The Perfect Match: First Comes Marriage / Yours and Mine

“Gramps! Enough about babies! I’m not marrying Zach!”

“Janine.” Zach’s voice echoed in her ear.

“Keep out of this,” she cried. He was the last person she wanted to hear from.

“You’re having a dream.”

Her eyes fluttered open and she saw Zach’s face close to her own, her head nestled against his chest. “Oh…” she mumbled, bolting upright. “Oh, dear…I am sorry. I didn’t realize I was leaning on you.”

“I hated to wake you, but you seemed to be having a nightmare.”

She blinked and tried to focus on him, but it was difficult, and to complicate matters her eyes started to water. She wiped her face with one sleeve. Then, straightening, she removed the pillow from behind her back and folded the blanket, trying to disguise how badly her hands were trembling.

“You’re worried about what happened after dinner last night, aren’t you?”

Janine released a pent-up breath and smiled brightly as she lied. “Nothing really happened.”

“In the garden, when we kissed. Listen,” Zach said in a low voice, glancing quickly around to ensure that no one could overhear their conversation, “I think it’s time we talked about last night.”

“I…You’re right, of course.” She didn’t feel up to this, but she supposed it was best dealt with before she had to face her grandfather.

“Egos aside.”

“By all means,” Janine agreed. She braced herself, not knowing what to expect. Zach had made his views on the idea of an arranged marriage plain from the first; so had she. In fact, even her feelings about a marriage based on love weren’t all that positive at the moment. Brian had taught her a valuable lesson, a painful lesson, one she wouldn’t easily forget. She’d given him her heart and her trust, and he’d betrayed both. Falling in love had been the most shattering experience of her life, and she had no intention of repeating it anytime soon.

“I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit how nice kissing you was,” Zach said, “but I wish it had never happened. It created more problems than it solved.”

Janine wasn’t exactly flattered by his remark. Keeping egos out of this was harder than it sounded, she thought ruefully. Her expression must have revealed her thoughts because Zach elaborated. “Before I arrived in Scotland, we hardly knew each other. We met that first afternoon over lunch—with Anton—and talked a couple of times, but basically we were strangers.”

“We had dinner one night,” Janine reminded him, annoyed that he could so casually dismiss it.

“Right,” he acknowledged. “Then we met at the Bonnie Inn and, bingo, we were having dinner together and walking in the moonlight, and before either of us knew how it happened, we were kissing.”

Janine nodded, listening quietly.

“There are several factors we can take into account, but if we’re going to place blame for that kiss, I’m the one at fault.”

“You?”

“Me,” he confirmed with a grimace. “Actually, I’m prepared to accept full responsibility. I doubt you were aware of what was going on. It didn’t take me long to see how innocent you are, and—”

“Now just a minute,” Janine snapped. Once again he was taking potshots at her dignity. “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s obvious you haven’t had a lot of sexual experience and—”

“In other words I’m so incredibly naive that I couldn’t possibly be held accountable for a few kisses in the moonlight?”

“Something like that.”

“Oh, brother,” she muttered.

“There’s no need to feel offended.”

“I wasn’t exactly raised in a convent, you know. And for your information, I’ve been kissed by more than one man.”

“I’m sure you have. But we’re getting sidetracked here—”

“I’m sorry you found me so inept. A man of your vast worldly experience must’ve been sorely disappointed by someone as unsophisticated as me, and—”

“Janine,” he said firmly, stopping her. “You’re putting words in my mouth. All I was saying is that we—I—let matters get out of hand and we can’t blame your grandfather for what happened.”

“I’m willing to accept my part in this. I can also see where this conversation is leading.”

“Good,” Zach said. It was clear that his composure was slipping. “Then you tell me.”

“You think that because I enjoyed spending time with you and we shared this mildly romantic evening and—”

“Mildly romantic?”

“Yes, you did say egos aside, didn’t you? I’m just being honest.”

“Fine,” he said, tight-lipped.

“You seem to think that because you have so much more experience than I do, there’s a real danger I’ll be swooning at your feet.” She drew out the word, enjoying her silliness, and batted her eyelashes furiously.

“Janine, you’re behaving like a child,” he informed her coldly.

“Of course I am. That’s exactly what you seem to expect of me.”

Zach’s fingers tightened on the armrest. “You’re purposely misconstruing everything I said.”

“Whatever you’re trying to say isn’t necessary. You figure we had a borderline interest in each other and now we’ve crossed that border. Right? Well, I’m telling you that you needn’t worry.” She sucked in a deep breath and glared at him. “I’m right, aren’t I? That’s what you think, isn’t it?”

“Something like that, yes.”

Janine nodded grimly. “And now you think that since you held me in your arms and you lost your control long enough to kiss me, I’m suddenly going to start entertaining thoughts of the M word.”

“The…M word?”

“Marriage.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Zach said, jamming the airline magazine back into the seat pocket in front of him.

“Well?”

“All I mean is that the temptation might be there and we should both beware of it.”

“Oh, honestly, Zach,” she said sarcastically, “you overestimate yourself.”

“Listen, I wasn’t the one mumbling about babies.”

“I was having a dream! That has absolutely nothing to do with what we’re talking about now.”

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