The ceremony was set to start in less than an hour, but my father’s future wife still hadn’t shown up. Maybe she’d made a run for it.

Alas, I wasn’t that lucky, and neither was his bank account.

I could tell the old man was worried though. Currently, he was pacing the veranda and sucking down a cigar. The only other person who looked as nervous as he about the late arrival was his best friend, who also happened to be his divorce attorney. If the bride bolted before the deed was done, Bob wouldn’t make a dime off him when it all went south later on.

Earlier, I’d spent some time trying to calm my father down, but had given up when he’d begun extolling the virtues of his intended as though she were some sort of canine instead of the woman he was about to marry. I didn’t need to know about Roni’s sweet disposition or her loyalty in the face of adversity. While it was the first time he’d ever talked about a woman’s personality before her physical attributes, I still wasn’t convinced. Roni might have been different from her predecessors, but it’d be foolish to become too invested. She’d probably be gone in less than a year.

“They’re pulling up.” Dad grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the driveway.

“They?”

“Veronica and her kids.”

I stopped in my tracks. “Wait, what? You didn’t tell me this one had kids.”

“I wanted you to meet Roni first, but you canceled lunch with us so I never got the chance to explain. Honestly, I’ve only met her two oldest—Theodore and Alexander.” His face turned sheepish. “Everything happened so fast with us, but don’t worry. You’re going to love her boys. They’re great.”

I clasped my palm to the back of my neck and looked out over the ocean. I was an only child who’d stopped wishing for siblings when I was around ten years old. My dad was crazy if he thought I was going to play the role of doting big brother now.

I was about to put my foot down when he turned to me, his eyes beseeching. “I love Veronica. Truly. She’s it for me.”

I studied him for a few long seconds, weighing his words. He sounded sincere, but I’d heard it all before. If I wasn’t mistaken, that was the same thing he’d said when he’d run off with Jenny.

“Please, son.”

I let out a deep sigh. I might not like any of this, but I loved my father—his tendency to frequently marry the wrong type of woman notwithstanding. “Okay fine, but I’m not babysitting.”

His eyes brightened, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, leading me toward his intended and her brood. “Don’t worry. That won’t be a problem.”

Within seconds I understood why—and my whole world turned on its axis.

Veronica—or Roni, as he affectionately called her—wasn’t another bimbo who’d divorce him when she got tired of banging an old dude. And her kids weren’t some snot-nosed brats who’d drive me crazy with their incessant whining. No, Roni was a beautiful, elegant older woman, and the two sons greeting my dad with firm handshakes were tall, bearded men close to my own age. When they moved aside revealing a third, younger man I realized he’d been in one of my courses the semester before.

With a laugh, I stepped forward to say hello. But then my former student shifted to reveal a blonde woman stepping out of the back of the limousine. He took her hand to steady her when the spiky heel she wore sank into the gravel.

My breath caught in my lungs, and I watched, transfixed, as the woman laughed, the tinkling sound lodging low in my gut.

I knew that hand. It had spent countless hours caressing my body the night before.

I knew that laugh. It had filled me with joy when she’d wrapped sudsy arms around my neck in the shower this morning and kissed me senseless.

In less than a day, Victoria Witherspoon had managed to work her way inside my heart and break down all the walls I’d built around that battered organ.

Now, we were minutes away from her mother marrying my father.

Moments away from her becoming my step-sister.

Seconds away from her being off-limits. Forever.

Because the way my dad looked at her mother? He’d never looked at a woman like that before. And that included my own mother. I could tell he loved Roni, truly. It was written plain as day in the reverent way he held her hand, how his body swayed toward hers like he was captured by her gravitational pull.

I’d known Victoria for less than twenty-four hours. I liked her. Hell, I adored her. But my father worshipped her mother. And she might be his last chance for real, lasting love.

The knowledge hit me like a grenade, shattering my heart and blowing my hopes and dreams to smithereens. I groaned and dropped my head back to stare at the sky. If I’d believed in God, I would have cursed him.

Through the pounding in my ears, I heard my dad calling my name. I took a deep breath and dropped my face forward. Steeling my resolve and schooling my features, I forced one foot in front of the other until I stood before Veronica and her four adult children. Drew Witherspoon’s eyes grew wide as saucers, and his gaze bounced nervously between his sister and me.

“Everyone, allow me to introduce my son, Richard Carstairs, Jr. Richard, this is Veronica Witherspoon. And these are her children Theodore, Alexander, Victoria, and Andrew.”

I couldn’t meet Victoria’s eyes. I didn’t want her to see the horror written in my own.

Theodore pushed his hand forward. “Pleasure to meet you. Please, call me Theo.”

Alexander followed suit, and then I couldn’t avoid it any longer.

I turned to face the most beautiful woman I’d ever had the good fortune to call my own—even if it had only been for a day. Victoria, with hair the color of frost on a cold winter’s morning, was naturally pale with rosy pink cheeks, but standing in front of me, all the color had leached from her face.

Numbly, she extended a hand. “Richard?” My name came out sounding breathy and slight, but no one—save my former student—seemed to pick up on her confusion.

I pressed our palms together and forced fake cheerfulness into my voice. “Please, call me David. I stopped going by Richard when I was eight years old and a classmate called me ‘Little Dick.’”

Everyone in the group laughed—my dad slapping me on the back with a hearty guffaw—and Victoria slid her hand from my grip.

With reluctance, I dragged my eyes to the youngest Witherspoon. “How’ve you been, Drew?”

He swallowed, and for a brief moment, appeared utterly spooked. But then he pulled a deep breath into his lungs, and I watched as a calm mask of indifference settled over his features. “Great, Professor Carstairs. Yourself?”

Unbidden, my gaze found Victoria’s, but she looked away, her bottom lip clamped tight between her teeth. “I’ve been well.” I forced myself to look at all of them. “A little surprised to meet you though.” I glowered at my father who, to his credit, appeared guilty.

Victoria sucked in a quick, tiny gasp and wrapped her arms around her middle, diverting Alex’s focus. “You okay, Vick?”

She nodded. “I’m fine. Just a chill.”

He eyed her for a few brief seconds, suspicion marring his brow, before turning his attention back to his mother. “Yeah, I don’t think any of us were expecting the other,” he growled.

That was putting it mildly.

I’d never expected a woman like Victoria to show up in my life. Nor had I expected to fall so completely for her in the span of one night. And this morning, as we’d said goodbye-for-now outside her hotel, I’d never expected it would become permanent.

I wanted Victoria in my life, but not as a member of this strange Brady-Bunch-style extended family. I didn’t want impersonal kisses hello on the cheek at family gatherings, or awkward, stilted conversations about our lives as we passed the ketchup or applesauce back and forth across the table. I wanted to be with her. I wanted our hellos to be filled with happiness and ease. I wanted long dinners together, where we filled each other in on our days.

My heart sped up, my pulse beating wildly in my neck. The longer I stood there, the more panic-stricken I became. I couldn’t stand to see her smiling face and know she’d never again be mine. I needed to put as much physical distance between us as possible—a literal ocean, if I could—which meant getting my ass on the earliest ferry tomorrow morning and forgetting all about this weekend.

“Oh, there you all are,” a slim, dark-haired woman rushed up to the group, a clipboard clasped in her hand. “All the guests are seated, and we’re ready to begin. Veronica, will you and your daughter come with me? I’ve reserved seats for Theo, Alex, and Drew in the front row on the left side. Mr. Carstairs, you and your son should go stand beneath the arch, where I showed you earlier.”

“Thank you, Cherie.” Veronica planted a light kiss on my dad’s lips. “I’ll see you in a few minutes, Richard. I’ll be the one in white with the veil.” She winked and stepped back, her lips lifted in a happy smile and her eyes bright with excitement.

My father breathed in deep, his chest filling with pride. “I can’t wait.” He turned to me then. “Shall we?”

My eyes strayed to Victoria, but she was already making her way toward the clapboard building where the florist was keeping the bouquets fresh. With my eyes fixed on her retreating form, I hadn’t been paying attention to the other men in our group. If I had, I might not have flinched when Alex clapped his palm to my shoulder.

Leaning close so only I could hear, he whispered, “I don’t know how you and my sister know each other, but if I find out that you hurt her in any way, I will end you. I don’t care who you are or what your dad means to our mother.” He squeezed as if to punctuate his point, and I swear I felt my muscles give under the strength of his grip.

I shrugged out from under him, and turned to face the larger man. I studied him while he studied me back, and I knew he’d have no problem making good on his threat. But he had nothing to worry about because hurting Victoria was the last thing I’d ever want to do.

“I would never hurt her.”

When Alex’s eye twitched, I realized he’d expected me to deny knowing her. After all, I pretty much had with my blithe, off-hand introduction and explanation about the name discrepancy. I thought I’d done an adequate job covering up her surprise when my dad had introduced me as Richard—something I hated—but apparently it hadn’t been good enough.  

He nodded once and moved to join his brothers. He’d only gotten a few yards away though when he stopped and turned back to me. With two fingers forming a vee, he pointed at his eyes and then flicked them my way. “I’ll be watching you.”

“I’m sure you will.” I tried not to roll my own eyes—too hard. I wasn’t some mustachioed villain intent on defiling the fair maiden as part of some nefarious plan to … well, I didn’t know what, but it was obvious this guy had an overactive imagination and saw danger where none lurked.

Still, I couldn’t be too mad about it. Alex was only looking out for his sister, a quality I could admire. One I hoped he’d use on the next guy who came sniffing around her skirts.

Wait, no.

I didn’t want him scaring interested guys away. I needed Victoria to be with someone who would cherish her. Someone who would love her the way I wished I’d been able to. It was the only way I could move on from what had been the most perfect night of my life.