Read Online The Best Man's Bride by LISA CHILDS - Free Book Online Page B

the groom’s best interests. That was why he’d finally begun to pay attention to her, after all those years of staring straight through her as if she didn’t exist.
    In her mind—the only place where she entertained reckless actions she never intended to carry out—she’d often fantasized about him finally noticing her. He’d glance up one day when they passed in the hall or as he sat at a table in the cafeteria, and he’d see her across from him and tell her she was so beautiful that he had to have her. No other woman would ever do.
    She forced away all such thoughts now, manifestations of her unrequited crush, and focused on his real reason for paying attention to her. “You’re such close friends that you’re even staying in Cloverville for him.”
    “Maybe I’m not staying for Josh,” he said as his hand settled at the side of her waist, where her shirt had ridden up above her shorts. His palm warmed her bare skin.
    “You’re not staying for me,” she insisted. She had nothing to offer him. She would not betray her sister.
    “Don’t sell yourself short,” he said, leaning close so that his breath stirred the hair against her neck. “From what I can tell, you’re the only attraction in Cloverville.”
    Attraction. She wished that were all this was, this compelling emotion that shimmered like midsummer humidity in the air between them. Despite the heat of his touch, she shivered. “I’m not an attraction, Nick.”
    “You are, for me.” He pulled her closer, so that her back settled against the hard muscles of his chest. So that she touched him from her head to her heels, and felt his body taut and warm against hers.
    She turned and her face suddenly brushed his throat, where his pulse pounded madly.
    “Nick,” she murmured in protest of the way he made her feel. Weak. Dizzy. As if she’d been the one TJ had spun on the merry-go-round instead of his twin.
    “God, Colleen, I wish we were alone,” he said, his hand tightening on her hip, pulling her closer for just a moment before he groaned and set her away from him.
    “Please meet me back here at two,” he urged, his voice thick with desire. “I’ll bring the picnic lunch.”
    She didn’t answer Nick, but he walked off as if she’d agreed. Had a woman ever turned him down? She doubted it.
    He rescued Lolly from the boys. Buzz and TJ turned back to wave at her before leaving the park with Nick, each of them holding one of his hands. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed how good he was with the twins. At the hospital, his intention to remain single was a legend. What a waste.
    Her heart would be wasted, too, if she fell for Nick Jameson. His picnic invitation might be tempting, but she had to resist.

Chapter Five
    “You’re sure you’re okay with me staying here?” Nick asked as he dropped his duffel bag onto the polished hardwood floor of Clayton McClintock’s apartment, a loft above his insurance agency. He placed the picnic basket atop the marble countertop, careful not to knock around the contents inside. He didn’t want to break the wine bottle. “No hard feelings over our not leasing your open space downstairs?”
    That had been his decision more than Josh’s. While the commercial space had been okay for a one-doctor private practice, Nick and Josh needed more room for the two of them and the physical therapist they intended to hire.
    Clayton shook his head. “No. I understand that you need more room than Dr. Strover. And you’re more than welcome to stay here.”
    But Nick could tell from the quizzical tone in his host’s voice that Clayton wondered why Nick wanted to stay. Cloverville was just a little over an hour’s drive from Grand Rapids. But an hour away would be too far if Josh suddenly needed him. Bruce hadn’t been that far away, and Nick still hadn’t managed to get to him in time.
    If only he’d been able to talk Josh into leaving Cloverville right away, then he wouldn’t