The Groom's Stand-In. Gina Wilkins

during the brief time Chloe was out of his sight, though he couldn’t imagine why he was suddenly so antsy.

      This whole situation probably had him unnerved. Bryan was supposed to be making this trip, but he’d been detained in New York and had arranged to meet them at his Ozarks vacation home. He’d asked Donovan to make sure Chloe got there safely. In a couple of hours, Bryan would become Chloe’s companion, and Donovan could get back to his own life—which, admittedly, consisted mostly of work.

      Chloe joined him at the cooler, reached inside and selected a diet cola. They carried their selections to the register, setting them side by side on the counter. Chloe started to open her purse, but Donovan already had his money in hand. “I’ve got them.”

      She looked as though she wanted to argue, but his expression must have let her know there would be no point. The purchases paid for, he handed her the diet cola and motioned toward the door.

      A cloud passed in front of the sun just as they stepped outside, plunging the parking lot into even deeper shadow and making the brisk breeze that skipped around them feel suddenly colder. Once again, Donovan found himself moving closer to Chloe’s side.

      Chloe looked at him curiously. “Is something wrong?”

      He was being foolish, of course. This wasn’t one of the rare operations during which he had to flinch at every sound, search every shadow, or suspect every bystander of being armed and dangerous. All he was doing was escorting Bryan’s girlfriend for a few hours. Not an assignment he would have chosen for himself, but certainly not a hazardous duty.

      Chloe found herself sneaking glances at Donovan again during the remainder of the quiet ride. She regretted that he had slipped on a pair of dark sunglasses when they’d left the convenience store. His face had been difficult enough to read when she could see his eyes, as little as they revealed. Now, all she could see was the hard line of his jaw—which wasn’t encouraging conversation.

      He would probably be perfectly happy if they completed the rest of the trip in silence. Even when he’d tried to make small talk, he hadn’t been particularly friendly. Maybe she shouldn’t take it personally. Maybe he was this way with everyone, although she found it hard to believe that charming, congenial Bryan Falcon’s closest friend had the personality of granite.

      She couldn’t say this trip was starting out promisingly. But, at least, she had never had any trouble talking to Bryan, she reminded herself. Just the opposite, in fact; they’d chatted almost like old friends from the first time they’d met.

      If Bryan felt more like a good friend than a potential lover—well, that was something she was hoping to overcome during the next few days. Bryan was handsome, personable, intelligent, amusing, attentive—everything a woman could want. She was quite sure that once they were alone, away from the pressure of public scrutiny, their relationship would progress naturally.

      She wasn’t looking for blazing passion in a marriage, she reminded herself. She wasn’t expecting to fall desperately in love—nor to be blindly adored in return. She’d sought those romantic myths before, only to be repeatedly disappointed. She would be content now with security, respect, affection and, most of all, children—and Bryan had almost convinced her he wanted exactly the same things.

      Why couldn’t Grace understand how appealing his offer sounded?

      As for Donovan—Chloe risked a glance at the stern-faced man behind the wheel. He’d made his disapproval clear enough. Did he really think of her as a scheming gold digger, or was he, like Grace, completely turned off by the businesslike way Bryan and Chloe were going about this courtship? She doubted that Donovan harbored any romantic illusions about love and marriage. She would bet he was convinced she was only after Bryan’s money, that Bryan was the one being used.

      Well, that was Donovan’s problem. She wouldn’t waste her breath trying to explain her motives to him. For one thing, it was none of his business. For another, he would never believe her anyway, not if he already had his mind made up about her.

      “How much farther is it to Bryan’s vacation house?” she asked.

      “About another hour.”

      She nodded and adjusted her seat belt, mentally preparing for another awkward hour. “Will Bryan be waiting for us there?”

      “He hoped to arrive about the same time we do—maybe an hour or so afterward if he got held up in New York.”

      “And will you be staying with us?”

      Even though she couldn’t see his eyes through his dark glasses, she felt the dry humor in the glance he shot her way. “Don’t worry, I won’t interfere with your plans. I’ll be on my way as soon as you and Bryan are settled in.”

      She didn’t know why his words embarrassed her. There was nothing overtly suggestive about them. But still she found herself averting her face to hide her expression, gazing fixedly out the passenger-side window.

      She was an adult, she reminded herself—closing in fast on her thirtieth birthday. She didn’t owe Donovan, Grace or anyone else explanations or justifications for her actions. She didn’t have to tell them that Bryan had promised not to rush her, that they had agreed they would spend the next few days talking in private about what they both wanted for their futures.

      She’d tried to convince Grace that this was the primary purpose for this intimate retreat, but Grace hadn’t accepted it. She was convinced that Bryan was going to pressure Chloe into sleeping with him for a few days. Then, when he grew bored with her, he was going to announce that he’d changed his mind about marriage, leaving Chloe feeling used, betrayed and deeply disappointed.

      Chloe suspected that Donovan harbored similar unflattering suspicions about her.

      She was relieved when Donovan turned off the main highway onto a winding lane that he said led to Bryan’s Table Rock Lake vacation home. The sooner this uncomfortable journey was over, the better, as far as she was concerned. She much preferred Bryan’s easy charm to Donovan’s brooding disapproval.

      He made several more winding turns, seemingly taking them miles from anywhere. It occurred to her suddenly that she was being awfully trusting, going blindly into the wilderness with this taciturn man she hadn’t met before today. But Bryan had told her she would be safe with Donovan, and she trusted Bryan implicitly. She wouldn’t have agreed to spend the next week with him if she didn’t.

      She had expected Bryan’s vacation house to be nice. She already knew he wasn’t the type to settle for less.

      She hadn’t expected anything quite like this.

      Looking more like a lodge than a private vacation home, the sprawling structure was built of rock and redwood. Big windows and roomy decks allowed for the enjoyment of the beautiful surroundings—the thick woods, the rolling hills, the glistening lake that lay in the distance behind the house, which perched at the top of a tall bluff. Though tasteful and inviting, there was no question that this place belonged to someone with a great deal of money.

      Chloe’s family had never been poor, but they would definitely have been categorized as “working class.” She’d never been to a place like this that wasn’t a public resort.

      “Looks like we’ve arrived before Bryan,” Donovan commented, parking in front of the house. “He should be here soon. I’ll help you get settled in.”

      Now that she was actually here, Chloe was unexpectedly hesitant about going inside. Maybe it was because the house was so much more impressive than she had expected, emphasizing the differences between her lifestyle and Bryan’s. Or maybe it was a result of the uncomfortable hours she had just spent with Bryan’s associate. Or maybe it was because the full magnitude of what she was doing was just hitting her.

      This wasn’t dinner and a movie, or a night at the symphony—the type of outing she’d shared with Bryan until now. This was a full week with him. Days…and nights. That was enough to daunt her, since going away with a man wasn’t something she had done very often. But she couldn’t even mark this off