ONE EAGER BRIDE TO GO Read online

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  ONE EAGER BRIDE TO GO

  Pamela Burford

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  Contents:

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

  Epilogue

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  Chapter 1

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  "Oh no, you don't! Not him. No way!" Sunny Bleecker gaped at the man striding through the ballroom's open pocket doors some thirty feet away. His height made him easy to spot over the heads of the wedding guests milling around.

  Automatically Sunny tried to back away, but her friends Raven Radley and Amanda Coppersmith, standing on either side of her, kept a firm grip on her arms. Sunny's fingers tightened painfully on the bridal bouquet she'd just caught.

  "Hear us out," Raven said.

  "You must be nuts!" Sunny cried. "You were supposed to find me a husband—as in a brand-new guy, someone I've never laid eyes on before. Not—not…" With her arms imprisoned, she nodded helplessly at the latecomer to Charli and Grant's wedding reception, this specter from her past, now scanning faces as he wove his way through the throng of guests.

  He'd let his hair grow, she noticed, that pale wheat-colored hair that looked as thick and soft now as it had been when the two of them graduated from high school. Then, he'd worn it short, practically a crew cut. Now it fell almost to his shoulders.

  Charli detached herself from her bridegroom, Grant Sterling, to lay a reassuring hand on Sunny's shoulder. Charli looked so lovely in her white satin wedding gown, her long, dark hair pulled back in a chignon encircled with cream rosebuds. Of the four best friends, the four lifelong pals who comprised the Wedding Ring matchmaking club, Carlotta "Charli" Rossi was the one who'd never expected to get married. Yet here she was, with her sexy, devoted husband, the two of them deliriously in love—the latest Wedding Ring success story.

  Charli and Grant had exchanged vows during a beautiful, moving church wedding followed by this sumptuous reception for 320 guests. Three months earlier Raven Muldoon had married Hunter Radley, and they'd just announced they were expecting a baby.

  Two down, two to go. Sunny had just turned thirty, so it was now officially time for the other three members of the Wedding Ring, her best friends in the world, to find her a husband. That was the solemn pact they'd made twelve years earlier at the end of high school, and it was an obligation they all took seriously.

  For Raven and Charli, the pact had worked. And Sunny suspected that even Amanda, who resisted the idea of walking down the aisle again after two failed marriages, would change her mind when her turn came in a few months.

  But it was supposed to be Sunny's turn now, and look who the Wedding Ring had chosen for her!

  A few moments earlier, Sunny's friends had wished her a happy thirtieth birthday. "What do you want more than anything?" Raven had asked her. "What have you always wanted more than anything?"

  That was a no-brainer. A husband. A husband and children. It was all Sunny had ever wanted, for as long as she could remember. The kind of loving happiness her parents had known for thirty-three years.

  Then Charli had announced that the Wedding Ring had made its decision; they'd chosen a prospective husband for Sunny. Raven had reminded her that under the terms of their pact, she was required to date the chosen man for a full three months, as long as he was interested.

  "I know the rules," Sunny had muttered. "Now, show me my man!"

  That was when they'd pointed out Kirk Larsen, just entering the ballroom.

  "You guys cheated!" Sunny struggled without success to yank her arms from her friends' unyielding grasp. "I was supposed to get a new man! Made from all-new materials—none of this recycled stuff. What are you trying to pull?"

  Hunter spoke up. "Sunny, I don't think they're trying to pull anything. As I understand it, you and Kirk were pretty tight back in high school."

  "Were!" Sunny responded. "Note the past tense. Kirk went away to college—to California, no less, clear across the country!—and left me behind. If I wasn't good enough for him then—"

  "Come on, Sunny, it wasn't like that." Raven's expression was chiding, but her voice was gentle.

  "How do you know what it was like?" Sunny's face stung with angry heat. "It happened to me, not you!"

  Grant rubbed his chin. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

  Amanda's frustration was evident. "Listen, Sunny. You two were tight back then, you really cared about each other, and face it. You haven't felt the same way about a guy since." She softened her tone, as well as her grip on Sunny's arm. "Charli and Raven and I just want you to be happy. We knocked heads trying to come up with the right guy for you, and then when Kirk's mom told my mom he was back in town, well…" She looked at her friends for support. "The pieces just kind of fell into place."

  "You two have very similar personalities," Raven said persuasively. "You're both lighthearted. Buoyant. You're made for each other."

  "Give him a chance," Charli said.

  "Three months." Amanda held up three fingers. "That's all we're asking."

  Sunny had been tracking Kirk's progress across the ballroom. He moved with a long-legged, masculine grace that she still recognized after all these years. He hadn't noticed her yet. "This is all probably for nothing," she said in a small voice. "I mean he—he probably won't be interested."

  "Well, if he is…" Charli said.

  Sunny sighed. If he was interested, she was obligated to give the relationship three months. She'd spent a dozen years trying to get over her teenage heartbreak, and not until she set eyes on Kirk Larsen again did she realize she hadn't done a very good job of it. "Does he … does he know he and I are supposed to…?"

  Amanda made a face. "I thought you said you knew the rules. Rule number two—the man must not be told he's part of a matchmaking scheme."

  "Until after he's been reeled in and landed," Hunter added, with a mischievous grin.

  "You have no right to complain," Amanda told him. "You're not even the one who was supposed to be reeled in and landed. We'd targeted your brother for that honor."

  Raven released Sunny to cuddle up to Hunter, the brother of the man the Wedding Ring had chosen for her. "Well, I for one am glad your first choice didn't work out."

  "Which only shows," Sunny said, "that the Wedding Ring isn't infallible. We made the wrong choice for Raven, and maybe you guys have made the wrong choice for me."

  "Shh!" Charli hissed, cocking her head toward their quarry, who was fast approaching.

  Kirk's gaze was fixed exclusively on the bride. He appeared not to notice Sunny or any of his other old pals. "Charli!" He gave her a bear hug and a kiss on the cheek, before holding her at arm's length. His pale blue eyes crinkled at the corners. "You are without a doubt the most beautiful bride I've ever seen."

  Charli blushed furiously. It was no secret that she'd always considered herself plain and mousy. Only when she'd fallen in love with Grant had her singular beauty come to the fore. Sunny knew that Charli's newfound self-assurance had much to do with it.

  Sunny's heart pounded in giddy anticipation as Charli introduced Kirk to her bridegroom. Kirk congratulated Grant and apologized for his late arrival. "My son has an ear infection. My folks are babysitting, but I wanted to wait till his fever went down before I left him."

  Sunny's frantic heartbeat stuttered. A dizzying wash of heat swept her. He was married. So much for the Wedding Ring. So much for rekindling the old flame. Even if she wanted to. Which she didn't.

  Sunny didn't dare look at Amanda or Raven. She couldn't bear to see the dismay on their faces, to feel their chagrin as they realized their plan had fizzled before it ever got off the ground. She took a step back, and another one, trying to
blend into the teeming crowd of wedding guests.

  Kirk and Amanda exchanged hugs, then he greeted Raven, who introduced him to Hunter. Raven glanced around, spotted Sunny trying to shuffle out of sight, and hauled her back by the arm. "Look who else is here," Raven said.

  Kirk's electric-blue gaze lit on Sunny, snatching her breath and making her light-headed. He blinked, slowly, and his mouth curved in a tender smile. "Sunny."

  His hand settled on her shoulder as he leaned in for a kiss—on the cheek, Sunny assumed, until his lips touched hers, lightly, fleetingly.

  Well, that made sense, she supposed. This was, after all, the man she'd lost her virginity to, all those years ago. Her first serious boyfriend.

  Okay, her only serious boyfriend. She could understand why her friends had latched on to the idea of reuniting them. What Amanda had said was true. Sunny hadn't felt the same way about any other man since Kirk had boarded his flight for California twelve years earlier.

  So where was Mrs. Kirk Larsen today? Back in the Golden State, no doubt, keeping the home fires burning while her husband and son made this pilgrimage to Kirk's boyhood home on Long Island.

  Say something, she commanded herself.

  "Kirk." Sunny pasted on a polite smile. "It's been … a long time."

  Something passed behind his eyes, something akin to sadness, and then it was gone. Sunny wondered if she'd imagined it. After all, she hadn't seen Kirk in over a decade; she couldn't expect to read his moods as easily as she once had.

  His face had matured. No traces of boyhood softness remained. Likewise, his body had lost its youthful whip-leanness. Though he was obviously still fit and trim, his oatmeal-colored suit jacket could not conceal broad shoulders and a sinewy thickness in all the right places.

  Sunny became aware of an awkward watchfulness on the part of her friends. She felt more than foolish after that contentious discussion right before Kirk joined them. The man's spoken for, okay? she was tempted to tell them. So just relax already!

  The emcee announced, "It's time for the garter ceremony. Grant, bring your beautiful bride up here!"

  The guests gathered on the sidelines as Grant led Charli onto the dance floor and settled her on the chair that had been placed there. Shyly she dragged the hem of her gown to just above her knee. A frilly blue garter came into view, eliciting an enthusiastic response from the male guests and a few strains of stripper music from the band. Grant lingered over the chore of sliding the garter down her leg, taking his time, whispering something that had his bride coloring up and laughing behind her hand.

  The emcee wasted no time calling up all the unmarried men to try to catch the garter. Sunny was looking forward to this. A few minutes earlier, Charli had tossed her bouquet and Sunny had practically tackled all the other single women to secure possession of it. That meant she was destined to become the next bride. It might be meaningless tradition, but hey, you never knew. Tradition also dictated that the man who caught the bride's garter would be the next fellow to tie the knot.

  As the single men congregated some distance behind him, Grant prepared to toss the garter over his shoulder. Hunter nudged Kirk. "You heard the man—get out there."

  Was Hunter clueless or what? Sunny wondered. They'd all heard Kirk mention his son.

  Kirk slid his hands into his pockets. "That's okay, I'll just watch."

  Laughing, Hunter gave him a hard shove, propelling him toward the action. "It doesn't work that way. You've got a garter to catch!"

  Kirk gave in, with obvious apathy, standing at the rear of the group with his hands still crammed in his pockets. The drumroll began.

  Sunny turned to Hunter and asked, "Why did you do that? Isn't Kirk—"

  Hunter cupped his hands around his mouth to shout, "Long bomb, Grant! Hit the back wall!"

  Balling up the garter, Grant threw it with vigor, sending it sailing high over the heads of the men waiting to catch it. Sunny watched the scrap of blue lace arc directly toward Kirk as the other guys tripped over their feet and slammed into one another in an effort to snag it. At the last second, a bemused-looking Kirk simply reached up and plucked the thing out of midair.

  Hunter let out a whoop of triumph. Sunny tried to question him again about Kirk's marital status, but she never got the chance as Raven and Amanda turned her bodily and marched her onto the dance floor toward the chair Charli had vacated.

  Sunny's heart stumbled. "Wait a minute. Time out."

  She knew the drill; she'd witnessed it often enough. The guy who caught the garter then had to put it on the gal who caught the bouquet.

  She refused to sit. "Listen, I don't think this is such a good—"

  Her friends shoved her onto the chair, hard, as the emcee ordered Kirk front and center. Then it was just the two of them, in the middle of the huge dance floor, ringed by hundreds of cheering, clapping wedding guests.

  The emcee was giving Kirk instructions, suggestive little pearls of wisdom. Sunny sat clutching the bouquet in her sweaty fingers, her trembling knees clamped together beneath her ankle-length, vintage chiffon dress.

  She looked up at Kirk, now standing before her with the silly lace garter dangling from his long, suntanned fingers. She made herself meet his eyes, expecting to see, at best, mild annoyance. Instead he wore the strangest expression, half melancholic, half amused.

  Kirk knelt on one knee before her, like a man preparing to ask for his lady's hand in marriage. A wave of scalding heat crawled up Sunny's face.

  "I'm sorry about this," she said in an undertone, for his ears only, wondering where the urge to apologize had come from. But she knew where. She glanced at her Wedding Ring pals and their husbands, standing at the edge of the crowd, shouting encouragement.

  "You are?" he asked, a funny smile lighting his blue, blue eyes. He grasped the fluttery hem of her dress, multiple layers of floral chiffon in muted pastel tones.

  Good Lord, he'd turned into a beautiful man—so handsome it almost hurt to look at him. Sunny's knees locked even tighter together. Her fingers cramped around the wrapped stem of the bouquet. "What I mean is … there's a little too much history between us. This is—" She jumped as he inched the hem up her calves. A breathy chuckle escaped her. "Well, it's weird, that's all."

  "You let your hair grow." Slowly, very slowly, Kirk raised the hem of her dress, his eyes never straying from hers.

  Sunny reached up to finger the long, wavy, auburn strands draped over her breast. She'd twisted the side pieces into loose, reddish brown ropes and secured them behind her head with an antique marcasite barrette. Back in high school her hair had been a short, curly cap.

  He added, "You look like one of those ethereal beauties in a Pre-Raphaelite painting."

  The compliment suffused Sunny with a warm glow, although her ignorance embarrassed her. She didn't know a Pre-Raphaelite painting from a Cubist. That wasn't the sort of knowledge one gained waiting tables at the local diner.

  "You grew your hair, too," she observed. "It looks nice." Does your son's mother like it?

  Her hem had risen as far as her knees. Kirk said, "If you don't unlock your legs, I might have a bit of trouble getting this thing on you." He glanced at the boisterous crowd, spurring on the action with applause and choice bits of advice. "Just how much of a show do you want to give these folks?"

  Sunny swallowed hard. She took a slow, deep breath and willed her tense legs muscles to relax. Delicately she nudged one foot forward.

  "No shoes," he observed, with a small smile. "Still the wild child, I see."

  "I took them off to give me a better chance of catching the bouquet."

  "Tough competition?"

  Sunny grinned, recalling how she'd nearly lost out to one of Charli's cousins from Detroit, the tall one with the troweled-on makeup and the hot pink tube dress. "Yeah, but I'm tougher."

  "That's one word I'd never have used to describe you. Tough." Kirk pulled the layers of chiffon higher still, letting the hem settle partway up her thighs, as the rowd
ier male guests hooted in approval. He lifted her foot and rested it on the leg he knelt on. His thigh felt hard and muscular under the sole of her foot, and hot, even through his dress slacks and her nylon stockings.

  He slipped the frilly garter over her toes, up her ankle and calf, to the accompaniment of wolf whistles and more suggestive music. He slid it over her knee and higher. Sunny had to work hard to keep her breathing even. As he positioned the garter a decorous two inches above her knee, the tips of his fingers happened to brush just under the hem of her dress.

  Kirk went still. He locked his gaze with hers while his warm fingertips, hidden from view, traced the top edge of her stocking and the clasp connecting it to her garter belt by way of a satiny elastic strap.

  Though his expression never changed, his crystal blue eyes took on a smoky hue that pulled at memories long suppressed. Then his hands were gone, and Sunny struggled to drag in a shaky breath.

  The guests clapped and cheered. Kirk stood and offered Sunny his hand. She rose on wobbly legs, keenly aware of the lace garter encircling her thigh, and the lingering imprint of his fingers on the bare skin just above her stocking.

  Vaguely she heard the emcee inviting Charli and Grant to join the two of them on the dance floor. The band started playing a slow standard. Kirk took the bouquet from her and lobbed it to Amanda, standing on the sidelines. He pulled Sunny into his arms, and they started moving to the music. He was bigger, taller, more solid than she remembered, but one thing hadn't changed. His scent, the clean, masculine essence of his skin, was the same.

  Sunny was reminded of the first time they'd made love all those years ago, when Kirk's parents had spent the weekend in Cambridge, Massachusetts, having driven his older sister to Harvard. The scent of Kirk had been an aphrodisiac as she'd lain naked with him on his narrow twin bed, nuzzling his hair, his throat, his chest, burning with adolescent passion, dizzy with anticipation, aching with love for the golden youth she'd lost her heart to.