Two Grooms and a Wedding

Chapter 4

Derrick grew increasingly concerned about the dazed woman on the wet concrete. She made no attempt to get up so he wondered whether she’d broken anything in that nasty fall. “Maybe I should get you to the hospital,” he said. “You don’t look too good.”

“Huh? What? Oh.” She blinked and shook her head. “I’m all right.”

He didn’t believe that for a second.

“Oh, God,” she exclaimed, her eyes wide with horror as she glanced around at the books scattered around her. She frantically started snatching them up.

“Here. Let me help you,” Derrick said.

“No! No. I got it.”

Too late. Derrick picked up The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amazing Sex and Sex for Dummies. “Interesting reading,” he joked.

The woman’s sienna-hued complexion paled to a sickly brown. “Those are personal.” She snatched the books out of his hands and then tried to lumber awkwardly to her feet.

Ever the gentleman, Derrick placed a guiding hand against her elbow. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Forget about it,” she mumbled and turned with her arms loaded down with books. “Taxi!”

“Wait. Aren’t these yours, too?” He bent down and retrieved her ruined hat and broken sunglasses.

“Just keep them. Taxi!”

He laughed. “Don’t be silly. Here you go.”

A yellow cab drove up to the curb, which held about two feet of water, and caused a mini tidal wave to splash up and drench the hurried woman.

Derrick’s laughter was out before he could stop it and when she slowly pivoted to meet his amused gaze, he couldn’t remember ever seeing someone look so adorable.

“Sorry. It’s not funny,” he said in an attempt to smooth things over, but he didn’t wipe the smile off his face.

Mute, the woman twirled back toward the cab. However, she now had a difficult time trying to open the back door with an armload of books.

“Here, let me help you with that.”

“That’s all right. I got it,” she lied.

Derrick ignored her blustering and opened the cab’s door and gestured for her to hop in. “After you,” he said gallantly.

She rolled her eyes at his flair of dramatics and Derrick couldn’t help but remain intrigued by the woman.

With a loud huff, she climbed into the cab.

He quickly followed suit.

“What are you doing?” she asked, scooting over to the other side behind the driver before he sat on her.

“Sharing a cab,” he said amicably. “You don’t mind, do you?”

She clinched her jaw and looked at him like she absolutely did mind.

“Great.” Derrick shut the door without waiting for her answer.

“Where to?” The cab driver asked the question as he clicked on the meter.

“Okinawa Sushi & Grill,” they answered in unison and then cut startled looks at each other.

“Well.” Derrick settled back in his seat. “Looks like something else we enjoy.”

“Something else?”

He didn’t answer, but his gaze dropped to her bundle of ruined books while she tried to stuff them back into the bag.

She sucked in a breath and jerked her gaze away.

He chuckled, amused by how easy it was to fluster the young woman. While she wasn’t looking, he took the time to assess his riding companion. Average height. Average weight. Add it all together, it somehow equaled adorable.

He couldn’t pull his eyes away from her.

“Will you please stop doing that?”

“Hmm?”

She faced him again and he discovered that she had perhaps the longest eyelashes he’d ever seen. They framed her brown eyes beautifully.

“Stop staring at me,” she ordered with a sharp thrust of her chin. “It’s rude.”

He smiled, unable to help himself, really. “Sorry,” he said, but made no attempt to stop. “Oh, by the way, name’s Derrick Knight.”

Rolling her eyes, she returned her attention to the passing gray scenery while scooting farther away from him.

“Speaking of being rude,” he began. “Are you ever going to thank me for helping you?”

That caught her attention. He was amazed she didn’t get whiplash trying to meet his gaze again.

“Excuse you?”

Derrick’s lips curled higher as he flashed his winning smile. “Forgive me for my stuttering problem, ma’am. It’s apparently worse than I thought.” Her eyes narrowed and drew attention to her cute pudgy nose. He had an insatiable urge to give it a little tweak.

“You want me to thank you for knocking me flat on my butt—”

“Ah, ah, ah.” He waved his finger. “The purse snatcher knocked you down. I caught him and then helped you up and uh…helped you gather your books.” He straightened in his seat and crossed his arms. “I’m a hero.”

“A very modest one,” she droned sarcastically.

He popped the collar of his raincoat. “Well. What can I say?”

They arrived at their destination and Derrick stopped her the moment she reached for her purse. “The fare is on me.”

“I can pay my half,” she protested.

“I’m sure you can, but I’m much too much of a gentleman to allow you.”

“Allow?”

He nodded and handed the cabbie a couple of twenties. “Keep the change.”

“Thank you, sir. Thank you,” said the driver.

Derrick’s mysterious companion bolted from the cab, and he found himself having to rush to catch up to her. “Hey! Where’s the fire?”

The woman quickened her pace without sparing him a glance or answering his question.

“If you worry that I’m some sort of stalker, let me assure you I’m not.”

“You could have fooled me.” She sprinted through the restaurant’s door and scanned the place to see if she saw her mother.

He laughed, though he had to admit his behavior was a quagmire to himself. “Listen. I know we didn’t exactly meet under the ideal circumstances, but uh—”

“There you are, Mr. Knight.”

Derrick turned and smiled at Congressman Jamison Scott. “Hello, Congressman.”

At that moment, Isabella caught sight of her mother waving from the other side the restaurant.

Derrick regretfully watched her slip away. Later, he realized, he never caught her name, but he could have sworn he saw an engagement ring.

“This is positively going to be the wedding of the season,” Katherine droned from across the table. “Of course, I think we should have it in Martha’s Vineyard, but your father insists on having it at our Arlington estate. What do you think?”

When Isabella didn’t answer, her mother prodded her. “Isabella?” She waved a hand in front of her face.

“Huh? What?” Isabella hadn’t heard half of what her mother was rambling about the wedding.

“The wedding?” her mother said. “I asked whether you wanted to have the wedding in Martha’s Vineyard or in Arlington. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” She cleared her throat. “I don’t understand why we can’t just have a small ceremony,” Isabella said, popping two pain pills into her mouth. “At this rate, I would prefer it if we just went to the courthouse and do this.”

Katherine’s face twisted in horror.

“It’s just an idea,” Isabella retracted.

“It’s a terrible one,” Katherine said, reaching across the dining table for the travel size tube of pain medication. “This is the social function of the year for the Kanes.”

“I think you’ve said that already.”

Katherine pursed her lips together and then tried another tactic. “Well, your father is on cloud nine about this political merger. A highly publicized wedding with the Jarretts in an election year is just what he needs to get the voters to forget about his backing that Davis Bill.”

“I’m not cattle,” Isabella mumbled and resumed playing with her smoked sea bass.

Her mother chased the pills with the rest of her champagne and then returned her attention to Isabella. “What was that, sweetheart?”

“Nothing.”

“Of course, I think a lot of it has to do with Randall reminding your father how he used to be when he first arrived on the Hill.” Katherine leveled a sweet smile at her daughter and then reached over and cupped one of her apple-plump cheeks. “My baby. I can’t believe you’re about to get married. Where has the time gone?”

Isabella smiled back at her mother and covered the hand on her cheek with their own. A measure of happiness bloomed in her heart. She loved being the cause of her parents’ happiness. It was almost worth marrying someone she didn’t love.

“I think it’s time.”

Confused, Isabella stared at her mother. “Time for what?”

Katherine cleared her throat. “You know. Time.”

Isabella stared.

Her mother lowered her hand and shifted around in her chair. After making a few cursory glances over her shoulder, she leaned forward.

Still at a loss, Isabella followed suit and leaned closer as well.

“Time for…The Talk,” Katherine whispered. “You know.”

“The Talk?”

Her mother nodded and resumed looking uncomfortable in her chair.

Finally, it hit Isabella. “Oh.” A rush of heat surged through her. “Oh. The Talk.” Now it was her turn to shift uncomfortably. “That’s okay, Mom. There’s no need for that. It’s okay.” She reached for her untouched champagne and downed the contents in a single gulp.

Stricken, Katherine pressed a hand against her heart. “Isabella Elizabeth Kane, don’t tell me that you’ve…that you’re no longer…you know.” She whipped her head around; making sure again no one was listening, and leaned forward to whisper. “A virgin.”

The pain medication lost the war with Isabella’s raging migraine. She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation. “Of course I am,” she whispered, equally appalled.

Her mother almost collapsed with relief. “Oh thank goodness. I knew I raised a good Baptist girl.” She finally picked up her shoulders and straightened in her chair. “In fact, I’m sure it’s one of the qualities Randall likes about you. You’re so pure and innocent,” her mother prattled on. “A man knows the difference between a woman you play with and a woman you marry—especially a political man.”

Isabella went back to feeling like cattle. For the past week she’d tried to convince herself that Randall’s proposal was based on love or at least a serious case of like, but her mother dismissed those notions with the same ease in which she’d told her that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny weren’t real.

Pressing her lips together, Isabella tuned out her mom and went back to pushing her food around her plate. She lost her appetite over an hour ago. Not that her mother would notice.

“Isabella,” Katherine snapped.

“What? Huh?”

Her mother’s fork tumbled from her fingers. “You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said,” she accused.

Isabella started to deny the charge but then decided to come clean. “Sorry. I just…have a lot on my mind,” she offered with a smile. “You know: the wedding and all. What were you saying?”

Katherine still looked put out, but continued in a low voice. “I was talking to you about your honeymoon night.”

Isabella fought all that was holy not to groan and roll her eyes.

“When your father and I—”

“Mom,” Isabella cut her off. Despite being twenty-seven, and being the product of her parents’ coupling, Isabella didn’t want to imagine her parents ever having sex. “I know it’s important for you to have this conversation with me, but I really don’t think I can handle it.”

Katherine looked hurt.

“It’s just…awkward,” Isabella covered. “Maybe I should learn about it like everyone else—from my friends.”

Her mother rolled her eyes. “Please not from that Wakey girl.”

“Waqueisha.”

“Whatever. She’ll probably tell you to charge for it.”

“Mom.”

Katherine waved her hand in the air. “Fine. Talk to your friends. But take my advice: it’s best to lie still and recite the alphabet. It’ll be over before you reach Z.”

“Mother.”

“Alright, alright.” Her mother tossed her hands up in the air. “That’s all I have to say.”

Isabella sincerely hoped so.

Chapter 5

“You never caught her name?” Charlie repeated.

“I know. I haven’t crashed and burned that badly since elementary school,” Derrick told his friend at the hotel’s bar while he tried to understand his disappointment every time he thought about the shy, skittish woman.

Charlie gave his buddy a good hearty pound on the back. “Well, don’t beat yourself up about it. We all have one off day every once in a while. Never happened to me, but I’ve heard stories.”

Derrick laughed. “Of course not.”

“Drinks are on me, old man,” Charlie chuckled. “It’s probably all downhill from here. From now on you’re going to have to start prowling for dates at the local bingo halls.”

“Very funny.”

“I’m just saying.”

Derrick let the fact that Charlie was the eldest of the two by ten days slide because today Derrick’s game was indeed off. He took another deep pull from his beer bottle and imagined for the umpteenth time what his little drowned rat would’ve looked like with dry hair and makeup. He hated he couldn’t see what dangerous curves lay beneath her bulky, black trench coat.

But then there was that moment in the cab when their eyes had met. He felt…something. It wasn’t sexual, though there was no question he had been attracted to her. It was…

“It’s not about who has the deepest curves or the thickest backside, but someone who, when you look into her eyes, her soul speaks to you down in here.”

Derrick gulped hard at the sound of Herman’s gravelly voice floating in his head. He looked at the three empty bottles lined on the bar and decided he’d had too much to drink.

“Oh, it’s just as well,” he mumbled. “The last thing I need to do is screw up another woman’s life.”

Nestled in bed, Isabella pored through her clinical sex books with a growing sense of disappointment. Where was the hot, spicy or even juicy stuff that was going to make her a star in the bedroom? All her life, she’d heard how sex was such a big deal; from the whisperings in high school bathrooms to hormone-charged sorority sisters to every cable show in America.

Sex was a big deal.

True, she wasn’t completely clueless. She knew the logistics, but not what unlocked passion. And passion was what she and Randall desperately needed.

Or at the very least a spark.

Derrick Knight’s dreamy hypnotic eyes blazed to the forefront of her mind and her body tingled in response. Handsome failed to describe a man like that and undoubtedly women were reduced to silly putty beneath his twinkling gaze. She would have been too if it hadn’t been for her complete mortification for toting sex how-to books around town.

The phone rang, snapping Isabella out of her make-believe conversation.

“Hello.”

“Mahogany is on HBO,” Rayne, another close sorority sister sing-songed over the line.

Isabella quickly searched among the books for the TV remote.

“You got it?” Rayne asked.

“Just a sec.” Isabella found the remote and quickly tuned in to the spot where “Do you know where you’re going to?” floated through the speakers.

“I love this movie,” Rayne sighed.

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