“I knew it was a risk when I introduced you to him, brought him to Peckham and Morrow. But I thought you were perfect for the account.” He looked back at her. “You didn’t seem attracted to him and he never said much about you.”
Kelsey didn’t know what to say. She’d always been attracted to Jared, no matter how well she’d managed to hide the fact from Doug. Amy had picked up on her interest.
“Well,” he said after a moment. “It’s not as if you can’t change your mind and get a divorce.”
Kelsey drew a deep breath, a number of emotions fighting for supremacy. Indignation, sadness, annoyance. “Listen, Doug. I’m marrying Jared because I love him and I want to spend the rest of my life loving him. If I weren’t convinced of that, I wouldn’t be marrying him. I’m not like my mother.”
Doug stared at her, surprise in his eyes. “But you’ve always said—“
“I know what I’ve said,” she snapped. “I was wrong. Jared’s…different from all the others. He makes me feel different, makes me feel more than any other man ever has. I’m marrying him and I’m staying married to him because I love him.”
***
Jared, standing several feet away, two champagne glasses in his hands, felt his heart skip several beats. One day she’d say those words and mean them, he vowed to himself.
The window framed Kelsey and Doug, both their faces heated, their body language conveying the tension in their interchange.
He’d been right to start all this. Kelsey didn’t love Doug as a man, but she had great affection for him as a brother. He’d make the perfect husband for Amy and the perfect brother-in-law for Kelsey. In the end, they’d all be happier.
“Sweetheart,” Jared said, stepping forward to hand her the champagne. “I’m bringing you your last glass for the evening. We can’t have you tipsy when we open the gifts.”
He slipped his arm around Kelsey, drawing her up against his body as he met Doug’s flustered gaze. His face was flushed, his distress evident.
It wasn’t difficult to sympathize with Doug’s misery. Even without his arms around Kelsey, Jared could appreciate the other man’s loss.
The glass in her hand shaking ever so slightly, she took a sip, glancing up at him with grateful eyes.
Jared pulled her closer, knowing this was one war he couldn’t afford to lose.
“If we’re ready to open gifts,” she said with a bright smile, “I need to visit the powder room first. Excuse me.”
Watching her as she slipped gracefully through the crowd, Jared didn’t at first hear what Doug said. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I said,” Doug enunciated more clearly, “if you hurt her I’ll break both your legs.”
CHAPTER NINE
“She’s really marrying him.” Doug sounded dazed as he sank on to his couch an hour after the engagement party had broken up.
He looked so lost and forlorn, Amy almost wanted to tell him that he could keep his fantasy about Kelsey, after all.
Not really, she amended, being honest with herself.
Sitting next to him on the couch, she reached over and took his hand in hers, saying, “Yes, she’s really marrying him.”
“I can’t believe it,” he said for the fifth time since they’d climbed into a cab together after the party.
“She loves him,” Amy said. “Really loves him.”
Doug pulled away from her angrily. “It’s not true! Kelsey’s just infatuated. She gets that way sometimes with flashy guys like Jared.”
“Jared? Flashy?” Amy lifted an eyebrow. Her sister’s fiancé could be described variously as sexy, tough and powerful, but flashy didn’t in any way convey his essence.
“It always fizzles out. Every time she falls for some guy, it fizzles out,” Doug sputtered.
“She’s never gotten married before,” Amy reminded him with a hint of asperity. “She’s never come close.”
“No,” he said slowly. “She hasn’t. I never thought she would until she….”
Amy took his hand again. “I think she really loves him and he obviously loves her. You can see it in the way he looks at her, the way he touches her.”
The look of distress on Doug’s face deepened. “You think so?”
“Yes.” Amy got up from the couch and slipped behind him, her hands resting on his shoulders. “She’ll be fine, you know. You don’t have to worry about her anymore.”
Doug sighed. “I always have.”
“I know,” she said, her annoyance evaporating as her fingers moved lightly over his shoulders. He was such a fool, such a beloved, bewildered fool.