Here Comes the Bride (12 page)

“Who was on the phone?”

“It was a woman with a strikingly husky voice.”

“Hmm,” is all he said with a shrug.

“You have no idea who might be calling this early?”

“No idea.” He headed for the cupboard. She watched him fill his mug to the brim and then take more than a few gulps of dark-roasted coffee. Leaning a hip against the granite counter, he glanced at the clock. “We have to leave in exactly one hour and forty-five minutes.”

“Leave for where?”

“According to Ben, we’re going to attend a carnival to help raise funds for children with disabilities. Didn’t I mention it?”

“No, you didn’t. Tomorrow night we’re scheduled to have dinner at my parents’ house,” she reminded him.

He lifted his coffee cup in a sign of remembrance. “I’m looking forward to it.”

She scrunched her face. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Do what?”

“Look forward to meeting my family. Don’t get me wrong. I love them all, but my brothers and my father in particular can be opinionated and overbearing at times.”

“Two brothers?”

She nodded. “Both older, Taylor and Kevin. Taylor has a fourteen-year-old daughter named Emma. His wife died from cancer when Emma was only six months old. Both of my brothers are twinkles in Dad’s eyes.”

“Resentful much?”

“I try not to be, but over the years their teasing turned to lectures and it has taken its toll. I don’t bother trying to defend myself any more. At least they don’t wrestle me to the ground any longer. What about you? What was it like growing up as an only child?”

“There were some good moments,” he said. “Few and far between, but I like to think there was a time when my parents actually loved each other.”

Sam couldn’t believe he was opening up. It was a rare moment when he talked about his childhood. “How did you get into acting?”

“After my mother left us, there was a neighbor, Mr. Krisko, who took me to a local youth club where I was exposed to dancing, singing, and acting.”

Dominic set his cup on the counter and walked toward her, his gaze intense. “Hold still.”

The way he was looking at her, she thought he might kiss her, something he hadn’t done since Ken had brought her home. Something she’d thought about much too often. Lifting her chin just so, she closed her eyes, anticipation making her insides flutter. Instead of feeling his lips on hers, she felt the flick of his fingertips on the top of her head.

“Ouch!” Her eyes shot open. “What are you doing?”

He pointed to the spider skittering across the floor.

“Oh, my God!” She jumped into his arms. “That thing is huge.”

“Yes, it is,” he said, holding her close.

It took a moment for her to realize he wasn’t talking about the spider at all. She could feel him hard against her hip. Instead of attempting to take advantage of the situation, though, he set her down and went back to his coffee as if he were hardly aware of her.

“I have a question for you,” she said.

He grabbed the paper Maria had left on the table before going to the grocery store and took a seat at the table. “Go ahead. I’m all ears.”

“When you disappear during the day and sometimes at night, where do you go?”

“I thought we were both going to do our own thing while we were together, no questions asked.”

“You thought wrong. While we’re married, temporarily or not, I think it’s only fair that I know where you run off. If someone were ever to approach me with an eight-by-ten glossy of you with some bimbo, I’d prefer not to be caught off guard.”

He rubbed his stubbled jaw. “Ahh, so that’s why you want to know where I spend my free time. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were keeping tabs on me like any jealous wife might do.”

“Like I said, we’re married now and—”

“You’re a reporter, Sam. You’re married to me because at the end of the three months you plan to tell the world everything there is to know about me.”

“My plan is to write about what it’s like being married to you, not tell the world your every secret.”

“I really don’t see how you can write one without the other.”

“I guess I’m telling you right here, right now, that I’m not going to give away your personal life story.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I would never lie to you.”

“I don’t trust too many people, Sam. Not just reporters, but I’m going to go out on a limb and tell you this: My mother left me when I was ten. Explain to me how a mother leaves her ten-year-old boy with a drunk?” He sighed. “I was in love once,” he went on, his voice void of emotion. “She sold pictures of our time together to a tabloid.”

“I’m sorry.”

“People do crazy things for money, the two of us included. Trusting people does not come easily to me. I’ve been burned too many times, my parents and uncle included.”

“So, even if I promise never to sell you out, you still won’t believe me? Even if I only say things like the two of us lived in a ridiculously big house that we hardly saw each other?”

He remained silent.

“None of this was my idea,” she reminded him. “And besides, you’ll get first approval before anything can be published.”

Their gazes held and that was that. He was done talking.

Chapter Sixteen

The day was filled with clowns, bean bag races, and bumper cars. Security was tight and photographers and reporters were not allowed through the gates. Sam had never seen so many celebrities at one event, many of them enjoying the day with their families. Hundreds of thousands of dollars would be raised today.

The temperature was in the high seventies, low eighties. The sun felt good on her back. She breathed in the smell of grilled burgers and cotton candy.

“Hey, you two,” a woman wearing the red and white shirt of the event committee shouted, gesturing them over with both hands.

“What do you need?” Dominic asked.

“I need one more couple for the dance marathon.”

“Oh, gosh,” Sam said, “I’m a horrible dancer.”

“Please?” the woman begged. “We need ten couples right now. Every fifteen minutes, one couple will be pulled off the dance floor. People have paid a lot of money to get special tickets for the front row seats.”

Dominic grabbed Sam’s hand. “We’ll do it. Where do we go?”

The woman turned around and divided a curtain, showing them the way to the dance floor where people had already gathered to watch the show.

“This is embarrassing,” Sam told Dominic.

“Just do whatever I do. If we’re lucky, we’ll be the first couple kicked off the stage.”

“This is crazy,” she said as the crowd of people began clapping when they saw Dominic DeMarco would be part of the show.

“Okay, we’ve got our ten couples,” the woman said into the microphone. “We’re going to start with the Twist, a popular dance craze of the sixties. Everybody knows how to do the Twist. Let’s do it!”

Before Sam could protest further, a recorded version of Chubby Checkers began. Today was her lucky day. The Twist was one of the few dances Sam could do without looking like a complete idiot. She gave it all she had, trying not to laugh at all the dancers around them, each with their own version of the dance. Holding her arms bent at the elbows, she used the balls of her feet to rotate her hips and torso. Dominic was a pro and every once in a while he would lift his leg off the floor, going for style and wowing the crowd in the process as he varied his speed, leaving Sam to concentrate on keeping up with him.

When the fifteen minutes were over, Sam couldn’t stop laughing. She’d never had so much fun. The crowd went wild as the judges held a number over each couple’s heads. After Dominic’s performance, it was clear they would remain on the dance floor for another round.

The next dance was a slow dance. Sam hesitated since she wasn’t sure she could handle being held in his arms for fifteen minutes.

He reached over and anchored a few strands of her hair behind her ear, and then held out his hands.

She hesitated.

“Are you too scared to dance with me?”

Smiling, she slipped her hand into his as Eric Clapton began to sing “Wonderful Tonight.” Holding each other close, body-to-body, they swayed to the music. His eyes peered into hers and she couldn’t have looked away if she had wanted to, lost in the moment, just the two of them.

For a moment, she thought he might say something, but he didn’t; he just held her closer and after a while, she rested her head against his shoulder.

A medley of songs played over the next fifteen minutes and when it was over, they found themselves moving on to the next round.

An hour later, it was hip-hop that ended up being Sam’s downfall.

“Third place isn’t bad,” Dominic said as he pinned her ribbon to the right side of her yellow blouse.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep up with you towards the end.”

“You did great.”

They stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like hours. “You have beautiful eyes,” he said. “Have I told you that before?”

She smiled. How could she not? She couldn’t remember ever enjoying herself as much as she was today. “Are you going to kiss me?”

“It never entered my mind,” he said. “Do you want me to kiss you?”

“Not if it didn’t even enter your mind. There would be no point and I—”

His lips were on hers, leaving her no choice but to kiss him back. The kiss was tender and sweet and if she had one wish, it would be for this kiss, this moment, to last forever.

***

Dominic pulled away. He didn’t want to, but making out in the middle of a festival where children were running around wasn’t the best timing on his part. However, Sam had pressed the matter, and he hadn’t been able to stop himself.

Sam Johnston was full of surprises.

Watching her do the Twist and then holding her close had been too much. Hell, yes, he’d wanted to kiss her. He’d wanted to do that for days now. More than anything else, he wanted to take her home and continue what they had just started, but she had other things in mind.

“I love riding the Ferris wheel. Come on,” she said, taking his hand and pulling him that way.

“It’s getting late,” he said. “We should probably head home.”

“Just one time,” she said, giving him no choice but to follow her lead.

The first part of the ride wasn’t too bad. The breeze cooled him off as they took a nice slow ride to the top, but then Sam squealed happily and raised her arms in the air, making their passenger car rock.

“I don’t think you want to do that,” he said, gripping onto the safety bar.

“Oh, come on,” she said, “it’s fun!”

“You’re rocking the boat, sweetheart.”

She noticed the perspiration on his forehead. “Are you afraid?”

“No, of course not. Whatever gave you that idea?”

“You’re pale and you’re sweating, and your knees are shaking.”

“Okay, that cat’s out of the bag. I’m not a big fan of heights. Sue me.”

She laughed, and despite his obvious horror, her hands shot up in the air again, higher this time.

“Please don’t do that.”

“Oh, stop it. Come on, Dominic, you really need to loosen up and live a little. It’s just a harmless ride through the sky. It’s like flying.”

His knuckles were white. “It’s not anything like flying. In fact, I’m pretty sure I saw a few people hanging from one of these things on the news once.”

“You’re going to be fine,” she told him, and then she frowned and brought her arms into the safety of their capsule. “I’m sorry. You really are afraid of this thing, aren’t you?”

“Not really,” he lied. “I’ll be fine. Maybe you could ask the nice man who’s fast approaching to stop this machine.”

They swept past the kid working the machine and were already making their way to the top again.

“Sorry,” she said with a shrug.

“You’re not sorry at all.”

She smiled. “I am, really. We just passed right by him. I didn’t have time to say anything. Next time I’ll ask him to stop, okay?”

“I would appreciate it.”

As they reached the top, Sam threw her hands up again and screeched like a six-year-old. Before he could beg her to stop, the Ferris wheel did just that—it stopped in mid-air. Their seat rocked forward and back, the brackets squeaking loudly.

“What’s happening?” He dared a peek over the side.
Not a good idea.

“They’re probably letting a frightened two-year-old off the ride.”

“That’s not funny.”

She looked at him with those big brown eyes, cupped the palms of her hands around his jaw and kissed him. Her lips parted slightly, her body relaxed in his arms. He felt the tip of her tongue brush against his bottom lip. The kiss was passionate and so damn intoxicating he hadn’t realized they were on the move again until their passenger car came to a jerky halt.

Dominic didn’t sleep that night.

Instead, he watched Sam sleep. It was the first night since she’d moved in that she didn’t toss and turn and hit him in the face with flailing arms and legs.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed as much as he had today. He liked Sam Johnston. He liked her too damn much.

In that moment, he realized he’d never met the right woman because he’d never seen past the long legs and large breasts.

But Sam was so much more. Somehow she managed to bring out the best in him. The two of them had a lot in common, too. They were both driven and passionate about their careers. They had fun together.

He rested his head on the pillows and wondered what he was going to do about Sam. Somehow when he wasn’t looking, she’d gotten under his skin. In such a short time he’d come to care about her, but could he ever trust her?

***

Sam opened one eye and then the other. Oh, God, she’d done it again. There wasn’t a part of her body that wasn’t attached to Dominic’s flesh. Her lips were plastered to his arm. One of her hands was firmly planted on top of his rock-hard chest, while her leg was tangled with his.

She started to pull away when suddenly he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her close.