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СКАЧАТЬ our lines then celebrating with a party.”

      “A play. Great.” She threw her hands high, then let them slap against the cool silk of her gown. “The last time I was in a play, I was a strawberry in the fourth grade pageant.”

      He sighed. “Julie…”

      “No,” she said, repeating herself now and not even caring anymore. “I can’t. I’m really sorry, Travis.”

      “Oh, well, as long as you’re sorry.” His mouth tightened up and Julie frowned right back at him.

      “I warned you that I was no good at this.”

      “You signed a contract,” he reminded her.

      Yes, she really had. He’d put their little agreement into writing and one of a fleet of King lawyers—or was that a herd?—had notarized her signature. So technically, she was stuck. Emotionally, she was still looking for a back door.

      “This was a bad idea.”

      “So you said.”

      “It bears repeating.”

      “Maybe,” he said and took her hand in his. “But it’s the one we agreed on. So pick up your bouquet, we’ll go downstairs and get this over with.”

      “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

      His eyebrows went straight up. “I believe that’s the first time a woman has gotten nauseous at the thought of marrying me.”

      “First time for everything.” Julie looked out the window again and her gaze seemed to arrow in straight on her mother and stepfather. Her mother was worried. Not hard to tell even from a distance, since she was wringing the handle of her new purse. Her stepfather looked uncomfortable, tugging at the collar and tie strangling him.

      They didn’t approve of what she was doing, Julie knew. But they were there for her. Supporting her. Her gaze slipped to the other side of the aisle where the King family took up the first two rows. There was Gina, pregnant and glowing, with Adam standing beside her, waiting to take his place as best man. Jackson, the youngest of the King brothers, was seated beside Gina and there were King cousins and aunts and uncles there as well.

      Everyone was waiting on her.

      But no pressure.

      Beside her, Travis whispered, “Think of the future, Julie. Your future. In a year, you’ll have your bakery, I’ll have my distribution deal and everything will go back to normal.”

      She wished she could believe him. But that bad feeling inside wouldn’t go away. And that, more than anything, warned her that “normal” might not be what either one of them were expecting.

      Two

      The ceremony was over fast and Travis was grateful. Hard enough standing there holding Julie’s hand and feeling her nervous tremors rocking through her body. But as promised, when she said her vows, her voice had shaken and she got the giggles halfway through.

      She really was a terrible liar, he thought, watching her dance with his younger brother, Jackson. But the deed was done now. He glanced down at the plain gold band on his left ring finger. Idly, he rubbed the ring with his thumb and tried not to feel like the small circle of gold was somehow a tiny noose shutting off his air supply.

      This had been his idea after all, despite the fact that Travis had always avoided marriage. Generally, he stayed with a woman until she started getting that let’s-get-married-and-make-rich-babies-so-I-can-get-a-fat-settlement look in her eye. Then he was off, moving on to someone new. It kept life interesting. Kept him footloose, which is just the way he liked it.

      Now, he was married and looking at a sex-free year.

      Hmm…

      “Second thoughts?”

      Travis turned his head to meet his brother Adam’s curious gaze. In the last several months, there’d been a change in the oldest King brother. Oh, he still looked the same, but his attitude had shifted. He wasn’t concentrating solely on the King ranch anymore. Now his life revolved around Gina and their coming baby.

      “Not at all,” Travis answered and thought that he was a much better liar than Julie. What did that say about him?

      “She’s a nice woman.” Adam glanced out to the crowded dance floor where Jackson was spinning Julie around until she laughed out loud.

      “Yeah, she is.” Travis reached for his glass of merlot and took a long drink. “And she knew what she was getting in to, so don’t start with me.”

      Adam lifted both hands and shrugged. “I didn’t say a word.”

      “Yet.”

      He nodded. “Fine. I’m just saying that Julie’s not like your other women. She doesn’t have a heart of stone, so be careful.”

      One of Travis’s eyebrows lifted into a high arch. “I think this is where the old saying about the pot and the kettle comes into play.”

      Adam took a sip of champagne and let his gaze slide to the table where his six-months pregnant wife was sitting with her family. Then he looked back at Travis. “Exactly. When Gina and I got married, it was a straight-up business deal. Just like you and Julie.”

      “Big difference,” Travis interrupted, not willing to hear a lecture or—God help him—advice. He didn’t need any help here. He and Julie would do just fine. Their agreement was nothing like the one Adam and his wife had had. “Gina loved you. Always did, though God knows why.”

      “Very funny.”

      Travis shrugged. “It’s different with Julie. We’re friends. Hell, we’re not even good friends. This is business for both of us. Nothing more.”

      “Uh-huh.”

      “Don’t even go there,” Travis warned, draining his wine and setting the glass down on the table behind him. “When the year’s up, so’s the marriage. End of story.”

      “We’ll see.”

      Travis stared at his older brother and said, “What is up with you? Discover you love your wife and now you want the rest of us in your boat?” Grinning, he clapped one hand on Adam’s shoulder and said, “Forget about it. I’m just not a one woman kind of guy, Adam. When Julie and I are finished, it’s back to serial monogamy for me.”

      The song ended and almost before the last note drifted away, the band moved into another number. This one slow and dreamy. Music spilled from the stage, swept across the crowd and drew even more couples onto the floor.

      Adam shook his head and said, “This is not going to be as easy as you think it will be, Travis. But I guess you’ll find that out for yourself.”

      “Guess I will,” Travis said, completely confident that his plan would work out just the way he intended.

      “Now, I’m going to go dance with my wife,” Adam told him. “Maybe you should do the same.”

      When СКАЧАТЬ