Going to the Chapel (12 page)

Ire flamed inside her even
now. “But you made sure that wouldn’t happen, didn’t
you?”

A muscle started to tic in
that handsome jaw. “I did what I had to do.”

Caroline threw the pen
she’d been using onto the desk. “Oh, yes, I forgot. You
had
to get married. Your
girlfriend was pregnant. How could I forget that little detail when
you were supposed to be engaged to me at the time conception
occurred? I’ve done the math, Chase. I know what you
did.”

He snagged her by the arm
and pulled her around to face him. “You don’t know anything about
what I did or why I did it. You were already gone,
remember?”

She glared up at him. “Out
of sight, out of mind, I suppose,” she hissed. “Did your brother
know you were fooling around with his girlfriend?”

Fire glittered in his eyes.
“I didn’t—”

“
Save it, Chase.” She tried
jerking free of his iron grip. “I didn’t want to hear it then; I
don’t want to hear it now.” Oh he had called. Had even hunted her
up and practically beat the door down. But Caroline had called the
cops. She did not want to hear his excuses. He’d hurt her far too
badly.

“
Then hear
this.”

His mouth came crashing
down on hers and all else ceased to matter. He kissed her until she
couldn’t breathe. His mouth, his taste, engulfed her. He tasted
like…home. His hard body drew hers like a magnet. She melted
against all those hard contours. Every ripple and bulge sent shards
of need tingling through her. She told herself to push him away,
but she couldn’t. She could only cling to him as if he was all that
kept her grounded to this earth.

His palms cupped her face
and he deepened the kiss, stroking her tongue with his own. Making
her long to feel the most male part of him inside her. She wanted
to rip his clothes off and make love with him right here in Doc’s
office. She wanted him to tell her that it had all somehow been a
mistake. That he hadn’t meant to hurt her. That he still loved her
as she did him. That he would always love her.

But he didn’t. He hadn’t
eight years ago and he didn’t now. Caroline tensed. Her palms
flattened on his massive chest and she pushed hard against him.
“Stop,” she managed between savage kisses.

His breath was ragged when
he finally drew his mouth from hers. “Caroline, I—”

She shook her head and
backed away from him. “This isn’t going to happen, Chase. It’s over
between us. It was over a long time ago.”

He stared at the floor for
a long moment before he spoke. “I know it’s over. I just...I don’t
know.” He looked straight at her then. “Seeing you here like this,
it just made me wish things had been different.”

“
But they’re not.” She
wiped her mouth with a trembling hand and let go a shaky breath.
“Lock up, would you? I have to go.”

She left the office without
looking back. She couldn’t look back. There was no changing the
past. She’d survived Chase Garrett once. She wasn’t about to go
through that kind of pain again.

~*~

“To your last night as a
bachelor,” Chase said as he lifted his mug of beer to his good
friend Rob.

Rob bumped his mug with
Chase’s; Zac followed suit.

“
To wedded bliss,” Rob
countered. “And to all that it entails.”

Zac remained suspiciously
quiet. He looked like a guy who’d just lost his best hunting
dog.

Chase swallowed a sip of
beer and studied his two closest friends. Rob Benton was marrying
Julie McGill at ten a.m. tomorrow morning. The chapel was back in
working order and all was set. The image of Caroline instantly
popped into Chase’s head and he immediately banished it. He would
not think about Caroline or the stupid thing he’d done on Tuesday.
Twice now he’d kissed her. Was he a glutton for punishment, or
what?’

Rob’s expression suddenly
turned almost as solemn as Zac’s. “I don’t know though, it may not
be all blissful.”

Chase sat up straighter in
his chair. They’d taken the proverbial room in the back at the pool
hall. A three-man bachelor party had ensued. Jason Walker, one of
Chase’s deputies, was coming by at midnight to drive them home. No
drinking and driving in his county, Chase mused. His attention
zoomed back to Rob’s remark.

“
What do you mean by that?
You and Julie have been dating for two years.”

Rob shrugged. He’d shed his
jacket and tie. He was rarely seen without his financial armor. He
claimed he had an image to maintain seeing that he was the bank’s
president. People expected him to look professional.

“
I don’t know,” he finally
said. “Something just isn’t right between us lately.”

Zac kept his gaze fixed
firmly on his sweating mug of beer and said nothing.

Chase frowned. This wasn’t
right. “What kind of something?”

“
Sometimes I think we just
aren’t on the same court with this game.”

Zac grunted, but quickly
cleared his throat. Rob glanced at him but didn’t seem to take
offense. Chase looked from one to the other. Tension was there, but
he wasn’t quite sure where it was coming from.

Chase produced a smile.
“Hey, buddy, don’t sweat it. Everybody’s gets a little of the old
cold feet.”

Rob took another hefty
swallow of beer. “Of course you’re right.” He lifted his mug once
more. “To my lovely bride.”

“
Hear, hear,” Chase
agreed.

Zac lifted his mug and
tapped it to theirs. “Cheers,” he said sullenly.

Completely ignoring the
lack of enthusiasm from his friend, Rob grinned at Chase. “So,
what’s this I hear about you and the good doctor? Rumors are
flying, my friend. They say—” he leaned forward conspiratorially
“—the two of you might get back together.”

Chase took another swig of
beer to wet his suddenly dry throat. “It’s just a rumor. Caroline
will be leaving a week from Monday.” He hadn’t seen her since that
crazy kiss he’d laid on her in the Doc’s office. He’d decided that
if he couldn’t keep his head in her presence, he’d best keep his
distance.

Rob sighed. “Too bad. We
could have made it a double wedding.”

Zac pushed out of his
chair. “Anyone want another beer?” He glared first at Rob, then at
Chase. Both shook their heads. “Well, I do.” He left the
room.

Rob frowned. “What’s eating
him?”

Chase stared after his
friend. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s had a bad week.”

“
I don’t see how,” Rob
retorted. “He’s in heaven working on that fancy sports car Caroline
smashed.”

That reality only reminded
Chase of the conversation he’d overheard on Caroline’s porch.
Tristan, the dumb bastard, wanted Caroline back.

...then again, maybe he
wasn’t so dumb. Maybe Chase was the dumb one.

~*~

“Okay, truth or dare?”
Julie demanded.

Caroline sighed. She did
not want to play this game. At lunch on Wednesday, Julie had
insisted on making their girls’ night a sleepover. Now, the night
before Julie’s rescheduled wedding, the three of them sat in a
circle around Julie’s coffee table playing Truth or
Dare.

“
Dare,” Caroline
relinquished. She wasn’t about to go for the truth. She knew Julie
too well.

Julie smiled mischievously.
“Call Widow Jeffries and ask her if she has Prince Albert in a
can.”

“
Julie!” Sherry scolded.
“The widow’ll be in bed this time of night.”

Julie tossed the card onto
the table. “All right, all right. I was only kidding.”

“
Besides,” Sherry muttered,
“that prank’s as old as dirt. Who does that crap?”

Julie was in rare form
tonight. Caroline wondered if she was still having second thoughts
about her imminent nuptials. “You ready for tomorrow,
Jules?”

She shrugged, then sipped
her wine. “What’s not to be ready for? I dress up, I say I do, and
everything else will fall into place, right?”

Caroline chewed her lower
lip. This was not a good sign. “If you’re having second thoughts,”
she offered, allowing the suggestion to linger in the
air.

Julie shook her head. “I
think it’s too late for second thoughts.”

“
It’s never too late,
Jules.” Caroline couldn’t believe a woman as smart as Julie would
do this
settling
thing. “Don’t do something just because you’re afraid it will
embarrass someone. Pledging the rest of your life to a mate is not
to be taken so lightly. Trust me, I know.” She had almost done
exactly that.

Julie searched her gaze.
“And if I think it’s a mistake,” she ventured.

“
I’ll tell you what you do,
girl,” Sherry cut in. “You do just like Caroline did with Tristan,
you run like hell.”

Julie shifted
uncomfortably. “Let’s talk about something else. This is too
depressing.”

Caroline sipped her wine,
then fingered the long, delicate stem. “You’re right about that.
Way too depressing.” Her whole life had fallen down around her. She
was preparing to sell her childhood home and the only man she’d
ever really loved had kissed her like he still cared. But he
couldn’t possibly. Not really. Maybe it was just the challenge.
Maybe he just wanted to see if he could still have Caroline. After
all she’d walked out on him. He never even knew she came back to
town with the intention of reconciling. Just that once.

“
So, what’s the scoop on
you and Chase?” Julie asked bluntly.

Heat scalded Caroline’s
cheeks. “There is no scoop.”

“
That’s not what I hear,”
Sherry added. “I hear it’s like old times with you two. In fact,
the whole town is laying odds that you’ll stay.”

Caroline lifted a
speculative eyebrow. “Really? And I wonder where they would get
such a farfetched notion?”

Sherry frowned,
concentrating. “I think my Aunt Sadie said that Henrietta Jackson
told her that.”

Caroline should have known.
Henri had wanted nothing more than to see Chase and Caroline
together all these years. Just like her grandmother, God rest her
soul. They’d both planned out Caroline and Chase’s lives long
before either of them was old enough to have a say in the
matter.

Julie looked sheepish. “I
might have mentioned to an acquaintance or two that you and Chase
still make a beautiful couple.” She grimaced. “Sorry, I couldn’t
help myself.”

Caroline released her
frustration in a long breath. “Look, ladies, I’m sorry to
disappoint you, but Chase and I are not a couple. In case you’ve
forgotten, he cheated on me and his brother apparently.” She
shifted her attention to Sherry. “Maybe Julie failed to tell you
that Chase impregnated the girl while he was engaged to
me.”

Sherry looked aghast.
“Chase? Sweet, handsome, good-as-gold Chase?”

Caroline nodded. God, she
needed something a lot stronger than this wine at the
moment.

“
That’s still hard for me
to believe,” Julie put in. “I mean. I never saw Chase so much as
look at the little tramp until a couple of weeks after Shane
died.”

“
Well, obviously, he’d done
more than look,” Caroline snapped. “Tiffany had to be pregnant six
weeks before she and Chase married.”

“
Whew!” Sherry patted her
ripe belly. “What a kick. I think he’s going to be a football
player.”

Caroline studied Sherry for
a moment. “I don’t know how much longer you’re going to carry that
load, Sherry. Has your due date already passed?”

Sherry smiled. “It’s two
weeks from today. But I told you I’m not having this baby until I’m
properly wed to his daddy. He’ll be home next week.”

“
Not a moment too soon in
my opinion,” Julie noted aloud.

“
Nor in mine.” Caroline had
a feeling that Sherry didn’t have two weeks, more like two days.
She looked really ready. But Caroline supposed that her
obstetrician had warned her at her most recent
appointment.

“
So, Caroline,” Julie
prodded hesitantly, “do you still feel anything for Chase? I mean
do you still tingle when he’s near?”

Caroline smiled nervously.
“I’ll take the fifth on that one.”

Julie grinned. “You do! I
knew it! And I know he still has the hots for you. I saw the way he
looked at you the other night. He was as mad as hell that you’d
danced with another man.”

Shaking her head, Caroline
tried not to let the warm, fuzzy feeling Julie’s words invoked take
root. “He might still feel a little territorial, but that’s all. He
made his decision eight years ago.”

“
I’m telling you, Caroline,
Chase still loves you.” She fixed Caroline with a steady gaze. “He
loved you then.”

Caroline laughed, a
humorless sound. “Well, he had a hell of a way of showing
it.”

Chapter Eight

Caroline sat rather stiffly
on the old wooden pew. She didn’t look relaxed at all. But she damn
sure looked sexy in that royal blue dress. Another short, silky
one. Chase exhaled a tight breath. Jesus, how many dresses like
that did the woman own? The Caroline he had known all those years
ago would never have dressed so provocatively. She didn’t have to.
She’d been immensely beautiful and appealing even in jeans. He
remembered how she’d looked last Sunday in jeans and a tee-shirt
and admitted that she looked just as good—maybe even better—that
way, too.