Free Veiled Passages by Terri Reid Page B

ready and he’s not going to be here for another fifteen minutes.”
    “Oh, did I forget to mention that Bradley was already here?” he asked, looking apologetic. “Must have slipped my mind when I saw you in the mirror.”
    Taking a deep breath, she glanced one more time in the mirror. “Okay, well, I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
    She left her room and walked down the hall, surprised to discover her palms were sweating. She shook her hands for a few seconds, trying to dry them and then started down the stairs.
    She felt a little silly, being anxious about a date with Bradley.  For heaven sakes, she was going to marry him in two weeks.  This was just ridiculous. But when her eyes met his, her stomach tightened and her heart raced. He just stared at her for a long moment, hunger in his eyes, and then slowly sauntered forward. She paused on the step and nervously moistened her lips with her tongue. His gaze narrowed on her mouth and she exhaled softly.
    He climbed the few steps in front of her, stopping one step below her. Taking her hand in his, he lifted it and brought it to his lips. “You look amazing,” he said, his voice slightly hoarse. “I knew you were beautiful, but I guess I never realized how incredibly sexy you were.”
    She smiled, feeling emboldened by his words. “Really? I’m sexy?”
    “Oh, yeah,” he said, smiling back at her. “Oh, yeah.”
    “Mary, you look beautiful,” Clarissa said, coming up to the stair case. “Doesn’t she look beautiful, Grandma?”
    “Yes she does,” Margaret said. “And if her brothers were here, they’d insist on going along with them.”
    “It’s a good thing for me they’re not here,” Bradley said.
    “I could go,” Mike whispered from behind Mary.
    “Not a chance,” Bradley whispered back, guiding Mary down the stairs. “You stay home and watch over Clarissa and Margaret.”
    He helped Mary with her coat and they walked to the door. “We won’t be too late,” he said.
    “Don’t worry about anything,” Margaret said. “Clarissa and I are going to have a fine time of it here.”
    Bradley looked down at Mary; she literally took his breath away. “Ready?” he asked.
    She nodded. “Let’s go before one of my brothers shows up.”
     

Chapter Sixteen
    He watched as Bradley protectively put his hand on the small of Mary’s back and guided her down the walkway to the waiting car. It should have been his hand on her body, not Bradley’s.  He didn’t deserve her.  He hadn’t deserved Jeannine. 
    Eyes narrowed and hate pumping through his body, he watched Bradley place a soft kiss on her lips before helping her into the car.  She was smiling at him.  She was enjoying herself.  He shook his head. No! No, she was only smiling because she was imagining it was he who was kissing her.  She was thinking about him.
    If he had only been a little closer, he could have smelled her.  Breathed in the unique perfume that was Mary O’Reilly. Felt the heat rising from her skin.  Watched the pulse beat through the delicate skin in her neck.  Gripping his fist on the steering wheel, he swore. Only a few yards away from her, parked in his former landlord’s ancient sedan, but it was too far away.  However this time, he needed to be sure, needed to be safe.
     The police were looking for Gary Copper’s car; they didn’t care about an old jalopy that looked like it would fall apart in a good wind.  And they were looking for Gary Copper.
    Smiling, he looked into the car’s rearview mirror and an elderly man looked back at him.  The makeup kit he had purchased in Madison, as well as the thick white wig, had done wonders.  While the police looked for Gary Copper, he would be helping himself to Mary O’Reilly.
    Bradley’s car started and slid out of the space in front of her house.  Should he follow, or should he pay a little surprise visit on Clarissa?
    He pondered for only a moment when the urge to see Mary again became too