“What are you doing in my bed?”

Clutching the sheet, Kelly pulled herself up against the satin pillows, a stricken look on her face.

“I believe it’s my hotel room,” Max said on a sigh. “As to why I’m in bed with you, I’m not sure. Frankly, this is as big a shock to me as it is to you. You know, I don’t make a habit of waking up next to strange women.”

“I hope you don’t think I’ve done this sort of thing before!”

“Of course not,” Max agreed hastily. “It was all a game we were playing, right?”

She had intended to take him up on his dare, flirt a bit and then walk away. Instead, his tempting smile had gotten to her. Like Cinderella, she should’ve run away from him at midnight. Just when had the game turned into something more serious? And, more to the point, what had she gotten herself into?

Dear Reader,

February is a month made for romance, and here at Harlequin American Romance we invite you to be our Valentine!

Every month, we bring you four reasons to celebrate romance, and beloved author Muriel Jensen has reasons of her own—Four Reasons for Fatherhood, to be precise. Join former workaholic Aaron Bradley as he learns about parenthood—and love—from four feisty youngsters and one determined lady in the finale to our exciting miniseries THE DADDY CLUB.

Some men just have a way with women, and our next two heroes are no exception. In Pamela Bauer’s Corporate Cowboy, when Austin Bennett hits his head and loses his memory, Kacy Judd better watch out—because her formerly arrogant boss is suddenly the most irresistible man in town! And in Married by Midnight by Mollie Molay, Maxwell Taylor has more charm than even he suspects—he goes to a wedding one day, and wakes up married the next!

And if you’re wondering HOW TO MARRY…The World’s Best Dad, look no farther than Valerie Taylor’s heartwarming tale. Julie Miles may not follow her own advice, but she’s got gorgeous Ben Harbison’s attention anyway!

We hope you enjoy every romantic minute of our four wonderful stories.

Warm wishes,

Melissa Jeglinski

Associate Senior Editor

Married by Midnight

Mollie Molay

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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For Paul and Terri Molé, whose wedding inspired this story. And to newly married Michael and Lynn Fox. Great grandsons who were smart enough to marry wonderful women. Way to go!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After working for a number of years as a Logistics Contract Administrator in the aircraft industry, Mollie Molay turned to a career she found far more satisfying—writing romance novels. Mollie lives in Northridge, California, surrounded by her two daughters and seven grandchildren, many of whom find their way into her books. She enjoys hearing from her readers and welcomes comments. You can write to her c/o Harlequin Books, 300 East 42nd Street, 6th floor, New York, NY 10017.

Books by Mollie Molay

HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

560—FROM DRIFTER TO DADDY

597—HER TWO HUSBANDS

616—MARRIAGE BY MISTAKE

638—LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

682—NANNY & THE BODYGUARD

703—OVERNIGHT WIFE

729—WANTED: DADDY

776—FATHER IN TRAINING

799—DADDY BY CHRISTMAS

815—MARRIED BY MIDNIGHT

American Romance

is pleased to announce the

wedding of

Maxwell Taylor

and

Kelly O’Rourke.

The bride and groom will be notified

of their nuptials

shortly after the ceremony.

Fireworks to follow.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Prologue

Max Taylor didn’t know what hit him.

Caught in a logjam of cheering wedding guests, he was nursing a glass of champagne punch when suddenly an object flew through the air. He ducked—too late. The bride’s decorated lace garter, still warm with her body heat, struck him just above his right eye. Shaken out of his reverie, Max instinctively reached for the garter and caught it before it fell into the punch bowl. The crowd around him parted and to his bewilderment started to clap and cheer him on.

To complicate matters, directly in his line of vision, the maid of honor was seated with her striking emerald-green bridesmaid’s dress drawn up over her knees, a leg poised and an embarrassed look on her face. In her arms, she held the bridal bouquet. From the eager expressions on everyone’s faces, it was obvious to him, as the lucky garter-catcher, that he was expected to slide the intimate object over her shapely slender leg.

Max could see the bride standing next to the groom clapping in time to the music. The amateur four-piece band was playing not too well but enthusiastically.

With the drummer executing a brisk roll of the drums, the master of ceremonies motioned Max forward and pointed to the redhead’s upper thigh.

Max froze.

What was he to do now?

A whirlwind of thoughts raced through his mind, including making a quick getaway. He should have been pleased. After all, this was the first time he’d won anything more than a few bucks on a lottery ticket. Good enough, he muttered to himself as he gazed at the sculptured leg, but why did the prize have to be something that might test his manhood? He hesitated, trying to come up with a good reason to decline the honor. He couldn’t. The groom was his cousin and he was the best man. Family honor was at stake. Short of causing a scene, he realized he had to be a good sport and enter into the festivities.

He took a deep breath, raised his glass to his lips and gulped the last of the champagne punch for courage. Fortified, he handed the glass to his nearest neighbor and moved inside the circle of clapping wedding guests. Up close, the leg’s owner looked watchful. He didn’t blame her. Although they were part of the wedding party, they’d only seen each other for the first time at the brief rehearsal last night. What he was about to do was pretty intimate.

He knelt on the one good knee he had left after his recent skiing accident, carefully removed the lady’s dainty shoe and slowly slid the garter over her stockinged foot, up her silken leg and to her knee. He felt himself flush when he became more aware of her charms than he cared to admit. He stopped and started to get to his feet.

“No, no, no,” the wedding guests chanted.

“Up, up, up, up,” the master of ceremonies instructed, sending Max back down on his knee and firmly pointing the way.

Max took another deep breath, glanced apologetically at his fellow victim and slid the garter upward another inch.

“More, more, more,” urged the crowd.

Max silently muttered his frustration and cautiously moved the garter up another inch, and another. His body warmed with each move. The innuendos thrown at him weren’t helping his discomfiture a damn bit. By the time he’d reached her warm upper thigh, he’d had more than any red-blooded man could be expected to handle and he wasn’t going to take it anymore. He enjoyed a joke as well as any other man, but since he didn’t know the lady he was touching so intimately, this was too much. He muttered his apology and hoped for the best.

Chapter One

The pressure of a creamy, petal-soft feminine shoulder cuddled against his chest shocked Max out of his dream. A dream where a copper-haired enchantress was brushing a hand across his bare shoulder, and hazel-green eyes shone with invitation. Disoriented, Max allowed his gaze to travel down a slender arm to a sculptured waist and an enticingly curved hip that was partially covered by the white satin bedsheet.

Max froze. The last thing he remembered clearly was the ridiculous garter ceremony at his cousin’s wedding. But never in his wildest imagination had he anticipated a moment like this.

The unexpected but pleasant discovery explained why he’d awakened satiated, at peace with the world. He leaned over and took a closer look. The intriguing view caused his body to respond in ways he was embarrassed to contemplate.

One thing for sure, Kelly O’Rourke, the twenty-two-year-old maid of honor at last night’s wedding and owner of the most beautiful pair of legs he’d ever seen, was the last woman Max expected to find in his bed.

He leaned back against the pillows and tried to remember how and why he and Kelly were in bed together.

The winter wedding between his cousin, Troy Taylor, and DeeDee Connor, and the tumultuous celebration that had followed last night had been one for the books. He could barely recall what had happened after he’d caught the bride’s garter and slid it up the maid of honor’s leg. After that, events had passed in a blur.

Maybe it had been because he’d caught the last flight from Boston to Las Vegas. Upon arriving, instead of catching up on his sleep, he’d gotten caught up in a hasty wedding rehearsal, Troy’s bachelor party and the ensuing wedding festivities. Going without sleep for thirty-six hours and operating on sheer momentum, as he was, little wonder he’d been done in by the potent champagne punch.

He eyed Kelly cautiously. She was bound to be frosted when she awakened.

The last thing he did remember clearly was catching the bridal garter. He remembered sliding the lace confection over Kelly’s warm and slender leg while the other wedding guests egged him on. His frank admiration for the silk-clad leg he held had seemed harmless enough to him, but not to Kelly. To his surprise, the warning look in her eyes had held a message. Somewhere along the line, a dare had been cast and, heaven help him, accepted.

One step at a time, he told himself as he struggled to remember what had happened next. One step at a time. The rest of the story was bound to come to him if he relaxed and let the answers flow when they were ready.

He took a deep breath and surveyed his surroundings. He was pretty sure he was in the Las Vegas Majestic Hotel where the Taylor-Connor wedding and reception had taken place. But he was surprised he’d booked anything as lush as these surroundings. Obviously he had; his suitcase sat beside the bed.

With its mirrored ceiling and white satin linens the bedroom was part of a luxurious two-room suite. A trail of masculine and feminine shoes led to the bed. His clothing was thrown haphazardly over a chair and an emerald-green bridesmaid’s dress, along with a lacy bra and matching bikini, was flung across the foot of the bed. Silken hose were draped over a bed lamp like a victory flag.

Through the open folding doors, he saw a sitting room with all the accoutrements of a posh lodging. A giant-screen TV, a man-size upholstered couch and matching love seat filled the center of the room. A bridal bouquet lay wilting on the coffee table, alongside a short wisp of a bridal veil. He remembered Kelly catching the bouquet, all right, but what was DeeDee’s bridal veil doing here?

Puzzled, he looked at the couch in the center of the next room. He seemed to remember he’d gone to sleep there sometime last night. Why had he chosen the couch when he had a king-size bed waiting for him? He glanced down at his sleeping companion. The bigger question was when and how he had wound up in bed with her.

He fought a growing uneasiness as he tried hard to recall what had actually happened last night. Slowly, the mental clouds began to clear. He recalled Kelly’s warning look as he’d slid the garter up her leg. He also recalled her look that dared him to a point where he’d been driven by an uncommon impulse to change the warning to a look of desire.

He gazed at the rumpled bed and the clothing strewn haphazardly around the room. From the looks of things, he’d obviously accomplished his goal only too well. Too bad he didn’t remember the details.

But couch or no couch, good intentions or otherwise, it didn’t take much imagination to figure out he and Kelly had ultimately fallen into bed together. The evidence was obvious enough to make him wonder how he could possibly have drawn a blank after what surely must have been a memorable night.

He gazed down at Kelly’s ivory and pink-tinged skin. Wrapped in a white satin sheet, her shoulders bare, she looked every bit as enticing as she had during the garter incident. And, heaven help him, in his dream.

Her lips, curved in a smile, were moving soundlessly. He leaned over to listen. The smile and the possible meaning behind it sent a wave of guilt through him.

After all, from what little he remembered, he’d only intended to tease, to challenge Kelly. One look had led to another, closer one until the game they’d been playing had become more than a simple flirtation. Now the burning question was what had happened during the night to leave her with a smile on her face.

She looked so sweet, so natural, it was hard to imagine this was the same feisty woman who had taken on his wordless challenge last night. Impulsively, he gently brushed an auburn eyelash from her cheek.

Never one to run away from a problem he’d helped to create, Max cleared his throat.

Kelly stirred at the sound. It was a few moments before she opened her eyes. “You!”

“I’m afraid so,” Max agreed, inching sideways at the edge in her voice. If there was going to be a disagreement, he intended to stay out of arm’s reach.

Clutching the sheet, Kelly pulled herself up against the satin pillows. “What are you doing here?”

Max heaved a sigh of relief. She was taking things more calmly than he’d expected. “If you’re talking about the room, I believe it’s mine. As to why I’m here in bed with you, I’m not sure. I just woke up myself.” When she looked confused, he added, “By the way, under the circumstances, you can call me Max.”

“I’m Kelly,” she replied, biting her lip. Her mind whirled with questions, questions she was too embarrassed to ask. One thing was clear, she was in bed with Troy’s best man. A twenty-six-year-old businessman DeeDee had urged on her before the wedding ceremony. At first, she hadn’t been interested—but things had obviously changed.

Kelly gazed at his rumpled brown hair, the dark shadows on his cheeks and his broad, tanned shoulders. In spite of her embarrassment, her gaze slowly moved down his bare shoulders, to the golden brown curls on his chest and down to his lithe waist. Warm memories flooded her mind.

She remembered taking him up on his unspoken sensual challenge, intending to put him in his place. Instead, she’d wound up falling for his sexy smile.

In spite of her dismay at finding herself in bed with Max, the warm glow lingering in her middle brought back memories of his sensuous glances and dynamite kisses.

Those same glances were warming her now.

Max’s eyes suddenly widened. She was just in time to grab the satin sheet and keep it from sliding to her waist. “I’m not sure how things got started last night,” she muttered as she pulled the sheet to her chin, “but it seems you won. I never planned on going this far. I sure didn’t start out intending to spend the night with you.”

Max rubbed his forehead. “Frankly, this is as big a surprise to me as it is to you.” He gazed at the silk stockings hanging on the lamp and grinned sheepishly. “I honestly don’t seem to remember much about last night, either. Maybe it was because I was pretty exhausted after we—”

“Stop! Stop right there!” Kelly warned as memories of a killer smile, tangled limbs and heated kisses filled her mind. “I don’t think I care to hear the details. It must have been the champagne punch,” she muttered. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Me neither. My behavior last night was totally unlike me, too.” He’d had his share of relationships, but until now he’d always been awake to enjoy them. What had possessed him to play erotic games with the bride’s best friend? Mentally cursing himself for his stupidity, he forced a feeble smile. “In spite of how this looks, the last thing I remember was offering to sleep on the couch last night.”

Kelly glanced from the undisturbed couch to the tousled bed, to the clothing strewn around the room. She frowned. “I can’t believe I did this.”

“It was all just a game we were playing, right?” Max said hastily.

Kelly decided to play it safe. “Maybe.”

“Maybe? Does that mean you remember what happened last night?”

“Just enough,” she answered, turning a deeper shade of pink at how much she actually did remember.

She had intended to take him up on his dare, flirt a bit and then walk away. Instead, before she’d realized what was happening, his tempting smile had gotten to her. Like Cinderella, she should have walked away from him at midnight.

Just when had the game turned into something more serious? And more to the point, what had she gotten herself into?

Eyeing Kelly’s flushed face and her obvious dismay, Max swallowed the light remark he had been about to make. As he mentally reviewed the last twelve hours, a lightbulb turned on in his head. Maybe the one important detail he did remember would mitigate some of the more obvious evidence of what had taken place last night.

He took a deep breath. “I think we may have gotten married last night.”

“Married! That’s ridiculous. Why would I have married you? I don’t even know you!” She pulled the sheet closer around her and inched to the edge of the bed.

“Maybe so,” Max agreed. “But during the hotel’s unexpected celebration of Troy and DeeDee’s marriage, I think something happened. Something that involved us.”

“That’s enough,” Kelly said hurriedly, putting up a hand to stop him. “Try to remember. It was all a game. I’d rather forget last night, and all of this, too.” She glanced down at the bed.

“Maybe so,” Max went on doggedly. “But I swear I remember a wedding ceremony.”

“Not ours,” Kelly replied firmly. “I couldn’t have gotten that carried away, not even by you. I’m not ready to be married.”

Max decided maybe it wasn’t the right time or place to tell Kelly he’d dreamed of making love to the woman he thought was his wife. But the dream had felt so real. “Maybe you’re right, but I can’t shake the memory of our marriage ceremony.”

“Impossible! If we’d gotten married, I’d remember. I told you, I’m not ready to be married and I meant it.”

“Okay, have it your way,” he said. “But I want to go on record.” He raised his right hand. “I swear that the one thing I do remember clearly is offering to sleep on the couch. You do remember that much, don’t you?”

The look in his deep brown eyes was sincere, but something told her he hadn’t remained on the couch for long. Or, considering the way her body was still tingling, maybe he hadn’t gone to sleep there at all.

Under the covers, Kelly was investigating her thigh. The bridal garter that seemed to have started the whole mess was still in place. But to her dismay, the garter was all she had on!

She groaned as she envisioned her father, her three brothers and assorted members of her family accusing her of conduct unbecoming an O’Rourke. Not that they would be entirely wrong. Awakening to find herself in a strange hotel room, completely unclothed and in bed with a man she’d only met last night was definitely an O’Rourke no-no.

“Are you sure you remember the details about…um…last night?” She felt herself flush as she spoke.

“Not enough,” Max muttered, “but I’m sure there’s an explanation somewhere.” He slowly edged away from Kelly before she could realize he didn’t have any clothing on under the covers either. Not even his socks.

The growing look of dismay Kelly was giving him spelled big trouble. He wished he could offer some kind of explanation that would give them both a graceful way out of the obvious, but he couldn’t. The indisputable fact remained, they’d wound up in bed together. And the only answer he could come up with was one she didn’t want to hear: Kelly was his wife, and they’d consummated their wedding night.

“Max, what are we going to do about this? We have to talk.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” He wasn’t looking forward to trying to explain the unexplainable, but trying to would at least be a step in the right direction. He could apologize, but that was closing the proverbial barn door after the horse was gone. Besides, Kelly didn’t look in the mood to try to understand, forgive and forget the impulse that may have sent them before a preacher.

He told himself Kelly would eventually cool down and listen to reason. If they’d actually gotten married, he was ready to suggest civilized goodbyes and an annulment. Or, he swallowed hard at the thought, a divorce.

“Maybe no one knows about this but us,” he offered with a feeble smile. “I’m willing to forget last night if you are. How about you?”

Kelly thought hard. What had apparently been a romantic thing to do last night, in broad daylight became an irresponsible scenario. In all fairness, she couldn’t put all the blame on Max. He may have started the flirtation, but he was obviously a lot more worldly than she was. She’d been a fool to think she could outsmart him. Besides, it took two people to get into a situation like this.

The problem was that DeeDee had talked so much about Max and how much they had in common, Kelly had turned her off. Now that she realized Max was the sexiest man she’d ever met up with, maybe she should have listened to her friend.

She already had a controlling father and two older brothers who insisted on looking after her. The last thing she needed was another man in her life. Even one like Max.

Another unhappy thought hit her. The O’Rourkes were a large extended and prolific Irish family. She had an army of cousins, most of them male, and had been around them often enough to have heard enough stories that had made her blush. What if she’d gotten pregnant after last night?

“Something wrong?”

“Maybe,” Kelly whispered. She bit her lip as one unhappy thought led to another. How do you ask a man if he’d used protection last night? “Did you, er…” She took a deep breath and plunged into deep waters. “Did you use protection last night?”

Max swallowed hard. If he’d actually thought Kelly was his wife, maybe not. On the other hand, maybe yes. He had had a condom in his wallet. “Yes. I don’t think I could have been that irresponsible,” he replied frankly. He made a mental note to check his wallet as soon as he was alone.

Before they could pursue the subject, there was a knock on the door.

“Who’s that?” Kelly whispered, looking around for cover. “I can’t let anyone find me here.”

“Maybe if we don’t answer, they’ll think we’re still asleep and go away,” Max said under his breath. He put a finger to his lips.

The knock sounded again, this time louder.

“No such luck,” Max muttered. “I guess we’ll never know who it is unless I answer the door.” He had a bare leg out from under the covers when he realized he couldn’t reach his clothes. The fact that they were in a tangled mess on the floor surprised him. He was normally an organized man, a man who never gave in to impulse. Something had happened last night to change him.

“Maybe you’d better close your eyes for a minute.”

“I will not!”

He raised his eyebrows in a sardonic question and pointed to the jumble of clothing. “My clothes are down there.”

Kelly moaned and slid under the blankets.

Max dashed for his trousers, put them on and made for the door before some lunatic broke it down. “Who’s there?”

“Reggie Bennett, the assistant manager of the hotel, sir. You and Mrs. Taylor checked in too late last night to receive the usual amenities that come with the bridal suite. I have them for you now.”

Max felt himself blanch as he shrugged into his shirt and shoes. Mrs. Taylor? Bridal suite? So, last night hadn’t entirely been a dream. Like it or not, he had married Kelly.

Max groaned. He was a man who enjoyed the company of women, but marriage had been the farthest thing from his mind. And the last thing on his carefully plotted life’s agenda.

He took a deep breath. Even with those disturbing memories of a marriage ceremony, he wasn’t exactly ready to believe this marriage business. If he’d gotten married, surely he would have had to have had a marriage license and a marriage certificate, wouldn’t he?

After making sure Kelly couldn’t be seen from the door, he held it open a crack. The assistant manager met his gaze with a broad smile. “Our apologies, sir. The management of the Majestic Hotel would like to correct our unfortunate oversight.”

Oversight? Max’s heart plummeted when he realized daylight was shining through the shuttered windows. Somehow, he’d misplaced a large chunk of the day. And, in the interim, he must have somehow acquired a bride and, heaven help him, consummated the marriage.

“May we come in now?”

Max took another look behind him before he opened the outer door. A room-service waiter rolled in a linen-covered cart and positioned two chairs next to it.

Entranced, Max studied the gaily decorated cart. As Bennett had announced, there was a wedding breakfast in all its glory, including a bottle of champagne in an iced silver container and pats of butter in the form of hearts. A cut-glass vase held a dozen white roses. To his increasing dismay, a congratulatory message was prominently propped against the vase.

What further blew his mind were the silver and gold balloons in the shape of wedding bells that floated behind the cart.

“Our apologies for the delay in bringing your breakfast, Mr. Taylor. After what happened last night, we weren’t sure you and Mrs. Taylor were up yet.” A humorous glint came into Reggie Bennett’s eyes as he regarded Max’s open shirt. “If there’s anything else you would like, please don’t hesitate to ask.” He left with a broad smile.

After what happened last night? A dim recollection of shouting people and flashing cameras floated through Max’s mind. What worse could possibly have happened?

“Max, are they gone?” Kelly called impatiently.

“Yes, but not before they left us breakfast,” he replied. His stomach churned as he eyed the bottle of champagne on ice. Champagne had been his downfall last night. He heard Kelly mutter under her breath. She had to be upset if she’d heard Bennett. For a woman who firmly refused to believe she was married, what would she do when she actually saw the cart?

“I’m not that hungry,” Kelly said. “I’ll get dressed and we can decide what to do.”

As far as Max was concerned, discussions had to wait. What he had to do first was find out how and when he’d actually acquired a wife. He eyed the outside door for a quick getaway. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he announced and rushed out the door.

When Kelly heard the door close, she peered into the next room. The sight of the floating bell-shaped balloons brought her marching into the room.

Then she saw the bridal veil on the coffee table. If this was intended to be a joke, and if Max was in on it, it wasn’t funny.

Married? No way! Max might believe they were married, but she knew better. Right now she needed a long, hot bath and time to plan some course of action to end this nonsense.

Music began to play when she opened the door to the bathroom. She was rendered speechless by a giant Jacuzzi strategically placed in front of a mirrored wall. Tropical plants hung from a skylight above the tub. A shelf held jars of bath oils and colorful soaps in the shapes of flowers. There were assorted brushes to wash one’s back and, to Kelly’s growing discomfiture, bottles of assorted perfumes and ointments clearly intended for rituals of love. Her middle warmed at the sensual implications of a jar marked Aromatic Body Butter.

Visions of Max rubbing her body with the scented butter, and her mental reactions to the idea of his unclothed body, were more than she could bring herself to safely contemplate. Thank goodness he wasn’t here to see the Arabian Nights scene in front of her.

To her relief, on a more practical level, fluffy white bathrobes, embroidered with “Mr.” and “Mrs.,” waited on a padded bench.

She turned on the water and sat down on the edge of the Jacuzzi. One by one, she picked up the tiny colored balls of bath oil beside the faucet and dropped them into the water. The scent that began to waft through the room turned her thoughts to sensual games. Games she would have wanted to play if she were actually honeymooning with the man she loved.

The bathroom was obviously an elaborate setting for a seduction scene, she thought wistfully as she slid into the water. But the truth was that, in spite of last night’s apparent foolishness, she wasn’t out to seduce anyone. Max Taylor least of all. As soon as he returned, she intended to tell him so.

Chapter Two

Muttering to himself, Max made his way to the hotel’s executive offices on the first floor. How could he be a married man if he didn’t even remember applying for a wedding license?

He shook his head. He wasn’t ready to believe he was a married man anyway. And as for Kelly, she didn’t seem all that jazzed up about the idea of being his wife, either.

As for spending last night in bed together—he rechecked his wallet to reassure himself the condom was gone. Marriage to a stranger was bad enough, but a baby?

With emotionally distant parents like his own, his childhood had been nothing to rave about. As a result, he wasn’t sold on fatherhood. He didn’t want to start a family until he was good and ready. He wasn’t ready yet.

He skidded to a stop in the center of the ornate hotel lobby. The pale blue walls were covered with reproductions of well-known landscapes. Live trees and flowering shrubs grew in the center of a courtyard fronting the check-in desk. A waterfall fell gracefully into a small stream and disappeared beneath rocks. Sunlight streamed in from skylights. The effect was that of a pastoral spring scene. Soft, romantic music played in the background. The new hotel was unlike any Las Vegas hotel he’d ever been in. No wonder he’d been carried away by the romantic ambience last night.

The scene looked vaguely familiar. Good, he thought, this might be an excellent place to fill in the gaps in his memory.

“Must have been some party,” he remarked to a housekeeping-staff member tugging potted plants into place.

“You ought to know.” The man chuckled. “You and your lady sure were star attractions last night.”

Star attractions? Max’s heart sank as he gazed around the lobby. No new flashes of memory hit him, but if there was a reasonable explanation of what had gone on last night, he intended to find it. The obvious place to start was with his cousin Troy, whose wedding seemed to have changed Max’s life. He started toward a bank of public telephones, before he realized Troy and his new bride were off on an extended honeymoon, destination unknown.

Damn! Who else could he question about what he’d gotten into last night without looking like a jerk? His Aunt Clara, Troy’s mother? Nah. His reputation in the Taylor family would be shot to hell. The door to that avenue closed abruptly.

He was about to go back and grill the cleaning crew, when Reggie Bennett appeared at his side. “Can I be of help, Mr. Taylor?”

“This is sure one hell of a mess, isn’t it?” Max muttered. Frustrated and unsure of what questions he could ask Bennett without sounding like a fool, he raked his fingers through his hair. In the background he heard renewed laughter.

“No problem.” Bennett beamed. “We’ll have everything to rights in no time. I have to tell you, the additional publicity you and Mrs. Taylor generated for the hotel last night was worth a million.”

Max couldn’t bring himself to tell the man he wasn’t referring to the condition of the hotel lobby. Nor to ask what publicity the man was talking about. His gut feeling was that somehow he and Kelly had been involved.

He searched his memory. He could remember his initial fatal attraction to Kelly during the garter ceremony, all right. But after that his jet lag must have kicked in, because the rest of the night had passed in a haze.

The one thing he couldn’t bring himself to ask Bennett about was what he and Kelly had actually done to make last night’s publicity so successful. Or what would have moved the hotel’s housekeeping staff to laughter. How could a man ask another man about what had happened on his own wedding night?

Gritting his teeth, Max half-heartedly thanked Bennett and turned back to the bank of elevators. In his frustration, he repeatedly poked the up button. Kelly would be waiting for him to make an accounting of his disappearance. From the sound of her voice when he’d left, he wasn’t looking forward to their reunion.

A DO-NOT-DISTURB SIGN hung on the door to the bridal suite, a sure indicator Kelly meant business. He took a deep breath and opened the door to find Kelly, barefoot and wrapped in a white chenille bathrobe, pacing the floor. She was still flushed from her bath, and an exotic scent of perfume clung to her. Her lustrous red hair hung in damp tendrils around her shoulders. From the glimpse he caught of one shapely leg, she was bare under the robe. His senses began to stir before he caught a glimpse of the expression in her eyes.

“Where have you been?”

The cold look Kelly gave him would have frozen a lesser man.

“Downstairs.” He closed the door behind him. The last thing he needed was an argument; his head was pounding already. “Before you start on me, let me tell you I’m not too happy about all of this either. So take it easy.” He strode into the room and headed for the telephone. “The coffee’s cold by now. I’m sure we’ll both feel better after we have some breakfast.” He picked up the phone, dialed room service and ordered a fresh pot of coffee.

“How can you think of food when we have something more important to resolve?”

He didn’t know how to answer that question either, but at least having breakfast was something to do. “I think better on a full stomach. It’s been a long time since I had anything decent to eat. Hors d’oeuvres and champagne punch last night doesn’t cut it.”

Kelly sniffed her disdain. “Go ahead and eat if you want to, but we have to talk. I intend to put this foolishness about our being married to rest right now. I’ll say this again. We are not married!”

In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Max had to smile at Kelly. The angrier she got, the more attractive she became. He started to reply, when a tattoo of sharp knocks on the door interrupted him.

“Not again,” Kelly said, marching to the door. “This had better be good!” she shouted as she flung it open. “Didn’t you see the sign on the door?”

A teenage boy barreled into the room. “Kelly! Quick, hide! Dad and Damon are on their way up! They’re on the warpath!”

“Sean? What are you doing here?” Kelly’s face was a study in surprise as she craned her neck to look over the boy’s shoulder.

“I…came…to warn you!” he gasped as soon as he could catch his breath. “I overheard Dad say he saw you on TV last night. He said you got married.” A grin broke over his face. “I think it’s cool, but Dad’s sure mad. Did you really get hitched?”

“No,” Kelly answered. She glared at Max.

“Yes,” Max answered. “That is, I think so. We were just—”

“I’ll tell you later,” Kelly interrupted with another urgent look over Sean’s shoulder. “Come on in before Dad sees you.”

Sean almost fell into the room. “Boy, is he going to be fried if he finds me here. Maybe I’d better go back home before he gets here.”

Max stared at the boy who, in spite of his darker complexion, resembled Kelly. Her brother?

“No, you don’t,” a stern voice broke in. A uniformed officer of the Las Vegas Police Department filled the doorway.

Max thought rapidly. Had he broken some local law last night? If the law was after him this afternoon, things must be worse than he thought.

“Patrick? Not you, too,” Kelly squeaked.

Max took a closer look at the officer as the man grabbed Sean by a shoulder and hauled him into the room. He was a sturdy version of Kelly with the same hair color. Somehow, Max didn’t care for the piercing look in his hazel eyes.

“Yeah, Patrick,” the man agreed. “Your brother, remember?” He kept a grip on Sean who was trying to squirm out of his grasp. “As for you, kid, since you made it this far on your own, you might as well stay.”

He scowled at Kelly. “For your information, the department’s entire night shift congratulated me when I showed up for work this morning. Told me you got married on TV last night. Too bad you didn’t let your own family in on your plans.”

“Things aren’t what they seem to be, honest,” Kelly protested. “If you give me a minute, I can explain.”

“What’s to explain? From what I understand, you got married, period. Since I didn’t even know you were seeing someone, let alone planning to marry him, I figured I’d better stop by and find out what’s going on.” He turned his solid gaze on Max. “You the groom?”

Momentarily overcome by the invasion of O’Rourkes, Max could only nod.

“I don’t remember seeing you around,” Patrick mused as he gave Max a thorough once-over. “New in town?”

Max shook his head and exchanged a dismayed glance with Kelly. How many brothers did she have anyway? And what were they going to say if they knew the true state of affairs?

Kelly put her hands on her hips and glared at her brothers. “Max, these are two of my brothers, Sean and Patrick. Patrick is with the Las Vegas Police Department,” she added as if it weren’t obvious to Max. “He’s the suspicious type. Sean’s the youngest member of the family—he’s fifteen.”

Max had to give Kelly credit for keeping her cool under fire. Faced with the same situation, his sister would have probably fainted. He put down the telephone receiver and held out his hand. “The name is Maxwell Taylor. Er…I’m pleased to meet you.”

“So, you’re Kelly’s husband.” Patrick’s features were impassive as he shook Max’s hand, but his eyes spoke volumes. He was definitely not pleased.

“Kelly O’Rourke!” a new voice thundered. A tall man in an air force officer’s uniform marched through the door. The man’s crew-cut dark copper hair was fading into gray at the temples and his hazel eyes were grim. Max realized the newcomer had to be Kelly’s father. He guessed trouble really did come in threes.

Behind Mr. O’Rourke was a younger man, also dressed in an air force uniform. Another brother? Max changed his opinion. Trouble came in as many numbers as there were O’Rourke men.

Surrounded by the power of the law and the military, Max’s civilian heart took a dive. He tried to hide behind a smile.

“Dad, Damon?” Kelly pulled her robe more closely around her. “What in heaven’s name are all of you doing here at once?”

“A better question, Kelly O’Rourke,” her father roared, “is what are you doing here!” Her father’s bushy eyebrows rose in rebuke. “I understood you were going to be the maid of honor in DeeDee’s wedding, but I didn’t expect you to go so far as to get yourself married, too.”

“I’m not—That is, I am, but—” Kelly caught herself and managed a feeble smile. “That is, it was sort of a surprise to me, too.” She sent a quick, pleading glance at Max.

“Is this your young man?”

Max felt he was about to undergo an interrogation. Too bad he had no ready answers. He couldn’t tell the unvarnished truth, not with the silent appeal in Kelly’s eyes. He held out his hand to have it grasped in a firm handshake he was going to feel for a week. “Maxwell Taylor, sir.”

“Michael O’Rourke. Glad to meet you, my boy,” Kelly’s father answered with a final shake. He regarded Max through narrowed eyes. “Not that I’m all too happy over my daughter’s elopement, you understand. But considering her impulsive nature, I suppose I shouldn’t have been too surprised.” He gazed reprovingly at Sean. “This young one here seems to have the same knack for doing the unexpected, but I think I have time to cure that.”

Kelly gasped. “Dad, how can you say such things?”

“The proof is standing next to you,” her father answered, gesturing to Max. “So, what do the two of you have to say for yourselves?”

Max took a quick inventory of his chances with this audience and shot Kelly a warning glance.

Damon, an air force officer like his father. Patrick, a local Las Vegas lawman. All three highly trained with instincts and senses honed to a razor’s edge. All sharp and unlikely to be fooled easily. On the other hand, there was Sean. From the boy’s sheepish grin, Max sensed Sean was a maverick like his sister.

At least there was one friendly male member of the O’Rourke clan.

Max caught Patrick’s frown as he stared at Kelly, almost as if he were on a criminal case. Max’s own gaze followed Patrick’s to the hand Kelly used to clutch the robe to her throat. To his mind the answer to Patrick’s frown was clear. Kelly, ostensibly a newly married woman, wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.

Max stirred himself. The moment of truth was at hand. Husband or not, for Kelly’s sake, if not his own, he owed her his support. “Here, sweetheart, let me help you with that,” he said. On the pretext of helping her close the bathrobe more closely around her neck, he managed to slip his class ring off his finger and onto Kelly’s wedding-ring finger. With a warning look into her startled eyes, he turned back to the O’Rourkes. Just in time to glimpse a shadow cross Patrick’s face. Moments later, he saw Patrick’s gaze settle on the bridal bouquet and the wedding veil on the coffee table.

Max responded to the stunned look on Kelly’s face. He had to do something to break the tension before Patrick started asking questions for which he and Kelly had no answers. The sooner the better. “Sweetheart, why don’t you go in and get dressed?”

She nodded reluctantly. “Okay. I’ll be back in a minute, Dad. Max, can I see you in the other room for a moment?”

“Sure,” Max answered. Before he followed Kelly, he noticed the envious look in Sean’s eyes as the boy studied the untouched champagne breakfast. “Sean, why don’t you help yourself to some breakfast? No use letting it go to waste.”

Kelly pulled Max into the bedroom and pushed the folding doors together. She pointed to the open slats on the doors, then dragged him into the bathroom and carefully closed the door behind her. Soft, romantic music filtered through the room. “What in heaven’s name are we going to do now?”

“Good question.” Max gazed at the exotic surroundings that were obviously designed to stir a man’s senses. Even with trouble waiting for him in the other room, his thoughts turned to putting the scented oils to good use. He blinked. Of all the fool times to think sensuous thoughts, this was probably the worst.

“Brazen it out, I guess,” he answered, firmly turning his thoughts to the more serious issue at hand. “We’ll just pretend everything is okay until they leave. Then, if it turns out we actually were married last night, we can talk about an annulment.”

“An annulment? After last night?” Her startled expression got through to Max. She was right. Married or not, they had shared an intimate night together. An annulment was probably out.

“Okay, maybe not an annulment,” he answered. “Maybe a divorce.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Kelly muttered angrily. “In the first place, I keep telling you we’re not married. In the second, O’Rourkes don’t get divorced! That’s why neither of my older brothers are married—they’re waiting for the right woman. As for my getting a divorce, it’s out of the question. I’d be breaking Dad’s heart!”

“Keep it down,” Max cautioned. “This is what I think we ought to do. For now, we’ll tell your family we’re going on a honeymoon. We can settle all this later when we’re alone.”

“Honeymoon?” Looking outraged, Kelly demanded, “Honeymoon? Who said anything about a honeymoon?”

“Take it easy, Kelly,” he soothed, with one eye on the bathroom door. If they didn’t come to some sort of agreement soon, he expected an O’Rourke to be pounding on the door in minutes. “It’ll only be a pretend honeymoon. Just long enough to get your family off our backs.”

“Maybe.” She didn’t look mollified, but she finally agreed. “But don’t let Patrick fool you. Damon, either. If you knew them as well as I do, you’d know they’re up to something.”

“Now you’re being paranoid,” Max answered, his nerves shot. “You’re their sister. It’s natural to worry about you.”

“That’s the problem. They think they have to keep an eye on me. It drives me crazy. There were times when I was a kid that I used to think my thoughts were engraved on my forehead.” She rubbed her forehead. “I sure hope this isn’t one of those times.”

With a last regretful glance at the Jacuzzi, Max turned Kelly toward the mirror. “Take a look. There’s nothing written on your forehead. Besides, as a married woman, you don’t have to account to your brothers.”

Instead of continuing to argue, Kelly looked into the mirror. Max’s hands held her by the shoulders, his chin rested on her hair. He was right. Except for a frown, her forehead was clear. But, to her chagrin, there was definitely an awareness of Max reflected in her eyes. As her gaze met his in the mirror, she read the same awareness in his. The strange excitement she remembered beginning with the garter ceremony began to fill her again.

“We aren’t really married, you know,” she murmured. She was strangely unwilling to break the sensual tension between them, but the truth was the truth.

“Why don’t we wait and see,” he said softly as he drew a damp tendril from her forehead. “In the meantime, we’re in this together.”

“Thank you,” she answered gratefully. “But I’m not sure we’ll hear the last of this. Even if Dad’s convinced we’re married, I know he’s disappointed. He would have preferred a traditional Irish church wedding with all the O’Rourkes in attendance.” She worried her bottom lip. “We’ll have to be careful. In the meantime, please go along with whatever my dad says until we’re alone. Okay?”

Max had a gut feeling she was right. He felt guilty, although he wasn’t quite sure why. Having too much punch? Becoming attracted to Kelly and marrying her on impulse? Consummating their wedding night? Any or all of the above?

He couldn’t afford to dwell on the possibilities, not now. Not when judgment day waited for him as near as the next room.

What further complicated the situation in his mind was that they were obviously on Kelly’s home territory, or her father and brothers wouldn’t have shown up so soon. With his own home and his family in the East, he had little to lose. He also had a plane ticket to Hawaii in his suitcase for a few days from now. He’d intended to spend some time in Vegas and enjoy the nightlife, then fly on to Hawaii for a much-needed vacation with Lian. Left behind, Kelly, for all her bravado, was the vulnerable one. The least he could do for her was to find out what really happened last night and to make sure she wouldn’t get hurt. Not by himself, or anyone else. And that went for her father and her brothers, too.

“Why don’t you get dressed?” he said. “We’ll work something out when you come back in. Okay?”

One thing he was sure of, Max resolved as he left Kelly to dress, for her sake there couldn’t be any talk of an annulment or divorce with her family around. Pretending he was a loving new groom when he had to keep his distance from the most attractive woman he’d ever met was going to be a hell of a way to spend his vacation.

Sean was deep in croissants and jam when Max walked back into the living room. To Max’s further dismay, Damon was gazing at the bridal bouquet with a frown on his face. Patrick, involved in conversation with his father, looked up when Max walked in.

“Kelly?” Patrick asked.

“She’ll be out in a few minutes.” Before Max could say anything more, a knock on the door sounded a reprieve.

With a wry shrug, Max opened the door. “Your coffee, Mr. Taylor.” The room-service waiter rolled in a small cart. “Anything else?”

A miracle. “No thanks, that’ll be all.” He reached into his pocket for his wallet. “It’s on the house, Mr. Taylor,” the waiter said, smiling and backing out the door. “Comes with the bridal suite. Congratulations.”

Max’s heart sank. He’d never be able to talk his way out of this mess. Not with strangers congratulating him on a marriage he could scarcely remember.

Kelly’s father took the cup of coffee Max offered. The questions Max expected came as swiftly as a hail of bullets. “Since I’ve not seen you around here, I was wondering where you come from. What do you do for a living? And how and where you met Kelly? Have you known each other long?”

Michael O’Rourke was obviously no fool, but a quick glance at the expression on Patrick’s face was all Max needed to realize where the questions had come from. He’d been around the law often enough to recognize official questions when he heard them.

“Long enough to know I wanted Kelly for my wife,” Max answered briskly. “I live in Boston. I have my own business of fitness centers. As for when I met Kelly, I saw her a few times when I visited Troy, and she and DeeDee came over. Anything else?”

“Not at the moment. But let me tell you that I would have expected you to have taken the time to ask me for my daughter’s hand before you decided to get married. Or at least invited her family to the wedding.”

“I suppose you could say it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, Mr. O’Rourke,” Max answered truthfully. “We couldn’t seem to help ourselves.”

“‘Mr. O’Rourke?’ What’s the matter with calling me Dad now that you’ve married my daughter?” Kelly’s father sighed. “I suppose times have changed from when I was a young man and asked for my Moira’s hand.” He sighed again. “Naturally, I would have preferred to give my only daughter away at a proper church wedding with her family in attendance.” He gazed reprovingly at Max. “I hate to think of what her sainted mother would say about all of this.” His eyes narrowed. “Still, if we do this properly, it may not be too late.”

Cold shivers danced on Max’s spine at the realization that the marriage game was becoming more complicated as the minutes flew by.

“You both will have to come home with me for a few days,” his new father-in-law announced. “You can meet Kelly’s extended family and give them all a chance to get to know you.”

Before Max could protest, Kelly appeared in the doorway wearing her crumpled maid-of-honor gown and holding a hairbrush in her hand. “We’ll have to do what?”

“Come home and let your husband meet the rest of the family,” her father repeated. “As I told him, it’s not too late.”

“Too late for what?” Kelly demanded. Eye to eye, toe to toe, green eyes blazing, she challenged her father.

“A proper church wedding!”

From the tone in his voice, Max could tell Michael O’Rourke wasn’t used to being challenged, not from anyone, least of all his daughter. When the man’s eyebrows rose to new heights, Max could feel big trouble brewing.

Kelly’s face became as flushed as her father’s. “We’re already married, Dad!” She gestured to the festive gown she wore. “You said yourself you saw us getting married on television last night.”

Max snapped to attention. She’d spent the last few hours protesting he was crazy, insisting they weren’t married. Now she was changing her mind?

“True, but there’s still a matter of a proper wedding,” her father answered firmly. In the background, Damon and Patrick murmured their agreement. Sean grinned his sympathy and shrugged his shoulders. Max sensed the kid had wisely elected to keep his opinions to himself.

“Max, say something!” Kelly’s voice drew Max back into the argument.

“Maybe a visit can wait for later on,” Max answered. He took Kelly’s hand in his and squeezed it gently in a silent warning. “To tell the truth, Mr. O’Rourke, I’m on a short vacation. Time for our honeymoon is limited.”

“Maybe so,” Kelly’s father answered, “but there’s still the family to consider and your future plans to discuss. In any case, I still expect you both to spend a day or two under my roof so everyone can meet you. We’ll use the base dining hall and have a big party. The military is like an extended family, so we’ll invite them too. For Kelly’s sake, since she works there,” he added meaningfully.

“But, Dad—”

“No buts, Kelly O’Rourke! My mind is made up. I’ll expect both of you tonight!”

Max put his arm around a protesting Kelly and, under the pretext of kissing her ear, whispered, “Agree with him. We’ll think of something later on.”

“You have no idea what you’re letting yourself in for,” Kelly whispered, matching her father’s glare over Max’s shoulder.

“I’m sure everything is going to be okay,” Max answered. What he didn’t tell Kelly was he was aware that in an obviously traditional family setting such as the O’Rourkes’ appeared to be, and his own, for that matter, a free-spirited woman like Kelly, and her name, needed all the protection she could get.

He turned back to the man who had just become his father-in-law. “We’ll be along directly, Mr. O’Rourke.”

“Don’t be long,” the senior O’Rourke warned. “We’ll expect you before sundown. Come on, boys.”

As soon as the door closed behind her family, a distraught Kelly turned on Max. “You don’t really expect us to spend the night at my house, do you?”

“I’m afraid we have to.”

“Instead of giving in to my father’s wishes, why aren’t you out trying to find a wedding license or a marriage certificate?”

“I’ve been trying to ever since I woke up. It’s been one damn thing after another. And now your family shows up. I haven’t had a moment’s peace today, so don’t you start.” Max headed for the room-service cart. “Coffee?”

“No, thanks.” Kelly paced to the window and stared out at the busy Las Vegas thoroughfare. “There ought to be something we can do.”

“I’ll go to the marriage-license bureau first thing tomorrow morning and check the records.” Max reached for a blueberry muffin. “Are you sure you don’t want something to eat?”

“The way I feel, I don’t think I could handle anything. You go ahead and eat if you want to,” Kelly answered without looking back.

“Suit yourself,” Max said. “I’m going to get cleaned up before we head out to your place. In the meantime, you might practice being a wife.”

“Practice being a wife?” Obviously affronted, Kelly swung around. “I don’t intend to be a wife at all.” With her squared jaw and set lips, Max was inclined to believe she meant what she said. Not that it mattered. As his mother often said, they’d made their bed and they had to lie in it. This time—worse luck—platonically.

Chapter Three

No one was home to welcome Max and Kelly when they reported to the O’Rourke residence on Nellis Air Force Base. Max was relieved. Maybe he and Kelly would finally find time to plan their next move. Then, tomorrow, he intended to head over to the marriage-license bureau and do some checking.

Things might have been different, even desirable, if he and Kelly cared for each other. Instead, circumstances forced them to pretend they were madly in love. Sure, they were attracted to each other, but so far they couldn’t seem to carry on a sensible conversation without winding up in an argument.

As he followed Kelly into the bedroom, he took heart in knowing they would soon go their separate ways. All he needed to do was persuade Kelly’s father he intended to take her on a honeymoon. With a little luck, he’d be a free man by tomorrow night.

Her bedroom reminded him of his dorm room back at college. The bed, covered by a patchwork quilt, was pushed against one wall. A small maple desk and chair, an ancient leather lounge chair and a reading lamp were positioned under a window. A matching maple chest of drawers crowded a corner. There were plenty of homey touches—family photographs on the walls, two heart-shaped pillows, a hand-hooked rug.

Max wasn’t surprised. In his experience, a woman’s bedroom reflected her personality. Under that sexy exterior he’d encountered last night, he had an uneasy feeling Kelly was a hometown, traditional woman. The kind that wanted to nest. Thank goodness she apparently didn’t want to nest with him.

He gazed doubtfully at Kelly’s single bed. The bed might do for a woman her size, but it didn’t look big enough to accommodate the addition of a six-foot-two-inch, one-hundred-and-eighty-five-pound man. Sharing the narrow bed wasn’t going to be easy. The worn beige and brown leather chair didn’t look very inviting as an alternative, either. He was beginning to understand what Kelly meant when she’d told him he didn’t know what he was letting himself in for.

“Not exactly a palace, is it?” he asked.

“No, it’s not,” Kelly agreed. She glanced around the room and shrugged. “You can’t say I didn’t try to warn you.”

“I thought you were talking about your father,” Max protested. “I figured I could handle him later. Sleeping in a bed that size with you wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.” He gazed at the bed with a jaundiced air. “Maybe I can change your father’s mind when he comes home.”

“Fat chance,” Kelly answered wearily. “I’ve never been able to change it once he’s made up his mind.”

“Come on, Kelly. Don’t blame it all on your father. You’re the one who insisted we were married.”

“Maybe so,” she agreed, “but since it was pretty obvious we’d slept together, I said we were married to keep him from taking a shotgun to you. Besides, from the way Patrick was eyeing you, I was afraid he’d haul you off to jail if I hadn’t jumped in to stop him.”

“Jail? Be serious. For sleeping with you?” Max swallowed a grin when Kelly blushed. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so blunt, but it seemed to him, if ever there was a time to call a spade a spade, this was it. Married or not, they had slept together. As far as he knew, it wasn’t a local offense.

“No, for vagrancy, or some other charge.” Kelly bit back a rueful smile. “My brother Patrick thinks like a policeman. After he took a good look at you, I could tell he was looking for a chance to run you in.”

Max looked down at his navy-blue tailored pants and blazer, shirt and tie. “What’s wrong with the way I look?”

“That’s easy.” Kelly held up her left hand and counted off on her fingers. “You’re obviously not Irish, in the military or on the police force. I’m sure Patrick will come up with a few more reasons as soon as he’s had a chance to check you out.”

Max began to believe he’d somehow wandered into a special place peopled by a tribe of weird O’Rourkes. “Who in heaven’s name made up rules like that?”

“Dad,” she answered succinctly. She tossed the bouquet and bridal veil on the desk. “He’s been preaching those rules to me ever since I had my first date. And that was with either Damon or Patrick and their dates in tow. I was lucky Dad didn’t insist on coming along, too.”

Max bridled. “What’s the matter with someone like me for a husband? I’m not exactly a bum.” He pumped up his chest. “I’ll have you know I own Taylor Fitness Centers.”

“The gyms?” As Kelly asked, she recalled DeeDee telling her when she’d regaled Kelly with Max’s attributes. “We’re a great match, then. I teach aerobics on the base.” She shrugged. “But as long as you aren’t Irish, I’m afraid you’re not on Dad’s list of eligible males.”

The thought that he could end up in jail, even for twenty-four hours while Patrick checked him out, struck Max as ridiculous.

About as ridiculous as the entire situation. The more he thought about it, the more he didn’t know what to believe.

He raked his fingers through his hair and stared at Kelly.

What he was beginning to believe was that Kelly represented everything he was beginning to feel was missing in his life; spontaneity, independence, dynamism, fun. And that he was more attracted to her than he’d realized.

To complicate matters, without a wedding license or marriage certificate, he couldn’t be sure of anything, let alone his own sanity.

Kelly sighed her exasperation. “I told my father we were married to get him off your back, and sure, I wanted him off mine too. I’m not worried about Dad. I think he’s willing to believe me. It’s the way Patrick and Damon looked that worries me.”

“As a matter of fact, me too.” Max looked around for a place to stash his suitcase, but there didn’t seem to be an empty place. “Especially when I caught Patrick looking for your wedding ring. Maybe I ought to go out and buy you a ring before your father gets back.”

“Don’t bother.” Kelly dropped onto the bed, kicked off her shoes and peeled off her silk stockings. “We only have tonight to worry about.” She frowned at the bridal veil. “What am I doing with DeeDee’s bridal veil?”

Max tried to clear the cobwebs from his mind. “Beats me. Maybe she loaned it to you when we got married.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kelly scoffed. “In spite of what I told my father, we’re not married. Never have been, never will be. I remember almost everything that happened last night and applying for a wedding license wasn’t one of them. So, in spite of what happened last night, we couldn’t possibly be married.”

“In that case, I guess I’m out of here,” Max responded with a twinge of regret that surprised him. “I’m not looking forward to being your brother Patrick’s target.” Max hoisted his suitcase. “Well?”

Kelly sat up with a look of alarm. “You can’t leave now! I need you to back up my story!”

“Some story,” Max muttered. “Just remember, you can’t have it both ways. Either we’re married, or we’re not.”

“Just for tonight, Max. Please?”

Max felt a pang of sympathy at the near panic in her voice. There was that growing attraction he felt for her. And her reputation with the family was shaky, at best. “Okay. But if you keep changing your mind, no one is going to believe you. Including me.”

He looked around for a place to put his suitcase. “I don’t know about you, but it’s beginning to look to me as if we’re in a hole so deep, we’re never going to be able to dig our way out.” Do you really want to? Where had that thought come from?

He tore his gaze from Kelly’s slender right leg that had caused all his trouble. “Er…I’m sure that bed is too small for the two of us. Maybe we can try for some other sleeping arrangements?”

Kelly looked around her bedroom, then shrugged. “I doubt it. I don’t think Dad would let us get away with not staying here tonight, or with your sleeping on the couch. It would be a dead giveaway. I know the house isn’t very big, but it’s been home for the last year for Dad, Sean and me.”

“Your brothers?”

“Damon lives in the bachelor-officers’ quarters. Patrick has an apartment in Las Vegas, but they’re in and out all the time. They’ll probably show up later.”

Max sighed. “Okay. Just for tonight. Where can I stash my suitcase?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to try under the bed. The closet is full.”

Max contemplated the logistics of sliding his suitcase under the bed with Kelly’s hips inches away from his eyes. The spicy fragrance surrounding her reminded him of the exotic bathroom at the Majestic Hotel. The effect the scent had had on him was back, big time.

He studied the bed one more time. It looked as if a platonic night was going to be shaky. “How do you expect me to…” He caught himself before he asked the burning question that was bothering him. How was he going to keep his hands off Kelly if they had to share that bed? He fought the urge to turn on his heel and make tracks.

“Expect you to do what?”

He felt himself flush. But what the heck, they had to face facts sooner or later. “I meant to ask, how do you expect both of us to manage with such a small bed?”

Before Kelly could answer, a small furry bundle raced into the room. The dog ran past a startled Max, jumped into Kelly’s arms and licked her face furiously.

Max backed away before the animal came at him. Kelly’s attention last night had been welcome, but canine kisses weren’t his idea of affection. “Yours?”

“Mine,” Kelly agreed happily. She hugged the wiggling cocker spaniel. “Her name is Honey.”

Max was bemused at the airy kisses Kelly showered on the little animal. “I’ve never had a pet of my own. We weren’t allowed to have pets at boarding school.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing.” Kelly laughed happily and returned the dog’s frantic kisses. “I left her with the family next door yesterday. She must have come in the doggie door.” Another hug. “Honey is my best friend. We move so often, everything and everyone else seems to have passed through my life like a moving train.”

“That must have been hard on you.” Max studied Kelly thoughtfully, aware of her for the first time as a person instead of only as a desirable woman. No wonder she needed someone like Honey in her life. As for himself, where would he fit in? “My family has lived in the same house in Boston for generations.”

“You’re lucky. We’ve lived in places like this all over the world. That’s part of the reason I got into teaching aerobics. It’s flexible. Anyway, if you’re a military brat, you have to get used to being a loner. As for a residence, every house and every bedroom on every air force base looks like this one.”

Max heard the unhappiness in Kelly’s voice. His own life was predictable, scheduled to a gnat’s eyebrow on a strict agenda—even as a child. What would it be like to be uprooted from schools and friends every few years?

“Ever think of busting loose?” he asked tentatively.

“Sometimes,” she answered wistfully. “Especially whenever I thought Dad and my older brothers were unreasonable and too controlling.” She buried her head in Honey’s fur and crooned softly.

Max felt a pang of envy as the dog licked Kelly’s nose. Maybe Kelly’s background was the answer to last night. Had it been a time she had decided to cut loose, to make love with a man of her own choice? Or did she really care for him? Strangely enough, he was beginning to wish she did.

Kelly set the dog on a heart-shaped pillow. “Sit!” When the dog obediently froze, Kelly smiled at her pet approvingly. She gazed down at her bridesmaid’s gown. “I’m beginning to feel as if this dress has been glued to me. I’ve got to change.” She rummaged in the small chest and came up with jeans and a dark green plaid woolen shirt.

Glued to her was right, Max mused. The velvet dress clung to her curves as if it had been sewn on. He cleared his throat. “Go ahead. I’ll just get rid of this thing.” He bent to stow his suitcase under the bed but retreated at Honey’s low growl. “Okay, have it your way,” he muttered, “but you’re going to have to let me get near that bed sooner or later.” He’d be damned if he’d get into a territorial dispute with a dog.

With a smile he hoped Honey would interpret as friendly, Max studied an O’Rourke family picture hanging on the wall. Her father was dressed in a military uniform with a lieutenant’s insignia on its shoulders. A sweet-faced, dark-haired woman, Damon and Patrick, serious even at a young age, stood at her side. A smiling young Kelly and a small dark-haired boy sat on the floor in front of them. “The woman in this picture—your mother?”

“Yes,” Kelly emerged from the closet with a pair of sport shoes. “We lost her about five years ago.”

“Sorry,” Max answered. “That must have been rough.” His gaze swung to the faded heart-shaped pillows, the handmade quilt that was on Kelly’s bed and hooked rug. They’d probably been made by her mother and kept close no matter how many times the family had moved. Under Kelly’s feisty bravado obviously beat a sentimental heart.

“Mostly on Sean, I guess, since he was so young. He and I have always been close. Since I was the only woman around, I guess you could say I helped raise him.”

“The kid seems to have turned out okay. I’d say you did a good job.”

“Thank you.” Kelly laughed. “It’s always been the two of us against Dad and my other brothers—we’re different. Dad wants Sean to be more like Damon and Patrick, to go into the military or law enforcement. Or almost any career that requires a uniform. Dad insists public service is character-building. Poor Sean, he’s not the type. He’d rather study computer animation when he gets out of high school. He’ll do it, too. He’s a born rebel.”

“Like you?”

“I guess so.” She laughed again. “But he’s quicker on his feet and in his head than I ever was. With three controlling males in my life, I couldn’t get away with anything.” She disappeared through the bathroom door, but not before she shot him a dazzling smile. “Maybe now that I’m married, things will be different.”

Married? Was she kidding—or did she honestly believe they were married? Max was totally bewildered. About the only thing he was certain of was how impossible it would be to share a bed with her and still keep his hands to himself.

Through the closed bathroom door, he heard Kelly muttering her frustration.

“Need some help?”

“Not unless you can undo buttons with your eyes closed.”

Max swallowed his grin. “Come on, Kelly, we shared a great deal more than buttons last night. So, what would be the problem if I saw your back now?”

“The problem is, Maxwell Taylor,” she called, “I don’t think either of us was responsible for what we did last night. But if you hadn’t started flirting, or if the champagne punch hadn’t been so strong, I would have made it through the night okay. What was your excuse?”

Max thought for a long moment. How could he tell her he’d been so taken by her saucy smile, he’d deliberately flirted with her? Or that he’d worked until nine o’clock the Friday night before the wedding and had caught a red-eye into Las Vegas. The end result had been to leave him half-awake and vulnerable to the same champagne punch she’d complained about. “I’m afraid I don’t have a good excuse, unless you’re willing to accept I was suffering from jet lag.”

“Yeah, sure. Ouch!”

Max swung around. “What’s wrong?”

“Darn. I’ve caught my hair in one of the buttons.”

“Come on out here,” Max coaxed, turning his thoughts to a more platonic problem than his growing attraction for Kelly. “This sounds like a real emergency.”

“It sure is.” Her hair caught on a button, Kelly slowly backed her way out of the bathroom.

Under Honey’s watchful eyes, Max gingerly untangled the tangled lock of red hair. Her scent, the silken feel of her soft skin, turned his thoughts back to the moment he’d awakened that afternoon and found her sleeping beside him.

Buttons be damned. What he wanted was to taste her lips again, fold her in his arms again, and bring last night’s memories to life. And maybe even to consider the possibility of a future with her.

Where are these thoughts coming from? he asked himself. He didn’t know, but suddenly he didn’t feel the need to examine their origin anymore.

He slowly undid the remaining velvet buttons on Kelly’s dress, lingering longer than he should have.

“Max?”

Max took a deep breath to clear his head. “In a minute.” With Kelly’s strong appeal, her winning smile and yes, even her flashes of Irish temper, he was afraid he was in deeper than he’d intended to be. If this kept up, he was going to wind up being married to Kelly for real. Damn! He had to find that license or certificate soon or he’d go out of his mind.

Out of the corner of his eye he noted Honey’s watchful eyes. With Kelly’s lock of hair finally untangled, he stepped back. “Maybe I ought to wait outside while you finish changing. We can make our plans later.”

Kelly blinked. “What plans?”

“For our honeymoon.”

Holding her dress to keep it from falling, Kelly stopped in midstride on her way back to the bathroom. “What honeymoon?” she said over her shoulder as she entered the bathroom and shut the door.

“The one I told your father we planned on taking.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. I told you, talking to your father about a honeymoon is the only way I can think of for us to get out of this mess. Once we’re out of here, you can go your way and I’ll go mine. That is, if you still want out.” He was beginning to hope she didn’t.

“You may be right,” Kelly agreed, but Max could tell he was on the right track. This might be Kelly’s only chance to go off on her own, but she didn’t sound as convinced she wanted to cut loose as she had earlier. “But what about the wedding Dad’s planning?”

“I’ll speak to him about our wedding, as one man to another. I’ll try to make him understand any legal wedding makes a marriage. Even if it isn’t the kind he would have chosen for you. The important thing is to get him to back off and leave us alone so we can make our own decisions.”

“Without a wedding license or a marriage certificate, good luck on proving ours was a legal marriage,” Kelly muttered. “And the way Patrick was looking at us, that’s the next thing he’s going to ask for. Whatever you thought happened last night, I’d be surprised if you find one.”

“Maybe you’ll be surprised,” Max answered. As Honey scratched at her collar, he ran his finger around his neckline to loosen his own collar that had suddenly grown uncomfortably tight. “I’ve heard getting married in Las Vegas is easy, so I don’t expect your brothers will give us a lot of static about the way we went about ours.”

“You don’t know my brothers,” Kelly said soundly as she entered the bedroom, fully dressed.

“Maybe not, but I haven’t given up looking for proof we were married. I intend to keep at it. In the meantime, I suggest we insist on a honeymoon. Like I said, once we’re out of sight, you can go your way and I can go mine.”

Kelly blinked at the sudden change in Max’s voice. She’d sensed his earlier physical reaction to her when she’d come out of the bathroom with one shoulder bare. She’d felt his desire radiate over her when he’d stood behind her to loosen her hair. She’d felt it so strongly, her own body had caught fire. What had caused the change in him? Was the charade almost over?

The problem was she remembered too much about last night. His searching hands, his warm breath against her breasts, the taste of his lips on hers. She remembered only too well his hard strong body finally joining hers and the burst of pleasure that had claimed her. She could have left anytime after Max had fallen asleep, but there had been something about him that had called her to stay. By the time she’d awakened again, it had been too late to leave.

Still, Max was probably more right about their situation than she cared to admit. She’d told her father she and Max were married, not only to forestall an argument, but to gain her freedom. She had to let the memories go, to look forward to making a new life for herself.

Honey jumped off the bed, scampered over to Max and started to growl.

Max backed away. “What’s wrong with the mutt?”

Kelly picked up the dog and crooned reassuringly in its ear. “The tone of your voice must have spooked her. Or maybe she thinks I’m going to leave her again.”

Max regarded Honey, quiet now but still wary. “Does she understand human speech?”

Kelly giggled at the incredulous look on Max’s face. “Dogs are more human than most people realize. It was probably your body language that spooked her.”

“That’s all I need, another watchdog,” Max muttered. “Patrick is enough. I hope you don’t intend to take her with you on our honeymoon.”

“If there is a honeymoon,” Kelly replied. “Either way, where I go, she goes.”

“Of all the fool ideas I’ve ever heard, that one was the worst,” a male voice roared. The fiberboard walls of the house seemed to shake with the man’s anger. Kelly held her breath and went out to meet her father. Max followed in time to see Michael O’Rourke storm into the house followed by Patrick and Damon. Sean trailed behind them and winked at Kelly and Max.

“Something wrong, Dad?” Kelly said.

Kelly’s father turned his angry gaze on Kelly. “Stupid is more like it!”

From her father’s accusing look, Kelly instinctively knew she and Max were involved. “What’s the problem?”

“The problem is the base chaplain refuses to marry you and Max. Father Joe insists the two of you need to know each other better before he’ll marry you.”

“But, Dad, I told you Max and I are already married!”

“An elopement in a Las Vegas hotel?” her father snorted. “That was no marriage. When I asked Joe to perform a real wedding in the base chapel, the fool refused. He wants to wait until he has a chance to meet and counsel the two of you to be sure it’s not a classic case of marry in haste and repent at leisure.”

With a cautionary glance at Max, Kelly moved closer to him. “That’s okay with us, but later, please. I insist on a honeymoon now. Max has to go back to work.”

Behind her, Max stirred. “Let me handle this, Kelly.”

“No!” Kelly glared at Max. “I’m tired of being told what to do. It’s my life! I say we’re going on a honeymoon. Starting tomorrow morning.”

“Now see here, Kelly,” her father growled. He shook a finger at her. “You’re putting the cart before the horse. You have to get married properly before you go off on a honeymoon. After all, there might be consequences.” His eyes blazed beneath his bushy eyebrows.

Consequences? No way, Max reassured himself. When he’d changed out of his tuxedo back at the hotel, he remembered checking his wallet for the protection he usually carried. To his relief, he’d come up empty.

On the other hand, maybe he’d jumped to the wrong conclusion too fast.

There had been a deep, satisfied feeling of peace when he’d awakened this afternoon with Kelly’s creamy shoulder up against his bare chest. Judging from the contented smile on her face and the condition of the bed they had been in, the night must have been filled with more than pleasant erotic dreams.

Definitely, once hadn’t been enough.

Max felt his stomach begin to churn.

Maybe it was a good thing he was so sure he and Kelly were married.

At the rate the argument between Kelly and her father was going, and at the accusing looks Patrick and Damon were sending him, Max realized the redheaded O’Rourkes were too stubborn to compromise easily. He was a stranger, a civilian, definitely not Irish and, according to Kelly, therefore suspect. Still it was up to him to do something before things got out of hand. Before he jumped into the fray, he tightened his arms around Kelly in warning.

Kelly’s father glanced at Sean’s grinning face. “This isn’t the time nor the place for this discussion. We’ll talk about this later.”

Kelly mentally crossed her fingers and backed into Max’s arms. “I think you’re wrong, Dad, but that’s okay, too. One wedding is good enough for me.”

“Well, it’s not good enough for me,” her father replied. He regarded Max with deep suspicion before he gave in. “However, since I’m sure no reputable minister or priest around here will marry you if the word gets out about Joe turning me down, I’m willing to compromise. I’ll rent you a houseboat for the honeymoon. That way, you’ll be close enough to come back and meet the family. If you agree, I’ll go along with a short delay. What do you say?”

Max thought about it. “How long are you talking about?”

“A week.”

Kelly gasped. “No way!”

Max held her closer. She might be feisty, a stubborn redhead like her father, but he still felt her tremble in his arms. His respect for her grew, and so did his determination to protect her. But he could see there was no way he could sway her father without creating a hell for all concerned.

He eyed his father-in-law. “You’re right. We accept. As long as we can leave tomorrow morning.”

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