Special Order Groom

by Tina Leonard

  “Well,” she said thoughtfully, setting her teacup across from his mug, “he suggested that we get married because we both really want to be left alone. He wants to keep hanging out with the guys, and I don’t want all the fuss and bother of…”

  “Of?” he prompted.

  “Of falling in love. It’s messy,” she said hurriedly. “I don’t want to think about sad things. I want to always focus on dreams and fantasy. My wedding boutique allows me to vicariously live the good part of other’s people’s lives. If I could handle distress and reality, I’d be a divorce lawyer. I don’t want to be divorced.”

  “You’re not even married yet, Crystal. Why do you assume you’d be divorced?”

  “I don’t know.” She laced her fingers together and leaned away from him, her eyes down. “I don’t want to…I don’t want to…you know. Find out a man doesn’t love me again.”

  The earth fell away from his feet. “Is that what you thought?”

  She looked at him, her eyes sparkling again with unshed tears. “It’s what I knew for many years. That you had fallen out of love with me after we made love. I believed you had left me for a prettier, more popular girl. And no matter how much Mother tries to fix the situation now, nothing can erase all the years I thought no man would want me for the long term. It was empty. It was lonely. It was devastating, and I don’t ever want to go there again.”

  Chapter Nine

  Mitch swallowed. He wanted to touch Crystal, to tuck her hair behind her ear, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that was the last thing she wanted. Even if her mother had been trying to erase the past, it stood between them more firmly than ever. “So you’d rather have a marriage of convenience with Barney than risk your heart again?”

  “I’d never given it much thought before, but yes, I would much prefer to go into something with my eyes open than to face the unknown. Barney’s pretty predictable. Though if you want the whole truth, I’d rather stick a straight pin in my eye than get married at all.”

  He shook his head. “You’re so cynical! And to think I sent my sisters to you for advice. No wonder nothing went the way I planned it.”

  She shrugged. “Sorry. Well, no, I’m not sorry, because they’re both happier now. I do make other women’s dreams come true, Mitch, even if it isn’t by way of the average method. However, having dressed enough stressed-out brides to last a lifetime, I fail to see what the attraction is to getting married. I think half of them go to the altar just so they can have the gown of their dreams. But I don’t think it’s always about the man of their dreams.”

  “Crystal! You don’t believe in romance!”

  She stiffened. “What’s your point?”

  “You’re Sister Scrooge of Wedded Bliss! How can you run a bridal shop and be such a nonbeliever?”

  A frown traced her lips. “I have bills to pay, Mitch, just like everyone else. Lover’s Valley needed a bridal shop. I provided it, and the stuff of dreams turned into green in my bank account. Why am I cynical? In a man it would be called sharp business acumen.”

  He drummed the table again, his lips twisting as he considered her words. “Okay. Say I concede your point.”

  “That your sisters are happier since I assisted them? Or that marriage is an overrated method of achieving happiness?”

  “No—all right. All of the above, and that a marriage of convenience has its benefits.”

  She looked surprised. “Are you offering your support if I married Barney?”

  “No, I’m offering you a marriage of convenience to me. I’m proposing it, in fact.”

  Once the words were out, Mitch couldn’t call them back, and he could almost see them hanging over the table as Crystal tried to digest what he’d said.

  “I don’t think you’re a marriage-of-convenience kind of guy,” Crystal objected. “Your way of looking at women is different from Barney’s. As I recall, you’re a conquer-and-possess kind of man. All or nothing. I’m not sure laissez-faire extends that far into your personality.”

  “It might. It does, as a matter of fact. I can compromise just as well as the next man, Crystal.”

  He could tell by the suspicious look on her face that she wasn’t buying his story. Incentive was needed. “Your mother’s surgery is this afternoon. It’s a fairly routine procedure, but she’s understandably worried. She wants to know her daughter will be taken care of after she’s gone, not financially, of course, because you’re doing well on your own, but emotionally. I would always be there for you, Crystal.”

  Crystal closed her eyes, her heart pounding in her chest. It felt as if she was about to suffer a real panic attack of her own. She was too young for a hot flash and too healthy for a heart attack, but she had a weakness for Mitch and it manifested itself into going loose-limbed.

  She clung to the table with one hand and told herself to breathe deeply. “You don’t make me feel secure, Mitch. You make me short of respiration.”

  “That could be a serious condition. Maybe I should listen to your chest.”

  She shook her head at him in the negative. “I let you play premed student with me too many times for my own health. I believe I’ll pass.”

  “But look how that experience paid off. I couldn’t have made it without you. And if we’d made love more than once, Crystal, I probably would have become a gynecologist.”

  “A specialty to which you would no doubt have been admirably suited.” Her chest lightened, and her breathing returned to normal. It was difficult to take Mitch too seriously when he was in his normal bedside manner, and she was beginning to think she preferred him this way. When he was earnest and she could see what reminded her of his love in his eyes, she felt panicky and nervous.

  Nerves did not suit a woman who ran a bridal shop. She had to be in control for all the brides who suffered nerves.

  Now she knew why they did. Throwing yourself out on a limb without anything under that limb except open, black space was decidedly terrifying. “I don’t think I could make it to the altar with you, even under convenient terms,” she told him. “Something still tells me Barney is safer.”

  “Let me call him,” Mitch said, getting to his feet. “I’m pretty sure there’s a chink in his armor you haven’t seen yet. Barney and I should get equal time in your decision.”

  “I haven’t decided to decide!” Crystal protested. She jumped up to place her hand over the phone so he couldn’t pick it up.

  “I wish you would,” he said softly, pulling her up against him so that her heart pounded all over again. “I want you to pick me so badly it hurts, Crystal. Physician heal thyself doesn’t work with me, because you’re the only medicine I want.”

  He put his lips against hers in a kiss that sent Crystal spinning into tomorrow, and the last thing she thought before he swept her up into his arms was this time I won’t hit the floor.

  It felt like heaven to be in his arms again.

  Mitch wasn’t certain when he realized he was going to make love to Crystal. He only knew when she went soft in his arms that she had surrendered, and she had been oh, so right about him being an all-or-nothing kind of guy. He wanted her bad—he wanted her more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life. Desire pulled taut within him, a lifeline that had never severed no matter how many years had passed, and when he buried himself inside her and reveled at her cry of pleasure, it never crossed his mind to point out that he could still undo her bra with one hand.

  WHEN CRYSTAL AWAKENED, the dogs were barking their summons for supper. Mitch leaned up on one elbow and grinned down at her.

  Her heart started pounding painfully, and her stomach clutched as if she had rocks rolling around inside her.

  “I’ve compromised you,” he said, “and I enjoyed every moment of it. I am immediately restating my offer of a marriage of convenience. I do not want you to ever think again that I have made love to you and then dumped you. Marry me, Crystal Star Jennings.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “You are not a marriage-of
-convenience kind of man. Stop trying to kid yourself.”

  “I can change.”

  She got out of bed and pulled the sheet with her to avoid Mitch’s appreciative eye. This left him exposed to her vision but he didn’t reach for the bedspread. No modesty, of course.

  And Crystal had to admit, Mitch without modesty was a darn heartstopping sight. “I’m going to feed the animals.”

  “I’ll help.” He hopped to his feet. “Share your sheet with me. Everything’s better when it’s shared, chores included.”

  He wrapped himself up in the trailing end of the sheet, winding himself as close to her body as he could so that they stood tightly together.

  “I feel like a wonton,” she said, but her protest was mild. Mitch’s body through the sheet was strong and hard, and she was beginning to get a craving for him and maybe some Chinese food.

  “Maybe we should get some takeout for your mom,” he suggested as they waddled toward the back door, “when she’s home and recovering. Chinese food is remarkably calming. And fortune cookies are always amusing. Bess needs some laughter in her life.”

  His groin bumped up against her bottom as she bent over, and Crystal immediately straightened. “Is this necessary?” she complained as her craving for something other than takeout intensified. Something in the sheet felt like it was becoming shaped like a spring roll—something other than Chinese food appeared to be on Mitch’s mind as well. She wasn’t prepared for an ongoing sexual relationship with Mitch. “Truly, I can do this by myself.”

  “In a marriage of convenience, I think we split everything fifty-fifty. Right?”

  “Not necessarily the sheets. Give me some room.” She sighed, bending again to reach the large canister of dog food. Mitch bent with her. The dogs ignored the two-headed preparation of their supper as they waited for their bowls to be filled. “I’m trying to envision myself wadded up in a sheet with Barney.”

  “Well, don’t.” Mitch moved toward the back door to return inside, and Crystal had no choice but to follow. “You’re not going to be wadded up with Barney, because it’s much more convenient for you to make your mother happy by marrying me.”

  They hopped into the kitchen and rinsed their hands in the sink. Somehow he ended up loosening her end of the sheet, but Crystal gave a firm tug on it so she could stay covered. She glared at him. “Why did you kiss her?” she said suddenly. “Why did you kiss Kathryn if you were so in love with me?”

  He put down the towel he’d been drying his hands with. “She was sad,” he said simply.

  She’d been pregnant and dumped. That would make the most stalwart of hearts sad. “I wonder why she never told me. About the baby.”

  “Because she was frightened. She was ashamed. And when her boyfriend found out she was pregnant and broke up with her, she just…lost it.”

  It would be horrible. Crystal couldn’t even imagine it. “I guess we could have ended up pregnant,” she whispered. “We didn’t use any protection that night.”

  He touched his nose to hers. “We were young. I may not like how our relationship ended, but your mother has a point. We were lucky in a strange sense.”

  “I think we might have been.” She looked up into his eyes. “But I still don’t want to feel all that emotion again. I don’t want to fall like that. I’m at the age where safety nets look pretty appealing.”

  “Barney makes a large safety net. But I’m certain you could do with a taller, thinner one.” He kissed the side of her neck. Shivers of delight ran through Crystal, and her heart began beating hard. She reached for the water and moved the lever to “on.” Before Mitch could stop her, she took the vegetable sprayer and aimed at his end of the sheet, quickly soaking him.

  He yelped, wrestling her for the sprayer. She squealed, slapping the water lever down and trying to hop out of the sheet before he could exact revenge.

  But he was equally determined not to be outdone. “Fifty-fifty,” he said, catching her and dragging her to the floor. “Wet or dry.”

  “Fifty-fifty, with pneumonia or with good health,” she panted as he covered her with his body. “But just until Mother is back to being her old self again, or six weeks, whichever comes first.”

  “Fifty-fifty, for better or worse,” he agreed, sliding into her so that she gasped with pleasure. “But you have to promise that no matter what, we sleep in the same bed every night of the six weeks. I don’t believe in going to bed angry. It’s bad for the heart.”

  “Are you going to make me angry?” she asked, hanging on to his shoulders and wrapping her legs around his waist.

  “Right now, I’m going to make you scream,” he promised her. They moved against each other, panting and frenzied. “But in case anybody meddles in our convenient marriage, I want the chance to explain this time before you go flying off looking for that safety net.”

  “I don’t know if this is such a good idea,” Crystal said, her body about to splinter into shining fragments. “I’m afraid.”

  “Everybody’s afraid of something,” he said, his mouth tantalizingly hot against her ear. “You just have to let go, safety net or not.”

  She did, and went falling into the protection of his arms, her scream of fulfillment swallowed by his kiss.

  “WE’RE GETTING MARRIED,” Crystal told Bess and Martin and Elle as they sat around the hospital bed.

  Bess stared at her and Mitch with great suspicion. “Where’s your ring?” she demanded.

  “That’s wonderful!” Elle cried, jumping to her feet to hug Crystal and Mitch.

  “Congratulations,” said Uncle Martin, shaking Mitch’s hand and giving his niece a peck on the cheek.

  “Where’s your ring?” Bess demanded again, her tone petulant. “Is this for real, or are you trying to pull the wool over these old eyes?”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Crystal said, collapsing back into the chair. She had horrible butterflies just saying we’re getting married and her mother wanted to squabble over insignificant details.

  “I think your announcement has nothing to do with heaven or true love. I think you’re doing this to make me happy,” Bess said.

  “Wasn’t that the point?” Mitch asked. “You wanted us to get married. So we are.”

  “You wouldn’t if I wasn’t on my deathbed.”

  “You can’t have it all, Bess,” Mitch told her with a grin. “We’re getting married. The circumstances are our own personal business. Mine and Crystal’s.” He reached to clasp Crystal’s hand, and she relaxed greatly. It felt wonderful having him by her side.

  That’s the second time I’ve thought that.

  She liked the security, she realized instantly. Sharing her life with Mitch had been the only real dream she’d ever had. Fifty-fifty.

  Her heart began to pull apart as Bess watched her closely. The problem was, she wasn’t fooling anybody.

  She was still in love with Mitch, and a marriage of convenience might be convenient, but it was going to hurt like hell when it ended. What they were really doing was entering into an arranged marriage, where they’d planned all the arrangements.

  Unfortunately, she knew only too well that the best-laid plans sometimes went awry. She could name a few: Genie, Janet, Kathryn, herself.

  The whole arrangement somehow felt dangerous to her equilibrium, and Crystal conceded she had never been one to laugh in the face of danger.

  She didn’t even feel like smiling.

  BESS WAS WHEELED DOWN the hall toward the operating room. It was clear from her drawn face that she was not soothed in the least by the drugs they’d given her to relax.

  “It’s okay, Mama,” Crystal whispered. “You’re going to be fine.”

  “I’d be fine if Mitch was doing the procedure,” Bess pronounced peevishly. “I had to put a total stranger in control of my health, and I’m quite certain nothing good can come of that, Mitch McStern. Even if you are marrying my daughter, which I have my doubts about until I see the marriage license, you should still be my
surgeon.”

  “I can’t, Bess,” he said, patting her hand. “Forgive me on this one account. It’s best that you allowed your physician to choose your surgeon. Dr. Halberstam has an excellent reputation.”

  “You’re supposed to be the best heart-mender in the state.” Her eyes were huge as she stared at him. “You haven’t forgiven me for my confession about prom night. I knew it was a mistake to tell you, but I couldn’t go to my grave with that on my conscience, especially since my secret has been keeping you two apart. You’d do the surgery if you didn’t think I was a meddling, self-serving old dingbat.”

  Mitch shook his head with a smile and pulled back his hand. “Not true. And I’m not moving from the waiting area. Mine will be the first face you see when you awaken.”

  Slowly, she nodded. Barely. Not comforted at all. He could almost see her surrendering, running up the white flag of resignation. Mitch ground his teeth until her gurney was rolled into surgery.

  Then he took a deep breath. Held in a shudder as best he could.

  Everybody was afraid of something—and he was terrified of losing another patient he loved.

  He could not have performed Bess’s operation.

  Chapter Ten

  “I don’t think that worked very well,” Crystal said to Mitch as the waiting began. “Mother wasn’t impressed with our engagement.”

  He surreptitiously wiped a fine sheen of sweat from the back of his neck and forced a weak grin. “We’ll show her otherwise in two weeks when we marry.”

  “You’re awfully pale.” Crystal neared to look at him, her expression concerned. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. I think I’ll get a drink of water.”

  He headed off, his chest tight. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind that Bess would be fine. He hadn’t even bothered to capitalize on Crystal’s fears—though he could have—when he proposed to her, because he knew her mother was in the right hands. His conscience was clear on that score. He didn’t have to be the hero-healer to Bess just to impress Crystal.