defiance as she folded her arms across her chest. “Aren’t you worried about leaving me here for all of these weeks? Aren’t you afraid someone like Prince Michael will take advantage of me?”
There was silence as he stared into her stormy green eyes. Would this sensation ever go away? This irrational jealousy at the mention of that creep’s name? He knew she was trying to get to him—stir him up and make him react.
“I’ll be in regular contact, my love,” he said softly, deciding to ignore her last remark. “But, you don’t look at all like a forlorn fiancée who has said a passionate goodbye to her beloved. Come here and we’ll change that.”
She held her hands up in a defensive gesture. “No. No, Jack,” she said, trying to break away.
“Too late, princess,” he murmured, as his hands cradled her face and he lowered his mouth to hers. She pressed her lips tightly together but he stroked them with his tongue until, with a soft sigh of compliance, she allowed him to part them and taste her. He deepened the kiss with a primitive passion, his senses swimming as Lara responded. Her hands grasped his jacket as he kissed her with a hunger he was unable to control.
Drawing away at last, he looked down at her, committing her beauty to his memory for the lonely weeks to come. The delicate flush on her cheeks, the deepening red of her lips rosy from his passion and the glazed, dreamy look in her clear eyes.
His voice wasn’t quite steady as he said, “There, that’s better. Now you look like a woman who has just known her lover’s kiss.”
She smoothed her hair into place as she appeared to struggle with her emotions. “You flatter yourself, Mr. Lucas,” she replied, her defiant attitude in place once more.
Jack opened the door so they could return to the others waiting at the entrance. “By the way, I forgot to mention the last part of the contract with your parents,” he whispered.
“What?”
“To produce an heir as soon as possible. I explained it wouldn’t be a problem.” He gave her a cheeky wink as he placed his arm around her waist and they faced the rest of the family.
Ten
“For heaven’s sake, Lara. You need to lighten up. This is your wedding day.” Jade made a funny face at her in the mirror as she continued to fasten the tiny pearl buttons at the back of Lara’s wedding dress.
“Yeah. What’s not to feel happy about marrying a hunk like Jack?” Kate chimed in as she tweaked a wayward petal in the bridal bouquet.
Lara turned and faced her best friends. “You’re impossible,” she replied, the corners of her mouth twitching with amusement. “If I’d thought you were going to bully me like you have for the past week, I would have picked two robots to be my bridesmaids.”
Jade laughed, her dimples showing attractively in her pretty face. “Well, Princess Lalla,” she said, using their pet name for Lara, “robots we ain’t, so let’s get this show on the road.”
She joined in their laughter as Jade and Kate continued to fuss over her. It was wonderful to be together again and she blessed the day she had contacted them when Jack had left eight weeks ago. She had told them everything in absolute confidence, even setting up several three way telephone calls so they could listen and talk together.
Jade and Kate had been, in turn, angry, indignant, sympathetic and, when she asked them to be her bridesmaids, excited. To Lara, it seemed as they had talked over the past few weeks that their attitude had softened toward Jack and her parents.
Jack had returned to Challoner only two days ago in time for rehearsals at the church and an official dinner last night to welcome the many royal and VIP guests arriving from around the world. He had been accompanied by his parents, John and Rebecca Lucas, and his two close friends, Mike and Joe, who were to act as groomsmen, along with Carl.
Things had been so chaotic she had barely been able to acknowledged him, let alone spend any length of time with him or his family and friends. In a way, she was glad because it meant she could remain in this warm cocoon of indifference she had created where no one could reach her. Even when Jack had phoned her every few days over the past weeks, she had managed to remain cool and aloof, leaving most of the