Married By Midnight

Kelly looked around her bedroom, then shrugged. “I doubt it. I don’t think Dad would let us get away with not staying here tonight, or with your sleeping on the couch. It would be a dead giveaway. I know the house isn’t very big, but it’s been home for the last year for Dad, Sean and me.”

“Your brothers?”

“Damon lives in the bachelor-officers’ quarters. Patrick has an apartment in Las Vegas, but they’re in and out all the time. They’ll probably show up later.”

Max sighed. “Okay. Just for tonight. Where can I stash my suitcase?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to try under the bed. The closet is full.”

Max contemplated the logistics of sliding his suitcase under the bed with Kelly’s hips inches away from his eyes. The spicy fragrance surrounding her reminded him of the exotic bathroom at the Majestic Hotel. The effect the scent had had on him was back, big time.

He studied the bed one more time. It looked as if a platonic night was going to be shaky. “How do you expect me to…” He caught himself before he asked the burning question that was bothering him. How was he going to keep his hands off Kelly if they had to share that bed? He fought the urge to turn on his heel and make tracks.

“Expect you to do what?”

He felt himself flush. But what the heck, they had to face facts sooner or later. “I meant to ask, how do you expect both of us to manage with such a small bed?”

Before Kelly could answer, a small furry bundle raced into the room. The dog ran past a startled Max, jumped into Kelly’s arms and licked her face furiously.

Max backed away before the animal came at him. Kelly’s attention last night had been welcome, but canine kisses weren’t his idea of affection. “Yours?”

“Mine,” Kelly agreed happily. She hugged the wiggling cocker spaniel. “Her name is Honey.”

Max was bemused at the airy kisses Kelly showered on the little animal. “I’ve never had a pet of my own. We weren’t allowed to have pets at boarding school.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing.” Kelly laughed happily and returned the dog’s frantic kisses. “I left her with the family next door yesterday. She must have come in the doggie door.” Another hug. “Honey is my best friend. We move so often, everything and everyone else seems to have passed through my life like a moving train.”

“That must have been hard on you.” Max studied Kelly thoughtfully, aware of her for the first time as a person instead of only as a desirable woman. No wonder she needed someone like Honey in her life. As for himself, where would he fit in? “My family has lived in the same house in Boston for generations.”

“You’re lucky. We’ve lived in places like this all over the world. That’s part of the reason I got into teaching aerobics. It’s flexible. Anyway, if you’re a military brat, you have to get used to being a loner. As for a residence, every house and every bedroom on every air force base looks like this one.”

Max heard the unhappiness in Kelly’s voice. His own life was predictable, scheduled to a gnat’s eyebrow on a strict agenda—even as a child. What would it be like to be uprooted from schools and friends every few years?

“Ever think of busting loose?” he asked tentatively.

“Sometimes,” she answered wistfully. “Especially whenever I thought Dad and my older brothers were unreasonable and too controlling.” She buried her head in Honey’s fur and crooned softly.

Max felt a pang of envy as the dog licked Kelly’s nose. Maybe Kelly’s background was the answer to last night. Had it been a time she had decided to cut loose, to make love with a man of her own choice? Or did she really care for him? Strangely enough, he was beginning to wish she did.

Kelly set the dog on a heart-shaped pillow. “Sit!” When the dog obediently froze, Kelly smiled at her pet approvingly. She gazed down at her bridesmaid’s gown. “I’m beginning to feel as if this dress has been glued to me. I’ve got to change.” She rummaged in the small chest and came up with jeans and a dark green plaid woolen shirt.

Glued to her was right, Max mused. The velvet dress clung to her curves as if it had been sewn on. He cleared his throat. “Go ahead. I’ll just get rid of this thing.” He bent to stow his suitcase under the bed but retreated at Honey’s low growl. “Okay, have it your way,” he muttered, “but you’re going to have to let me get near that bed sooner or later.” He’d be damned if he’d get into a territorial dispute with a dog.

With a smile he hoped Honey would interpret as friendly, Max studied an O’Rourke family picture hanging on the wall. Her father was dressed in a military uniform with a lieutenant’s insignia on its shoulders. A sweet-faced, dark-haired woman, Damon and Patrick, serious even at a young age, stood at her side. A smiling young Kelly and a small dark-haired boy sat on the floor in front of them. “The woman in this picture—your mother?”

“Yes,” Kelly emerged from the closet with a pair of sport shoes. “We lost her about five years ago.”

“Sorry,” Max answered. “That must have been rough.” His gaze swung to the faded heart-shaped pillows, the handmade quilt that was on Kelly’s bed and hooked rug. They’d probably been made by her mother and kept close no matter how many times the family had moved. Under Kelly’s feisty bravado obviously beat a sentimental heart.

“Mostly on Sean, I guess, since he was so young. He and I have always been close. Since I was the only woman around, I guess you could say I helped raise him.”

“The kid seems to have turned out okay. I’d say you did a good job.”

“Thank you.” Kelly laughed. “It’s always been the two of us against Dad and my other brothers—we’re different. Dad wants Sean to be more like Damon and Patrick, to go into the military or law enforcement. Or almost any career that requires a uniform. Dad insists public service is character-building. Poor Sean, he’s not the type. He’d rather study computer animation when he gets out of high school. He’ll do it, too. He’s a born rebel.”

“Like you?”

“I guess so.” She laughed again. “But he’s quicker on his feet and in his head than I ever was. With three controlling males in my life, I couldn’t get away with anything.” She disappeared through the bathroom door, but not before she shot him a dazzling smile. “Maybe now that I’m married, things will be different.”

Married? Was she kidding—or did she honestly believe they were married? Max was totally bewildered. About the only thing he was certain of was how impossible it would be to share a bed with her and still keep his hands to himself.

Through the closed bathroom door, he heard Kelly muttering her frustration.

“Need some help?”

“Not unless you can undo buttons with your eyes closed.”

Max swallowed his grin. “Come on, Kelly, we shared a great deal more than buttons last night. So, what would be the problem if I saw your back now?”

“The problem is, Maxwell Taylor,” she called, “I don’t think either of us was responsible for what we did last night. But if you hadn’t started flirting, or if the champagne punch hadn’t been so strong, I would have made it through the night okay. What was your excuse?”

Max thought for a long moment. How could he tell her he’d been so taken by her saucy smile, he’d deliberately flirted with her? Or that he’d worked until nine o’clock the Friday night before the wedding and had caught a red-eye into Las Vegas. The end result had been to leave him half-awake and vulnerable to the same champagne punch she’d complained about. “I’m afraid I don’t have a good excuse, unless you’re willing to accept I was suffering from jet lag.”

“Yeah, sure. Ouch!”

Max swung around. “What’s wrong?”

“Darn. I’ve caught my hair in one of the buttons.”

“Come on out here,” Max coaxed, turning his thoughts to a more platonic problem than his growing attraction for Kelly. “This sounds like a real emergency.”

“It sure is.” Her hair caught on a button, Kelly slowly backed her way out of the bathroom.

Under Honey’s watchful eyes, Max gingerly untangled the tangled lock of red hair. Her scent, the silken feel of her soft skin, turned his thoughts back to the moment he’d awakened that afternoon and found her sleeping beside him.

Buttons be damned. What he wanted was to taste her lips again, fold her in his arms again, and bring last night’s memories to life. And maybe even to consider the possibility of a future with her.

Where are these thoughts coming from? he asked himself. He didn’t know, but suddenly he didn’t feel the need to examine their origin anymore.

He slowly undid the remaining velvet buttons on Kelly’s dress, lingering longer than he should have.

“Max?”

Max took a deep breath to clear his head. “In a minute.” With Kelly’s strong appeal, her winning smile and yes, even her flashes of Irish temper, he was afraid he was in deeper than he’d intended to be. If this kept up, he was going to wind up being married to Kelly for real. Damn! He had to find that license or certificate soon or he’d go out of his mind.

Out of the corner of his eye he noted Honey’s watchful eyes. With Kelly’s lock of hair finally untangled, he stepped back. “Maybe I ought to wait outside while you finish changing. We can make our plans later.”

Kelly blinked. “What plans?”