The Bridesmaid's Turn Excerpt

 

Cruz was more than willing to go along with her. But after saying their goodbyes to Josh and Eliana - Aria promising to come back again when she had more time - he followed her back to her SUV, waiting until they were inside before saying, "You didn't mention you had an appointment. We could have done this some other time."

"I don't. I lied. You looked like you were ready to bolt and I thought I'd give you an excuse to leave." She paused, searching his face for a moment before asking, "Did something happen with Josh?"

"Not really. I'm just not very good at doing the family thing."

"Yet. You'll figure it out, if you decide you want to," she said, pulling onto a narrow dirt path that led away from the house. "Trust me, your brothers weren't always good at it either." His skepticism must have shown because, flicking him a glance before fixing her eyes on the road, she smiled. "You wouldn't know it to see them together now, but it's only recently they've been this close. Sawyer and Cort have always been tight, and Cort's tried for years to fix what's broken in his family. But it took Sawyer and Rafe over twenty years and Cort nearly getting himself killed before the two of them could be in the same place without a fight. And Josh - well let's just say before he and Eliana decided to fall for each other, I think Josh's idea of family was his horse and whoever was buying the next round."

He didn't doubt she was telling the truth. It seemed so at odds, though, with what he'd witnessed that he had a hard time reconciling the two versions of reality. "I'll have to take your word for it. But thanks, for rescuing me and for the pep talk, even if I have my doubts about my ability to figure it out."

Pulling the truck to a stop, Aria turned to face him. "I suppose that depends on how much you want it."

Cruz cocked an eyebrow at her. "So you think I get everything I want?"

"Probably," she said with a teasing smile. "You look the type."

Wrong. He followed her lead and got out of the SUV, walking a little distance from the vehicle to look at the spread of land in front of them. If he got everything he wanted, he'd have had her in his bed by now, because it had been a long time - if ever - that he'd wanted a woman like this, with a burning, hungry desire that consumed all logic and common sense. He'd never been one for impersonal sex with women he scarcely knew simply to satisfy an appetite, no matter how tempting the invitation. Aria Charez hadn't invited him and wasn't likely to, but that didn't stop him from wanting her.

"You're not listening." Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he focused back on her to find her, arms folded over her chest, eyeing him with barely concealed impatience. "If you didn't want to do this, why didn't you say so?"

"Sorry, it's not that. I'm just a little distracted this morning." By you.

He didn't want to be. He wanted to categorize the night they'd met as a moment of impulse, a one-time event born of heightened emotions that would never be repeated. Unfortunately, he couldn't so easily dismiss it as just lust and circumstance. But the last thing he needed was to let his feelings push him headlong into a relationship that couldn't possibly survive longer than his intended brief stay in Luna Hermosa.

"Do you want to see my plans and compare them to the survey?" Aria asked, already walking back to the SUV. Fishing around in the back seat, she produced a roll of papers and spread them out over the hood.

Cruz moved next to her, only half listening, as she tucked her hair behind her ear, leaning over to compare points on the drawings and the survey. The simple gesture drew his eyes to the curve of her cheek where a soft dark curl had escaped her touch and brushed her skin. He shifted a fraction closer - acting on impulse or maybe compulsion - close enough for the warm musky scent of perfume to become a sensual tease.

He didn't realize she'd stopped talking until he found himself looking her straight in the eye and saw his feelings reflected there - uncertainty, desire, the struggle to deny it.

"I shouldn't," she said so softly he was sure it wasn't meant for him. Shaking her head, breaking their locked gaze, she abruptly began gathering up the papers.

"Aria - "

"No, don't." She held the papers to her chest like a shield. "I mean it's . . ." Her hand fluttered up in a helpless gesture as she groped for words. "It can't be - anything."

Quickly moving away from him, she jerked open the back door of the SUV, threw the papers in the seat and slamming the door shut, made for the driver's seat. Not thinking - because if he thought about it, he would walk, run away now - he moved faster, putting himself in front of her, stopping her escape.

"It's already something," he said roughly.

"What?"

One word and he couldn't answer. He didn't know.

Instead he reached for her at the same instant she stepped toward him and neither of them tried to pretend this wasn't exactly what they'd both wanted from the start.

Her mouth mated with his in a surge of heat and it was all gone: cold, complications, family, the fifty good, sensible reasons why this shouldn't happen.

There was only her.

From the book "The Bridesmaid's Turn"
By Nicole Foster
Silhouette Special Edition
July 2008
Copyright © September 2008
by Danette Fertig-Thompson and Annette Chartier
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher.
The edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S. A.
For more romance information surf to: http://www.eHarlequin.com

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