Jessica Hart - Here Comes The Bride

“What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. You may exchange rings, then kiss your brides.”

Alex swept Reese in his arms first, as the script directed. The force of his embrace dislodged her hat, which fell to the floor. He’d warned her.

After he’d kissed her long and hard, he slid the band on her finger. She in turn removed his ring from her pinky and, with a trembling hand, pushed it onto his ring finger.

“You’re mine now,” Fabio said, before kissing her hands.

After Carlo and Miranda had exchanged rings, the pastor raised his hands in benediction.

“Members of the congregation? May I present the two Mr and Mrs Andrettis. You may give them your best wishes in the vestibule of the church.”

Wedding music accompanied their joyous walk down the aisle behind Carlo and Miranda. Alex kissed her neck several times, playing the part of the besotted bridegroom to the hilt.

The cameras stayed on them as everyone followed them into the vestibule. Immediately both couples were converged upon with kisses and congratulations.

While Carlo hugged Miranda, the pastor, who stood at the offerings table, took Fabio and Carly aside for them to put their signatures on the license and certificates. When their business was concluded, Fabio waved the papers in the air.

“It’s official, cara. You’re my wife now.”

“Fabio-I love you so much!”

Again the newlyweds embraced.

“Ah-h-h,” everyone murmured.

The cameras stopped rolling.

“Great take, guys!” Phyllis declared. “I’m in tears, and that’s never happened before. After you get changed, come on back to the set. It’s party time for Reese. One day I might forgive her for leaving us, but I’m not making any promises.”

REESE pulled her hand from Alex’s grasp and left the set before anyone could detain her. She passed Leah on her way up to Wardrobe. The actress who’d gone off stage earlier had already changed into slacks and a knit top.

“You look comfortable, Leah. I have to admit I can’t wait to get out of these heels.”

“I know what you mean. Those spikes they made me wear almost killed me before I could pull the gun on you.”

“You know something? You had a wild look in your eyes that could have scared me under other circumstances. You deserve to get the best villainess award again this year.”

“We’ll see.”

“I’m not kidding. You’re so good at being bad, it’s frightening.”

“Thanks. Let’s talk after you get changed.”

“I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

It didn’t take long for Reese to divest herself of the dress and shoes. Soon she was back in her jeans and T-shirt.

She returned everything to Patsy, including the ring Fabio had put on her finger. One of the assistants in Wardrobe would sweep the set for any props left around.

“You’re coming down to the party, I hope?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Patsy declared. “Thanks for the beautiful flowers, Reese. They arrived a few minutes ago. What a surprise!”

“Good. I’m glad they got here before I left. No one deserves them more than you. In fact I’m going to see if a best service award can’t be given out on the night of the soap awards. You’d win it hands down, Patsy.”

She smiled. “That’s sweet for you to say. You’ve made my day.”

“You’ve made mine every morning for the last two years. I’ll never forget.” After hugging her, Reese walked over to the dressing table to remove her makeup.

Patsy followed. “Do you know something? You’re just like your aunt Lilian. She always remembered everybody, too. I bet you miss her.”

Reese blinked back the tears threatening. “You’ll never know.” Especially right now. When she’d never been in such pain in her life, how could she possibly go home to an empty condo and pretend everything was going to be all right?

After every bit of makeup had been removed, she applied lotion to her skin and put on her own pink frost lipstick. With a flick of the brush through her thick black hair, there was nothing else to do but go downstairs and face her peers with a happy face.

Little did they know she would be putting on the greatest performance of her existence in front of them.

Patsy had already left by the time Reese jumped up from the chair and hurried downstairs. When she entered the set, she noticed everyone congregated around a couple of banquet tables enjoying a catered lunch smorgasbord style. On another table were half a dozen bottles of champagne and glasses.

Elaine started clapping when she saw Reese. Pretty soon she was surrounded by cast and crew alike with more hugs and best wishes for the future.

While she was filling her plate with Swedish meatballs and pasta, she saw Alex walk in. Through veiled lashes she noticed he’d changed into a white polo shirt and navy cargo pants.

He was such a striking man, Reese purposely struck up a conversation to avoid looking at him. But she was feverishly aware of him working his way through the crowd, smiling and talking with everyone.

Leah walked over to her with the mike. “It’s time for speeches! Let’s hear it from you, Reese.”

For once Reese was center stage without a script. “This is scarier than acting.” Her comment provoked laughter. “Whoa… I knew this was going to be hard.” Her throat had swelled.

She could feel Alex’s dark gaze. “I’ve had the time of my life with all of you. You’ve been like a family to me. When Aunt Lilian passed away, you were there to support me. I couldn’t have gotten through some of those difficult hours without you.”

Emotion got in the way. She waited for a minute to gather her composure. “My parents were big on academics. They both got their doctorates in a field they loved. Though they would have supported me as an actress, I know they had other dreams for me.

“Even Aunt Lilian knew I wouldn’t stay with acting, but I’m so glad I was given the opportunity to work with her. Thank you for that, Phyllis.”

“You’re welcome, darling. You’re a natural. If you ever decide to come back, we’ll always be here.”

“Thank you. Thanks, everybody. Be assured that when I’m home studying, my TV set will be permanently turned on to Laguna Nights. Among other things, I have to watch Melissa’s reaction when she finds out I disappeared in the jungle.”

Another lie. Reese had no intention of ever watching the soap again. It would be too painful, but the cast members didn’t need to know it. They laughed and cheered.

“In fact I can’t wait to learn what horrible scheme she has in mind for the next man unlucky enough to be her obsession. Do we know who that is yet, Stan?”

The head writer nodded.

“Obviously you’re not going to give out any secrets today.” She would have to wait two months to find out if Alex had been teasing her about the new storyline or not.

“Sorry.”

“That’s all right. Now that I’m out of the loop, I’ll just have to be patient like our fans.” She flicked her gaze to the attractive man she wouldn’t be seeing again.

“Alex? I couldn’t leave without letting you know it has been a great thrill for me to be cast opposite you. I’m the envy of every woman with a television set.”

All the women cheered loudly.

“Ladies? I’ll let you in on a little secret. Leah? Are you listening?”

“Yes,” her friend said with a broad smile.

“I cannot tell a lie. He could heat it up all right. I’ve been in meltdown the entire year.”

“I knew it!”

The place went wild. There was more cheering and clapping and good-natured funning as everyone teased her and Alex.

“From now on the guys I date are going to have to pass the Alex Kieris test or they’re out of the running.”

There was an enigmatic smile on Alex’s face as he approached her and grabbed the mike. “Unlike my costar here, I’ll never kiss and tell. But I will say that playing opposite Reese has been an unforgettable experience. One I wouldn’t have missed.

“Between her and Lilian, I was able to get my feet wet in this business without completely floundering.” He turned to Reese. “I’m going to miss you, Carly Andretti.”

A strange glint in his eye made her suddenly nervous.

“I hope I can be forgiven for doing something that hasn’t been scripted. You guys are getting a preview of our off-the-set honeymoon. After all, she is my wife now!”

In front of everyone, he pulled her into his arms and gave her the kind of passionate kiss for which Fabio Andretti was famous. It went on and on until there was thunderous applause and wolf calls.

Since he was hamming it up, she decided to let herself go this once and really kiss him back. No one would know this farewell kiss was for Alex, not Fabio.

“Go, Carly!” some of the cast chanted.

When it appeared Alex was enjoying her abandoned response and had no intention of ending it, Reese had to be the one to break it off.

“Whew!” She turned a flushed, smiling countenance to the audience and fanned herself. “In your face, Melissa!”

The cast roared with laughter.

At this point Leah took over the mike. “Don’t anyone leave until we raise our glasses to Reese in a toast.”

To Reese’s dismay, she’d left hers behind on the table. Maybe it was just as well. She would have choked on her champagne.

“To Reese. Health, happiness and a long life wherever your road takes you.”

While the others clicked glasses and finished off their drinks, Alex made another surprise move by sipping his champagne, then putting the glass to Reese’s lips. She had no choice but to drink a little of it from the same place on the glass where his lips had been.

Her legs wobbled like jelly.

“Hey, Reese?” Brad called to her. “I need to talk to you for a minute.”

For once she was thankful the show’s publicist never gave up. “Coming!”

Without daring another glance at Alex, she handed back the empty glass to him and followed Brad into the hall. But once she’d moved past the doors, instead of stopping to chat, she kept on walking down the hall toward the front entrance of the building.

While she made her escape, Brad had to run to keep up with her. “Where’s the fire?”

“To be honest, I don’t have time for an interview right now. I’m sorry.” She wiped her eyes so he wouldn’t see the tears.

“I know it’s tough to leave. Just give me a few words while I walk you to your car.”

She whipped out of the front door and kept up her fast pace clear across the parking lot.

“Where will you be going to school? I need a little information for the show’s Web site. The word’s going to leak out that you’re no longer a cast member. Soap Craze will start hounding me. You know how that goes. I’m going to be besieged with questions.”

“I’d rather not say. The sooner I’m anonymous, the better.”

“Winter semester won’t start for another week. What’ll you do in the meantime?”

“Volunteer work.”

“What kind?”

“Hospitals. Kids.”

“Who’s the latest man in your life?”

She climbed in her car. “I don’t have one, Brad. If you value your job, don’t quote me wrong.”

“Would I do that?”

“Yes. That’s what you’re paid to do. Go pick on Alex. Maybe you can find out the name of the secret woman in his life.”

His brows lifted. “Oh, yeah? You know something I don’t?”

“No. That’s your department. I’m out of here.” Flashing him a bright smile, she shut the door, turned on the ignition and started to back up.

Brad shouted something to her but she kept on going. Right into another car.

“Oh, no!” she cried as she heard the clank of metal against metal. For once in her life she’d forgotten to look first.

With her adrenalin surging, she jumped out of the car to see how much damage she’d done and ran straight into Alex. He steadied her with his hands. What was he doing out here?

“I hit you?” She half gasped the question.

His lips twitched. “Let’s just say you caught the rear bumper of my truck.”

“I’m so sorry-” She tore her eyes from his and moved away from him to see how bad it was.

She couldn’t find anything but a scrape mark on his fender, but the back left door of her car had a good-sized dent.

“It’s my fault,” she moaned. “For once I didn’t look where I was going.”

“It’s both our faults,” he muttered. “I wanted to block you off before you got away.”

With those words Alex had her full attention. Her heart started to race. She turned toward him. “Why would you want to do that?”

He eyed her intently for a moment. “After you call your insurance company, I’ll tell you. But first we need to get our vehicles out of the way. Why don’t you park yours? Then I’ll join you.”