Marina fingered the incredibly soft fabric of the wedding gown. Except for the basics, like cotton versus leather, she knew nothing about material. Only that whatever this one was, she wanted it in her life always!

Christie came into the dressing room and smiled. “You look beautiful.”

Marina grinned. “I know you say that to all the brides, but right now, I don’t care. I feel amazing. I love how this dress feels and moves.”

Christie fastened the buttons Marina couldn’t reach, then held open the dressing room door. “Come see how you look.”

Marina had come in wearing jeans and a T-shirt, feeling frazzled, rushed and weird about seeing Todd again. But dressed in this flowing confection of a dress, she felt beautiful and girly and like a princess. Even the borrowed high heels, compliments of the salon, had fit.

She stepped in front of a three-way mirror and gasped. The dress was perfection.

The fitted, strapless bodice clung to her and made her look impressively chesty. At the waist, the dress cascaded down to the floor in layers and layers of fabric, each row shaped and draping like a flower petal, including the three or four foot train.

There was a hint of pearl in the fabric and it made her skin glow. The style would hide Julie’s pregnancy, but was still elegant and to-die-for.

“Wow.”

She glanced up and met Todd’s gaze in the mirror. She smiled and spun in a slow circle.

“You like?” she asked.

She couldn’t tell what he was thinking but she definitely liked the way he had to swallow before speaking.

“Incredible. Both the woman and the dress.”

Man, did he have all the good lines, she thought, feeling herself react to his words and his presence.

Christie moved in and began tugging on the dress. “The style is flattering to many body types, although if your sister is built like you, then this should work perfectly. She needs one that’s ready to go and this one is available. We’ll clean it and get it altered right before the wedding. Can you move in it all right?”

Marina took a couple of steps. The dress swayed gracefully. “It’s so fabulous.”

“Good,” Christie said. “Now let me put up the train and we’ll see if you can dance in it.”

Dance? Marina looked at Todd again. “Can you dance?”

“I’m practically a professional.”

“Liar.”

“Try me.”

Christie looped the train, fastening buttons and hooks until there was an impressive bustle in the back. Then Todd stepped close and swept Marina into his arms.

She told herself none of this mattered, that it wasn’t real. She was helping her sister, nothing more. Yet as they danced to an imaginary song, she felt something stir deep inside of herself. Something dangerous and wonderful and more than a little scary.

She made the mistake of looking into his eyes and found herself wanting to get lost there. His fingers tightened on hers. She shifted slightly closer. The layers of the beautiful dress kept her from feeling his body against hers, which was a serious drag.

“So lovely.”

The comment came from an only slightly familiar voice. Marina looked up to see her grandma Ruth standing in the entrance to the bridal salon.

“Hello, my dears,” the older woman said as she approached. “I know, I know, I’m not to meddle, but when Julie e-mailed that the two of you would be here this afternoon, I couldn’t resist.”

Todd released Marina and walked over to his aunt.

“Ruth,” he said in obvious affection, then bent down and kissed her. “Watching Marina trying on wedding dresses isn’t meddling.”

“I’m sure Julie will be delighted to have one more opinion,” Marina told her, then hugged and kissed her grandmother as she did her best not to feel or look guilty. She stepped back and turned in a slow circle. “What do you think?”

“That you’re very beautiful and so is the dress.” Ruth smiled at Todd. “Have you taken pictures?”

“Not yet. We were seeing if Julie could dance in the dress.”

Was it Marina’s imagination or had Ruth’s eyebrows gone up just a little?

“An excellent idea,” the older woman said. “I’m sure Julie appreciates your thoroughness.”

Marina had the sudden thought that somehow her grandmother had guessed she and Todd had slept together. Heat burned on her cheeks as she tried to convince herself that wasn’t possible. No one knew. Well, Willow and eventually Julie and maybe Ryan, but no one else.

Marina posed while Todd took several pictures, then she escaped back into the dressing room. She eased into a second gown, this one also strapless, but with a lace bodice and shirring across the waist. The skirt, a stunning, smooth silky material with an inset of embroidery and lace, fell in a sophisticated A-line that spilled into a train.

Ruth stepped into the dressing room. “Another winner. Julie’s going to have a difficult time choosing. But that’s the problem to have. Here, dear, let me help you with the buttons.”

“Thanks. There are a lot of them.”

Ruth stepped behind her and began fastening the cloth-covered buttons. “You and Todd looked very special together, dancing. While I always hoped one of you girls would fall for him, I’ll admit I thought it was little more than the dreams of an old woman.”

Panic welled up inside of Marina. “You’re not old,” she said by way of a very pitiful distraction.

“Thank you, dear, but that’s not the point. I offered you and your sisters the money as a way to spur competition, but I see now I only needed to let nature take its course.”

Marina’s mouth opened, then closed. Her brain froze and she had no idea what to say.

“We’re not a couple,” she managed to say at last. “Seriously. We’re barely friends. Semifriends, really. Acquaintances. We’re helping with the wedding and that’s all. We haven’t even had our first date yet. That’s not until the wedding.”

Ruth finished with the buttons and stepped out in front of Marina. “Apparently a date isn’t required. You look very beautiful.”

Marina muttered something unintelligible, then hurried out of the dressing room as fast as she could on borrowed three-inch heels. Instead of stepping in front of the massive mirror, she hurried to Todd’s side and grabbed his arm.

“She knows. My grandmother, your aunt, knows. She knows we had sex and I’m telling you right now, I can’t stand it. I’m totally humiliated and you need to be, too.”

Todd looked unconcerned. “She doesn’t know. She can’t.”

“Want to bet?”

Ruth stepped out of the dressing room and Marina moved in front of the mirror. They discussed the dress like rational adults and she did her best to keep from blushing. She even managed a smile while Todd was taking pictures.

“I’ll send these to Julie,” he said.

“Great. I think she’ll really love them.”

Which all sounded normal, but what she was thinking was more along the lines of get me out of here.

Todd obviously didn’t believe her, because he continued to joke with Ruth, right up until his aunt said, “I suppose a double wedding is out of the question.”

Todd looked at Marina, then back at his aunt. “You mean Willow and Kane?”

“No, dear. You and Marina. There’s obviously chemistry. Of course a relationship requires more than that, but passion is wonderful. I had it with your uncle every day of our marriage.” She gave a little laugh. “Well, not every day, but most of them.”

Marina resisted the need to cover her ears and hum loudly so she wouldn’t hear anymore. Todd swallowed hard and muttered, “There’s an image I’ll never get out of my head.”

Ruth sighed. “You young people. Never wanting to know about the older generation. You should be happy to know your uncle and I had a wonderful marriage all those years.”

“I’m thrilled,” Todd told her. “Details not required.”

Ruth smiled. “That’s all right. I’ve waited a long time for you to find the right girl and now you have.”

Marina swept past him and headed for the dressing room. He followed on her heels.

“I told you,” she said as she presented him with her back so he could unfasten the buttons. “But no. You wouldn’t listen. You knew best. My grandmother knows we had sex. Do you know how humiliating that is?”

“It’s worse for me. You never met my uncle, but I knew him all my life. Now I have a picture of the two of them…”

Marina spun to face him. “You’re not taking this seriously enough. Ruth knows. She’s talking about double weddings. She might tell my mother. I do not want to have a conversation about my sex life with my mother.”

He touched her cheek. “Then don’t. Look, telling Ruth wouldn’t be my first choice, but she guessed. So what? We know what we want and don’t want from each other. It’s no big deal.”

Apparently not for him, she thought bitterly, wondering if maybe he was right. If maybe she was overreacting.

Ruth stepped into the dressing room. “I have to leave, so you two enjoy yourselves. I hope it all works out. Truly I do. Not just because of what I want, but because all that money will really make a difference for your family, Marina. Sweet Willow can buy her nursery at last.”

Then Ruth was gone, but Marina barely noticed. Instead her attention was riveted on Todd’s face—on the way his features tightened and the distance she saw in his eyes.

He physically took a step back from her. “I’ll leave you to get changed.”

Then she was alone in the dressing room. Alone and angry and confused.

Why had Ruth had to mention the money like that? For a woman who was so set on getting them together, she’d picked the one way guaranteed to keep them apart. IfTodd had a button, it was women wanting him for his money.

She wanted to stamp her foot in frustration. Talk about unfair. She wasn’t the least bit interested in his millions or billions or however much it was. The bet about marrying him was a joke. He had to know that.

Except why would he? Given his past, he would think the worst because the worst had always been true.

“It doesn’t matter,” she told herself as she stepped out of the dress. “We don’t have a real relationship. We’re just friends.”

Friends who slept together.

But sex wasn’t love and there was no way she was falling for him, so what did it matter that he thought badly of her?

Yet somehow it did matter and when she left the bridal salon a few minutes later, it was with a tightness in her chest and a sick feeling in her stomach.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Let me just say, for the record, that I’m stunned that you would sleep with Todd Aston the Third and not tell me. Even worse, I had to hear about it from my GRANDMOTHER! You slept with Todd? You slept with TODD? While I’m out of the country and we’re so many time zones apart that I’ll never hear the details?

I know you’re telling Willow everything. I hate being left out. In time I’ll forgive you, but know for now the sisterly bonds between us are stretched to the limit.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

When did you become such a drama queen? The sisterly bonds? Someone’s getting just a little too carried away by all this.

I’m sorry you had to find out from Grandma Ruth. I was going to tell you myself, but I didn’t want to put that kind of information in e-mail. Obviously I’m the only one who worries about that sort of thing.

It was one time, or at least one night. It happened by accident. I’ll explain the details later. They’re actually kind of funny. But the point is, we’re not a couple. We’re friends who happened to sleep together and we have no plans for it to happen again.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

That’s it? That’s all I get? How pathetic. I want details. And FYI…people don’t accidentally sleep together. It’s a conscious act/decision. You’re not fooling me here, kid. So what’s really going on?

Marina stared at the e-mail before answering. What was going on with her and Todd?

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

We’re just friends. I swear. I like him, which I never thought would happen, but liking isn’t anything more. Yes, we slept together, but there won’t be a repeat performance and after this wedding is planned, we’ll see each other at family events a few times a year and that’s all. He’s not the one. He’s just a guy.

A special guy, she admitted to herself as she sent off the e-mail. But still, just a guy.

“I’m running late,” Belinda yelled as Todd stepped into her photography studio. “Have a seat and I’ll be with you in a bit.”

He smiled at the receptionist, then made his way back to the large open space where she did most of her work.

Belinda, a petite redhead who dressed like a gypsy, stood in front of a camera and stared at the adorably dressed twins sitting on a bale of hay.

The identical little girls wore pink and white dresses and their dark hair had been carefully curled and styled.