She’d managed to get past his guard that time. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. If I’m going to be confessing all about my nonexistent sex life on the eve of my wedding, I figure you owe me a tale or two in return, just so I won’t feel alone.”
He eyed her warily. “Such as?”
“Such as filling me in on some of your activities while we were at A & M. I remember you dated several classmates during that time.”
He cleared his throat and then smiled. It was the sexiest, most seductive smile Maribeth had ever witnessed. Her heart began to pound in her chest. Darn, but this man had a lethal charm that she was much too inexperienced to know how to handle. “My mama always told me that a gentleman keeps his mouth shut,” he finally drawled.
She fought to control her responses. Working to sound as unaffected as she knew how, Maribeth murmured, “Mmm-hmm. And you’re always a gentleman, right?”
“I try my damnedest, ma’am. I most sincerely do.”
They laughed together, effectively breaking the tension that had suddenly sprung up between them.
Maribeth impulsively reached over and touched his hand, then jerked back as though she’d accidentally touched a hot coal. “I’m glad you came to see me today. I’ve missed having you as part of my life.”
He deliberately took her hand and held it firmly in his. “I’ve missed you, too.”
The tension immediately surrounded them once again.
Maribeth nervously began to talk. “You know, being the youngest sister hasn’t always been the easiest thing for me, especially as I’ve gotten older. Do you realize that both Megan and Mollie were married and had children by the time they reached my age?”
Her palm was tingling where it was pressed against his. She looked down at his darkly tanned hand. It was strong, engulfing hers. She forced herself to look into his dark eyes. There was a warmth there that made her feel accepted.
Impulsively she asked, “Have you ever wanted a brother or sister in your life, Chris?”
She could almost see his withdrawal although his body hadn’t moved in the slightest. “Not really. Being an only child was complicated enough, given my family history. Although, looking back, it might have been nice to have someone else there.”
“As much as I fuss about Megan always playing mother-hen with me, I’m really grateful to have her in my life. Mollie, too. It’s strange to think about it. Mollie’s only two years older than me, and she’s already been married eight years and has three children. Wow. It’s hard to realize time has gone by so quickly.”
“She seems happy enough.”
“Oh, yeah. Deke’s obviously crazy about her and it’s easy to see how she feels about him.” For a moment she was caught up in her memories. “I wouldn’t have dreamed when I watched them get married that I would still be single so many years later.”
Chris watched her through his lashes. Damn, but it was good to see her, to be with her again! He’d pushed his feelings for her away for so long that he’d almost convinced himself that they were no longer there… or real. This time with her had quickly disabused him of that notion.
They’d been out there on the bluffs for almost an hour and he still hadn’t told her what he needed to tell her. Dear God, but he hated this.
She was staring out over the river to the surrounding hills, looking relaxed enough. He still held her hand in his. She might look relaxed, but there was a slight tremor in her fingers.
“Maribeth?”
She slowly turned her head toward him. “Hmm?”
“Bobby called me last night.” His voice sounded harsh to his ears.
He felt her hand stiffen in his. She tugged, silently requesting release, which he reluctantly gave her.
She watched him warily, and he knew that on some level she had been expecting something like this. Regardless, it didn’t make his job any easier.
“He was in Las Vegas.”
She had been bracing herself for something, even though she wasn’t certain what it was. All kinds of thoughts had dashed around in her head. He was hurt. He was going to postpone the wedding, he was—What? Why would he have called Chris and not her? Why—?
“Las Vegas? What in the world is he doing there? He said he’d be in Oklahoma this week and would be through there by tomorrow.”
“He asked me to come down here to see you.”
She fought to hang on to her composure. “Why? What is it, Chris? Just tell me.”
He reached for her hands, already feeling the coldness that had washed through her. “He wanted me here because he didn’t want you to be alone when you heard his news.”
“What?” she whispered.
“Bobby got married last night.”
She stared at him blankly for a long moment without blinking. When the silence seemed as if it would stretch into infinity she silently mouthed the word “married?” as though it was a foreign word she’d never heard.
Chris waited, knowing there was nothing else he could say. There was no way to make this easy for her. He could almost see the pain as it seemed to inch its way into her consciousness.
As though finally remembering to breathe, she took a quick breath, then released it. Another moment passed, another gasp of air followed, as though she had to remind herself of her lungs’ continual need for lifesustaining oxygen.
“I don’t understand,” she finally said. Her mouth quivered, then was still. As though searching for words that might make some sense to her, she asked, “Why would Bobby call you and say such a thing? Bobby would never…”
What little breath she had, suddenly deserted her. She paused, her hand pressed against her throat, her eyes mutely pleading for him to tell her that this was all a joke.
Chris could feel her pain just as surely as if it was his. In many ways, it was. He would have done anything in his power not to hurt this woman.
“Chris, surely he was teasing. Surely he didn’t really mean that he—” Her breath was coming in short pants, as though she’d been running hard.
“He said that a bunch of the group had been out celebrating, partying. He admitted that he didn’t remember too much about the night. Vegas was mentioned, it was like a joke or something. He couldn’t fill in details and I didn’t ask for any. When he woke up the next day he realized what he had done. He knew he had to let you know. He found that he couldn’t call you and just tell you like that. So he called me, instead.”
She looked at Chris with dawning awareness. “All this time you’ve been here…we’ve been talking
