Susan Mallery - Dream Wedding

She wanted to jump up and down shrieking “Yes, yes, oh yes!” at the top of her lungs. Instead she drew in a deep breath. “An interesting idea.”

He was probably coming on to her, a voice in her head said. As lines went, it was a good one, but still a line.

“I hope you don’t think I’ve made this up simply to get you alone in the wilderness. Actually I’m just not that creative, otherwise I would have. But the artifact is legitimate. I can give you a number to call to check it out.”

He could read her mind. Why was she not surprised?

Of course she wanted to go. Desperately. She wanted to spend as much time with Arizona as possible and she refused to question her motives. “I’ll need to run this past my editor,” she said. “Can I call you first thing in the morning?”

“Sure. I’ll be hoping for a yes.”

Me, too, she thought. “I’ll be touch. Bye.”

When she hung up the phone, Cassie was dancing from foot to foot. “You’re going away with him. This is so cool. You’ll be in wilderness. It’ll be romantic. Maybe you’ll see him naked and we can get that picture for his fan club!”

Chloe’s heart was pounding and she wanted to jump up and down like her sister. Instead she shrugged. “It would be okay to go. I think it will add some dimension to my article.”

“Article-smarticle. I’m talking about adding some dimension to your life! Chloe and Arizona sittin’ in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

“I’m ignoring you,” Chloe said as she walked out of the room.

“Confess,” Cassie called after her. “You want to see the man naked.”

“I’m sure he’s not that impressive.”

“Liar!”

But Chloe didn’t know if the accusation came from her sister or her conscience. After all, she had seen Arizona without his clothes, and it had worked for her in a big way.

* * *

“I’M NOT sure what he’s going to look at,” Chloe continued nervously. “But I think seeing an archaeological dig and watching him work will add depth to the story.”

Jerry didn’t even look up from the papers he was reading. Her editor made a grunting noise low in his throat. She wasn’t sure what that meant.

“So you want me to go?” she asked.

Finally, he spared her a quick glance. “Yes, I want you to go. Keep track of expenses. The magazine will reimburse you for the reasonable stuff. Don’t go ordering any expensive wine with dinner. Don’t sit in poison ivy.”

“I think I can handle that.”

“Good.” His gaze narrowed. “How’s the guy? Is the piece gonna be decent?”

She thought about telling Jerry all she’d learned about Arizona, about the fan club on the Internet, the inherent charm, the way he actually believed in magic. But she didn’t think her boss really cared about the details. He would find all that out when he read the article.

“It’s going to be great,” she told him.

“Better be.” He grimaced. “Nancy said you were on the right track and I trust her. Not that I should. Pregnant. Do you know she actually expects time off after the kid is born? I asked her what for. She says she wants to breast-feed. Can you believe it? Like a bottle’s not good enough. What is it with women today?” He shook his head in disgust and glared at her. “Don’t you have a story to write? Packing maybe? Get out of here.”

“Yes, Jerry.” Despite herself, Chloe grinned. Jerry acted so tough all the time, but he would be the first one at the hospital after Nancy gave birth. He would be cooing like everyone else over the newborn.

She made her way back to her desk. She had her permission. She was really going away with Arizona. Out into the wilderness, where anything could happen.

* * *

CHLOE STARED AT the clothes folded neatly on top of her bed. “I don’t know what to take,” she admitted. “I’ve never been camping.”

Cassie sat in the chair by the desk and smiled. “You’ll do fine. Take jeans and underwear. Shirts and sweaters. You’ll want to layer if it gets cold, but you won’t want anything bulky.”

“Arizona says we’ll have to hike in the last part, so I have to carry everything with me.”

Cassie leaned forward, picked up the blow-dryer and waved it in the air. “In that case, I’d leave this behind. It’s big, heavy and you’re not going to have electricity.”

“I know. I just thought—” She shuddered. “I don’t know what I was thinking. It was a hideous mistake to agree to this. I’m completely out of my element.”

“You’ll be fine. Arizona will keep you safe.”

Chloe didn’t know whether to laugh or scream. What her sister didn’t understand was that Arizona was part of what she was afraid of. But she couldn’t say that to Cassie without going into detail. And how was she supposed to tell her sister that she had indeed had a dream the night of her twenty-fifth birthday and that the man in her dream had been someone she’d met the very next day? How was she supposed to confess that every time she was near him her body went up in flames, and that all the time they were apart, he was all she could think of?

Besides, not all of her fears were about Arizona. Some of them were about herself. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. She felt herself changing. Nothing was as it should be. She wanted... Chloe sighed. That was the problem. She didn’t know what she wanted.

Cassie stood up and walked to the bed. She opened Chloe’s cosmetic bag and dumped the contents.

“Toothbrush and toothpaste,” she said. She rummaged through the rest of the items, then eyed her sister’s long hair. She picked up a wide-toothed comb and a cloth-covered rubber band. “Don’t worry about makeup.” She fingered a tube of sunscreen. “This has moisture in it.” She added a tiny bottle of shampoo to the small pile. “Arizona will bring soap, I’m sure. Use his.”

Chloe stared at the half-dozen items. “How do you know this stuff?”

“I work with preschoolers. If nothing else, I’ve learned to improvise.” She pointed to the piles of clothing. “Want me to do the same on that?”

“Please.”

As Chloe watched, her sister sorted through jeans, shirts and sweaters. She picked up a waterproof windbreaker, a thin, high-tech fabric pullover guaranteed to keep Chloe warm, two flannel shirts, a spare pair of jeans and underwear.

“Take extra socks,” Cassie told her. “Your feet might get wet.”

“That’s it?” Chloe asked.

“It is if you really have to carry it on your back. I know this from personal experience. I’ve baby-sat too many kids who didn’t want me to bring the stroller. I told myself it was just a quick trip to the mall and that they didn’t weigh all that much. After about five minutes I learned they got heavy very quickly, and I always regretted my decision.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Chloe said. “You’re obviously the expert.”

“I might have some shampoo samples,” Cassie said. “You know those little flat packages? Let me check, because they would be lighter than this bottle. I’ll be right back.”

After she’d left, Chloe looked at the small pile of clothing and wondered what on earth she was getting into. Would she and Arizona be alone for any part of their trip? That thought both terrified and excited her. She didn’t know what was going to happen.

Nerves fluttered in her stomach. Actually, that wasn’t true. If they were alone together for any length of time, she knew exactly what was going to happen between them. Was she ready for that?

She wasn’t sure. She thought about her sister and wished she could tell her what was really going on. She would like someone else’s opinion on her best course of action. Unfortunately, Cassie was a classic romantic and would only see the potential for love, not the probability of heartache. Chloe might firmly believe that love wasn’t for her, but that didn’t mean her emotions couldn’t be engaged under the right circumstances. So far, Arizona had everything going for him.