and then I’ll do everything I can to make it happen. May found one with only a three-day engagement. I could find one in six. I think.”
“Try. If you can’t, it won’t be too terrible, but try.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Wait! The dress Valerie wore for Jo’s wedding to Dylan in the show is still in wardrobe, and we’re the same size. I could wear that, if it wouldn’t bother you that I wore a show prop.”
He grinned, shaking his head. “Not at all. You were beautiful in your bridesmaid dress on that episode.”
“Thank you.” Amber shook her head. “It’s strange that you’ve been able to watch me all these years, and kind of keep track of what I’m doing through the tabloids, but I knew nothing about you.”
John smiled at her. “Maybe it’s best this way. If you’d known all my struggles, maybe you wouldn’t have agreed to date me again.”
“Why is that?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Lots of financial troubles. The kind that come with being a single father and starting a new business.”
“Are you marrying me for the financial help I can give you?” she asked, needing to know. It was all right with her if he was, because she felt like they could overcome anything together, but she didn’t want to be blindsided.
He shook his head. “I’d never use you that way. I’m marrying you because I never got over you. A small part of it is that you’ll be a good mother to Nicki, but not one ounce of it is financial. I’ll sign a prenup if you feel the need.”
“No, I don’t. I never thought you were after money. People like that are pretty obvious usually.”
“Why do I feel like we’re talking business instead of basking in our just-engagedness?”
“Just-engagedness? You’re as bad as May!”
“As bad as May?”
Amber shook her head. “She says that because she’s a writer, she’s allowed to make up words whenever she wants to. She wants bobilicious to be a word in the Oxford English Dictionary . The woman is nuts.”
“Maybe I’m a secret writer. Is that not possible?” John asked, winking at her.
“If you were a writer, you certainly wouldn’t be writing about engagements. You’re more the non-fiction kind of guy.”
“Are you calling me boring? Cuz I won’t put up with my future wife calling me boring.”
She glanced over her shoulder to be sure Nicki was all right before turning back to him. “Just kiss me!”
He pulled her toward him and kissed her softly, one hand going to the back of her neck beneath her braid, and the other resting at her waist. His fingers ached to touch her more intimately, but he was aware that Nicki could come back at any moment. It was going to be interesting to be a newlywed with a four-year-old girl in the house.
After a moment, she sighed. “I’m going to need Nicki this week to buy her a flower girl dress. Can you make sure the preacher can be here on Saturday to marry us? I’ll arrange for flowers. Is Pastor Steve still the pastor of the little church in town?”
“He is. He’s always been there and always will be.”
She smiled at that, having fond memories of the kindly man. “What about the marriage license?”
He thought about that for a moment. “We’ll need to be together to get that. And we need it by Wednesday. What is your schedule like this week?”
“I’ve got scenes all day tomorrow. They’re introducing a love interest for me, so the whole episode is kind of focused on me and of me spreading my wings.”
His eyes widened. “A love interest?”
She nodded. “Does that bother you?”
“I don’t know. I don’t like the idea of you kissing someone else.”
“It’s my job, John. If it doesn’t happen this week, it’ll be happening soon. I don’t have a lot of choice in the matter.”
“You love what you do, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I really do. My mother used to tell me that a lady need never work. She didn’t need to know how to do anything but throw a good party. I—I couldn’t live
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