Janet Evanovich - Full House

Nick kissed Billie's forehead. "Sweetheart, I'll make honeymoon plans immediately. Is there anyplace special you'd like to go?"

Billie fluttered her lashes. "Oh, darling, it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is us being together."

"Maybe we shouldn't wait for Deedee's wedding," he said. "Maybe we should get married right away."

"I know waiting is hard, honeykins, but I promised my mother that I'd never marry a man I'd known less than two weeks. I've only known you for five days."

Nick sighed. "Okay. I guess I'll just have to wait."

Carl looked at Deedee. "Does this mean she doesn't want to go out with me?"

There was a look of incredulity on Nick's face and then the beginnings of a smile. "That's okay, Carl. We wouldn't want you to relax your standards."

"Well, I don't know," Billie said. "In less than two weeks I'll be a married woman. Maybe I should sow a few wild oats."

Nick's eyes darkened. "I don't think so. I have plans for your oats."

Deedee kissed Frankie on the cheek. "I'm going to bed. This is all happening too fast for me. I'm exhausted."

"I think you make a cute couple," Frankie told Billie and Nick. "I thought that right from the beginning." He slung his arm around Carl. "Come on, Carl, let's go to the gym and work out. Maybe we can have one of those great juice drinks you make."

Billie watched them leave and returned to whipping her eggs. She cocked an eyebrow at Nick. "I think we just got engaged. I'm going to leave it to you to get us out of this."

Nick dropped his towel and moved toward her. "What makes you think I want out of it?"

Billie hastily picked up the towel and handed it to him. "Nicholas Kaharchek! Your cousin Deedee is upstairs!" She wasn't even going to ponder his last sentence.

* * * * *

Billie kneeled in her garden and looked at the cluster of ripe fruit hanging from her tomato plant. Every year it was the same. She planted the tiny seedlings in late spring. She kept them watered and weed-free and organically fertilized. And day by day, before her very eyes, tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers grew on her plants. It always left her awestruck.

Nick was more in awe of Billie than of her tomatoes. He stood beside her, admiring the tan on the back of her neck and the sunny highlights in her short tousled hair. What was happening between them? They were locked in a game he couldn't bring himself to end. Neither of them would admit the engagement was a sham, but neither had said it wasn't.

Deedee was thrilled, of course, not only because the thought of a double wedding sounded fun, but because she was glad Nick had come to his senses and decided to settle down with a good woman. He regretted having started the game to begin with, because of the tension it had created between Billie and him. She was obviously looking for a husband, and after the fiasco of being engaged to Sheridan for six months, the word itself left a bad taste in his mouth. Of course, Billie and Sheridan were nothing alike, so he could take comfort in that.

It was no compliment to Billie that knowing the engagement wasn't real brought so much relief to him, but Billie was probably equally relieved.

Truly, he had no idea what Billie wanted or expected from him, only that the last thing in the world he wanted to do was hurt her. She was looking for a husband, or so Deedee had said. It made sense that she would want a stepfather for her children and the security he could provide, but he was not the man she claimed she was looking for, and he would never be that man. All he could offer her was the here and now, based solely on the fact that he found her sexy and fun and intriguing. They enjoyed each other's company, but they were not in love. He knew she cared about him and found him attractive, but she had made it plain what type of man she was looking for, and he didn't fit the bill.

He bent beside her, studying her face, wishing he could read her thoughts. "Aren't you going to pick them?" he asked, as she stared at the tomatoes.

A tear rolled down Billie's cheek. "I planted this garden with my children, and now they aren't here to pick the first tomato. This is so depressing."

Nick pulled her to her feet and held her close. A terrible sadness swept over him because he didn't know these children who were so special to Billie. He wanted to console her, but he had no idea where to begin. Truth was, he didn't understand getting choked up over a tomato. He tried to speak and discovered that her tear had generated an enormous lump in his throat. He stroked her hair. "Can't we let the tomatoes hang around until your kids get home?"

"No. They'll r-r-rot," she sobbed.

Nick leaned his cheek against the top of her head. "Poor Billie," he said, wishing he could do something to make her happy. Which is why he would not bring up the engagement today. No matter how hard he tried to point out the fact he wasn't right for her, she would feel rejected. Even if she had no interest in marrying him either.

Billie pushed away from Nick, took a tissue from the pocket of her shorts, and blew her nose. She hated being pathetic. "It's just a dumb tomato," she said through clenched teeth before ruthlessly ripping it from the vine. "Besides, who cares about a tomato when you're at Disney World?"

Nick gently picked two more ripe tomatoes. "You have nothing to worry about, Billie. Your kids are on a vacation. A vacation is like a slice of birthday cake … a nice treat once a year, but not healthy everyday fare. I'm sure your kids are homesick for their vegetable garden … and for their mom."

His perception and sensitivity knocked her back a few paces. "Wow. You don't miss much, do you?"

"You were leading with your left." He added a cucumber to his cache of tomatoes. "You know, this is the first time I've ever picked my own salad. I'm thirty-six years old, and I've never had my own vegetable garden. I feel—" He glanced up at the odd sound Billie had made. "Are you all right?"

He was thirty-six! That made her two years older than him. Billie instinctively felt her face for imaginary wrinkles. She told herself she was overreacting, and then reminded herself of the gray hair she'd found only the week before. What was she thinking? Not only was Nick handsome, rich, intelligent, and in mint condition, he was younger than her! He probably didn't own a pair of sensible shoes or worry about things like crow's-feet or varicose veins. He'd probably never before slept with a woman who had stretch marks across her lower abdomen from being pregnant.

Billie shook her head. What had she been thinking? She'd been living in fantasyland for the past week, that's what. She'd let the infamous smooth-talking Nick Kaharchek convince her she was the most beautiful and desirable woman in the world. She'd forgotten she was simply Billie Pearce, mother of two, who lived a quiet, simple life, kept a tight budget, and seldom made an impulsive decision. And yet, she'd hopped in bed with Nick the first chance she'd had.

"Billie?"

She snapped her head up, having been so deep in thought she'd forgotten that he was beside her. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking—"

"About the kids?" He smiled tenderly. "I understand."

Billie returned his smile, but she knew he would never understand what was going through her mind. Pictures of a younger and stunning Sheridan Flock filled her head. The woman probably wouldn't know what a stretch mark was if it slapped her in the face.

"Maybe we should take the vegetables inside and have some lemonade."

Nick dutifully followed her inside and deposited the tomatoes on the kitchen counter. He drew Billie to him and nuzzled her sun-warmed hair. They'd shared a bedroom for the past four nights, and he liked the easy intimacy it had produced between them. A ripple of heat knotted his stomach when he felt her breasts flatten against him.