A Bravo Christmas Wedding. Christine Rimmer
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to run his palm over the shape of her bare heel, to stroke his hand up the back of her slim, strong calf...
He was losing it. No doubt about it.
“Here.” She took the left boot from him, stuck it under the table with the right one and patted the sofa cushion beside her. Apparently, she had no clue as to his sudden burning desire to put his hands on her naked skin.
And that was good. Excellent. He sat down next to her.
She turned toward him and drew her knees up to the side. “There’s tension between them—and not the sexy kind. Did you notice?”
Tension between who?
Right. Rye and Clara. And he had noticed. “Yeah, but only until Clara finally busted to the truth about the baby. After that, everything seemed just like it used to be.”
She flipped a big hank of silky hair back over her shoulder. “Exactly.” He thought about reaching out, running his hand down that long swath of dark hair, feeling the texture of it against his palm, maybe bringing it to his face, sucking in the scent of it, rubbing it over his mouth. “Walker?”
He blinked at her, feeling dazed. “Huh?”
Her pretty dark brows had drawn together. “You still with me here?”
“Uh. Yeah. Of course I am. You said things were tense with Clara and Ryan. I said that by the end of the night, it was just like it used to be.”
“Walker. Think about it. ‘Like it used to be’ is that they were friends. We were friends, the four of us.”
He wasn’t following. Her shining hair and soft pink lips weren’t helping, either. “Yeah. We were friends. And we still are.”
“But I mean, with Clara and Ryan now, shouldn’t there be more?” She paused, as though waiting for him to speak. He had nothing. She forged on. “I do understand that with a baby coming, marriage might be an option. But is it really the right option for them? Lots of people have babies now without thinking they need a wedding first. I can’t help but wonder why the two of them are racing to the altar—and seriously, I...well, I don’t know how to say this, but...”
He knew he shouldn’t ask. “Say what?”
“Well, frankly, I just can’t picture Clara and Ryan having sex.”
Through the haze of ridiculous lust that seemed to have taken hold of him, he felt a definite stab of annoyance—with the direction of this uncomfortable conversation in general, and with Rory in particular. “Just because you can’t picture it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
“It’s only...” She stared off into the fire.
“What?” he demanded.
And she finally turned and looked at him. “I don’t feel it between them.”
“What do you mean? Because they’re friends, is that what you’re saying? You can’t picture two lifelong friends suddenly deciding there’s more than friendship between them?”
“Well, no.”
“No?”
“I mean, yes. I could picture that, picture friends becoming lovers.”
Why were they talking about this? “So what’s the problem?”
“It’s just that Clara and Ryan, they’re not...that way with each other.”
“You’re overcomplicating it.”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Yeah. You are. She’s a woman. He’s a man. They’re together a lot—you know, being friends and all. It happens. I don’t see anything all that surprising about any of it. And as for them getting married, well, Rye’s a stand-up guy and Clara’s having his baby. And he was only a baby when our loser of a dad took off never to be heard from again. He’s always sworn no kid of his will grow up without him. He just wants to do the right thing.”
“But that’s what I’m saying. Maybe for Clara and Ryan, it just isn’t the right thing. They’re great together, as pals. But as husband and wife? I’m not seeing it. And you know how Ryan is.”
“Now you’re going to start talking trash about my brother?”
She flinched and sat back away from him. “Whoa. Where did that come from?”
He glared at her, feeling agitated, angry at her and knowing he really had no right to be, all stirred up over her snowman socks and her shining hair, every last nerve on edge. “What exactly do you mean, ‘how Ryan is’?”
“Walker.” Her voice was careful now. “It’s not talking trash about Ryan to say the truth about him.”
“Right. The truth. That he’s a dog, right? That it’s one woman after another with him.”
“I did not say that.”
“It’s what you meant, Rory. You know it is.”
“I meant that he likes women. In a casual kind of way. He’s a great guy, but he’s also a player. Will he really be capable of settling down? Especially with Clara, who doesn’t seem all that thrilled to be marrying him?”
Okay. Now she was just plain pissing him off. “What are you saying? You think Clara’s too good for Rye, is that it?”
“No, I most definitely am not saying that.” Now she was getting pissed. She always sounded more like a princess when she was mad, everything clear and clipped and so damn superior.
“It sure does sound like it to me.” He got up so fast she let out a gasp of surprise.
“Walker, what...?”
He glared down at her, with her shining eyes and her silky hair and those damn cute snowman socks with all that bare skin underneath them. “I’ve had about enough.”
She gaped up at him, bewildered. “But—”
“Good night.” And he turned on his heel and got the hell out of there.
Walker felt like about ten kinds of idiot by the time he was halfway up the stairs. But he just kept on going to the top and onward, along the upper hallway to his room across from hers.
Inside, he shoved the door shut and headed for the bathroom, where he stripped off his clothes and took a cold shower. He stood under the icy spray, shivering, wondering when it was, exactly, that he and his rational mind had parted company.
But then, he knew when it was: the moment he saw those snowman socks. He’d looked at those socks and they’d taken him somewhere he never planned to go—not with Rory. Uh-uh. She was his friend, for God’s sake. And too young for him. And about a thousand miles out of his league.
And was that what had happened with Clara and Rye, then? Some kind of snowman-sock moment, when everything changed and they ended up in bed together, resulting in Clara’s pregnancy, making it necessary for Rye to step up, messing with their friendship—and worse, with their lives and the lives of an innocent kid.
No way was he letting that happen to him and Rory.
He turned off the freezing water and groped for a towel, rubbing down swiftly with it and then wrapping it around his waist. And then just standing there in the middle of the bathroom, staring into space, thinking...
It was both really great and damn confusing, having Rory around all the time. Great because he liked her so much and she was low-maintenance, ready to help out, flexible and fun. Confusing because he wasn’t used to having someone else in the house round the clock, not for years, not since Denise walked out on him. He wasn’t used to it, and he couldn’t afford