His insides pulled tight with desire and cut off the circulation to his brain. Good God! He was in trouble. He wanted to taste every inch of her delectable body, starting with that tempting swanlike neck, lingering along her curves and planes then working his way down to her petite toes. Trying to shake loose the cloud filling his head with wild ideas, he wondered why Griffin would run hell-bent away from this woman.
She was a pistol all right—with enough gunpowder to blow away a man’s good sense. And he felt his senses scattering with each prolonged second.
As she moved, her long legs gliding toward him with a whispering temptation of sex and sin, the only part of her that reminded him of his purpose was the veil crowning her sassy blond tresses. She was his brother’s fiancée! Ex-fiancée, he reminded himself.
And he had to break the news to her. Now.
“Annie.” He took an unsure step backward trying to cork his steam-heated reaction to her.
He had a job to do. He wished he’d prepared what he was going to say before he’d entered the room. At least then he could recite it and not have to rely on his coherent thoughts, which were no longer so coherent.
“I’m—”
“Oh, Griff! I’m so glad you’re here.”
Before he could blink, protest or correct her mistake, she wrapped her arms around him and planted a kiss on his mouth. Her lips were warm, moist and open. Irresistible. Stunned, he did what came naturally—he kissed her back.
His nerve endings exploded. Her warm, seductive body aligned with his and tilted his stable world precariously.
Push her away, you jerk! he admonished himself. But damn if he could find the strength or the desire. Her hot kiss had somehow debilitated him.
Suddenly, he knew exactly how Griffin had gotten himself backed into this matrimonial corner. Irritated at his own weakness, he placed his hands firmly on her narrow waist and set her away from him. But she locked her arms securely around his neck and drew her leg slowly up along his. Powerful explosions went off in his head and ricocheted through his body, silencing the alarm bells warning him this was a mistake.
She gave a husky sigh that made his insides clench with raw need. He tried to draw a breath, to regain his equilibrium but he failed, miserably.
She started nibbling on his ear and his brain turned to mush. Slanting him a seductive glance, she said, “So, darlin’, where are we going on our honeymoon? Which suitcase should I take? The cold- or warm-weather one? Or should we just forget about clothes altogether?”
He swallowed hard.
“Paris? The Swiss Alps? Or did you book a Caribbean cruise?”
Stop this insanity!
Her hand inched downward and cupped his backside. He choked and grabbed her wrist. Her tiny bones felt as fragile as winter twigs. Would his news snap her in two? “Annie—”
“I know. You want it to be a surprise.” Raising on tiptoe, she nuzzled his neck and sent shock waves along his spine. “Boy, do I have some surprises in store for you!”
Dammit! I’ve got a whopper for you, too, lady. Now, get yourself under control, Stevens! She’s a woman, just like any other. But why was telling this bride proving to be so much more difficult than the last two?
“I’m anxious for us to be there, for us to finally make love. This waiting is about to kill me.” She pressed her breasts against his chest, which somehow suddenly made the room as hot as a Fourth of July firecracker.
His mind spun with the news that his brother had never made love to this bride. Maybe she’d insisted they wait. Maybe that’s why Griffin had been so eager to get to the altar.
Gazing up at him, her eyelids drooped lazily…seductively. “Want to start now? The wedding can’t start without us.”
“Whoa, lady!” Grant cleared his throat, choking on his desire, his deception. “Ah, Annie, I—I’m not who you think I am.”
“None of us are.” She gave him a smile that scrambled his thoughts like fresh eggs.
How the hell had Griffin ever managed to propose with her gabbing and grabbing? Grant couldn’t get a word in edgewise or keep his thoughts straight, much less tell her he wasn’t Griffin—and that her groom wasn’t coming to the wedding! He moved his hands away from her warm, satiny-smooth waist and up to her shoulders. “Annie—”
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said in a voice as smooth as warm honey. “This is all so sudden. We didn’t date long. We hardly know each other. I think it’s sweet that you want to make sure I’m making the right decision.” Her hand caressed his jaw. She drew a sensual line from his ear to his chin with her thumb, making his knees as weak as a newborn colt’s. “You simply swept me off my feet. What choice did I have but to agree to marry you?”
“Uh…” Disentangling himself from her arms, he stepped away and was finally able to draw a more coherent thought and deeper breath. “I’m Grant.” He ran a shaky hand through his hair. “Grant Stevens.”
She blinked at him. “What?”
“Griff’s…” He shook his head, clearing out the confusion in his own mind. “Griffin’s brother.”
Her gaze swept over him, narrowing with confusion and disbelief. “Aunt Maudie said…she saw you…that Griff’s here.” Her hands clenched. “He is here.”
“No, she must have seen me. You got me confused with Griffin, too.”
“But you look just like—”
“We’re twins.” He bit the words out. “We do not look alike. His eyes are hazel. Mine are gray.”
She leaned toward him, resting her hand on his chest as she stood on tiptoe to gaze into his eyes. This time he couldn’t avoid her blue hypnotic gaze. “They look the same to me.”
Her warm exotic fragrance wrapped around him as seductively and possessively as her arms had earlier. His gaze was drawn to her parted, moist lips. He tightened his hold on his overblown response to her. An urgent need to prove to her that he was different from his brother rolled over him. “Griffin has freckles across his nose. And I have this scar.” He pointed to the bridge of his nose where bride number two had punched him, clipping him with the one-carat diamond Griffin had bought for her with a maxed-out credit card. “See? If you can’t tell us apart, then you obviously don’t know my brother well enough to marry him.”
Her feathery eyebrows slanted down into a frown. She started to touch his scar then their gazes collided. Awareness sparked between them, rekindling the desire deep inside him. She pulled away at the same moment he stepped back. Her eyes widened with dismay. “You kissed me!”
“You kissed me,” he countered.
“Maybe at first, but I thought you were Griff and I distinctly remember—”
“Griffin’s not coming,” he cut her off, not wanting his mistake thrown back into his face. He was well aware of the way he’d kissed her. He could still taste her sweetness on his lips, feel her softness and his hardness.
