Free JCastle - H1 Bridal Jitters by aka Jayne Ann Krentz Harmony Series Page A

it
    yet? How weird."
    ' 'Adeline,   I   explained that   Sam and   I   intend to   apply for   a two-year
    marriage-of-convenience license, not a covenant license."
    "So what? That doesn't mean you   aren't going to sleep together, does   it?''
    Adeline broke off abruptly, eyes widening. "Does it?"
    "This is business." Virginia swallowed. "I told you that."
    Adeline looked skeptical. "One hundred percent business?"
    "Yes."
    "No fooling around at all?"
    Virginia fought to quell the panic that had been nibbling at
    6 Charmed
    her for the past few days. "Like I said, it's a business arrangement."
    Adeline groaned. "I don't believe it. You and Sam are a perfect couple."
    Virginia   paused, her plastic cup of   punch halfway to her mouth. "What ever
    gave you that idea?"
    "Are you kidding? You and Sam were   made for each other. You've got so   much
    in common."
    "Such as?"
    Adeline's brow climbed. "Well, for openers, you're both repressed, obsessive
    workaholics. Neither one of you seems to know how to have fun."
    "Thanks a lot."
    Adeline chuckled. "Should have seen the looks on your faces when you   walked
    into the office this evening."
    "We weren't expecting a party, Adeline."
    "Yeah,   I know."   Adeline smiled   smugly. "It was   a surprise   party. And it
    worked, didn't it?"
    Virginia thought about the way her stomach had clenched when she had   opened
    the door a short time earlier and been greeted with shrieks of "Surprise.''
    "It worked," she mumbled into her punch. "I was definitely surprised."
    Adeline   gave her an   admonishing frown. "A   lot of people went   to a lot of
    effort to pull this   off. Do me a   favor: Try to look   like you're having   a
    good time, okay? Sam is taking it in stride."
    Sam   could   take   anything in   stride,   Virginia thought   morosely,   even an
    unanticipated engagement   party. She   caught a   glimpse of   him through   the
    forest   of black and   orange balloons that dangled   from the ceiling. He was
    still talking   to the   earnest-looking man   in glasses.   Even surrounded   by
    bobbing   cardboard   goblins, plastic   jack-o'-lanterns and   several yards of
    black and orange crepe BRIDAL J i T
     
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    paper, he   looked, as   he invariably   did, completely   at ease,   totally   in
    control.     He    was     a    powerful    dissonance-energy    para-resonator--a
    ghost-hunter--but,   thankfully,   he   did   not   go   in   for   the   longhaired,
    supermacho,   khaki-and-leather look favored by   most hunters. Tonight he was
    dressed in a black T-shirt, black trousers,   and a tan jacket that fit   well
    across   his broad shoulders. He wore   his resonating amber in a simple, gold
    ring rather than set in a massive belt buckle or a flashy pendant. There was
    a relaxed   air about him. The graceful languor of a natural-born predator at
    ease between kills emanated from him   in psychic waves. Virginia could   feel
    the   disturbing energy all the way across the room. No one else seemed to be
    particularly aware   of that   aura--both dangerous   and deeply   sensual--that
    enveloped him, but it stirred all the tiny hairs on the nape of her neck.
    Another twinge of panic zapped through her, unsettling both her physical and
    paranormal senses. The combined   assault on her   awareness made her   shiver.
    The   anxiety   attacks   were   getting   worse,   she   thought.   Every   time she
    contemplated marriage   to   Sam,   she   felt the   small,   high-rez   shocks   of
    trepidation. What had she done?
    She   had agreed to marry   Sam Gage; that was what   she had done. Granted, it
    was only a two-year marriage-of-convenience. Nevertheless, she was going   to
    be legally tied to him for two full years. What had she done?
    She forced herself to take a couple of deep breaths. When that did not block
    the tide of uneasiness   that was doing such