Authors: Angie Daniels
London couldn’t explain it. Instead of enjoying himself, all he wanted to do was go over to Bianca’s, curl up under the covers with her and hold her in his arms.
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“Nah, just ready to get the formalities over with.”
Mark nudged him with his elbow. “Yeah, right. You’re ready to get that honeymoon started, huh? I ain’t mad at you,” he chuckled.
Jaden cleared his throat. “London, my sister would like to speak with you.”
London’s heart slammed against his chest. Bianca was at the door. Why? He wondered if she was having cold feet. He hoped not. They had already decided that this was the only way to protect the Beaumont name and to protect her baby from Collin.
He reached the door just as Bianca stepped in.
“Sis, don’t you know this is bad luck?” Jaden scowled as he smoothed the front of his tuxedo.
Bianca gave him a dismissive wave. “Be quiet. I need to speak to London.”
London couldn’t do anything but stare. Bianca looked…beautiful. Sexy as hell. He sucked in a sharp breath and took a giant mental step back. Every speck of moisture in his mouth vanished.
Her hair was in small spiral curls that were pulled back away from her perfectly round face. Her shoulders were bare and the floor-length dress molded her curves with a lover’s attention to detail. His pulse drummed louder in his ears. Even though their wedding was a sham, he still considered himself lucky to be marrying such a beautiful woman.
He purposely cleared his throat. “Give us a minute,” he said, and realized he sounded like a frog and cleared his throat again.
His cousin punched his shoulder. London pulled his gaze away from Bianca long enough to catch Mark winking just before heading out the door.
As soon as they were all gone, Bianca closed the door quietly behind them.
Her alluring and exotic scent wrapped around him and made him dizzy with longing. “You look incredible, Bianca.”
A smile trembled on her lips. “Thank you. So do you.”
He clenched his jaw and fought the unexpected and unwanted need snaking through his veins.
“Bianca, is everything all right?”
“Yes, I…” She lifted gaze and met his, and for a long moment neither of them said anything. Worry darkened her eyes and he
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had to fight the urge to kiss every worry line away from her forehead. “London, I wanted to thank you for everything you have done for me, but you don’t have to do this. We don’t have to get married. Drawing unwanted attention to me and my family no longer scares me.”
The knot in his throat thickened. “Is that what you want?”
She hesitated. “I don’t want you to have to change your lifestyle for me, and if you want to call this off—”
He laid a finger over her lips. She wasn’t having second thoughts, but she thought he was. That’s what he liked most about her. Her compassion and concern for others. That’s the reason why they were getting married in the first place, because she was putting the needs of her family before her own.
His fingertips burned. He removed his finger from her soft mouth and reached down and clasped her hands in his.
“I get to spend the next year married to the sexiest woman in Sheraton Beach. How is that making a mistake?”
She bit her lower lip. “I just wanted to let you know that you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I’ll survive and so will my family. We’ve been through a lot worse.”
He pulled her closer. “I want to do this. You’re starting to make me think that maybe you’re the one who’s having second thoughts.”
She shook her head. “Absolutely not. Because at this point my mother would kill me if I did. Did you see all those people out there?”
He nodded. “I think the entire town closed down for business to be here,” he said with a chuckle. “I guess we’d better give them something to talk about.”
She gave a nervous laugh. “I guess so.”
His gaze shifted to the bodice of her dress, which showed generous cleavage, and he found himself thinking about the chocolate color of her nipples and the weight of her breasts in his hands. They hadn’t made love in over a week, but tonight all that would change. Tonight he would make love to his wife.
Bianca gave him one final look of uncertainty. “Are you sure?”
London pulled her into his arms. He pressed his lips to her forehead then pulled back. “I’m sure.”
“If you change your mind—”
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Before she could get it out, he lowered his mouth to hers, brushing his lips back and forth. Bianca brought her hands to his shoulders, holding on to him as he traced the shape of her mouth with his tongue. With a sigh, she opened her mouth and he teased her with his tongue, wanting to let her know that this was just a taste of what was yet to come. Tonight he was going to make her his. Finally, she placed a hand on his chest and pushed away. She stared up at him with her lips moist and parted.
“I’m not changing my mind,” he reassured her. “Now go before I yank that gown from your body and make love to you right here, right now. To hell with all of those people waiting.”
She must have seen that he was serious because she backed away and hurried out the door.
As soon as she was gone, London released a long breath as he moved to look out the window. Mark and the minister were outside waiting under a gazebo at the center of the magnificent rose garden.
It was showtime. Struggling to breathe, he turned on his heel.
Reaching for the brass handles, he opened the French doors and strolled over to his assigned place next to his cousin. His eyes traveled over to the several hundred people sitting under the cool shaded trees, waiting for the wedding to begin. His sisters waved from the second row. Waving back, he gave them a wide grin.
They were happy for him.
Things were not going to change. He and Bianca would share a home and he would have a companion in his bed for the next year. And when the time came, they would both go their separate ways. Although he had every intention of being a permanent part of her child’s life.
“Is everything okay?” Mark asked.
“Yes, everything is fine,” he said.
“For a minute there I thought maybe she had come to her senses and wanted a real man like me.”
London ignored his cousin’s wisecracks, clasped his hands in front, fixed his gaze on the opposite end of the aisle and waited.
Jabarie escorted Bianca’s mother down the aisle. She took her seat upfront and gave London a sweet welcoming smile. His belly knotted. She trusted him with her daughter. And he wouldn’t let her down.
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From the corner of the garden a harpist plucked out a tune. His talented sister, Denise, stood off to the side with a cordless micro-phone in hand as she sang Stevie Wonder’s “Ribbon in the Sky.”
The double French doors leading from the main part of the house opened and one by one the wedding party came out. A grin curled his lips when Brenna and Jabarie’s three-year-old daughter came down the aisle carrying a small basket of flowers.
Arianna scattered rose petals randomly as she made her way up the aisle. When she reached the end she rushed to sit on her grandmother’s lap.
The music changed to the wedding march and London breathed in admiration as he caught sight of Bianca floating regally toward him on the arm of her father. The tie knotted at his throat threatened to choke him. For the hundredth time he was overcome by his desire for her. Sunlight, soon to set into dusk, danced on her curls and sparkled on the beading of her dress. He squared his shoulders and awaited his bride.
On the verge of hyperventilating, Bianca struggled to regulate her breathing and then she met London’s gaze across the garden and forgot about breathing altogether.
The strength in London’s gaze drew her forward as surely as her father’s firm grip on her elbow, guiding her down the aisle.
Not once did her eyes leave London’s. She took in his attire.
London was mainly a khakis and polo shirt man, yet this afternoon, he wore a finely tailored tuxedo, as if he had been born to wear one. In fact, he looked handsome and downright dangerous. His good looks were enough to bring any woman to her knees, and today she was no exception.
When she reached the end of the short aisle, he held out his hand. Everything is going to be all right, his steady brown gaze seemed to tell her. Her father released her, kissed her cheek and stepped away. London took his place beside her. His warm fingers curled around hers and a sense of calmness settled over her.
The minister began the traditional service Bianca had heard many times before. The familiar words eased the tension that gripped her stomach. London eased a simple gold band on her finger and repeated his vows in a firm, confident voice. When it
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was Bianca’s turn to say her vows, her voice trembled and when she finally slid the wide gold band over London’s knuckle, she gasped. It was officially too late to change her mind.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The minister closed his prayer book and beamed. “London, you may kiss your bride.”
Bianca met his eyes. He smiled at her and he leaned in close.
Her heart stumbled then raced. His hands curved over her bare shoulders and his long fingers sent a heated rush over her body.
She dampened her lips. She thought she saw a flare of something besides lust before London bent his head, but he lowered his lids before she could identify the emotion. Bianca leaned into him, resting her hands against his strong body. She felt safe and in danger at the same time.
His mouth opened over hers. The world around them disappeared. The flick of his tongue on her bottom lip struck her with the charge of a lightning bolt, and then he tasted her. She couldn’t help but taste him back.
Delicious.
Her hands slid up his neck.
She tunneled her fingers through his hair. His palms eased down over the slick fabric of her gown, pulling her firmly against his body and deepening the kiss.
Loud applause and laughter penetrated the sensual fog.
London slowly lifted his head. Bianca stared up at him for a long intense moment, and she realized that if she weren’t careful, she would definitely be in danger of losing her heart.
“Ladies and gentleman, allow me to be the first to introduce Mr. and Mrs. London Brown.”
The photographer moved in close and the flash went off in her face. Blinking rapidly, Bianca pasted on what she hoped looked like a blissful smile while inside her world had just been turned every which way.
She was only vaguely aware of her surroundings, of Debra hugging her tightly, and Mona and Denise with tears in their eyes, kissing her on the cheek. “My brother could not have made a better choice,” Denise said. Clarence kissed Bianca and shook his son’s hand as he congratulated them both.
Finally, Jessica turned to their guests. “Please join us on the patio for cocktails,” she said in her best hostess voice.
Chapter 20
The wedding. The kiss. The announcement that Bianca was now his wife hit London hard. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
My wife.
He watched her all during dinner and the cutting of the cake.
Now the deejay had slowed down the music and he was moving across the patio to claim her.
“Sweetheart, can I have this dance?”
Bianca smiled up at him, then offered him her hand, and he escorted her out onto the dance floor. Instantly, he pulled her against him and she locked her arms around his neck.
“I think everything went quite well,” she said as she followed his lead.
“No, things went better than well.” Their marriage was supposed to be temporary, him helping a friend. End of story. Only he wanted more…after the small ceremony, he wanted a lot more.
“Hey, what’s going on in that head of yours?” Bianca asked, getting his attention.
London gazed down at her smiling face, then seared her mouth with a long, passionate kiss. “You. I can’t stop thinking about
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you,” he murmured, then pressed his lips to hers again. When he finally came up for air, he held her tightly against his beating heart. “Do you feel that? That’s how you make me feel.”
She leaned back and stared up at his face, seeing how serious he really was. Her eyes grew large and round, filled with surprise.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say that as soon as this song is over you’ll be ready to sneak out the back door.”
Her lips curled in a smile that challenged his libido. “I’ll meet you in the limo.”
Half an hour later, London unlocked the front door and shoved it open. He swept Bianca up in his arms. She gasped, squirmed and kicked her feet. He tightened his hold. “Hold still before I drop you,” he whispered against her ear.
She giggled and wound her arms around his neck. “Will you put me down?”
“Not until we’re inside.” London stepped inside and kicked the door closed, then slowly lowered her to her feet and immediately brought his mouth to hers. He couldn’t get enough of her.
He took her hand. “Well? What do you think?”
Bianca tore her eyes from him and suddenly realized that she was in London’s home, now their home, for the first time in over a week. She glanced around, eyes wide.
“Oh, my goodness! When did you have time to do all this?”
“I hired a crew to have it ready in time for our wedding.”
“It’s beautiful!” She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. When she had insisted that it was a waste of time for him to sell his home, since their marriage was only going to last for a year, he got her to agree to move in with him. However, Bianca had hinted that the house lacked warmth and femininity and she was going to make some changes after she moved in. Refusing to let his pregnant wife lift so much as a paintbrush, London had hired a crew to renovate his house in seven days.
“It’s my gift to you. I want you to feel like this is your home.”
“Thanks to you, I already do.” Rising onto her tiptoes she pressed her lips to his. London groaned then swung her into his arms and carried her down the hall.