Ooh, you’re smooth. What an amazing stroke of luck the way Lilly had managed to wriggle her ripe little tush out of sealing their vows just yet.
“This tastes delicious,” she said, swallowing a bite of her burger. “I can’t stand eggs, so when I was a kid, I told Mom that as soon as I grew up, I was only eating hamburgers for breakfast.”
“Are you kidding?”
“No. Why would I make something like that up?”
“I wasn’t implying you would, it’s just that I feel the same way about eggs—or any breakfast food for that matter. I always figured why not skip breakfast and go straight to lunch.” What Finn didn’t reveal was that the reason he’d adopted the habit of skipping breakfast was to make the days after losing his parents and sister pass faster. If he jumped right out of bed and went straight to lunch, in a kid’s mind, that translated to a lot fewer hours in the day.
His wife sat her Love Me Tender special down and flashed him one of her wavering grins that typically preceded tears. “Do you know what our both liking burgers for breakfast means?” Her big blue eyes turned shimmery.
I know what it usually means when you start up your sprinklers. You get whatever you want. But not this time. I’m onto you. I’m—
“It means that we really do have a shot at our marriage lasting forever. Everyone knows the more things a couple has in common, the more likely they are to stay together. My oldest brother, David, is a marriage counselor, so believe me, I’ve heard this from a reliable source. Uh…” She wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’ve been so hormonal since—well, you know. Anyway—” she reached across the table for his hands “—all I wanted to say is that Dallas Lebeaux, you are my knight in shining armor for rescuing me not only from the Wayne Newton Chapel, but—no, I’m not going to get emotional again. I just want you to know that if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll never make you sorry for marrying me.”
“AND NOW, ladies and gentleman…”
Lilly grinned to see Dallas squirm at Elvis’s mention of him being the only other man in the room. And what a room it was. The so-called theater had been set up in an old grocery store. The checkouts were piled high with souvenir T-shirts, mugs and key chains and the raised center deli section was now a stage. The overhead lights had been turned out and the entire perimeter of the massive space glowed with neon outlines of dancing pork chops and milk jugs. The place smelled like a cross between salami and glazed donuts, both of which made Lilly’s stomach growl.
“For my next amazing feat,” Elvis said, “I’ll need a lovely assistant. Do I have anyone out there who’d like to help Sparky the Wonder Dog?”
“Me! Me!” A half dozen pint-size girls squirmed in their seats, itching for the chance to clamber up on stage.
“Hmm, such a tough choice,” Elvis said, “You’re all so lovely, but I pick…you.” He pointed to the only one of the girls not squirming, a pigtailed angel seated in a wheelchair. “Sir,” Elvis said, pointing to Dallas. “Could you please help the little lady onto the stage? Her mama looks like she’s got her hands full.”
Lilly followed the magician’s gaze to where the girl’s mother cradled a tiny bundle of blue. What a cute baby! But then Lilly caught sight of her groom staring at the infant and found a whole new meaning for cute. Beaming at the tiny face, Dallas’s expression had turned to pure mush.
Wow…her heart felt ready to burst.
She’d been terrified that, because he hadn’t asked the smallest question about her baby, Dallas had changed his mind about wanting to become a father, but seeing him now, gazing upon a stranger’s infant, then taking extraordinary care wheeling the girl toward the stage, Lilly again had her decision to marry him confirmed.
“There you go, sir,” Elvis said. “Wheel that darling right on up the ramp, then you can take your seat.”
For Lilly, with Dallas back beside her, the rest of the show passed in a blur of jumping toy poodles, squawking parrots and barely contained tears. Never could she remember having been so happy. With the help of the Internet, she’d found a wonderful father for her child.
Yes, but what about a wonderful husband for you?
She swallowed hard and cast a glance Dallas’s way.
No. No matter how many times as a young woman she’d dreamed of Prince Charming sweeping her off her feet, she had to keep in mind that, now, it would simply never happen. The current platonic arrangement she shared with Dallas was beneficial for them both. If she were to open herself up to the kind of pipe dreams that had led to her involvement with Elliot, she’d only be inviting more trouble into her life.
All that said, Dallas seemed to be getting a genuine kick out of not so much watching the show, but watching how much the children around him enjoyed the show. Meeting this one-in-a-million man had been a miracle, and while she knew their feelings would never move beyond friendship, at the moment she very much felt that she had already made a lifelong friend. And somehow, she thought, swallowing past the lump in her throat, that would be enough.
She and Dallas laughed at the same corny jokes, she adored his taste in flowers and rings, they’d even eaten the same unconventional breakfast. By the time Sparky the Wonder Dog was readying for his brave fire leap and her husband had taken her hand in his, Lilly no longer felt sorry for herself, but more like the luckiest woman alive.
All too soon the show was over and they were the last to leave the small theater. While Dallas made a quick run to the rest room, she waited for him in the foyer, counting the seconds to his return.
When he strolled out of the makeshift lobby wearing a cheesy grin, she said, “What are you up to? You look like you’ve been doing a lot more than going to the bathroom.”
He shrugged and slipped his hands into his pockets, where she could have sworn she detected the sound of crinkling plastic.
“Dallas Lebeaux, what are you hiding?”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Can’t a guy keep a secret from his wife?”
“Did you buy me a present?”
Again, all she got from him was a maddening shrug, then, “Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”
“Hmm, sounds intriguing.” She didn’t press him further, for if there was anything she liked more than her new husband, it was surprises!
“Whoa, it’s bright out here,” Finn said, holding the door open for his adorable wife as they moved from the dark ex-grocery store to blinding midday sun.
“It sure is.” On the way to the car, she brought her hand to her forehead to shade her eyes. Sunbeams shot through the paste diamond in her gumball-machine ring, reminding him for a second of the antique ruby and diamond he’d almost slipped on Vivian’s hand. The ring had been his grandmother’s, then his mother’s. Giving that ring to Vivian would have been the worst mistake of his life.
But then if marrying his real fiancée would have been just a mistake, what did marrying a hired fiancée amount to? Full-out catastrophe?
He eyed the scooped neck of the pink T-shirt Lilly had changed into. No catastrophe there. The full upper curve of her breasts peeked at him, practically sending him an engraved invitation to feel how soft they were and pliable and—
“Wasn’t that girl you helped onstage adorable?”
“What? Huh?” Finn, reaching to unlock, then open Lilly’s car door, was still focused on the adult entertainment.
“Don’t tell me you already forgot her corkscrew pigtails?” she said, climbing inside the car.
Hell no, he hadn’t forgotten the girl or her baby brother. It was just that the topic of kids was too painful to bring into this lark he and Lilly called a marriage.
“You’re