Once Upon a Bride. Helen Lacey

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СКАЧАТЬ to. His cousin spoke again.

      “You do, too, judging by the look on your face.”

      Gabe didn’t flinch. “You know my plans. They haven’t changed.”

      “Your five-year plan?” Scott’s eyes widened. “Still think you can arrange life to order?” He looked to the ceiling, clearly thinking about his family upstairs. “No chance.”

      “I know what I’m doing.”

      It sounded good, at least. Pity he didn’t quite believe it.

      “You know she’s divorced?” Scott asked.

      “Yes.”

      Scott nodded. “Evie knows more about it than I do. And, of course, about the other guy.”

      His head came up. The other guy? “I don’t—”

      “He died about five years ago,” his cousin said, and drank some beer. “They were engaged, that’s all I know.”

      Gabe’s insides contracted. So she’d lost someone. And married someone else. The wrong someone else. It explained the haunted, vulnerable look shading her brown eyes. But he didn’t want to know any more. Hadn’t he already decided the less he knew, the better?

      “Not my business.”

      Scott’s eyebrows shot up. “So no interest at all?”

      He shrugged again. “No.”

      Scott chuckled. “You’re a lousy liar.”

      I’m a great liar. His whole life was a lie. Gabe stood and scraped the chair back. “Thanks for the beer.”

      He left shortly after, and by the time he pulled into his own driveway, it was past ten o’clock. There were lights on next door, and when he spotted a shadowy silhouette pass by the front window, Gabe fought the way his stomach churned thinking about her. He didn’t want to be thinking, imagining or anything else. Lauren Jakowski was a distraction he didn’t need.

      And he certainly didn’t expect to find her on his doorstep at seven the next morning.

      But there she was. All perfection and professionalism in her silky blue shirt and knee-length black skirt. Once he got that image clear in his head, Gabe noticed she wasn’t alone. Jed sat on his haunches at her side.

      “Am I stretching the boundaries of friendship?” she asked, and held out the lead.

      He nodded. Were they friends now? No. Definitely not. “Absolutely.”

      She chewed at her bottom lip. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

      Gabe shrugged. “What’s the big emergency?”

      She exhaled heavily. “He chewed off a piece of my sofa and broke the table in the living room when I left him home on Tuesday. Then he terrorized my parents’ cat when I left him there yesterday. Mary-Jayne said she’d take him tomorrow and Saturday. She’s got a fully enclosed yard and a dog, which will keep him company. But today I’m all out of options. I can’t take him to the store and...and...I don’t know what else to do.”

      Her frustration was clear, and Gabe knew he’d give her exactly what she wanted. Because saying no to Lauren was becoming increasingly difficult. “Okay.”

      “O-okay?” she echoed hesitantly.

      “Yeah. Okay.”

      Relief flooded her face. “Thanks. I...I owe you for this.”

      Gabe shrugged again. He didn’t want her owing him anything. Owing could lead to collecting...and that was out of the question. “No problem,” he said, and took the lead.

      “So dinner?” she asked and took a step back. “Tonight. I’ll cook. My way of saying thanks.”

      His back straightened. “You don’t need to—”

      “I insist,” she said quickly, and then looked as though she was itching to get away. “Say, seven o’clock?”

      She left, and Gabe didn’t go back inside until she disappeared around the hedge.

      * * *

      Dinner. Great idea. Not.

      What were you thinking?

      Lauren spent the day chastising herself and making sure she didn’t let on to her mother that she’d somehow invited Gabe into the inner sanctum of her house, her kitchen and her solitary life. But she’d made the offer and it was too late to back out now. Besides, he was doing her a favor looking after the dog. Dinner really was the least she could do in return. He’d helped her out, and it was her way of saying thank-you. It was nothing. Just a simple meal between neighbors.

      Only, simple seemed at odds with the way her nerves rattled just thinking about it.

      She stopped by the supermarket on the way home, and by the time she pulled into the driveway, it was nearly six. She jumped into the shower, dried off, applied a little makeup and changed into loose-fitting cargo pants and a red knit top. By six-thirty she was in the kitchen marinating steaks and prepping a salad. And ignoring the knot in the pit of her stomach as best she could.

      The doorbell rang at exactly seven o’clock.

      Jed rushed down the hallway the moment she opened the door, clearly eager to get to his food bowl in the laundry.

      “Hi,” she said, and stepped back.

      “Hi, yourself,” Gabe said as he crossed the threshold.

      He closed the door, and she didn’t linger. Instead, she pivoted on her heels and headed back to the kitchen. By the time she’d made her way back behind the countertop, he was by the door, watching her. She looked up and met his gaze. He looked so good in his jeans and navy T-shirt, her breath stuck in her throat. She noticed a tattoo braid that encircled one biceps peeking out from the edge of his sleeve. She’d never liked ink much, but it suited him. It was sexy. Everything about Gabe was sexy. His broad shoulders, black hair, dazzling blue eyes... The combination was devastating. And dangerous.

      Be immune to sexy.

      He moved and rested against the door frame, crossing his arms, and Lauren was instantly absorbed by the image it evoked.

      “You know, you really shouldn’t look at me like that,” he said, and Lauren quickly realized she’d been caught staring. Or ogling. “I might start thinking you aren’t serious about that vow of yours.”

      Her skin warmed. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

      His lips curled at the edges. “I never do.”

      “I don’t believe that for a second.”

      “Then what do you believe, Lauren?” he asked, and met her gaze.

      “I don’t know what you mean.”

      His СКАЧАТЬ