Dream Wedding: Dream Bride | Dream Groom by Susan Mallery Page B

alone for any part of their trip? That thought both terrified and excited her. She didn’t know what was going to happen.
    Nerves fluttered in her stomach. Actually, that wasn’t true. If they were alone together for any length of time, she knew exactly what was going to happen between them. Was she ready for that?
    She wasn’t sure. She thought about her sister and wished she could tell her what was really going on. She would like someone else’s opinion on her best course of action. Unfortunately, Cassie was a classic romantic and would only see the potential for love, not the probability of heartache. Chloe might firmly believe that love wasn’t for her, but that didn’t mean her emotions couldn’t be engaged under the right circumstances. So far, Arizona had everything going for him.
    She thought about having a few words with Aunt Charity. No, Chloe told herself. That would never work. She couldn’t confide in the older woman. Arizona had been accurate and perceptive when he’d picked up the fact that there was trouble in the house. Chloe didn’t trust her aunt. Maybe it was childish, but she’d never forgiven her for not being there.
    Chloe walked to the window and gazed out at the lawn. There had been a time in her life when she’d wondered if she would ever see this perfect view again. She reached up and fingered the locket hanging around her neck. Her thoughts drifted back to that horrible time when she and Cassie had lost their parents in a car accident. One minute everything had been fine, the next they were alone in the world. They’d clung to each other until the courts, unable to find their legal guardian, had split them up and sent them to different foster homes.
    Three years, Chloe thought grimly. The family lawyer had looked for three years until he’d finally found Aunt Charity, their father’s sister. As soon as she’d been told what had happened, she’d flown back to America and had brought the girls home. Cassie had been grateful, but for Chloe the rescue had come too late. She’d been all of two months from her eighteenth birthday when she could have returned home on her own.
    Chloe knew that logically it hadn’t been Aunt Charity’s fault that she’d been traveling the world. No one expected her to sit at home in case her brother died unexpectedly. But logic hadn’t helped Chloe get through those years apart from Cassie and away from the only home she’d ever known. So even though she desperately wanted someone to talk to, she wasn’t about to confess all to her aunt.
    So she was going to have to be a grown-up and take care of herself. That or she was going to have to accept the consequences of her actions.
    “I knew I had them,” Cassie said, walking back in the room. She held out a handful of cosmetic samples. “I found a couple that are face cleaners as well as two shampoo packs, so take them all.”
    “Thanks. I really appreciate the help. I would have packed all wrong without you.”
    “No problem.”
    Chloe looked at her sister. Cassie had a very innocent expression on her face. She stood with her left hand tucked behind her back.
    “What have you got there?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Don’t give me that. What is it?”
    Cassie grinned wickedly. “Well, it won’t take up much room in your backpack and it will certainly give you two something to talk about over roasting marshmallows.”
    She pulled her hand free. A condom rested on her open palm.
    Chloe felt color flare on her cheeks. “I didn’t know that you and Joel had been intimate.”
    “Oh, we haven’t been,” Cassie said easily. “But I do like to be prepared in case we ever decide we’re ready. So, do you think one is enough for you and Arizona, or do you want to pack the whole box?”
    Chloe stared at the protection and didn’t know what to say. It was absurd to assume she and Arizona would become lovers. They hadn’t known each other that long. But like her sister, she had been raised to be