lifted her head and stared at him. “What is all this about?”
He rose to his full, intimidating height. “We were married today by a real pastor, not an actor. The vows we took in front of our friends are sacred and binding.”
Reese’s body started to tremble. “I don’t believe you,” she whispered.
“That’s fine. Pastor Rippon’s number is in the phone directory. You’re welcome to call him right now.”
She swallowed hard. “What kind of strange joke is this?”
“It’s no joke. During the taping, you put your own signature on these papers. That makes them legal.”
“Alex? I don’t understand anything. What’s going on?”
“I’m the man you were talking about earlier, a man who’s on fire for you. What else? If you don’t want to be married to me, you’ll have to hire an attorney. Should you decide you want to be my wife, you know where I live. Maybe this will help you make up your mind, agape mou.”
He caught her face between his hands and gave her a deep, searing kiss before leaving the condo.
Long after she heard the door click, she stood there shaken and confused.
Finally, when she could gather her wits, she dashed in her bedroom and reached for the phone.
Be home, Elaine. Please be home.
“Hirsh residence.”
“Oh, thank goodness it’s you, Elaine!”
“Reese?” She sounded surprised.
“D-did I waken you?”
“Heavens, no. I rarely get to bed before midnight.” There was a slight hesitation. “What are you doing calling me tonight of all nights?”
Reese sank down on the side of her bed, torturing the phone cord. “What do you mean, tonight of all nights?”
“Leah phoned to tell me Alex was there. I thought of course everything had gone according to plan.”
She jumped to her feet, unable to sit still. “What plan?”
“I take it Alex isn’t there now,” Elaine said in a quiet voice.
“No. He just left after telling me the craziest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”
“What was that, darling?”
“He said we got married on the set today. For real.”
“It was for real.”
“I mean legally.”
“That’s right. The man is madly in love with you.”
No. He couldn’t be… The blood started to pound in her ears.
“Darling? Are you still there?”
“Yes,” her voice squeaked.
“The moment he found out you were leaving the show, he set everything up with Stan to rewrite the script so you could be married in front of all of us.”
Her heart was pounding out of
rhythm. “You’re telling me the truth?”
“I would never lie to you, Reese. The whole leap year thing was Alex’s idea. After waiting so long to claim you, he loved the idea that you would end up proposing to him.”
Reese could still hear him saying, “I didn’t know women in America did things like this.”
It sounded exactly like something the real Alex would say.
“Phil was upset that he had to stay home so a bona fide pastor could come to officiate, but he understood the situation. He wasn’t about to let anything stand in the way of true love.”
“Phil did that for Alex?”
“Everyone helped. Brad’s job was to distract you until Alex caught up to you in the parking lot.”
“He accomplished his mission. I ran straight into Alex’s truck.”
“Brad came running back inside to tell us.”
Reese’s face went hot. “I was crying so hard I didn’t look where I was going.”
“It was the perfect ending to a perfect wedding ceremony, darling. The cast and crew, Phyllis, the producers, everyone was in on it, and they’re so happy for you.”
Unbelievable.
“Surely you caught on while you were eating. Alex planned that champagne brunch with all your favorite foods.”
That was why there were meatballs and pasta?
“The roses were his idea. Honestly, Reese. It’s the most romantic thing I ever heard of in my life! The way he looked at you today, those vows he said to you at the altar-they melted my heart. Why aren’t you with him when I know how much you love him?”
Reese was so incredulous, she couldn’t speak.
“For months that man has been in agony waiting for you to leave the show so you two could be married.”
She shook her head. “If that’s true, then I’m the last person on the face of the earth to know it. Why didn’t he ever say anything to me?”
“He said it every time he took Carly in his arms. Couldn’t you feel it? When he kissed you at the altar, every woman on the set stopped breathing. Your lovely hat fell off and you didn’t even notice because you were too enthralled with that gorgeous new husband of yours.”
“He warned me the hat might get in his way when it came time to kiss me.” The brides in Greece wear garlands. That should have been a clue. “But honestly, Elaine, I thought it was all play-acting from beginning to end.”
“No man is that great an actor, Reese. Or woman. The way you responded to him, everyone on the show knew how you two felt about each other. Your great love affair has been the only topic of conversation on the set for the last year!”
“All this time everyone’s known how I’ve felt about him?”
“If you could see your eyes when you look at him…It’s something you can’t hide. What’s so wonderful is that he can’t see anyone else but you when he comes on the set. Like Phyllis said today, the love between you and Alex has been a beautiful thing to watch.”
“I still can’t believe it. He told me he’d been in love with another woman all of last year.”
“He was. That woman was you! You were his secret girlfriend-until you became his wife today!”
Good heavens.
“If this has come as a complete surprise to you, blame it on Lilian. From what I understand, he made a promise to her a long time ago. I don’t know the details. That’s something private between the two of them. I’m sure he’ll tell you when he’s ready. You didn’t fight with him tonight, did you?”
“No.” Her voice wobbled. “I asked him what kind of strange joke he was playing. That’s when he left.”
“So he’s still in agony…” Elaine’s voice trailed.
At this point, Reese needed answers only one man could give her.
“Elaine? I’ve got to hang up.”
“Call me when you get back from your honeymoon.”
Honeymoon…
Should you decide you want to be my wife, you know where I live.
CHAPTER TEN
A LEX stepped out of the shower and hitched a towel around his hips to shave. It had been forty-five minutes since he’d left Reese’s condo.
Obviously it was going to take more than one kiss from Prince Charming to bring Sleeping Beauty awake. He would give her another twenty minutes, then he wou-
The ringing of his cell phone was the most satisfying sound he’d heard in a long time.
He picked it up and checked the caller ID. R Bringhurst. After clicking on he said, “Reese?”
“Hi.” She sounded breathless.
“Hello yourself.”
“We…need to talk.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“Are you at your apartment?”
“Yes. Where are you?”
“In the foyer of your building.”
Alex sucked in his breath. “I’ll let you in.”
After ringing off, he pulled his robe from the hook of the bathroom door and shrugged into it. Then he walked down the hall to the living room. This day had been a long time in coming, but, as his grandfather had taught him, anything worth having meant you had to work hard for it. “Patience, my boy.”
For a full year, patience had been his mantra. Now if the gods were kind, it would pay off.
The knock on the door coincided with the thundering of his heart. He opened it immediately and there she stood, his raven-haired, blue-eyed beauty. Her fragrance filled the aperture.
She’d changed into a periwinkle-blue top with a kelly-green skirt. The dynamite combination brought out her coloring and the voluptuous mold of her body.
Her gaze studied him as if she were seeing him for the first time. In a way he supposed she was. Always before she’d thought of him as her costar.
Tonight she was finally seeing him as Alex Kieris, the flesh and blood man who had shown up on the set every weekday morning as she had. One moreover who wanted her with every fiber of his being.
“Come in.”
He stepped back, giving her the space she needed. Up to this point he’d done all the running. The rest was up to her now. In the next little while he would discover whether she couldn’t live without him either. If he’d misread the signs…
After shutting the door, he followed her alluring figure into his living room. His furnished apartment was half the size of Lilian’s. The man who’d lived here before had decorated it in a neo-contemporary style, but Alex found it sterile and lacking a woman’s touch. He couldn’t wait to vacate.
She swung around. It caused her hair to swish against her cheeks. “I called Elaine.”
Her admission came as no surprise. Since Lilian’s death, Reese had drawn closer to the other actress.
“You needed verification that we were legally married today?”
He watched the flush that broke out on her face. “She told me it was a real pastor who performed the ceremony.”
Alex cocked his head. “We’re married in the eyes of the law, but only if you want to be. If not, then I’ll give you an uncontested divorce. My intention wasn’t to cause you grief.
“The last thing I would want to do is force you to fight me in court because you didn’t know you were taking vows in front of a certified clergyman.”
She rubbed her arms, a gesture she only did when she was nervous or unsure of something. “Elaine found the whole thing very romantic.”
“But you didn’t.”
“I’m still in shock, Alex. What possessed you?”
“I’m surprised you would even ask that question. Surely it’s obvious I’m in love with you.”
In the still of the room, he could hear her shallow breathing. “Since when?”
“Since the day we met on the set and read our lines to get a feel for each other. It was love at first sight for Carly on Fabio’s part. I don’t know about you, but I’m afraid the same thing happened to me.”
The woman trembling in front of him remained silent. It could be an answer of sorts. He had yet to find out.
“If there’s any truth to what Soap Craze says about us being the magic couple, I owe it all to the fact that Reese Bringhurst sprang into my world full blown and I haven’t been the same since. Before I left Greece, if someone had told me an American television actress would be the woman who set me on fire, I would have scoffed at the mere idea.”
She shook her head. “You have a very strange way of showing your interest.”
“There was a reason for that.”
Reese stared at him with a baffled look in her eyes. “I’d like to hear it.”
“Would you like to sit down first?”
“No.”
He folded his arms. “After two weeks of working together, I approached your aunt about asking you out.”
“Why would you do that?” she demanded. “I’m my own person.”
“Probably because in Greece it’s the way to do things in polite society. If you were a Greek girl, my grandparents would have talked to your aunt first, or your parents, of course. It may be old-fashioned, but I was raised in a traditional home and it’s the nice way to do things.”
“I agree,” she admitted in a quiet voice.
“It didn’t surprise me when she told me she would rather I left you alone.”
Reese’s head flew back. “She didn’t!”
“Oh, yes, she did. But I wasn’t alarmed. It happens that way in Greece, too. You have to woo the parents, or, in your case, your aunt. So I began asking her to give me acting tips.”
The beautiful blue eyes fastened on him grew huge. “That’s the real reason why you came over to the condo all those times?”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “It was my main agenda. Not that I didn’t need all the acting help I could get. But you were the reason, and your aunt knew it.”
A gasp came out of Reese.
“Lilian was a wonderful woman, but very shrewd. She knew exactly what she was doing. It was a game we played. The longer we played it, the more I realized I was gaining ground with her and getting closer to my goal of taking you out.”
There was a long pause before she said, “My aunt liked you very much.”
Here Comes The Bride Page 7