Once Upon a Bride

He dropped his arms to his sides and stepped back.

Lauren crossed the threshold and walked into the hall. He was close, and everything about him affected her on a kind of sensory level. As much as she didn’t want to admit anything, she was attracted to him. And worse luck, he knew it.

Her vow of celibacy suddenly seemed to be dissolving into thin air.

She walked down the short hallway and into the huge, open-plan living area. The furniture looked new and somehow out of place in the room. And sure enough, on the rug in front of the sofa, was her brother’s one hundred and fifty pound French Mastiff, Jed. Fast asleep and snoring loudly.

“Thanks for picking him up from my brother’s place,” she said as politely as she could. “When Cameron called this morning, he said the house sitter had left quickly.”

He nodded. “Her daughter is having a baby. She took a flight out from Bellandale after lunch and said she’d be back in a week.”

Lauren bit down on her lip. “A week?”

“That’s what she said.”

A week of dog-sitting. Great. As much as she liked Jed, he was big, needy, had awful juicy jowls and a reputation for not obeying anyone other than Cameron. Too bad her parents had a cat that ruled the roost, or she would have dropped him off there. She had to admit the dog seemed comfortable draped across Gabe’s rug.

She looked around some more. “So...you’ve moved in?”

“That was the general idea when I bought the house,” he replied.

Lauren’s teeth ground together. “Of course. I hope you’ll be very happy here.”

She watched his mouth twist with a grin. “You do? Really?”

“Really,” she said, and raised a disinterested brow. “Be happy, or don’t be happy. It’s nothing to do with me.”

His blue eyes looked her up and down with way too much leisure. The mood quickly shifted on a whisper of awareness that fluttered through the air and filled up the space between them. A change that was impossible to ignore, and there was rapidly enough heat in the room to combust a fire.

Warmth spread up her neck. He had a way of doing that to her. A way of heating her skin. “I need to...I need...”

“I think we both know what you need.”

Sex...

That was what he was thinking. Suddenly, that was what she was thinking, even though turning up on his doorstep had nothing to do with her lacking love life or her vow to stay celibate. Lauren’s cheeks burned, and her knees trembled. “I don’t know what—”

“You don’t like me much, do you?” he asked, cutting her off with such calm self-assurance, she wanted to slug him.

“I’m not—”

“Or is it because you do like me much?” he asked, cutting her off yet again. “And that’s why you’re so rattled at being in my living room.”

Conceited jerk! Lauren sucked in some air, pushed back her shoulders and called Jed to heel. By the time the dog got up and ambled toward her, she was so worked up she could have screamed. She grasped Jed’s collar and painted on a smile. “Thank you for collecting him from Cameron’s.”

“My pleasure.”

Pleasure? Right. Not a word she wanted to hear from him. Not a word she wanted to think about in regard to him. And when she was safely back in her own home, Lauren kept reminding herself of one thing...Mr. Right was not Mr. Right-Next-Door.

Chapter Two

It was the dress.

That was why he’d had Lauren Jakowski on his mind for the past week.

When Gabe pulled her from the pool, the wet fabric had stuck to her curves so erotically, it had taken his breath away. She was as pretty as hell. A couple of years back he wouldn’t have hesitated in coming on to her. He would have lingered by the pool, made small talk, flirted a little, asked her out and gotten her between the sheets by the third date. But he wasn’t that man anymore.

Not so long ago, there had been no short supply of women in his life and in his bed. He’d mostly managed to keep things casual until he met Mona. She was the daughter of a colleague, and after dating for six months, they’d moved in together. At thirty years of age, he’d convinced himself it was time he got around to settling down. Gabe had a girlfriend, a career he loved, a nice apartment and good friends. Life was sweet. Until everything had blown up in his face.

Eighteen months later, he was in Crystal Point, working at the surf club and trying to live a normal life. A life that didn’t include a woman like Lauren Jakowski.

Because she was too...wholesome.

Too...perfect.

A beautiful blonde with caramel eyes and porcelain skin.

Exactly my type.

But by the pool, she’d made it clear to her friends what she was looking for—stability, reliability, longevity. And since he couldn’t offer her any of those things, she was everything he needed to avoid. He didn’t want her turning up on his doorstep. He didn’t want to inhale the scent of the flowery fragrance that clung to her skin. And he certainly didn’t want to remember how it felt to have her lovely curves pressed against him.

The best thing would be to ignore her...just as she’d suggested.

Damned inconvenient, then, that he’d bought the house right next door. If he’d known that before he’d signed on the dotted line, he might have changed his mind. But it was too late to think about that now. All he had to do was get through the renovation and the resale without remembering that she was merely over the hedge.

Lauren was not one-night-stand material...and he couldn’t offer anything more.

Gabe dropped into the sofa and flicked channels on the television for half an hour before he thought about eating something. He headed to the kitchen and stopped in his tracks when he spotted the pile of canine accessories by the back door. Damn. He’d forgotten about that. When Cameron had called and asked him to make an emergency stop at his home to collect the dog, the vacating house sitter had thrust the bed, bowls, food and lead into his arms along with a note listing feeding instructions. Things that Lauren would need.

Realizing there was little point in avoiding the inevitable, Gabe shoved his feet into sneakers, swung the bag of dog food over one shoulder, grabbed the rest of the gear and his house keys and headed next door.

Lauren’s home and gardens were neat and tidy, and the only thing that seemed out of place was the rickety gate. He pushed it open and headed up the steps. The porch light was on and the front door open, so he tapped on the security screen. From somewhere in the house, he could hear her talking to the dog, and the obvious frustration in her voice made him smile. Maybe she was more a cat person? He tapped again and then waited until he heard her footsteps coming down the hall.

“Oh...hi,” she said breathlessly when she reached the door.

Her hair was mussed and her shirt was pulled out from the front of her skirt, and Gabe bit back a grin. She looked as if she’d been crash tackled on the thirty-yard line. “Everything all right?”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Fine.”

Gabe didn’t quite believe her. “I forgot to give you this.”

Her mouth set in a serious line. “Just leave it out there and I’ll grab it later.”

“It’s heavy,” he said, and jangled the bag of kibble resting on his shoulder. “I should probably set it down inside.”

She looked at him for a second and then unlocked the screen. “Okay. Take it to the kitchen, at the end of the hall.”

Gabe pushed the screen back and crossed the threshold. When he passed the living room doorway he immediately figured out the reason for her distress. Stretched out with legs in the air and jowls drooping, the dog was rolling around on her flowery chintz sofa.

“Jed looks as though he’s made himself comfortable,” he said, and kept walking.

“Yes, very comfortable.”

When they reached the kitchen, Gabe swiveled on his heels and stared at her. She had her arms folded, her chin up and her lips pressed together, and even though she looked like she’d rather eat arsenic than spend a moment in his company, Gabe couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful she was.

I haven’t gotten laid in a while...that’s all it is.

He wasn’t conceited, but he’d heard enough by the pool that night to know the attraction was mutual. He also knew she clearly thought it was as impossible as he did. Which suited him just fine. He didn’t want to be stirred by her. He didn’t want to spend restless nights thinking about having her in his bed.

“Where do you want it?” he asked.

“By the door will do.”

He placed the gear on the floor and turned around to face her. “Would you like me to remove him from your sofa?”

“How did you know I couldn’t...?”

“He’s got about thirty pounds on you,” Gabe said when her words trailed. “I just figured.”

She shrugged. “I tried dragging him off, but he’s as heavy as lead.”

Gabe smiled and withdrew the note from his pocket. “Feeding instructions,” he said, and dropped the paper onto the countertop. “If you want to get his food sorted, I’ll get him off the sofa.”

“Thank you,” she said, then laid her hands on the back of a dining chair and grimaced. “Ouch.”

He saw her shake her hand. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she replied and shook her hand again. “Just a splinter I got earlier from my gate.”

“Let me see.”

She curled her hand. “It’s nothing.”

Gabe moved around the kitchen counter. “It might become infected,” he said, suddenly serious. “Do you have a first-aid kit?”

“It’s nothing, really.”

“It won’t take a minute,” he insisted. “So your first-aid kit?”

She shook her head. “I don’t like needles.”

“Don’t be a baby.”

Her eyes flashed, and she pushed her shoulders back as she marched into the kitchen and opened the pantry. “Here,” she said, and tossed something through the air.

Gabe caught it one-handed and placed the kit on the table. “I’ll be gentle. Sit,” he said, and pulled out a chair.

She glared again, and he marveled that she still managed to look stunning with a scowl on her face. She sat down and waited while he dropped into a chair opposite.

“Hand?”

She pushed her hand into the center of the table and turned it over. “Gentle, remember?”

He smiled, opened the kit and took out an alcohol swab and an individually wrapped needle. When he took hold of her fingertips, his entire body crackled with a kind of heady electricity. Being so close wasn’t helping his determination to steer clear of her.

“So what kind of work do you do?” he asked to try to get his mind off her soft skin and flowery perfume.

“I own a bridal shop in Bellandale.”

He stretched out her palm. “That sounds interesting.”

“Does it?”

Gabe looked up. She really did have the most amazing brown eyes. Warm and deep and intoxicating. She was remarkably beautiful, and he doubted she even knew it.

“Just making conversation,” he said.

Her brows shot up. “To what end?”

“Are you always so suspicious?” he asked.

“Of what?”

“People,” he replied. “Men.”

She tensed, and Gabe held her hand a little firmer. “Not usually,” she said quietly.

So it was just him? “I don’t have any sinister intentions. So relax,” he said as he extracted the splinter without her noticing at first and then gently rolled her fingers into her palm. “I’m not making a pass.”

She swallowed hard. “I didn’t think—”

“I would,” he said quietly. “If you were looking for a no-strings, no-commitment kind of thing. But you’re not. You’re a commitment kind of girl, right? Abstaining from anything casual and with a clear plan for your future. Isn’t that why you made your vow of celibacy?”

It felt right to get it out in the open. Maybe it would help diffuse the heat between them. Maybe it would stop him from thinking about kissing her.

She jerked her hand back and stood. “I... What I said at the wedding... It was private and personal and not up for discussion.”

“I’m not mocking you,” he said, and rested his elbows on the table. “On the contrary, I think I admire you for knowing what you want. And knowing what you don’t.”

* * *

Lauren’s skin burned. He admired her? He’d pretty much admitted he wanted her, too. The awareness between them intensified, and she wished she could deny it. She wanted to dislike him. She wanted to resent him. She wanted to get away and never speak to him again.

“Thank you for the first aid,” she said, and managed a tight smile. “I didn’t feel a thing.”

“Then we should keep it that way.”

There was no mistaking his meaning. He thought it was a bad idea, too. She was happy about that. Very happy.

“So...about the dog?”

He stood up and pushed the chair back. “Get his feed ready and I’ll drag him off your sofa.”

Once he’d left the kitchen and disappeared down the hall, Lauren got to her feet and quickly sorted the dog’s bedding and food in the laundry. A couple of minutes later, Gabe returned with Jed at his side. The dog ambled across the kitchen and into the back room and began eating.

Relieved the hound was no longer taking up her couch, Lauren took a shallow breath. “Thank you...Gabe.”

He looked a little amused by her sudden use of his name and the slight tremor in her voice. His mouth twisted fractionally, as if he was trying not to smile. “No problem...Lauren.”

“Well...good night.”

His glittering gaze was unwavering. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Her eyes widened. “Tomorrow?”

He grinned a little. “I told Cameron I’d take the dog to work tomorrow so he doesn’t destroy your yard trying to escape...until you can make other arrangements, of course.”

She hadn’t spared a thought to how she would care for the dog during the day. “Oh, right,” she said vaguely, thinking about how the darn dog had suddenly become a reason why she would be forced to interact with Gabe. She made a mental note to call her friend Mary-Jayne and ask her to help. Lauren knew one thing—she didn’t want to turn up on Gabe’s doorstep again. “I’ll tie him in the back when I leave, and you can collect him from there. You don’t start until ten tomorrow, right?”

Gabe frowned. “How do you know that?”

“Cameron left me the roster,” she replied. “I said I’d work the Sunday shifts while he’s away if I’m needed.”

“You’re the fill-in lifeguard?”

“Don’t look so surprised.”

“I’m just curious as to why your brother didn’t mention you specifically.”

She shrugged a little. “I may have told him that I thought you were an ass.”

Gabe laughed. “Oh, really?”

“It was after the wedding, so who could blame me?”

He raised his hands. “Because I innocently overheard your deepest secret?”

“Well, that was before I...” Her words trailed. Before what? Before she realized he wasn’t quite the ogre she’d pegged him for. Now wasn’t the time to admit anything. “Anyhow...good night.”

Once he left, Lauren forced herself to relax. She took a long shower and changed into her silliest short-legged giraffe pajamas and made a toasted cheese sandwich for dinner. She ate in the lounge room, watching television, legs crossed lotus-style, with plans to forget all about her neighbor.

And failed.

Because Gabe Vitali reminded her that she was a flesh-and-blood woman in every sense of the word. The way he looked, the way he walked with that kind of natural sexual confidence, the way his blue eyes glittered... It was all too easy to get swept away thinking about such things.

And too easy to forget why she’d vowed to avoid a man like him at all costs.

She’d made her decision to find someone steady and honest and ordinary. No powerful attraction. No blinding lust. No foolish dreams of romantic love. Just friendship and compatibility. It might sound boring and absurd to her friends, but Lauren knew what she wanted. She wanted something lasting.

Something safe.

Since she spent most of the night staring at the ceiling, Lauren wasn’t surprised when she awoke later than usual and had to rush to get ready for work. She fed the dog and then tied him on a generous lead to the post on her back patio and headed to the store. Her mother was there already, changing mannequins and merchandising the stock that had arrived Friday afternoon. Irene Jakowski had first opened The Wedding House twenty-five years earlier. Lauren had grown up around the gowns and the brides, and it had made her fall in love with weddings. During her school years, she’d worked part-time in the store, learning from her mother. When school finished, she’d studied business and accounting for two years at college before returning to the store, taking over from her mother, who now worked part-time.

Lauren dropped her laptop and bag on the desk in the staff room and headed to the sales floor. The rows of wedding gowns, each one immaculately pressed and presented on hangers, filled her with a mix of approval and melancholy.

“How’s the dog?” her mother queried when she moved around the sales counter.

Lauren grimaced. “Missing his owner and slobbering all over my furniture. You know, like in that old movie Turner & Hooch?”

Irene laughed. “It’s not that bad, surely?”

“Time will tell,” she replied, and managed a rueful grin. “I don’t know why he can’t go into a boarding kennel like other dogs.”

“You’re brother says he pines when he’s away from home,” Irene told her. “And it’s only until the house sitter returns, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Lauren said, and sighed. “Gabe is taking him to the surf club today, so at least my patio furniture is safe while I’m here.”

Her mother’s eyes widened. “Gabe is? Really?”

Of course her mother knew Gabe Vitali. She’d mentioned him several times over the past six months. Irene Jakowski was always on the lookout for a new son-in-law, since the old one hadn’t worked out. The fact he’d bought the house next door was like gold to a matchmaking parent.

“Matka,” Lauren warned, using the Polish word for mother when she saw the familiar gleam in her mother’s eyes. “Stop.”

“I was only—”

“I know what you’re doing,” Lauren said, smiling. “Now, let’s get the store open.”

* * *

By the time Gabe returned home that afternoon, he was short on patience and more than happy to hand Jed over to his neighbor. Damned dog had chewed his car keys, his sneakers and escaped twice through the automatic doors at the clubhouse.

When he pulled into the driveway, he spotted the fencing contractor he’d called earlier that day parked across the lawn. He locked Jed in Lauren’s front garden and headed back to his own yard. He was twenty minutes into his meeting with the contractor when she arrived home. Gabe was in the front yard with the tradesman, talking prices and time frames, as the older man began pushing at the low timber fence that separated the two allotments and then wrote in a notepad.

She walked around the hedge and met him by the letterbox, eyeing the contractor’s battered truck suspiciously. “What’s going on?” she asked, looking all business in her black skirt and white blouse.

“A new fence,” Gabe supplied and watched her curiosity quickly turn into a frown.

“I wasn’t aware we needed a new one.”

“This one’s falling down,” he said, and introduced her to the contractor before the other man waved his notepad and said he’d get back to him tomorrow.

Once the battered truck was reversing from the yard, she clamped her hands to her hips. “Shouldn’t we have discussed it first?”

“It’s only an estimate,” he told her. “Nothing’s decided yet.”

She didn’t look convinced. “Really?”

“Really,” he assured her. “Although the fence does need replacing.”

Her eyes flashed. “I know it’s my responsibility to pay for half of any fence that’s built, but at the moment I’m—”

Gabe shook his head. “I intend to pay for the fence, should it come to that.”

She glared at him, then the fence, then back to him. “You don’t get to decide that for me,” she snapped, still glaring.

He looked at her, bemused by her sudden annoyance. “I don’t?”

“It’s my fence, too.”

“Of course,” he replied. “I was only—”

“Taking over? And probably thinking I couldn’t possibly afford it and then feeling sorry for me, right?”

He had a whole lot of feelings churning through his blood when it came to Lauren Jakowski...pity definitely wasn’t one of them. “Just being neighborly,” he said, and figured he shouldn’t smile, even though he wanted to. “But hey, if you want to pay for half the fence, go ahead.”

“I will,” she replied through tight lips. “Just let me know how much and when.”

“Of course,” he said.

She huffed a little. “Good. And have you been messing around with my gate?”

Ah. So the real reason why she looked like she wanted to slug him. “Yes, I fixed your gate this morning.”

“Because?”

“Because it was broken,” he replied, watching her temper flare as the seconds ticked by. And broken things should be fixed. He’d spent most of his adult life fixing things. Fixing people. But she didn’t know that. And he wasn’t about to tell her. “No point risking more splinters.”

“I liked my gate how it was,” she said, hands still on hips.

Gabe raised a brow. “Really?”

She scowled. “Really.”

“You’re mad at me because I repaired your gate?”

“I’m mad at you because it wasn’t your gate to repair. I don’t need anyone to fix things. I don’t need a white knight, okay?”

A white knight? Yeah, right. But there was an edge of vulnerability in her voice that stopped him from smiling. Was she broken? Was that part of what drew him to her? Like meets like? He knew she was divorced, and at her brother’s wedding she’d admitted her marriage hadn’t been a happy one. But Gabe didn’t want to speculate. And he didn’t want to ask. The less he knew, the better.

“Okay,” he said simply.

For a moment, he thought she might argue some more. Instead, she dropped her gaze and asked an obvious question. “What happened to your shoe?”

He glanced down. The back of his left sneaker was torn and the lace was missing. “Jed.”

She looked up again, and he saw her mouth curve. “Was that the only damage?”

“Other than chewing my car keys and making a run for it whenever he got the chance.”

She moaned softly. “Sorry about that. I’ll get Cameron to replace them when he gets back.”

Gabe shrugged. “No need. It’s only a shoe.”

She nodded, turned and walked back around the hedge. Gabe shook his shoulders and made a concerted effort to forget all about her.

And failed.

* * *

I really need to stop reacting like that.

Lauren was still thinking it forty minutes later when she emerged from the shower and pulled on frayed gray sweats. Her reaction, or rather her overreaction, to Gabe’s news about the fence was amplified by his interference with her gate.

She didn’t want him fixing things.

Lauren didn’t want any man fixing things.

It was a road she’d traveled before. She knew what she wanted and white knights need not apply. Her ex-husband had tried to fix things—to fix her—and it had ended in disaster.

James Wallace had ridden into her life in his carpenter’s truck, all charm and good looks. He’d arrived at The Wedding House to make repairs to the changing rooms, and she’d been unexpectedly drawn to his blatant flirting. An hour later, she’d accepted his invitation to go out with him that night. They ended up at a local bistro for drinks and then dinner, and by midnight he’d kissed her in the car park, and she was halfway in lust with him.

Three months later, she had a fairy-tale wedding.

Even though it was the wedding she’d planned to have to someone else.

To Tim. Sweet, handsome Tim Mannering. Her first love. Her only love. He had been her college boyfriend and the man she’d intended to marry. They’d made plans for the future. They’d talked about everything from building their dream home, taking an African-safari vacation, to how many kids they would have. They’d loved one another deeply and promised each other the world.