Even before Kyle’s mouth brushed hers, Eliza knew the feel of his lips, the softness, warmth and gentleness. She’d done her best to deny it, but from the very start, there was something familiar about him.

It was as if Kyle was someone she’d known forever, and known intimately. A man she could have picked out of a crowd in a dark room.

The feelings he stirred weren’t only sexual. Though Eliza had to admit that a couple of times, she’d found herself wondering what he looked like naked.

While they kissed, Eliza stroked the back of his neck, twining her fingers in his thick, soft hair. She hoped this didn’t end anytime soon.

It felt amazingly good to hold him. To taste him. When a smoldering heat began to build, she didn’t fight the sensation.

She loved the way he smelled, an enticing combination of cologne and soap and maleness. Her skin prickled as his mouth skimmed the edge of her jaw and his hand flattened against her lower back, drawing her even more tightly against the length of his body.

They fit together perfectly. Where she was soft, he was hard. A hot riff of sensation traveled up her spine at the feel of his erection.

The air held a chill, but heat radiated from him, urgent and hungry. And still they kissed, deep kisses that stirred her senses and stoked the fire inside her.

Eliza heard herself groan, a low sound of want and need that astonished her with its intensity. Need erupted, and the frantic beating of her heart mingled with his.

She cursed the clothes that separated them. She longed to run her hands over his body, to feel the coiled strength of skin and muscle sliding under her fingers.

Lifting her hands to frame his face, she spoke in an urgent, husky whisper. “Let’s take this inside.”

Without giving him a chance to respond, she gave him a ferocious kiss as if to seal the deal.

“Yes.” His voice was a gruff rasp.

With fingers that trembled, Eliza fought to fit the key in the lock. The task was made more difficult when Kyle’s arms slipped around her from behind.

“Got it.” Eliza turned for another kiss just as headlights swept across the porch.

She and Kyle sprang apart like two guilty teenagers.

Kyle uttered a curse, a sentiment Eliza understood.

It took several erratic heartbeats before Eliza found her voice. “Saved by the headlights.”

* * *

Kyle thought about Eliza’s comment while feigning interest in the domino tournament. Lolo had won the grand prize, an oversized polka-dotted mug filled with cheese curds, chocolate-covered cherries and other goodies.

Listening to his sister relay every little detail gave Kyle’s mind—and body—a chance to settle. Eliza appeared unfazed by what had happened on the porch.

In fact, if his body hadn’t been still humming with desire, if he hadn’t recalled all too vividly how she felt pressed against him, and her throaty whisper to take things inside, he might have thought he’d imagined the whole encounter.

“Did you and my brother have fun tonight?” Lolo looked up from her cheese curds.

“We did.” Eliza spoke in that husky voice that brought to mind luscious red lips and entwined limbs. “The event was a huge success.”

Kyle shifted uncomfortably. “Muddy Boots was packed.”

“Tell me who all was there.” Katherine’s sharp-eyed gaze shifted from Eliza to him.

When her lips curved up in a slight smile, there was not a single doubt in Kyle’s mind that she’d seen him and Eliza on the porch.

Thankfully, Eliza began rattling off names. After taking a breath, she added, “Owen Vaughn.”

“Mindy’s daddy?” Confusion had Lolo frowning. “I thought the party you went to was for people who aren’t married.”

“Mindy’s parents are divorced,” Eliza informed the child. “Her mother left town several years ago.”

Lolo set down her fork. “But Mindy gets to see her. Right?”

“I don’t believe her mom gets back to Good Hope very often.” Eliza’s noncommittal tone might fool Lolo but told Kyle that Mindy and her dad were on their own.

“I wouldn’t want to be without a mom or dad.” Lolo’s expression turned pensive. “Kyle and me are lucky. We have a nice mom and dad, don’t we?”

Aside from his mother’s lies about his parentage…

Kyle pushed the uncharitable thought aside. He couldn’t deny that, growing up, he’d felt the love and support of both parents. “We sure do, kiddo.”

Lolo pinned Eliza with her gaze. “Do you have a nice mom and dad?”

“They’ll be in town for the Ready, Set, Wed showcase. You’ll get to meet them then.” Eliza deftly changed the subject. “Which reminds me of something else. We haven’t discussed our plans for tomorrow night yet.”

“What’s tomorrow night?” Lolo and Kyle asked at the same time.

“Jeremy and Fin’s wedding.” Katherine snatched a cheese curd from Lolo’s plate and gestured with it. “The whole town will be there. Gladys has invited Lolo and me to an after party at her house and to spend the night. We’ll attend the reception, of course, but won’t stay for all the dancing.”

“I like to dance,” Lolo protested, her chin lifting in the now familiar stubborn tilt.

“I promise we’ll stay long enough for you to dance with your brother,” Kate assured the child. “Then we’ll go to Gladys’s house.”

As if sensing the child’s hesitation, Katherine’s tone turned persuasive. “You won’t believe what Gladys has in her home.”

Whatever additional protest Lolo had been about to utter disappeared without being voiced. The girl leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table. “What?”

“Fairy houses.” Katherine smiled. “Dozens of them. All sizes and shapes.”

“Fairy houses.” Kyle couldn’t hide his skepticism. “Seriously?”

“I’ve never seen one,” Lolo admitted, her eyes bright with curiosity.

“Some are small and simple, but there’s this one, well, you’ll have to see it for yourself.” Katherine’s tone added a hint of mystery to the statement.

“I want to see it,” Lolo insisted.

“And you shall.” Katherine swept a hand like a queen granting a wish. “After you’ve danced with your brother.”

Lolo shook her head. “We don’t need to dance.”

“We’ll stay for a little while.” Katherine reached over and patted the child’s hand. “Gladys enjoys dancing. She’ll want to spend some time at the reception.”

Lolo chewed her bottom lip. “I don’t have anything to wear.”

“You have plenty of clothes.” Kyle hadn’t forgotten the four suitcases he’d lugged up the stairs. “I bet there’s something in your closet that will work.”

Lolo shot a pleading look at Eliza.

“We’ll see what you have in the morning.” Eliza sounded slightly bored by the conversation. “If you don’t have anything appropriate, there will still be time for a quick shopping trip.”

“She’s got enough clothes.” Kyle frowned. “Lolo doesn’t—”

The jarring melody of The Who’s “Who Are You?” split the air. Eliza pulled out her phone as she rose. “Hold on a minute.”

She wiggled her fingers. “Good night, everybody.”

When she disappeared up the stairs, Kyle turned to Lolo and Katherine. He was fairly certain he hadn’t heard that ring tone before. “Whose tone is that?”

Katherine shook her head. “I have no idea.”

“It must have been someone important.” Lolo glanced at Katherine for confirmation. “She answered super quick.”

Kyle had noticed that, too. He stayed downstairs a few more minutes before heading up the steps…just to make sure everything was okay with Eliza.

* * *

“No. Seriously. I’m doing okay.” Eliza left the door open as she stepped into her suite of rooms. Her conversations with her brother never lasted long. Once they were done, she’d head back downstairs.

“Dad has done some pretty rotten things, but this…” Ethan’s voice deepened with disappointment and resignation. “She wanted the house to go to you. That was clear to all of us, him included.”

“He told me it wouldn’t have been fair to you.”

Ethan swore. “You know I didn’t want the house. Even if I had, it was to be Gram’s gift to you.”

“Why didn’t she put it in her will, Ethan?” Eliza didn’t like the anger or the disappointment she heard in her voice. She’d loved her grandmother, but her emotions were running hot. “I’m so…so frustrated with her.”

It wasn’t the right word, and they both knew it.

“She loved you, Eliza. But she wasn’t a saint. She was human, and she obviously made a mistake.” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry she didn’t do her part. And I’m sorry Dad is such a dick.”

That brought a smile to her lips.

“What can I do to help?”

“You got any extra cash lying around?” Eliza kept her tone light. “There’s a chance I can buy it back if I can secure the funds.”

“I don’t. Not at this point, anyway.” There was a long pause. “Sam and I are thinking about dissolving our partnership. If that happens and he buys me out, that will free up some of my money.”

“I thought things were going great with your company.” The last she’d heard, he and his partner planned to expand.

“Long story. I don’t have time to get into it right now. But if this does come to pass and I get the money, you can have what you need.”

Emotion clogged Eliza’s throat. “Thanks.”

“I’m here for you. Even if you just need to talk. Or bitch about the old man. You know I understand.”

“I miss you.”

“Yeah, me, too.” Ethan spoke hesitantly now. “I love ya.”

Tears stung the backs of her eyes. “I love you, too.”

* * *

I love you, too.

Kyle froze as her words washed over him. He’d thought she’d be off the phone by the time he got upstairs, but the sound of her voice had him pausing just outside the doorway to her parlor.

He’d caught only a snippet of the conversation, but it was enough.

I miss you. I love you, too.

From what he knew about her relationship with her parents, those weren’t sentiments that would be tossed in their direction. Then who?

The sensible thing to do would be to turn around and head back downstairs. Or go to his room. Maybe he would have done just that an hour ago. But he’d put his head in the sand for too long with Jessica and had vowed not to make that mistake again. Besides, after what had happened on the porch, he deserved an explanation.

He gave a brief knock on the half-open door and stepped inside. “I love you, too?”

Her head jerked up. A look of startled surprise crossed her face. “What did you say?”

“It’s not what I said, it’s what I heard you say.” Somehow, he managed to keep his voice even.

She cocked her head, and he saw the puzzlement in her eyes.

“Goddammit, Eliza, don’t play games. I heard you.” He gestured sharply with one hand to the cell that now rested on the table beside her chair.

It took only a second for her to make the connection. For a second, when she did, she smiled.

Smiled.

His tenuous hold on his anger began to fray. “You find this amusing?”

“Not at all.” The smile was gone now, leaving only ice. “I was speaking with my brother, Ethan. I’d called him earlier to discuss our father and had to leave a message.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh.” She studied him.

There was a watchfulness to her gaze that had a shiver of unease traveling up his spine.

“I’m sorry.” Kyle extended his hands, palms up. “I didn’t think it was anything—”

“I hope not.” For a second—only a flash—he saw hurt mixed with the ice in the cool depths of her eyes. “Because I’m not someone who would kiss a man the way I kissed you on the porch, then tell another guy I loved him minutes later. I hope you know me better than that, Kyle. Otherwise, you and I, we have no business kissing at all.”

* * *

“Look at all the people,” Lolo whispered, glancing up at Kyle.

He responded in an equally low voice. “By the time the ceremony begins, I’m betting the church will be full.”

Lolo turned worried eyes toward Eliza. “Can we sit in your family pew?”

“That’s only reserved for Sunday services.” Eliza ignored the tiny flutter in the pit of her belly. She’d dreaded this day. Now it was here.

Eliza focused on the positive. The steady stream of people entering First Christian told Eliza that arriving early had been a smart move. Although Lolo would hang with Katherine at the reception, she’d chosen to sit with her and Kyle during the ceremony.

The girl would be a good distraction.

Eliza had once thought that it would be her walking down the aisle to exchange vows with Jeremy. Immediately, she corrected herself. She’d dreamed it would be her. Hoped it would be her.

The truth was, she’d never been fully convinced. There’d always been something missing in the relationship.

He never was into you.

Embarrassing to have not realized that before, but certainly not heartbreak material.

“Problem?” Kyle took her arm at the bottom of the steps leading into the church.

Eliza gave her head a little shake, the concern in his voice as soothing as balm on a burn. She was glad Kyle was here with her, happy they’d been able to talk things out last evening.

Lolo grabbed her hand. “We need to get inside before the good seats are gone. I want to sit on the aisle so I can see Mindy.”

Kyle cocked his head, appearing confused. “You mean so you can see the bride?”

“No, so I can see Mindy.” Lolo tugged on Eliza’s hand. “She’s the flower girl. She told me her dress is pink and fluffy.”

Pink and fluffy wasn’t Fin Bloom’s style. But a bond had been forged between Mindy and the bride-to-be when Fin had helped organize an early Christmas celebration for the child last fall. As Mindy’s cancer had proved resistant to conventional treatments, she’d qualified for a wish from the Wisconsin charity Your Wish Fulfilled.

Shortly after she’d gotten her wish, Mindy had been accepted into a clinical trial and had had a good response. Although, after seeing the look in Owen’s eyes, Eliza wondered if the treatment was still going well.

Lolo paused at the edge of a pew. “Can we sit here?”

Three seats on the aisle.

“Looks good to me.” Eliza noticed a few curious gazes directed her way but paid them no mind. She had little doubt there’d have been more looks if she’d shown up alone.

Though Eliza didn’t have trouble standing tough against gossip, she found comfort in Kyle’s presence beside her.

Now that they were seated, well, comfort wasn’t the word coming to mind. The muscled thigh pressed against hers had her remembering last night and just how good his body had felt against hers.

If Lolo and Katherine hadn’t arrived home when they did, she might have invited him to her room. Even after their “talk,” she’d considered it. Instead, she’d settled for another kiss.

Eliza slanted a sideways glance at Kyle and found him staring. She inclined her head slightly in his direction.

He leaned close, his voice a hot whisper against her ear. “You look gorgeous.”

Her lips curved. It appeared he approved of the gray silk dress. Probably because it showed off her legs to full advantage. She liked the accessories. The necklace and shoes, both in a cool blue-gray, added an interesting accent.

About to return the compliment—the man really knew how to rock a dark suit—she swallowed the words when light, ambient music gave way to the processional.

Eliza watched the first of the Bloom sisters start down the aisle. It appeared Fin had given her bridesmaids some latitude. While each dress contained lace and was cocktail length, that’s where the commonality ended.

Marigold’s one-shoulder mesh dress had a lace inset. The ice-blue color favored her blond prettiness, while the mint green of Prim’s dress was the perfect foil for her strawberry-blond hair. The lace bodice of Prim’s dress was overshadowed by the yards of flowing chiffon over her very pregnant belly.

Ami, matron of honor, wore a blush-colored lace sheath that hugged her body and confirmed she’d regained her figure after delivering her baby six months earlier. Her hair, styled in an elegant twist, had beads woven through it.

Two red-headed ring bearers—Fin’s twin nephews, Callum and Connor—appeared in the aisle after Ami. Dressed in dove-gray tuxedoes with burgundy bow ties, they marched side-by-side. One twin carried the pillow with the rings halfway down the aisle, but a small tug-of-war took place when it appeared it was time to pass the pillow to the other twin.

The situation might have escalated into all-out warfare between the brothers, but schoolteacher Etta Hawley leaned into the aisle. Whatever she said in a low, no-nonsense tone had the pillow being passed and the boys continuing down the aisle without further incident.

“I see Mindy.” Lolo spoke in an excited whisper, her body plastered against the side of the pew. “Her dress is fluffy.”

Not about to turn and gawk, Eliza waited for Mindy to come into view. The child wore an intricately tied pink scarf and a dress with a vivid pink bodice. But it was the yards of white tulle with what looked like several rows of pink feathers around the bottom hem that captivated Lolo.

The dress looked like something an eight-year-old had picked out, rather than a gown chosen by the always-stylish Delphinium Bloom.

Clearly, Fin had subjugated her own wishes to make a little girl’s dream come true. Eliza’s heart squeezed as her estimation of Fin rose another notch.

“Mindy looks like a beautiful angel.” Lolo forgot to whisper, and her comment could be heard several rows away.

Eliza noticed several people nearby nodding. Etta, sitting across the aisle, wiped tears away with a lace handkerchief.

Mindy beamed as she happily flung rose petals—in every shade of pink—across the white aisle runner.

The fact that the child appeared unnaturally pale was easy to miss because of the brilliant smile and the sparkle in her blue eyes.

The organ swelled, and everyone in the congregation rose to their feet. Instead of immediately glancing back to see Fin, Eliza looked toward the front of the church. She saw the instant Jeremy glimpsed his bride.

It was all there in his blue eyes. The love, the desire, the promise of until death do us part.

Eliza cleared her throat and shifted her attention to Fin and her father.

The dress Fin had chosen for her special day was surprisingly simple, an ivory lace that hugged her toned figure. The subtle elegance of the dress made it all the more striking. Instead of a veil, Fin had chosen to wear a beaded band around her hair that left her soft curls free to tumble around her shoulders.

A slight smile curved Fin’s lips as her gaze settled on Jeremy. The depth of emotion in his eyes was more than matched by the love in hers.

Eliza’s chest grew tight. Would she ever find anyone who’d look upon her with such love? Was she even capable of feeling that depth of emotion?

She wasn’t sure when it happened, but she felt Kyle’s fingers around hers. Turning slightly, she met his gaze.

His blue eyes were solemn but filled with such warmth, she couldn’t help smiling back. He gave her hand a squeeze, and suddenly, she was steady again.

Not alone, a voice inside her head whispered.

On the other side of her, Lolo leaned close. “They all look so beautiful.”

“Yes, they do,” Eliza whispered back.

Even when they resumed their seats, Kyle’s hand remained wrapped around hers.