Slow Hands

known she would be. She also appeared genuinely happy for her sister, and made a stunning picture as she walked down the aisle.
    God, the images that put in his head. Even if being here, among all these rich people who probably made his annual salary in a day, should have him running the other way.
    Damn it, they could work it out. He loved Maddy. He suspected she loved him, too. That was all that mattered—it was the only thing that mattered. He just needed to keep reminding himself of it.
    Though Jake’s attention remained on the woman he’d escorted here tonight, he definitely felt some vibes coming off the engaged couple. Tabitha’s laughter seemed almost too bright, her mood more forced than joyous. And the groom had little or nothing to say at all.
    Yeah. There were definitely some undercurrents going on, though maybe they were only visible to an outsider who didn’t have anything at stake in tomorrow’s high-society event.
    In the car, on the way to the dinner, he voiced his observations to Maddy.
    “What? Are you kidding? Tabitha’s very happy.”
    That hadn’t seemed like happiness to him. Then again, maybe for Maddy’s sister, the tight smile was typical, maybe her eyes never sparkled, and the slight droop to her shoulders was a result of fatigue from wedding mania.
    But he doubted it.
    “I can’t believe I forgot to even introduce you,” she said, sounding genuinely distressed. “I’ll rectify that as soon as we get to the hotel.”
    The one owned by the groom’s father. He remembered that tidbit. “Yeah, be sure to point out your stepmother, too, okay? I want to make sure I’m ready to deal with her…just in case.”
    “I told you, I already warned her you’d be there.”
    She had, on the way to the church. Fortunately, it hadn’t been an issue then, because the stepmother of the bride hadn’t bothered to attend. Another tidbit that caused the bride’s mouth to tighten. Deborah was, however, per Maddy’s father, definitely going to be at dinner.
    Yippee.
    “She and I didn’t have time to talk for more than a few minutes the other night, but I put her on notice.” Maddy’s mouth tightened. “There’s no way she’s going to say anything my dad might overhear. That would put her in some serious trouble.”
    “I know,” he mumbled, though his mind had already shifted gears. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about Maddy’s stepmother, beyond the fact that he wouldn’t want Jason Turner, whom he already liked, hurt in any way.
    Nor did he give a damn what anybody else—the stepmother, or any of the spoiled, rich socialites who might show up at the wedding tomorrow and remember him from the auction—thought of him. They could consider him the biggest boy toy in the world. It didn’t matter. Only one person’s opinion mattered and she was sitting right beside him.
    Maddy deserved the truth; he had known that for days. But it had never been more clear to him than those moments before he’d made love to her tonight, when their eyes had met and they’d silently said the words that neither of them had dared to voice out loud.
    He loved her. There were no more caveats, no more qualifications, no more maybes. He couldn’t hide behind the protective, halfhearted idea that he was “falling for her” or that he sensed they could have something, or that he thought he could love her. He did love her. Period.
    And her expression tonight, not to mention every moment they’d shared in the past several days, told him she loved him, too. Whether she loved him enough to get over the fact that he’d let her believe a lie, he didn’t know. All he knew was that, feeling the way he did, he couldn’t continue something he found so morally dishonest. Even though they were almost to the hotel and there was really no time, he found he could no longer continue the charade. He couldn’t walk into that dinner filled with her family and friends under such dishonest terms.
    “I need to talk to you, Maddy,” he murmured, his eyes on the road. “Before we get there, you have to know a few things.”
    She stiffened in her seat. He didn’t have to see to know it, the air in the car changed with her sudden tension. God love the woman, she was so used to having the rug yanked out from under her, she’d probably been steeling herself for something to happen. Something bad.
    He tried to keep things light at first. “I hope you have money in your account, because your check is going to clear your