Pride. Penny Jordan

light weight on his hip. As he faced the excited audience, a breathless hush replaced the noisy chatter.

      “We’ll take Bachelorette number…three,” he said on a reluctant sigh.

      Thank God it was just pretend and just for the night, he told himself. He was a big boy. He could put up with Eleanor Rose for one night. The smile that spread across his son’s face and his little hands clapping gleefully amid thundering applause from the audience was all the confirmation he needed that he’d made the right choice…for his son.

      Dillon thanked Bachelorettes number one and two, speculatively watching number two leave the stage. Her backward look was full of promise, if he’d only take her up on the offer. Mary Towers was her name. She was definitely the Suzie Homemaker type he was looking for and appeared to like kids just fine. Maybe he would add her to his list of possibilities.

      She’s just what I’m looking for. She’d make a great mother for Ryan, he was thinking when his gaze collided with angry, storm-filled, whiskey eyes that reminded him of…

      Then it was just the four of them left on the stage. Ryan, his smile big, his eyes bright with excitement. Jake, grinning with smug satisfaction. Eleanor, her face white, her lips pressed into a thin, painful-looking line, her expressive eyes swimming with an emotion he couldn’t put a name to. And himself.

      Dillon didn’t like the laughter that tinted Jake’s voice when he turned to the audience. “Ladies and gentlemen. May I introduce Portland’s hottest new couple, Dillon Stone and Eleanor Rose.”

      Flicking his gaze from his son’s excited grin to Jake’s triumphant laughter, then to Eleanor Rose’s disbelieving stillness, Dillon couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that instead of being almost over, this night’s high jinks were only just beginning.

      Chapter Three

      “Ladies and gentlemen. We’re going to have a short intermission while we set up the wedding scene. Don’t forget to take a look at the silent auction at the back of the room.”

      Eleanor wanted to scream at the top of her lungs at the turn Jake’s so-called “dating game” had taken. Hastily she tugged her foster brother away from Dillon’s frown and the excitement dancing in his little boy’s eyes.

      “Jake. I am not going to marry that…man,” she whispered fiercely, turning her back on the tantalizing promise Dillon Stone represented.

      “Of course you are. It’s perfectly safe, all make-believe. For charity, remember?”

      Eleanor shook off Jake’s arm when he tried to wrap her in a smothering hug.

      “He should have picked one of the others. Why didn’t he?” Eleanor didn’t like the feeling that she was losing it.

      “Because you’re so sweet and wonderful? And, he couldn’t resist you?” Humor played across Jake’s face, only inching her irritation higher.

      “You’re dead meat.”

      “Thanks, El. I love you, too. Look out, here come the wedding props.”

      Intent on getting as far away from Dillon Stone and his sweet little boy as she possibly could, Eleanor scowled her worst at Jake before moving out of the way of the stage workers who were exchanging the cubicles for an elaborate garden wedding scene.

      “This isn’t going to work, you know,” Dillon told his friend evenly, while Jake fixed the bridal boutonniere in his jacket lapel. Covertly, he watched Eleanor across the stage, fidgeting tensely while a woman, presumably one of Jake’s assistants, placed a long, trailing, lacy veil over her flowing blond hair.

      God, she was beautiful. She certainly wasn’t a shy tomboy anymore. Gone was the young girl he remembered. In her place was a gorgeous woman, but one who still lacked all the female graces.

      “Sure, it’s going to work. The crowd loves this stuff.” Jake indicated the wedding arch that was being placed center stage.

      “No. I mean Eleanor and me.” Dillon didn’t believe the picture that was being created of Eleanor as the perfect bride. Unexpectedly, a painful knot formed in his stomach at the fleeting, wistful look she cast at him. A look that was concealed behind indifference before it was ever fully formed.

      Damn. Why was he even thinking about this? He wanted more children. Maybe, lots of them. And in his experience, career women did not want children. At least not right away. Anyone could see that Eleanor Rose was a dedicated career woman.

      Even now, she was dressed in a gray pin-striped skirt and jacket as if she couldn’t wait to get back to the office. Surprisingly, the top button of her blouse was open, exposing a generous amount of her slender throat, slightly spoiling her perfect corporate image. But that didn’t change the fact that he’d met her type before.

      “What about you and Eleanor?” Jake’s pseudo-innocent inquiry made the hairs stand at alert on the back of Dillon’s neck.

      “We have absolutely nothing in common. After tonight we’ll probably never see each other again.” The ping that poked his heart at the thought of never seeing Eleanor again didn’t mean a thing. Suspiciously, Dillon watched his friend’s unchanging expression. Mary Towers was the more obvious choice for his list of possible wife candidates.

      “Hey. No problem. But it wouldn’t hurt if you and El got together after this.”

      Get together? With Eleanor Rose? The poster lady of corporate womanhood? No way.

      “It’s not going to happen, Jake,” Dillon firmly informed his friend.

      “All I’m saying—”

      “Dad, how come she’s standing way over there?” Ryan pulled insistently on his hand, effectively derailing Dillon’s conversation with Jake—a conversation that had been going nowhere, anyway.

      “Because the bride and groom are not supposed to see each other before the wedding ceremony, pal.” Jake answered for him, dropping on one knee to fix a matching boutonniere on Ryan’s lapel. “Everything seems to be ready. Why don’t we get your dad and El in place?”

      Eleanor turned to face the man she’d worked so hard to keep out of her dreams. She couldn’t go through with this. She wasn’t going to pretend to marry the one man who had once had the power to rock her to her very soul.

      “El, come stand over here.”

      Jake’s instruction set her teeth on edge. Forcing stiff limbs to move, Eleanor slowly walked to the spot her foster brother indicated.

      Why was she doing this? Because it was a fake ceremony…and for charity. Eleanor squared her shoulders. She had a fulfilling career and was just fine living on her own. She was not feeling sorry for herself or wishing for the impossible just because as a young woman she’d once wished she could be bound to this man for life.

      A small hand nestled into hers. Unable to stop the feelings suddenly warming her, Eleanor looked down into shining green eyes and the biggest smile she’d ever seen on a child’s face.

      “You’re going to be my new mom,” Ryan said, eyes twinkling at her. Eleanor’s heart sank. She didn’t need any new cracks to form in her armor.

      “Remember, son, this is just make-believe.” Dillon’s determined words sealed those cracks shut with a lonely clang.

      “Where’s the judge? Is there a judge in the house?” Jake demanded playfully of the audience.

      In unison the audience began to loudly chant. “Judge…judge…judge…”

      Keep your sense of humor. Don’t break your heart over this, Eleanor admonished herself as a sprinkle of laughter drifted through the room. Nervously, she adjusted her glasses on her nose. This mockery of a marriage was for charity. It didn’t mean anything more than that.

      Taking a deep breath to settle the skittish alarm clanging