Read Online The Billioniare's Bought Bride (Contemporary Romance) by Michele Dunaway - Free Book Online Page B

all sixteen rows of wooden pews in the one-room church were full. Sunlight streamed through stained glass windows almost a century old.
    No one appeared to mind that the air conditioning and ceiling fans did little to cool the room. All were focused on what they believed was a fairy-tale ceremony unfolding in the front.
    “Ready?” The coordinator asked.
    “As I’ll ever be,” Maddy replied. That morning a stylist had swept her blond hair onto the top of her head, letting ringlets curl in front of her ears. Instead of the traditional veil, small white flowers were woven into her coiffure. She’d also been buffed, polished, and made over by a professional make up artist.
    “You look pale. Are you okay?” the wedding coordinator asked.
    Maddy stood in the narthex. She could hear the organ playing, and as soon as the doors opened, she’d walk down the aisle.  She pressed the bridal bouquet to her stomach. “Last minute nerves. I’m fine.”
    The woman looked relieved. “Good. Because he’s waiting and if I do say so myself, he’s handsome.” She reached and opened the doors.
    Her foot wobbled on the inch heel, and then Maddy found her footing. She stepped onto the white runner unaccompanied and unattended, for there wasn’t anyone. When Maddy had called Ted to tell him about her marriage, he’d uttered some cruel things about Dylan and flat out refused to attend. Her best friend had a new baby and lived in Seattle. This was her fairytale wedding, and it was all a farce. No need to drag anyone else into it. It was bad enough Aunt Gail believed.
    Maddy walked forward, the steps to her fate passing quickly. Dylan waited on the right side of the altar, and a lump formed in her throat. The tux fit him perfectly. But none of this was real. Not even his smile, which didn’t reach his eyes as she came to stand in front of him.  Maddy faced the preacher, who began, “Dearly beloved….”
    The rest of the ceremony, until the words “I now pronounce you man and wife.  You may kiss the bride,” were a blur. She’d performed by rote, the Johansson upbringing teaching her to survive anything.
    “You may kiss the bride,” the preacher repeated, and Maddy made the requisite turn to face the man who was now, officially in the eyes of the law and the world, her husband.
    Maddy braved a smile and braced herself. The kiss the night of their engagement had been earth shattering, a drugging moment when time had stood still and worries forgotten.
    But today, Dylan’s lips pressed against hers for a mere millisecond, and then his feather-light kiss ended. The fire, lit inside Maddy even at that brief touch, flickered out and died quickly, remind her that, like her marriage, even chemistry they shared might only be a farce.
    The wedding guests clapped their approval as the preacher introduced them as Mr. and Mrs. Dylan Blackwater.  Dylan linked his arm through hers and they stepped into the aisle. In the front row, Aunt Gail wiped a tear from her eye and rose to her feet as Maddy and Dylan approached.
    “I’m so glad you did this quickly,” Aunt Gail wiped away another tear. “It was beautiful. Absolutely lovely, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss it. Dylan, you’ve met Jonathan, haven’t you? He’s come to take me back to St. Louis for the winter, you know.”
    Dylan shook hands with Aunt Gail’s son. “It’s unfortunate you can’t stay through Labor Day this year,” Dylan told Aunt Gail. “It’s unusual for you to leave this early, isn’t it?”
    Aunt Gail patted Dylan’s hand. “Oh no, I’ve left in August before. This is the first time I’ve left in July, but it works out best for everyone. Besides, you two should have space to yourselves. It’s a shame Ted couldn’t come. I would have liked to have seen my nephew.”
    “Yes, it’s a shame Ted couldn’t make it,” Maddy managed with a straight face as Aunt Gail exited the pew. “But Dylan’s parents were also unable to attend. They’re on a