Free Bedded Then Wed by Heidi Betts

needed a chance to prove it. She only needed time for him to begin to believe it.
    That didn’t mean she wasn’t still nervous about the entire situation, however. Couples who were madly in love and one-hundred-percent dedicated to having a happy, healthy marriage suffered from butterflies and cold feet. Emma was positively petrified.
    As much as she loved Mitch already, as much as she wanted to be his wife, having a fiancé who treated her coolly and was indifferent to their wedding plans was enough to bring doubts the size of Texas to the forefront of her mind.
    The room around her felt suddenly too small, packed with people to a claustrophobic degree. Her chest tightened and her breathing became slightly labored.
    She needed some fresh air and just a few minutes alone to calm her nerves.
    Keeping a smile on her face and nodding to acquaintances as she passed, she made her way into the kitchen and out a side door. The Ramsey home had a great wraparound porch that connected to three sides of the house, with three different entrances. The better to slip away without being seen than if she’d been forced to leave through the front door.
    Once outside, she stepped to the railing, set her wineglass aside and took a deep breath as she stared across the darkening landscape. Nails digging into wood, she studied the colors streaking the horizon as dusk drifted into night.
    The cool air felt nice on her heated skin, and she finally relaxed her grip on the railing enough to reach for her glass and take another small sip.
    “Getting a little crowded in there, isn’t it?”
    Emma jumped at the sound of the deep male voice coming out of the darkness and turned to find Mitch’s brother, Chase, standing just a few feet away. Her heart pounded as she watched him step out of the shadows.
    He was dressed in jeans and cowboy boots like just about every other man in attendance but was also wearing a tan jacket over his blue chambray shirt. The highball glass in his right hand was half filled with amber liquid and three rapidly melting ice cubes.
    “Chase,” she said, still somewhat breathless from the shock of having him sneak up on her. “I didn’t know you were here. Mitch told me you were in Chicago or some such place on business.”
    “I was. But I couldn’t miss my brother’s engagement party to my favorite neighbor.” He smiled gently and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “How are you, Emma?”
    “Fine,” she replied letting her gaze slide away from his. “How are you?”
    “That’s funny,” he said, taking a sip of his drink and completely ignoring her polite question. “For someone who’s supposed to be celebrating her upcoming marriage, I’d expect you to be a little more than just ‘fine.’ In fact, I’d expect you to be fairly vibrating with excitement.”
    “I’m excited,” she told him, eyes still riveted to the porch floor. Her response sounded lame even to her own ears.
    He gave a short huff of amusement. “If this is excited, I’d hate to see you depressed. Come on,” he said softly, reaching out to knuckle her chin up and force her gaze to his. “You can’t fool me, Emma. We’ve known each other too long. What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing,” she tried to assure him with an overly bright grin, even as tears prickled behind her eyes.
    “Emma…”
    His tone was so soft, the look he gave her so sympathetic that she buried her face in the soft fabric of his suit jacket and burst into tears.
    For several long minutes, he simply held her and let her cry, patting her back and murmuring nonsensical words of comfort. When she finally got hold of her emotions and lifted her head, he handed her a handkerchief to wipe her eyes and nose.
    “Thank you,” she said with a sniff, knowing she would have to slink back inside to fix her makeup and make sure her eyes weren’t all red and puffy before anyone else got a look at her.
    “Now are you ready to tell me what the problem is?”
    She shook her head. “I