She was going to be strong. Like April.
But April had found someone, a good someone, and gotten married. And, from all she could glean, her older sister was incredibly happy. Happier than she’d been before she’d married Jimmy.
Her grandmother never seemed to be without some kind of male companionship, not in all the years she could remember. She was pretty sure that the woman was going to wind up letting Yuri wear her down and agree to marry him. All of her marriages, according to Ursula Hatcher, had been on her terms and much too short, cut down in their prime by acts of providence.
Two happy women versus a woman who had lost her heart, her mind and her will to live because she’d loved the wrong man.
How do you know when the right man comes along? Her mother had thought her father was the right man and she’d been horribly wrong.
Approaching the house, she saw that Kevin’s car was gone. A sadness swept over her. She felt as if she was driving the last few yards in slow motion, without a purpose.
What did she expect? She hadn’t exactly been the Wicked Witch of the West toward him, but no one was going to see him rushing to stuff the ballot box to nominate her as Miss Congeniality, either.
With a sigh, she got out of the Jeep and walked into the house. The emptiness mingled with the scent of fresh paint, making her stomach tighten in a knot.
She wasn’t a coward. Why was she letting the idea of loving someone throw such fear into her?
Damn it, why couldn’t she have had a normal childhood? Why couldn’t her father have loved her mother enough to stay, instead of leaving and breeding a measure of insecurity into all of them?
The front door opened and closed. She was out of the kitchen in less time than it took for the sound to register in her brain.
Kevin.
The knot loosened. A smile climbed up from the center of her being until it adorned her face and lit up her eyes. She could feel it forging a path.
“I didn’t expect you back.”
He was surprised to find her here. She usually didn’t get back until later. “I didn’t expect to be back.” Kevin scanned the room and saw what he was looking for. Moving around her, he crossed to the scarred, wobbly piece of furniture that served as a coffee table. “I forgot my wallet.”
She smiled almost shyly. “Good thing you weren’t pulled over for speeding.”
Kevin paused after he slipped his wallet into his pocket. Signals were coming at him he wasn’t sure what to do with. “That’s the first smile I’ve seen on you all week.”
Another man would have been sarcastic. What the hell was the matter with her, running from someone like Kevin? “I’m sorry, I’ve had a lot to think about.” She flushed, finding her way through the field of land mines, otherwise known as an apology. “I know I haven’t been very good company lately.”
“You haven’t been any company lately.” Not the kind to dwell on offenses, he offered her an easy out if she wanted it. “I’ve seen you maybe a total of fifteen minutes since I made dinner for us the other night. I know I’m not as good as Lily, but I’m not bad enough to scare you off that way.”
“No.” She pressed her lips together, feeling more awkward, more exposed that she was accustomed to. “You’re not.”
He peered at her face, trying to read between the lines. “But I did scare you off.”
She hated the word when it was applied to her. She was supposed to be fearless. The term mocked her. Supposed to be. “What?”
“You didn’t contact me,” he pointed out. “I scared you off.” Maybe he had moved too fast that day. She’d come home, literally shaken and vulnerable, and what had he done? He’d made love with her and probably compounded her problem. “Look, June, I never meant to hurt you—”
“Hurt me?” Now he really had lost her. “What are you talking about?”
“If I’d known that you hadn’t—”
She suddenly realized what he was trying to say. “You think I’ve been acting like such a jerk because we made love?”
“I wouldn’t exactly say jerk—”
She cut him off, laughing shortly. “Call a spade a spade, Kevin. We do up here. I’ve been in a really bad mood and it’s because—” It was hard for her to lay her soul bare, even to someone she cared about. “Because I don’t know if I’m coming or going right now.”
He’d missed her, he thought, missed her the way plants missed the sun. “Do I get a vote in your direction?”
She could feel that smile taking root again. “That depends.”
Kevin tilted her head up, to look into her face. “On what?”
“On whether it’s the right one.” She wasn’t the kind who asked for anything, afraid that it would someday come back to bite her. But this was Kevin. Kevin, who opened up a whole myriad of feelings inside her that she had never felt before. Kevin who was good and kind and not a thing like her father. “If I asked you to hold me, would that be very offensive to you?”
“Offensive?” Of all the words she could have used, that was the least likely to match what was going on inside him right now. “Pleasurable, yes. But offensive?” He shook his head slowly, his eyes holding hers. “No, can’t say that’s the feeling that would be going through me.”
The moment his arms closed around her, June felt she’d come home again.
The next step came naturally. He lowered his head and kissed her.
Her body heated immediately. Everything she’d been wrestling with these past few days—her situation, her feelings about her father, about Kevin—all of that faded into the background. Elbowed quickly out of the way by the urgent needs that were suddenly running rampant through her, as if they’d been hovering in the wings, waiting for the first sign of weakness within her.
But this wasn’t weakness, it couldn’t be. Because even though her knees felt like dampened cotton balls, the rest of her experienced an incredible surge of power flowing through her.
Her breath grew short in her lungs as anticipation took hold. She couldn’t wait to rid herself of the cumbersome barrier of clothing that kept her from him.
Kept him from her.
Her fingers felt as if they were getting in each other’s way. Buttons refused to leave their holes. She suddenly felt clumsy.
“Hey, steady,” he laughed softly, staying her hands as they began tearing away at her clothes.
“Are you laughing at me?”
There was hurt in her voice. “Enjoying you, loving you, but never laughing, June, never laughing,” he assured her.
His lips glided along her face, her throat, making her ache inside. A wildness that hadn’t been there the first time threatened to leap out of her veins.
“Let me,” he urged softly.
His words barely registered on the edge of her consciousness. And then she felt his hands on her, peeling away her clothing. Peeling away the thin fabric of any resolve that might have been lingering, getting in the way.
He was right.
This was better. Much better. His undressing her heightened the anticipation that poured through her, making it fill every inch of space within her.
She returned the favor, mimicking his movements, spreading her palms out along his chest, his taut belly, dipping her fingers beneath his waistband before undertaking the final step of drawing his jeans away from his body.
Kevin could feel blood pounding through his body, echoing the drumming of his heartbeat. He threaded his hands through her hair, wrapping his fingers through the silky strands. “You pick up things quickly.”
“I always have,” she murmured against his mouth.
They never made it to the bedroom.
With the strong scent of paint still lingering all around them, they found a haven right there beside the scarred coffee table, on the throw rug that Max had given her as a housewarming gift.
She could feel the imprint of the weave pressing itself into her bare flesh as she moved in a rhythm that Kevin created for her.
The
rug crumpled beneath her fingers as she clutched at it, absorbing the sensation of Kevin’s mouth as it wove a moist path along her body. Leaving none of her untouched.
Reducing her to a mass of palpitating ashes.
She was barely conscious of sweeping her fingertips along his bare body as he did impossible things to her, evoked impossible responses.
It was even better than the last time.
How was it possible to improve on perfection?
She didn’t have an answer to that, but he was doing it. Making her crazy. Making her glow. Robbing her of the chance to turn the tables on him because she hadn’t the strength to turn over a match, much less her own body in order to straddle him.
She could only give herself to him and reap in the pleasure from the act.
Over and over again, he’d taken her to the edge and then teasingly, dramatically, pushed her over until she was certain that she couldn’t register another feeling, another climax.
But she was wrong.
He came to her. His eyes were filled with an emotion she hadn’t seen before, one that made her feel daring and safe at the same time. She arched her hips toward him, borrowing strength from some bank in oblivion.
When he entered her this time, there was no pain. There was only comfort. And unspeakable joy.
It echoed in the way she gasped his name as she sealed her body to his.
And silently gave him her heart.
Chapter Fourteen
Max gave up fumbling with the bow tie that refused to come together and surrendered himself to Jimmy, who had far more experience with this kind of accessory. The last time he remembered wearing a tie, it had been at his mother’s funeral. His grandmother had done the honors with it then.
There was a war going on in his gut and he found it difficult not to fidget.
Max looked at his brother-in-law. “Is it natural to want to throw up just before you make the woman you love your wife?”
Jimmy’s laugh echoed of kindred feelings held not too long ago when he had been the one taking vows. “Absolutely.”
“Look at this.” Max held his right hand out to show Kevin while the other men in the small church vestibule looked on in sympathy. “It’s shaking.”
Kevin nodded solemnly. “That it is.”
“It never shook before. I never shook before.” The feeling in his gut was getting worse. He looked at the men who were his ushers—Ike, Luc and Jimmy—for solace. Or a way out.
“You’ve never been married before,” Ike pointed out. He slipped his arm over Max’s shoulders in a moment of intense brotherhood. “Whole different set of circumstances than facing down a measly bear or going after bad guys, my friend.” He winked at their heretofore fearless sheriff. “Scarier, too.”
Scared wasn’t the way to be. Max’s fingers hovered over the newly joined bow tie. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
Jimmy pushed his hand away before he could do any damage to the handiwork.
“It’s a great idea,” Luc told him honestly. “Because as scary as the idea of marriage might be, the rewards aren’t the kind you can begin to put into words.” He smiled his encouragement. “Trust me, my friend, you want to do this.” He looked at Ike and Jimmy reprovingly. “Don’t let any of these idiots play with your mind. None of them would do things any differently, would you?” He paused, waiting. After a beat, Jimmy and Ike added their agreement to his statement.
In an odd way, Kevin didn’t feel left out. Granted, he wasn’t married like they were, or getting married like Max, but he looked upon these men as family and he felt close to all of them. The realization made him start to think that perhaps there really was something to living in a small community like Hades. Everyone did feel they had to look out for everyone else.
“I can’t speak for marriage, Max, just for Lily. I’ve seen her in good times and bad and I’ve never seen her like this. She’s really happy, and Jimmy and I know if Lily’s happy, you’re going to be happy. Very happy,” he emphasized.
Jimmy leaned forward and said in a stage whisper, “You might try remembering that the next time there’s an argument on the table.”
“Gentlemen?”
Kevin glanced toward the door to see Reverend Hollis peering at them over the tops of small rimless glasses. Cherubic, with thinning hair and kind eyes, he had an ageless quality to him that made him seem young and old at the same time. The minister’s warm brown eyes swept from one man to the other before they came to rest on Max. Sympathy immediately flooded his face.
“Oh my, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that shade of white before, outside of a snowstorm.” He took a step into the crowded room that was meant for a maximum of three occupants. “Do you want some water, Sheriff?”
Max squared his shoulders. His moment of weakness was passing. “No, what I want is to get through this ceremony.”
Reverend Hollis smiled knowingly. This was far from his first wedding. “Then follow me.”
Kevin made sure he walked behind Max, in case the latter had any last-minute thoughts about making a break for freedom.
“He looks happy. Doesn’t Max look happy?” June asked, hugging his arm to her as they sat at the table reserved for the wedding party.
Kevin waved away a mosquito that was debating having him for a snack. Because Lily’s restaurant was still in the planning stage and the weather was mild, the wedding reception was being held outdoors directly behind Jimmy and April’s house and within the reach of amenities. Sydney, Marta, Ike’s wife, and Ike were handling the meals, threatening Lily with bodily harm if she tried to prepare even one thing. Ike had offered them the use of the Salty, but the saloon wasn’t able to hold everyone at once. Besides, Max had decided that he liked the bright sunlight blessing his union better.
It was the one input he’d actually made in the wedding plans, other than selecting his ushers. He hadn’t minded being the silent one in this venture, he’d confided to Kevin. He liked seeing Lily happy and she seemed to be in her element, arranging the wedding. Wise man, Kevin thought now, watching Max and his sister as they danced together for the first time as a married couple. They looked stunning together and he couldn’t have been happier for both of them.
Kevin nodded. “Yes, he does.”
June thought she was literally beaming. “I never thought I’d see the day he got married.” She also didn’t think that Max could dance like that. Someone must have taken him aside and given him a few pointers. In her heart, she had a feeling that was something that Kevin would do. Always taking care of details and never taking any of the credit. “Max didn’t seem to need things like that.”
“Like what?”
“Steady companionship. Wife, home, hearth. He was always so self-contained.” She turned to look at him, wondering what this emotion was that flooded through her. Maybe she had an inkling as to its identity. “I guess it just takes the right woman to change a man.”
The way she could have changed him, Kevin thought. If he were selfish enough to try to claim her. But he wasn’t. He had to remember that.
It wasn’t easy.
“Works both ways,” he commented, looking back at the couple. “Lily’s a workaholic. She never let herself have time for relationships.”
June frowned. That didn’t jibe with what she knew. “I thought she came up here because she broke her engagement and wanted to get over it.”
Kevin snorted, thinking of the man who had almost become his brother-in-law. The man was a narcissistic womanizer and he had no idea how someone as sharp as Lily hadn’t seen through him from the very first.
“That engagement was meant to be broken. She only hooked up with that character because the rest of us told her she needed to take some time out to relax and enjoy herself. Lily’s response was that she already was enjoying herself. Then she showed up with that slime on her arm to prove it.” He shook his head, remembering. “Lily doesn’t like people thinking they know better than she does—about anything.”
Kevin glanced at the young woman at his side. She was wearing one of the bridesmaid dresses, a light blue, gauzy affair that made him think of a Grecian high priestess. It was draped so that it accented her tiny waist and made him ache to hold her. When he’d first seen her this morning at the church, he’d almost swallowed his tongue. He realized it was the first time he recalled seeing her in anything other than blue jeans.
She created one hell of an impression in a dress.
He grinned at her. “A lot of that going on these days.”
She knew he was referring to her, but she’d never thought of herself as being stubborn. Only in having the courage of her convictions.
June pretended to sniff. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He saw her eyes light up. “Oh look, they’re letting the rest of the guests on the floor.”
As he turned, he saw that couples were beginning to join Max and Lily. The floor seemed to be holding up pretty well, Kevin noted with satisfaction. It had been quickly constructed just this past week by some of the men in town. He’d put in a couple of hours on it himself, in between working on June’s house.
He rose to his feet, taking June’s hand. “Well, might as well test out my handiwork.”
“You do turn a woman’s head,” June laughed as she got up from the table.
Nodding at the happy couple, June lay her head against Kevin’s shoulder and gave herself up to the music, to the emotions that were slipping through her. It felt like heaven, she thought, dancing with him this way. Pretending, just for a moment, that this was actually their wedding.
She lifted her head to look at him. Maybe someday.
Kevin looked down at her and saw the expression on her face. “What?”
She cocked her head, confused. She hadn’t said anything to him. “What ‘what?’”
He grinned at her. “You’ve got a very strange look in your eye.”
She lifted her chin slightly, but for once it wasn’t pugnaciously. She was stalling for time, looking for a plausible explanation. She couldn’t very well tell him she was thinking about their wedding. Fastest way to send a man running. “Do I?”
The Bride Wore Blue Jeans Page 15