Once Upon a Groom

She suddenly wanted his arms around her. She suddenly wanted a lot more than that.

As if he was reading the message in her eyes, he murmured, “I almost did this last night.”

And then his arm was around her and he bent his head to hers.

The first touch of Zack’s lips wasn’t anything like Jenny expected. She’d expected hard, possessive and arrogant. His lips were firm as if he knew what he wanted. But they were coaxing, too … encouraging her to respond.

If she had thought further than that, she might have saved them both a lot of trouble. But she didn’t, because all of her concentration was on the feel of his mouth, the touch of his tongue against hers, the strength of his arms as he pulled her closer. The kiss was a flash from the past that could be a plunge into the future.

Dear Reader,

Can a woman ever forget her first love? Fortunately, my first love proposed! He was my first serious relationship and we clicked as if we’d known each other before we met. We fit.

Zack and Jenny fit when they found each other as teenagers. But dreams and past hurts separated them … Until fifteen years later, at their high school reunion, they realized they still had a bond that might never fade.

This book celebrates young love and the reuniting of hearts. To young love, mature love and the love in between!

Best,

Karen Rose Smith

KAREN ROSE SMITH is the award-winning, bestselling novelist of more than seventy published romances. Her latest series, REUNION BRIDES, is set near Flagstaff, Arizona, in Miners Bluff, the fictional town she created. After visiting Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon and Sedona, she felt that the scenery was so awe-inspiring that she had to set books there. When not writing, she likes to garden, growing herbs, vegetables and flowers. She lives with her husband—her college sweetheart—and their two cats in Pennsylvania. Readers may e-mail her through her website at www.karenrosesmith.com, follow her on Facebook or Twitter @ karenrosesmith or write to her at PO Box 1545, Hanover, PA 17331, USA.

With fond remembrance of Joan.

July

As Zack Decker approached Jenny Farber in the cafeteria, decorated with blue and yellow streamers, memories washed over him. He struggled to maintain the cool facade that had enabled him to direct the most temperamental actresses … that had allowed him to hide the turmoil that had churned inside him since he’d left Miners Bluff fifteen years ago.

In a strapless yellow dress that accentuated her slim but curvy figure, Jenny was dancing with a classmate. The way she was smiling up at the man lit the wrong fuse on Zack’s usually controlled temper.

He clasped Brody Hazlett’s shoulder, dredged up a smile he didn’t feel and ignored the hushed surprise of other classmates he hadn’t seen in years. “Can I cut in?”

Brody let go of Jenny’s hand and faced Zack, his expression friendly. “Hi, Zack. It’s good to see you. The reunion must have meant a lot to you.”

“The reunion, and a few other things,” Zack said off-handedly, his gaze on Jenny as the silver disco ball spun, casting flickering lights across her heart-shaped face. She’d left a message on his cell phone last week. He remembered her words. Zack, please come home for the reunion. I need to talk to you about Silas’s health.

And here he was.

Taking Jenny’s hand in his, he circled her with his arm and steeled himself. As his hand brushed over the bare skin of her back, golden sparks lit her expressive brown eyes, bringing back too many buried memories.

“How long can you stay?” Jenny always went straight for the bottom line.

“Until tomorrow afternoon. I have to be on location in England on Monday.”

“That’s all the time you can spare?” Her voice was less accusatory than wistful … or regretful.

“I hadn’t intended to come to the reunion, but with your call, I revamped my schedule.”

The rhythm of the music overtook them for a few moments. It was a nineties ballad he recalled too well. The melody had wafted from the radio in the hayloft as the two of them …

He shut down the movie in his mind, leaned away from her slender body that had caused an instantaneous and powerful reaction in his. “Do you want to go somewhere quieter to talk?”

Quickly glancing around, she motioned toward the shadowy corridor lined with lockers where they had once exchanged heartfelt secrets … and kisses.

He led the way as he always had, trying to forget that fifteen years ago, she hadn’t followed.

Jenny attempted to calm her racing pulse and swallowed hard. Being in Zack’s arms again upturned her world until she became almost dizzy! He couldn’t still do that to her. She wouldn’t let him.

She watched him stride toward the corridor leading to the stairwell where he stopped and waited for her. He obviously wasn’t used to waiting for anyone. He’d left her behind once before. She imagined he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.