The Manning Grooms: Bride on the Loose / Same Time, Next Year

Jason nodded as though he wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off her long enough to play ball, which had to be the nicest compliment he’d ever paid her.

“Carrie talked me into buying the jeans,” she mumbled, tossing the napkins on top of the heap and closing the lid as far as it would go.

“Remind me to thank her.”

He didn’t say any more, just reached for the basket and brought it out to the car. Charlotte was so relieved, she wanted to weep with gratitude. Her spirits lifted—more than lifted—they soared as she and Carrie followed him. Carrie climbed in the backseat as Charlotte got in the front, hoping her jeans wouldn’t split.

The ball field was several miles away, near the Southcenter shopping mall. Charlotte was grateful to Carrie for carrying the conversation. Thrilled with the outing, the girl had plenty to say.

Charlotte had never been to this park before, and when she saw it she was astonished she hadn’t heard of it. It had several baseball diamonds, and an equal number of soccer fields. The Green River intersected the park, with several footbridges spanning its banks.

“I didn’t mention I was bringing anyone,” Jason told her after he’d parked the car. “Everyone’s going to ask you a bunch of embarrassing questions. Do you mind?”

“No,” she answered, having trouble meeting his eyes. “Don’t worry about it.” She was a big girl—she could deal with a bit of curiosity.

“I don’t usually bring someone.”

Charlotte stiffened, not because she was timid or dreaded the questions, but because it confirmed something she’d rather not deal with right then. Jason was attracted to her. As attracted as she was to him.

What did bring fear to her heart was that he might be taking their time together seriously—that he might really start to care for her. That would be disastrous. You care for him, her heart reminded her. Yes, but that was different.

Kissing was all they’d done; it was all Charlotte had allowed. A few innocent kisses didn’t amount to much. Or did they?

“Uncle Jase!” Two boys—Charlotte guessed they were seven or eight—raced across the green lawn toward Jason. One glance told her the pair were identical twins.

“Hello, boys,” Jason said with a wide smile.

They stopped abruptly when they noticed Charlotte and Carrie, their eyes huge and questioning. Suspicious.

“These are my friends, Charlotte and Carrie,” Jason said, motioning toward them.

“They’re girls,” one of the pair muttered.

“I noticed that myself,” a tall, athletic man said as he strode toward them. He was wearing the same uniform as Jason. Charlotte didn’t need an introduction to know this was his brother.

“This is Paul, my oldest brother,” Jason said, tucking a couple of baseball bats under his arm, along with his mitt. The task appeared to demand a great deal of attention.

In the next five minutes, Charlotte was introduced to Leah, Paul’s wife, who was five months pregnant and chasing after a toddler named Kelsey. Jason’s younger brother, Rich, his wife, Jamie, and their two children, Bethany and Jeremy, arrived shortly afterward, and there was another series of introductions.

Charlotte’s head was spinning with all the names and faces. Everyone was friendly and helpful. Openly curious, too. Carrie, who loved children, was delighted when Rich’s daughter wanted to sit in the bleachers with her.

The men were on the diamond warming up when Jamie sat next to Charlotte. Leah joined them, sitting on her other side. Charlotte smiled from one to the other. Their curiosity was almost visible. As the silence lengthened Charlotte frantically sorted through a number of possible topics, but try as she might, the most inventive thing she could think of was the weather.

Oh, what the heck, she decided. “I imagine you’re curious about me,” she said. After the morning she’d had, she wasn’t up to a game of Twenty Questions.

“We didn’t mean to be so blatant about it,” Leah, the shorter of the two, murmured. She had one of the nicest smiles Charlotte had ever seen.

“You weren’t,” Charlotte lied.

“Yes, we were,” Jamie said with a laugh. “We can’t help it.”

“Ask away,” Charlotte invited.

“How long have you known Jason?” Rich’s wife asked without hesitation.

Charlotte found Jamie Manning to be a study in contrasts. Rich, Jamie’s husband, was probably one of the best-looking men she’d ever seen. Definitely GQ material. Yet, at first glance, his wife seemed rather plain. Charlotte soon learned how misleading first impressions could be. Five minutes with Jamie, and Charlotte was awed by her radiance. She had an inner glow that touched those around her.

“I met Jason about a year ago,” Charlotte answered, when she realized both women were staring at her, waiting for her response. “My daughter and I live in one of his apartments.”

“A year,” Jamie repeated, leaning forward so she could exchange a wide-eyed look with Leah. “Did you hear that? He’s known her a whole year.”

Charlotte felt she should explain further. “Actually, I met him a year ago, but we’ve only recently started to, uh, know each other.”

“I see.” Once again it was Leah who spoke, wearing a subtle smile as though she was amused and trying to disguise it.

“You’ll have to forgive us for acting so surprised, but Jason doesn’t usually bring anyone with him on Saturdays,” Leah elaborated.

“Or any other day for that matter,” Jamie added.

“So I understand. I … I take it he doesn’t date often?” Charlotte asked. In some ways she was hoping they’d tell her he went through women like water. But in her heart she knew it wasn’t true. If anything, it was just the opposite. Charlotte didn’t want to hear that, either, didn’t want to know she was special, because it made everything so much more difficult.

“Let’s put it this way,” Jamie answered, crossing her legs and resting her elbows on her knees. “We’ve been coming out here for what, two, three summers now, and this is the first time Jason’s ever brought a woman.”

Charlotte drew in a slow, deep breath.

“I don’t remember Jason bringing a woman to any family function, ever,” Leah said, looking positively delighted. Her eyes sparkled. “I’d say it was about time, wouldn’t you, Jamie?”

“About time, indeed,” Leah’s sister-in-law said with a grin.

From his position on the diamond, Jason could see his two sisters-in-law on either side of Charlotte. No doubt they were pumping her for information, wanting to know every minute detail of their relationship. The distance was too great for him to be able to read Charlotte’s expression.

If he had half a brain, he would’ve realized what he was doing before he invited her to join him. Why had he asked Charlotte to this game? Clearly he needed his head examined. Only an idiot would thrust a lamb like Charlotte into a pack of hounds without warning.

He’d told her his family would probably be curious about her, but he’d said it casually in the parking lot after they’d arrived. It wasn’t like he’d given her much advance warning.

His family was far too nosy. By the end of the afternoon, Charlotte would be so sick of answering questions, she’d never want to go out with him again.

He pitched the ball to Paul with enough force to make his oldest brother remove his mitt, shake his hand and cast Jason an odd look.

Jason was angry. But it wasn’t the way Leah and Jamie had surrounded Charlotte that had set him off. He’d had no business inviting Charlotte and Carrie to this game. For one thing, they were playing the league leaders and likely to be soundly defeated. If he was going to ask someone to come and watch him play ball, it should be against a team that’d make him look good, not like a bunch of fools. The outcome could prove to be downright embarrassing.

Not only were they likely to get their butts kicked, but Charlotte was going to spend the entire time being interrogated. First by Jamie and Leah, and then, when the game was over, by his brothers. They wouldn’t be subtle about it, either. The first woman he’d cared about in years was going to come away thinking his family had been trained by the CIA.

Even now, Jason wasn’t sure what had prompted him to ask Charlotte to come. But he certainly remembered the night he’d done it….

They’d been sitting in the car outside the apartment the night of Higgins’s surgery. She’d been shaken by the accident, struggling to hide how much. He had known when he dropped her off that he was going to kiss her again. She’d known it, too. His lips had brushed hers. Lightly. Briefly. He had sensed she was still frightened—of him? Of their mutual passion? Of her own desires? Until she was at ease with him, he was content to proceed slowly. He’d never indulged in any kisses more sensual or seductive than those he’d shared with Charlotte.

He could tell she was a novice when it came to lovemaking. That surprised him because she’d been married. He’d never asked about her ex-husband, preferring to wait until she was comfortable enough to talk about it on her own. But from what Carrie had told him the day she’d come to his office, the marriage had been short and disastrous.