Captivation

Captivation Part 47

Jared was out of patience. He waited for Caitlin to come off the dance floor, but before the next guy approached he took her elbow and moved her toward the dance floor. Her four cousins were on their feet immediately. "Tell them to back off." Jared whispered in her ear, "Unless you want a scene. Here. Now."

Caitlin turned and shook her head at her cousins. They hesitated, spoke quickly and then Tim came toward her and took her arm before Jared could stop him.

"You really ok about this?" Tim asked Caitlin.

Jared squared up to Tim almost bumping shoulder to shoulder. "We are fine." Both men were tall, both of a similar build. Both confident and self assured.

"And we told you....."

Caitlin put her hand on her cousin's sleeve as she interrupted him, "Tim. It's ok."

Jared didn't say anything. He just waited for Tim to decide whether to listen to his cousin or whether to start a brawl. Tim looked at Caitlin, "One dance." He told her. "And if you change your mind, you know what to do. He can be ejected."

Jared did not correct him about that possibility. He escorted her to the dance floor and waited for her to step into his arms. It was a slow number and as he moved them deeper into the throng of dancers he pulled her closer to him. They danced in silence. When the piece came to an end, she tried to pull out of his arms and put some distance between them.

"Thank you for the dance." Caitlin said primly.

"My pleasure." He replied, then added knowing he was about to escalate the situation, "I wanted to give you notice."

"Notice?" She turned her head and looked directly into his eyes somewhat bemused by that cryptic statement, "About what?" The trouble with looking into his eyes was the fact that it scrambled her thinking. Even now all she could think about was why she couldn't just stay on the dance floor and stay in his arms.

"Our marriage." Jared stated flatly.

Shock hit suddenly. Caitlin stumbled and Jared caught her elbow. Caitlin snapped with clear irritation in her voice, " Jared! A word of warning. I'm not in the mood for jokes."

"No joke." Jared steered her past a couple of tables. Now that this particular ball was rolling he fully intended to see it reach the goal. He kept his voice level as he told her, "You and I are getting married. Six weeks from now." Her cousins got to their feet when they saw Caitlin emerge from the throng and saw that she was agitated. Jared saw the men approach but he kept walking toward them even as he advised Caitlin, "You might want to tell them that."

This time Caitlin stopped, turned and faced him. She slapped her palms against his chest and glared, "Do I look stupid to you?"

"You look beautiful." He grinned, then took her face in his hands and kissed her on her startled lips. He pulled away and murmured, "Just beautiful."

There was a smattering of applause from the nearby table. Reality coursed through her.

"Don't you think you've done enough already?" She asked softly. "Stop messing around." The four men had nearly reached them. Caitlin wasn't sure whether to cry or hit him.

"No messing." Jared told her, "We are getting married. Make no mistake about that. In the next four weeks I am going to court you," His lips twitched, " and convince your father that I am good enough to be your husband! Then you have two weeks to get organized for the wedding."

"Three things." She told him in exasperation, when she realized he was not joking. He was utterly and ridiculously serious. "One, I'm not marrying you. Two, I'm not marrying you. And three, I'm not marrying you." She threw up her hands, '"So leave me alone."