Then her eyes flashed. Her smile faltered. She tipped her chin higher. He recognized that old challenge.
Jake might have laughed at her all dressed up like this. But Nick couldn’t. His lungs constricted, trapping his breath. Words lodged in his throat. She looked so damn different...so grown-up...so beautiful. When had all these changes taken place? At her father’s funeral five years earlier she’d looked like a frightened child, her eyes wide, but unable to shed a tear. At Jake’s funeral two years later, she’d looked thin as a rail. She’d stood strong for her mother, brave, controlling her trembling lip.
He’d missed the gradual transition from girlhood to a full-fledged woman. Somehow she seemed softer than he’d expected, vulnerable, yet he knew she was tough enough to handle a Texas cattle ranch on her own. Still, a trace of that uncertain, freckle-faced girl could still be seen in her wild, blue gaze.
“Jake would have been a fool not to see how beautiful you are,” he managed.
Uncertainty darkened her eyes to the turbulence of a stormy sea. She glanced down at the yards of lace swirling around her. “I feel like I got walloped with confectioners’ sugar.”
Nick chuckled.
“You’re a lovely bride,” Martha reassured her daughter.
“Lovely” was a simple word that didn’t do Billie justice. She was a vision. The dress pinched in her waist, accented her full breasts, showed off her honey tan.
As if the years scrolled backward, he remembered the boldness of the kiss she’d given him. He could feel her creamy-smooth lips seasoned with innocence brushing his. It had taken every ounce of strength to set her away from him then. He’d belonged to someone else. And Billie had been way too young. But now, when the four-year difference between their ages had shrunk in importance, other things stood between them. She belonged to someone else. He never intended to marry again.
Dragging his gaze away from the bride, he set the iced tea on a crystal coaster. He stuck his hands into his pockets and reminded himself of why he’d come here. As a defensive maneuver, he pictured Billie in pigtails and braces with more scrapes and bruises than a prizefighter.
“Step up on the footstool,” Rosa instructed, her hands fluttering around the shimmering white skirt that looked like it had been sprinkled with fairy dust.
Billie turned and took a step. Her foot caught in the hem. She wobbled and tilted off center. Her arms flung wide, seeking balance. “Ah, damn.”
Nick reached out and caught her to him. His hand slipped around her tiny waist. Her body collided with his. He felt the impact of her full breasts against his chest. He sucked in a breath and drew in her enticing scent, something mysterious and exotic, like jasmine. Far too tempting for his own good.
A shiver rippled through her and it echoed in his body. His heart thudded against his rib cage. His insides tightened as if he walked an I-beam on the fiftieth floor. These new sensations aroused by Billie caught him off guard, kept him off balance. Her nearness jumbled his thoughts. What was wrong with him? Had he gone without a woman for too long? Since his divorce he’d focused on work, expanding his construction business. Women, he’d decided, were as welcome as bad weather to a construction site. And Billie Rae Gunther was like a hurricane to his senses.
He had an urge to let her fall on her rump, as he might have if she were an obnoxious twelve-year-old. Then he could clear his mind, stay focused, make sure she’d made the right decision and leave. Instead, against his better judgment, he held her tight against him, his hands secure on her waist. In a thick voice, he asked, “You okay?”
“Yeah. My boot got caught.” She pushed away from his shoulder and stood firmly on her own two feet, the way she always had, never leaning on anyone, never showing any weakness. She carried the heavy load of responsibility she’d been left with well. Nick admired her for her ability to withstand adversity.
Two years ago he’d understood her pride dictated her rejection of his offer to help with the Rocking G. But should he have insisted? Or had he only felt the barb that she no longer needed or wanted him? Regret shamed him. He knew he shouldn’t have stayed away.
“Boots! Where are your wedding shoes? They are perfect for the dress,” Rosa was saying, her brow wrinkling with concern.
“Yeah, but you don’t have to stand around in them for hours at the wedding and reception,” Billie complained.
“It’s only for one day.” Martha soothed her daughter. “The right shoes are so important”
“Why?” Billie asked. “Who’s going to see them under this skirt?” She lifted the hem, giving Nick a glimpse of one silk-covered foot rubbing across the top of the other.
“Everyone,” her mother answered. “You’ll have to lift your skirt so Doug can remove your garter to throw to the single men.”
Nick gritted his teeth. Doug. It had to be a mistake. The groom couldn’t be Doug “Blockhead” Schaeffer!
“Besides,” Martha continued, “you’ll have so many other things to think about you won’t even notice your feet. You’ll be floating on cloud nine. That’s how I was when your daddy and I wed.” A wistful look came into her soft blue eyes.
“I’m sure I will, Mother.”
Had Nick heard a note of doubt in Billie’s voice? Or had he only wanted to?
Scowling, he watched her maneuver toward the step stool in her oversize skirt. The heavy material rustled and swayed, emphasizing the movement of her hips. He stayed close enough to offer assistance if she tripped again, but far enough not to breathe in her secretive scent or reach out to feel the silky strands of her shoulder-length blond hair. Hiking up the skirt to her knees, she climbed onto the footstool, unassisted. Nick caught a better view of shimmery hose covering slender legs.
“Who’s the lucky groom?” he asked, averting his gaze and crossing his arms over his chest.
“Doug Schaeffer.”
Something irrational and dangerous exploded inside Nick. He thought he’d prepared himself to hear that name, but obviously not enough. “Are you nuts?”
She propped her hands on her hips and gave him a stubborn I-dare-you-to-say-another-word stare. “Yes.”
He managed to close his mouth and rein in his confusion... irritation...contempt. How could Billie possibly fall for that bastard? What could she see in him? Of all the men to win Billie! Smug and arrogant were two of Dong’s best traits. The heir to Schaeffer Enterprises should never have been a contender.
He remembered Doug, flaunting his daddy’s bucks, cruising around in a fancy convertible that probably had the same price tag as the house Nick had been raised in. He’d been too rich for his own good, too self-assured, too...too much. Had he overwhelmed Billie with all that glitter and gold? If so, then Billie wasn’t the girl he remembered. Maybe now she was more like his ex-wife.
“Where is Schaeffer?” Nick asked, his teeth clenched. Billie’s father never would have welcomed Schaeffer into the family. And Jake would have booted his butt across the Texas border. Nick would settle this quick and take great pleasure in shoving Schaeffer out of the picture.
“Oh, the groom should not be here
