Jen_C’s Reviews > Stop the Wedding! > Status Update

As his warm mouth moved over hers, Annabelle’s mind went back to the first time he’d kissed her and how far they’d come since that fateful day. That kiss had been born of lust, but this kiss was a promise of their life together. When they ran out of breath, they clung to each other.

She, on the other hand, had fallen for a cold, cynical, scheming, condescending man who would never appreciate or accept her love. Clay Castleberry had made the situation crystal clear: Her love was wasted on him. Unfounded and unwanted. So why couldn’t she simply dismiss him from her normally logical mind?

I’m sure you’ll be glad when I’m gone.” His eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. “I mean when I take my mother back to Detroit.” Clay studied her for so long she flushed, wondering if her sudden, crazy physical desire for him was so evident that he was about to laugh in her face. Another Castleberry conquest.

He probed his cheek with his tongue, irritated to realize that he’d rather be exploring fantasies with the lovely engaged Annabelle than discussing the shortcomings of the Castleberry men. Still, things were what they were—she was off-limits, and their parents were off their rockers.

Maybe I don’t know you…and maybe I’d like to. The revelation stunned her, and her defenses immediately sprang up. The most stupid, destructive thing she could do to herself would be to fall for Clay Castleberry.

Still, something akin to fear crept into her heart—a sensation far more threatening than a trip to the hoosegow. Because she realized she was being given a glimpse of his compassion, an experience that left her feeling oddly privileged. Regardless of his feelings toward her, she somehow knew this man would not allow harm to come to her, and the knowledge warmed her.

Tapping the stack of bills even on a mahogany sideboard, Clay decided the impromptu kiss had been worth the extra five thousand. And he was definitely doing Martin a favor by driving this one away—if their embattled kiss was any indication of the depths of her passion, he had spared his father a certain heart attack during the honeymoon.

“Annabelle, your cab is waiting, and your real estate agent is on the phone. Are you okay?” She drew in a long, deep breath and the detached underwire in her bra gouged her rib. What did the fact that she didn’t have time to buy new underwear say about her life?