Dream Wedding. Susan Mallery

experience, ask Chloe. She wore it last night.”

      “Really?”

      Chloe flushed slightly. “It was my birthday yesterday. Big deal. I wore it. Nothing happened.”

      He studied her, the smooth skin, the high cheekbones and firm set of her chin. She was lying, but about what?

      “No dreams at all?” he asked.

      “None worth mentioning.”

      “Maybe you should let us be the judge of that. After all, if you’re so interested in my story, maybe you should share yours with me. Just to be fair.” As he said the words, the image of her in the nightgown popped back into his head. No way, he told himself. It hadn’t been him. He wasn’t anyone’s idea of destiny. The fates were smart enough to know that.

      A timer dinged on the stove. Chloe rose to her feet. “Saved by the bell, and I mean that literally. The cobbler is ready. Why don’t the three of you go on into the living room. I’ll serve the dessert and bring it to you.”

      “Ah, Chloe, you’re no fun at all,” Cassie complained.

      “I know. It’s my lot in life.”

      “Don’t worry,” Charity said as she linked arms with him. “We can use the time to convince Arizona to stay here instead of at some boring hotel. What do you think?”

      Cassie clapped her hands together. “That would be great! Say yes, Arizona. I swear I won’t bug you every minute with questions.”

      “Just every other minute,” Chloe muttered.

      Cassie grinned. “Actually, she’s telling the truth, but would that be too awful?”

      “Not at all,” Arizona said.

      He was tempted. He would have accepted the gracious invitation except for one thing. Chloe. Something about her called to him. He could still picture her in the nightgown and he was hard with wanting. If anything happened between them, he didn’t want to worry about upsetting Charity by taking advantage of her hospitality and therefore be unable to make love with Chloe.

      Talk about an ulterior motive, he told himself. If Charity knew what he was thinking, she would want him neutered for sure.

      Cassie took the nightgown from him and folded it. “We’re supposed to wash it by hand using water from the first rain after the first full moon following the wearer’s birthday. I’ve marked the full moon on my calendar. I don’t want to forget. Chloe might not believe, but I’m determined to make sure the legend happens to me.”

      Arizona stood up and caught Chloe staring after her sister with an incredible look of sadness on her face. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but this wasn’t the time, and even if it was, he didn’t have the right. He was just a guest in the house. Of course there was the detail of the article Chloe wanted to write. She was going to spend the next three weeks chasing after him, and if she played her cards right, he just might let her catch him.

      CHAPTER THREE

      “THERE IS a perfectly logical explanation,” Chloe told herself as she exited the freeway and headed for the university. “Things like this happen all the time. It’s nothing to worry about. I’m not going insane.”

      She braked at the stop sign and shifted her car into neutral. Her mouth curved up into a smile. “The fact that I’m talking to myself is not an indication of mental imbalance. I’ve always talked to myself. The trick is to not answer. At least not out loud.”

      The intersection cleared. She shifted into first and accelerated. Okay, so she was still feeling very strange about the dream she’d had two nights ago. Being exhausted didn’t help. She hadn’t been able to sleep at all the previous night, what with trying to make sense of everything. Obviously she’d seen Arizona’s picture somewhere in the past, and his image had been lodged in her subconscious. It happened all the time. Cassie had been talking about the nightgown legend for weeks before Chloe’s twenty-fifth birthday. The combination of life pressures, family-legend expectations and Lord knew what else had created a very real dream. But it was only a dream.

      The fact that Arizona had invaded her life the next day was merely coincidence. The world was full of them.

      “I’m going to be fine,” she said aloud. “This article is a great opportunity for me. I’m going to turn in a dynamite project, impress the socks off my editor and write my way into a job with a big New York publisher.”

      She drew in a deep breath. The spring air was warm, the sun bright, the sky clear. At the next stop sign Chloe glanced around at the budding trees and green lawns that marked the outskirts of the university campus. For the first time in months she had the top down on her little sports car. The wind ruffled her hair and made her want to laugh. She would get through all this. She’d always been a survivor. If nothing else, she would keep reminding herself that Arizona Smith was just a man. Okay, he was very good-looking and the sight of him made her heart race. And maybe when they’d shaken hands yesterday she had felt a slight electrical charge, not to mention the fact that she didn’t even have to close her eyes to picture him naked, next to her, on top of her, touching her everywhere as he—

      “Stop it!” she commanded herself. “Don’t go there. It’s way too dangerous territory. Keep it light, keep it professional.”

      With that she turned into the parking lot by the exhibition hall. She found a parking spot by the main walkway and put up the top on her convertible. She’d barely finished collecting her leather briefcase when a black four-wheel-drive Ford Explorer pulled into the spot next to her. As she stepped out of her convertible, she had the feeling her car looked like a gnat buzzing beside an elephant. Then the tiny hairs on the back of her neck all stood up and a shiver raced down her spine. She couldn’t think about cars or even breathing because she knew. He was there.

      Sure enough, a tall, handsome guy climbed down from the driver’s seat and circled around the front of the Explorer. Arizona wore khakis and a long-sleeved dark green shirt. His hair needed a trim, his boots were scuffed, and none of that mattered because there was a glint in his green eyes that made her wonder if the devil was half so appealing as this man standing in front of her.

      “Morning,” he said. “I thought I saw you zipping by me on the freeway. You were talking to yourself.”

      Chloe tightened her grip on her briefcase, then faked a casual chuckle. “Dictating, actually. I’m a journalist. It’s an occupational hazard.”

      “I see.” His gaze traveled leisurely over her body. The attention was as tangible as a blast of hot air. She found herself wanting to move close and rub up against him, just to make the moment complete. Before she could make a total fool of herself, he turned his attention to her car.

      “Nice,” he said, pointing at the silver BMW Z3 convertible. “You ever pretend you’re James Bond?”

      Chloe rolled her eyes. She’d heard the question before. Yes, the car had been featured in Pierce Brosnan’s first film as James Bond, but that wasn’t why she’d bought it. Some of her trust money had become available a couple of years before, she’d needed a new car and she’d always wanted a convertible. She’d bought the car on a whim and had never regretted it even once.

      But she wasn’t about to explain that to Arizona. She was in a lot of danger with this man. He was the subject of a story she intended to write, so she had to get the upper hand. His respect for her professional abilities was required. But she had a feeling he wouldn’t care about her years of study or how many articles she’d written. He exuded power the way flowers exuded scent. He would respect someone who gave as good as they got. She was having enough trouble trying to forget about the dream and ignoring her unexplained attraction to him. She refused to let him best her in a game of wits.

      She made a great show of glancing around the parking lot. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Dr. Smith, but Bradley is firmly located in an area referred to as the Sacramento delta. This