Free Married To The Boss by Lori Foster Page B

In an aside to their small audience, he said, “I see she knows how to keep a man on pins andneedles,” and they all laughed softly. Dana forced a smile, but it fell away with a gasp when R.J. lifted her left hand and slid a wedding band into place on the third finger.
    The ring was a narrow, polished gold circle with a glowing emerald embedded in the middle and surrounded by glittering diamonds. Though it was larger and somewhat more extravagant, it matched the necklace to perfection and left her utterly speechless. She stared at it, with no idea what to say.
    Not once had she considered the idea of a ring. Her thoughts had centered on maintaining some sort of emotional balance, of taking advantage of the opportunity to be with R.J., to openly love him, without tossing away her pride by letting him discover her love. She had to protect her heart and at the same time feed the growing need to be with him, to touch him, to have all of him—even under false pretenses.
    There’d been no room in her thoughts for the formalities of the wedding. R.J. had said to leave it up to him, and she had.
    Hope and Megan oohed over the ring, leaning closer to see it better. Drake gave a masculine murmur of approval, prompting Dana to say simply, and somewhat breathlessly, “Thank you.”
    She hoped everyone would attribute her preoccupation to bridal jitters. R.J. had orchestrated such a convincing facade. He’d manipulated them all so skillfully, playing the doting bridegroom with the flowers and the music and the ring. Only Hope knew that beneath it all, Dana’s heart was breaking.
    Everything about the wedding shone—except the bride. When Hope had picked her up to bring her to the courthouse, Dana had wanted to run back inside and change. Her white suit, which R.J. had suggested was perfectly suitable seemed dowdy in comparison to Hope’s classy silk sheath and pearls. But of course, she’d had nothing more appropriate to change into, only more suits and her casual clothes.
    But now her businesslike outfit looked even more utilitarian against the beautiful flowers and the emerald ring. She wanted to shout her frustration, she wanted to run away. She wanted R.J. to love her.
    And the judge, with a hearty smile, announced, “You may kiss the bride.”
    Dana sucked in her breath and held very, very still. She felt all the eyes watching her, Hope’s with a sort of wistful expectation, Megan’s with joy, Drake’s mildly amused.
    Her thoughts and feelings fractured as R.J. smiled at her. His rough fingertips, so warm and steady, touched her chin, tipping up her face. The worries that had overwhelmed her only seconds before disappeared at the prospect of kissing him again.
    Dana forgot to breathe. The kiss wasn’t voracious, but rather respectful and restrained. Through the ringing in her ears, she vaguely heard Drake encouraging R.J. to do better, and before she knew it, his mouth was back with new intent.
    His hand slid from its gentle touch on her chin to grip the back of her neck and to the sounds of loud cheering, he tilted her over his arm and continuedthe kiss. Dana could do little more than hang on to his lapels, inadvertently crushing his boutonniere and dropping her bouquet to the floor, as his tongue stroked hers. She actually felt dizzy, and when he lifted his mouth, it was to grin down at her as she remained balanced in his grasp.
    Against her lips, he whispered, “Smile, or they’ll all think I’m blackmailing you into this.”
    Smiling was totally beyond her capabilities. Instead, she leaned up the scant inch necessary and brought their mouths together again.
    Drake laughed out loud, and Hope and Megan applauded.
    Dana was dimly aware of a flash of light, then another. In fact, there had been flashes all through the short ceremony, she realized. R.J. released her mouth and gently drew her upright, then placed one muscular arm around her shoulders. Hope,