Substitute Bride (Beaufort Brides Book 2) (3 page)

“Your daddy’s done his dinner early so he’s going to come
by,” she announced to the girls. “He’ll be here pretty soon, so I won’t have
time to dress up.”

To her surprise, her grandmother got to her feet. She was
even shorter than Deanna, but she’d always had a dignified, intimidating
presence. “Of course, you will,” she told Rose, giving her a familiar glare
that meant she wouldn’t hear any arguments. “You will dress up in a ball gown,
as these children want.”

“Yay! Hooray!” Jill and Julie shouted, while Rose stared at
her grandmother in astonishment. She had absolutely no idea why her grandmother
would have decided that her playing dress-up at this particular moment was a
wise course of action.

Rose glanced over to Kelly, who had been fiddling with the
mechanism on one of the numerous old clocks that lined the surfaces of the
parlour. Kelly had been a tomboy growing up, and she was still always trying to
fix things.

Kelly had glanced up at her grandmother’s words, and now she
met Rose’s eyes. She seemed to be hiding a smile, although she gave her sister
a little shrug, as if she too didn’t know what was going on.

Rose sighed. “Okay. If there’s a dress that will fit me, I
can put it on for a few minutes, but we won’t have much time before your daddy
gets here. The restaurant where he was eating isn’t very far away.”

The girls danced in glee as Rose eyed the piles of clothes
she and Deanna had sorted earlier with skepticism. “I don’t think any of these
will fit me. People were smaller back then.”

“What about this one?” Jill asked, picking up the ivory ball
gown Rose had been working on before, the one in good condition they were going
to display on a form.

“I’m afraid my waist will never fit into that dress,” Rose
said with a little smile.

“I know,” her grandmother pronounced, walking over to where
Jill was standing. She reached down and lifted up the lace wedding gown that
had always been Rose’s favorite. “You will wear this one.”

“It’s a wedding gown. Not a ball gown.”

“It will do,” her grandmother said. “It belonged to Georgina
Beaufort. She was with child on her wedding day, although that is not something
that was spoken about.”

“Ooh, it’s gorgeous,” Jill said.

“Gorgeous!” Julie echoed.

“I don’t think it will fit,” Rose said. Even pregnant,
Georgina Beaufort had obviously been smaller than her.

Her grandmother frowned even more sternly. “Of course it
will. Put it on now.”

Rose sighed again but went over to take the dress, since it
was easier to just not argue with the old woman. If the dress didn’t fit, then
her point would be proved, and they would all have to accept the situation.

She took the dress into the sitting room in the back, made
sure the doors were closed, and then took off her jeans and knit top. She
examined the dress until she understood how it was to be fastened, and then she
pulled it on over her head.

It fit a lot better than she expected, although it was quite
snug in the hips and more of her breasts were forced up at the neckline than
she would ever show in public.

She glanced in the mirror and was shocked by how pretty she
looked. The pale lace fabric set off her fair skin and the slight auburn in her
hair, and her figure looked lush and feminine.

Rather too lush. The amount of cleavage showing was
incredibly inappropriate.

“Does it fit?” Julie shouted. Her mouth must be right at the
doorknob, if the volume was any evidence.

“Pretty much,” Rose called. “But I need some sort of shawl.
Can you ask Kelly to help you find one to bring to me?”

Julie went happily to fulfill her duty and came back in less
than two minutes. When Rose opened the door a crack, the girl thrust in a lace
wrap that was so thin it was almost transparent.

Rose was hoping something with a little more coverage, but
she wrapped the fabric to cover as much of her cleavage as possible, and then
she went out to present herself.

The girls were delighted, and they all played they were
getting ready to go to the ball. Kelly even volunteered to be the stagecoach
driver, and she helped to set up a coach with three benches and a couple of old
lanterns.

Rose was having such a good time that she forgot that James
was on his way over and she should really get out of this wedding dress before
he did.

***

James wasn’t having a good day.

There had been one annoyance after another at work, and then
his business dinner had been a disaster when his boss said something stupid and
alienated the owners of a start-up that they’d been trying to woo.

He wanted his girls and a little quiet, but they’d evidently
decided to go over to Rose’s family’s house for the evening, which meant he
would have to go there to find them.

He glanced down at his phone when a new text came in,
thinking it might be Rose. It wasn’t. It was Genevieve, sending him another
selfie.

In this one, she was wearing a very sexy top and grinning at
him over a cocktail.

Who knew where she was this evening—out with friends, as
normal. He had no idea where she found the energy. He wanted his chair at home
and a beer.

He must be getting old.

The selfie made him remember the conversation he’d had with
Rose that morning about Jill. The girls needed to get to know Genevieve better.
No time like the present to start, since Genevieve clearly wasn’t doing
anything important this evening.

He clicked on her number and waited for it to connect.

“Hey, baby,” she greeted him.

“Hi. How’s your day?”

“Fabulous. You should see the new shoes I bought this
afternoon.”

She was always buying shoes. There was no way for him to
keep up with them all. “I can’t wait. What are you doing right now?”

“What do you think? I’m at Toast of the Town. You should
come down and join me.”

“I can’t right now. I’m going to meet the girls.”

“Well, we need to spend an evening together soon. It feels
like I haven’t seen you in ages, and I miss you.”

James tried to feel gratified, but mostly he just felt
annoyed.
She
was the one who’d bailed on their plans to go out on
Saturday, and she had a standing invitation to join him and the girls for
dinner, which she rarely took him up on. “Why don’t you come out tonight to
meet us? I know the girls would love to see you.”

“They’ll be in bed by the time I get away, but I can come by
to see you if you want.”

“Why can’t you leave now? If you’re just hanging out, I
mean.”

“It would be rude to just up and leave. I’ll give you a call
when I’m done here, though. Where will you be?”

“I’m going now to Rosie’s family house. It’s in the historic
district.” He gave her the address.

“Why are they at the nanny’s house?”

James didn’t like how she said, “the nanny,” but this wasn’t
the time to address it. “They were playing dress-up or something. Anyway, I’ll
be there for a little while, but then we’ll probably head home. Give me a
call.” He cleared his throat and tried to sound serious as he added, “I’d like
for you to spend some more time with them. It’s important for them to get to
know their future stepmother.

Genevieve must have heard something in his tone because she
was silent for a few moments. Then she said brightly, “I’ll get away as soon as
I can. Talk to you later, darling.”

James stared at the phone, even though it had already
disconnected. He supposed it was always hard to marry someone when you already
had children. There would have to be a lot of adjustments, on both sides.

Genevieve filled the slot in his life left vacant by his
wife perfectly. Everything had worked out very clearly in that regard. Melissa
had always loved to shop and go out to parties too. There was nothing at all
wrong with enjoying those things. He was just stressed lately and making a big
deal about nothing. Plus, his jaw had hurt all day, which was putting him in a
bad mood.

Things would get better soon.

He drove over to the Beaufort house, which was a gorgeous
old Colonial that had clearly been newly renovated. Even the landscaping was
immaculate.

He knocked on the door, but no one answered, so he tried the
knob.

It opened easily, so he just let himself in. Obviously, he
was expected. He’d told Rose that he was coming by.

He hoped they didn’t leave the door unlocked all the time.
That didn’t seem very safe.

He heard voices immediately, which gave him the clue about
why no one had heard him knock. They were coming from the back of the house,
and they were raised in laughter and what sounded like cheering from Julie.

He followed the sound past a sitting room and a dining room
and walked back to what looked like a mini-ballroom with lovely marbled floor
and two chandeliers.

There wasn’t much furniture in the room, making for a wide
open area in the middle, where his daughters and Rose were dancing.

An old woman, probably Rose’s grandmother, was playing a
slightly out of tune piano. The girls were in oversized old-fashioned dresses,
with a lot of hats and scarves and do-dahs on. Several creepy stuffed cats were
scattered throughout the floor, paired up as if they were supposed to be other
dancers.

But his eyes landed on Rose and couldn’t look away. She was
dressed in a beautiful white lace dress that molded her figure in a way James
had never seen before.

He stared at her, amazed by how gorgeous she looked, how
fresh and happy she looked, dancing with his daughters. They were all three
dancing together, circling around until Jill saw him.

“Daddy!”

The dancing stopped immediately as both girls ran over to
hug him.

He bent over to hug them back, but his eyes were on Rose,
who was approaching, looking flushed and a little self-conscious. “Oh, I didn’t
realize you’d get here this soon. We can get changed just as quick as you
want.”

James could barely move. He couldn’t understand how his
quiet, understated nanny had transformed into this lush, sensual creature. His
eyes crawled over her quite without volition, taking in every curve and dip of
her body.

She had some sort of lace thing covering her neckline, but
he still had an ample eyeful of the rich crease and shadow beneath.

His body buzzed with interest in a way he hadn’t felt in a
really long time.

“We weren’t finished our dance,” Julie said, frowning in
concern. “We’re at a ball.”

He managed to make his eyes move down to his daughter. “Of
course. You can finish your ball.”

Her face broke out in smiles. “You can come too,” she
announced. “Maybe there’s an outfit for you too.”

“Oh, I don’t know—” James began.

At the same time, Rose said, “Julie, honey, your Daddy might
not feel like—”

“Of course,” old Mrs. Beaufort interrupted, speaking over
both of them. “There is an outfit for your father.”

“But Grandmama,” Rose began, her face twisting in concern.
“He might not want—”

The old woman ignored her, leaving the room for just a
minute and then returning with an old-fashioned jacket with tails and a top
hat. “You may wear this.”

The girls cheered and danced around in excitement about the
idea of his dressing up with them, and they were clearly so happy about it that
he couldn’t bear to disappoint them.

So, although he’d had a really long day and wanted to just
go home, he pulled on the jacket, which was a little tight in the shoulders,
and put on the top hat, which was damned uncomfortable.

“Ooh,” Jill said, “You look very elegant, Daddy!”

“Elegant!” Julie chimed in.

Rose was looking more and more embarrassed. “I’m really
sorry,” she murmured. “She’s impossible when she gets an idea into her mind.”

“Don’t worry about it,” James said, trying to keep his eyes
from slipping down to her cleavage again.

He really needed to get a grip. Rose was his nanny. He was
engaged. He could absolutely not be thinking about her this way.

“Okay,” Jill said, obviously thinking through the situation.
“When Mrs. Beaufort starts playing again, I’ll dance with Julie and, Daddy, you
can dance with Rose.”

“Oh, but—”

“Begin,” Mrs. Beaufort instructed, cutting off her
granddaughter’s objection.

She began playing the song again, and James’s daughters
jumped into dancing position, strutting around together in a faint semblance of
a waltz.

Rose looked at James and then dropped her eyes. “We don’t
have to. I’m sorry I got you into this.”

“Daddy, aren’t you going to dance?” Julie asked, sounding a
little disappointed.

James smothered a groan. “Let’s just do it. But I’m warning
you, I can’t dance worth a bean, so I apologize in advance for your toes.”

Rose gave a little laugh, and he swung her into dance
position, telling himself to keep it together for a few minutes. Then he could
leave and his stray, very wrong thoughts would fade into nonexistence.

He’d never been attracted to Rose like this. It obviously
wouldn’t last very long.

He just wished she wasn’t wearing that damned wedding dress.

Her body felt warm and soft against his, and he could smell
her every time they moved—the scent of her hair, the lotion she used.

He wanted to pull her even closer, but he rigidly controlled
his mind and body.

This would be over soon. This was just some random passing
fluke.

It didn’t mean anything.

And it didn’t matter that Rose’s big brown eyes and soft
lips were the most beautiful things he’d ever seen.

She was gazing up at him, as if she really liked him, as if
she thought he was something good.

He wasn’t good. This was just wrong. As wrong as anything
he’d ever experienced.

He needed the dance to end. Now.