The Wedding Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page B

— ”
    His words fell away as she stepped back from him while shaking her head.
     
    * * *
     
    A torrent of feelings boiling away inside Rose threatened to rise to the surface.
    Why did RJ keep questioning her decision to not use the gazebo?
    Why wouldn’t he just help her make new wedding plans like she’d asked him to?
    And why, oh why, had he stopped short of actually kissing her again?
    Hold on, what was she thinking ?
    That was the problem. She couldn’t think straight anymore. There were too many emotions running riotous inside her. The same emotions that sprang up inside her every time RJ was near...and, lately, even when he wasn’t.
    She was engaged to Donovan. He never walked into a room and made her feel like everything around her might be about to spiral out of control. He had everything going for him. Everything. Being with him was like being in a fairy tale. One where the handsome prince hadn’t decided to love a princess, but had somehow opted for her instead, and was now slowly showing her that she could be a princess, if she only tried hard enough to fit into his world.
    With Donovan there were clear lines. Good and bad, high class and cheap, proper and improper.
    With RJ, everything seemed to be jumbled together in one big exhilarating and unexpected mess.
    But she couldn’t afford any messes right now, because she was about to get married to another man!
    Rose carefully put down the hammer then looked back at RJ. “I’m marrying a good man in a few days, a man who trusts me as much as I trust him. I need this to be perfect...and I can’t afford to have things complicated.”
    “I’m not trying to make things complicated for you, Rose,” RJ promised her.
    But that’s exactly what he was doing, couldn’t he see that?
    “You’ve helped me so much the past few years. You’ve been truly indispensable. But I need to know that I can rely on you to help me with my own wedding. Because if you can’t…”
    Actually, she didn’t know what she’d do if he wouldn’t help her. With everyone else, they were her friends, and they did great work, but with RJ, he was always there . Whenever she needed him.
    He seemed to think about her question for a while, before stepping back from her and nodding.
    “Of course you can rely on me. Whatever you need, I’m here for you, Rose.”
     

Chapter Six
     
    “You have to hold still,” Anne cautioned Rose on Monday morning while she continued to pin her wedding dress in place.
    This was the first time her best friend had let her see the dress she’d designed, and it was absolutely beautiful. Anne had used layers of everything from white silk to pale ivory cotton, so that what looked at first glance like a plain white wedding dress became a subtle collection of different shades every time Rose moved.
    Which she was apparently doing far too much of, given the way Anne kept catching her skin with the pins she was using to tack the dress in place.
    It was hard not to move, though, because around them the Rose Chalet was a hive of activity and noise. Phoebe had a couple of sample floral arrangements ready, and was talking hurriedly on the phone. Tyce was doing the same, making amendments to a musical score while he did it, apparently finalizing the arrangements of the pieces the string quartet would be playing. Julie was away in the kitchen putting together samples from the menu.
    “I know you have a great metabolism, but you mustn’t eat too much when Julie gets here,” Anne said in the muffled tones of someone with half a dozen pins sticking out of her mouth. “I don’t want to have to do all this again on the morning of the wedding.”
    “It’s not Julie’s delicious food we have to watch out for,” Rose assured her. “It’s all these parties Donovan has me going to.”
    Anne smiled. “It sounds like fun. All those people, all that champagne.”
    Rose nodded, even if the truth was that she was overwhelmed by all of the champagne toasts and formal