A Merger by Marriage. Cat Schield

lipstick until his gaze locked on her mouth.

      A bride shouldn’t attend her wedding in such a state. She dug in her purse, but all she found was some lip balm. “Damn,” she muttered. “I don’t have any lipstick.”

      “You don’t need any.” He opened the passenger door for her and gave her plenty of room to get by him. It was almost as if he was avoiding her. But why would he need to do that?

      “I’m not sure I feel completely dressed without it.”

      “I assure you, you’re completely dressed.”

      Was that humor she saw in his expression? Oh how she wished she could read his mind. It would be nice to know how the man she was about to marry thought, but it wasn’t likely to happen now, or ever. He would make certain of that.

      “I wonder what else I forgot to pack,” she mused, her brain on autopilot. “I had some last-minute things to take care of with my assistant. I was afraid I was going to be late.”

      “And that I might change my mind?”

      “The thought occurred to me.” She slid into her seat and watched him circle the car. “What about you? Did you think I might chicken out?”

      “No. I think you are the most dependable person I know.” His statement made it sound as if he knew more about her than their limited association had led her to believe. He slipped behind the wheel and started the engine.

      Violet regarded his strong profile, admiring the precise cut of his jaw and his ridiculously long eyelashes. “What makes you say that?”

      “From your reputation around town. Whenever you make a commitment to a cause or a promise to a friend you come through. No matter what.”

      As the car rolled toward South Las Vegas Boulevard, Violet put her hands to her cheeks and found them hot with embarrassment. “I don’t do more than anyone else.”

      “And then you rarely take credit for all the good things you do.” The light turned green as they approached it and JT was able to turn onto the strip without stopping. “It causes people to take advantage of your generosity.”

      Was he trying to warn her that this is what he was doing? If he was, it was too late. She was already committed to their goal.

      “You make me sound like a sap.”

      “I was trying to pay you a compliment.”

      “A backhanded one, maybe. You’re a dependable doormat.” She made a face. “That’s a fine way to talk about your bride-to-be.”

      An impatient sound erupted from him. “In the future I’ll remember that flattery makes you prickly.”

      “See that you do. I prefer honesty to sweet talk.” She stared at him in silence until he’d stopped at a light and looked her way. “Are you going to have a problem with that?”

      “Not at all.”

      “Good. Just think of me as a fellow businessperson and we’ll get along just fine.”

      JT merely nodded his agreement.

      Ten minutes later, they swung into the Tunnel of Love Chapel. It wasn’t Violet’s first trip through the tunnel. Her best friend from high school had tied the knot here the day after graduation and two short months before baby Cory was born. JT, however, looked like he’d never seen anything like the blue ceiling adorned with cupids and stars.

      He stopped the car before a booth with a sign that read “The Little White Wedding Chapel Drive Thru Window,” and they filled out the paperwork for the marriage license. Getting married in Las Vegas was a simple matter. Maybe too simple? Time for second thoughts came and went in the blink of an eye. As the opening words of the wedding ceremony began, a strange buzzing filled her ears.

      Was she really marrying JT Stone? Violet glanced from the man framed by the booth window to JT. Her lips twitched uncontrollably. As first JT then she repeated the vows spoken by the minister, Violet was overwhelmed by the dreamlike aspect of her wedding. She didn’t feel attached to the body sitting in the car beside JT. And she didn’t recognize her voice promising to love and honor him. It wasn’t until JT pulled out two platinum rings and she felt the cold metal slide onto her finger that she crashed back to earth.

      She had only a second to scrutinize her ring’s antique setting. The setting was square, the diamond round, the corners filled in with ornate filigree. Violet guessed the stone to be over two and a half carats. Smaller round diamonds flanked the center stone. He slipped the ring on her left hand. The instant she realized it fit, all her agitation disappeared and she was struck by the rightness of what she was doing.

      The minister interrupted her thoughts. “Now the bride.”

      JT handed her the other ring, this one embossed with waves and swirls. Repeating the vows that symbolized love and commitment, Violet slipped the ring onto JT’s finger. She couldn’t look him in the eye. Her wild idea to marry JT so she could use her stock to put him in charge of his family’s company was on the verge of becoming legally and morally binding.

      “I now pronounce you man and wife,” the minister proclaimed.

      Violet’s heart had been erratic since JT had agreed to marry her. Now it was positively aflutter. They’d done it. For good or for bad, there was no going back.

      “You may kiss the bride.”

      Mouth dry, Violet waited for her first kiss from JT. Her stomach had been in knots for the last several hours since they’d agreed to get married. How would he kiss her? Would it be passionate? Romantic? Would he sweep her into his arms and steal her breath or would he woo her with slow, sensual kisses? Either way, she knew it would be perfect.

      She’d never dreamed he’d catch her chin in his fingers and plant a quick kiss at the corner of her lips. Lost in a fog of disappointment, she automatically went through the formalities that followed and accepted the congratulations of the witnesses with a heavy heart.

      And then the car was rolling out of the Tunnel of Love Chapel and emerging into the noise and lights of Las Vegas once more. While JT negotiated the traffic on his way to the freeway, Violet stared at the ring on her hand. How had he gotten a set of wedding rings on such short notice? And such unique ones at that.

      “It’s my grandmother’s,” JT said as if reading her mind. “And this is my grandfather’s.” He held up his left hand. “I drove to the ranch before picking you up.”

      Rendered speechless at the significance of wearing a family heirloom, Violet gaped at him. Harper would laugh at her for believing that jewelry held the energy of the wearer, but what else could explain the tranquility that came over her the instant she’d put on his grandmother’s ring? They’d married without love. She didn’t deserve to be wearing something so dear.

      “Is something wrong?” he prompted.

      “We could have bought rings at the chapel.”

      “Why, when these were collecting dust in my safe?”

      “But it’s your grandmother’s ring.”

      He eyed her. “And I trust that as soon as it’s no longer necessary, you’ll return it.”

      “Of course.” It was beginning to annoy her that he wasn’t getting the significance of the jewelry he’d just pledged his troth with. Heaving a sigh, Violet decided to let it drop. In a few months it would be back in his safe where it belonged.

      As the car streaked through the Nevada night, the adrenaline rush she’d been riding for the last two days began to fade. Her confidence waned as well. She was now married to a man who was for all intents and purposes a virtual stranger. And with the strength of his deflector shields, he was likely to stay that way no matter how delicately she probed. Which she really shouldn’t do.

      What she had to remember was that despite the marriage vows they’d just exchanged, theirs was a union