Can't Hurry Love

They look so happy."

Beth turned from watching Zoe and Beck dance their first dance as husband and wife.

The wedding had gone without a hitch, thank the Lord. These two had taken the long road on their way to happily ever after. But they were here now. And she couldn't be happier for Zoe.

As Beth looked on, Zoe smiled radiantly at her husband who was looking down at her with such love on his face that it made Beth's eyes fill up. She was beyond thrilled that they'd found a love like this. Nobody deserved it more than Zoe. But she wanted it, too. Wanted it for herself.

She smiled at Brooke Winters who'd sort of helped bring Zoe and Beck back to each other by being the letting agent for Beck's building. A building that Zoe had wanted to rent for her bookstore, The Book Nook.

"They do, don't they?" She remembered to answer Brooke's question.

Both Beck and Zoe had ended up being trapped in the building during a storm and the rest was history.

It had been a year since then. But Zoe had told Beth that she'd known from the second she and Beck had kissed that day that she wanted to be his wife.

Beth sighed wistfully.

"You did such a wonderful job with the cake and desserts, too. And I have to tell you, our clients absolutely love the pastries and muffins we provide. I swear, most of them only come to my open houses for your baked goods." Beth laughed at Brooke's wry tone.

Truthfully, setting up Beth's Bakery had been a dream she hadn't even known she'd had until last year.

Now it was thriving, and so was she.

From starting off supplying sweet treats for the coffee shop in The Book Nook to turning the rest of the building into a fully-fledged bakery, the past year had been a bit of a whirlwind.

It was tough dividing her time between the bakery and the ranch where she still did most of the cooking. But Beth had always enjoyed a challenge and honestly, the busyness distracted her from how single she was.

Or at least it had done so until today. But there was something about being single at your best friend's wedding that upset a girl.

"I'm sure that's not true," she answered modestly.

She and Brooke chatted for a while longer about nothing and everything.

"Ok, Dr. Larson is looking insanely good tonight," Brooke suddenly leaned over to whisper. "And he hasn't taken his eyes off you."

Startled, Beth turned her head, and her eyes clashed with Josh Larson's gaze.

Oh, no. Hell no. She was not making that mistake again. Before she could stop it, her mind flashed back to that one, perfect night she'd spent with Josh Larson when he'd first moved here. Perfect really was the only word to describe it.

Beth had felt like she was starring in her own movie that night. Josh had been charming, witty, and hotter than a Rocky Valley summer, and she'd just floated around on cloud nine all night. He'd only arrived in town the week before, so he was staying at Sheraton's, the nicest and costliest hotel in the area.

And it hadn't taken much for him to convince Beth to join him there for that drink she'd agreed to.

Instead of driving to the edge of town where the hotel was situated overlooking the valley, they'd walked and exchanged stories-Beth's filled with memories of growing up in the small Colorado mountain town, and Josh's of the pressures of working as an ER doctor in a busy Chicago hospital.

She remembered how his bright blue eyes had darkened as he talked about getting out and off the stressful hamster wheel...

She remembered how his golden hair had glinted in the streetlights...

And she remembered the riot of butterflies when he'd smiled at her.

When he'd kissed her with a passion that had shaken her to her core and gotten out of control from the off...

When they'd waited outside the hotel for a cab to arrive after he'd been the one to end that last kiss that very nearly didn't end at all-a cab he'd called and insisted on putting on his own card-and his eyes had darkened again, this time with a desire that had made her stomach clench in excitement.

They'd only spent one evening together, but Beth had been halfway in love with him before the taxi had even pulled away from the door of the hotel.

She'd known that if Josh hadn't acted the gentleman, things would have gotten a lot hotter and heavier in that hotel. Something that she had never done before, or considered since.

It was just Josh. Josh and that night.

Yes, she was a bit of a hopeless romantic. Everyone knew that. And yes, she very much wanted a fairy-tale love, complete with happily ever after. She'd known that night had been special. She hadn't imagined it or wished for it. It hadn't been an ordinary first date. Driving away in the back of the cab listening to Maury Jenson chatter away about his day, Beth had been one hundred percent positive that there was something special between her and Josh Larsen. The same something that she'd read in countless romance novels but hadn't ever actually felt for herself until that one, magical evening.

Beth had spent the entire cab ride home letting herself imagine all sorts of scenarios: some wholesome and pure like her movies and others more like the books she kept hidden in her room far away from the prying eyes of her brothers. And God, she'd been desperate for that call to come. The call he'd said he'd make the next day. It had been over a year, and she was still waiting for it...

"Hardly,” she snorted, her voice only trembling a little bit, her mind still playing that toe-curling kiss over and over interspersed with flashes of her humiliation every time she'd seen him since, and he'd acted like nothing had happened. Brooke interrupted Beth's not-so-pleasant trip down memory lane. "Why else would he be coming over here now?"

At Brooke's whispered question, Beth whipped her head back around to see that she was right. Josh was making a beeline for them.

"Maybe he wants to talk to you," she whispered back, ignoring the pang of hurt.

It had been over a year since only one date and only one kiss. Not enough to validate feelings of hurt that he'd be interested in the gorgeous brunette beside her.

Beth had no claim on Josh Larson, and she didn't want one either.

Mom had always said that when someone showed you who he really was, you should believe him the first time. And she believed that Josh Larson was a cliched good-looking bad guy. Not romantic comedy material at all. "Brooke."

The sudden arrival of Damon Wakefield caught Brooke's and Beth's attention, and Beth took the opportunity to turn away from Josh and get her heartbeat back under some sort of control. "Hey, Damon."

"Hey, Beth. Great job on the desserts today. They taste almost as good as you look." He winked and smiled the smile that had broken more than one heart in Rocky Valley. Damon Wakefield and his twin brother, Asher, along with her own brothers could have given Jack Beckford a run for his free-wheeling money back in the day. And Beth wasn't naïve enough to think he meant anything by his flirty comment. For one thing, he'd never shown an interest in her before, and for another, she would always be Grayson's baby sister to him.

"Did you want something?" Brooke's voice was icy as she answered Damon's greeting.

Beth wasn't altogether surprised by that though. Damon and Brooke were polar opposites. Damon was a millionaire developer who bought up properties and either tore them down or converted them into-well, all sorts of things: luxury apartments, five-star resorts, even shopping malls.

Everything Brooke hated, basically.

For every building that Damon bought up and pulled apart, there were ten that Brooke Winters worked to save.

"Now isn't that the million-dollar question." He grinned wickedly.

Beth watched closely to see if that famous smile had any effect on Brooke, but the brunette didn't so much as blink, just merely raised her brow and waited.

God, that was cool. Beth wished she could act that coldly sophisticated.

Unfortunately, she'd always been annoyingly peppy.

She'd never pull off that ice queen thing.

"Beth."

Case in point.

As soon as she heard Josh Larson's voice behind her, her heart skittered, and she could feel her face getting hotter. She stood completely still with her back turned on him, watching with growing humiliation as Brooke and Damon looked at her first expectantly and then as if she belonged in a nut house.

"Beth."

It didn't help that Josh's voice sounded again, louder and even a little amused. She didn't want to turn around. She didn't want to look into his baby blues and feel her heart skitter. She sure as hell didn't want to listen to anything he had to say. The inane chit-chat that he'd tried to engage in all year. The one that said he'd either forgotten about their night, or it had been so insignificant that it wasn't worth talking about again.

And the worst part was that she couldn't bring it up herself for fear of looking like a complete stalker, or worse, letting him think she was bothered. Which she was. Hugely. But she absolutely couldn't let him know that. "Beth."

This time it was nothing short of a bellow.

And she surely looked crazy. She could tell by Damon's frown and Brooke's widened brown eyes.

The sound of applause sounded as Zoe and Beck's dance ended, and the band switched songs. All around her, couples made their way to the dance floor.

As maid of honor, she could dance with the best man next. But since the best man was her brother Grayson, who was currently nowhere to be seen, Beth seized the opportunity before her.

Without a word and refusing to acknowledge the blond hunk of no good behind her, Beth reached out and clasped Damon Wakefield's wrist. "Come on," she commanded before dragging him to the dance floor. Making a mental note to apologize later to Brooke, she kept her nose in the air and stalked away, feeling a set of ice-blue eyes on her the entire way.