Hung Up on You

“Nagging?” She was sure that even Collin couldn’t miss what was her annoyance this time.

He raked his fingers through his blond-to-the-point-of-being-white hair. With a normal, mortal being, this would result in someone’s hairstyle un-styling.

But not Collin’s.

He was the kind of man whose perfection couldn’t be messed with.

Ari assured herself that she liked that quality about him. It’s just that sometimes—like at this particular moment—she forgot she liked it.

“Adrienne, why are you being difficult? This is what you wanted. We’re going to choose a date and move ahead with our plans.”

“Why now?”

“It’s a perfect time.”

Perfect.

Perfect like everything else about Collin.

He came from the perfect, nondysfunctional, upper-class family.

He’d been a perfect trouble-free teen, gone to his father’s ivy league alma mater and followed in his father’s footsteps and become a surgeon.

He’d even joined his father’s practice. He was the perfect son, his parents reminded her…frequently.

She’d noted they’d never referred to her as the perfect potential daughter-in-law.

She realized that Collin was reciting all the reasons that now was the time to set a wedding date. “…you’ve not only finished your thesis, but you’ve had it published. You’ll be starting a great new job. And my career is quite solid now. We’ll plan a small Friday night ceremony and a weekend getaway, so we won’t interfere with your work schedule.”

“I’m sure they’d give me time off for a honeymoon.”

A tropical beach honeymoon.

Just her and Collin. With no outside demands. Totally alone and stress-free.

Lolling around in the sun. Having sex.

Going out to eat. Having sex.

Sleeping late. Having sex.

What was up with her today? She had sex on the brain. Maybe because she hadn’t had sex on anything else for quite a while.

A very long while.

Just when was the last time she and Collin had done it? She couldn’t remember.

“A nice, long, stress-free honeymoon,” she added with what she hoped was a suggestive lilt to her voice.

Maybe if she could get him away from the hospital long enough, Collin would rediscover his sex drive.

Maybe rather than neutral, it would kick into overdrive.

They’d really click then.

She bet they had park benches on tropical beaches. She felt a bit more overheated at the thought.

He shook his head. “Taking time off for a long honeymoon wouldn’t be responsible. You’ve just taken the position at the institute. You don’t have any vacation time built up. You can’t just take days off whenever it suits you.”

Ari sighed.

Collin had a point.

Collin always had a point. And his point was perfectly correct, but no surprise there, either, because Collin was always correct.

Sometimes living with perfection was…taxing.

“So when were you thinking about setting the date?” she asked.

She thought, but didn’t add, because you’ve obviously already worked this all out already.

She should appreciate his thoughtfulness, his attention to detail, she chided herself.

“How about three months from now? Since we’re not planning anything big and elaborate, that should allow a sufficient amount of time to pull it all together.”

“But I want big and elaborate. A huge wedding and reception with all our friends and family there. Music. The bouquet and the garter. Dancing. You and me—”

“Ari, we’ve talked about this. It doesn’t make sense. I’m an only child of two only children. You’ve got one unmarried brother. And your extended family consists of your grandmother. We don’t have big families.”

“Friends. We’ve got lots of friends.”

“Colleagues. We both have many colleagues.”

Collin had colleagues. As a matter of fact, Ari couldn’t think of one person that she would really call his friend. Maybe that’s why he wanted to keep the wedding small, to keep from thinking about his friendless state.

Poor, proud baby.

He’d been so busy with school and then starting a demanding career, that he hadn’t had time to build deep meaningful relationships…except with her.

She reached out and patted his hand affectionately. “Yes, a small wedding would be best.”

He smiled, obviously relieved.

“A small wedding in three months,” she murmured. “Bethany should be back from her trip by then. It wouldn’t do to have my maid of honor overseas.”

Bethany was adventurous. She was always doing something wild and crazy. This time she was backpacking through Asia and from all reports having the time of her life. She’d be back by August for the wedding.

August?