Two Nights with His Bride (9 page)

What the hell
does she see in this guy?

Okay, he’d been famous
longer than Wyatt had been alive. And he’d been named the Sexiest Man Alive three times. And he probably shat gold.

But no amount of polishing could put a shine on the fact that he’d not only crashed his fiancée’s party but openly admitted stalking her to do it.

You just don’t fucking
do
that.

But Nancy was a grown-up who could make her own choices, even if Wyatt disagreed with them. So he
tried to tune out the awkward conversation she and Mr. Hollywood were having as he stoked the fire and prepared porridge for his guests. With every passing moment, he grew more desperate for the other three women to wake up and save him from being the third wheel in a situation he wanted no part of, but they appeared to be attempting a world record for sleeping in.

He glanced at his watch. Seven-thirty
in the morning. Who slept that late?

Hollywood starlets, apparently.

“Um, Wyatt?” Nancy’s voice sounded more tentative than he’d ever heard it, and he wanted to ask her where she’d lost the attitude she’d always given him.

But he couldn’t, not without tacitly criticizing her, and he wouldn’t do that in front of her fiancé or anyone else. So he kept it simple. “Yeah?”

“We’re just going to go
for a little walk.”

Jared gave him an I’m-getting-lucky wink, and Wyatt had to resist the urge to hit him. “Be back by eight-thirty so we can get going.”

She nodded and walked away in the possessive embrace of Jared’s arm.

The campsite turned quiet once they left, the forest gradually echoing with the sounds of Mother Nature waking up. He tried to focus on the tasks at hand, but annoyance burned
a hole in his gut. What did he care if they sneaked away for a quickie? Wyatt had led plenty of groups and seen far more than he’d ever wanted to. People liked getting down and dirty in the woods, as if getting back to nature reminded them of their inner animals. As long as no one had sex right next to him as he tried to sleep—something that happened with alarming regularity—he usually couldn’t
care less.

But something about Jared struck Wyatt as creepy, and he’d always felt protective where Nancy was concerned.

They’re engaged. It’s Jared’s turn to be protective toward her.

Yeah, but what if he’s the one she needs protection from?

He tried to shake the doubts from his head, but they lingered.

By the time Faye stumbled out of the yurt ten minutes later, purple and black makeup smeared
around her eyes like a drunk clown, Wyatt had the porridge made and a second pot of coffee brewed.

“I smell coffee,” Faye muttered as she collapsed close to the fire. “Need.”

Wyatt poured her a mug. “Milk and sugar?”

“Both. Lots.”

He fixed it up and handed it to her. Her eyes drifted closed as she took her first sip, and for a moment Wyatt feared she would fall asleep right into the flames.
But the caffeine seemed to have an almost immediate effect, jolting her into consciousness. “God, that’s good.”

“Let me know when you want more.”

“You’re a god among men.”

“I know.” He ladled some porridge into a bowl. “Here. Breakfast.”

Giving it a critical look, she screwed up her face. “Where are the Belgian waffles, strawberries and chocolate sauce?”

“Back in L.A., but I have a mix of
nuts and seeds if you want your porridge with more bling.”

She screwed up her face. “I take back that god-among-men comment.”

The other two women came out, yawning and scratching themselves. Polly sat on the log next to Wyatt and laid her head on his shoulder. “Morning, hot stuff. Dream about me last night?”

“Depends. Have you ever been a winger who chipped the puck straight to me when I was
in front of an open goal in the closing seconds of the cup final?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Then no.”

“I could pretend to be, if that’s your thing.”

“Porridge?” He leaned forward to sling some into a bowl for her, conveniently jostling her away from him at the same time. She didn’t seem to take offense.

“Thanks.”

“I had a nightmare,” Ruby said as she grimaced into her coffee. “It was so vivid
it woke me up. I dreamed Jared showed up and insisted on rafting with us.”

Polly shuddered. “Oh,
total
nightmare.”

“I know, right? I walked right up to him and kicked him in the nuts.”

Wyatt’s brows shot up. “Why?”

“Because—” Ruby grunted as Faye elbowed her in the ribs. “Never mind,” she grumbled.

“No, seriously. Why?”

Ruby shot Faye a questioning glance but was answered with a curt shake
of the head.

“Oh, come on. He’s an old friend of hers,” Polly said, gesturing toward Wyatt.

“There’s no such thing as old friends,” Faye quipped, “only people who haven’t sold you out yet. No offense, Wyatt.”

“A shitload of offense taken. I wouldn’t sell Nancy out.”

“Maybe not, but I don’t know you well enough to take that risk.” Faye stared him down with the same hard-eyed determination she’d
cut Ruby off with a moment earlier, and Wyatt’s offense simmered down. How could he be angry at someone who clearly felt protective of Nancy, even if her instincts were misplaced?

Of course, that didn’t mean he would give up on getting the information he wanted. He rifled through his food container. “Oh, look. I have a bar of dark chocolate.”

Faye shot to her feet and grabbed it. “Subtle. And
disappearing in about three seconds.” She ripped the wrapping off and downed the chocolate, ignoring Polly and Ruby’s shouts.

He grinned and slowly drew a king-sized bar from the container. “Oh, look. An even bigger one, and it goes to whoever tells me more about Jared.”

Ruby snatched it from him and took a bite. “You must think we’re idiots.”

“Not in the least. I understand you live in a world
where people screw each other over for no good reason. That’s what worries me. I want to be sure Jared’s not the kind of guy who would do that to Nancy.”

Polly snorted. “Jared is all about Jared. He’ll take great care of Nancy as long as she takes great care of him.”

“Polly!”

She glared at Faye and Ruby. “Screw you guys. You stole my chocolate. Plus, I have good instincts about people. Wyatt’s
barely taken his eyes off Nancy since we arrived, so it’s obvious he cares about her.”

A twig cracked on the edge of the clearing, and Wyatt’s blood ran cold as he turned and met Jared’s murderous gaze.

The actor shuttered his initial reaction almost immediately, but Wyatt had no doubt he’d wanted to hurt someone badly. Whether that someone was Polly or Wyatt himself, Wyatt wasn’t sure.

Nancy,
on the other hand, turned red as a cherry and kept her horrified gaze on Polly, who shouted, “What the hell is
he
doing here?”

“He came to surprise me. Surprise!” Nancy said lamely. Every inch of her tense body communicated her discomfort with Jared’s unexpected arrival, but for some reason she apparently hadn’t told him to leave. Or, if she had, she’d been overruled. Considering it sounded as
though Jared had traveled through the night, Wyatt couldn’t blame her for backing down. As bad an idea as Jared’s surprise had been, every man had done something stupid for love at least once in his lifetime, and no man would appreciate having his grand gesture rejected—especially in front of others.

Not that Wyatt pitied the man. He might if Jared had showed an ounce of awareness that he’d crossed
a line. Or if he hadn’t smothered Nancy with a kiss that looked more punishing than passionate. Or if he hadn’t smacked her ass right in front of him or shown a dozen other signs of being a creep with the potential to hurt her.

That bothered Wyatt the most. The guy had the potential to hurt her—and she was going to marry him.

“Jared, it’s a
bachelorette
weekend.” Ruby stood and braced her hands
on her hips. Sadly, she didn’t kick him in the nuts, the way she had in her dreams. Wyatt would’ve paid good money to see that. “Girls only, in case that wasn’t clear from the billion times I told you before.”

“That’s what I thought, too, but obviously not.” Jared jerked his chin in Wyatt’s direction. “Besides, Nancy wants me here. Don’t you, Bunny?”

Wyatt’s hands clenched into fists. What a
horrible position to put her in. Before she could answer, he cut in. “I’m afraid I can’t let you on the boat unless you have the right safety gear. If I’d known you were coming, I could’ve brought some.”

“That’s all right. Nancy and I are going to stay here and spend some time on our own.”

Nancy’s face fell as she stared up at her fiancé in disbelief. “Wh-what?”

“Well, you wouldn’t want to
go off and leave me here all alone, would you? When I’ve traveled all this way to see you?”

Wyatt’s chest went so painful he thought it might burst open. The manipulative son of a bitch.

“Jared, it’s my
bachelorette
party.”

“And I’m your husband-to-be.” He gave her a wounded look. “I had no idea it would be such a big sacrifice for you to spend the day alone with me. You used to drop everything
to spend time with me. So, what? Now that I put a ring on it, you don’t want to make the effort anymore?”

The furtive, humiliated glance Nancy shot him made Wyatt get to his feet. “Listen—”

“I’ll stay behind. Jared can have my gear.” Faye laid her hand on Wyatt’s arm and squeezed, a silent message to shut up. “Rafting’s not really my thing.”

“Actually, I brought my own.” Jared patted Nancy’s
butt. He turned to Wyatt and explained. “The first film I directed was called
Crimson River.
You might not have seen it. Very art house. Doubt it came to any of your theaters around here. Anyway, I played a whitewater rafting guide whose group gets murdered by aliens, and he has to save himself using only his raft, paddle and a couple of toothpicks. Did all my own stunts, and the crew gave me
rafting gear as a thank-you at the end of the shoot. There’s nothing I don’t know about riding the river. And if my bride wants to spend the day in a raft, then that’s what we’ll do.”

Shit.
Controlling his temper had never come easily to Wyatt, and seeing how quickly the spunky Nancylynn he knew had disappeared made him ready to fight. He’d ignored his instincts once before, and Nancy had been
the one hurt by it.

This time he wouldn’t back down. He would fight the devil himself to help Nancy see this asshole for what he was.

‡

“If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married.”

—Katharine Hepburn

T
he weight of
Jared’s arm seemed to grow heavier as the morning wore on. Nancy tried twice to move away from him, but he stayed right by her until her nerves were close to snapping. The skin on the
insides of her cheeks felt raw from how hard she bit down to keep herself from saying all the things she wanted to say.

Now was not the right time. Thirty minutes earlier—when they’d walked through the forest to talk privately—
that
had been the time. And she
had
told him she wanted him to leave so she could have some bonding time with her friends, but he’d taken offense and peppered her with
so many questions that she’d finally given in just to save her sanity.

Sometimes it was better to make peace than to make a point.

If only she didn’t have that niggling feeling that she’d been making a lot of peace by losing a lot of points lately.

It’s just the stress of wedding planning that’s getting to us
. That had to be it. How could a couple plan a million-dollar wedding without a few
arguments?

Or a few hundred.

“All right,” Wyatt said, “this morning we’re going to go through Yankee Jim Canyon, without a doubt my favorite stretch of the Yellowstone. It has everything—interesting history, big rock walls, beautiful scenery, rapids and some sections that are calm enough for floating or swimming, if we want. One word of warning. During a storm last year, a huge boulder broke
away from the canyon wall and landed in the river. When the river’s higher, it’s totally submerged and just feels like a gentle wave when you go over it. Right now, though, the water’s low, so the current crashes against the rock and forms a wave that crests backward. It’s important not to panic. We either row around it or all paddle hard so we hit the wave straight-on and have enough power to go
over it. We don’t want to hit it sideways because it could flip us over. We can decide what to do when we’re approaching it, but we’ll have to act quickly. It’s up to you guys how comfortable you are tackling it head-on. Any questions?”

They all shook their heads.

“Good. Let’s get in the boat.”

Wyatt led the way, followed by Polly and Ruby. Faye had decided to stick around the camp, even though
Jared didn’t need her equipment. Nancy’s stress over the whole situation grew. She’d invited Faye along because she was more than an employee. She was a friend and one of the few people Nancy could completely trust. She couldn’t help wishing Faye was coming instead of Jared, a thought that made her feel like a traitor.