The Wedding Plan by Abby Gaines

Author:Abby Gaines
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-10-17T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

FRIDAY, THE DAY OF THE PLANNED sailing excursion, dawned sunny and with the kind of moderate breeze that made for pleasant yachting.

Lucas had hoped for a storm. Hoped for an excuse not to spend time with Merry, or a whole day in the presence of their parents, which would necessitate another demonstration of marital love. At least Cathy was working today, so they didn’t have to prove anything more to her.

So far, on this marriage mission, he’d been doing just fine on the PDAs, as Merry called them. He’d managed the touches, the kisses, by thinking of them as part of the drill, nothing to do with his libido. Sure, once or twice his gaze had strayed in a way that was definitely libidinous—usually when Merry’s was doing the same—but by and large he’d done pretty well.

Until last night. When she’d put the pieces together and realized the truth about Clark’s Deli…realized what no one else in his family had. Lucas had panicked. Kissed her to…distract her or shut her up maybe. Whatever it was, he’d forgotten to do it out of his mission-focused side, and somehow another part of him had got involved. A deeper part.

A part she wasn’t supposed to see. No one was.

It had rattled him sufficiently that he found himself talking to the dog as they jogged along the promenade shortly before 7:00 a.m.

“I made a mistake,” he told Boo. “But that’s okay, I can fix it. Number one, we don’t talk about Clark’s. Not ever.”

Boo’s tongue lolled.

“We pull back on the PDAs,” he said. “For today at least. Just so there’s no confusion.”

Boo was slowing down, which usually meant an imminent toilet attempt. Lucas slowed to a walk while Boo investigated various patches of grass.

“I’ll keep things impersonal,” he said as Boo squatted. Last night, after John and Cathy left, Merry had offered to talk to Dwight today about recommending Lucas’s retest. He’d told her to forget it. He was pretty sure Admiral Tremaine would come up with the goods, and he didn’t want to be beholden to Merry. He was also pretty sure she’d offered then only because she’d been thinking about the whole Clark’s thing, and he didn’t want her mulling over that. His personal stuff was beyond the scope of this mission.

Boo straightened up, having left a marble-size deposit for Lucas to pick up. “Useless,” he muttered.

When they arrived back at the cottage, he gave the dog some water. “You’re out of dog food,” he said to Merry as he walked into the kitchen. Which was as impersonal a greeting as anyone could want.

“We can stop at the grocery store on our way home,” she said.

Fine by him, so long as she didn’t make any smart-ass suggestions as to which store that should be.

He registered that she looked fresh and pretty with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and a slick of gloss on her lips. Her chunky, cable-knit cream sweater seemed cozy, touchable.

“I’ll go shower,” Lucas said.

*

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