Laura Marie - Blind Luck Bride

“Me! Me!” A half dozen pint-size girls squirmed in their seats, itching for the chance to clamber up on stage.

“Hmm, such a tough choice,” Elvis said, “You’re all so lovely, but I pick…you.” He pointed to the only one of the girls not squirming, a pigtailed angel seated in a wheelchair. “Sir,” Elvis said, pointing to Dallas. “Could you please help the little lady onto the stage? Her mama looks like she’s got her hands full.”

Lilly followed the magician’s gaze to where the girl’s mother cradled a tiny bundle of blue. What a cute baby! But then Lilly caught sight of her groom staring at the infant and found a whole new meaning for cute. Beaming at the tiny face, Dallas’s expression had turned to pure mush.

Wow…her heart felt ready to burst.

She’d been terrified that, because he hadn’t asked the smallest question about her baby, Dallas had changed his mind about wanting to become a father, but seeing him now, gazing upon a stranger’s infant, then taking extraordinary care wheeling the girl toward the stage, Lilly again had her decision to marry him confirmed.

“There you go, sir,” Elvis said. “Wheel that darling right on up the ramp, then you can take your seat.”

For Lilly, with Dallas back beside her, the rest of the show passed in a blur of jumping toy poodles, squawking parrots and barely contained tears. Never could she remember having been so happy. With the help of the Internet, she’d found a wonderful father for her child.

Yes, but what about a wonderful husband for you?

She swallowed hard and cast a glance Dallas’s way.

No. No matter how many times as a young woman she’d dreamed of Prince Charming sweeping her off her feet, she had to keep in mind that, now, it would simply never happen. The current platonic arrangement she shared with Dallas was beneficial for them both. If she were to open herself up to the kind of pipe dreams that had led to her involvement with Elliot, she’d only be inviting more trouble into her life.

All that said, Dallas seemed to be getting a genuine kick out of not so much watching the show, but watching how much the children around him enjoyed the show. Meeting this one-in-a-million man had been a miracle, and while she knew their feelings would never move beyond friendship, at the moment she very much felt that she had already made a lifelong friend. And somehow, she thought, swallowing past the lump in her throat, that would be enough.

She and Dallas laughed at the same corny jokes, she adored his taste in flowers and rings, they’d even eaten the same unconventional breakfast. By the time Sparky the Wonder Dog was readying for his brave fire leap and her husband had taken her hand in his, Lilly no longer felt sorry for herself, but more like the luckiest woman alive.

All too soon the show was over and they were the last to leave the small theater. While Dallas made a quick run to the rest room, she waited for him in the foyer, counting the seconds to his return.

When he strolled out of the makeshift lobby wearing a cheesy grin, she said, “What are you up to? You look like you’ve been doing a lot more than going to the bathroom.”

He shrugged and slipped his hands into his pockets, where she could have sworn she detected the sound of crinkling plastic.

“Dallas Lebeaux, what are you hiding?”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Can’t a guy keep a secret from his wife?”

“Did you buy me a present?”

Again, all she got from him was a maddening shrug, then, “Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

“Hmm, sounds intriguing.” She didn’t press him further, for if there was anything she liked more than her new husband, it was surprises!

“Whoa, it’s bright out here,” Finn said, holding the door open for his adorable wife as they moved from the dark ex-grocery store to blinding midday sun.

“It sure is.” On the way to the car, she brought her hand to her forehead to shade her eyes. Sunbeams shot through the paste diamond in her gumball-machine ring, reminding him for a second of the antique ruby and diamond he’d almost slipped on Vivian’s hand. The ring had been his grandmother’s, then his mother’s. Giving that ring to Vivian would have been the worst mistake of his life.

But then if marrying his real fiancée would have been just a mistake, what did marrying a hired fiancée amount to? Full-out catastrophe?

He eyed the scooped neck of the pink T-shirt Lilly had changed into. No catastrophe there. The full upper curve of her breasts peeked at him, practically sending him an engraved invitation to feel how soft they were and pliable and—

“Wasn’t that girl you helped onstage adorable?”

“What? Huh?” Finn, reaching to unlock, then open Lilly’s car door, was still focused on the adult entertainment.

“Don’t tell me you already forgot her corkscrew pigtails?” she said, climbing inside the car.

Hell no, he hadn’t forgotten the girl or her baby brother. It was just that the topic of kids was too painful to bring into this lark he and Lilly called a marriage.

“You’re going to make a great father,” she said after he slid behind the wheel. “My brother says you can tell a good parent by their patience, and what with all my blubbering last night and the church thing this morning—” she transfixed him with her near-flood-stage baby blues “—what can I say? You’re a patient guy. A guy I know is going to make a great dad.”

Talk about hitting below the belt. How had Mitch known Finn yearned to be a father? The power Lilly wielded with her body already had Finn losing control. If she started talking babies, too, he’d be a goner.

Figuring the best way to avoid the issue was to ignore it, he started the car.

“Where to?” he said.

“Want to go back to the motel and talk?”

“Nah,” he said, backing out of their parking space. “It’s too early for talking. How about playing a few slots?”

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