âWeâre married now,â Julie said. âI figured you would at least hug me good-night or something.â
âYou donât want me to do that,â Luc replied. âSuffice it to say, Iâm a littleâ¦overstimulated.â
âSo youâre turned on.â
She looked in his eyes andâWhoa. The heat smoldering in their dark depths could have burned a hole through her dress. Her heart flip-flopped, making her pulse race and her mouth go dry.
âYou want the truth?â he said.
She nodded.
He leaned in just a little closer. âI wanted everyone to leave the reception so I could lock the door, strip you naked and lick wedding cake off every inch of your body.â
Oh, boy. âEvery inch?â
He grinned. âEvery inch. However,â he added, âfriends donât do that.â
âSome friends do. And Iâm pretty sure I read somewhere that we have to consummate the marriage to make it official and legally binding.â
* * *
More Than a Convenient Bride is part of the series Texas Cattlemanâs Club: After the StormâAs a Texas town rebuilds, love heals all woundsâ¦
One
Julie Kingston stood and waited in the crowd, her heart overflowing with pride as her best friend and colleague, Lucas Wakefield, prepared to cut the ribbon marking the opening of the new, state-of-the-art Wakefield Clinic. It seemed as though the entire town of Royal, Texas, had shown up to mark the occasion.
The townâs original free clinic once stood directly in the path of the F5 tornado that had ripped through Royal last October. In the blink of an eye, all that had remained of the structure was the concrete foundation. Patients from all over the surrounding counties had lost an important lifeline in the community.
Lucas, who had been a regular volunteer there despite his duties as chief of surgery at Royal Memorial Hospital, hadnât hesitated to donate the money to rebuild, using some of the proceeds from the sales and licensing of surgical equipment heâd invented several years ago.
Humble as he was for a multimillionaire, heâd intended to keep his identity as the donor a secret, but someone leaked the truth, and the news spread through Royal like wildfire. The town council had immediately wanted to rename the clinic in his honor. But of course Luc had protested when heâd heard about plans for the Lucas Wakefield Clinic.
âThis clinic doesnât belong to me,â heâd told Julie when sheâd tried to convince him that he was being ridiculous. âIt belongs to the people.â
âThis is a huge deal,â sheâd argued time and again. âYou donated millions of dollars.â
He gave her his usual, whatâs-your-point shrug, as if he truly didnât understand the scope of his own good will. For a man of his wealth and breeding he lived a fairly simple life. âIt was the right thing to do.â
And that was Luc in a nutshell. He always did the right thing, constantly putting the well-being of others first. But finally, after much debate, and a whole lot of coercing from his mother, Elizabeth, Julie and his colleagues in the Texas Cattlemanâs Club, he relented, allowing the use of his last name only.
Julie smiled and shook her head as she thought back on it. Lucas was the most philanthropic, humble man she had ever known. And at times, the most stubborn, as well.
Luc looked out over the crowd, and when his eyes snagged on hers she flashed him a reassuring smile. Despite his dynamic presence, and easy way with his patients and coworkers, he despised being the center of attention.
To his left stood Stella Daniels, the townâs acting mayor. To his right, Stellaâs new husband, Aaron Nichols, whose company R&N Builders rebuilt the clinic. In the six months since the storm, the townâs recovery had been slow but steady, and now it seemed as if every week a new business would reopen or a family would move back into their home.
âIâm so proud,â Elizabeth Wakefield said, dabbing away a tear with the corner of a handkerchief. Julie knelt beside the wheelchair Elizabeth had been forced to use since a botched surgery a decade ago left her paralyzed from the waist down. In the months since Julie came to Royal last October, Elizabeth had contracted a multitude of infections that led to numerous hospital stays, and she now required permanent, round-the-clock care from a registered nurse. Though she was a beautiful and proud woman, she looked every one of her sixty-eight years, and a recent hospital stay for viral pneumonia had left her weak and vulnerable. Originally Luc forbade her from attending the ribbon cutting, but she insisted she be there. After much debate, he eventually caved, and it was more than clear to Julie where he inherited his stubborn streak.