down the block,” Becky reminded her mother. “Besides, there won’t be any room for me in the car after you’ve packed it up with leftovers.”
Outside, the September air was cool and crisp, a preview to the coming fall. Her head ached from too much champagne, and she wanted to be alone. A walk will do me good, she thought, even though it’ll be a short one.
“Bailing out?”
Becky jumped. “Carter! You shouldn’t sneak up on a person that way.”
“Is there any other way to sneak up on a person?” He tilted her chin with his fingers. “Hey…what’s the matter, princess? Those aren’t tears of happiness.”
His soft caress was enough to break the last of her resolve, and before she could stop herself, she began to sob against his shoulder.
He wrapped his arms around her. “It can’t be that bad. Just think of that old saying, ‘You’re not losing a brother, you’re gaining a sister.”’
“You have that all wrong,” she managed through her sobs. “The saying is, ‘You’re not losing a daughter, you’re gaining a son.’ But that’s not why I’m crying.” Suddenly embarrassed, she pulled away from his embrace. Not meeting his eyes, she wiped at the moisture on his jacket. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me.”
“Don’t apologize. The tux can be cleaned.” A fresh stream of tears rolled down her cheeks, and he said, “Aw, I’m sorry, princess. I shouldn’t have been so flippant. David told me what happened between you and Jordan. If it means anything, I understand what you’re going through.”
She stopped sniffling and looked at him warily. Of all the people in the world who could offer consolation, she had to get stuck with Carter Prescott, III, deadbeat husband and playboy of the Western Waspy World. “I don’t think so! You left your wife—it wasn’t the other way around. Why am I even talking to you? You’re the last person who could understand what I’m going through.”
“You seem to forget there are at least two sides to any story,” he said softly. “Did you ever consider that there might be two sides to mine? Maybe I’m not the big bad wolf you make me out to be. Personally I think Jordan is a complete idiot, leaving you. Someone with such poor judgment isn’t even fit to shine your shoes.”
Then again, maybe a dose of Carter’s sugarcoated words was just the medicine she needed. She managed a small smile. “Go on. I’m listening. I’ll take all the flattery I can get. My divorce papers came in the mail today, and I’m feeling pretty low.”
“Hell, if it’s a husband you want, I’ll marry you. According to some ancient law, isn’t it my duty? Something about the best man and the matron of honor?”
“You’re thinking about the story of Ruth. Except you’d have to be Jordan’s brother, and he’d have to die. But even if Jordan’s parents adopted you and then you went out and hired a hit man, you should know that I’m never getting married again. And you can’t fool me with your talk about marriage. You feel the same way I do.”
“In that case,” he said, winding a lock of her hair around his finger, “since marriage is out, how about we go back to my place and check out my etchings?”
She laughed. “Carter Prescott, I wouldn’t go to bed with you if you were the last man on earth, not with your track record.”
“Hey, I never said anything about sleeping arrangements.” His face sobered. “Kidding aside, come over for a while. I make a mean cup of coffee, and you sure could use one. Truth is, I’m feeling pretty low myself. I was out of town for seven months and no one even knew I was gone.”
“You don’t give up,” she said, shaking her head. “And I don’t buy what you’re selling for a minute. What about your mother? She must have missed you. And David. And your co-workers.” And your long string of women.
“It’s my duty as best man to take care of the matron of honor. Just one cup of coffee, I promise. I’ll take you home whenever you’re ready. I have to hit the sack early, anyway. I’m going back to Phoenix in the morning.”
She hesitated, then smiled. “Misery loves company, right? All right, just one cup. But I should tell my parents I’m going to be late.”
“As always, the dutiful daughter. You can always depend on Becky to do the right thing.”
She was back at his side momentarily, after informing her parents—and offering no other information, to Gertie’s obvious curiosity—that she was going out with a friend.
Arm in arm she and Carter walked to the parking lot. He opened the passenger door of his car, and then, with a straight face, turned to her and asked, “So what about those etchings?”
She swatted him playfully on the shoulder. When they were kids, Carter had made a career of ignoring her or teasing her, but whenever she was hurt, he’d always made her laugh. After she’d fallen, or come home crying because of something someone had said, he’d say something outrageous to take her mind off her troubles.
Now he had her laughing again, and it felt good—even if the joking was risqué. But that was okay. They weren’t kids anymore. And she could handle it.
“Here’s the scoop,” she said, as she climbed into the car. “The only way I’ll ever sleep with you is if we’re out on the highway and there’s this terrible storm…”
Something about her drove him to the brink. It had always been there, and it had been there earlier today when he’d seen her fall. Slim and delicate in a petite frame, she made him feel larger than life. Important. Made him want to be her hero. When he was near her, he felt like protecting her, coddling her. But it wasn’t just her compact size that made him want to pull a Tarzan; she had a way of looking at him that turned his resolve to mush.
But coddling wasn’t what he’d felt like doing as he’d watched her standing across from him, under the wedding canopy.
The memory of that night burned in his mind as he drove back to his apartment from his mother’s. At the ceremony Becky had worn a long-sleeved jacket that matched her rose-colored gown. Her quiet elegance and regal beauty had taken his breath away. He couldn’t pull his gaze from her, even when Hannah had walked down the aisle.
After the ceremony Becky had discarded the jacket, and he felt as though he’d been hit with a freight train. This was David’s kid sister? The jacket, outlined in sparkly beads, must have been buttoned up right to her chin, because he sure as hell would never have missed the plunging neckline on that dress. Narrow rhinestone straps barely held up the satiny folds that caressed her full breasts, and more sparkles curved at her waist, the fabric falling into soft pleats across her hips. When she turned away to shake some other lucky guy’s hand, Carter almost moaned. Her dark hair cascaded in ringlets down toward her tiny waist, curling against the rhinestone strands that crisscrossed her naked back.
He’d been entranced, no use denying it.
Not that he’d planned to do anything about it. Becky might be single again, but she was still David’s sister. And she wasn’t someone whose name belonged in a little black book. He knew he’d have to keep his distance.
As it turned out, he saw her only for brief moments during the reception. He wasn’t disappointed, he told himself. Nope, not in the least. He was feeling
