And then she wet her bottom lip with her tongue. Nothing sly or calculated about the gesture, but it certainly grabbed his attention and caused an unmistakable heat to thrum through his veins.
He suddenly felt ridiculously tongue-tied.
A sweet smile lifted her enticing mouth, but it didnt erase the haunting shadows in her eyes. Blinking slumberously, she slouched onto the table and propped her chin in her palm. She stared up at him in a dreamy sort of way, an effect he attributed to the alcohol shed consumed.
Hi. The one word floated to Garrett on a husky sigh of breath, wrapping around his already overloaded senses like a silky, physical caress.
Clearing his throat, he forced himself to remember his manners. Maam. Are you okay?
Immmfine, she said brightly, and gulped the last little bit of liquor in her snifter. Im jusgreat.
She was far from fine, and closer to the despair fringing her false bravado. How about I buy you a cup of coffee?
Her brows creased as she thought about his question. Yeah, I think I could use some coffee. Lots of cream and sugar. She yawned, and her lashes drooped. No more Armaretto. Its making me sooo seepy. She giggled at her slur, then tried, I mean ti-erd.
Stifling a grin, he motioned for the bar waitress and ordered the woman a cup of strong, black coffee. When he glanced back at the bride, he found her brushing at an unmanageable curl along her cheek, which kept springing back into place. A look of utter disgust flitted across her face.
I hate my curly hair, she grumbled, blowing a frustrated stream of breath at the unruly strand. Stupid curls never stay where I put them. Did you know I wanted straight hair when I was a little girl?
Uh, no. How could he have possibly known something so personal when hed never met her before this evening?
Her eyes drifted closed, and just when Garrett thought shed fallen asleep she spoke in a soft, wistful voice. Every birthday Id blow out the candles on my cake and wish for straight hair like my friend Cindy. It never happened.
He took in the long, lustrous hair she seemed to curse, too fascinated by those springy, natural curls and the way they might cling to his fingersor how the caress of the sun might turn the strands to rich gold.
Her eyes fluttered open a moment later, a wealth of vulnerability shining in their depths. Unsure how to reply to her strange conversation, and feeling way out of his element, he played it safe and remained quiet.
My other wishes didnt come true, either, she confessed quietly. I was supposed to marry a prince charming, and live happily ever after. I guess Im just not very good at making wishes.
Becky arrived with the coffee, saving him from having to formulate some kind of response. He knew the liquor was partially responsible for loosening her tongue, but he sensed her babbling about prince charmings and wishes somehow tied into the reason why shed skipped out on her wedding day.
Today was suppos to be the happiest day of my life, she said once they were alone again, her soft voice quivering with emotion. Thats what my mom told me before she died, but its the worst day of my life. All I wanted was a teensy-weensy bit of re-spec-ta-bil-ity, but Ill never, ever be respectable.
Aw, hell. What offense had she committed that was so awful she believed herself unworthy of respect? Compassion stirred within him, along with a good dose of curiosity over her comment. He quickly stifled both, refusing to tangle himself in this womans emotional turmoil. Once he gleaned some pertinent information from her so Harlan could contact someone to pick her up, his duty would be done and he could get back to that cold beer Harlan had promised him.
And forget about this complex, periwinkle-eyed angel who seemed so lost and alone, and very vulnerableand a possible scandal waiting to happen. The last thing he wanted or needed was speculation into his private life, and this mysterious woman would definitely provide that.
Scrubbing a hand over his jaw, he reached for the cream and sugar and poured a generous amount of each into her coffee, as shed requested, and pushed the mug in front of her, urging her to drink.
She took a great shuddering breath, and lifted her troubled gaze to his. Do you think when I wake up tomorrow this will all be just a bad, horrible dream?
He wished he could offer her that assurance, but instead tried to console her with an easy smile. If you dont drink some of this coffee, tomorrow youre gonna end up with a bad, horrible hangover.
A frown marred her delicate brows and she picked up the mug, wrapping both hands around the warm ceramic. Im fine. Jus great.
Uh-huh, he agreed, humoring her, knowing if she tried to stand at the moment shed fall flat on her pretty face. Resting his fingers beneath the bottom of her mug, he guided it toward her mouth. Her lips settled over the rim, and she took a drink and cringed, at the sweetness or the strength of the coffee, he couldnt be sure.
Whats your name? he asked, figuring hed start with simple questions and work his way up to the more difficult ones as her mind cleared.
Jenna Chestfield Confusion etched her expression as she considered that name, then she shook her head, causing more of those unruly strands to spill from the top of her head and curl on the soft swells of her breasts straining the bodice of her gown. No, we never said I do, so I guess Im still just Jenna Phillips.
Just Jenna Phillips. There was a story in that, Garrett was sure, one he didnt want to get involved in, he reminded himself as his gaze drifted to her left hand. The absence of a ring on her finger backed her claim that no marriage had taken place.
She propped her chin in her palm again, as if her pretty head was getting too heavy for her shoulders to support. Her eyes grew soft, slumberous. Whats your name?
Garrett, he replied, deciding to keep things between them on a first-name basis.
Garrett, she repeated, her husky voice making his name sound very intimate coming from her lips. Thats a nice, strong, respectable name. Are you respectable?
Abrupt laughter rose in his throat, but he had the good manners to catch it before it escaped. Wanting to get his chivalrous deed over with, he asked, Jenna, is there someone we can call to come pick you up?
She didnt have to think long. No.
He found that hard to believe. Any family? Remembering that shed mentioned that her mother was deceased, he prompted, Your father, or other relatives?
She blinked, and an inexplicable sadness filled her eyes, a deep-rooted loneliness that struck a chord in him. Nope, she whispered in an aching voice. No one.
How about your fiancé? he asked. Can we call him?
She flinched at the mention of the man who would have become her husband, and her distress returned. He caught a wealth of regret, remorse and insecurities in her eyes before she cast her gaze downward.
No, he wouldnt want me anymore, she said in a voice choked with certainty. Not after the way I humiliated him and his family. I cant ever go back.
Another frustrating surge of sympathy gripped Garrett, and he valiantly tried to ignore it. He didnt want to care about this woman and her predicament, or why she believed she was such a big disappointment to the man shed been engaged to marry.
Another frustrating surge of sympathy gripped Garrett, and he valiantly tried to ignore it. He didnt want to care about this woman and her predicament, or why she believed she was such a big disappointment to the man shed been engaged to marry.
Great. Now what should he do? He glanced over at the bar and met Harlans questioning gaze. Other than the womans name, and learning that Jenna Phillips was seemingly as much of a loner as himself, he didnt have much more information on her than he had when hed first sat down.
Well, hed done his duty. Now, it was up to Harlan to figure out what to do with the lone bride for the night. He started to ease back out of the booth, but she grabbed his arm, which immediately stopped him. Her hand was soft and very cool against his heated skin, throwing images into his mind of how supple the rest of her body might feel beneath his calloused fingers, against his lips. He inwardly cursedhad he been that long without a woman that a stranger, and someone elses bride at that, could make him burn with a mere touch?
Shed latched on to him for security, that much was obvious. Meeting her suddenly desperate gaze, he banished those former thoughts from his mind, reminded himself he was done rescuing women, and tipped his head in inquiry.
Are you leaving me? Panic tinged her voice, as if shed just realized that she was in a strange, distant town, in a rowdy, honky-tonk bar filled with men eager to take the place he was about to vacate.
I just need to go talk to Harlan. Nobody will bother you, he promised, feeling uncharacteristically protective toward this woman he didnt know. Not a good sign. He wanted to say it was the same kind of paternal feeling he experienced with his daughter, but there was nothing nurturing about the awareness Jenna evoked. No, his response to her was all male and too threatening to the secure, stable life hed built for himself and Chelsea the past six years.
And the sooner she found her way back to St. Louis and the life still waiting for hera life certainly more sophisticated and exciting than this small, mundane town of Danbythe better off theyd all be.
He nodded toward her mug. You finish up that coffee, all right?
Her fingers tightened on his arm. Youll come back?
He wanted to say no, but the beseeching way his damsel in distress looked at him got under his skin, made him feel things he hadnt felt in too many years. Yeah, Ill come back.
If only to help her out to a cab, or to make sure she was safe somewhere for the night, he told himself. That would be the extent of his involvement with this lost, complex bride.
Are you out of your ever-lovin mind? Garrett gaped at Harlan as he absorbed the bartenders absurd suggestion. I cant take her home with me!
Come on, Garrett, Harlan said, giving him a whats-the-big-deal kind of look. Im sure shell be in a better frame of mind in the morning, and shell realize her mistake and go back to wherever she came from. One night, Blackwell, not a lifetime.
One night was one night too many in Garretts mindnot when this runaway bride affected his libido and emotions so strongly. Find someone else to be your scapegoat, Harlan.
The bartenders gaze swept the rowdy room of patrons, and returned to Garrett on a serious note. I dont trust anyone else.
A vein in Garretts temple throbbed with frustration, and he rubbed the offending spot with his fingers. I dont do strays, he bit out in a last-ditch effort to convince Harlan that he was the wrong man to take care of Jenna Phillips. The only women he ever wanted to feel any obligation toward were his daughter, his mother, and his sister, Lisa.
Harlan swiped his towel over the gleaming mahogany surface of the bar, and sighed in resignation. Then I guess Ill just have to call the sheriff to come and pick her up, and shell have to spend the night down at the station in a holding cell.
Harlan moved away to fill a drink order, leaving Garrett with a restless unease tightening his belly. He glanced toward Jenna, who looked so bewildered and lost, and imagined this beautiful, soft-skinned, city-bred bride waking up in the morning on a narrow cot, disoriented and fearful, and without a shred of that respectability and dignity shed wished for earlier.
Indecision warred within Garrett, and he struggled with those more gallant tendencies his mother had instilled in him. He didnt need the responsibility of taking care of this confused female, he argued with his conscience. He didnt need the complication of embroiling himself in her problems, he thought irritably. And he sure didnt need the distraction of her sleeping in his house, even for a night.
During Garretts silent brooding, Beau Harding, a drifter who worked at the lumber mill in town, sidled up to the bar. Garrett nodded toward the other man in polite acknowledgment, but there was something about Harding Garrett didnt like, or trust. The young man was too arrogant for his own good. A month ago hed come by Garretts company, Blackwell Engineering, looking for work for the summer. Though Garrett had been considering adding on an extra man to his crew, hed gone with his gut instinct and turned him away.
Beau cast a leer over his shoulder toward Jenna, then grinned wolfishly at Harlan as the bartender returned to their end of the bar. Hey, Harlan, whats up with that lovely bride over in the corner?
Were just trying to figure out what to do with her, Harlan replied, very reluctantly.
Beaus pale gray eyes glimmered with interest. You need someone to take her to a motel for the night?
The innuendo in Beaus voice was unmistakable. The mere thought of this man touching Jenna, or possibly taking advantage of her current state, made Garrett feel unexpectedly territorial.
No, he snapped before Harlan could respond. She already has a place to stay.
Harlans brows rose in surprise, considering how adamantly Garrett had refused any involvement with the bride only moments ago.
Beaus insolent gaze slid to Garrett. Just thought Id offer my assistance, he drawled, then sauntered away.
Garrett just bet Beau would like to assist Jenna. His temper flared like wildfire in his blood, startling him with the level of possessiveness she inspired. The last time hed experienced such an overwhelming reaction had been over another woman. Chelseas mother, to be exact.
And that encounter had led to nothing but grief, heartache, and a lingering bitterness over being used and betrayed.
Ill go get her suitcase from the storeroom, Harlan offered, then quickly disappeared to retrieve Jennas luggage, as if he feared Garrett might change his mind if he didnt hurry.
Garrett drew a deep, calming breath. One night, he told himself, and then this bundle of trouble would be gone, out of his life and back to St. Louis where she belonged.
It could be no other way.
CHAPTER TWO
FOR the first time in six years, Garrett was taking a woman home. He found it more than ironic that the woman in question had been someone elses intended bride, and was currently passed out on the front bench seat of his truck, her frothy, satiny wedding gown enveloping her like a shimmering cloud.
Minutes after hed pulled out of Leisure Pointes parking lot, without compunction or any serious thought to what she was doing, shed stretched out, rested her head in his lap, and promptly fell asleep. Obviously, the long day shed had, and the Amaretto shed consumed had finally caught up to her.