Suddenly a Bride (13 page)

Elizabeth heard only about every third word as she stared at Will, realizing only belatedly that her mouth was open, and quickly shutting it. She’d had herself convinced. She was fine with what she’d told herself. Casual sex with a handsome man who was also a fabulous lover, no strings attached, no expectations. Everybody does it. Where’s the harm?

He was so good with the twins. He had the nicest smile. He was just enough boy and just enough man. He was funny. And kind.

She should have known. She should have known she wasn’t the sort of person who could have one-night stands, indiscriminate sex. Until Will came along, her only experience had been with Jamie, and that hadn’t bothered her because making love was just that. The word was right there:
love.

Oh, God…

“Elizabeth? You’re angry that I talked to the boys about Dorney Park?”

She blinked, trying to drag her mind away from the startling revelation that had just smacked her in the chops. She was in love with Will Hollingswood.

“No, no, of course not. Won’t you come—well, you already are in, aren’t you?” Then she winced, her mind working in ways it shouldn’t, a way it wouldn’t have a week earlier.

“I should go out again? Your boss doesn’t like strangers in his house when he’s not home?”

“Elizabeth! I dropped the damn remote again!”

Will cocked one eyebrow as he looked at her. “I thought he was on some book tour or something.”

“He was, until he took a fall and did something to his back. He arrived here this morning.”

“And that means you’re no longer on vacation,” Will said, nodding. “It also means I promised the boys Dorney Park, and now they’re going to be disappointed.”

“I suppose so, yes.” Elizabeth looked down the hall toward the family room, where Richard was undoubtedly trying to reach the remote that had slid off the arm of his leather chair yet again. “They have the entire summer ahead of them. They’ll get there. I mean, not that you have to take them, because I certainly didn’t mean that. I mean, that I can take them sometime. You shouldn’t feel obligated in any—”

“Give,” Will said, stepping closer to her, putting his arms lightly on her shoulders.

“Excuse me? What do you mean—
give?
”

“I don’t know. The word seemed to work wonders when the boys were arguing in the backseat the other day. So,” he said, moving one hand beneath her chin, and tilting her face upward. “Give. Please?”

And then he kissed her.

It wasn’t a passionate kiss. Nor was it a demanding kiss.

And yet her entire body seemed to flush in response.

“Good,” he said, smiling at her moments later, still holding her chin in his hand. “I’ve been wanting to do that since I left here the other night. Just to check.”

She was so bemused that it took her a moment to ask, “Check what?”

“I’d wondered if something this good was just a dream, that’s all,” he said, bending in to kiss her cheek, then continuing with these brief kisses as he moved toward her mouth. “Could we check again?”

“Elizabeth? The remote? Is someone at the door? Never mind, you’re busy. I’ll get it my—
Ow!
Damn!”

Richard’s exclamation had been immediately preceded by the sound of a thump. Elizabeth and Will looked at each other and then ran toward the sound.

“Richard!” Elizabeth exclaimed, seeing him on all fours on the carpet. “You should have waited for me.”

“Sorry. I think I’m stuck.”

He managed to push himself back onto his haunches before Will took hold of his arm and carefully guided him back into the chair behind him.

“Thank you,” Richard said, gingerly easing against the back of the chair. “I was trying to save you a trip, Elizabeth. I hate being useless. Hello, who are you?”

Elizabeth quickly made the introductions, explaining that Will had come to take the twins to Dorney Park and the waterslides. She refused to compare the two
men, especially since poor Richard was currently at such a disadvantage.

“Hollingswood,” Richard repeated after the two men had shaken hands. “You play golf?”

“I do. Not often enough, however, especially now, coaching the kids. You play at Saucon, don’t you?”

“Most of the time, yes. You?”

“Lehigh Links, when I can. It’s part of my condo community,” Will said, pulling up a chair and sitting down just as if he was an invited guest. Men. It was all so much easier for them. Mention golf, mention baseball or football and, bam, instant camaraderie. “But we’re not going to compare handicaps if yours is less than twelve.”

Richard nodded. “Tough course. Not that Saucon Valley is a cakewalk. Sorry I fell out of the chair. Just when I think I’m good, a shot of pain takes my breath away and I go flopping like some damn fish. All muscle, they told me in Denver, and once the spasm releases I’ll be fine. That moment can’t come too soon, although the pain pills are interesting. Elizabeth? Don’t let us keep you if you were doing something else. You’re on vacation, remember?”

“I—but—” Elizabeth gestured vaguely with both hands, as if attempting to grasp something that simply wasn’t there. And then she gave up. “I’ll go check on the twins.”

“Tell them I’m still taking them to Dorney Park, if that’s all right with you,” Will called after her. She turned to look at him in amazement, but he and Richard
were already deep in conversation again. She heard the name Tiger Woods being mentioned and knew she’d lost both men for at least the next half hour.

She headed straight for the foyer and the front door, leaving behind her could-be fiancé and her Friday-night lover.

“You couldn’t make this stuff up,” she muttered to herself as she hurried down the brick walk and turned toward the garage apartment.

And then it got worse.

She stopped as a car pulled into the long driveway, gliding to a stop beside her, and she saw Eve D’Allesandro hop out of the car, waving to her.

“Oh, good, here you are. I was hesitating up at the top of the drive, not knowing if I should go to the house—what a house!—or if you lived somewhere else on the property. Hang on, I’ll be right there.”

Elizabeth watched as Eve opened the rear door of her compact car, reached in and then emerged with a plastic grocery bag filled with books.

Elizabeth gave herself a mental head slap. How could she have forgotten? She’d agreed yesterday that Eve could drop off her Jake LaRue collection, and she’d have Richard sign the books for her when he got back from his tour.

“I really can’t thank you enough,” Eve said, handing her the bag of hardbacks. She’d double-bagged them, and the weight needed that extra support. “I can’t believe I never knew he lives here. All his bio on the back page says is that he lives
outside Philadelphia.
Well,
hell, the whole world lives outside Philly one way or another, except for those who live inside it.”

Then she turned her head as a van with the name of a flower shop pulled into the driveway and parked behind her car. “Flowers?” she asked, frowning, and then smiled. “Ah…from the guy who lights your fire, perhaps?”

No, he’s inside swapping golf stories with my almost-fiancé, as a matter of fact,
Elizabeth thought, feeling more frantic by the moment. She had a quick vision of Lucy and Ethel shoving chocolates into their mouths, their chef’s hats, their aprons, because too many chocolate candies were advancing toward them too quickly on the conveyor belt.

Elizabeth had people advancing toward her too fast on her personal conveyor belt. People and complications, all coming straight for her. If anyone had asked her a week ago, she would have said her life was all right but probably a little boring. Not anymore!

And, it soon became obvious, a fruit basket the size of a small country was the next thing coming down that conveyor belt toward her.

“Back again the same day,” the deliveryman said, peeking out from behind the mountain of produce and bright yellow cellophane. “Hope Mr. Halstead is better soon, although the overtime pay isn’t so bad. You want me to carry this into the house? It’s pretty heavy.”

Elizabeth clasped her hands together, looking from the delivery guy to Eve to the house, and then she smiled in resignation and waved a hand in the direction
of the brick path. “Sounds like a plan. Eve, would you like to meet Richard?”

“Does a bear—Good God, woman, you mean he’s
here?
” Eve whipped a small hand mirror out of her oversize purse and examined her reflection. “Okay, once out of direct sunlight, I shouldn’t look too bad. Let’s do it!”

Once the fruit was on the kitchen island, the delivery guy tipped generously a second time and on his way back to his truck, Elizabeth joined Eve in the foyer once more. “Chessie’s cousin Will is in with him now,” she told Eve, figuring she might as well get her lies in early if not often. “He’s the twins’ baseball coach, and he’s taking them to Dorney Park to go on the waterslides.”

“Why would he do that?” Eve asked, frowning. “I mean, I
know
Will Hollingswood, and he’s not the take a-bunch-of-kids-to-a-water-park kind of guy. Unless there’s a topless beach there nobody told me about—just kidding! And, hey, are you sure this is all right? I mean, me barging in on your boss like this? What with him sick and all?”

“Not sick. He had a fall and wrenched his back. It’s supposedly some sort of muscle spasm. That’s why he’s not on his tour. He got home from Colorado early this morning. It’ll be fine. You’ll cheer him up. He loves meeting fans.”

Elizabeth didn’t realize what an understatement her assurances were until they’d walked into the family room and she’d introduced Eve to Richard.

The man nearly killed himself trying to get to his feet to welcome her, and when he winced in pain, it was Eve who reacted first, quickly grabbing on to him and helping to ease him back into his chair.

“Looks like you really did a number on yourself, huh?” Eve said, sitting down in the chair Will had just vacated and eyeing him speculatively. “You know, in my long and varied career, I was once a certified massage therapist. Really. I still keep my license current, although I don’t know why. I’m betting that’s all you really need—a good massage, followed by a nice hot shower with the water pounding down on those sore muscles.”

“It was a shower that got me into this mess,” Richard told her, but he was smiling. “What’s in the bag?”

Elizabeth had put the bag down on the floor beside Eve and backed away from it as she would a wicker basket that might just hold a cobra. Richard had been restrained, yet somewhat testy, all morning long. She wasn’t sure this was the time to ask him to whip out the old pen and autograph a dozen books, making sure he wrote something different and witty in each one.

“Oh, those?” Eve said, gesturing toward the bag. “Now you’ll make me blush, because I didn’t know you were here and Elizabeth said she’d feed them to you one at a time so you wouldn’t feel too bothered by a drooling fan. That would be me. It’s all of your books,” she ended, as if realizing she hadn’t quite made that part clear. “Dog-eared and read at least three times each. I think Jake LaRue must be the sexiest man alive. I’m so ashamed.”

She didn’t look ashamed. She looked…dazzling.

And Richard? Richard looked…dazzled.

Elizabeth looked at Will, who was grinning at her in a way that made her—and she was by and large a well-tempered person—want to smack him in the chops. He sidled up close to her and said quietly, “Do you think we should leave these two alone and sneak off to the water park? I did pretty much promise the boys. Besides, I’ve been dying to see you in a bathing suit anyway.”

She didn’t remind him that he’d seen her naked. She was trying hard not to remind herself of that fact.

“Richard needs someone to stay with him, and Elsie is due at her mother’s for early dinner. She goes to early dinner at her mother’s every Sunday. I’ve already got a rump roast in the oven. So we can’t go.”

Eve, who it would seem possessed the keen hearing of a bat, looked up at Elizabeth, her gaze shifting rather knowingly toward Will for a heartbeat before she smiled helpfully. “I have nothing going on today. If you two have promised the boys something, you really shouldn’t renege without a good reason. I’m still rather upset with my mother for not following through on that pony she promised me. Granted, I think she’d said it just to shut me up, but I really was counting on that pony. And I think I know what to do with a rump roast, so Richard here won’t starve.”

“You like horses, Eve?” Richard asked her. “I haven’t ridden in years, why, I really don’t know, but it used to be a passion of mine. Would you care for something to drink?”

“Well, I’d love a scotch, to celebrate meeting my favorite author, but it’s a little early for that, and I have to drive home. How about a diet soda?”

“I’ll get—” Elizabeth began, but Richard was already halfway out of his chair. A flash of pain crossed his face, but he seemed to tamp it down, exchanging it for a smile as Eve hopped to her feet to help support him.

“Very good,” Eve complimented him. “But I can show you a trick on how to stand up and sit back down again without hurting yourself. It’s all in the correct use of your upper body. Ah, and from the feel of that bicep, you’ve got plenty of upper-body strength.” The two of them headed for the kitchen, Eve still with her arm slipped through Richard’s elbow. She turned her head to wink at Elizabeth. “You just go, hon. I’ll hold down the fort here.”

Then she turned her attention back to Richard, who seemed to be walking a lot better than he had when he’d first come in the door from the airport. “Two-to-one odds I can work that knot out of your back, Richard. I’ll just get you flat on your bed, and that knot will be gone in no time. Wanna give it a try?”

“If you’re willing, sure. Thank you, Eve.”

Elizabeth just stood where she was, her mouth open, slowly shaking her head. Who was that masked man who’d just gone off with Eve as if she’d asked him if he wanted “a lollipop, little boy?”

“Well, that’s all settled,” Will said, standing close behind her. When had he moved? “Nice guy. Do you think it’s fair, siccing Eve on him?”