Free Love Is Patient and A Heart's Refuge by Carolyne Aarsen Page A

waist squeezing her lightly. “We don’t need to keep the pictures.” He caught her fingers through his and pulled her ever so gently closer.
    “That’s great,” the photographer said. “Just great.”
    Lights flashed and Lisa started.
    “Just a couple more.” More flashes.
    They were posed again, this time face-to-face.
    “Look at each other with a big smile,” they were encouraged.
    Lisa didn’t want to look up into his eyes again. Didn’t want to feel herself slowly being drawn into his personality, himself.
    Love at first sight was only for fairy tales and people who couldn’t think for themselves.
    Everything is just a game, she reminded herself as she lifted her chin. And you know the rules. She had to act like a loving escort. Had to treat him as if he was special. He was technically her boss, after all.
    But as Dylan looked down at her, she found herself wondering how she was going to manage to treat this whole thing like a game for six more days.
     
    Dylan took a quick gulp of punch, looking around at the hall where the reception was being held. Fountains and gorgeous tall centerpieces, flowers and netting decorated the elegant room. All around him people laughed and joked. In the middle of the dance floor couples moved to the rhythm of the music.
    He’d done his duty dance with the bridesmaid, his sisters, his mother and a few aunts. He’d caught up with some uncles and a few cousins who had waylaid him a couple of times.
    And thanks to his duties, he still hadn’t had a chance to dance with Lisa. She was supposed to be with him, yet it seemed that she had danced with everyone but him.
    As Dylan watched, the young man she was dancing with caught her hand and pulled her close to tell her something. Lisa listened, then pulled back, laughing.
    Dylan knew he had nothing to be jealous of. Lisa was just here for his convenience. He would be foolish to deny Lisa a good time, but he didn’t think she needed to be having that much fun.
    Especially when he didn’t feel as if he was. Her words in the car about his family had found a home. He knew he had to fix what was wrong in his relationships, but how could he when his misgivings about Ted had been proven beyond a doubt? The fact that he was here trying to untangle the mess created under Ted’s leadership should prove to his father conclusively that he had made a mistake.
    Yet Alex said nothing. Did nothing.
    And spending this much time with his family underscored the distance between him and his father. He was surrounded by family and friends, yet he felt completely alone.
    He didn’t have to be. Amber and Erika had been wonderfully prudent, though they had each taken along a couple of friends. Not once in the course of the evening, however, had they approached him or introduced him to any of their girlfriends. Not once had he been forced to dance with a giddy young girl whose breathless conversation was sprinkled with like s and you know s.
    Lisa’s presence was doing exactly what he had hoped it would. The wedding he had been dreading was turning out just fine. So why wasn’t he feeling happier?
    “Hey, Dylan.” His father’s brother, Anton Matheson, caught him by the arm, turning him around. “How are you, boy?”
    Dylan grinned at his uncle and allowed himself to be drawn into a hearty hug. Anton was shorter than Dylan by a head, but he exuded a force of will that made him seem a foot taller. Anton pulled away, his dark eyes piercing Dylan’s. “So how are you really?”
    The shift in his uncle’s tone moved the conversation from a casual give-and-take to the shakier territory of emotions.
    “It was a lovely ceremony.”
    Anton nodded, the overhead lights glinting off his shiny forehead. “I heard you’re quitting. Leaving the company?”
    “It’s time to move on. I’m not going anywhere.”
    Anton’s slow smile disappeared into the wiry brush of his mustache. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure your father is even more