Tags:
Fiction,
Romance,
Contemporary,
Adult,
Classic,
best friends,
Bachelor,
Marriage of Convenience,
Childhood,
Forever Love,
Single Woman,
Charade,
O'Rourke Family,
Silhouette Romance,
Best Bud,
Husband Material,
Just Friends,
Matrimony
sure Connor can help out.”
“Connor is a veterinarian! You aren’t having kittens.”
Despite his inner turmoil, Dylan enjoyed the frantic look on his brother’s face. Kane was usually so unflappable…about everything except his wife. When it came to Beth, Kane was so wildly in love that he was completely irrational.
“I think an M.D. would be best under the circumstances,” said Liam O’Rourke, a cousin Dylan didn’t know well. He was a practicing physician who’d recently moved back to the Seattle area from Chicago. “Let’s go inside and I’ll give Beth a quick exam.”
Beth sent Kate an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry to interfere with your big day.”
“Don’t be silly,” Kate assured her. “I can’t imagine anything better. It makes the whole thing more memorable.”
“Everyone stay and enjoy the party. We’ll be back out in a minute,” Beth said. “I’m not going to miss this reception.”
“Unless you’re giving birth,” muttered Kane.
With the mood broken, everyone began drifting around, helping themselves to food and catching up on news. Kate ditched her wedding bouquet behind a rhododendron bush and began serving cake. There were a few protests about getting pictures of the bride and groom and the traditional cake cutting ceremony, but she just shook her head and kept filling plates.
Anything to keep from crying.
Why in the world, now that she was halfway to getting what she wanted, was she so sad?
She’d known Dylan didn’t want a wedding that smacked of a real marriage and commitment. And while she’d been secretly thrilled with the romantic frills and mood of the day, she now realized how false it all was. There was nothing romantic about her arrangement with Dylan, and Beth going into labor was just another reminder that his name on a marriage certificate didn’t mean anything.
Kane adored Beth, while Dylan saw her as an over-indulged kid who needed rescuing on a regular basis.
She had a year to make things work between them, and until then, she wouldn’t be a member of the O’Rourke family, no matter how many wedding toasts were made or how warmly they welcomed her.
“Are you okay?” Dylan asked a few minutes later, when she’d finally been coaxed away from the cake table and was sitting with a plate of food on her lap.
“I’m fine.”
“You look pale.”
“I’m always pale.”
He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You also aren’t eating.”
“I’m not hungry. You eat it,” Kate muttered, handing him the plate. Her stomach was unsettled enough.
With a small shrug, Dylan dug his fork into the food.
His appetite certainly didn’t seem affected, she thought irritably. Why was he so stubborn? Why did he keep seeing her as a child, rather than a grown woman? She felt frozen in time when it came to Dylan, as if caught in an ageless piece of amber. If she had any sense she would have given up years ago.
But at least she would finally know if there was any hope for them. If the worst happened, she wouldn’t stay in the Seattle area. There were too many reminders of the past here, too much chance of being caught unaware by emotions and old hurts. And by memories. Some memories would haunt her forever, like being kissed by Dylan and the stormy expression on his face afterward.
If he hadn’t wanted to kiss her like that, why had he done it?
They were alone for the moment and she took a breath. “Dylan, about earlier, when you…we…”
“I know, Mom must be ecstatic with the baby coming,” he said, deliberately misunderstanding. She sighed. Men in general avoided discussing relationships, why should Dylan be an exception?
A hand tugged on her skirt and she looked down. It was either Amy or Peggy, though she didn’t know which one was which. Amy and Peggy were Pegeen’s identical twin granddaughters.
“Are you my aunt now?” the child asked.
“Y…yes.”
“Goody.” She clambered into Kate’s lap and kissed her.
Kate’s spirits