Once Upon a Bride

Cassie’s brows came up. “And where are you going to find this Mr. Average?” she asked. “ReliableBores.com?”

“Maybe,” Lauren said, and pretended to drink some champagne.

“So no sex?” Mary-Jayne asked again. “Even though you caught the bouquet, look sensational in that dress and there are at least half a dozen single men at this wedding who would happily throw you over their shoulder, carry you off and give you the night of your life?”

“I’m not interested in anything casual,” she reiterated.

Mary-Jayne’s eyes widened. “Not even with—”

“Not with anyone,” she said firmly.

“But he’s—”

The original tall, dark and handsome...

“I know what he is. And he’s not on my radar.”

Which was a great big lie. However, she wasn’t about to admit that to her friends. Lauren stared at the flowers sitting in the center of the small table. She had caught the bouquet. But she didn’t want some meaningless romp at her brother’s wedding.

And she certainly didn’t want it with Gabe Vitali.

In the past six months, she’d been within touching distance of the ridiculously good-looking American several times. And avoided him on every single occasion. He was exactly what she didn’t want. But since he was her brother’s friend—and Crystal Point was a small town—Lauren accepted that she would be forced to see him every now and then.

“I like Gabe,” Mary-Jayne said, and grinned. “He’s kind of mysterious and...sexy.”

Lauren wrinkled her nose. “Trouble.”

“But still sexy?” Cassie laughed gently. “Come on, admit it.”

Lauren let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay, he’s sexy. He’s weak-at-the-knees sexy.... He’s handsome and hot and every time I see him I wonder what he looks like out of his clothes. I said I was celibate...not comatose.”

The two women laughed, and Lauren pushed aside the idea of Gabe Vitali naked.

“Still, you haven’t had sex in over two years,” Mary-Jayne, the more candid of the two women, reminded her. “That’s a long time. Just because you got divorced doesn’t mean you can’t have sex.”

Lauren shrugged. “Isn’t there an old saying about not missing what you don’t have?”

Mary-Jayne shook her head. “Please tell me you’ve at least kissed a guy since then?”

“No,” she replied. “Nor do I intend to until I know he’s exactly what I’ve been looking for.”

“You mean, planning for,” Cassie said, ever gentle. “You know, there’s no neat order to falling in love.”

“Who said anything about love?” Lauren pushed back her blond bangs.

Cassie’s calm expression was unwavering. “Is that really what you want? A loveless relationship without passion and heat?”

Lauren shrugged. “Marriage doesn’t have to be about sexual attraction. Or love.”

She saw her friends’ expressions, knew that even though they were both fiercely loyal and supported her unconditionally, they still thought her thinking madness. But she wasn’t swayed. How could they really appreciate her feelings? Or understand what she wanted?

They couldn’t.

But she knew what she wanted. No lust, no crazy chemistry. No fairy-tale love.

No risk.

“That’s just grief talking,” Cassie said quietly. “When a marriage breaks down, it’s natural to—”

“I’m not mourning my divorce,” she insisted. No, definitely not. Because she knew exactly what mourning felt like. “I’m glad it’s over. I shouldn’t have married a man I hardly knew. I’ve tried being in love, I’ve tried being in lust...and neither worked out. Believe it or not, for the first time in a long time, I actually know what I want.”

“Which is?” Mary-Jayne prompted, still grinning.

Lauren smiled at her friend. “Which is an honest, uncomplicated relationship with someone I can talk to.... Someone I can laugh with...have children with...grow old with. You know, the usual things. Someone who’s a friend. A companion. And not with a man who looks as though he was made to pose for an underwear ad on one of those highway billboards.”

“Like Gabe?” Mary-Jayne suggested playfully, and drank some champagne. “Okay, I get it. You want short, chubby and bald...not tall, dark and handsome. But in the meantime, how about we all get back to the ballroom and find some totally complicated man to dance with?”

“Not me,” Cassie said, and touched her four-month-pregnant belly. Her boyfriend was a soldier currently on tour in the Middle East. “But I’ll happily watch from the sidelines.”

Lauren shook her head. “I think I’ll stay out here for a while. You two go on ahead.”

Her friends took another couple of minutes to leave, and when she was alone, Lauren snatched up the colorful bouquet, stood and walked the ten feet toward the edge of the pool. Solitude crept over her skin, and she sighed. Weddings always made her melancholy. Which was unfortunate, since she owned the most successful bridal store in Bellandale. Weddings were her life. Some days, though, she thought that to be the most absurd irony.

Of course, she was pleased for her brother. Cameron deserved every bit of happiness with his new bride, Grace Preston. And the ceremony had been beautiful and romantic. But she had a hollow spot in her chest that ached with a heavy kind of sadness. Many of the guests now inside the big hotel ballroom had witnessed her union to James Wallace in similar style three years earlier. And most knew how it had ended. Tonight, more than ever before, Lauren’s sadness was amplified by her embarrassment at being on the receiving end of countless pitying looks and sympathetic greetings.

She took a deep breath and exhaled with a shudder. Somehow, her dreams for the future had been lost. But two years on, and with so many tears shed, she was stronger. And ready to start again. Only this time, Lauren would do it right. She wouldn’t rush into marriage after a three-month whirlwind romance. And she definitely wouldn’t be swept off her feet. This time, her feet were staying firmly on the ground.

Lauren swallowed hard, smoothed the mint-green chiffon gown over her hips and turned on her heels.

And was unexpectedly confronted with Gabe Vitali.

Stretched out on a sun lounger, tie askew and with his black hair ruffled as if he’d been running his hand through it, he looked so gorgeous, she literally gasped for breath. He was extraordinarily handsome, like one of those old-time movie stars. His glittering, blue-eyed gaze swept over her, and a tiny smile creased the corners of his mouth.

And she knew immediately...

He’d heard.

Everything.

Every humiliating word. Heat raced up and smacked her cheeks. Great.

Of course, she had no logical reason to dislike him...other than the fact he was good-looking and sexy and made her insides flip-flop. But it was enough to keep her from allowing her fantasies to take over. She gripped the bouquet tighter and planted her free hand on her hip in a faux impression of control, and spoke. “Whatever you might have thought you heard, I assure you I wasn’t—”

“How are the knees?” he asked as he sprang up.

He was tall, around six-two, with broad shoulders and a long-legged frame. And he looked way too good in a suit. Resentment burned through her when she realized he was referring to her earlier confession.

“Fine,” she replied, dying of embarrassment inside. “Rock solid.”