Gorgeous Grooms: Her Stand-In Groom / Her Wish-List Bridegroom / Ordinary Girl, Society Groom. Jackie Braun

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СКАЧАТЬ was nearly midnight before they had inched their way toward the exits.

      “I’ll get your wrap,” Stephen offered. “Why don’t you say goodbye to whomever you need to say goodbye to, and I’ll meet you by the coat check?”

      Catherine smiled. “You read my mind. Give me ten minutes, and if I’m not there, send out a search party.”

      He was barely out of earshot when Derek sidled up next to her.

      “Quite the cozy portrait of marital bliss you two painted tonight.”

      “Goodnight, Derek.”

      She turned to leave, but he grabbed her by the elbow. His grip was firm enough that extracting herself would have caused a scene. He, of course, knew this.

      “What do you want?”

      “Just wanted to wish you luck.”

      “Why would I require luck?”

      “This is a game, isn’t it?”

      She didn’t respond.

      “A high-stakes game,” he added. “Even a do-gooder of your caliber is in over her head, Catherine.”

      “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Now, please release me.”

      “Catherine, Catherine. He’s using you.”

      “You would know all about that, wouldn’t you?”

      “Stephen likes to play chess.”

      His non sequitur threw her. “What?”

      “You know—chess. The game where the object is to capture the other player’s queen. You have to think carefully before each move. In fact, you have to think several moves ahead. It’s about strategy.”

      “I’m familiar with the game.”

      “Ask yourself this: why did you come to the choir loft?”

      “I received a note. And a good thing, I’d say.”

      “Who sent the note?”

      She shrugged. “I thought it was you, but obviously not. Whoever sent it, I owe him or her a debt of gratitude.”

      “I’d say you’re already paying it.”

      “Are you implying Stephen sent me the note?”

      “Ah, now you’re catching on. He set me up, Catherine. He knew about the will’s codicil and he had to make sure I didn’t get married.”

      “Even if that’s the case, did you have to fall so neatly into his trap?”

      “How do you know he didn’t bribe the wedding planner to seduce me?”

      “Because if you’d truly loved me you wouldn’t have been seduced.”

      “Do you think Stephen loves you?”

      She didn’t answer. This wasn’t about love.

      “Just watch your back. He’s using you.” And with that he was gone, leaving unsettling questions in his wake.

      Stephen walked Catherine to her door. Her bedroom door. It seemed silly and unnecessary and sweet all at once. Something fluttered insider her. Anticipation? Nerves?

      Suspicion?

      Derek’s words echoed in her head. She pushed them aside, but her hammering heart was not so easily ignored.

      “I had a good time tonight,” he said.

      “You sound surprised.”

      “Those things usually aren’t very entertaining.”

      “Must have been the company,” she replied.

      His smile came slowly. “Must have been.”

      No one was present to fool, but he sounded so sincere. Suddenly she needed to know.

      “Did you send me the note?”

      “Note?”

      “On my wedding day. At the church. Did you send me the note to meet Derek in the loft?”

      His eyebrows lifted in…surprise? Dismay? But his voice held neither when he replied, “I did.”

      Her heart twisted. “Why?”

      He ran a hand through his hair, nearly turned away. But then he leveled that intense gaze at her instead. “I thought you should know. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen Derek with someone else. While you were dating there were…others.”

      “Others?” Now it was her stomach that felt knotted. “But why didn’t you tell me then, or after Derek proposed? Why did you wait until my wedding day?”

      His gaze remained intense, but some other indecipherable emotion seemed to cloud his dark eyes. “It wasn’t any of my business. But you seemed nice and, well, I overheard him tell the wedding planner to meet him in the loft. I thought you could assess the situation for yourself, make your own decision.”

      It seemed to make sense, not quite chivalrous, but close, and in keeping with Stephen’s aloof nature. Still, doubts nibbled at her.

      “You didn’t know about the codicil then, though? Right?”

      “Why the sudden questions?”

      “I’m wondering, that’s all.”

      “That’s not all. You could have asked these questions at any time. Why now? Did Derek say something to you tonight that has you suspicious of my motives?”

      “No, nothing.” She waved a hand, hoping to dispel the tension that had crept between them. Derek’s doing, she realized, and hated herself for handing him so easy a victory.

      “He must have said something.”

      “He just mentioned the note and said he thought you’d sent it. He said…It doesn’t matter.”

      “Clearly it does.”

      He seemed irritated and cold once again, not at all the man who had danced with her in the ballroom and stolen her breath with a kiss.

      “He just made sure to remind me that you had a lot to gain if he didn’t get married that day.”

      “Yeah, well, I didn’t know that, but he did. And he’s right. I had a lot to gain. I had even more to gain when I married you. You knew that, and yet you still proposed. Remember that, Catherine. You popped the question, not me.”

      “Yes. I’m sorry. Let’s forget about this. It doesn’t matter. Derek is only trying to make СКАЧАТЬ