Braeden straightened his tie, checking the knot in the mirror. The rehearsal dinner didn’t start for another hour, but Christa had mentioned Jennifer was due to arrive any minute and he wanted to “just happen” to be in the lobby when she arrived.
Pathetic?
Sure. But he didn’t think he could wait another minute to see her. Freakin’ butterflies assaulted his stomach. Macho as shit, right? But he couldn’t think of any other way to describe it.
She’d been in his thoughts almost constantly since last summer. He’d dated a bit, but no one moved him like her.
This crazy attraction had to be some kind of a by-blow of seeing her as the damsel in distress. No way he could have fallen so completely for a woman in such a short time. His memories were playing tricks on him. Building her personality and beauty up to unreasonable proportions. The sooner he saw her, the sooner he’d recognize she wasn’t so special and he could put her out of his mind.
He checked his watch. One last glance in the mirror to be sure his hair hadn’t flipped up in the back like it sometimes did, then he headed out the door.
Most of the guests would be situated out in the renovated carriage house that stood about thirty feet out the back between the main house and the dock, but the wedding party was in the main building. With snow expected tomorrow, he was glad he’d be able to stay inside and warm the entire time. Although, if Jennifer wanted company over in the carriage house, he’d brave the weather.
He took the main staircase down to the foyer. Christa planned to use the stairs to make her grand entrance for the wedding tomorrow night. He hadn’t missed the opportunity to tease her about tripping on her dress.
Thoughts of the wedding ended when he made it to the ground floor and looked toward the registration desk.
Jennifer.
Damn, his memory was spot on. Absolutely freakin’ gorgeous. Dark, windblown hair fell in her face, a bulky winter coat disguised the curves he remembered so well, but her flawless skin glowed, and her jeans clung to her sweet legs, doing nothing to hide the rounded fullness of her rear end. He paused to admire the sight.
Emma Kaye 