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  Remembering how he’d still managed to look seriously badass even in cheap neon green, she smiled. “You really feeling better?”

  “Yes.”

  She searched his gaze, but he was good at hiding when he wanted to. She could learn a lot from him. At the thought of all that she might learn, she got one of those little tingles that he always seemed to invoke by just standing there. She could only imagine what would happen if they took this thing to bed.

  “Kate,” he said, his eyes heating as he clearly read her thoughts. “You have to stop looking at me like that.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ll take advantage of you,” he said, no hesitation.

  This caused another tingle. She wouldn’t mind him taking that kind of advantage of her . . .

  “We’re not going there, Kate.”

  “That’s not what your kisses say.” And then before he could respond to that, she walked away.

  * * *

  An hour later Kate, Holly, and the other bridesmaids met at the church to get ready together. Jade, the most sophisticated of the group, did their makeup. Lilah kept everyone in stitches recounting the trials and tribulations of running the town kennel. As a bonus, Miranda managed to keep most of her snark to herself. When they were all finished, they stood around a huge mirror staring at their reflections.

  “Wow,” Kate said reverently. “Holly, you look amazing.”

  Holly’s eyes got misty, and she ran a hand along her stomach, a motion Kate knew she was the only one in the room to understand the implication of. “I don’t want to forget a minute of this,” she whispered.

  “I’ve never seen a more beautiful bride,” Miranda said, and mostly redeemed herself in Kate’s eyes.

  “Never,” Kate agreed.

  Holly hadn’t taken her eyes off herself. “You all need to stop saying nice things. My makeup is too perfect to cry now.” She waited a beat. “Okay, don’t stop it.”

  They all gushed some more, shed a few happy tears in spite of their makeup, and then Holly smoothed her dress one last time and smiled. “So, any last-minute advice, girls?”

  “Make sure to train him from the get-go,” Lilah said. “Toilet seat down.”

  “And he should sleep in the wet spot at least half the time,” Jade said.

  “And don’t let him contort your body into a position during sex so that your stomach pooches and your boobs end up in your armpits with your ankles near your ears,” Miranda said. “That’s just not flattering for anyone.”

  Everyone stared at her for one awkward beat.

  “Um, thank you,” Holly finally said. “That’s good advice.”

  Kate’s cell rang. It was Ashley. “Dad’s lost his keys.”

  Kate rushed over there to pick them up. Her dad was waiting for her on the porch. “Sorry,” he said. “You look beautiful. I hope that sometime soon it might be my turn to walk my little girl down the aisle,” he said.

  She gave him a hug, and he squeezed her tight as Ashley showed up, wearing a miniskirt and skimpy tank top.

  “No,” Kate said, pointing to the stairs. “You’ve got three minutes to add many, many more acres of clothing, or you’re going to get left behind.”

  “When I go off to college, you won’t be the boss of me anymore.”

  “Don’t tease me.”

  Ashley stomped back up the stairs.

  Kate looked at her dad.

  He shrugged. “She doesn’t listen to me.”

  “She would if you actually said something.”

  Her father winced in guilt, and Kate felt her own stab of the same emotion. “I know you don’t like to upset her, but she’s an alien right now. You upset her by breathing, we all do, so you might as well put your foot down and mean it.” Then she eyeballed Tommy from head to toe. By some miracle, he appeared to have used both shampoo and a brush. He looked adorable in his khakis and button-down shirt—which was dark brown so as to cover any possible stains because there were surely stains. “Your shoes are on the wrong feet,” she said.

  Tommy looked down at himself.

  Kate waited.

  But Tommy just scratched his head. “But I don’t have any other feet.”

  “Fair enough,” Kate said. “Let’s go.”

  She drove them to the church, which was full and buzzing with warm vibes, soft music, and the hushed excitement that always came before a wedding.

  Kate was in the waiting alcove with Holly and the others when she caught sight of the groomsmen showing guests to their seats. Griffin was one of them. She’d seen him in his army camo. She’d seen him in jeans. She’d seen him in a variety of clothing. But nothing beat seeing him in a tux.

  Well, except for when he wore nothing at all . . .

  * * *

  The ceremony was beautiful, from the music to the flowers to the wedding party itself. Kate watched Griffin standing tall at Adam’s side, his hair growing out of the military buzz cut, those miss-nothing eyes and that carefully blank face scanning their surroundings.

  What was it like, she wondered, to have been so hardened, so honed into a lean, mean fighting machine that you could hide your every emotion?

  Or did he just not have emotions?

  No, she knew he did. She saw them when he dealt with Holly in an easy, affectionate way. Or when he looked with frustration at his father.

  Or when he’d kissed her . . .

  Yeah, there’d been a wealth of living, breathing, one hundred percent pure emotion under his surface. He was just entirely too good at keeping it all to himself most of the time.

  Adam and Holly had written their own vows. By the time Adam took Holly’s hand and looked deep into her eyes as he recited his own words in a firm, steady voice, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.

  Except for Griffin. Kate knew he loved his sister, knew he was a good brother, but he was standing there like he was carved out of granite. She stared at him from a view gone blurry with her own tears, longing in a way she didn’t understand. What was it about this one man that reached out and grabbed her by the throat? Why him?

  The minister said something about the importance of family, and Holly craned her neck and met her brother’s gaze.

  Griffin flashed her a heart-stopping smile.

  The smile got to Kate like nothing else. And she knew right then and there. She was in deep trouble.

  The I-do’s came, and then the kiss-the-bride part, which Adam appeared to take very seriously given the length of the time it took him to kiss Holly. No one could say that Adam wasn’t extremely thorough.

  Then the new bride and groom walked back down the aisle, followed by matched sets of bridesmaids and groomsmen. Griffin crooked his elbow and Kate slipped her arm through. He was the hardened soldier again, cool-headed, gorgeous with the strong angle of his jaw, the perfect contours of his cheekbones, the badass testosterone leaking from his every pore, and he represented something she’d never been able to give herself—fun.

  The truth was, he flat out stole her breath. He always had, from the first time she’d seen him.

  He met her gaze then, and she had to steel her resolve against the unwelcome wave of emotion that welled up inside her. His hand was on hers, and he smelled so fricking amazing, she ached. She ached from head to toe for him.

  How stupid was that? She wanted him. Not for comfort or security. Those things were an illusion. She wanted him just for her. She didn’t have a chance with him, and yet that didn’t seem to matter to her heart. Just once, she thought with yearning.

  Okay, maybe twice.

  Three times tops.

  Ten

  The reception started off boisterous and happy, and escalated from there. Kate moved through the room, chatting, helping make sure everything ran smoothly, all while making her plan. How hard could it be to convince a red-blooded male in his sexual prime that one night together was a great idea?

  She was smart, she reminded herself. She could do this. Maybe she didn’t have a lot of expe