Here Comes the Bride (7 page)

She should be happy she didn’t have to resist his charms all day, but she wasn’t. Dominic had stirred something deep within her, making her feel restless.

Ever since her ex-boyfriend Ken had dumped her, she’d been focused on staying strong and independent—relying on no one but herself—because she never wanted to feel that same painful loss again. After five years together, she’d trusted Ken more than she’d ever trusted anyone in her life. She’d been so sure he was the one. And yet one day she’d come home to an empty apartment and a note that read: “I’ve fallen in love with someone else. All my best, Ken.”

Now here she was, married to one of the hottest actors in America. But just because her husband was gorgeous and had threatened to beat up other guys for touching her, that didn’t mean she had to fall in love with him.

Sam grabbed her notebook and pen from the table behind her, flipped the pages until she came to a blank page and wrote, “Third day married to DD. The man has made himself scarce. When he’s around, he’s a gentleman, but I still don’t know anything about him. It’s as if he’s put an invisible steel barrier between him and the world. Although we’ve been cooped up in the same room for three days, I’ve never been lonelier.”

The ring of the telephone interrupted her thoughts. She set the notebook on the outside table, and then went back inside the suite and picked up the phone, surprised to hear her mom’s tenuous voice.

“Mom?”

“Hi, honey.”

“How do you keep finding me? The front desk isn’t supposed to forward calls.”

“Oh, really? I tell whoever answers I’m your mother and it’s an emergency and if they don’t want their name dragged through the mud they might want to put me through. It works every time.”

Great.

“I wanted to tell you that Uncle Joe and Aunt Pat taped the wedding for us,” Mom went on. “I just finished watching the entire ceremony. I still can’t believe you’re married to Dominic DeMarco. My little girl is famous.”

Sam was glad to know her mom was warming to the idea of her being married. For the first time in a very long time, her mom sounded animated and happy. “I’m not famous, Mom. My husband is famous.”

“Of course you are. Pat told me she was at the grocery store the other day and your face lit up more magazine covers than your husband’s. I love what you’ve done to your hair, but I’m not sure about that outfit you wore the day after your wedding. Jeans and a T-shirt? What were you thinking?”

“I wanted to be comfortable on the plane ride.” Although she could feel a headache coming on, she was relieved to know her mother had gotten over her initial disappointment at not being invited to the wedding.

“Have you turned on the television lately?”

“I’m on my honeymoon, remember?”

Her mother laughed. “That’s what your aunt and uncle said but I just had to call. Clips of your wedding have been appearing on every news channel. During the ceremony, Dominic doesn’t look quite right. Was he nervous?”

Sam grabbed the remote and turned on the television. Pictures of her and Dominic seemed to be on every channel. It only took a few clicks of the remote before she found a station airing a close-up of Dominic at the altar. His expression was one of doom as his gaze followed the red carpet all the way to the exit. He looked miserable, trapped, and ready to make a run for it.

***

Dominic slid his hotel key into the slot and opened the door a few inches, stopping when he heard Sam talking to someone in the other room.

“Mom, it’s okay, really,” she said. “It’s the camera angles. Yes, we were both a little nervous, but that’s to be expected. There were thousands of people watching us.”

There was a slight pause before he heard Sam say, “Yes, I agree, Dominic looks a little panicky. Yes, I was crying. They were happy tears, Mom. That’s right…I was just happy to be marrying the man I love.”

Another moment of silence followed and Dominic assumed her mother was talking. The tension he heard in Sam’s voice caused his chest to tighten. Pretending to be in love with a complete stranger wasn’t as easy as they had both imagined or hoped it might be. Dominic wanted nothing more than to wring both Tom and Ben’s necks for getting him into this mess. After being betrayed by his uncle, he should have told the world the truth. Instead, he’d listened to his agent and manager and made a mess out of an already complicated life.

“I know, Mom. Please tell Aunt Pat she doesn’t need to worry. Dominic is very attentive and romantic. I’ve never been happier. I’ll fill you all in with more details when we get back.”

Dominic suddenly felt bad about avoiding her these past few days. Sam Johnston seemed like a nice enough kid. She’d wanted a story and she’d gotten more than she’d bargained for. He liked her gumption, but he sure as hell didn’t like feeling crappy about her situation. She’d had a choice in this whole thing. No reason for him to take all the blame.

“I need to go, Mom. No, he’s in the shower again; otherwise, I’m sure he would have loved to talk to you.”

Shit. Dominic opened the door, giving it a good shove and letting it thud closed.

Sam looked up, her eyes wide as he headed her way. He took the receiver from her, held it to his ear, and said, “Is this Mom?”

He tilted his head close to Sam’s ear so she could hear her mom shouting to the rest of the family that she actually had Dominic on the phone.

Sam hardly moved. In fact, it was hard to tell if she was breathing. Dominic inhaled the fresh tangy scent of her hair. His lips unintentionally brushed over the silky strands.

Mrs. Johnston was saying something and her voice brought him out of his trance.

“Yes,” he said, “we’re having a wonderful time. Your daughter is everything I could have hoped for in a wife…and more.”

Sam glanced up at him. The innocent look, the brightness of her expressive eyes caught him off guard, making his heart skip a beat. What was it about her that made his insides do funny things, made him feel airborne like a kite being let loose on a windy day? Gliding and soaring across a blue sky one moment and then spiraling downward toward the ground in the next.

Sam’s face flushed as she looked away from him and straight ahead toward the wall. But her ear was still close to the phone, her hair still close to his lips. In fact, his chin nearly rested on the top of her head as her mother rambled on with a long list of her daughter’s talents.

Embarrassed, Sam tried to pry the phone out of his hand. He frowned, letting her know he wasn’t going anywhere until Mom said goodbye.

“No,” he said into the receiver, leaning low, his jaw brushing against Sam’s cheek, his lips once again within centimeters of her ear. “I didn’t know that Sam won the hula competition in seventh grade. She’s full of surprises.”

Sam rolled her eyes.

“Yes, I think you’re right,” Dominic told Sam’s mom. “She’s being shy.”

Sam jabbed him with her elbow.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ll get her to do the hula for me if it’s the last thing I do.”

He could hear someone talking to Mrs. Johnston in the background, a male voice telling her to warn Dominic about Sam’s inability to cook a decent meal, how she always broke things, earning her the nickname Grace. The voice continued on about how she was a tomboy and wanted to be like her brothers but could never measure up. He also heard Sam’s mom defending her, saying she had other talents.

Suddenly Dominic had a glimpse of where Sam’s insecurities might have begun.

He felt Sam stiffen, and he found himself wanting to know what she was thinking.
A definite first.

“Yes, I’m still here,” he told Mrs. Johnston when she thought she’d lost the connection.

Sam shook her head adamantly when her mother began to talk about having another wedding ceremony for the family.

“That’s a great idea,” he said. “If it’ll make you happy, we could have another ceremony at the house in Malibu.”

As Sam’s mother made plans, he inhaled again, unable to get enough of her fresh, citrusy smell.

“It was nice to finally get a chance to talk to you, too,” he said, his attention focused on the softness of Sam’s hair against his lips. “I look forward to meeting all of you. Goodbye.”

He laid the receiver in the cradle, but made no attempt to move away from Sam. And neither did she attempt to move away from him. The only sound was the gentle whoosh of the ocean through the open doors leading to the balcony. He’d hardly talked to Sam in three days, and at the moment he remembered why. Every time he was near her, he found himself wanting to take her into his arms and ravish her. Heat swept through his body, every muscle constricting from sheer desire.

But he refused to make that mistake again. If she wanted something more between them, she was going to have to make the first move. The notion that he wanted her so much made him angry. She was a reporter. She was here because of a story, for God’s sake.

“You have no idea what you just did,” Sam told him.

“What did I do?”

“My mother will never let you forget what you said about having another wedding.”

“You’re right. I got carried away.” Dominic raked all ten fingers through his hair. If she thought this was bad, she wasn’t going to be happy to discover they would be sharing a bedroom—and a bed—once they were back home. Unlike the honeymoon suite, where he could toss the blanket and the pillow he used each night back onto the bed, back home there was the cleaning staff and landscapers to worry about. If they were going to pull this stunt off, they needed to play the happily married couple every day and every night until this whole marriage thing was over.

Before either of them could say another word, a knock sounded. Dominic looked through the peephole and cursing under his breath, opened the door.

Julia sashayed past him, her head held high, her spine stiff. Her white blonde hair was pulled back in a thick ponytail that swayed with each movement of her hips.

Dominic peered down the hall, making sure reporters and photographers hadn’t followed her and then shut the door behind her. “What are you doing here?”

Julia’s gaze swept over Sam before she continued her search through the rest of the suite. “Where is she?”

“Who?”

“Your new wife?”

“She’s standing right here.”

Julia twirled about, her gaze locking on Sam once again.

“This is the woman you married?”

“Thanks to you, I was sort of left in a bind,” Dominic argued. “My selection of wives was limited after you deserted me.”

“Hey,” Sam said, “I thought you said I was beautiful.”

“You are, sweetheart,” he assured her.

“Sweetheart?” Julia’s eyes turned red. “You told her she was beautiful?”

“She’s my wife, isn’t she?”

Sam crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

“I should be your wife,” Julia stated firmly.

He raked his fingers through his hair. “Julia, what’s this about? Why are you here?”

Julia’s eyes narrowed. “I can’t believe you would stoop this low.”

“For the life of me I can’t understand why you would be upset.”

“The moment the plane took off, I knew I had made a mistake.” She stepped close to him, her breasts snug against his chest. “I truly thought you would come for me. I thought we had something special. I thought you loved me.”

Julia rested her cheek against his shoulder. “I’ve changed my mind. Annul your marriage and marry me. I’m ready.”

He sighed.

“Maybe I should leave the two of you alone and give you some time to sort this out,” Sam said.

Dominic detached Julia from his chest. “No. Julia’s leaving.”

Julia’s hands fisted at her sides. “I am not leaving. We can straighten this out. Just give me another chance.” Her hands landed on his chest. She left a trail of kisses over his neck. “Let me make it up to you,” she purred. “Our relationship will be better than ever.”

“Julia, I don’t know where this is coming from. I’m not in love with you, and I never pretended to be.”

Julia slapped him hard, and then whipped around to face Sam.

Sam ducked, but there was no need because Julia merely growled and pointed a finger at her. “Have you already slept with him?”

“Well, umm…I—”

“That’s enough,” Dominic ground out.

“He’s going to do everything in his power to get you into his bed and keep you there. All lies,” Julia told Sam. “He’ll promise you the world and then when it comes time to toss you aside for somebody else, he won’t bother to spare you a glance.”

“I never promised you anything, Julia. I thought we were friends. I never meant to hurt you.” He opened the door. “I think you should leave now.”

Julia turned to face Dominic. “I can’t believe you chose her over me.”

“You’re the one who ditched me.”

“And you replaced me with
that
.” Julia lifted her chin.

“Don’t talk that way about her.”

“There is the press to consider,” Julia said with a sneer. “I know why you married Plain Jane.”

“There is nothing plain about her.”

Julia huffed. “I’ll give you some time to think about it, but if you don’t divorce her, I’m going to go public.” She left, slamming the door behind her.

Dominic locked the door.

“Wow,” Sam said. “That woman is pissed off at you.”

Dominic didn’t respond.

“I thought you said Julia was a friend doing you a favor.”

“That was my take on the situation. I never said or did anything to make her think there was anything more than friendship between us. Women,” he added with distaste.

“Men,” Sam said with an equal amount of revulsion. “You slept with her, didn’t you?”

“Maybe I did, but listen carefully,” Dominic said, his jaw hardening, “because I’m only going to tell you this once. Contrary to popular belief, I do not sleep with every woman I meet. In fact, the two of us,” he added, waggling a finger between them, “did not make love on our wedding night.”

“Of course we did. I was naked. You were naked. I was glowing.”

“True,” he said with a smirk, wishing he could pick her up and carry her to the king-sized bed, despite his foul mood. Every part of him wanted her, tension shimmering between them. “You were definitely glowing and we were both naked,” he said, “but we hardly did much more than kiss. And so you have nothing to regret.”