HAWK'S WAY: THE SUBSTITUTE GROOM
Silhouette, ISBN 0-373-48365-1, $5.99
Hawk's Way Grooms: ISBN 0-373-48486-0
HIS MARRIAGE PROPOSAL WASN'T SHOCKING.
HIS MOTIVE WAS.
BUT SHE HAD HER OWN SECRET...
All of Jennifer Wright's hopes and dreams had rested on her summer wedding--until a single moment changed everything. Including the groom. Suddenly, Jennifer agree to marry her fiance's best friend, a darkly handsome Texan she needed--and desperately wanted--almost against her will. But U.S. Air Force Major Colt Whitelaw had sacrificed too much to settle for a marriage of convenience, and that made hiding her passion all the more difficult. And hiding her biggest secret downright impossible...
an excerpt from the Hawk's Way Series Silhouette romance written by
JOAN JOHNSTON
Colt dropped onto the ground beside Jenny, suddenly feeling the results of too many haunted nights. He lay stretched out on his side, supporting his head with his palm. "Now what?"
She stretched out facing him and laid her cheek on her arm. "Lie down. I can't talk to you when your head's so far above mine."
Reluctantly, he came down off his elbow and laid his head on his arm facing her. For a long time they stared at each other without speaking. He reached out to touch her cheek, to brush away a tear. "Don't cry, Jenny. I can't bear it when you cry."
"I can't help it. So many memories are shuffling around in my head."
"Mine, too," he admitted.
"Do you remember the last time we were here?"
He chuckled. "That isn't a day I'm likely to forget."
"I asked you if you'd teach me how to kiss," she said. "Do you remember what you said?"
"'No.' Or more precisely, 'Hell no!' "
Her eyes lit with laughter, and her lips curled up at the corners. "I begged until you relented, because I didn't want my first kiss with Huck to go awry."
"Craziest thing I've ever done in my life," he said. "Teaching my best friend's girl how to kiss."
"I wanted to know where my hands should go and where he'd put his hands."
"All over you," Colt muttered, "if he could get away with it."
He heard Jenny's laugh, a sound like a burbling brook, and realized it had been a very long time since held heard anything so pleasing. He smiled at her and let the memory of that long ago day wash over him.
They'd ridden horseback to the stock tank, because she'd said she had something important to discuss with him in private. While their horses had taken a drink, she'd popped the question. After his refusal, she'd gone to work convincing him.
"You have to help me, Colt," she pleaded. "My first kiss with Huck has to be perfect, because I'll be remembering it the rest of my life. I don't want anything to go wrong."
"That's what makes the first kiss memorable," he argued. "Things go wrong."
She shook her head, her long blond hair shimmering like corn silk in the sunlight. "Please. Do this for me."
He'd been aware of his attraction to Jenny from the first moment he'd looked into her bluer-than-blue eyes, but Huck had been the first one to speak of her. Colt had felt honor bound to wait and see if things developed between Jenny and Huck before he made his move. To his dismay, Jenny had said yes to Huck's overtures.
More than once Colt had thought of trying to steal Jenny away from Huck. But he knew in his heart that he couldn't live with himself if he betrayed his friend like that. It would taint what he felt for Jenny. So he went along and remained a good friend to both of them.
See how virtue had been rewarded? Jenny wanted him to kiss her first! More than anything in the world he wanted to hold Jenny Wright in his arms. But he had panicked when she came up with the harebrained notion that he should teach her to kiss. Would she be able to tell from his kiss how much he liked her? What if he got carried away and did something that scared her?
"I'll do this on one condition," he conceded at last.
"Anything," she promptly agreed.
"You never ever tell Huck."
"Why not?"
"Believe me, he wouldn't understand."
"Why not?"
"It's a guy thing," he said. "Promise," he insisted.
She crossed her heart with her forefinger. "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye."
"I guess that'll do," he said.
"Okay, I'm ready," she said.
He rubbed his sweaty palms on the thighs of his jeans. "I'm not. I have no idea where to start."
"Why not put your arms around me?" she suggested.
He reached forward at the same time she reached up, and their arms knocked into each other.
"Oops."
"Sorry."
"See what I mean?" she said, wrinkling her nose. "I guess I'll need to stand still while Huck puts his arms around me. You want to try again?"
"Sure." He slid his left arm around her waist and tugged her toward him. But she didn't move.
She looked up at him in confusion. "What?"
"You need to take a step to get closer," he instructed. He applied pressure to her back again, and this time she responded by closing the distance between them until her breasts were a hair's breadth from his chest.
"Is this close enough?"
There was no spit left in his mouth, and he croaked, "Yeah. That's probably close enough."
She looked up expectantly. "Now what?"
"Huck will probably put his hand on your head to angle it in the right direction."
"Okay. I'm ready. Go ahead."
Held only intended to palm her head with his hand, but somehow his fingers got tangled in her hair. "You've got really soft hair," he murmured.
He saw her cheeks pinken. "Thank you. Do you think Huck will do what you're doing? I mean, slide his fingers through my hair like that?"
"Why do you ask?"
She gave a negligent shrug. "It feels good."
Colt reminded himself he was holding Huck's girl. "He might run his hands through your hair. But don't worry if he doesn't. Every guy is different."
"Okay. Now what?"
"I'm a little taller than Huck, so some of what I'm saying might need to be adjusted for height," he said, trying to remain objective. He reminded himself to keep his hips apart from hers, so she wouldn't discover that his body was reacting as though this game of hers was the real thing. "I can bend down to you, or you can come up on tiptoe to reach me," he explained.
"Or Huck and I could move toward each other--me up, him down." She frowned thoughtfully. "It would be easier if I had my hands on Huck's shoulders. When should I do that?"
"Can you get your arms up between mine?" he asked.
She slowly slid her hands up his chest and around his neck. "How's that?"
His heart felt like a caged bird, rocketing around inside his ribs. "That's fine," he managed. "Now, you slide up on tiptoe, and I'll lower my head."
As she came up on tiptoe she lost her balance. She grabbed him around the neck, and his arm tightened around her, pressing her soft, warm breasts against his chest. He met her startled gaze and said, "Are you all right?"
"I think so. Whew! See why I need the practice? Who knew there were so many pitfalls to a simple kiss?"
He started to push her away, but she clung to his neck and said, "Let's keep going. What is Huck likely to do next?"
Kiss you till he can't see straight, Colt thought. But he said, "Let's see how good you are at hitting a target."
She grinned. "You mean, can I find his lips with mine?"
"Give it a shot."
Her fingertips at his nape urged his head down toward hers. He kept his eyes locked with hers until he couldn't bear the excitement anymore, then closed his eyes and waited for her lips to touch his. When they didn't, he opened his eyes to find her staring at him, her brow furrowed. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I shouldn't be the one doing the kissing," she said. "Huck will want to be the aggressor."
"The aggressor?" Colt said.
"You know, the wolf stalking his prey, the neanderthal dragging his woman back to his cave."
"Where do women get these ideas?" he said, shaking his head.
"From men," she said with a grin. "Admit it. Men like to make the first move. What would Huck think if I kissed him first?"
"That you liked him," Colt said flatly.
She looked thoughtful, then shook her head. "I'm an old-fashioned girl. Huck has to be the one to kiss first."
Which meant he had to kiss her first, Colt realized. "Let's get this over with." He leaned down, but before he could kiss her, she put her fingertips to his lips. "What's wrong now?" he asked in exasperation.
"Huck wouldn't do it like that."
"Like what?"
"In a big hurry."
"He might."
"He'll take his time. He'll make it count. He'll know how important this first kiss is. Do it right," she said.
"Do it right?" he muttered. "I'll do it right. Watch me do it right."
He threaded his fingers through her hair again, then used his hold to angle her head back so her lips were aimed up at his. He lowered his head slowly, keeping his eyes on hers, making it count. This was the first time he was going to kiss the girl he loved. And he wanted her to know how important this moment was.
He felt a shock as their lips touched and backed off to stare at her. She looked dazed. He lowered his mouth over hers a second time, feeling the firmness and then the supple give as she responded to him. He pressed a little harder and felt her hands slide into his hair.
He wanted to taste her, so he teased his tongue along the edge of her lips, waiting for her to open to him.
She broke the kiss abruptly and leaned back to stare at him, her pupils dilated, her lips wet, her body trembling. "What were you doing with your tongue?"
"I was tasting you."
"Will Huck want to do that?"
"I would if I were him," he said simply.
"Why?"
"Because it feels good."
"It makes me feel funny inside." She laughed nervously and said, "Look at me- I'm shaking."
"You want to quit?"
She hesitated, then shook her head. "I'd better practice if I'm going to get it right with Huck. I'm ready now, if you want to try again."
He leaned down and touched her mouth lightly with his once, and then again, teasing kisses that urged her to accept what was coming. He felt her lips become less rigid, felt them ease apart as his tongue slid along the crease, heard her moan as his tongue slid inside her mouth. Her hands clutched his hair as her hips arched instinctively into his.
Then she was jerking herself away and backing up, her hand rubbing at her mouth, her eyes wide, her body trembling. "Ohmigod. What am I doing? What are we doing?"
He stood without moving. He saw her eyes drop to the thick ridge along the zipper of his jeans and knew what had frightened her. But that was going to happen to Huck, too. She might as well know it now, as later.
"It's all right," he said in a matter-of-fact voice. "What happened to you--to us--is normal. It's what happens between a man and a woman when they kiss. I'm sorry if I scared you."
"Will Huck--? Of course he will," she said. thrusting an agitated hand through her hair. "I had no idea it would be like that. So . . . powerful. You stop thinking, you stop being a rational person, your body just sort of . . . explodes."
"Yeah," he said, huffing out a breath of air. "That pretty well describes it."
She looked up at him earnestly and said, "Thanks, Colt. I'm going to be forever in your debt. There aren't many friends who'd be willing to help out like this."
"Anytime," he said.
Colt became aware of a horse ripping up grass with his teeth near his head and opened his eyes. He leaned up on his elbow and looked down at Jenny. She was sound asleep, her breathing quiet and even. He wondered if her first kiss with Huck had been everything she'd hoped. He'd never asked, and she'd never spoken about it.
"This is for you from Huck," he murmured as he leaned over and gently touched her lips with his. "A kiss goodbye."
* * *
