A Fare To Remember: Just Whistle\Driven To Distraction\Taken For A Ride (27 page)

CHAPTER TWO

J
OSH PULLED UP
in front of one of the prettiest little churches in Connecticut. Stained-glass windows were set like jewels against the freshly painted white clapboard, and the bell tower and gray shingles made it look like something out of a New England travel brochure.

He’d driven other bridal parties here, and he’d always thought that when he’d built his business and was ready to get married, this would be the place. As of today, he was crossing it off his list. No way would he get married in the same church where Pris had married Brad-baby.

Parking out front so the bride and groom could run down the sidewalk and into the limo after the ceremony, he climbed out quickly and went around the car to open the door for the women, including the bride. He’d helped Pris into the limo without getting sweaty palms, so he’d somehow manage to help her out again.

The bridesmaids came first. Under different circumstances, Josh would have made sure he remembered their names. At least two of them were single and extremely date-worthy. He should really hit on them a little, to get back at Pris for hiring him. But his heart wasn’t in it.

Then Pris started out of the limo, helped by her maid of honor, who fussed with the skirt, the veil and the train. Josh hadn’t said much to Pris when he’d handed her into the limo. He figured that common decency required him to say something now.

He offered his hand so that she could use him to steady herself as she tried to maneuver all that white satin.

She grasped his hand and glanced into his eyes. “Thank you. I, um, apologize for…for—”

“It’s okay.” He gave her cold hand a squeeze and knew she was nervous. As he looked into her gray eyes, he felt a familiar tug on his heart. “This gives me a chance to wish you the best.”

P
RIS FELT
about two inches high. She heartily regretted the impulse that had made her hire Red Carpet Limousine and specifically request Josh as her driver. She’d behaved like a spoiled brat, and now he was making her feel even worse by wishing her the best.

“Th-thank you,” she said, stumbling over her words of gratitude. “That means a lot to me.”

“I hope your fiancé knows what he’s getting,” Josh murmured so that only she could hear.

Pris knew he was talking about sex. “He does,” she said, although it wasn’t exactly true. Unfortunately, Pris didn’t know what
she
was getting, either. That wouldn’t have been the case with Josh, who hadn’t been afraid to show her he was a fantastic lover. But Josh hadn’t wanted to put a ring on her finger, and she would be thirty-one her next birthday, which was way past her timetable.

She wished Josh didn’t look so good standing there by the limo. She’d always been a sucker for a guy in uniform, and Josh filled out the shoulders of his gray jacket to perfection. His dark hair peeked out from under the chauffeur’s cap, curly and untamed as ever. She remembered how springy it felt, remembered how his dark eyes used to smolder whenever she touched him…anywhere. He was one hot guy.

And she was due to be married in ten minutes to a man who might be sexually dysfunctional. Sometimes life seemed totally unfair.

CHAPTER THREE

P
RIS AND HER BRIDESMAIDS
walked around to the side door of the church, and on the way she noticed that her parents’ car was in the parking lot. She’d invited them to ride in the limo with her and her friends, but her mother had wanted to go on ahead and make sure everything was in order at the church.

Her mom and dad were the best, the very best, and they’d put out a bundle to make today special. If only she didn’t have this gnawing feeling in her stomach about Brad, life would be perfect.

Kristin, a tall brunette she’d known forever, started to open the door that led to the small room where they’d wait for the ceremony to start.

“Hold on a minute, Kristin,” Pris said. “Listen, does anybody have a piece of paper and a pen?”

They all looked at her as if she’d gone insane.

“Why?” said Jenna, the fiery redhead and longtime friend she’d asked to be her maid of honor.

“I, uh, I need to write a note to Brad.”

Her attendants looked at each other in confusion.

“Okay, I know it sounds peculiar, but I—”

“You’re allowed to be peculiar on your wedding day,” said Jenna. “I’m sure we can come up with a piece of paper and a pen, but let’s do it inside.”

“No, out here. I don’t want my folks getting wind of this. I need one of you to deliver the note to him right away and wait for him to write the answer and give it back to you. This is important.”

“Did you guys have a fight?” asked Julie, a short blonde who was Pris’s former college roommate.

“No. I just need to ask him something. And it can’t wait until after the ceremony.”

Jenna sighed and started rummaging through her purse. “Okay. All I have is a receipt from the grocery store.”

“That’ll work.” Pris took the slip of paper and pen Jenna handed her and scribbled her question on it. Then she folded it four times.

“I’ll take it to Brad,” Kristin said.

“Thanks.” Pris handed her the tiny note. “You can’t read it. It’s very personal.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, I won’t read it,” Kristin said.

Julie began to laugh. “I’m getting the picture. This is one of those questions like
Honey, did you pack extra condoms?
Am I right?”

“Sort of.” Pris couldn’t tell them. If it turned out the ex-girlfriend was making things up, Pris didn’t want her friends getting the wrong idea about Brad.

“
Now
can we go in?” Jenna asked.

“Yes, now we can go in.” Pris glanced back at the limo one more time.
Josh
was leaning against it, arms folded as he gazed in her direction. The next time she saw Josh, she’d be a married woman.

Once she walked into the small room, life became a blur of last-minute preparations, but through it all, Pris thought of little else but the note she’d given to Kristin.

At last Kristin came through the door and hurried over to her. “He kept the note. He looked a little embarrassed, but he said for you not to worry, that you and he would work it out.”

Pris stood in stunned silence. So it was true.

CHAPTER FOUR

J
OSH CLIMBED
into the back of the limo, turned on the TV and tried to concentrate on the basketball game. But all he could see was Pris as she’d walked toward the church. She’d looked like a woman going to her doom.

When she’d glanced at him right before going through the door, he’d had the feeling she wanted to be rescued. Oh, hell, that probably wasn’t what she’d been thinking. More than likely she pitied him for being such a stubborn SOB when he could have had a woman like her.

Admittedly, seeing her in that white dress had shaken him up. Most women looked good on their wedding day, but Pris was spectacular, with her blond curls done up in that arrangement on top of her head and a dress that emphasized her tiny waist and generous cleavage.

His stomach was in knots, and he couldn’t sit still another minute. Snapping off the power on the TV, he got out of the limo and started pacing, pausing every few seconds to glance at his watch.

It could have been him in there standing at the altar with Pris. She hadn’t cared whether he’d achieved his financial goals. But he cared. His father might have died broke, but that wasn’t happening to him. He clenched his jaw and vowed to get through the next half hour with some kind of grace.

P
RIS MOVED LIKE A ROBOT
, barely hearing her mother’s lavish compliments or her father’s gruffly spoken words about how beautiful she looked. What a disaster. These moments were supposed to be so precious. And Pris was furious.

“I have to take my seat.” Her mother gave her a tight hug.

“Thanks, Mom. Thanks for everything.”
I don’t want to do this.

Was the whole mess partly her fault? She’d agreed with Brad that they should wait until the wedding night, maybe out of guilt because she’d had such terrific sex with Josh. Six months had seemed like a decent period of abstinence to make sure all her body memories of Josh were gone. Brad’s plan had sounded old-fashioned and sweet.

Instead, it had been at best cowardly and at worst deceitful. According to his ex-girlfriend, Brad was a thirty-second wonder. Zero staying power, that Bradley. Pris was as sympathetic as the next girl when given the chance to be. Brad hadn’t been man enough to give her that chance.

She didn’t want to marry him today. She might not want to marry him at all, but definitely not today. And yet…the small church was jammed with people, some of whom had known her since she was a baby. The wedding had cost a sizable amount of money. Her mother’s eyes were filled with tears of happiness, and her father looked proud and nervous as he held out his arm.

“It’s time, sweetheart,” he said.

Pris slipped her arm through his and they walked into the church vestibule. Through the archway she could see the altar, with Brad looking handsome, but a trifle uneasy. As well he should, pulling the wool over her eyes like that. The ex-girlfriend had said she’d tried all sorts of remedies and nothing had worked. She’d thought Pris should know.

The Wedding March began. Pris gripped her father’s arm and walked next to him the way they’d practiced. The aisle seemed a million miles long, but at last they reached the altar and her father withdrew, leaving her with Brad. The minister cleared his throat and smiled.

In an agony of indecision, Pris held up a hand, silently asking him to wait. Then she beckoned for Brad to lean down. Placing her lips next to his ear, she whispered, “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

He turned red. “I didn’t think it was important,” he murmured.

“Not important?”
Pris couldn’t believe he’d said that. She backed away from him, no longer worried about being discreet. “Well, it damned sure is to me!”

CHAPTER FIVE

T
HE CEREMONY HAD STARTED
. Josh faced the front of the church, as if he could somehow see through those white double doors. He needed to accept this, needed to make sure his heart had been properly notified that Pris now belonged to someone else. He hadn’t thought it would hurt this much.

Before long, those double doors would open and Pris would come out. If she and Brad-baby were like most newlyweds, they’d be laughing in relief and joy as they hurried down the sidewalk to the waiting limo. Josh had left the passenger door open in preparation for them to plunge inside.

After that, he’d be forced to listen to their breathless words of love on the drive to the reception. And he’d know that within hours they’d be naked together.

As he was torturing himself with that final thought, the church doors flew open, and he gulped. Wow, that was quick. Wait a minute. Pris was running out, her skirts hoisted so she could move faster, but where was the groom?

“Start the car!” Pris yelled, her veil flying, her train dragging on the ground. “I’m outta here!”

Josh stared at her. “Are you serious?”

“Move it, Josh! We’re leaving!”

He didn’t have time to think of consequences. All he knew was that the woman of his dreams wanted to be rescued, and he was just the guy to carry her off on his sleek white horse…or limo. Whatever.

He ran around the front of the car, jerked open the driver’s door and turned the key he’d left dangling in the ignition. “You in?” he called over his shoulder as he slammed his door.

“I’m in!” The back door shut with a solid thump. “Go!”

Josh glanced toward the church, where Brad, followed by a churchful of folks, was hotfooting it toward the limo. Josh checked for traffic, saw there was none, and shoved his foot to the floor. The limo leaped forward right before Brad reached it.

“Where do you want to go?” Josh asked as he fought the urge to speed away. The narrow streets of this tiny town had more cops per square block than New York City.

“I don’t know. Take the turnpike north. Just drive. I don’t…I don’t want anybody to find me. Not until I figure this out.”

The walkie-talkie on the dash crackled. “Base to Aladdin One. Come in Aladdin One.”

Josh picked up the mike. Oh, yeah. He worked for a limo company. They might not be thrilled that he was taking this gas-guzzler on some yet-to-be-determined journey without prior arrangements being made. “This is Aladdin One. What’s up?” A quick glance in the rearview mirror told him Pris was pulling off her veil, scattering bobby pins everywhere.

“Hi, Josh,” said Rachel, the new dispatcher. “We have a request for a limo at seven tonight, and yours is the only one we have potentially available. I have you scheduled to return at six. Can you take this other assignment at seven?”

“Let me check.” Josh switched off the mike. “Pris? How long do you need me to drive you around?”

She greeted the question with silence.

“Pris? The dispatcher has another gig for me at seven.” Josh guided the big car onto the ramp leading to the turnpike. “Do you figure we’ll be back by then?”

Finally Pris’s voice drifted up from the back of the limo. “Look, I don’t have anything with me, no cash, no credit card, nothing, but…”

“What?” His heart hammered. “What is it you want?”

“I want the limo for the whole night.”

CHAPTER SIX

F
INALLY FREE OF HER VEIL
, Pris leaned back against the leather upholstery and gazed up at the quilted headliner above her. In her entire thirty years, she had never done anything remotely like this. But when Brad had told her that he didn’t think his sexual problem was important, she’d panicked.

Now all she wanted was to stay in the comfort and seclusion of this limo for as long as possible, until everyone had a chance to cool down and think logically, including her. It was worth the hundreds of dollars it would cost her.

“Can I pay you when we get back?” she asked Josh.

“Uh, sure, I guess.” He sounded reluctant.

“I don’t want you to get in trouble. I’ll bet my Visa’s on file at Red Carpet, because I’m the one who made the arrangements.” Her mother had tried to talk her out of it. They’d had their only wedding fight over hiring Josh to drive the limo, so Pris had decided to handle that expense by herself.

“I won’t get in trouble. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Well, I don’t, okay? Listen, if this won’t work, just drop me at the next exit. Find a convenience store. I’ll call…somebody.” She had no idea who. Everyone who cared about her was still at the church and would want to haul her back there for an explanation.

Josh laughed. “I’m not dropping you off at some convenience store, Pris. If you really want to hire the limo for the night, you’ve got it.” He spoke into his mike again, telling a woman named Rachel that he’d need the limo for the entire evening, and the charge would be handled by Ms. Adams.

Pris decided Rachel must have been hired by Red Carpet in the past six months, because she didn’t recognize the name. She wondered if Rachel was single, and if Josh had dated her. Not that it was any of her business who Josh dated. She’d lost that right when she’d broken up with him.

Damn, but she had a lot of white satin to deal with. She sat up and fumbled behind her for the buttons on her detachable train. They were small and difficult to reach. She swore softly as she tried to unfasten the loops.

“You wrestling with somebody back there?” Josh asked.

“I’m trying to get my train off. Shoot, I just broke a fingernail.”

“There’s a rest stop up ahead. If you want, I can pull off and help you.”

“That would be terrific. I wouldn’t mind having a chance to use the facilities, either.” Then she had an image of walking into the rest-stop bathroom in her wedding dress and laughed. It felt good to laugh, and she realized that the weight that had settled on her heart since the ex-girlfriend’s phone call was gradually lifting.

Or maybe the weight had been there before that phone call. Even without the information about Brad’s little problem, she’d been wondering if the marriage was a mistake. She’d put her uneasiness down to pre-wedding jitters. All her married friends had said it was common to have doubts.

Josh took the exit, cruised into the rest-stop parking lot and pulled alongside the curb. He stopped the car. “Don’t try to get out. I’ll come back there. After we get the train off, I’ll park in a truck lane until you come out of the bathroom.”

“Sounds good.”

Josh set the brake and went around to the passenger door. When he stepped into the back of the limo, his expression was all business. “Okay, turn around so I can get at those buttons.” There was nothing sexual in his tone at all.

Then why, Pris thought, was she suddenly picturing the two of them naked on the leather upholstery?