2
HE WAS LATE. Twenty agonizing minutes late.
Hayley paced around the elegant atrium of the Peabody Hotel and tried to pretend she wasn’t watching the door.
Her mother sat in a floral tapestry chair at one of the tables surrounding the fountain and did a much more credible job of appearing to take “Sloane’s” tardiness in stride.
Her sisters, Gloria and Laura Jane, perched on the marble rim of the tiled fountain and flirted with the famous ducks.
How could he be late? Ross hadn’t been late to any of their previous meetings. For someone who seemed to have a casual personality, he was remarkably punctual. And this was supposed to be their wedding rehearsal.
Outside the Peabody, the driver of the limousine that was to take them all to the dock to board the Mississippi Princess had just been asked by a doorman to move.
Transfixed, Hayley watched the escalating argument.
“Hayley, honey,” called her mother, with an assessing glance toward the fountain and her older daughters. “Come sit beside me.” She patted the chair next to her.
“But, Mama—”
“Sit down.” Though spoken in a soft Southern drawl, it was nevertheless a command.
Hayley sat.
“Hayley, it does not do to give the appearance that Mr. Devereaux’s absence has any more significance than a delay in his journey, which was why I questioned the advisability of scheduling the rehearsal so soon after he was to arrive.”
Hayley should have thought of that. Great Her careful plans were already unraveling.
Lola sipped from a tall, frosted glass. “I declare, the poor man will barely have time to wash off the dust from his travels.”
Her mother was beginning to sound like a character from A Streetcar Named Desire. This was never a good sign.
“I couldn’t help but notice that you have been more nervous than excited about being reunited with him.” Lola cast a meaningful look toward the elevators, where two women waited. “And if I’ve noticed, you can be certain that Mrs. Dobson and the other members of the Thursday Musical Club have noticed, as well. If you do not wish to be the subject of speculative gossip during their meeting, then I urge you to relax.”
“Relax? He’s nearly a half hour late! How am I supposed to relax?”
Lola languidly raised her hand to signal a waiter. “Perhaps by joining me in a gin and tonic.”
Hayley squinted at the liquid in her mother’s glass. “I thought that was mineral water.”
“So, I hope, do Mrs. Dobson and the other members of the Thursday Musical Club.”
She’d driven her mother to drink gin in the early afternoon. Hayley could barely contemplate what would happen if the actor didn’t show up and her mother thought she’d been jilted.
And if he didn’t show soon, her mother would probably call the airlines and find out that no Sloane Devereaux had been a passenger on any flight from El Bahar, which she would interpret as meaning he was still in El Bahar, which meant he was indeed jilting Hayley, which would mean Hayley’s mother would feel it was her duty to stay in Memphis and comfort her devastated daughter, which meant more blind dates, which meant Hayley would be right back where she started, except several thousand dollars poorer.
Hayley groaned just as a gin and tonic appeared in her line of vision.
She and her mother picked up their glasses, clinked them together and drank in a rare moment of perfect harmony and understanding.
A CONCUSSION. Justin had given his best friend a concussion.
Ross, who’d had to be restrained when he learned he wouldn’t be leaving the hospital that day, had struggled with the nurses until Justin had assured him that he would try to salvage the situation with the bride.
Unfortunately, all the information Justin had to go on was that Ross was supposed to meet her at the Peabody.
It was going on two o’clock, so Justin figured he was already late. He didn’t know this woman’s name, or what she looked like, or where they were supposed to meet, but he figured he’d look for an angry bridal-type female, who was bound to get angrier.
Skirting the valet parking attendants, Justin parked his smoking car in a lot reserved for employees, and walked into the lobby.
The Peabody was a grand old hotel, and Justin immediately felt underdressed in his jeans, wrinkled shirt and jacket, though many others were dressed similarly. He ran a hand through his hair and searched the lobby, hoping Ross wasn’t supposed to show up in a meeting room somewhere in the hotel.
Did anyone look like she was waiting for someone? Tourists photographed the ducks in the fountain as two blond women in dressy outfits looked on. One of them checked her watch, then made a comment to the other. They both glanced to their left.
Justin followed their line of vision. A businessman-type read a newspaper, and nearby, two women sat at a table.
The women were wearing pastels, one was older than the other.... A bride and her mother? It had to be.
Or maybe not. But he’d thought this was a production of some sort. He didn’t know anything about the acting business, but he’d expected more people to be milling around. Where were the cameras and the lights? Maybe they’d sent everybody home when Ross hadn’t appeared.
There was that limo waiting outside, though. Weddings and limos kind of went together in Justin’s mind. And women in dresses in pale colors.
Justin started weaving between the tables, then stopped.
For all his disjointed jabbering, Ross had been adamantly clear about contacting “the girl.” He’d said nothing about directors or camera people or producers.
Following his hunch, Justin changed directions and headed for the concierge desk and had “the party meeting Ross St. John” paged.
Then he waited.
“WILL THE PARTY meeting Ross St. John please come to the concierge desk in the lobby?”
Hayley nearly choked on her gin and tonic.
What was he doing? This wasn’t the plan. Swooping in and dazzling her mother and sisters was the plan. Though the actor she’d hired wasn’t physically the dazzling type, he’d been adequately charming during their rehearsals, and Hayley thought he could pull it off.
She had a bad feeling about this, and it had nothing to do with drinking on an empty stomach.
Carefully, as though her actions weren’t prompted by the announcement, Hayley set her drink down and looked at her watch. “Mama, I’m going to call the airport and find out if Sloane’s flight has been delayed.”
Lola waved her away—or she could have been signaling for another drink.
Hayley escaped, first to the phones, in case anyone was watching her, then quickly made her way to the concierge desk.
There was no one there, or rather, a man was standing there, but Hayley knew he wasn’t the one who’d paged her.
This was a gorgeous man. Hayley could tell even though he tried to hide his gorgeousness beneath a rumpled outfit that looked like he’d climbed out of bed—probably not his own—and pulled on the first clothes he’d stumbled across on the floor.
He had striking black hair, carefully mussed to go with his rumpled outfit, and was exactly the type of man she’d wanted to hire, but wouldn’t have because no one in her family would believe she could attract such a man.
She could; she knew she could. Well, maybe she could, she thought, the closer she got to him and the better he looked. Then he caught her gaze and she was hit with the full force of unexpected blue eyes. Okay, maybe she could attract him if a good hair day coincided with a time when she wasn’t recovering from a Mexican food binge bloat.
It had taken her all of her adolescence—and a nasty encounter with a home highlighting kit—to emerge from the shadow of her mother and sisters’ blondness, and start concentrating on men who liked brunettes.
She wondered which type he was.
JUSTIN WATCHED the lone woman approach. She was the one who’d been sitting with the older woman, and he felt a momentary satisfaction at guessing right. She was pretty, in a quiet way—a normal way that was a relief from the more exotic artsy theater types Ross was attracted to and occasionally tried to fix Justin up with. But Justin liked women who wore their earrings in their earlobes and nowhere else, rings on their fingers and bracelets around their wrists.
He wasn’t too keen on frizzy hair, either. This woman’s hair, a rich brown, swung when she walked. Nice.
Very nice.
Cute in a dangerously marriageable way. That was how, this morning, Ross had described the woman he was working with. Justin could see him describing this woman as cute because Ross had a skewed sense of beauty. To him, wholesome meant bland, conservative was boring, and it didn’t take a psych major to understand that he was attracted to women who wouldn’t fit in with his wholesome, conservative family.
This woman would never pierce anything that wasn’t meant to be pierced.
“Are you waiting for Ross St. John?” he asked before she spoke to the concierge.
Her frozen expression told him the answer before she stuttered her response.
“Y-yes.”
Justin swallowed. “There’s been an accident.”
The blood drained from her face, throwing the freckles sprinkled across her nose into stark relief. “What happened?”
“He’ll be fine,” Justin quickly reassured her. “Eventually. He fell and hit his head, and he’s got a concussion. He’s in the hospital right now and, uh, well, he can’t...”
Growing horror paled her face even more.
Justin hurried on. “The thing of it is, he’d be here if he could. He takes his acting commitments very seriously and I know he was looking forward to this...job. I don’t suppose there’s any way you can postpone whatever it is you’re doing, for a couple of days?” It would probably be longer, but Justin wanted to buy time.
Her toffee-colored eyes were huge. “He was supposed to be my fiancé,” she whispered.
“I know. He told me he was playing a bridegroom.”
“Everything’s all...” She drew a shuddering breath. “I need a fiancé and I need one now.”
This was worse than he’d thought. “I’m sorry, but there’s no way Ross is leaving the hospital anytime soon.”
“Then what about you?” She clutched his arm in a death grip.
“Me?” Justin was floored. “I’m not an actor!”
“I don’t care at this point. You’re male and you’re conscious. And right now you’re all I’ve got.”
“You don’t understand. I’m just a friend of Ross’s. I don’t have any acting experience, so I can’t—”
“You don’t have to act. You have to pretend to be Sloane Devereaux, my fiancé.”
Justin had no room in his life for a fiancée, pretend or otherwise. Fiancées weren’t part of the plan. The plan was to date for fun, not date for marriage.
He had no idea what her plan was, but it sounded like it would interfere with his.
She misinterpreted his silence as contemplation. He wasn’t contemplating anything, except how to pry her fingers off his arm.
“My mother and sisters are over by the fountain. They’re expecting to meet my fiancé and go to the wedding rehearsal. The limousine is waiting. Please.”
“You mean you’re trying to fool your family into thinking you’re getting married? That’s Ross’s big acting job?”
She sighed. “Yes.”
Justin went into lawyer mode. “I want no part of fraud, and I will so advise Ross.”
After a surprised laugh, she said, “It’s nothing illegal, I swear.”
“Then where’s your real fiancé?”
She closed her eyes and said tightly, “I don’t have one.”
“You mean you and...what’s-his-name broke up?”
“Sloane.” She opened her eyes again and gave him a look he couldn’t interpret. “Something like that.”
“Why don’t you just tell them?” Justin gestured toward the fountain.
“That’s not an option, or I wouldn’t have hired your friend.” She swallowed. “Look, I know you don’t know me and I don’t know you, but I really need your help. Please.”
“I—”
“It’s only until Valentine’s Day. I’ll pay you.”
Justin stared into a pair of desperate brown eyes. He’d seen desperation before, in Ross’s eyes just an hour ago, as a matter of fact, though the unequally sized pupils disguised it a bit.
Justin had been desperate before and recognized that this woman believed she was about to lose everything important to her. He knew that feeling, and he wouldn’t wish it on anybody.
Her predicament was his fault. He’d put that desperation in her eyes. Due to his carelessness, he’d not only ruined Ross’s big chance, such as it was, but her plans, as well.
He had to do something to make it right. He knew he did. The last time he was desperate, Ross had come through for him.
Now it was his turn to help Ross, and covering for him seemed to be the only way Justin could. It had nothing to do with her eyes, or her hair—okay, or even her freckles. He owed Ross.
“I’ve never done anything like this before.” He exhaled. “It’ll never work.”
Relief flooded her eyes. “We’ll make it work.” Breathing deeply, she released the grip on his arm. “I really appreciate this.”
And she smiled.
It was a great smile, even if it was wobbly at the edges.
They gazed at each other for a timeless moment and Justin had the oddest sensation that his master plan, the plan that had remained as clear and as sharp in his mind as his own name, had gone slightly out of focus.
He blinked.
She blinked. “Now, I’m...uh, going back over to my mother, and you come in the front door and wave at me or something—”
Justin touched her arm. “Too late. Don’t turn around, but I think your mother and sisters are headed this way.”
“Three little blondes?”
“Yeah.”
“Quick!” She flung her arms around his neck. “Kiss me.”
And so help him, Justin did.
The day had been hellish. He was still shaky over Ross’s accident, and right now, holding another human being felt wonderful. Comforting. Nice.
The cold anxiety he’d been carrying around with him eased as he leaned into the kiss, giving it more weight and scope than was wise.
She was soft and warm and her arms were wrapped around him as she held him close and kissed him back.
When was the last time he’d exchanged more than a handshake with anyone? He’d never been a hugger, and it had been many months since a woman had wandered across the barren wasteland of his social life. Even longer since one had lingered.
He’d been working so hard for so long without any break, and now a warm and willing woman was in his arms.
And so he kissed her. Really kissed her. Kissed her for all the nice girls like her he hadn’t asked out because he had neither the time nor the money.
Kissed her to ease the panic he’d seen in her eyes.
But mostly he kissed her because he wanted to, and didn’t feel like holding back anymore.
He drew his hands around her waist, then lifted one under her hair to cradle her neck, gently telling her she didn’t have to pull away on his account.
She had a great mouth, as someone with her smile would, and he parted her lips with his, tasting lemonade with an interesting kick.
Oh, yes.
She made a little sound in the back of her throat and he felt the vibrations against his tongue and then all over him.
He hummed an answer against her mouth, feeling an elemental pride that indulged a part of him he’d ignored for too long.
Spanning the hand at her waist, he dipped it to the small of her back and pulled her closer, enjoying the way she fit against him.
Enjoying everything at this point.
Everything except when she stiffened and wrenched her mouth from his.
She stared at him, looking dazed and stunned, which was pretty much the way he felt. “You take direction real well,” she gasped in a husky voice. “I like that in a man.”
Gradually, awareness of his surroundings returned, element by element. First color, then shapes, then shapes that moved, then shapes that spoke.
“Hayley, honey, I assume this is your Mr. Devereaux.”
Hayley. Her name was Hayley. He’d better not forget, he thought, as he looked into the assessing eyes of Hayley’s mother.
Hayley said nothing, and he got a kick out of knowing he was responsible. Then a reality check followed when he realized he had to pull this off for her and for Ross. He felt her quiver and slipped a supporting arm around her. -
Charm was called for here. “Call me Sloane, ma’am.” He put a little extra into his smile.
She dimpled and looked at him from under her lashes. “Sloane.” The word rolled off her tongue. “And I’m Lola. Hayley, you’ll want to introduce Sloane to your sisters.”
Thus prompted, Hayley came to life and introduced him to the two pastels. The older blonde eyed him with more interest than Justin thought a sister should. Her eyebrow rose slightly.
Way more interest
He dimmed the wattage on his smile and squeezed Hayley’s waist. When she looked up at him, he dropped an impulsive kiss onto her temple. Her cheeks pinkened. Good. She needed the color.
He glanced back to the sister. Get the message, Blondie?
“Sloane, wherever is your luggage?” Hayley’s mother asked.
Luggage? “It’s...not here.”
“The...airlines lost it,” Hayley supplied.
“So that’s why you were late,” said Blondie.
Justin had already forgotten her name. He was going to have to start paying attention.
“We were beginning to wonder.” Her expression and the expression of the other sister told him exactly what they were beginning to wonder. Justin winced inwardly for Hayley.
Lola tut-tutted. “Something like that was bound to happen. Are you up to the wedding rehearsal?”
“Sure,” Justin said.
“No,” HAYLEY SAID. “Sloane should check into his room first so when they find his luggage, they’ll have someplace to put it.”
Her mind was finally beginning to work again after the shock of his kiss.
Those blue eyes...that black hair...that kiss.
Holy cow.
She felt like she’d already been through all the colors of the rainbow. She was ready for black.
Where had he been when she’d scoured Memphis for men?
What makes you think he’s available?
Ohmigosh. What if he’s married and he’s wearing a wedding ring?
No. Hayley instantly relaxed. Not only would her mother and sisters have noticed—and commented—on a ring, but married men didn’t kiss the way he’d just kissed her, or rather, they didn’t kiss women that way who weren’t their wives.
Frankly, there was bachelor hunger in that kiss.
Fate was demonstrating a quirky sense of humor regarding Hayley.
But this wasn’t funny. No, taking away her perfectly fine actor and substituting this gorgeous, sympathetic man was meant to torture her—punishment for lying, no matter how good or noble the cause. It didn’t matter that Hayley had rationalized that she’d won a wedding, not a marriage. Lying was wrong and Hayley knew she’d have to pay, but she thought her payment was going to be to the IRS.
Fate was toying with her before exacting payment. Just when Hayley thought all was lost, fate sent her a man who might have been made to order from her dreams. And then fate had him kiss her.
Okay, that had been Hayley’s idea, and a darned good one, if she did say so herself.
“Hayley, since we’re so far behind schedule, I believe if Sloane is ready to go to the rehearsal, then we really should go,” her mother said.
Hayley knew they should. The Mississippi Princess was due to start boarding for their dinner cruise at five o’clock. But she needed to talk with...with...She stared at him, realizing that she didn’t even know his real name. She’d just have to think of him as Sloane.
“I do need to make a phone call first.” Smiling, he excused himself and headed for the pay phones.
The four women watched his jeans-clad rear as he walked away.
Four identical sighs wafted through the lobby of the Peabody Hotel.
“No wonder you waited for that man.” Lola fanned herself. “He’s well worth waiting for.”
“And he’s devoted to her,” Gloria said. “I gave him one of my aren’t-you-just-the-cutest-thing looks and he didn’t even give me so much as a ‘thank you, ma’am’ back.”
Hayley turned to her. “You flirted with my fiancé?”
“It was just my little test.” Gloria waved her hand. “He passed.” But she didn’t sound pleased.
Hayley knew all about Gloria’s little tests and she’d endured enough of them.
Gloria was never satisfied until she had proof that a man found her attractive. The fact that Sloane hadn’t responded as Gloria wished meant she’d probably try again. Hayley didn’t want her trying again. “Well, you go play school in somebody else’s classroom!”
“Hayley!” her mother interjected. “Gloria was only being friendly. She is the matron of honor, after all.”
Hayley hadn’t ever asked Gloria to be the matron of honor. As the oldest, Gloria had appointed herself, and Hayley hadn’t felt like making an issue over it. Now she met Gloria’s eyes. “I’m not blond, busty and beautiful, but I make up for it by being brunette and belligerent” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “So back off. He’s mine.”
The fact that Laura Jane, who had still been discreetly drooling in Sloane’s direction, now no longer faced the telephones, Lola’s eyes had widened and Gloria’s lips were quivering told Hayley that her faux Sloane was probably right behind her and had heard everything she’d said.
Her suspicions were confirmed when his hands dropped onto her shoulders. “I like the sound of that.”
Hayley liked the sound of it, too. She absorbed the warmth and weight of his hands, and the solid feel of him standing right behind her. He was on her side. She needed someone on her side.
And, too, seeing the envious looks on her sisters’ faces went a long way toward healing the wounds she’d acquired in the dating wars during the past year. The actor she’d hired had been good-looking, but didn’t have the same physical presence his friend did.
But this man was only playing a part, and forgetting that could inflict the deepest wound of all.
“Shall we get going?” Lola asked.
Hayley went on full alert. Treacherous waters ahead, and she wasn’t thinking of the Mississippi.
They walked across the lobby, Hayley on one side of Sloane, Lola on the other.
“Sloane, I hate to bring this problem up when you’ve just arrived, but did you ever receive the invitations Hayley sent you?”
And so it began. “Mama, I told you that it takes several weeks for mail to reach him, and that Sloane was working out in the field.”
Her mother looked horrified. “Do you mean to say that he didn’t send out any invitations to the wedding?”
“Not many,” he said.
Hayley poked him with her elbow.
“Hardly any at all,” he added.
“This is awful. We haven’t heard from anyone on Sloane’s side of the family!”
“My family isn’t close,” he said.
Why wouldn’t he just keep his talented mouth shut? “Now, Mama, I told you that Valentine’s Day was going to be difficult for Sloane’s schedule. We should be grateful he managed to make it at all.”
“But...but this is his wedding.”
“My parents are very sorry they can’t be here,” he said. “They’re—”
“They’re dead,” Hayley interrupted.
“So naturally we didn’t expect them,” Lola said.
“I was going to say that they’ll be here in spirit,” he continued.
“And since he doesn’t have any brothers or sisters, they won’t be here, either.” Hayley concentrated on feeding her fake Sloane information and didn’t pay attention to how it sounded.
“In just a few days, Sloanie will have two brand-new sisters and brothers-in-law,” Gloria chirped from behind them.
“And he won’t be all alone in the world anymore,” Laura Jane added, her voice just as lethally sugared as her sister’s.
“He’ll have a wife, too.” Hayley was afraid the stiffness in her jaw sounded in her voice. Sloanie. Ick.
“Yes, but what about your friends? Isn’t there anyone who is coming to the wedding?” Lola asked.
“My friends are all back in...the field....” Sloane cast Hayley a questioning look.
Oops. She’d been thinking about her sisters. “Yes, they’re still in El Bahar.”
“And send their regrets,” he added.
“We’ll have to instruct the ushers to seat some people on your side,” Lola said serenely, and Hayley exhaled.
They’d reached the limousine. The driver opened the door. Hayley hustled Sloane around to the other side. “Just say as little as possible until I get a chance to brief you!”
He looked exasperated. “You could jump in a little quicker with clues!”
The driver opened their door and both pasted on quick smiles.
After seeing how everyone was seated within the car, Hayley climbed in beside her mother and Sloane sat beside her, directly across from Gloria.
Gloria crossed her legs.
Hayley narrowed her eyes.
“Well, Sloane,” Gloria said, drawling his name into about fifteen syllables, “tell us every little thing about El Bahar.”
“Well...” He chuckled. “Where to start?”
Hayley mentally castigated herself for not anticipating the question and tried to remember everything she’d read about El Bahar, which wasn’t much. “You went on and on about the heat.”
“It’s very hot,” he agreed.
“And the desert.”
“It’s sandy,” he said. “Lots of sand. Miles of it.”
“And, of course, you talked about the oil fields.”
“It’s a very oily country.”
Hayley didn’t need to see the blank stares and cautious nods to know that this wasn’t working.
“What exactly did you do over there?” Hayley’s mother asked.
“Cost analysis,” he answered.
“He’s an engineer,” Hayley said at the same time.
Sloane looked down at her and she realized that he’d been thinking ahead and was trying to find a subject he could discuss on his own.
“I’m a cost analysis engineer.” His look dared Hayley to disagree.
“And a very good one.” Hayley patted his knee. When she saw Gloria’s gaze drop to her hand, Hayley left it there.
“Well, I have no doubt of that.” Lola cleared her throat. “So you work with numbers. That sounds like a job you could do anywhere—say, right here in Memphis.”
“Ye-”
Hayley squeezed his knee.
“Yes, cost engineers are based everywhere. In my case, I’m based in...ah...”
“El Bahar,” Hayley said distinctly.
“But you’re so clever, Sloane. I just know you could think of a way to do your work here. After all, you’re going to be a married man soon.”
Sloane didn’t respond, other than to smile, for which Hayley was grateful.
She didn’t know how her mother was taking all this, but her sisters had exchanged discreet whispers, and Gloria studied Sloane like a cat watching a bird with a broken wing.
During the rest of the ride, Hayley intercepted or deflected questions on Sloane’s background, how they’d met and his plans for the future.
“Hayley, sweetie,” her mother whispered in her ear at one point, “you need to calm down and let your man have his time in the sun. Men like to talk about themselves.”
“So what did you think when Hayley told you she’d won a wedding?” Gloria asked.
“I was very surprised,” Sloane said.
“We all thought it was a good thing, since you two had been engaged for so long,” Laura Jane offered with a sly smile.
“Hush, girls,” Lola admonished.
To her mortification, Hayley felt her face heat. She felt firm but gentle fingers tilt her chin until she faced him.
“A long engagement? Whatever was I thinking?” he murmured.
His tone was an audible caress, his gaze a visual one, and it was all for her sisters’ and mother’s benefit.
Real honest-to-goodness tears stung Hayley’s eyes. What a sweetheart. He didn’t know Sloane wasn’t real. He thought he was helping a jilted bride avoid being embarrassed. There was no reason for him to help her, either. It wasn’t his fault that the actor she’d hired hadn’t shown up. He’d only come to tell her, and then she’d grabbed on to him and hadn’t let go.
The car approached the docks and everyone looked out the windows at the Mississippi Princess paddle-wheel steamer.
While the others were distracted, Hayley thought about what she’d done. She’d latched on to this man in desperation, and he’d dropped his plans for the day to rescue her. The only connection they had was the actor Hayley had hired. This man was honoring his friend’s commitment, lucky for Hayley. He was truly one of the good guys.
They were little more than strangers, except for the eerie sensation Hayley got when she listened to him pretend to be Sloane. The way he took the information she fed him and embellished it—and she hoped he remembered all these embellishments—gave her a sense of getting to know the man, himself, rather than bringing Sloane to life.
At that moment, he looked down at her and gave her a reassuring wink.
She liked this fake fiancé of hers.
A lot.