Sharon Swan - Her Necessary Husband

As impossible as it would have seemed only a short time ago, Jenna Lorenzo was going to marry Ross Hayward.

“So you’re really going through with this?” Adam Lassiter asked as he faced Ross across the gleaming surface of a large, dark walnut desk.

“I am, trust me.” Ross reclined in his tan leather swivel chair. As the rest of his corner-office furnishings, it was practical, comfortable and modern in design—all of which his current guest ignored in favor of frankly studying him.

The engagement announcement had been printed in the local paper that morning, and his phone had predictably rung off the hook until he’d given in to an urge for a little peace and quiet and asked his assistant to hold his calls for a while. Then his tall, dark and nattily dressed cousin had arrived on the scene.

Days earlier Ross had called to notify some closer family members before the news became public, which had led to Adam’s unexpected appearance. In fact, the man who made an excellent living as a hot-shot business consultant in the Phoenix area had driven a considerable distance to come to Harmony.

Adam braced elbows covered by the well-tailored jacket of his steel-gray suit on the arms of a beige tweed visitor’s chair. “I told the Lassiters when you asked me to be your best man that if you said you were going to do it, it was a good bet you would. But they refused to believe it until I rescheduled several appointments so I could come here and look you in the eye.”

“Uh-huh.” Ross hid a smile. “And how is my aunt Doris?”

Adam’s grimace was swift and wry. “Okay, so maybe my mother was the chief skeptic. The truth is that if she wasn’t up to her elegant neck in getting things ready for a major charity auction back in Scottsdale, she’d probably be here instead of me.”

“I assume,” Ross said, “that I’ll see her at the wedding.”

His grimace turning to a grin, Adam replied, “I don’t think wild horses could keep her away, especially when the bride is somewhat of a mystery woman.” He paused for a beat. “When do the invitations go out?”

“Soon. As I told everyone, the wedding is the last Saturday of this month.”

Adam frowned. “It’s none of my business, I’ll admit, but I have to wonder why the rush.”

“Why not? You know I don’t hesitate over most things once I’ve made up my mind,” Ross said in the mildest of tones.

And that was all he’d say on the subject. The bargain he’d made with his future wife was, as far as he was concerned, private. Only a few people knew that his intended bride had first applied for a housekeeper’s position, and he saw little reason to spread the word. No, he was keeping mum on that score, even though he and this particular cousin were near the same age and had been especially close until Doris Hayward Lassiter had gone along with her husband’s plan to achieve bigger and better things in the corporate world—and its various society connections—by moving their family to a larger city.

“Hmm.” Adam lifted a hand and ran it through his expertly cut hair. “I suppose even the best man doesn’t get to meet the mystery lady until the big day.”

“It won’t be long,” Ross assured him, keeping his tone mild.

Silence reigned for a moment. “How are Caroline and Katie taking the news?” Adam ventured at last with a probing look.

Ross suspected the question held more genuine concern than his normally unruffled relative usually displayed. Maybe because Adam had a young child of his own, a son he saw mainly during the summers since the boy lived back east with Adam’s ex-wife.

“It was a surprise,” Ross acknowledged, “but they seem to be dealing with it as well as can be expected.”

Maybe he would have liked at least a bit more enthusiasm on their part, he reflected, but he could readily understand why they’d both been unusually quiet since he’d sat them down and told them as gently yet straightforwardly as possible about his plans after Jenna had called. He’d been more than a little surprised himself, he couldn’t deny, when she’d agreed to marry him without much debate. But surprises aside, things would settle down and his daughters would be grateful to have her in their lives. It was just a matter of time.

As for himself, he was damned grateful to have her in his life, and for more reasons than one after the potent first kiss they’d shared. So far, it was the only real kiss circumstances had allowed, but he had expectations of getting more, much more. Not that he hadn’t meant it when he’d said he wouldn’t press her. Still, he hoped he wouldn’t have to wait too long to get everything he wanted…because he wanted it all.

“You look just a tad on the eager side, cuz.” Adam’s soft laugh came from low in his throat. “This woman you’re keeping under wraps must be something.”

Ross lifted a brow. “I suppose you could say that.”

“Aha. No further explanation required. I read you.”

“You always were quick on the uptake, cuz,” Ross countered, repeating the nickname they’d once used on a regular basis to refer to each other.

Adam rose to his feet. “Well, I’ll report back to the family and tell them that things are still on track. Is it going to be a big wedding?”

Ross got up and came around his desk. “It’s already bigger than we initially planned on,” he said as he walked his cousin to the door, “but it won’t be too big.”

IT WAS GETTING BIGGER every day, Jenna reflected with a rueful twist of her lips as she addressed a stack of envelopes that would hold thick, ecru-colored cards edged with a scalloped border. With desktop publishing, it was hardly astounding that professional-looking invitations could be produced so quickly, but who would have thought that one of the most popular—if by no means the grandest—spots in town to get married would be available for a Saturday event on such short notice? Yet that had indeed been the case, as her friend Peggy had wasted no time in finding out, and after that discovery the guest list had rapidly multiplied.

Like rabbits, Jenna thought.

Her family was coming, of course. They’d plainly been startled—or maybe downright amazed—at the news when she’d placed a call to Nevada, but they would be here. At least her parents and youngest sister would make it. Both of her other sisters simply couldn’t. One was attending chef’s school in Europe after winning a scholarship, and the other was due to have her first child only days after the wedding.

The bride’s family was merely the start, however. Even the groom’s was just the tip of the iceberg.

Besides his daughters, Ross had no immediate family still living—except for his father, whom he had firmly declined to invite. But Harmony was home to several more distantly related Haywards, plus many others who considered themselves longtime friends of the family. And, as it turned out, a whole bunch of them wanted to come.

They all wanted to attend a wedding that wasn’t quite the average version of the traditional celebration. Except none of the people primed to celebrate knew that.

“Why couldn’t we have just been married at the courthouse as we’d first thought and be done with it?” Jenna mumbled to herself as the phone on the kitchen counter rang. With Peggy and Jack working and their son in school, it was up to their houseguest to answer, so she rose from the square oak table set in one corner of the room and lifted the receiver. “O’Brien residence.”

“How’s it going?” a deep voice asked.

As usual, her pulse picked up a beat in response. Jenna wondered how much time would pass before it remained comfortably steady in reaction to what was an increasingly familiar, if undeniably pure male, sound. After all, she and Ross had not only talked on the phone several times in recent days, they’d also seen each other most evenings, mainly in the company of his daughters.

“I’m getting writer’s cramp,” she complained half-heartedly as she leaned against the counter. “Are you sure we can’t conveniently forget these invitations and sneak off to the courthouse instead?”

His chuckle was low and amused. “I’ll admit things seem to have snowballed, but we can handle it.”

Well, he could handle it, Jenna knew, at least when it came to the extra expense. Ross had already assured her that he could afford it. He had originally been determined to pay for everything, and he’d mostly had his way. She’d only insisted on buying her own wedding outfit, and he’d given in on that point. Their first compromise, she thought.

Wondering how many more they’d be called upon to make in the future, she said, “Okay, so we can’t sneak off. I’ll just keep writing.”

“Don’t forget that we’re taking Caroline and Katie out for pizza tonight.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Jenna replied, and meant it. Maybe this time, she thought, she’d even be successful at getting Ross’s daughters to do more than manage a short response to a direct question while aiming wary glances her way. Before much longer she would be caring for them on a day-to-day basis. She had to hope they would have become better acquainted by then. Katie, with a chattiness that had seemed to come naturally on the day they’d first met, probably wouldn’t hold back for long before allowing a friendlier relationship to develop. Not too long, at any rate. But Caroline…

A fleeting frown crossed Jenna’s brow. She wished she felt more confident that problems didn’t lie ahead there. Not that Caroline had ever said anything in the least troubling. No, Ross’s eldest child had impeccable manners. Nonetheless, her calm gaze had displayed an unmistakable coolness on the few occasions when her eyes had actually met those of the woman about to become her stepmother. But that didn’t mean Jenna planned to stop watching for a hint of something warmer to form.

“I’ll concentrate on pumping up my appetite so I can tackle my share of the pizza,” she added, determined to remain optimistic when it came to the children.

“Okay, we’ll pick you up at six.” Ross paused for a moment. “Any progress on the wedding outfit?”

“I’m going shopping tomorrow.” Again, she might have added. At the moment she was torn between a knee-length, cream-colored dress she could wear on other occasions and a floor-length model made of rosy silk that wouldn’t be as practical in the long run. She’d already tried on both at one of Harmony’s downtown boutiques. Neither was expensive enough to give her much pause, but she hadn’t been able to make a final choice.

“Don’t worry,” she told him, “I’ll show up wearing something appropriate. If I didn’t, my father, who can be a stickler for the proprieties when he wants to, would refuse to walk me down the aisle.”

“Then I take it you’ll be decked out in more than a paper bag.”

That had Jenna laughing out loud. Thankfully, while he could still rattle her with a casual touch, and far too easily as far as her nerves were concerned, he also had a sense of humor she had no trouble enjoying. “My father will insist on it,” she assured him with mock gravity.

It won her another low chuckle. “He sounds like a sensible man. I’m looking forward to meeting your family.”

She could have responded in kind—but didn’t. The truth was, she could have done without meeting a whole group of Ross’s relatives at the same time, especially when many of them had to be wondering about the hasty marriage.

“I’m sure the Lorenzos can’t wait to meet you,” she said instead.