Here Comes The Bride

grandparents would have talked to your aunt first, or your parents, of course. It may be old-fashioned, but I was raised in a traditional home and it’s the nice way to do things.”

“I agree,” she admitted in a quiet voice.

“It didn’t surprise me when she told me she would rather I left you alone.”

Reese’s head flew back. “She didn’t!”

“Oh, yes, she did. But I wasn’t alarmed. It happens that way in Greece, too. You have to woo the parents, or, in your case, your aunt. So I began asking her to give me acting tips.”

The beautiful blue eyes fastened on him grew huge. “That’s the real reason why you came over to the condo all those times?”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “It was my main agenda. Not that I didn’t need all the acting help I could get. But you were the reason, and your aunt knew it.”

A gasp came out of Reese.

“Lilian was a wonderful woman, but very shrewd. She knew exactly what she was doing. It was a game we played. The longer we played it, the more I realized I was gaining ground with her and getting closer to my goal of taking you out.”

There was a long pause before she said, “My aunt liked you very much.”

“The feeling was mutual, believe me. Before she died, she told me she approved of me, but she made me promise her something.”

Reese clasped her hands. “I’m almost afraid to hear it.”

“In essence she told me she’d seen everything from her vantage point as an actress, and, on the whole, she worried that if both people in a marriage were actors, it was hard to make it work.

“I told her I had other aspirations in life and would only continue to play the part of Fabio until I’d made enough money to get me started in business. That reassured her. However, she was still concerned about you.”

“But she knew I wouldn’t stay with acting!”

He eyed Reese soberly. “She was dying, Reese. She feared her death might be too hard on you after losing your parents. She worried you would stay with acting because it was something you knew, something comfortable. Though I didn’t like to admit it, her fears made a great deal of sense to me.”

Again there was quiet before Reese asked in a tremulous voice, “What did she make you promise?”

“That I would do nothing about my feelings for you unless you left acting of your own free will. She wanted you to carve out your own destiny, whatever it was, without any influence from me.”

A hand went to her throat. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” Her eyes impaled him like lasers. “So if I hadn’t left the show-”

He shrugged his shoulders with unknowing elegance. “Then I wouldn’t have left either. It was my only way to have my cake without eating it, too. Tell me something, Reese. What made you decide not to renew your contract?”

She half turned away from him. “After Aunt Lilian died, my heart wasn’t in the show. She made it fun and exciting. It was something we could do together that brought us so close, but without her I realized it wasn’t for me. So I held on until I could leave without causing more upheaval than necessary.”

His jaw hardened. “Obviously you didn’t live for those moments when we could be on the set together. You weren’t like me, eager for the work day to start so I could hold you in my arms. Because of you I had a reason to get up in the mornings. The worst part of the day was having to get in my car and drive away from you. The weekends were a living hell for me.”

Reese swung back toward him. “They were for me, too!” she cried, hot faced. “You want to talk about pain? I knew I was in love with you after the first day of being with you on the set. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before.

“I told Aunt Lilian how I felt. She warned me it happened to every actress who was given a role opposite an attractive costar. A kind of in love with love thing. It would pass.

“But it didn’t pass, Alex. My love for you deepened. Talk about living for every day. Once you started coming to the condo, I prayed you would stay and talk to me, be with me. Alone. It never happened.”

“Now you know why,” he said in his deep voice.

“Because you never sought me out, I knew I had to leave the show. I couldn’t take loving you like I did, knowing I meant nothing to you. In fact I’d just decided to break my contract when Aunt Lilian suddenly took ill and died. After her funeral I realized I needed to stay on until renewal time came up. It wouldn’t have been fair to walk out.”

“I agree.”

“But these last few months…” She shook her head. “They’ve been a literal hell for me, too.”

Lines marred his handsome features. “When I heard you were leaving the show, I asked Stan to write some new lines for you so we could be married surrounded by all our friends. I wasn’t about to let you get away from me. Not after waiting an entire year for you.”

Her eyes filled with tears, making them shine like deep blue pools. “Elaine said she thought it was the most romantic thing she’d ever heard of in her whole life.”

His heart skittered all over the place. “What I’m concerned about is what you think. No one else matters. Do you want to stay married to me?”

She started moving toward him with a mysterious smile on her lips. He’d never seen that exact look on her face before.

“For how long?” she demanded.

“Into the afterlife and beyond.”

“Alex-”

He felt her arms go around his neck, felt her luscious mouth search avidly for his. Their legs tangled. Exquisite pleasure-pain shot through his body that this woman was really his at last.

“I love you, Reese. I’ll live wherever you want to live, support you in any way you wish. Give you all the children you want. You’re my life.”

“You’re mine.” She moaned the words before they began kissing each other into oblivion.

For twelve months they’d given each other kisses and embraces day in and day out on the set. But it was nothing like this total communion of mind, soul and body.

Without conscious thought he carried her into the bedroom and followed her down on the mattress. The warmth, the beauty of her took his breath.

Before any more time passed, he reached in his robe pocket and slid a ring on her finger.

Her eyes shone like pulsating stars as she lifted her hand to look at it.

“It was my grandmother’s. My grandfather gave it to me with the charge that I find a woman to bring home.” He kissed her long and hard.

When he lifted his mouth he whispered, “How would you like to get on a plane to Greece tomorrow? I want to take you home for a week.”

“There’s nothing I’d love more,” she whispered back against his lips. “You don’t know how many times I’ve dreamed of traveling there with you. The pictures you painted. Your memories. I’ve forgotten nothing you’ve ever told me.”

His response was to crush her in his arms. “I’d give anything if they could have met you.”

She covered his face with kisses. “I know how you feel. My parents would have adored you. But right now I’m just thankful Aunt Lilian was an actress. Otherwise I would never have met you.”

He groaned as he followed the sensuous curve of her lips with his finger. “Don’t think about it. I can’t comprehend life without you now.”

“Nor I, darling,” she cried, smothering him with kisses. “I’m so thankful we’re already married. It was perfect. Trust my amazing husband to plan out such a fantastic wedding. There was a very special feeling on the set today. It felt like we really were getting married. The pastor was so solemn. Now I know why.”

“I had to twist his arm.”

She smiled at him. It was a woman’s smile, full of mystery and the knowledge of the ages. “Obviously not too hard. Aunt Lilian would have loved every second of it. In fact I have to believe she was looking on.”

“I’m sure of it,” he agreed as he buried his face in her glistening black hair.

Reese had always been a giver, but her response to him now made him thank God he’d been born a man.