Читать книгу The Marriage Campaign - Michele Dunaway - Страница 9

She shouldn’t be kissing him. Not here, not like this. But when he lowered his mouth to hers, no amount of moral fiber could keep her from tasting his forbidden lips.

Mark tasted divine—of wedding cake and champagne. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” Lisa Meyer said weakly as, for one moment, they came up for air.

“We should,” he said, leaning down again for another kiss.

“You’re my best friend’s brother,” she protested in moth-to-flame futility. “Your date…”

“Is just a friend,” he insisted, his dark eyes intense. “It’s you I want. Always have. Ever since we first met.”

“You’re drunk,” she said. But weren’t they all high on champagne and wedding magic? Joann’s parents, Mary Beth and Bud, had thrown quite a bash, and since everyone was staying at the reception hotel, no one had shown much restraint.

She and Mark were young, not quite twenty-two, the world at their feet, and his words made her giddy. Made her forget his playboy reputation now that all that charm was directed at her.

In her wildest dreams she’d never imagined her crush on Mark Smith coming to fruition like this.

“Let’s go upstairs,” he murmured into her ear. “I want to get you alone.”

Oh, she was so tempted, as the heat pooling low attested. But, as wedding party members, they weren’t free. Not yet. Not until the bride and her groom said their goodbyes, which was soon. “We still have duties,” she managed, her breath a little short.

“A half hour. No more,” he said. “I want you, Lisa. I’m not waiting any longer.”

“Okay,” she heard herself say as she somehow detached herself from his arms. Happiness consumed her and, coupled with all the champagne, she felt as if she were floating as they left the off-the-beaten-path corridor and returned to the hotel ballroom where the two-hundred-plus-person reception was being held.

“Lisa, there you are!” Tori, bridesmaid and another of Lisa’s best friends, grabbed her as she entered. “I’ve been looking for you. It’s time to help Joann change. Come on.”

And with that, Lisa got sidetracked. Her last glimpse of Mark was him disappearing into the crowd. She sighed and went to help Joann, her body humming with anticipation. She missed catching the bouquet. She tossed some rice. She found her nerves taut as the moment to join him finally came. But the crowd was still thick, and she found herself going in circles.

“Have you seen Mark?” she asked Cecile, another best friend. They were all members of Rho Sigma Gamma—the Roses.

“Nope,” Cecile answered. “Why? He’s scamming on everyone here tonight. His poor date.”

“She’s just a friend.”

“That’s what they all say,” Cecile said with a knowing nod. “Wait. There he is. Going out that door. That’s not who he came with, is it?”

Lisa glanced over. Mark was leading a tall brunette out a side exit door. He had his arm around her shoulder and was holding her close. “No,” Lisa said. “That’s not who he came with.”

“Well, if you need him, you better hurry up and catch him.”

Lisa shook her head. Mark Smith had said he wasn’t waiting any longer. How badly she’d misunderstood! “No,” she said, plastering a nonchalant expression on her face so Cecile wouldn’t suspect anything. “I don’t need him. It was nothing important.”

At least, not anymore.