“You don’t have a romantic bone in your body.”

With that, Jack swept her into his arms and delivered the kiss to end all kisses. She was so shocked initially she didn’t know what to do. Longing welled up within her, unlike anything she had ever dreamed she could feel. A shiver of need swept through her, followed by an even more magnificent ripple of pure pleasure.

Even while her mind protested, the rest of her—heart, body and soul—surrendered to the sweet surprise of his kiss. And the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, she had really misread this man in thinking that he had no heart.

She leaned closer, emboldened by the ferocity of her response, wanting, needing, to know and experience more …

And just that suddenly, he released her.

Looking down at her with a distinctly male satisfaction, he surveyed her lazily from head to toe. “Still think I haven’t got a romantic bone in my body?”

Dear Reader,

What better way to add new energy and excitement to your life than by falling in love and making a life-long commitment to another person?

At least that’s the way Jack Gaines’ long widowed mother feels. Sixty-something Patrice is engaged to be married. Jack would be happy for her, if he believed his mother was truly in love with Dutch.

But something seems missing in their relationship. And Jack, burned by his own matrimonial “mistake”, does not want to see his mother enter into an ill-advised union. She’s had enough heartbreak in her life. As her son, it is his duty to protect her.

Enter Caroline Mayer, wedding planner extraordinaire. Although Caroline has ruled out a happy-ever-after romance for herself, she loves fulfilling the dreams of others, by making their wedding the happiest day of all.

Caroline and Jack are at odds from the beginning. He wants to stop the wedding. She wants the nuptials to go off without a hitch. What they don’t expect is to fall in love themselves along the way …

Happy reading,

Cathy Gillen Thacker

About the Author

CATHY GILLEN THACKER is married and a mother of three. She and her husband spent eighteen years in Texas, and now reside in North Carolina. Her mysteries, romantic comedies and heart-warming family stories have made numerous appearances on bestseller lists, but her best reward, she says, is knowing one of her books made someone’s day a little brighter. A popular author for many years, she loves telling passionate stories with happy endings, and thinks nothing beats a good romance and a hot cup of tea! You can visit Cathy’s website at www.cathygillenthacker.com for more information on her upcoming and previously published books, recipes and a list of her favorite things.

Wanted:

One Mummy

Cathy Gillen Thacker

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Chapter One

“I want you to stop the wedding.” Caroline Mayer knew there was going to be trouble when the bride’s son insisted on meeting with her in advance of her consultation with the “happy couple.” But she wasn’t prepared for the CEO’s blunt demand.

She stared up at Jack Gaines. Caroline had no doubt that the thirty-four-year-old owner of Gaines Communication Systems was used to getting exactly what he wanted. Most men that handsome, wealthy and successful were. But the implacable Texan had targeted the wrong person to put a halt to the nuptials of his equally wealthy and successful mother.

Aside from the fact what he was asking her to do was just plain wrong, the Gaines–Ambrose nuptials could make or break her. If she failed to deliver the most talked about wedding of the year, her career as a bridal consultant would be over, almost before it began. If she succeeded, she would be the new hot wedding planner in Fort Worth. With that would come long-lasting financial security and the realization of all her dreams. She’d be able to buy a home, adopt a child, get a dog, continue to expand her business and save for the future.

Caroline flashed Jack Gaines a droll smile. She wanted him to know with whom he was dealing. “Obviously there’s been a miscommunication.” She paused to let her words sink in. “I’m a wedding planner. Not a spoilsport for hire.”

And that was a shame, Caroline thought. Because although she wasn’t looking to get involved with anyone just now—or maybe ever—she was still a woman who appreciated beauty in all forms, and Jack Gaines was a man who was very easy on the eyes.

Every inch of him, from the top of his clipped dark brown hair and chiseled masculine features, to the toes of his custom leather boots, was perfectly and precisely cared for. His face was clean shaven, his jaw solid, his lips kissable. His powerful six-foot-two frame boasted broad shoulders, an impossibly solid chest and a trim waist. But it was his expressive, silver-gray eyes that really drew her in. This was a man who missed nothing, a confident indomitable male, the kind of man who let nothing stand in his way. The kind she had sworn off, with very good reason, for the rest of her life….

Jack moved to impede any hope of a dignified exit and challenged her with a glance. “Hear me out.”

Caroline shifted the heavy weight of her monogrammed briefcase to both hands and held it in front of her knees. Simmering with a resentment she had no idea how to handle, she held his gaze deliberately and said, “I don’t think that’s going to be necessary. The answer to you is no.” She still planned to say yes to his mother and her fiancé.

He studied her, a thoughtful expression on his handsome face. “Even if doing so would save my mother from a public grief and humiliation she doesn’t expect and surely doesn’t deserve?”

Caroline set her briefcase down. Maybe she could do someone a favor here—although it wouldn’t be Jack Gaines. “What makes you so sure your mother is going to be hurt?”

Jack’s eyes darkened. “She barely knows Dutch Ambrose.”

But plenty of people knew of Dutch, Caroline argued silently. His string of rental properties on South Padre Island was the most sought after vacation venue in the area. Unfortunately, they were out of Caroline’s price range—for now, anyway—but that hadn’t kept her from admiring the glossy photos of the luxurious beach houses in the promotional brochures available in every grocery store in the state. “Patrice must think otherwise, or she wouldn’t have agreed to marry him.”

His expression adamant, Jack folded his arms across his chest. “He’s rushing her into this.”

Somehow, Caroline doubted that. Struggling to ignore her reaction to his nearness, she stepped back slightly. “The Patrice Gaines I’ve read about in the Fort Worth newspapers is not a woman to be rushed into anything.”

Jack twisted his lips into a skeptical line.

Annoyed by his attitude, she went on. “I mean, how many years did your mom hold on to her perfume formula before finally selling out to that big cosmetics company?”

Jack shook his head and scoffed. “Thirty. But that’s not the point.”

Caroline held up a palm, silencing him. “It’s exactly the point. Your mother knows her own mind. And if she wants to marry Dutch Ambrose, then she should—with no interference from you!”

He narrowed his gaze at her. “You’re saying you won’t help me.”

She was going to have to let this job go. Better to steer clear of it than find herself in the middle of a familial contretemps that could ruin an otherwise spectacular wedding day, and along with it, her hard-earned professional reputation.

Her thoughts turned to the memory of another handsome, determined male, and the heartache he’d caused her while claiming to have her best interests at heart. What was it with guys, anyway, that made them think they knew better than the women in their lives, and hence, needed to go all out to protect them?

“Even if I pay you a lot of money?” Jack persisted.

Those words brought Caroline back to the present. She had nothing against the quest for money. She was doing everything she could to make a better, more secure life for herself, too, and like it or not, that meant having money in the bank. But the assumption that she could be bought rankled. She absolutely would not do to someone else what had been done to her. And it was time Jack Gaines found that out!

Caroline propped her hands on her hips and glared at him, making no effort to disguise her contempt. “Let’s get something clear, Mr. Gaines. I will not help you betray your mother. I will not destroy her dreams. And I most definitely will not smile and say one thing to her face and then go behind her back and do something else that will break her heart and simultaneously benefit me. And furthermore, I’m insulted that you would even ask!”

With that, Caroline picked up her briefcase and stalked out.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN Caroline Mayer refused to plan my wedding?” Patrice Gaines demanded later that same day as she looked up from the notepad in her hand. A veteran list maker, Patrice was rarely without paper and pen. Jack cast a glance at his seven-year-old daughter, Maddie, out in the yard, throwing a ball for her accident-prone dog, Bounder. Relieved that at the moment the sweet-tempered and energetic two-year-old golden retriever was not involved in any mischief, or doing anything that would require yet another emergency trip to the vet, and that his equally lively daughter was happily entertained, caring for her favorite “friend and companion,” Jack smiled. At least two members of the Gaines clan were happy.

Jack pushed aside his guilt at his deception and turned back to his mother with a shrug. “I’m sorry, Mom. I asked her this afternoon. She said no.” And a lot of other things he would prefer his mother never hear.

Patrice put down her list, took off her bifocals and let them rest on the gold chain around her neck. “Caroline Mayer is the best up-and-coming wedding planner in the entire Fort Worth area! Weddings masterminded by her are incredible, memorable events!”

“So you mentioned,” Jack said drily, trying not to think about the elegant woman who had shot him down and then walked off without a backward glance. It wasn’t just her refusal to be intimidated by him that kept Caroline Mayer in his thoughts. Or the tousled layers of copper hair that framed her face and curved against her chin. It was the mix of innocence and cynicism in her crystal-blue eyes. The sense that she’d been around the block more than once when it came to business and having her pride hurt.

He’d heard she had not come from money, yet she was elegance defined, from her high femininely sculpted cheekbones and pert nose to the slender curves on her five-foot-five frame.

She knew how to dress—as had been evidenced by her pale pink business pantsuit, silk shell and heels. She knew what understated jewelry to wear. The only thing lacking in her presence, Jack had noted, was perfume. Caroline hadn’t worn any.

Although the subtle sunny fragrance of her hair and skin had been pleasurable enough. He wondered, when she did wear perfume, what kind of scent did she favor? Something light and innocent, or mysterious and deeply sensual?

Oblivious to the direction of his thoughts, Jack’s mother pressed on. “Is it money? Did you not offer her enough? Is that it?”

“We never got to the part about the money,” Jack admitted reluctantly. “And I told you, if you’re going to get married, I want to be the one to pay for it.”

Patrice frowned. “Was there a conflict with the time frame I selected, then? Is that the problem?”

Jack thought of the ramrod set of Caroline Mayer’s slender spine and the seductive sway of her hips as she stalked out. Coming or going, she was one beautiful woman—who now couldn’t stand the sight of him. Jack cleared his throat. “We never got that far, either.”

Clearly exasperated, Patrice threw up her hands. “Then why did she say no?”

Because she’s a wedding planner, not a spoilsport. And I made the mistake of being honest with her about my sentiments regarding the impending nuptials, Jack thought irritably. Caroline hadn’t accepted the fact he was only trying to protect his mother from a mistake that could destroy her. Aware his mother was still waiting for a plausible explanation, Jack said finally, “It was just a personality thing, Mom.” Clashing personalities. “The woman took an instant dislike to me.”

Astonishment warred with the skepticism on her face. Patrice furrowed an artfully shaped brow. “I know you can be a bit linear at times, especially when you’re involved with your work …”

Why not just say it? Jack thought. There are times when I lack people skills….

“But surely Caroline Mayer has worked with her share of engineers and other task-specific people before. She knows how, well … unromantic … and practical to the point of insanity … you all can be.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Jack said wryly.

“You know what I mean. I know you sometimes say and do the wrong thing, but it’s always obvious to me you mean well and have a good heart.”

“Well, she apparently didn’t think so,” Jack muttered.

“Why on earth not?” His mother looked all the more perplexed and incensed.

Not about to go down that road, Jack shrugged and said carefully, “Bottom line—I think I just annoyed her on a lot of levels, and she decided she would rather not have to deal with me.”

“I don’t want anyone else,” Patrice said stubbornly.

Dutch Ambrose, Patrice’s fiancé, chose this time to wander into the room. On the surface, the guy was the perfect husband for his petite blonde mother. Tall, rangy, slightly stooped—at sixty-two, Dutch had a ready smile, a full head of thick white hair and the kind of deep ever-present tan that came from years spent at the beach and on the golf course. He dressed in sneakers, bright plaid golf pants, solid polo shirts and cardigan sweaters. He’d been practicing his shot in the study, and had his putter and a golf ball in hand. “What’s the problem?” Dutch asked genially, as unerringly polite as ever.

Patrice looked over at the fiancé she’d only known three months, and explained the difficulty Jack had encountered with Caroline Mayer.

Jack had only to look at his mother’s face to know where this was going.

“I’ll call her again,” Jack promised. “I’ll get down on my knees and beg, if necessary.”

“No,” his mother said even more firmly, giving him The Look that had always preceded a grounding when he was a kid. “You won’t.”

“WHO IS HERE TO SEE ME?” Caroline asked her administrative assistant from her office in Weddings Unlimited.

Looking much younger than her fifty-something years, Sela Ramirez shut the door behind her. Her vibrant red-and-gold dress sparkled in the late-afternoon sunlight as she crossed the all-white office and stood before Caroline’s sleek glass-and-chrome desk. “Jack and Patrice Gaines, a little girl named Maddie, her dog and another gentleman, Dutch Ambrose.”

He was here—the take-charge man with the arresting silvery gray eyes who had already commandeered her lunch hour, and had her thinking about him off and on most of the day. Caroline pushed away from her laptop computer and sat back in her chair. “You’re kidding.”

Sela propped a hand on the voluptuous curve of her hip. “You only wish I was kidding.”

Why did the wealthy always have to be so eccentric? Caroline wondered. Because they could….

“Would you like me to tell them you’re too busy to see them?” Sela asked.

“No.” Caroline sighed, thinking. If they were this determined, they’d find some way to see her. At least this confrontation, if that was what it was, would be private. There would be talk enough when word got out she had turned down the job, and speculation why—which, as a courtesy, she would not answer. Caroline went back to her laptop and finished updating her To Do list for the day, checking off all the items she had completed thus far. “Just give me a moment, and have them all come in. And, Sela, while they are here, hold my calls.”

“Will do.”

A minute later, all four of her guests trooped in. Well, Caroline amended silently, taking a moment to study her uninvited guests. Jack strode in, looking every bit as reluctant to be there as she was to have him. His mother, Patrice, was every bit as blonde and petite and elegant as the photos that always appeared in the paper. And she smelled incredible, as if she were wearing one of the signature scents she had been famous for before she sold her business. She was on the arm of a dapper white-haired gentleman, who also looked to be in his early sixties. A little girl who was all tomboy followed. The color of her dark brown bob matched Jack’s. She wore a backward baseball cap, T-shirt and overall shorts, snow-white cotton athletic socks and dirty sneakers. She had a fluffy, and quite large, golden retriever loping at her side. Not on a leash, Caroline noted, but then, at least for the moment, the dog did not appear to need one. It looked intent on staying close to its mistress.

“We’ll cut straight to the chase,” Patrice said regally, after quickly and expertly making introductions. “I understand you’ve refused to plan my wedding to Dutch—and I want to know why!”

Jack regarded Caroline with a poker face—except for his silver-gray eyes. They were pleading for her not to give him away.

It would serve you right, she thought, if I did.

“Please help us,” Dutch Ambrose said.

Maddie stopped petting her dog, long enough to look up. “Can Bounder be in the wedding, too?” Her big blue-gray eyes danced with delight at the idea.

Caroline imagined the little tomboy walking down the aisle with a basket of flowers in her hands, the big beribboned dog beside her, and felt a seismic shift inside her—the increasingly loud ticking of her biological clock. The familiar longing for a little girl of her own, and the deeper, more elemental need to have someone, something, in her life—beside the business she had spent the past two years building—to love.

Aware this little girl was everything she had ever imagined in a daughter of her own, and more, Caroline told herself to be reasonable—not romantic. And the reality was she was still running a business and needed to concentrate on that, rather than her deep-seated, private longings.

Feeling calmer, she lifted a hand and pasted on the brisk businesslike smile that had soothed many a frantic bridal party.

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves here.” Boy, are we getting ahead of ourselves. Imagining what it would be like to have a child just as adorable as Maddie, as my own….

Jack cleared his throat and broke in. “I tried explaining to Mom that it just wasn’t going to work out. You and I—” he looked at Caroline with a meaning only she could read “—we’re just not on the same page.”

“So avoid her!” Patrice fumed, disapproving. She turned to her son and said impatiently, “I never said I wanted you involved in the planning of my wedding, anyway. You’re the one who insisted on paying for it!”

“And it would be my pleasure,” Jack reiterated with what seemed to be sincerity, Caroline noted. It was his turn to look distressed. “I just don’t understand why the nuptials have to be this month.”

This month? Caroline thought, a little shocked. April was already half over!

“When you get to be our age, you’ll understand time is not something to be wasted,” Dutch cut in with a wink and a grin.

Patrice smiled back at Dutch. She grasped his hand, looking up at him. “Especially with the two of us,” Patrice said quietly, with a meaningful expression. She squeezed Dutch’s hand once again.

Abruptly, silence fell.

Caroline, who was usually pretty attuned to these things, felt something did seem to be odd about this match. And that was as off-putting for her as it apparently was for Jack.

And for them to be trying to tie the knot in less than two weeks … Something was definitely strange about his. No wonder Jack was trying to stop it. He must feel something was just a little off, too.

Telling herself that it was her job to arrange weddings, not lives, Caroline cleared her throat, as well. If Patrice and Dutch wanted to marry for reasons of compatibility and companionship, as she was one day wont to do, if at all, then that was their business and no one else’s.

Especially since Caroline knew better than anyone that True Love simply was not fated to happen for everyone.

Some people, like her, had one shot at big romance, if they were lucky, and if that failed … well, odds were it wouldn’t happen again.

That didn’t mean a person couldn’t be happy and pursue other dreams, like owning their own business, or one day adopting a child who wouldn’t otherwise have a home, as her mother had, and she planned to do when the time was right.

“A wedding in April is tough to arrange, even a year in advance.”

“For anyone else, probably,” Patrice concurred, one successful businesswoman to another. “For you? Honey, we’ve heard you work miracles.”

CAROLINE WASN’T SURE how it happened. One minute she was standing there explaining why she couldn’t take on the Gaines–Ambrose wedding, the next she was agreeing to have dinner with the family at Jack’s place the following evening. They would pay her for the consult, of course, to discuss other options for the family.

To her relief, once that was set, they all left as unexpectedly as they had arrived.

As soon as the coast was clear, Sela came back in to ask with her customary frankness, “Why did you agree to that?”

There were pluses and minuses to having an assistant who was the same age her own mother would have been, who often viewed herself as the replacement to the mom Caroline had lost to illness when she was eighteen. The plus was that she had someone to act as a parent to her when she still needed one. The minus was that she sometimes found herself explaining things she would rather not have, to the veteran mother of five grown children, grandmother to eight, and full-time arbiter of love.

Caroline sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Honestly? I don’t know.”

Sela studied her over the rim of the folder in her arms. “It had something to do with Jack Gaines, didn’t it?”

“Of course not!” Caroline successfully fought back a flush of embarrassment.

To no avail—she still didn’t fool the woman who had seen her through the tumultuous aftermath of her failed engagement and the beginning of her business. “The little girl, then,” Sela persisted gently.

That assertion, Caroline noted, was a little closer to the mark. “Maddie was everything I would ever want in a daughter.” And it wasn’t just her short cap of dark brown hair and expressive little face, or her big blue-gray eyes with the fringe of long lashes. It was the way the little girl carried herself—with big-girl confidence. The affection she showed her dog. The liveliness in her smile.

Maddie was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy spring day. And she deserved better than a daddy who would try and derail his own mother’s wedding.

Caroline didn’t doubt that Jack had misgivings. They might even be warranted. But his going behind a loved one’s back to try and achieve a different result than the one his loved one wanted reminded her of another man, and another time, and her own resulting heartache….

She wouldn’t visit that kind of unhappiness on anyone.

Particularly a little girl caught in the cross fire of the family brouhaha sure to come if Jack stayed on this particular path.

So for that reason, and that reason most of all, she was going to do what she never did—get personally involved in a situation that was really none of her business, and see what she could do to dissuade him. And to do that, she was going to have to meet with him alone. Again.

Chapter Two

Jack was standing on a ladder, his head in the elevator shaft, when the walkie-talkie on his belt let loose with a static string of mostly unintelligible words. “Who’s here to see me?” he asked above the sound of power drills, reverberating from several floors above.

“Caroline Mayer,” a cool voice said behind him.

Jack ventured a look down at the elevator floor. From his perch on the ladder he saw those crystal-blue eyes staring up at him.

Hoping she was there to make peace—not cancel on his mom and the rest of the family for that evening—Jack hooked the walkie-talkie back on his belt, set his tools on the metal shelf and climbed down the steps until they stood face-to-face. Desire caught fire inside him, throwing him off guard. “We have to stop meeting like this.”

She propped her hands on her slender hips. “Ha-ha.”

The pulse in her throat was throbbing much too quickly. He twisted his lips into a crooked line, then murmured offhandedly, “Glad you think I’m funny.”

She made no effort to mask her pique. “What exactly were you doing?”

Jack shrugged. “What does it look like I was doing? I was taking apart a security camera that isn’t functioning the way it should.”

Temper flared in her cheeks, turning them a rosy coral. “Don’t you have people who do this sort of thing for you?”

Yes, he had employees. Two hundred of them, in fact, most of who were at this very moment working on the computer and phone and satellite systems all over One Trinity River Place. Comprised of office space, retail stores, restaurants and luxury condominiums in the heart of downtown Fort Worth, the high-rise was a visible testament to his success and that of his four best friends. But, Jack noted, Caroline did not seem any more impressed with his achievement than she was with his efforts to protect his family.

So be it.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t work, too,” Jack shot back, keeping his eyes on hers. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a hands-on type of guy.”

Who was always putting his foot in his mouth, especially around her, Jack thought, noting her telltale blush of awareness at his unintended pun.

“Not that I …” He started to apologize, stopped at the ice in her eyes.

“What?” She was daring him to go on. To take the opportunity and make some sort of pass. Which he knew she would promptly reject.

Determined to come out the victor in this little battle of wills, Jack relaxed, shook his head. “Nothing.”

Caroline scoffed and glanced away. As she did so, Jack noticed the pulse jumping in her throat. Was it his imagination, or was the heat of their two bodies, standing so improbably close together, making the elevator cage really warm?

Jack drew a deep breath. Once again, he noticed her lack of perfume. And the sunny, subtle fragrance of her hair and skin.

He wondered if that was by accident or design, and what kind of fragrance she would choose when she did wear perfume. What would she wear on a date? Or to make love …

Not that he needed to know that. The two of them were already at an impasse and never likely to go down that road. Which was yet another reason to keep this unexpected tête-à-tête short, Jack thought.

He put a suitable amount of disinterest in his manner—the kind he had used to push away women. After his wife had left, the word had gotten out what a mistrusting cynic he had become.

“What did you need?” he asked curtly.

She looked equally ambivalent. “To warn you.”

Jack’s brow furrowed. He thought he had been the one calling the shots, since it was his family who had been trying to employ her services. “Oh?”

“I thought about it overnight and I’ve decided to plan your mother’s wedding for her.”

Jack bit down on an oath. He massaged the rigid muscles along the base of his neck. “Does she know?”

Caroline looked at him, nonchalant. “Not yet.”

He surveyed her with exaggerated politeness. “Why are you telling me?”

Caroline’s expression became inscrutable once again. “Because I also wanted you to know I wouldn’t tell her what you asked me to do yesterday.”

Jack wasn’t sure he wanted to be beholden to her. Or any woman, for that matter. He let the lift of his brows say it all. “Why not?”

Her eyes clouded over. “I don’t want to hurt Patrice.”

That, Jack had to admire. Still, once you had been fooled and abandoned the heartless way he had been, you couldn’t help but be on the alert for the next scam. “So this isn’t blackmail.”

Caroline recoiled slightly in shock, uttered a mirthless laugh and said drily, “It hadn’t occurred to me.” Her blue eyes gleamed with sincerity. She waved her hand delicately. “But if you would prefer …”

What Jack would prefer was to have never made the mistake of trying to enlist Caroline Mayer’s help in the first place. But since he couldn’t undo that action, he figured they had no choice but to be exceedingly clear with one another. “So you’re not going to help me try and put the brakes on my mother’s rash decision?”

Caroline leaned closer. “Not only am I not going to help, I’m going to make sure your mother’s dreams—as they pertain to her wedding—do come true.”

Dread spiraled through Jack as he thought of his mother having to endure any more unexpected emotional pain than she had already suffered in this lifetime. No one had been able to do anything about the first time. Now, it was different. Now, he could take action. “And if I continue to feel otherwise and try and derail things because it’s the only way I know how to protect my mother?”

“I’ll find out,” Caroline Mayer promised resolutely. “And I’ll bust you the moment I do.”

“WHOA. SOUNDS LIKE SHE put you on notice,” Grady McCabe told Jack. He and his friends and fellow businessmen had met for a pickup basketball game at the local gym later that evening.

Travis Carson dribbled past, handling the ball as easily as any construction project that came his way. “Either that or the lady wants an excuse to stay close to you.”

“Why would you think that?” Jack demanded in frustration, then stole the ball and dribbled to the basket, shot, watched with satisfaction as it slid in.

“Probably …” Dan Kingsland caught the rebound and propelled the ball through the hoop, earning another two points for his “team” “… because it’s clear the woman got under your skin in what … two minutes of meeting her?”

Less, Jack thought, recalling his initial visceral reaction to the woman. Dan, an architect, was pretty perceptive. There was just something about Caroline Mayer that had stopped Jack in his tracks, mesmerized, every testosterone-laced inch of him on red-hot alert. But that was probably easily explained, too, given the fact he hadn’t been near a woman since his divorce from Vanessa, and could happily live the rest of his life without ever losing hold of his senses and falling in love again.

Jack argued with a frown, “It wasn’t that tempestuous.”

“Might as well have been, given the way you’ve been talking about it,” Nate Hutchinson, the only bachelor in the group, said. As a successful financial advisor and all-around great guy, it was likely Nate wouldn’t be single for long.

All the guys nodded their agreement. Nate caught the ball and passed it to Grady.

Jack tried to steal it before Grady could shoot, but failed. Irritably, he raced back down to the other end of the court, continuing, “The point is now Ms. Mayer’s made me feel guilty about trying to stymie my mother’s plans.”

“As well you should.” Grady guarded Jack with steely resolve.

Dan intercepted the ball meant for Jack. “Your mom is a grown woman, perfectly capable of making her own decisions,” he said.

Remorse washed over Jack yet again. Damned if he’d ignore his instincts—which told him something was definitely amiss in Dutch and his mom’s plans! Jack tipped the ball out of Dan’s hands before Dan could shoot.

“Furthermore—” Nate scowled as Jack’s shot hit the backboard before dropping through the net “—it’s not at all like you to be so devious and underhanded. It’d be one thing if you knew for certain that Dutch Ambrose was out to get your mom’s money. But unless you uncover proof that something is in the wrong,” Nate continued as Travis captured the ball once again, “you really do need to back off and simply be happy for them.”

“And maybe,” Grady finished with a provoking grin, “find something else—or someone else—to occupy your time.”

CAROLINE PARKED IN FRONT of the white brick Georgian with the slate-gray roof and trim precisely at six o’clock. The two-story suburban home where Jack Gaines resided with his mother and daughter was situated on a half-acre lot in a well-established neighborhood, full of manicured lawns and towering live oak shade trees. The beds on either side of the elegant front portico, with the steeply pitched roof, sported a rainbow mix of fragrant spring flowers. The neatly trimmed bushes next to them were bursting with vibrant green leaves.

Her heartbeat accelerated with the prospect of seeing Jack again and Caroline slung her laptop bag over her shoulder, wheeling her briefcase full of demo products up to the door.

Patrice answered the door, her granddaughter, Maddie, and her dog, Bounder, right beside her. “Hi, Ms. Mayer!”

Caroline got down so she was on eye-level with the little tomboy, who today was clad in knee-length striped overalls, a child-size cowgirl hat, a navy T-shirt and round-toed brown construction boots. “Hi, Maddie. How are you today?”

“I’m fine!” Maddie beamed, bobbing around, delighted by the attention. “Do you want to say hello to Bounder? She’s been waiting for you, too!”

Hearing her name, the golden retriever pranced about and wagged her tail so hard she nearly fell over. “Hello, Bounder.” Caroline patted the dog’s fluffy blond head. “You’re a cutie.” Caroline looked back at Maddie with interest. It was clear the little girl adored the dog as much as the dog adored the little girl. Together, they made a sweet pair. “How did your doggie get her name?”

“When she was a puppy, she bounded all over the place. So I called her Bounder, and my daddy and Gram said that sounded like a good name.”

“It is a good name.”

Bounder wagged even harder and licked Caroline’s hand.

“She’s kissing you!” Maddie explained in excitement. “That means Bounder loves you!”

“I can see that.” Caroline gave Bounder a final pat, smiled at Maddie and stood up.

Caroline looked at Patrice, who had been watching the greetings and subsequent exchange with unbridled interest. “Where do you want to set up?” Caroline asked the bride-to-be, unable to help but think, from the pleased way Patrice was still looking at her, that she had just passed some kind of Gaines family initiation by getting along with child and dog.

Patrice smiled kindly. “The kitchen, I think. That way Jack can be a part of the discussion while he cooks.”

Patrice led the way through the two-story foyer down a short hall to the rear of the home. It had clearly been built with comfort in mind. The kitchen—with its earth-toned walls, maple cabinets, granite counters and state-of-the-art stainless steel appliances—was clearly a male domain. As was the breakfast room, with its large round table and comfortable tan leather swivel chairs. The family room was beside it, where a wall of windows let light spill into a room dominated by a white stone fireplace. The opposite wall was taken up with an impressive array of built-in bookcases filled with books, CDs, DVDs and an impressive-looking plasma TV and stereo system. Along with heavy wood furniture and several comfortable plush sofas and club chairs all artfully arranged, were a collection of toys, and a big round dog bed for Bounder—who leaped up on the sofa, next to Maddie, where the two proceeded to cuddle contentedly.

Jack was dressed in a marine-blue cotton T-shirt and jeans. His dark brown hair was a little rumpled, his rugged jaw sporting a hint of evening beard. His eyes were on high alert and his lower lip curled in polite acknowledgment when he saw her.

Noting he looked very much at home, moving about the kitchen from counter to sink to stove, Caroline couldn’t help but admire him. It was all she could do to follow the simplest recipe, and even those she screwed up half the time.

Aware her pulse had jumped up a notch just being in Jack’s presence, Caroline set up her laptop in front of the seat designated for her, while Patrice brought a tray of crudités and ranch dip to the table.

Patrice settled next to Dutch. The two elders exchanged encouraging smiles while Caroline powered up her computer. “Okay, down to business. The first thing is the date. I’ve checked all the major venues and they are all booked for the last two weeks of April, but there are a few openings for the first weekend in May. The only problem with that Saturday is that it’s May 5. Or Cinco de Mayo, which as you know, is the holiday that celebrates Mexico’s independence from Spain, and is always a big deal here in Texas.”

“Well, then that knocks out that weekend,” Jack remarked, not all that unhappily, Caroline noted.

Caroline watched as he split several avocados and used the blade of the knife to pull out the seed. His culinary skill was impressive. His attitude was not. And his mother obviously agreed.

“And why is that?” Patrice asked Jack drolly.

He shrugged his broad shoulders, suggesting the answer was obvious, and sent his mother a cursory glance designed to hide his feelings. “You don’t want to get married when everyone is partying.”

“That’s exactly when we want to get married!” Patrice said.

Dutch looked at Patrice and just smiled, as if he would go along with whatever the bride wanted.

Studying them, Caroline thought, maybe the two had a more intimate relationship than she had originally thought. Maybe Dutch and Patrice, being older than the typical bride and groom, were just shy about showing their feelings to others.

Not, Caroline noted in frustration, that this made a difference where the family spoilsport was concerned.

Jack exhaled. “Seriously, Mom, when Cinco de Mayo falls on a Saturday, it makes for a wild and wacky weekend.”

That was true. The entertainment industry went all out to celebrate the festivities. Special deals and parties abounded. The occasion was so joyous that no one wanted to be left out.

Patrice gave her son a maternal look that would have quelled even the most unruly son. “Excuse me. How long have I lived in Texas?”

Sensing fireworks about to erupt, Caroline held up a silencing palm and interjected. “You don’t have to hold your wedding in the city.” Where—Jack was right—holiday traffic and congestion could be a nightmare to navigate. “You could have it at a private ranch, for instance. Under a tent.”

“Sounds lovely!” Patrice brightened. “And I really like using Cinco de Mayo as a theme.”

“It would make for a lively reception,” Dutch said.

Patrice clapped her hands together. “Then it’s settled.”

Jack wrapped several stacks of corn tortillas in foil, and put them in the oven to heat. He shook his head but said nothing more, merely went to work chopping up a stack of fresh green poblano peppers and sweet yellow onions.

“We also need to talk florists.”

“I’ll leave that up to you,” Patrice said. “Although I’ll be in on the selection of flowers. I’m very particular about scent.”

Caroline could imagine.

Maddie sashayed up to the table, Bounder by her side. “I want to talk about cake!” she said.

Caroline couldn’t help but grin.

Patrice wrapped her arm about her granddaughter’s shoulders. “I’m sure Caroline brought pictures of some.”

“I certainly did. These bakers I think are particularly excellent.” Caroline brought out the brochures with the color photographs.

“I like that one.” Maddie pointed to a cake topped with the traditional bride and groom, then looked up at Jack, serious, intent. “Daddy, when are you going to get married? So I can have a mommy, like all my friends.”

THE SILENCE FELL in the room so suddenly, Caroline could have heard a pin drop.

Jack looked … uncomfortable, to say the least. He slid the sliced veggies into a sizzling skillet. “Maddie, we talked about this.”

Curious, Caroline wondered what exactly had been said. Nothing, it appeared, to Maddie’s satisfaction, judging by the pout now on the little girl’s face.

“Savannah’s daddy married Alexis, and she got a mommy, and she’s going to have a little brother or sister, too! Kayla, Ava and Tommy’s daddy got married, and they got a new baby! Mia and Sophie’s daddy got married, and they got two brothers, Tucker and Tristan. So when is it going to be my turn?” Maddie demanded, upset, propping her little hands on her hips.

He seemed temporarily at a loss. Which was not, Caroline figured, a usual state of affairs for the sexy CEO.

Maddie glared at Jack, waiting.

Patrice lifted an elegant blond brow. “Good question,” Jack’s mother murmured, unsurprised by the outburst. Which meant, Caroline noted, the question had been asked before. Many times. Just not in front of Caroline.

Jack came around the counter to kneel in front of his daughter. “I told you, honey. I was married once, and it didn’t work out very well.”

Maddie sighed loudly. Her eyes took on a truculent sheen. “You got a divorce and Mommy left.”

Jack nodded, confirming this was so, then explained, “Mommy had been married before. And she realized she still loved Cody and wanted to be married to him. So because I wanted her to be happy, I gave her the divorce she wanted and Mommy went to live with Cody again.”

“In Costa Rica, which is very, very far away,” Maddie repeated, as if this had been told to her many times before. “And she couldn’t take me with her because it was better for me to stay here with you and Gram.”

Jack nodded. “Right.” He patted his daughter comfortingly on the shoulder.

Maddie’s lower lip shot out even farther. She stamped her foot. “But how come I can’t go see her just for a visit?”

Why not? Caroline wondered, too.

Jack looked at his mother for help on that one. Patrice interjected with maternal sweetness. “You will, darling, one day. When you’re older and can travel that far away. In the meantime, you’re here with us, and we all love you very much.”

“I know.” Maddie sighed glumly, only partially mollified. “I love you, too.”

Appearing to think the crisis had been averted, Jack rose and went back to his chef duties.

Maddie climbed onto a stool at the counter. She rested her elbows on the counter and cradled her chin in her palms. “I know you and Mommy can’t get married again, Daddy—because Mommy is married to Cody now. But I still want a mommy now.”

“The only way I can give you an actual mommy is to get married.” Jack lifted a meat platter out of the warming oven and set it on the counter. The familiar, homey scent of mesquite-smoked brisket filled the room.

“Then get married!” Maddie advised, as though it were just that simple. Her opinion stated, she slid off the stool and took Bounder out in the sunlit backyard to play.

“MADDIE MIGHT HAVE a point,” Patrice said, a moment later.

Feeling as if she were in the middle of a family drama she should not be witnessing, Caroline started to rise. “Perhaps I should step outside, too,” she offered cordially.

“Nonsense!” Patrice patted Caroline’s forearm and wordlessly directed her to resume her seat. “You’re going to be around a lot the next few weeks. And this isn’t going to be a secret.”

Still feeling like this was far too intimate a situation for her to be witnessing, Caroline reluctantly sat down.

Jack began to carve the hearty slab of beef into long thin strips. “What isn’t going to be a secret?”

Patrice glanced through the bay window to make sure Maddie was out of earshot. “The fact that although Dutch and I will still make our home here with you and Maddie, the two of us will also be doing a fair amount of traveling. It’s possible we may even be gone weeks or months at a time.”

The plan sounded reasonable to Caroline, given the fact the couple was well-off, in their early sixties and Dutch was newly retired.

“Does Maddie know this?” Jack asked calmly.

Caroline began to see the problem.

For the first time, regret showed on Patrice’s elegant face. “I thought we would talk to her together.”

Worry clouded Jack’s eyes.

He wasn’t only protective of his mother, Caroline noted, but all the “women” in his family.

“I’d rather not talk to Maddie at all.” Jack piled shredded cheese, vegetables and mounds of tender sliced brisket onto serving platters. He paused to give his mother a long, guilt-inducing glance. “I’d rather you stay here and keep your traveling to a minimum, at least in the beginning.”

Caroline could see why Jack was concerned, given how much of a change this would be for his daughter.

“I know, dear.” Patrice rounded the counter. She poured big glasses of iced tea for the grown-ups and a glass of milk for her granddaughter. She turned to her son, and told Jack kindly but sternly, “I appreciate the way you let me become part of your household after your divorce, but it’s time we moved on from that. It’s time I went back to living a full life. Time you did, too.”

“Meaning?” Jack said, not bothering to disguise his derision.

“I agree with your daughter, Jack. Maddie needs a mother and you need a wife.” Patrice paused, making sure she had his full attention. “You need to start dating again—with a view toward marriage.”

“SORRY YOU HAD TO hear all that this evening,” Jack told Caroline several hours later, when Dutch had gone into the study to return a few business calls and Patrice had gone upstairs with Maddie to supervise the bath and bedtime routine.

Caroline wasn’t. It had given her a clear view into what was going on with Jack’s family. “It’s not a problem.” She packed up both her business bags, slung one over her shoulder and carried the other in her hands. “I understand weddings can be stressful. For everyone.”

Jack accompanied her to the foyer, held the door for her, then followed her out to her car.

“I’ll do what I can to limit the stress for all of you.” Caroline dropped both bags into the trunk of her BMW, then shut the lid.

“The only way to do that,” Jack muttered unhappily, “is by talking my mom out of this emotionally overwrought, ill-thought-out mistake.”

Caroline had just spent the evening with Dutch and Patrice. And while they didn’t seem to be wildly romantically in love, there was a deep bond between the two, forged by what exactly Caroline didn’t know and didn’t care. All she knew for certain was that these two sixty-somethings were determined to be together and build a life together as soon as possible. Caroline applauded that kind of determination. And she was in the business of making dreams come true.

There was only one thing standing in their way.

And that big lug of a Texas powerhouse was standing right beside her.

“You know what the problem with you is?” Caroline said before she could stop herself.

One corner of impossibly sensual lower lip curved upward. “No,” Jack responded drily, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He leaned closer, aligning their faces so they were nose to nose. “But I have the feeling you’re about to tell me.”

The comedic undertone in his low voice only furthered the flame of her temper. Caroline aimed a finger at the center of his chest, in the place where his heart was supposed to be. “You don’t have a romantic bone in your body.”

He scoffed, rolled his eyes and prodded teasingly, “And you have deduced that because …?”

“For starters?” Caroline stepped closer. This situation had gotten far too personal. And thanks to the unhappy memories Jack’s actions were bringing up, her emotions were out of control. So out of control, she found herself blurting out, “You are the kind of all-thought, no-heart guy who can no more appreciate a night like tonight than he can the validity of someone else’s dreams!”

He looked around, unimpressed. “What’s so special about tonight?”

“Aside from the fact that your mother was planning her ideal nuptials?”

“Aside from that.”

Deciding to help him see the romantic side of life, even if it annoyed the heck out of him, Caroline drawled, “Well, for starters, there’s a black-velvet sky overhead, sprinkled with stars and a gorgeous half-moon.” That alone was enough to bring to mind couples in clinches and hot, passionate kisses.

Ignoring his bemused expression, Caroline pressed on. “Not to mention a warm, humid breeze …” that felt so good, gently caressing their bodies “… and the scent of flowers and fresh-cut grass in the air….” That all added to the wildly reckless feeling of spring.

Caroline turned away from Jack and continued her romantic survey with a wistfulness borne deep inside her. “This neighborhood that you call home is so beautiful, with all the well-kept residences and the peaceful, almost pastoral street.” It was everything she had ever wanted and never had.

She whirled back to face him, almost angry now. She stomped closer, waving her arms for emphasis. “But do you see any of that?” Nearer still. “Do you realize how lucky you are to live here and have family who have always been there for you and clearly love you so much? No. You don’t. You probably look at them, at an incredibly beautiful night like tonight and—”

Caroline never had a chance to finish.

Before the breath left her lungs, Jack swept her into his arms and delivered the kiss to end all kisses. She was so shocked initially she didn’t know what to do. And that millisecond of total stillness on her part was all the advantage he needed. The pressure of his mouth parted her lips. His tongue swept inside, and all coherent thought fled. Longing welled up within her, unlike anything she had ever dreamed she could feel. A shiver of need swept through her, followed by an even more magnificent ripple of pure pleasure. Even while her mind protested, the rest of her—heart, body and soul—surrendered to the sweet surprise of his kiss. And the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, she had really misread this man, in thinking that he had no heart…. Because surely it was impossible to kiss with this much ardor, unless you felt …

She leaned closer, emboldened by the ferocity of her own response, wanting, needing, to know and experience more….

And just that suddenly, he released her.

Looking down at her with a distinctly male satisfaction, he surveyed her lazily from head to toe, and taunted softly, “Still think I haven’t got a romantic bone in my body?”

Chapter Three

Jack had the satisfaction of seeing Caroline’s jaw open in surprise, a telling moment before it snapped shut. “Sex and romance are not the same thing,” Caroline snapped. “And that kiss was pure sex.”

And then some, Jack thought, feeling the hardness at the front of his jeans. He was pretty sure from the bright flush of color in her face that she was still tingling from head to toe, too. He edged closer. He might not be much good at love, but there were a few things in which he excelled. “Sex can be good.”

“Not between us,” Caroline reminded him sternly. “I am now working for your mother and Dutch Ambrose.”

He refused to bow to her polite but aloof regard. “I’m the one paying the bill.”

“Which makes it even worse,” she complained, even as red-hot sparks arced between them. “Technically, you’re the client.” She angled her thumb at her chest. “And I never mix business and pleasure.”

Jack grinned. The way she had kissed him back just now said otherwise. “What do you mix with pleasure?” he countered, already thinking of hot kisses and soft skin.

“Nothing.” Caroline folded her arms beneath her breasts. She glared at him. “I’m celibate.”

“Could have fooled me with that kiss.”

She leaned closer, curious. “I take that to mean you do fool around?”

The challenging glitter in her eyes prompted his defense. “Not indiscriminately,” Jack replied, inhaling the soft, womanly scent of her. “Although, for the record, I have dated since my divorce. Mainly because I knew at some point Maddie was going to want and need a mommy, the way she is now.”

“So you took one for the team,” Caroline said drily.

That had been about it. He hadn’t been doing it for himself. Jack shrugged, admitting, “There were plenty of women who were interested in my success and wealth. But no one who could deal with how complicated my life has become in recent years.” So that had been that.

Now she was interested. She tilted her head. “Complicated in what way?”

How about every way? Jack thought. “Well, my mom lives with me. And if the marriage goes through, soon Dutch will, too. That alone was a turnoff to many.”

Caroline’s brow furrowed. “I can’t see why if they’d met Patrice and/or Dutch.”

That, Jack thought, had been the family-inclusive attitude he’d been looking for, and never found. He went on to the next item on the list. “Another bummer was the fact that I can’t seem to make long-range or sometimes even short-range plans. Because when I do, something always seems to come up.”

Caroline wasn’t upset about that, either. “Life happens. I have that problem, too.”

They exchanged smiles.

Jack persisted with his wish list. “Anyone I get involved with has to adore Maddie, and be loved by her in return.”

Caroline grinned, enthusiastic. “I can’t see that as a problem.”

Jack went on to the ultimate deal breaker. “And any potential love interest for me must like dogs and accept that Bounder is as much a part of our family as the rest of us. And Bounder can be a handful at times, let me tell you. It seems like she’s always inadvertently getting into trouble of some sort.”

Caroline rocked back on her heels and angled her chin at him. “That’s typical for golden retrievers her age, isn’t it? Most don’t mature until they are three years old.”

Glad to find Caroline so knowledgeable, Jack nodded. “The vet says that we’ve got another year to go before Bounder gets her natural inquisitiveness under control. Although she is pretty well behaved most of the time now.”

“See?” Caroline lifted her hands, palms up. “Life is looking up.”

Jack’s natural wariness kicked in. “Is it? Maddie still wants a mommy. Now.”

Caroline studied him beneath the fringe of her lashes. “And what do you want?” she asked softly.

Jack shrugged. That was easy. “The kind of close and loving marriage my parents had, and the ability to work as a team, no matter how difficult life gets.”

SO JACK WAS A ROMANTIC at heart, after all, Caroline thought. He just wouldn’t acknowledge it. Which made her wonder … “I guess you didn’t have that kind of closeness with your ex-wife.”

Jack gestured. “We were a great team, while we were together. The problem was …” Jack hesitated.

For a moment Caroline thought he wasn’t going to finish.

“As much as she tried, in the end Vanessa couldn’t love me as much as she thought she should.”

His voice was calm, matter-of-fact, but Caroline sensed a wealth of pain behind those words. She reached out to touch his hand. “I’m sorry,” she said, just as quietly, looking deep into his eyes. “I know what it is to be betrayed by someone close to you. It’s incredibly demoralizing.” It left you reluctant to try love again.

Jack leaned against her BMW. He searched her face. “What happened to you?”

Deciding it might be cathartic to talk about this with Jack, Caroline took the perch next to him. “I was working for an exclusive hotel as an event planner. I was up for a big promotion and I really wanted it.” She closed her eyes briefly, remembering that awful time in her life, then turned to look at Jack. “My fiancé concluded I wouldn’t have enough time for us if I got it, so he went behind my back and had drinks with my boss and told him that we were planning to start a family shortly after we married, and were even thinking of pushing up our wedding date. Needless to say,” Caroline concluded, bitterness welling up inside her, “that man-to-man talk cost me the increase in pay and responsibility. When I found out why I lost out on the professional advancement, I confronted my fiancé.”

Jack’s lips compressed. He looked as discontented as she felt. “Was your ex apologetic?”

Caroline blew out a gusty breath, shook her head. She traced the paisley pattern on her cotton skirt. “On the contrary. Roark didn’t see it as a betrayal. He felt justified in his actions, said he was only thinking of us, and our happiness.” Caroline threw up her hands in disgust. “That was it for me. I broke off our engagement and asked Roark to move out of the apartment. I quit my job and started my own wedding planning business. So in the end—” she finished with a shrug “—it turned out to be a good thing.”

Aware she had just given Jack quite a chunk of her life story while she still knew very little about him, she asked in turn, “What about you?” What happened to break your heart?

“I fell in love with a beautiful woman who seemed ideal for me in every way. We married and bought a home and had Maddie, and just when everything should have been perfect, Vanessa told me that although she hadn’t actually done anything about it, she had never gotten over Cody, her first husband.”

Caroline could barely fathom such disloyalty. The hands in her lap stilled. “You must have been devastated.”

Jack’s mouth took on a rueful curve. He turned his glance to the stars shimmering overhead. “Among other things,” he said quietly.

Caroline resisted the romance of the spring evening. “And you never had a clue Vanessa was on the rebound?”

Jack shook his head, his gaze trained on some distant point. “I thought Cody’s lack of drive and ambition had killed their marriage, that she was tired of living hand to mouth, of always wondering if they would have enough money to pay the rent.”

“Whereas you …” Caroline guessed.

“Worked all the time, at that point, and was rarely if ever off the job. But—” Jack drew in a deep breath, exhaled “—Vanessa was okay with that. In fact—” Jack gestured inanely “—she did everything she could to support and encourage me in that regard.”

Except love him, Caroline thought, her heart breaking for Jack. He deserved so much better. They all did. Unable to help herself, she reached over and covered his hand with her own. “Did you love her?”

Jack turned his palm, so their fingers were intertwined. He admitted circumspectly, “I loved who I thought she was … my dream woman.”

Aware her heart was racing, Caroline removed her hand from his, sat back, still struggling to understand. “But she wasn’t.”

“Neither Cody nor Vanessa could meet each other’s needs that first time around. As a result, their marriage failed. Wanting a different result in her second marriage, Vanessa was determined to meet all of my needs, even if she had to do so disingenuously. And it worked. I was deliriously happy. She was the one who was miserable. She had everything she had ever wanted, financially, but her whole life felt like a lie. She thought having a baby might change that, give her life more meaning, but it didn’t.”

“So Vanessa asked you for a divorce.”

“Yes. Shortly after we separated, Vanessa got back together with Cody. This time they were wise enough to be able to make it work. The one thing that stood in their way was the baby she’d had with me. Cody didn’t like the reminder she’d been with another man. Nor did she. So, for all our sakes, she gave me full custody of Maddie.”

It sounded reasonable. And unbearably cruel, Caroline thought, splaying a hand over her chest. “And Vanessa’s never seen Maddie since?”

“No. Although, for the record, I’ve encouraged Vanessa to come and visit or stay in touch in some fashion because I think some contact would be better for Maddie than complete abandonment, but Vanessa thinks otherwise. She and Cody have gone on to have two children of their own, and Vanessa doesn’t want to mix her two families.”

“But you still expect Maddie and Vanessa to meet one day.”

Jack nodded. “I think curiosity will demand it at some point, which is why I continue to lay it out as an option. Although it won’t be until Maddie is old enough to understand and handle it.”

“I’m sorry,” Caroline said finally, her heart going out to him. “You and Maddie deserve so much better.”

“So do you,” Jack retorted.

Caroline rose gracefully to her feet, turned to face Jack, who was still leaning on her BMW. “I guess that’s just life, though. Everyone has bad things happen to them. It doesn’t mean we have to give up on our dreams. So if you’re interested in getting back out there on the dating scene …”

He held up a palm. “Uh, no.”

“Don’t trust you’ll get it right this time?”

“Do you?” Jack countered, standing, too.

Caroline wasn’t used to being put on the defensive by clients. Usually, all people who were getting married wanted to do was talk about themselves, their families, the celebration itself and their hopes for their future, which was fine by her. It meant she didn’t have to concentrate on herself, either. “I don’t really think about it much,” Caroline confessed. Not since she had concluded she had lost out on what could very well be her one chance to have the love of her life. Why? Because ultimately she and Roark hadn’t been compatible. And shared values were a key ingredient to any successful relationship.

“Which means you’re not actively looking for romance, either,” Jack teased with an audacious grin.

Caroline ignored the sudden jump in her pulse, and the fact it would be all too easy to fall in bed with Jack. “Or sex,” Caroline pointed out with an arch look that reminded him of the inappropriateness of their earlier embrace.

“Which is a shame,” Jack continued with a lusty look meant to provoke. “Since you’re an awfully good kisser.”

Wishing she had met Jack some other time, some other way, Caroline bantered back with utter practicality. “So are you. It doesn’t mean we should take that to mean anything other than what it does.”

He stepped closer. “Which is what exactly?”

His nearness sent another thrill soaring through her. “Pure and simple? We have chemistry. But again, that doesn’t mean we should indulge in it.”

Jack lifted a skeptical brow.

With a sigh, Caroline continued explaining. “I love extra-dark chocolate.”

“Good to know,” Jack replied, smiling.

“If I ate it as much as I’d like to eat it, I’d weigh a ton.”

His gaze drifted over her from head to toe, apparently finding nothing wanting. “So you limit yourself,” Jack guessed.

Tingling everywhere his eyes had touched, Caroline affirmed her self-imposed sacrifice. “To one treat a week.”

Jack’s eyes lit up. “I could live with one kiss a week.”

The warmth inside her built. Caroline wrinkled her nose. “I couldn’t.”

The playful moment turned heated again and Caroline could have sworn Jack was thinking about kissing her again. She was not surprised. She was suddenly fantasizing about the same thing.

“Why not?” he quipped.

Blushing fiercely, she tipped her head up. “Because indulging in one kiss a week with you would lead to wanting more than one kiss.”

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Also good to know,” Jack interrupted with a mischievous grin.

She placed her hand on his chest “And I’m not interested in starting anything with a person I’m not suited to be with long-term.”

Jack studied her. “What makes you think we’re not compatible?”

Caroline stepped back. He’d given her no choice. She had to be extremely direct. “I’m in the business of making dreams come true.” Their eyes met and held for another breath-stealing moment. “And unless you’ve changed your mind about Patrice marrying Dutch, you’re now in the business of thwarting them.”

“I’VE NOTICED,” Patrice Gaines said the next morning when Caroline showed up promptly at eight-thirty, still reeling from the ill-advised kiss she had shared with Jack Gaines the previous evening, “that you don’t wear perfume.”

Telling herself it was definitely going to be possible to stay away from the ruggedly handsome businessman while planning his mother’s wedding, Caroline smiled self-consciously. She forced herself to concentrate on the conversation at hand. “That must seem like heresy to a woman like you, who built her fortune on perfume.”

Patrice gently acknowledged this was so. “May I ask why you don’t wear any?”

A little embarrassed by the oversight, given the company she was keeping, Caroline shrugged. “I guess I’ve never found a fragrance that really suits me. They always seem too heavy, or too young, or too musky … too something.”

Patrice smiled. “Whereas I don’t feel fully dressed unless I have a fragrance on.”

Caroline opened up her briefcase. “I’ve noticed you wear different scents.”

Patrice brought a thermal carafe of coffee to the breakfast table. “For different moods.”

Caroline set up her laptop computer. “It must be nice to be able to create your own colognes.”

Patrice went back to the cupboard to get mugs. “I could do it for you, as a thank-you, for working us in on such short notice.”

Caroline laid the sample invitations and the accompanying price list on the table. “I didn’t know you still created individual perfume formulas.”

Patrice returned with cream and sugar. “I can’t for financial gain. It’s in the contract I signed with Couture Perfume. But I can do it for fun,” she continued enthusiastically, “and I’d really like to try.”

Caroline dipped her head in silent thanks. “I’d be honored.”

Patrice settled opposite her. “So when do you want to start?”

Caroline accepted the mug of hot coffee. “Start?”

Patrice stirred a spoonful of sugar into her coffee. “We’re going to have to sit down and go through the various fragrance families. Although I must warn you—once we find the exact right scent, and you begin wearing it, you will have men falling in love with you constantly.”

“It’s true.” Dutch walked in to join them. He wrapped his arm around Patrice’s shoulders. “I’ve seen it happen.”

Caroline studied the handsome older couple. “Is that how the two of you fell in love?”

Patrice and Dutch tensed almost imperceptibly. They turned to each other, looked into each other’s eyes in silent understanding. Confirming, Caroline thought, Jack’s suspicion that something other than the expected was behind this union. But that didn’t mean it was wrong. Companionship and compatibility were wonderful reasons to get married, too, especially when the bride and groom were old enough to have experienced life and know what really counted. “It’s complicated,” Patrice said finally.

“And astoundingly wonderful and generous and right.” Dutch pulled Patrice toward him for a quick kiss on her brow.

The two fell silent, still gazing tenderly and meaningfully at one another.

There was love there, Caroline surmised, just not the head-over-heels kind younger brides and grooms typically exhibited.

From the doorway, a throat cleared. Jack stood there in a blue oxford cloth shirt and khaki slacks. It was clear from the expression on his face that he had heard everything. And was no more reassured that this was indeed an advisable union than he had been before.

Jack looked at his mother. “Maddie said you needed to see me before I took her to school this morning.”

Patrice informed him casually, “I’m not going to be able to go with Caroline to view those two ranches, where our wedding could be held, so I’m going to need you to do it for me.”

Jack looked simultaneously stunned and put out. Caroline couldn’t say she blamed him. This was short notice.

Jack frowned. “Can’t you go another time?”

“Caroline says we need to have the time and place locked in before we do anything else, and since I assumed you’d want to have a say as well as read the contract …”

Dutch glanced at his watch, then leaned in and lightly touched Patrice’s arm. “I’ve got to make a call,” he murmured. Patrice nodded agreeably while Dutch slipped out.

Jack continued to look at his mother with very little patience. “I’ve got a business to run,” he reminded her.

“And I completely forgot I promised Maddie’s teacher I would help out at her school this morning.”

“Can’t Dutch go?”

Patrice held her ground. “You’re the one who has to okay the financial terms, dear.”

Jack slowly let out his breath, his love for his mother as evident as his exasperation. Lips thinning, he said, “I’ll just call the office and let them know I won’t be in.”

JACK WAS HALFWAY through the study doors when he heard Dutch’s voice and realized Dutch was just outside the window, talking on his cell phone.

“May I speak to Maryellen? I understand. Just tell her it’s Dutch. I’ll meet her at the apartment, usual time. And please remind her of the need for privacy. I don’t want anyone to know…. Thank you.” Dutch ended the call.

Maryellen? Jack thought, stunned. What apartment? Why did Dutch and Maryellen need privacy? What was so secret? Was Dutch having an affair with this woman? And if so, what was he supposed to do about it? It wasn’t as if he could—or would even want—to say anything to his mother without first knowing exactly what the situation was.

Feeling more conflicted than ever, Jack shut the doors, then dialed the private investigator who did the background checks for his company. He explained to Laura Tillman what was going on.

“It’s too late for me to get someone out there right now,” she said.

“Maybe I should tail him,” Jack offered.

“Don’t,” Laura directed sternly. “You’re not a professional. If Dutch is hiding something, you’ll only alert him to the fact you overheard something you clearly should not have. You’ve got almost three weeks before the wedding actually happens. Let us do this.”

Jack sighed. He knew she was right. But it left him feeling powerless. He did not like it. He wanted to be able to protect his loved ones, no matter what the circumstances.

There was a rap behind him. The study door opened. His mother pointed to her watch, then waved, along with Maddie. Smiling, the two left.

“Jack? Are you still there?” the P.I. said.

Out in the driveway, Dutch’s car started, then Jack’s mother’s. “I’m here,” Jack said, as Caroline appeared near the doorway, too, a question in her eyes. “You’ve got my approval,” Jack said firmly. “Just do what has to be done as quickly as possible.” In his view, there wasn’t a moment to lose.

“SORRY ABOUT THAT,” Caroline said as Jack joined her. “Your mother suggested I hurry you along or you’d be on the phone with your office forever.”

Which reminded Jack … he hadn’t called in to his secretary yet. “I’ve still got one more call to make,” he said.

Jack would have been annoyed in her place, but Caroline looked at Jack with the patience of a saint. “I’ll wait in the living room,” she said.

Jack wrapped up business as quickly as he could. It still took fifteen minutes.

Caroline was on her laptop busily typing away when he joined her again. She held up a hand, finished what she was doing, then shut down her computer.

“So where are we going?” Jack asked as they walked out to her car. She slid behind the wheel, turned on the car and activated the sedan’s directional system, keying in their destination in the GPS.

Her silk blouse pulling across the soft curves of her breasts, Caroline checked to make sure the way was clear, then backed out of the drive.

Unable to help but note the way her skirt rode up her thighs as her foot moved from accelerator to brake, Jack turned his attention to the street ahead.

Oblivious to how aware he was of her, Caroline continued talking business. “Thus far, I’ve only located two venues that can handle an outdoor wedding and reception on short notice. The first—Wedding Bells Ranch—is an hour north of the city, and just opened a couple of months ago.”

Even the name sounded cheesy, Jack thought with disdain. He turned to shoot her a curious look. A copper-colored strand of hair had fallen across her cheek, partially obscuring the dainty freckles that speckled her high, elegant cheekbones. He ignored the urge to capture the silky strand and tuck it behind her ear. “Have you ever been there?” he asked, forcing himself to concentrate on his task, rather than his attractive companion.

“No.” Caroline accelerated smoothly and merged onto the freeway. “The photos on their Web site look great, although those can be deceiving.”

Jack appreciated the deft way she negotiated the heavy city traffic. “Did you check with the Better Business Bureau?”

“Yes. So far, they’ve had no negative reporting but, as I said, the site has only been open a few months.”

“And the other location?”

Her brows knit together. “Is a little over an hour and twenty minutes due west of the city.”

Jack calculated the mileage and the time it would take to see both. He frowned.

Caroline held up a silencing hand. “I realize this is probably going to take a big chunk out of both our days, unless the first place works out to your satisfaction.”

Knowing time was money, Jack said, “Then we’ll hope for the first.”

Caroline took the exit that would lead them to the countryside. Still all business, she slanted him a glance. “Aren’t you interested in price differential?”

Traffic instantly became much less intense. Jack relaxed in the bucket seat. “Is there one?”

She nodded. “The second place is ten percent less. But … the bride and groom need to think about the convenience of their guests. Sometimes if a venue is too far away, guests opt out of attending, especially in Dutch and Patrice’s age group.”

“True.” Traveling, Jack knew, was harder on his mother these days than it had been in the past. Which made her determination to be on the road so much more puzzling, to say the least. Especially since his mother and Dutch weren’t traveling much at all now. “Then let’s hope the first place works out,” he said.

IT WAS SO MUCH WORSE than what Caroline had imagined, even in a worst-case scenario. And nothing like the gloriously beautiful pictures on the Wedding Bells Ranch Web site.

“Can we sue them for false advertising?” Jack joked as they got out of the car.

Caroline wished she could feel similarly amused. Since she had just been professionally humiliated in front of a man she really wanted to impress, for reasons that had little to do with the business at hand, it wasn’t possible.

“We should just forget it,” Jack said in disgust.

Caroline’s conscience wouldn’t let her do that. She had made an appointment. She would follow through, if only briefly. “If you’d rather wait in the car …”

Jack looked at the peeling paint on the ranch house and barn, the broken-down steps and weed-ridden lawn. “If you’re going up there—” he pointed to the elaborate sign that said Wedding Bells Ranch Office “—so am I.”

Together, Caroline and Jack walked through the crabgrass to the door.

Knocked. The door opened. A pretty young woman in paint-splattered jeans and a T-shirt opened the door. “Caroline Mayer, I presume.” She started to extend a hand, then stopped, realizing her fingers were splattered with wet paint. “Hi. I’m Lysette Beasley. Owner. As you can see, we are a work in progress, but I promise you we will be up and running by the end of the summer.”

“My client is getting married in three weeks,” Caroline said.

“Three!” Lysette clapped a hand to her chest in surprise. “I saw May 5 on your e-mail appointment request. I guess the year didn’t compute. I just assumed … Who plans a wedding in three weeks?”

“My mother and her fiancé,” Jack said, grim as ever on the subject.

“Oh. Dear.” Lysette looked all the more distressed.

“Oh, dear” was right, Caroline thought.

“Even under a tent, I don’t think there is any way we could be ready to hold a big gala by then,” Lysette Beasley said.

Caroline sighed, and took another look around. “I would have to agree.”

“What about the photos on the Web site?” Jack asked.

“Those were computer mock-ups of how we want the place to look, when I’m finished renovating,” Lysette said.

“You should put a disclaimer on the site,” Caroline said, making no effort to disguise her disappointment.

Lysette wrinkled her nose. “People keep telling me that. But I don’t know. I think it might cost me business.”

Jack snorted.

“Having people feel you’ve duped them will cost you business,” Caroline muttered.

Caroline and Jack headed back to her BMW.

“Honest misunderstanding,” Jack soothed Caroline with unexpected understanding. He reached over to briefly take her hand. “Anyone could make it.”

Caroline looked at Jack. Fingers still tingling from the brief unexpected touch, she said, “We’ll try the next one and hope we have a lot better luck.”

Chapter Four

“It’s a sign,” Jack said nearly two hours later when they finally had arrived at their destination and completed a tour, which had taken all of five minutes.

Caroline had an idea how Jack was seeing this locale. It was out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by other ranches and the occasional small enclave with a few houses, a gas station, post office, church and a general store. To her, though, this flat, barren land that stretched as far as the eye could see—with the picturesque outcroppings of blooming wildflowers, cactus, sage and mesquite—was quintessential Texas, perfect for a Mexican-festival-themed wedding at sunset. She gazed thoughtfully at their surroundings, already picturing where everything would go. Chairs here, wedding gazebo here, dinner tents here, stage for the band and dance floor there—additional flats of Texas wildflowers there. There was so much space they could have one heck of a party.

Aware Jack was watching her as carefully as she was surveying the land, awaiting her reply, she turned back to him with a small shrug and an officious smile. “I don’t believe in signs.”

The corners of his mouth turned down into a scowl. “How about fate, then?” He continued looking around with displeasure.

Caroline brought out her notepad and pen and scrawled a few reminders to herself. Her mind was already made up. “Do you really think I’d be reaching so far outside the realm if it weren’t for the purpose of making your mother and Dutch’s dream come true?”

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