Married Till Christmas by CHRISTINE RIMMER

Author:CHRISTINE RIMMER
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-01-10T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

As soon as they got in the door of Clara Bravo Ames’s rambling old Victorian house the next day, Deck knew that his announcement of their sudden marriage would only be a formality. Not only had Nell already told her sisters, her cousin, her brothers James and Garrett, and Ryan and Meg, she was wearing her rings. Females of the species seemed to have radar for sparkly rings—even little girls.

Deck had barely had time to hand Clara the excellent bottle of Zinfandel he’d brought before Darius Bravo’s eight-year-old stepdaughter, Sylvie, came flying down the stairs with Quinn Bravo’s seven-year-old, Annabelle, right behind her.

“Hi, Aunt Nell!” Sylvie chirped.

“Hey, Sylvie. Annabelle. Love those dresses.” Both girls were done up in velvet jumpers with lace-collared, puff-sleeved shirts underneath and bright bows in their hair.

Sylvie grabbed Nell’s hand and squealed in delight. “Aunt Nellie, these rings are bee-ootiful!”

Nell gazed down at her fondly. “Thanks. I love them, too.”

“Did you get married?” Sylvie’s big eyes widened even more as she shifted her gaze from Nell to Deck. “Is this your husband?”

“Why, yes, honey. He is. This is Declan, but we all call him Deck.” Nell wrapped her hand around his arm and grinned up at him, causing the usual tangle of heady sensations—happiness, frustration that he could still lose her, an ever-present undercurrent of desire.

It had always been like this for him, with her. He wanted her so much, the feeling overwhelmed him. For a guy who liked to have things under control, she was kind of a bad choice. And not only because nobody told Nell Bravo what to do.

From that first day in sophomore English class, when she’d turned around in her chair and blown his mind straight out the top of his head with nothing more than a smile, she was everything. He couldn’t keep his cool with her. He lost all objectivity.

It hadn’t been like that with Kristy. His first wife had seemed so much more his type. She’d been willing to let him make most of the decisions. She was gentle and sweet and understanding. Kristy had been perfect.

She just wasn’t Nell. He’d had to face the bleak fact that Nell owned whatever shriveled sliver of a heart he had. So he’d managed the impossible and earned himself another chance with her.

He was not going to blow it this time.

Sylvie chattered away. “My teacher, Miss Delshire, just got married. She’s Mrs. Ankerly now. And she has pretty rings, too—but not as pretty as yours.”

“Let me see, let me see!” demanded Annabelle, who was not only Quinn’s daughter, but also Sylvie’s BFF.

Deck knew them all, every Bravo in Justice Creek, including kids, dogs, cats, whatever. When he’d mounted his months-long campaign to win Nell back, he’d made it his business to learn everything he could about everyone in her family.

“Aunt Nell! They’re so pretty!” Annabelle cried.

Then the two girls put their heads together. Sylvie whispered something and they both giggled, apparently delighted. When they pulled apart, they gazed up at him solemnly.

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