Whose Bride Is She Anyway (12 page)

Kelsey twisted to sit up as the sound of ripping material tore through the night.

Reacting quickly, Kelsey grabbed Vinny’s lapel and planted one on him.

Long and hard.

Vinny seemed to resist a bit at first and then he let his lips go slack as Kelsey tried to manipulate them. From the jury’s vantage point he didn’t look like he was enjoying it much. He turned his head just a little, so it looked as though he were just taking a breather. “Um, Kelsey? ”

Kelsey rolled her eyes. “What?”

Kelsey was kissing Vinny, for Christ sake. Shouldn’t he be in a facsimile of Prada heaven? He didn’t look too pleased to Tara.

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this so soon, ya know?” Vinny said out of the corner of his mouth, avoiding closer contact by tilting his head back and away from her.

“Are you serious?” Kelsey hissed, knowing full well the jury was watching.

“Yeah, I mean we might give everyone the wrong impression. ”

“What harm’s a kiss going to do?” Kelsey whispered fiercely.

“Might make everyone think I’m a stud. Well, I am, but it
is
just our first date.”

“Stud?”

“Yeah, like
stud mare
? All suave and debonair, might make you look like a slut kissing me first and all.”

Tara let her head drop to her chest at Vinny’s comment. A stud mare, eh?

“Don’t you like kissing me, Vinny?” Kesley whined sharply.

Vinny’s face was solemn. “Su—sure. Yeah, ” he said with more confidence than he was obviously feeling. “It’s fine.”

“Then get busy. ”

Vinny looked down between them and whispered to her again. “I think you better fix your dress first.”

A scream of laughter built in the back of Tara’s throat, boiling just below the surface of her last shred of composure.

Now Kelsey was pissed. Vinny could stick his pasta, Prada’s, and his ma up his Italian Mafioso ass from the look Kelsey was giving him.

Diana let a snort loose, then firmly clamped her hand over her mouth as Walter bit his finger.

Sticking her fingers in her mouth, Kelsey did a Vinny and whistled sharply to the driver. “Hey! ” she yelled, “move it, bud!”

Date over.

A kiss is still a kiss…

T
ara and the others unloaded from their carriages and scattered in all directions. Tara had gone back to her hut to get a book and a blanket to spread on the ground, and now she was reading under the dim glow of hanging lanterns as she wound down from the day’s events. Kelsey arrived back from her date with Vinny flustered and obviously angry as she stalked off down the path toward the huts. If the date with Vinny was any indication of what the rest of the contestants were in for, Tara almost felt sorry for them.

Thankfully, she’d found a fairly secluded spot and now all she wanted to do was rest.

Flipping the pages of her book, which she just couldn’t seem to get into, Tara gave some thought to Kelsey’s date with Vinny. What would it be like to date someone who had “Who’s your daddy? ” tattooed on their arm?

At least the date hadn’t been with August.

Tara shifted positions, straightening the blanket. This was just not okay. August was bad ju-ju’s.
No August
.

“Tara?”

Hookay, she acknowledged as a chill skittered up her spine, maybe just a little August, but only a smidge. Tara looked up to find the hunk-o-rama himself staring down at her, his big body looming ever closer to her own traitorous one.

“Hello, August.” Tara smiled, cool as a cucumber.

“Can I sit?” he asked with an awkward smile.

Can you fuck while you sit? Oh, my. Tara’s cheeks flushed with shame. This must stop and to prove to herself that she could keep from lusting openly for his body, she patted the blanket for him to grab a seat. Albeit she patted the edge of the blanket, but what was a little proximity in the scheme of things? “Sure, but only for a minute, you know, the rules and all. Have a seat. What’s up?”

“I just wasn’t tired. Thought I’d come and see what was going on. Not much, I guess. It’s pretty quiet. Wonder how Kelsey’s date with Vinny went?”

Tara would bet August did wonder. Was August jealous that Vinny won the first date with Kelsey? It didn’t matter because Tara couldn’t ask. Jury info was top-secret. “Oh, I wouldn’t know. I’m going to hope she had a wonderful time and Vinny did too.” Liar, liar, pants on like
inferno
…

“Okay, I get the picture. No talking about Kelsey and Vinny.”

As the breeze picked up, Tara got a whiff of August’s cologne and felt the familiar itch he incited whenever he was near her. Damn… “Right. No talking about much of anything. Sorry, August, but those are the rules.” Very authoritarian. She sounded just like any good jury foreman should. Yeah, like she’d followed those rules so religiously. But the rules didn’t say she couldn’t secretly lust for a contestant—just not openly. So she hadn’t broken anything yet. Only the rules in her mind.

“I know the rules, Tara.” his tone held some irritation.

“Good,” she shot back in her best teacher’s voice, “then I won’t have to remind you again.”

“So, are we going to do the quiet thing again? ”

Well, yeah. Now if her libido would just consent to the quiet place she’d be in like Flynn. “Yes, quiet is best I think.”

“Okay, then I’m just going to lie down if that’s all right.” August smiled sheepishly and stretched out on the edge of the blanket, facing her with his chin in his hand. His long body, solid and firm made her mouth water and her eyeballs glaze. “Whatcha readin’?”

How to hornswoggle a man into sleeping with you when you’re on a reality TV show and the lead contestant wants someone else? Tara shook her head. God, she was losing focus here. “Just a book.”

“I see that, but
what
book?” August smiled again at her. The flash of his teeth set hers on edge.

A book is a book is a book. What difference does it make when you’re laying here in front of me making my estrogen levels do the jig? Tara looked at the cover, ‘Chemistry and You’. See? It says it right on the cover.” She pointed to it like he was a two-year-old.

“You are touchy. Is chemistry stressful? I mean it seems pretty solitary. ”

Your chemistry is stressful, Tara wanted to scream, but refrained and said, “Sometimes it’s a lot of work under pressure. Trying to get all the kinks worked out before a perfume is due for production. I think I put more pressure on myself than anyone else does. I like perfection to show in my work even if no one will ever know I was responsible for it.”

August rolled to his back and reached upward. Tara gulped. His abs rippled under his shirt and his thigh muscles flexed beneath the gold of his skin. “Ah. Who would have guessed? So, do you have any brothers or sisters? Does your family live in Colorado?”

His arm brushed her calf and Tara scooted back, plastering herself to the tree. She could do this… “Yes and yes.”
Succinct, Tara.

August sat up then, moving quickly and raising his legs to rest his elbows on his knees. “Don’t you think you’re taking this quiet thing a little too far? We can talk about stuff in general, you know. ”

Yeah, sure I can be general … can you tell me how many inches you’re packing? Is that general enough for ya? “I really don’t think that’s a good idea, August. Cameras are everywhere and I have to go anyway. It was nice talking to you. ”

“Or
not
talking to me.” August held out his hand to help her up, but Tara ignored it. He ignored her right back and grabbed it anyway, pulling her up swiftly. Dropping her book, Tara bent to retrieve it, as did August. Their heads bumped and they both looked up.

August’s eyes pierced hers, his gaze intense and searching, almost as if he was asking permission. Tara was lost for a moment in the deep blue of them, allowing herself a lap or two in their depths. His lips were but a breath away and her nipples knew it because they were tight and rubbing against her bikini top. August leaned forward slightly and kissed her with light lips, testing to see if she’d respond.

Holy, hell
… the firm pressure brought with it a tidal wave of simmering heat, sharp and swift. August slipped his tongue into her mouth inch by agonizing inch, caressing hers with firm strokes. Tara’s heart pounded in her chest as she savored the taste she’d only imagined, but somehow managed to be better than she could have ever conjured up. The silky surface slid over her lips in light licks and her groin clenched with need. Tara swayed with the gentle pressure, reaching out a hand to hold onto his forearm, she clutched it. He dragged her against him, pulling her tightly to his rock-hard chest as she clung to him. The kiss became longer, deeper and more dangerous with each pass of tongues. Tara wanted to rip his clothes off and have him in front of all who cared to witness it.

August’s moan and the hard ridge pressing against her thigh brought reality with it. Pulling away, she tore her lips from his, instantly feeling the cool air that replaced the warmth. Taking quick, short breaths she said, “August, stop! Stop now before this goes any further. We could get into a great deal of trouble!” Yes indeedy, trouble was the word. Wasn’t stopping her though, Tara’s hands were still glued to his arms and she was flatter than a pancake against his chest.

“I don’t think I want to stop, Tara and I don’t think you want to either.”

“Yes … yes, I do too want to stop,” said her lips as her neck arched into his hot tongue.

“Why? ”

Had any man ever asked her why she wanted to
stop
kissing him? What possible response could she have to something like that? Maybe she could just tell him the truth? “Well, August see it’s like this. If we don’t stop now I’m going to strip you naked and ride you like a wild stallion. ”

No, that would never do. Instead Tara said, “Because it’s unethical and we’ve just broken a huge rule! That’s why! We have to stop. You’re here for Kelsey and so am I, in a roundabout way. Now, stop,” she said as her fingers worked their way along each bicep, kneading the flesh with fevered fingers.

August molded his hands to her ass. “I think I made a mistake coming here,” his whisper floated past her ears and along her jaw as he nipped at it.

Hysteria over getting caught made Tara grip August’s arms and push him back as she rose to her feet on shaky legs. “Well, now is a fine time to figure that out and you’re not going to do it at my expense. I’m not part of the package.” Even if she wanted his package. “What were you thinking? That you could get a little while you wait for Kelsey? Not in this lifetime! I’m not some slut that can be manipulated into a reality show fling, so that someone can find out with their secret spy-cam and plaster it all over those TV shows. You’d better just watch yourself or I’ll go to … to…” she trailed off as her train of thought was lost to August, who was on his feet now and hovering over her all blond and yummy.

“Look, you can tell whoever you want. I don’t have some stupid spy-cam. Wanna pat me down to see?” He grinned at her teasingly.

Did she want to pat him down … shit yeah, and then some. “No. I just want you to go away before we invite trouble.”

“But I don’t want to go away. I sorta like you. ”

“You don’t even know me. How can you sorta like me?”

August shrugged his big shoulders. “I don’t know. I just do … sorta”

“Well, guess what hot stuff? I don’t even sorta like you!”

“Yeah? That’s not what those lips of yours were saying just a minute ago.”

Oh, of all the conceited, arrogant, pompous jerks! Just what she’d expect from a jock strap carrying boy-toy. “That is so not true. I just didn’t want to be rude.”

“And what, not swallow my tongue?”

Oh, all right, we were going to play like that were we? “Kinda hard not to swallow something that’s jammed down your throat!”
Take that, you—you, sex God!

August started to laugh. Was he mocking her yet again? “Okay, I give. Let’s just chalk this up to nerves and forget it. Howzat?”

Forget it? Forget the best friggin’ kiss she’d ever had in this hemisphere? He could just forget it? Oh, fine. Sure. Let’s just forget it.

Forgotten. Over. History. Finito.

Tara grabbed her book and pushed August’s chest, standing up and stepping around him “Consider it forgotten. ”

“Well, wait. I didn’t mean…”

Tara held a hand up and stopped him from saying anything else that would leave her girl power completely crushed. “Goodnight.”

Tara slithered off into the night, refusing to look back and heading straight for her hut.

Forget it? Forget that kiss? Forget you…

The luck of the Irish…er, August

Y
a know, August thought, he hadn’t had this much luck since … well, since
ever.
August scratched his head and pondered how he’d managed to win a date with Kelsey, without even trying when all he could think of was Tara Douglas. And her lips. Her lips, her ass, her
attitude
…

It was because Tara was watching and he wanted to show off. August never turned down a good bout of competition if it meant he could prove he was a winner. Lame maybe, but true nonetheless. He showed Tara Douglas a thing or two about smarts and his desire to win Kelsey. So there.

Back atcha, Tara Douglas!

However, there was a downside to all of this.

Now he was going to have to cook dinner for Kelsey. It just wasn’t fair. How could he, the master of all things macaroni and cheese possibly cook dinner for Kelsey?

Because he had the IQ of Einstein and he’d won the trivia contest. So he was good at memorizing facts, did it mean he should have utilized those skills at that particular moment in time? Oh, but of course, how could he help himself? Tara was watching and he’d banged on that stupid buzzer like his hand was a sledge hammer in a bell ringing contest at the county fair.

So now he had the pleasure of cooking whatever Kelsey deemed her favorite meal. August hoped it included a box and some cans, cuz he didn’t know how to cook much else, but what came in the box and cans.

August rolled over on his bed and stared up at the fan, listening to the whir of it in the quiet of the afternoon. He didn’t want to play anymore. Maybe it was time to take his toys and go the hell home. Screw the triple dare from Greg. He was beginning to worry that Kelsey didn’t do it for him like Tara did. All he had to do was look at Tara across a room, across anywhere and it was enough to make his cock erect and his brain mush. Tara obviously didn’t share his very lusty attitude. She’d made that clear as the day was long, no hanky-panky. But she’d kissed him back…

Well, fine. Chicks like her never wanted to go out with geeks like him and whatever had compelled him to go for it last night, was slapping him in the head today. Women of Tara’s caliber wanted men like Aaron and Vinny, even if Vinny was slow on the uptake and had a bizarre attachment to his mother. He was still what August called a pretty boy, something August would never be. No matter how much he worked out, no matter what he did, August wasn’t good at the charm school crap.

Still a geek after all these years and not the slightest bit interested in sticking around to have that reinforced by Tara or Kelsey who genuinely didn’t have a clue who the hell he was. Which should disappoint in him ways he couldn’t fathom, but
didn’t
in ways he couldn’t fathom. Kelsey pretended she did, though. When Preston did the introductions and revealed they went to high school together, she’d smiled as if they’d always smiled like that at one another throughout high school.

Bullshit! He was Kelsey’s easy grade in high school and nothing more and he saw that more clearly than he ever had, but now he wanted her to notice him despite his waning attraction to her. To know he was the August Guthrie from Evanston High whom she would thank vaguely for letting her cheat. August Guthrie didn’t have to let her copy off of his English papers anymore. He was going to cook this
meal
for Kelsey and
make
her remember him. Maybe she’d be so fucking fantastic he’d forget he ever even considered Tara Douglas worthy of him.

The sharp ring of the phone intruded on his plan to wow Kelsey. “Hello?”

“August? It’s Gabe, down in production. Look, it seems as though Kelsey has come down with some sort of migraine and can’t be disturbed. Something about laying in the dark and ice on her head. Anyway, she has to cancel tonight’s date, buddy. ”

Aw, too bad so sad
…Whoa, where had that come from? Instead of disappointment, he felt relieved and this troubled him. “Oh, well okay. Do we have to reschedule it?”

“Well, you did win the date…”

“But I get the feeling you can’t fit it into the production schedule, because it’s tight and on a budget.”

“Henry said he’ll give you a gift certificate for some fancy restaurant to make it up to you, if you’d like.”

August smiled. “That’s okay. No problem. I totally understand. Thanks for calling, Gabe.” August hung up and jumped up off the bed.

Hoo Rah! No cooking!

But was it just the cooking he was relieved he didn’t have to do? Oh, man, screw this torn between two women stuff. He was going to go for a run, maybe hit the cove and not think once about screwing Tara Douglas.

No, no screwing Tara. August sighed and tried to wipe the memory of her lips beneath his out of the visual in his head.

Not gonna happen.

* * *

August beat a hasty path to the cove, hoping to catch a moment’s reflection over his rejection by Tara. This time he brought a flashlight with him.

“Hey August! Wait up,” someone called to him from behind.

Shit. Shit. Shit. He just wanted some quiet.

The stomp of feet catching up with him made August turn to find Vinny, smiling and amicable. “Hey, Vinny, what’s up?”

“Nuthin’. Wanna grab a beer or somethin’? I’m bored as hell here when there’s no action going on. What happened to your date, man? ”

August shook his head in the negative. “I was just going to go for a run. Kelsey had a headache or something. I think I need some ‘me time’ ya know?” he said, hoping Vinny would take the hint.

Vinny slapped August on the back and nodded. “Yeah all these camera’s kinda get on your nerves. I understand. You go ahead,” he said over his shoulder heading back toward the huts. “I’m gonna go find Aaron. ”

August heaved a sigh of relief as Vinny’s hulking form grew distant.

August took up a light jog and thought about tomorrow. That’s when he’d know if he was selected to go onto the next round. It meant another shot at a date with Kelsey. He was trying to get even a little woody over that. August looked down at his crotch.

Nuthin’. Not a single twitch.

Whatsamatter little buddy? Don’t you like, Kelsey?

Silence.

His tallywhacker was on strike.

Well, shit. After waiting over twelve years to see Kelsey again, it turned out to be pretty anticlimactic. She looked okay, a bit something
more
that he couldn’t pinpoint, but not nearly as hot as his mind’s eye recalled.

But, all those luscious blonde curls.

It was fake.

Who doesn’t need a little salon help every now and then?
He pondered, shooting for fair.

Kelsey had
a lot
of help.

He might as well just think it. Kelsey just wasn’t Tara. The less Tara paid attention to him at the barbeque and under the tree, the more determined he was to get it. Tara Douglas was making his underwear wad up.

Oh, shit…he was screwed.

No, no, he wasn’t. He just hadn’t had the chance to talk much to Kelsey alone. If that happened, he’d bet she’d be
far
more appealing.

Right.
Like his attraction to Kelsey was ever based on conversation. It was based on high school lust.

August sat down on the edge of a smooth rock and watched the tide roll in. Maybe he should just leave. Walk away, forget the whole damn thing. It was dishonest to stay in the game if he wanted the jury foreman more than he wanted the bride to be. But leaving just wasn’t an option. The contract said so. August could almost hear the evil music play when he thought about what he’d signed.

The bushes stirred behind him and August froze. What the hell…

Shaaa-wing, his drawers responded. It was Tara, in that skimpy damn skirt thing that made him go sit with her at the barbeque the other night in the first place. Her hands were on her hips and her eyes flashing accusations.

“You’re here again. You know, I was here first the
last
time,” Tara fired at him, all breathless and irritated…and really, really smokin’.

“Well, I’m here first,
this
time,” August shot back, irritated that she made him horny just by simply being. August wanted to kiss her again and that made him even touchier, because she’d made it pretty clear she didn’t want to kiss him. Fine, just fine.

“You have to go away. ”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “You know, you really need to get a new line and say’s who I have to go away? ”

“Who what?”

“Who says I can’t be here too?” August demanded.

“The contract for the show says
who
.” Her neck bobbed in a circular motion as she spoke.

“What do you want, scheduled cove visitation? ” August’s tone took on a sarcastic edge. He was just a little tired of having this contract shoved in his face.

“You have
no
visitation rights. I was here first. We don’t share joint cove custody, ” Tara retorted back.

August began to laugh, because she was so damn cute, all angry and fired up, her breasts heaving and her eyes narrowed. “Okay, okay. I can leave if you want, but wouldn’t it be nice just to sit here and hang out? Away from the cameras? It seems like this is the one place on the whole damn island the crew didn’t find.”

Tara seemed to consider that, but then a frown crossed her face. “If we get caught, we can get into some serious trouble. I don’t think so.”

August slid over on the rock, just a little closer to her and grabbed Tara’s hand, pulling her to sit beside him and because he wanted to feel her skin beneath his. “Live dangerously. ”

Tara’s shoulders sagged as she reluctantly allowed herself to be coerced into sitting with him. Her posture was stiff when she finally arranged herself next to August and pulled her hand from his. “Okay, but we absolutely
cannot
talk about the show. ”

August nodded solemnly and inched closer to her, sucking up the heat her body sent in waves of unconscious sexuality. “Deal. ” Whoa, she smelled good, all flowery and fresh. She’d tied her hair up in a knot on top of her head; tendrils of curls fell around her face. Tara’s bare thigh pressed lightly against his. August’s cock pressed roughly against his shorts.

Shit.

August…
he warned himself.

“So, you work as a chemist? That’s interesting.”

“That’s not what you said the other night, but I can see now you await explanation with bated breath, ” she teased and let go a little tinkle of laughter that did something— August was sure wasn’t very male—to his stomach.

“Okay, so it’s not really all
that
interesting,” August admitted honestly. Besides who cared what she did for a living when he couldn’t think about anything else but tackling her in the sand and hollering “touch down”!

Tara laughed, her breasts rose and fell with each chuckle.

So did August’s shaft of love. The old manroot was lookin’ for some lovin’ and after the kiss they’d shared the other night he wanted more.

“At least you’re honest, August. It may seem rather uninteresting, but it’s a living, you know?” Twisting a strand of her dark hair around her finger, her eyes flashed under the light of the moon, dark and sultry. “You’re a graphic artist, right?”

“Yep.” August answered. He was fighting to focus on her words and not the glossy lips they came from. Glossy lips that he’d tasted and now wanted more of.

“Is this the ‘less said the better,’ conversation we had the other night?” Tara countered.

“I think so. You did say we couldn’t talk about anything that had to do with the show and almost everything that has to do with me has to do with the show. I’m an open book being on TV and all.”

Turning to August, Tara smiled and as a result, his pulse thundered in his ears. “Okay, so we can talk about what’s already been said, like your occupation…Stuff like that, because I know all of that from the show and the other night. We
can’t
talk about your feelings for Kelsey. Period,” Tara added firmly.

How about we talk positioned horizontally and forget Kelsey?
He couldn’t say that. It was crass and forward and…
true.
Whatever she was wearing, the scent was making him nuts. Fruity and subtle. Did she smell like that all over?

August smothered a groan. No matter how you sliced it, Tara was tipping the Richter scale of his testosterone levels.

“Sounds good,” August agreed, clearing his throat of the knot that had formed in it. “So, what made you decide to try out for the show and how do you know Kelsey? The jury foreman is supposed to know the bride, right?”

Tara looked uncomfortable with the question. Letting her head fall back on her shoulders, revealing the smooth column of her throat, she answered, “We went to high school together…”

Shifting positions, Tara brushed against his thigh again. August’s muscles tensed in response to the pressure of her bare leg, while he thought about the arch of that neck under his lips and the leg he was sure was smooth and soft…August’s fingertips tingled.

“
You
went to Evanston? ” August managed without squeaking like a girl. That’s right. Preston said she was the trig club captain in her introduction. He’d forgotten that. Now, why didn’t he remember her? Seemed unlikely he’d forget lips like Tara’s, even with his perpetual hard-on for Kelsey back then.

Tara made a face he caught only a glimpse of in the moonlight. “I looked a lot different in high school. How do
you
know the name of my high school?”

“I went to Evanston too.” She didn’t seem to remember
him
either, not that August was very memorable as a teenager.

Tara’s hand brushed his leg and came to rest alongside of it, creating heat waves that shot straight to his “other half”. Hoookay, this had to stop, or his cock was going to inflate to new and unseemly proportions, thereby causing mass hysteria and even worse,
massive
embarrassment.

“Small world, huh? ” she commented about their attending the same high school as she leaned a bit closer to him.

But not a small hard-on. “Sure enough. ” Too small apparently, because Tara began to stand up, obviously ready to leave, but she lost her footing and fell backwards, landing in his already aroused lap. Tara lay draped across him sideways with her legs dangling off his thighs. August gripped her shoulder with one hand and caught her around her waist to steady her with the other. If she didn’t quit squirming…