Worth the Risk_ A Contemporary - Megan Hart Page 0,226

and gasping.

Jack finished a moment later, burying himself inside her heat. “I love you, Josie.”

“I love you, Jack.”

She smiled and cuddled against him for a moment. “I’m going to take a bath and go to sleep early. What about you?”

He rubbed her back with his strong fingers. “I’m going to stay up for awhile. Maybe watch a movie.”

“’Kay.” She kissed him again, then slid off. “Good night.”

Later, in the bath, she thought she heard him talking on the phone, but by the time she came out, she heard only the sound of some shoot-em-up Friday night feature. She fell asleep before he came to bed, and her dreams were restless and filled with images of scissors.

Chapter 10

Josie had found the perfect dress. She couldn’t believe her luck, because the gown not only fit her without need for alterations, but it had been discounted to a price that made Mim shriek so loudly everyone in the store turned to look at her.

“It’s fate,” Mim said as they entered the restaurant. “I mean, the dress is even called the Josephine.”

“After Josephine Bonaparte, no doubt, not for Josie Levine.” But Josie grinned as the hostess led them to a small table toward the back. “It is funny, though.”

“It’s gorgeous,” Mim assured her.

The dress was of soft, ivory fabric with puffed short sleeves and an Empire waistline accented by a broad satin ribbon. Pearls dotted the neckline and dangled from the overskirt, which pulled up to reveal a panel covered with embroidered red roses with green leaves.

“I’m sure I’ll hear about it,” Josie said as the waiter took their orders. “It’s not traditional enough. It’s not all white. It’s—”

“It’s you, and that’s all that matters.” Mim drank her iced tea. “Don’t show it to them.”

“No?”

“No.” Mim nodded firmly. “Mom and Mrs. Gold don’t need to see your dress. Because you’re right. They will pick it apart even if they don’t mean to, and I’d hate to see you lose the joy you get from it.”

“That’s such a nice thing to say. You’re the bestest sister ever.”

Mim grinned. “I know.”

“They’re going to want to see it.”

“Too bad.” Mim rolled her eyes. “They’ve had their fingers in every other piece of pie. They don’t need theirs in this one.”

“You sound a little…bitter.” Josie laughed.

“Just used to Mom, that’s all.”

The talk turned from the wedding to other things. The house hunt, Josie’s job, the honeymoon plans, Mim’s kids. Finally, Mim looked at her watch.

“I should get going.”

“Yeah, me, too. It’s already close to two.”

The sisters got up. Josie’s bladder twinged. “I’ll meet you at the car.”

On the way out of the bathroom, her entire world shattered. She was weaving through the tables to take a more direct way out of the restaurant, when she spotted a familiar figure. Jack sat in a booth tucked way in the back, but he wasn’t alone.

The woman sitting across from him looked like she could be any age from late thirties to early forties. Her dark skin had been expertly made up to accentuate large sloe eyes and full, red lips. She’d pulled her black curls up on top of her head in a loose chignon that managed to be casually elegant and sexy all at the same time. Her simple sapphire colored blouse looked to be of silk and showed off her petite, but luxurious, figure.

She held both of Jack’s hands in hers, and she was alternately smiling and crying.

At this angle, Josie couldn’t see Jack’s face, but she could see his fingers interlacing with the mystery woman’s. He leaned across the table to speak to her, then handed her a napkin to wipe her cheeks.

Josie stood frozen. She could not believe her eyes. It couldn’t be Jack, not her Jack. It had to be someone who looked like him. He would stand and she’d see, and she’d have a good laugh.

But she didn’t laugh when the woman got up from the booth and the man with her did too, and there was no mistaking that it was Jack. No confusing the woman for a client, either, unless Jack was in the habit of kissing his clients, which he now did. Josie watched in stunned horror as he hugged the small woman and kissed her cheek.

So it wasn’t exactly a passionate embrace, but clearly, this was not a business acquaintance. He knew this woman, was close enough to her to help her shrug into her coat and walk out with her, arm in arm.

Josie thought she might actually fall down