At last the wedding day arrived. The candlelight ceremony was scheduled for six, with the reception following immediately at the hotel.
To Hannah’s amazement, after the nervous fits Maggie had suffered the day before, her friend had been calm and remained so throughout the day.
Although she revealed not the slightest hint of it, Hannah felt like the basket case she had expected Maggie to be. Of course, her inner jitters had nothing whatever to do with her encounter with Justin in the parking lot, she kept telling herself.
Yeah. Right.
So stunned had she been by Justin’s blatant suggestion-suggestion, heck, it was an outright declaration of intent-Hannah retained only a vague memory of him, chuckling softly as he walked her to her car. And, darn it, how had he been so surefooted, when he’d been wearing heeled boots, too?
“Time to dress,” Maggie happily announced, ending Hannah’s brooding introspection.
At last. At last. Hannah smiled, nodding her agreement. She was of two minds about the coming hours; relieved at finally getting it over with, and filled with conflicting amounts of trepidation and anticipation, more of the latter than the former.
Calling herself all kinds of a ditz didn’t do a thing to calm down her seesawing emotions.
One thing was for certain. Hannah was determined there would be no slipping on black ice. At her advice, both she and Maggie wore low-heeled winter boots and carried their fancy wedding shoes in shoe bags. At least they didn’t have any concerns about holding up their dresses out of the slushy mess, as both garments were cocktail length. Maggie’s dress was a simple and elegant, long-sleeved white velvet, with a nipped-in waist and full skirt. She looked both innocent and gorgeous.
Hannah’s dress was as simple and elegant-a sheath with three-quarter-length sleeves and a modest neckline.
They arrived at the church with five minutes to spare until show time. Apparently everyone else, including the groom, was already in place. Karla and Adam were waiting in the small foyer. Adam took their coats, and Karla handed them their bouquets. Maggie’s was made of white orchids. Hannah’s bouquet was the same as Karla’s, a mix of dark-red rosebuds with lacy ferns and delicate white baby’s breath.
Now Hannah knew why Maggie had insisted she hunt down a dress in forest green. Hers was only a shade darker than Karla’s.
Music from the organ filled the church.
Flashing Maggie an encouraging smile, Karla stepped out, heading down the aisle. Offering her own smile to the bride, while drawing a calming breath for herself, Hannah followed two steps behind Karla.
And there he was, standing beside Mitch, looking devastating in a white shirt, somber tie and dark suit that was fitted perfectly to his wide-shouldered, narrow-waisted, long-legged body.
As she drew nearer, Hannah lowered her gaze, fully expecting to find black slant-heeled boots. Surprise, surprise. Justin was actually shod in classic black men’s dress shoes.
When she raised her eyes, her gaze collided with his smoldering stare.
Good grief! The man was a menace. Hannah felt hot. She felt cold. She felt exhilarated. She felt exhausted. In short, she felt like a woman fiercely physically attracted to a man. A man who didn’t so much as attempt to hide his intention from her.
Unaware of the ceremony going on about her, she automatically received Maggie’s bouquet.
Her heart pounding, her pulse racing, finding it increasingly difficult to think straight, Hannah almost completely missed the exchange of vows.
“With this ring, I thee wed.”
The firm, clear sound of Mitch’s voice broke through Hannah’s mental fog. She blinked, and just caught the movement of Justin handing Mitch a plain gold ring.
Her cue. Releasing a soft sigh of relief for coming to her senses in time, Hannah slipped a larger matching gold band from her thumb, just as Maggie repeated the vow.
Moments later Mitch kissed Maggie, to the applause of the guests, and it was over. They were married.
Hopefully, till death did them part, Hannah thought, frowning as she saw Justin take Adam’s place in line, leaving his older brother to escort Karla.
What was the devil up to now? Steeling herself, she took Justin’s arm to follow the newlyweds down the aisle to the church foyer.
“Your place or mine?” Justin murmured, his eyes glittering with a positively wicked gleam of amusement.
He knew. Damn the man, he knew exactly how she was feeling, what she was feeling, as if the word ready had magically appeared branded on her forehead in capital letters.
“I don’t have a place here,” Hannah muttered, riveting her gaze on the back of Maggie’s head. “My place is hundreds of miles from here, in Pennsylvania.”
He chuckled.
Hannah cringed, covering it with a tight smile as she hugged first Maggie, then Mitch, wishing them good luck before turning to stand beside Mitch to form the greeting line. Not daring to so much as glance into Justin’s eyes again, she stood stiff, staring directly ahead. It didn’t do her a bit of good, as he continued to torment her in that low, deep, nerve-rattling sexy voice.
“My permanent place is not as far away. In Montana,” he murmured, his head so close to hers she felt his warm breath caress her ear. “But I have a temporary place here, as I know you do. Conveniently, both places are at the very same location, that beautiful old Victorian house.”
Hannah was genuinely shocked. “Maggie’s apartment? I…I couldn’t, wouldn’t dream of it!” she softly protested, suddenly realizing she had not said no to him, but rather to meeting him at Maggie’s adorable little flat on the third floor.
“Of course not,” he agreed, drawing her startled gaze just as he smiled at Karla who settled in line next to him. His eyes still gleamed with a sinful light. “But I haven’t the least hesitation in using the roomier apartment on the first floor for some fun and games.”
Fun and games. The overused expression, following the tired line of your place or mine, didn’t sound as worn-out and dated coming from Justin’s sensuous mouth. Truth be told, the soft invitation sounded much too tempting.
At a loss for a coherent retort, Hannah felt a wave of relief as she turned her head to find the first of the guests, Justin’s parents, who were laughing and crying and hugging Maggie and Mitch in turn.
Justin merely lowered his head closer to her, his whispered words tickling her inner ear and every nerve ending in her body. “I’ll be moving in for a couple of days tomorrow, right after Karla and Ben vacate.”
Hannah had to suppress a visible tremor as his tongue swiftly speared into her ear.
“Feel free to visit at anytime…day or night,” he murmured, increasing the tremor a hundredfold. “Come early…and often-” he chuckled at her quick, indrawn breath, “-and stay late…like a couple of days.”
Thank goodness, at that moment Justin’s father swept her into a celebratory embrace, as she found it difficult to pull a comeback from her mush of gray matter. The man was nearly as tall as his three sons, but not as strong as them, and not nearly as ruggedly handsome as Justin-darn his too-attractive hide.
His mother, a lovely woman, and almost as tall as Hannah took her hands and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “You look beautiful in that dress, Hannah,” she said, delicately dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. “Both of you do, you and Karla.”
“Why, thank you,” Hannah responded, lowering her head to kiss the older woman’s still smooth cheek. She had liked Mrs. Grainger from their first meeting. “Maggie picked the color. She insisted I search until I found the perfect dress.”
“And you did. It’s a perfect color for so soon after the holidays,” the older woman said, smiling as she stepped into Justin’s waiting arms. “It’s lovely on you.”
Wrong on both counts, Mom, Justin thought as he swept his mother into a hug and planted a kiss on her cheek. That dark green was great against Hannah’s blond hair and creamy complexion any time of year. And she didn’t look merely lovely, she looked ravishing. And as for it being lovely on her, he’d rather see it off her. And he intended to…soon.
Naturally, Justin didn’t say any of that to his mother. She just might have decided to step in and protect the lovely Hannah from her “bad boy” son. He complimented her instead. “As always, you not only look wonderful, Mother, you smell terrific, kinda sexy. I’ll bet Dad loves that scent.”
“Justin Grainger!” His mother sounded shocked, but she couldn’t quite control the amusement twitching the corners of her lips. “Behave yourself.”
“He doesn’t have a clue how to do that,” his father drawled, the glimmer in his eyes similar to the light dancing in his son’s. “But, you know what?” he said, drawing his wife from Justin’s loose hold. “He’s exactly right. I do think that perfume’s sexy. It turns me on.”
His mother gasped and proceeded to scold her grinning husband. Justin thrilled to the soft sound of laughter from the woman by his side. He smiled at Hannah.
“They’re a trip, aren’t they?”
“I think they’re perfect together.” Her returned smile caused sudden heat and potentially embarrassing sensations in all parts of his body.
“I think we’ll be perfect together, too.”
“To quote a wise woman I recently met, ‘Behave yourself, Justin,’ before you embarrass me,” she said sternly, giving him a brief, pointed look at one particular part of his anatomy, “As well as yourself.”
He laughed aloud, he couldn’t help it. This gorgeous woman thoroughly delighted him.
Hannah simply shook her head in despair of him and turned her attention to the line of waiting guests. Then she ignored him until the last couple of guests had finally departed.
Thinking her advice prudent, at least until he got her on the dance floor at the reception, Justin conducted himself like the perfect gentleman throughout the boring ordeal of being prodded and pushed into position by the fussy photographer during the snapping of the wedding pictures.
While he drew impatient with his self-imposed restraint, and at the seemingly endless procedures, he still was distracted and amused by the quick, suspicious glances Hannah winged his way every so often.
Although he felt at the point of busting loose, Justin maintained his circumspect demeanor during the time-honored rituals of the start of the reception. He didn’t even suggest that Adam again change partners with him as the wedding party made their entrance.
Toasts were raised, seemingly never-ending toasts. As best man, Justin gave the first one, and even managed to deliver it without firing one risqué shot at Mitch. Adam stood up after him, and followed his lead of propriety. It was their father, the unrepentant, rugged seventy-five-year-old zing-tosser that scored with a couple of sly innuendoes.
Braving their mother’s startled and annoyed expression, Justin joined his brothers and the guests in laughter. He was happy to notice that Maggie, Karla, his sisters and even the tempting Hannah were laughing.
Within seconds, at a teasing, endearing smile from his father, his mother gave in to laughter, too.
It set the mood for the celebratory party. Growing impatient to hold Hannah in his arms, Justin remained stoic throughout the rest of the preliminaries.
There was dinner. A buffet fairly groaning with the weight of the food. Servers stood behind the long table, slicing roast beef, baked ham and roasted turkey. Then there was an array of all kinds of hot vegetables, salads and fruits.
Would this never end? Justin wondered, filling his plate then only picking at the food. Not anytime soon, he concluded, hearing the announcement for the bride and groom’s first dance.
The first dance ended and the frontman for the small band called for the attendants to take the floor. Schooling himself, Justin swept Hannah into his arms and onto the floor, keeping a respectful distance between them.
She gave him a wary look, as if recalling the way he had held her the night before.
Justin offered her a polite smile. “Did you enjoy your dinner?” he asked, his tone every bit as polite as his smile. “I noticed you didn’t take very much to eat.”
Hannah still looked wary. “I really wasn’t hungry.”
“I suppose you didn’t notice, but I wasn’t, either.” He smiled at Adam and Karla as they danced past. “At least, I wasn’t hungry for food.”
“Justin.” Her voice was soft, stern. Her gaze narrowed on his. “Are you going to start up again?”
“Oh, honey, I’ve barely begun.” He grinned. “May I see you back to the house?”
Her eyes glittering defiance, she raised her chin. He was tempted to take a tasty bite of it.
“No. Thank you.” She gave him a superior, mocking smile. “I have my own car.”
Releasing her hand, Justin took a half step back, feigning shock. “You mean, my brother didn’t send a limo for his prospective bride and her attendant?”
“Of course not. Why should he? I rented a large SUV. And he did have the limo to bring them here from the church.”
“Even so, I’d have sent a limo for my intended.” His eyes refuted his self-righteous tone. Reclaiming her hand, he whirled her around.
“And do you have an intended hidden away somewhere?” She was slightly breathless from his sudden quick movement. A becoming color bloomed in her cheeks.
Justin was intrigued, wondering if his swirling action had caused her pink breathlessness, or if it had sprung from her question. “No.” He gave a fast and sharp shake of his head. “No intendeds for me.” He lifted a dark, chiding eyebrow. “If there were, I wouldn’t be here, now, wanting to make love with you.”
She made a sound that to him was part gasp, part sigh. He waited for a response from her, feeling breathless himself.
At that moment the music ended, and she slipped out of his arms and damned near ran to the bridal party table.
For someone who was usually calm and collected, Hannah was feeling more than a little rattled. Rattled, excited and annoyed.
No intendeds for me.
What was he trying to tell her with his emphatic statement, the quick negative shake of his head? He had no use for women? Hannah gave a silent but definite “Ha!” Justin obviously had one use for women.
Just then, Maggie found her. “Hannah, I want you to come with me.” Her friend grasped her arm, tugging to get her moving.
Trailing along, thoroughly confused by the urgency in Maggie’s voice, Hannah asked, “Where are we going…and why such a hurry?”
“We’re going up to the suite Mitch reserved for us for tonight,” Maggie explained-kind of-continuing to tug on Hannah’s arm.
“I don’t understand.” Now she was more than confused.
“Of course you don’t.” Maggie exhaled as the doors to the elevator slid together after they stepped inside. “I want you to help me out of my dress.”
“Me?” Hannah could only stare at her in disbelief. “Maggie, isn’t that Mitch’s job?”
“Yes, yes, I know all that.” Maggie waved the question aside. “But Mitch is the one who asked me to give you another heads-up.” The doors swished open, and Maggie swished into the corridor. “Besides,” she added over her shoulder, “I would like you to take my dress back to the house for me.”
“I’d be happy to take it with me.” Tired of trailing in her friend’s wake, Hannah strode forward to walk with her to the suite. “Heads-up about what?” she asked, with wide-eyed innocence, as if she didn’t know damn well it would concern Justin somehow.
“Justin.” Maggie unlocked then flung open the door and ushered her inside.
Who would ever have guessed? Hannah thought, resigned to hearing more negative tidbits about Justin’s character, or lack of same. She sighed, might as well get it over with. “What about Justin?”
“Well…” Now, after having given Hannah the bum’s rush from the reception room, Maggie hesitated.
“He’s a wanted felon?” Hannah asked, facetiously.
“No, of course not.” Maggie tossed an impatient look at her. “Apparently, he’s something of a…uh…philanderer. You know, the no-strings, love-’em-and-leave-’em type.”
Big shocker. Hannah had figured that one out for herself. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have been about to bid good-night to Maggie and Mitch, wish them happiness, give them both a congratulatory hug and head for the nearest exit.
“I suspected as much,” Hannah said, with self-imposed equanimity, walking around Maggie to unhook and pull the waist-length zipper on her dress.
“You did?” Maggie swung around to face her. “How?”
Hannah actually contrived a reasonable-sounding chuckle. “Dearest friend, Justin has been making…shall I say…explicit suggestions to me since the rehearsal supper last night.”
“Aha,” Maggie crowed. “Mitch was right. He said he thought Justin was hitting on you. That’s why he asked me to clue you in.”
“I appreciate the concern.” In point of fact, even though she had figured Justin wasn’t looking for a real relationship, Hannah wasn’t at all sure she did appreciate the concern, or the information. She gave a frowning Maggie a serene smile. “Where is your bridegroom, by the way?”
“Oh my gosh,” Maggie yelped. “He’ll be here any minute. If you don’t mind,” she said, stepping out of the dress, “I’m going to toss this into the bag and toss you out of here so I can get ready for him.”
Laughing with genuine amusement, Hannah retrieved the long, heavy plastic dress bag and held it open while Maggie slipped it onto a padded hanger and beneath the garment bag.
“Okay, I’m outta here.”
“Wait,” Maggie ordered, stopping Hannah as she turned toward the door. Bending to a low table, she scooped up her bouquet and shoved it into Hannah’s free hand.
“What are you doing?” Hannah demanded. “You’re supposed to toss that to the single women downstairs.” She tried to hand it back to Maggie, who refused to take it.
“What single woman?” Maggie backed away. “As far as I’m concerned, you are the only single woman here…which means, you’ll be the next bride.”
“But, Maggie, you know there is no-”
“I know, I know, but who knows what’s in the future? Mr. Right might be just around the corner.” Laughing at Hannah’s skeptical expression, Maggie backed up another step. “Will you just take it and get out of here?”
Hannah heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Okay, you win. But only because I don’t want to be here to cramp his style when Mitch arrives.”
“Thanks, love,” Maggie fervently said, rushing to Hannah to give her a hug. “For everything, especially being my friend. I’ll call you after Mitch and I get back.”
“I’ll be waiting,” Hannah said, holding the bag up from the floor as she moved to the door. “Be happy.” She smiled, opened the door, then turned back to murmur, “Love you.”
Maggie’s return smile was misty. “Back at you.”