JEREMIAH WATCHED RENEE walking ahead of him, captivated by the way her jeans hugged her butt. He didn’t think his body could take much more of this.
In the house, Jessica pulled Renee into the living room, binder in hand. Renee gave him one last glance before disappearing from view, and then she was gone. He didn’t think Jessica expected him to follow, but he was going to do it anyway, when Aaron walked out of the hallway and came toward his friend. “Thanks for all the help today. I think getting all that done eased Jessica’s mind some. You must’ve been really bored to want to come by today and work on wedding stuff.”
Jeremiah didn’t trust himself to respond. Aaron knew him too well, and he was worried that anything he said might sound suspicious.
Aaron didn’t notice. He said, “Well, tomorrow the girls are going into town so Renee can do a dress fitting and cake tasting, so you’re off the hook for wedding stuff.”
Jeremiah tried not to let his frustration show. The week was just getting started and he was already down a day, and for no good reason. Really, the only good reason would be something along the lines of saving puppies or getting a limb amputated, and even then he was pretty sure he could work around it. But there was nothing he could do. It wasn’t like he could say anything.
He hated secrets.
“I thought you and Jessica had decided your cake flavors already,” he responded, for lack of anything else to say.
“We did, a month ago, but Jessica wants to be sure that we made the right choice. And she wants Renee to try them so she can get input from someone who would tell her honestly if the flavors we picked are good.”
“And that’s not you?”
“With cake, I’m completely honest, but I guess my bar is set too low or something because I thought we should order every flavor they make. Seriously, we should buy wedding cakes from this shop as a weekly thing.”
Jeremiah couldn’t do anything about that day, then, but he wasn’t about to lose any more of them. “Well, think of something for me to do on Monday. The wedding will be here before you know it.”
“Actually, I have to go pick up the rings on Monday. Want to go with me? You’ll be holding on to them anyway.”
“Sure. How about I come over for breakfast and then we can go.”
Aaron smiled at his friend. “You want free food out of this deal?”
“Hey, a man’s got to eat,” Jeremiah replied, but he wasn’t thinking about the food.
The more time he spent in their house, the more time he got around Renee and the more chances he had to be alone with her. If he could come up with a plausible reason, he’d live there for the next seven days. With Renee right across the hall...well, they would definitely be able to come up with a few fun ways to spend their nights.
Since that didn’t seem feasible, he would take what he could get.
* * *
RENEE WAS SITTING with her sister on the couch reviewing the menu when Jeremiah and Aaron walked in. Aaron sat beside Jessica in a space so small that she was nearly sitting on his lap—which he didn’t seem to mind in the least—and Jeremiah grabbed a chair nearby.
She wished she could be sitting in his lap at the moment, but instead had to fight to hide the way her body reacted the moment he walked into the room. This fun idea of secretly indulging in her fantasies was rapidly becoming torture, but she didn’t see any way around that if she wanted to have her cake and eat it, too. And Jeremiah was the most addictive cake she’d ever seen.
“Does everyone think corn bread is the right choice over sweet rolls?” Jessica asked, looking around at the small group.
“Corn bread matches the whole Texas country theme you’ve got going on,” Renee answered, trying not to sound amused.
Jessica seemed relieved by Renee’s answer, which just made it harder for Renee to keep a straight face. Jessica had only been in Texas for two years, but she seemed to have jumped on the country bandwagon wholeheartedly as soon as she and Aaron started living together.
“I love corn bread,” Jeremiah answered. “In fact, if it’s really great corn bread, I might end up eating way too much of it, leaving your other guests to starve and making myself sick in the process, effectively ruining the entire—Ow!”
Jeremiah rubbed the spot on his bicep where Aaron had just punched him. He and Renee shared a grin as Aaron settled back into his spot on the couch.
Aaron wrapped his arm around Jessica, pulling her tight against him. “The corn bread will be great,” he said, kissing her temple.
Jessica gave her fiancé that dreamy smile again, then turned to Jeremiah. “No joking allowed about anything wedding-related,” she told him pointedly.
“I never agreed to that,” Jeremiah responded, flashing Renee another grin that made her weak in the knees.
Jessica saw the smile and wheeled on her sister. “And don’t you start conspiring with him, Renee.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Renee answered, holding up her hands in innocence.
“Let’s keep it that way,” Jessica retorted, crossing her arms and snuggling back into Aaron’s chest, trying to look as serious as she could. “I can still un-bridesmaid you, you know.”
Jeremiah grinned. “She’s stuck with me because I’m the only groomsman, but she’s still got Cindy if she kicks you out. You’re expendable.”
Jessica nodded in agreement and Renee laughed.
“No conspiring,” Renee promised.
It wasn’t precisely true, Renee thought, but not in the way Jessica was thinking, so there was no reason to say anything about that.
* * *
THE REST OF the afternoon passed in much the same way, with Jessica trying to get serious answers and Jeremiah and Renee alternating teasing her. Finally, Renee set a hand on the binder. “It all sounds perfect, Jessica. You did a great job.”
Jessica took a deep breath and closed the binder, to Renee’s relief. She had come up with a way to get Jeremiah alone again, and been waiting nearly an hour to implement it. She stood and stretched, glancing sideways at Jeremiah. “I think I need to take a walk.”
Right on cue, Jeremiah jumped up. “Me, too. I can show you around the property.”
Excitement welled inside Renee as she imagined them out under the trees together. It was a little cool out, but she was sure they could think of ways to stay warm.
“That’s a great idea,” Jessica said. “We have some time before we need to start getting dinner ready. Let’s all go for a walk.”
Renee bit her lip in frustration. Her sister was going to be the death of her. Either that or she would be the death of her sister.
Jessica and Aaron led the way out of the room. Renee looked over at Jeremiah, who was shaking his head in disbelief. Without a word, they followed the other two out of the house and across a wide expanse of lawn. Jessica started talking about the acreage and features of the property like a motivated real estate agent, but Renee only half listened. Most of her mind was focused on Jeremiah walking beside her. She could almost feel him, like an electric charge that was building up, about to explode.
She wondered if it was possible to burst into flames from sexual frustration.
When they were nearly at a paddock full of horses, Jeremiah grabbed her hand and pulled her behind a tree. The moment they were out of sight, she leaned in for a kiss. It was hardly any privacy, but at this point beggars couldn’t be choosers.
Jeremiah leaned away, though. In answer to the look she gave him, he said, “Sorry, but if I get any closer to you I won’t be able to control myself, and I’m pretty sure Jessica would notice if we started having sex up against this tree.”
Renee’s attention shifted to the tree. Maybe if they were really quiet...
She couldn’t believe she was even considering that. She needed to get laid. Bad.
Jeremiah continued, his voice husky with pent-up desire, “It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to see each other tomorrow—” the tree was looking better and better—“but I’ll be here Monday, and I will come up with a way for us to get alone that afternoon. Several ways, just in case your sister pulls something like this again. Because I don’t know if I can take much more of this.”
Renee nodded, and Jeremiah pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, leaving a trail of fire where his fingers touched her skin.
Monday. She could probably survive until then.
After one last long look at each other, they broke apart and came out from behind the tree, walking casually up to where Jessica and Aaron stood fifty feet away.
“Where’d you disappear to?” Jessica asked when they approached.
“I was telling Renee about the trees on the property,” Jeremiah answered.
Jessica nodded and turned back to the horses. She began telling Renee about them, giving each one’s name and breed. Renee tried to pay attention, but her mind was too distracted for her to care much about horses.
When they got back to the house, it was time to start dinner. Renee didn’t even dare to hope that she and Jeremiah would have some time to themselves, and she was right. “Jeremiah, can you make your sauce for the pork chops?” Jessica asked the moment they stepped in the door.
“What should I do?” Renee asked when she realized she’d be sitting alone in the other room if she didn’t volunteer to help.
Since Renee didn’t have any actual cooking skills, she was given salad duty. In no time, the four of them were sitting around the table, one or the other occasionally going to check on something as dinner cooked.
Once everything was nearly ready, Renee set the table, making sure that she and Jeremiah would be sitting beside each other. If that was the only way she was going to get close to him, by God, she was going to take advantage of it.
* * *
AFTER WASHING HIS HANDS, Jeremiah walked back to the table that was now prepared for dinner. He paused for only a moment when he realized that Renee had placed them next to one another, then went to his spot with what he hoped was nonchalance. They would be under the gaze of Jessica and Aaron the whole time, but at least he could hope for some opportunities to brush against Renee’s arm, even touch her hand under the table. At least it would be something.
And then Renee slipped her hand into his lap, rubbing against his upper thigh, obliterating any chance Jeremiah had of staying under control.
“Are you okay, Jeremiah?” Jessica asked, looking concerned.
No surprise there. He probably looked like he’d choked on his own tongue, which had very nearly happened when he realized what Renee was doing. Her hand inched higher ever-so-slightly, and it took everything he had not to react.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said, hoping his voice didn’t sound as weird to them as it did in his ears. “I just swallowed wrong.” He coughed to give his story credibility and prayed the couple didn’t notice he hadn’t eaten anything yet.
Jessica went back to her food and Jeremiah relaxed a little bit, giving Renee a quick glance out of the corner of his eye. She had her water glass up to her mouth, but he could tell by the tilt of her lips that she was having difficulty suppressing a laugh.
Two could play at that game.
Luckily, the table was big and solid, large enough to fit twice as many people, and high enough to hide any activity going on below. He intended to take complete advantage of it. As he leaned forward to grab the butter for his roll with one hand, the other rubbed suggestively against the denim of Renee’s jeans—first on her thigh, then moving quickly to her center. He knew the pressure had hit home when a tiny gasp burst from her. It was his turn to hide a smile behind a water glass.
Jessica and Aaron were fortunately so absorbed in conversation—he had no idea what they were talking about, but whatever it was clearly interested them—that they didn’t notice anything odd about what was happening on the other side of the table. And it was a good thing for him, too, because Renee answered back with a foot riding so far up his leg she had to be double-jointed or something.
That thought made the room feel much too warm. He needed air, but there was no way he’d be getting up from that table. Not while Renee was still doing things that might make him implode.
By the end of dinner, he was so hot and bothered that it took several minutes before he was able to stand.
Long past dark, Jeremiah left, his body aching for release. He didn’t know if that woman was sent from heaven or hell, but either way, all he could think about was the next time he’d be able to get her alone. All the things he wanted to do to her, should the opportunity come up, raced through his mind as he eased himself into his truck for the long, lonely ride home.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, Renee stood under the spray from the showerhead, splashing the hot water on her face. She knew she had to pull herself together—she and Jessica would be tasting cake in two hours—but she felt terrible. Her night had been restless, her brain conjuring fantasy after steamy fantasy of Jeremiah. If she wasn’t able to fulfill some of them soon, she was pretty sure her body would seize up and send her to the hospital out of spite.
She still couldn’t believe she’d been so brazen during dinner the night before. What had she been thinking, playing footsie like that, with Jessica right there?
She hadn’t been thinking at all, plain and simple. Jeremiah was so damn sexy that being near him made her brain shut off.
And the worst part was, she couldn’t regret one moment of it. Just thinking of his hand sliding up her thigh sent her blood pressure skyrocketing, and she couldn’t wait for him to touch her again. Whenever that would be.
Rinsing her hair, she pictured what it would be like to have Jeremiah in the shower with her. Soapy. Wet. Naked. So very naked.
She bit her lip in frustration. How much more of this could she take?
One day, she told herself. If she survived today, Jeremiah had promised that the next one would make up for it. In the meantime, though, she would need to do something to get her through the day.
Her hand slid down her body, edging through the dark thatch of curls covering her sex, her finger sliding over her clitoris as she allowed her mind’s eye to return to the picture of Jeremiah in the shower with her.
Her body was so ready after all the sexual torment of the past few days that it only took a couple of minutes for her to shudder as an orgasm shot through her. The tension in her body eased, but didn’t disappear entirely. She had a feeling she would need Jeremiah in the flesh, and only the flesh, in order to completely satisfy her.
By the time she got downstairs, she had cooled down enough to face her sister and the day before her. The sexless, Jeremiah-less day.
At least there would be cake.
* * *
RENEE STOOD IN front of the mirror, taking one last look at her dress. She had gotten it tailored weeks before, but Jessica had asked her to try it on one last time at her bridal boutique, so here she was. The seamstress, a plump, grandmotherly, silver-haired woman, studied the satin dress carefully. “It’s a perfect fit,” she declared at last, “and quite lovely on you, dear.”
Renee glanced at her reflection. To her surprise, the color didn’t seem to contrast quite as terribly with her hair as she had first thought. And all the cake they’d eaten that morning hadn’t attached itself to her hips quite yet. She didn’t look bad at all.
“I told you it was fine,” Renee called to her sister, who was hidden from view by a large curtain.
“It never hurts to check,” Jessica called back, her voice muffled.
The seamstress smiled at her. She was clearly familiar with Jessica. The curtain slid back and her sister stepped out of the dressing room, and their attention shifted to the woman in the beautiful white wedding dress.
The lace halter of the dress showed off Jessica’s tan skin, the bodice hugged her curves and the skirt flowed to the floor in waves of fabric. Renee felt a pang of jealousy for her sister’s height and perfect proportions. She was certain no wedding dress would ever look that good on her.
Not that she was anywhere near needing or wanting one, she reminded herself. There was too much to do before that even became an issue.
Jeremiah’s easy smile flashed through her mind, but she pushed it away. Thinking about sexy flings while in a wedding shop was a definite no-no.
Jessica stood in front of the mirror. “What do you think?” she asked her sister.
Renee wanted to hug her, but was afraid of wrinkling the dress, so she made do with a squeeze of her hand. “You look so beautiful.”
Jessica sighed and ran her hands across the silky skirt, that dreamy look back in her eyes. The one she had whenever she looked at Aaron. Renee had that feeling in her gut again, the not-jealousy one.
“It looks like it’s ready to take home,” Jessica said, turning her back to the mirror and eyeing the train.
Renee nodded. Jessica did one last thorough check, then started moving back toward her dressing room. “I better get this off before something happens to it,” she said.
Renee looked around at the sterile environment. “What could possibly happen to it here?”
“I don’t know. Somebody could walk in with tomato sauce and trip and spill it all over me or something.”
Renee didn’t say a word. There was no point commenting every single time her sister worried about something ridiculous.
As Renee moved toward her own dressing room, her sister turned back to look at her with a smile. “Remember when we were kids and would play dress-up wedding with that old white dress of Mom’s?”
Renee chuckled at the memory. “Yeah. That was fun.”
Jessica’s smile widened. “We’d take turns being the bride and the bridesmaid.”
“You were really bad at taking turns. You always wanted to be the bride.”
“Well, I’ve grown up and gotten much better at taking turns.”
Renee wasn’t sure exactly what Jessica was talking about, but she had a bad feeling as to where this was going. “What do you mean?”
“It’s your turn,” Jessica said, pointing to the dressing room.
Renee moved the curtain that served as the door to her dressing room, and there was a giant mass of white fabric that hadn’t been there before. “Oh no,” she muttered.
“Oh yes,” Jessica responded, triumphant.
“I’m not putting that on.” What was Jessica thinking?
“Come on. I saw it here months ago and thought of you. Please? For me?” Jessica begged.
Renee cautiously moved closer to the dress, as if she was afraid it would bite. The strapless bodice sparkled, and the full skirt looked light and airy. “Rhinestones make you think of me?”
“Just try it on,” Jessica demanded.
Renee pressed her lips together. She’d do it, but only because it was her sister’s wedding week and she was trying to be nice. Not because the fabric was beautiful or she was at all curious how it would look on her.
One of the saleswomen followed her into the dressing room and helped her into what looked like miles of fabric. “When are you getting married?” the woman asked.
“I’m not,” Renee answered as she wriggled herself into place. “My sister is making me do this.”
The woman began lacing up the back and adjusting the dress until it sat comfortably on Renee’s hips. “Well, I think she picked the perfect dress for you. Now you know which one to get whenever you and Mr. Right decide to settle down.”
Renee had to force herself not to shake her head. Clearly the woman was trying to make a sale, because there was no way she could pull off a dress like this. On some tall curvy woman it might be beautiful, but she was sure that she’d look like a little kid playing dress-up, just like she and Jessica used to do.
She stepped out of the dressing room, hoping Jessica would let her change back into her regular clothing as soon as she saw how ridiculous this dress looked on her.
Jessica was standing there in jeans and a T-shirt. When she saw Renee, her eyes widened.
“You really thought I could pull this off?” Renee asked, gesturing at the full skirt that poufed out from her hips.
Jessica just pointed at the mirrors. Renee sighed and walked over to them. Then her breath caught in her throat as she took in her reflection. She didn’t look silly at all. The rhinestones on the corset top and the wide tulle skirt should have looked like too much, but somehow it just looked elegant and...well...
Beautiful, she admitted to herself. She looked beautiful.
Renee couldn’t stop staring at her image in the mirror. Jessica beamed at her. “I knew you’d love it.”
Renee couldn’t deny it.
Finally, reality set in. What was she doing goggling at herself in a wedding dress? She wasn’t getting married. Not even close.
She looked at her sister. “I’m not getting married anytime soon, Jessica. So why did you want me to try on this dress?”
“For one, I was sure it’d be perfect on you,” Jessica answered. Then her expression became more serious. “And for another, I think you’re hiding from any opportunity to find a relationship that makes you happy. I thought maybe this would help.”
Renee didn’t know what to say, so she just continued to look at her reflection. Was her overly blunt sister right? “I’m too busy for a relationship, Jess.”
Jessica rolled her eyes. “You choose to be too busy. Don’t think I haven’t noticed, even from Texas. You never go out on dates, and you work every chance you get. You’ve been doing this to yourself for years now. Have you thought about why?”
Renee tried to push away her sister’s words, but it was hard. She reminded herself why she worked so hard, and how it was finally paying off with her dream job so close she could smell it.
Those thoughts didn’t stop the roiling in her stomach, though. Maybe she’d eaten too many cake samples that morning, she told herself.
She wasn’t sure she believed it.
With difficulty, she tore her eyes away from her reflection. “Can I put on my regular clothes now?”
She tried to sound exasperated, but by the look on Jessica’s face as she nodded, Renee doubted it worked.
After changing back into her jeans and T-shirt, Renee left the store with Jessica, wedding dress in tow. Renee said nothing about the other dress, but her sister’s triumphant expression didn’t leave her face the entire way back to the ranch.
Renee felt unsettled about the whole thing. Even the perfect dress and Jessica’s words shouldn’t change her feelings about marriage and all that, but for some reason, she didn’t feel nearly as terrified by the prospect as she used to. She was going to be too busy with her new job to even consider a serious relationship, but the usual relief that came with that idea was no longer there. It felt more like resignation.
Maybe her sister was right. That thought left a bad taste in her mouth and she pushed it away.
She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.
When they walked inside Jessica and Aaron’s home, Renee flopped on the couch, exhausted. She felt like she’d had more cake and self-reflection than anyone should on one day.
Jessica sat beside her, and Renee could feel her stare. She opened her eyes and waited for whatever her sister was going to say.
“I know it’s been a long, wedding-focused day, but do you mind going through the receipts with me to make sure I haven’t missed anything?” Jessica asked, a pleading look in her eyes.
Renee was absolutely positive her sister hadn’t missed anything, but nodded anyway. At least Jessica didn’t seem inclined to discuss the dress or Renee’s relationships or anything like that. She wasn’t sure she would’ve been able to take much more of that in one day.
“Great!” Jessica exclaimed, bouncing up to grab her binder, a large manila envelope and her laptop. She passed the computer over to Renee. “I’ll read off an item, and you can go through the folder on my desktop. I have a few paper copies,” she said, pointing to the envelope, “but almost everything is digital.”
Renee placed the laptop on her legs and began to open the folder labeled Wedding when something else caught her eye—a document titled “City Girl, Country Life.” While Jessica flipped through her binder in search of the right page, Renee opened the document and began reading.
Her eyes skimmed down through the pages. It was an article all about transitioning to life on a ranch. And it was good. Renee could easily imagine it as one of the articles she’d design spreads for back in New York.
“Did you write this?” she asked, turning the screen toward her sister. Jessica looked up, confused, but she blushed the moment she saw what Renee had opened.
“Oh, that’s nothing. Just something I wrote when I first moved here,” Jessica said, trying to lean over Renee to close it.
Renee pulled the laptop back, out of her sister’s reach, relieved to find something new to focus on that had nothing to do with weddings or sexy cowboys. She was finally in an area where she felt confident. “This is great, Jess. You should submit it for publishing. I bet Empire would run it. We’re always looking for pieces with interesting perspectives.”
Jessica waved her fingers in front of her face, as if trying to clear the air around her. “I don’t think so. It was just for fun. I’m an editor, not a writer, remember?”
Renee pointed at the screen. “Looks to me like you’re both.”
Jessica grabbed the computer from Renee and closed the document before opening the wedding folder. “Anyway, back to the receipts.”
Renee didn’t say anything else about the piece, but she decided that she would get her sister to submit it to the magazine before the end of the week.
They spent an hour going through every item, and as expected, everything was in order. “I don’t know what you’re so worried about,” Renee told her sister as they stood and stretched. “You’ve planned it all in excruciating detail. At this point, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything you could have missed.”
Jessica nodded and held her beloved binder tight to her chest. “I know, but I just have this feeling that something’s going to go wrong, and I’m trying to catch it before the big day.”
Renee put her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “You’ve got it all taken care of. Just enjoy this time, okay?”
Jessica nodded, but she still didn’t seem reassured. Renee shrugged and began climbing the stairs to her room. She’d tried for years to stop her neurotic sister from worrying, but it never worked. Meanwhile, she had enough on her plate, between helping with the wedding, preparing for her new job and trying to simultaneously have a sexy tryst with Jeremiah and keep it totally under wraps.
As she dropped onto the bed and smelled his already-familiar scent, she finally allowed herself to think about him and their few short stolen kisses. He had been on her mind all day, but it was only now that she let herself truly delve into it.
Renee knew they would never be in a serious relationship, but she couldn’t stop her heart from fluttering when she thought of him. Something was different now, though. Ignoring her sister’s earlier words and trying to forget that dress was harder than she liked.
She grimaced and sat up, rubbing her face with her hands. Was that going to ruin her one chance to have a spectacular time with the sexiest man she’d ever met?
Renee hoped not, but it was all getting tied up in her head, and she didn’t like that. She grabbed her laptop and opened a page she’d been designing for a future issue. At least work could keep her mind off things. Life was always a little clearer when she was working on a project.
For the rest of the evening, Renee worked on the page, tweaking it until it was close to perfect. When she went down to eat, Jessica said nothing about their earlier conversation, to Renee’s relief.
By the time she finished the page, it was late enough to go to bed, and Renee pulled up the covers, ready to be done with this day.
Jeremiah had promised that tomorrow would be their chance, but suddenly she felt more nervous than excited. The whole thing suddenly seemed like a train wreck waiting to happen, and she didn’t know if she had the power to prevent it.