The Taming of the Bachelor (27 page)

The love part had been tricky, but she loved him now. He’d been in her life a long time, and he’d been good to her. Better than any man had been to her.

And just like that her chest squeezed and her eyes burned and her throat threatened to close.

Maybe it wasn’t the wild fierce passionate love you read about in books, but it was steady and kind, and based on respect. Mutual respect.

They were good for each other.

“Charles?” she whispered, fighting the awful aching lump in her throat.

He just stared at her, gray eyes shadowed. “Things got out of hand, Jenny. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t understand.”

He said nothing.

She bit down so hard into her bottom lip she tasted lipstick and blood.

Keep it together, she told herself. Keep it together. You can fix this. You can. You’ve fixed everything else in his life...you can fix this, too.

She masked her panic with one of her professional smiles. Thank God for a stressful career. The work load and deadlines had taught her to cope with pressure. She’d learned how to be strong. “I hear almost every bride and groom experience some cold feet. It’s natural.” She managed a lop-sided smile. “We wouldn’t be normal if we didn’t have a few pre-wedding jitters.”

“Jenny, I’m not going to marry you.”

She suddenly pictured her family—Mama, Daddy, Grandma, her sisters and the rest of her bridesmaids—dressed in their new, expensive and uncomfortable fancy clothes. This was a big day for the Wrights and they hadn’t wanted to disappoint. Scrubbed clean, perfumed, shoes shining, waiting in the church, fighting nerves of their own.

“I’m shocked,” she said calmly, her voice firm, composed. My God, she was good at hiding pain. Hiding her own feelings. Her needs.

But then, she didn’t assert her needs anymore.

Being Charles Monmouth’s assistant had taught her oh so very well.

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USA Today, and New York Times bestselling author
Jane Porter
has been a finalist for the prestigious RITA award five times, has over 12 million copies in print. Jane’s novel,
Flirting With Forty
, picked by Redbook as its Red Hot Summer Read, went back for seven printings in six weeks before being made into a Lifetime movie starring Heather Locklear. September 2012 brought the release of
The Good Woman
, the first of her Brennan Sisters trilogy, followed in February 2013 by
The Good Daughter
, and book three in the series,
The Good Wife
, released in September. A mother of three sons, Jane holds an MA in Writing from the University of San Francisco and makes her home in sunny San Clemente, CA with her surfer husband. For more on Jane’s books, visit her website at
www.janeporter.com
.

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