Helen Lacey - Once Upon a Bride

I don’t want to do this....

But she’d promised Cameron.

And a promise is a promise....

Then she headed next door.

Once she’d rounded the tall hedge, Lauren walked up the gravel path toward the house. There was a brand-new Jeep Cherokee parked in the driveway. The small porch illuminated with a sensor light once she took the three steps. The light flickered and then faded. She tapped on the door and waited. She heard footsteps before the door swung back on its hinges, and she came face-to-face with him.

And then butterflies bombarded her stomach in spectacular fashion.

Faded jeans fitted lean hips, and the white T-shirt he wore accentuated a solid wall of bronzed and very fine-looking muscle. His short black hair, clean-shaven jaw and body to die for added up to a purely lethal combination.

He really is gorgeous.

Memories of what had happened by the pool came rushing back. His hands on her skin, his glittering gaze moving over her, his chest so close she could almost hear his heartbeat. Mesmerized, Lauren sucked in a breath. He knew all about her. He knew things she’d told only her closest friends. He knew she’d thought about him...and imagined things.

But if he dares say anything about my knees being weak, I’ll...

She finally found her voice. “I’m here...”

One brow cocked. “So I see.”

“Did Cameron—”

“He called,” he said, and smiled as he interrupted her.

“Is he...”

“He is.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder and toward the door behind him. “Safe and sound and flaked out in front of the television.”

She ignored the smile that tried to make its way to her lips and nodded. “Okay, thank you.”

When she didn’t move, he looked her over. “Are you coming inside or do you plan on camping on my doorstep all night?”

“All night?” she echoed, mortified that color was creeping up her neck. The idea of doing anything all night with Gabe Vitali took the temperature of her skin, her blood and pretty much every other part of her anatomy up a few notches. “Of course not.”

He dropped his arms to his sides and stepped back.

Lauren crossed the threshold and walked into the hall. He was close, and everything about him affected her on a kind of sensory level. As much as she didn’t want to admit anything, she was attracted to him. And worse luck, he knew it.

Her vow of celibacy suddenly seemed to be dissolving into thin air.

She walked down the short hallway and into the huge, open-plan living area. The furniture looked new and somehow out of place in the room. And sure enough, on the rug in front of the sofa, was her brother’s one hundred and fifty pound French Mastiff, Jed. Fast asleep and snoring loudly.

“Thanks for picking him up from my brother’s place,” she said as politely as she could. “When Cameron called this morning, he said the house sitter had left quickly.”

He nodded. “Her daughter is having a baby. She took a flight out from Bellandale after lunch and said she’d be back in a week.”

Lauren bit down on her lip. “A week?”

“That’s what she said.”

A week of dog-sitting. Great. As much as she liked Jed, he was big, needy, had awful juicy jowls and a reputation for not obeying anyone other than Cameron. Too bad her parents had a cat that ruled the roost, or she would have dropped him off there. She had to admit the dog seemed comfortable draped across Gabe’s rug.

She looked around some more. “So...you’ve moved in?”

“That was the general idea when I bought the house,” he replied.

Lauren’s teeth ground together. “Of course. I hope you’ll be very happy here.”

She watched his mouth twist with a grin. “You do? Really?”

“Really,” she said, and raised a disinterested brow. “Be happy, or don’t be happy. It’s nothing to do with me.”

His blue eyes looked her up and down with way too much leisure. The mood quickly shifted on a whisper of awareness that fluttered through the air and filled up the space between them. A change that was impossible to ignore, and there was rapidly enough heat in the room to combust a fire.

Warmth spread up her neck. He had a way of doing that to her. A way of heating her skin. “I need to...I need...”

“I think we both know what you need.”

Sex...

That was what he was thinking. Suddenly, that was what she was thinking, even though turning up on his doorstep had nothing to do with her lacking love life or her vow to stay celibate. Lauren’s cheeks burned, and her knees trembled. “I don’t know what—”

“You don’t like me much, do you?” he asked, cutting her off with such calm self-assurance, she wanted to slug him.

“I’m not—”

“Or is it because you do like me much?” he asked, cutting her off yet again. “And that’s why you’re so rattled at being in my living room.”

Conceited jerk! Lauren sucked in some air, pushed back her shoulders and called Jed to heel. By the time the dog got up and ambled toward her, she was so worked up she could have screamed. She grasped Jed’s collar and painted on a smile. “Thank you for collecting him from Cameron’s.”

“My pleasure.”

Pleasure? Right. Not a word she wanted to hear from him. Not a word she wanted to think about in regard to him. And when she was safely back in her own home, Lauren kept reminding herself of one thing...Mr. Right was not Mr. Right-Next-Door.

Chapter Two

It was the dress.

That was why he’d had Lauren Jakowski on his mind for the past week.

When Gabe pulled her from the pool, the wet fabric had stuck to her curves so erotically, it had taken his breath away. She was as pretty as hell. A couple of years back he wouldn’t have hesitated in coming on to her. He would have lingered by the pool, made small talk, flirted a little, asked her out and gotten her between the sheets by the third date. But he wasn’t that man anymore.

Not so long ago, there had been no short supply of women in his life and in his bed. He’d mostly managed to keep things casual until he met Mona. She was the daughter of a colleague, and after dating for six months, they’d moved in together. At thirty years of age, he’d convinced himself it was time he got around to settling down. Gabe had a girlfriend, a career he loved, a nice apartment and good friends. Life was sweet. Until everything had blown up in his face.

Eighteen months later, he was in Crystal Point, working at the surf club and trying to live a normal life. A life that didn’t include a woman like Lauren Jakowski.

Because she was too...wholesome.

Too...perfect.

A beautiful blonde with caramel eyes and porcelain skin.

Exactly my type.

But by the pool, she’d made it clear to her friends what she was looking for—stability, reliability, longevity. And since he couldn’t offer her any of those things, she was everything he needed to avoid. He didn’t want her turning up on his doorstep. He didn’t want to inhale the scent of the flowery fragrance that clung to her skin. And he certainly didn’t want to remember how it felt to have her lovely curves pressed against him.

The best thing would be to ignore her...just as she’d suggested.

Damned inconvenient, then, that he’d bought the house right next door. If he’d known that before he’d signed on the dotted line, he might have changed his mind. But it was too late to think about that now. All he had to do was get through the renovation and the resale without remembering that she was merely over the hedge.

Lauren was not one-night-stand material...and he couldn’t offer anything more.

Gabe dropped into the sofa and flicked channels on the television for half an hour before he thought about eating something. He headed to the kitchen and stopped in his tracks when he spotted the pile of canine accessories by the back door. Damn. He’d forgotten about that. When Cameron had called and asked him to make an emergency stop at his home to collect the dog, the vacating house sitter had thrust the bed, bowls, food and lead into his arms along with a note listing feeding instructions. Things that Lauren would need.

Realizing there was little point in avoiding the inevitable, Gabe shoved his feet into sneakers, swung the bag of dog food over one shoulder, grabbed the rest of the gear and his house keys and headed next door.

Lauren’s home and gardens were neat and tidy, and the only thing that seemed out of place was the rickety gate. He pushed it open and headed up the steps. The porch light was on and the front door open, so he tapped on the security screen. From somewhere in the house, he could hear her talking to the dog, and the obvious frustration in her voice made him smile. Maybe she was more a cat person? He tapped again and then waited until he heard her footsteps coming down the hall.

“Oh...hi,” she said breathlessly when she reached the door.

Her hair was mussed and her shirt was pulled out from the front of her skirt, and Gabe bit back a grin. She looked as if she’d been crash tackled on the thirty-yard line. “Everything all right?”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Fine.”

Gabe didn’t quite believe her. “I forgot to give you this.”

Her mouth set in a serious line. “Just leave it out there and I’ll grab it later.”

“It’s heavy,” he said, and jangled the bag of kibble resting on his shoulder. “I should probably set it down inside.”

She looked at him for a second and then unlocked the screen. “Okay. Take it to the kitchen, at the end of the hall.”

Gabe pushed the screen back and crossed the threshold. When he passed the living room doorway he immediately figured out the reason for her distress. Stretched out with legs in the air and jowls drooping, the dog was rolling around on her flowery chintz sofa.

“Jed looks as though he’s made himself comfortable,” he said, and kept walking.

“Yes, very comfortable.”

When they reached the kitchen, Gabe swiveled on his heels and stared at her. She had her arms folded, her chin up and her lips pressed together, and even though she looked like she’d rather eat arsenic than spend a moment in his company, Gabe couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful she was.

I haven’t gotten laid in a while...that’s all it is.

He wasn’t conceited, but he’d heard enough by the pool that night to know the attraction was mutual. He also knew she clearly thought it was as impossible as he did. Which suited him just fine. He didn’t want to be stirred by her. He didn’t want to spend restless nights thinking about having her in his bed.

“Where do you want it?” he asked.

“By the door will do.”

He placed the gear on the floor and turned around to face her. “Would you like me to remove him from your sofa?”

“How did you know I couldn’t...?”

“He’s got about thirty pounds on you,” Gabe said when her words trailed. “I just figured.”

She shrugged. “I tried dragging him off, but he’s as heavy as lead.”

Gabe smiled and withdrew the note from his pocket. “Feeding instructions,” he said, and dropped the paper onto the countertop. “If you want to get his food sorted, I’ll get him off the sofa.”

“Thank you,” she said, then laid her hands on the back of a dining chair and grimaced. “Ouch.”

He saw her shake her hand. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she replied and shook her hand again. “Just a splinter I got earlier from my gate.”

“Let me see.”

She curled her hand. “It’s nothing.”

Gabe moved around the kitchen counter. “It might become infected,” he said, suddenly serious. “Do you have a first-aid kit?”