Marrying Dr. Maverick by Karen Rose Smith

Author:Karen Rose Smith
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-09-03T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Jazzy stood in the social hall of the church the following evening, still not quite believing she was planning her wedding.

Her wedding.

She’d never thought it would be like this. Her chest tightened and her eyes grew misty.

Standing beside her, Brooks must have realized her emotions were getting the best of her because he asked, “Is something wrong?”

“Not really,” she said, her voice betraying her.

He lifted her chin, and his touch excited her as it always did. “What is it?” he asked gently.

She summed it all up the only way she could. “It’s our wedding day. I never thought it would be like this—just something to plan and get through.”

He studied her for a very long time.

Then he asked, “Do you have that CD you burned at the office today of your favorite songs?”

“Yes,” she said warily, glancing toward her purse that was sitting on one of the tables.

“Hold on a minute. I’ll be right back.”

When he started to stride away, she clasped his arm. “Where are you going? We really should get back to your dad.” They would be moving out this weekend. She’d be going back to Strickland’s until they married and Brooks would be staying at his condo once more.

“If we’re leaving him on his own this weekend, we have to trust him to behave. But I asked Charlie to make an unexpected visit after we left tonight. They’re probably deep into a discussion about what teams are going to make it to the Super Bowl this year.”

When he turned away from her again, she asked, “But where are you going?”

“Patience, Jazzy. I’ll be right back.”

Men said they didn’t understand women. That was definitely a two-way street.

For a few minutes, Jazzy believed Brooks had deserted her. Maybe that’s what she expected. In the end, wasn’t this kind of marriage all about that? Leaving each other with no strings? Unfortunately for her, she was going to have strings.

She wandered about the hall, thinking about flowers for the tables. Maybe white mums...

Brooks reappeared. He ordered, “Give me the CD.”

She did and he went to a little door mounted on the wall and inserted a small key. He opened it, manipulated whatever was inside, and came back to her without the CD. Moments later, her music began playing and he opened his arms to her. “Okay, let’s take a spin and see how it feels.”

Was he serious? She felt a little ridiculous.

“Come on, Jazzy. Let’s do more than plan. Let’s practice our first dance.”

When she still hesitated, he offered, “Look, I can understand you don’t want me to treat our wedding as if it’s just an appointment on the calendar. I’m not. Let’s dance.”

She felt a bit foolish now. After all, their wedding was an appointment on the calendar. It wasn’t a real wedding. That fact made her so deeply sad.

Gratefully, Brooks didn’t see her underlying confusion because he went on, “I think we’ve been trying to avoid the pretense of the whole thing. You hate deceiving Dad as much as I do.

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