Brenda swallowed hard, stared into Jax’s twinkling eyes, and then sank back against the pillow with a groan. She closed her eyes and covered them with the back of her hand. "You know, Jax, one of the things that I always loved about you is the way you tried to make me laugh, even when I’m in pain." She moved the hand away and opened just one eye. "You remember – like when I had to have that emergency surgery and you made me feel better when it hurt so bad?" The hand returned as the eye slid shut again. "But this time, I *really* don’t think it’s working." She took a shaky breath "I still feel like my head’s about to split open like an over-ripe casaba melon."

Jax clucked his tongue and stroked her hair gently. "Poor baby. Never fear – Dr. Jacks to the rescue." Brenda’s hand moved and the eye opened again with a question. "If you go in the bathroom, there’s a bottle of Tyelenol on the shelf next to the shower."

Brenda squinted the open eye for a minute but then gingerly swung her legs out of the bed and got up. She swayed for a minute, her arms outspread to help her balance, and then started walking slowly towards the open door that led to the bathroom. Jax chewed on his lower lip as he watched her painful progress. He had anticipated that Brenda would have a hangover the size of the state of Alaska after Lucky showed him the ingredients of the Long Island Iced Tea. After they arrived in Las Vegas and while Brenda was still out cold on the bed in the hotel suite, Jax dumped out the contents of the Tyelenol bottle and flushed it. He had replaced it with a painkiller that would make an African wildebeest with a toothache purr like a contented kitten.

Jax heard Brenda running the water in the sink. "Just two, sweetie," he called. The last thing he needed was for her to take more than the recommended dosage and pass out on him again. "That should make you feel much better."

Brenda re-appeared in the doorway a few seconds later. "I only took one." She licked her lips and closed her eyes again. "I don’t like to take pills. They hit me too hard – like that tranquilizer they gave me before the surgery." She nodded sagely. "That’s why I don’t drink anything but white wine."

Jax stifled his smile. "I seem to recall you saying that, yes." He patted the empty side of the bed next to him. "Now why don’t you just come over here and lie down for a few minutes. I’m sure that Tyelenol will kick in soon and you’ll feel much better."

Brenda nodded and walked slowly back to the bed. She was only about a foot away from it when her eyes popped wide open and she looked around in bewilderment. "Jax? Where are we?" She started to make a full 360 degree turn. "This isn’t my apartment, and it sure isn’t yours, either……"

Jax sat up straighter and reached out a hand to Brenda. "Come on, sweetie – come back to bed and I’ll tell you everything."

Brenda completed the turn and her eyes widened with horror. "Oh, my God, Jax……you didn’t bring me to the Ritz Carlton for the night, did you?" She covered her mouth with her hands and stared at an interior door. "My mother isn’t going to jump out of the closet and yell "surprise" or anything, is she?"

Jax knelt up in the bed. He reached out and took hold of Brenda’s hand so that he could pull her down on the bed next to him. "No, Brenda, we’re not at the Ritz Carlton. You can relax." She sighed and her body slumped visibly but she still raised a curious eyebrow at Jax. "Come on now, come back to bed with me and …….."

Brenda was about halfway to a prone position when she popped up again like a jack-in-the-box. "Jax?" She stared down at the very short, red nylon swing-style nightgown trimmed with maribou feathers that she was wearing. "Why am I dressed like a hooker?"

"You’re not dressed like a hooker!" Jax’s exclamation came out on a soft chuckle.

Brenda lifted the hem of the nightgown and bent over at the waist to stare between her legs. She dropped it again like a hot potato and when she looked up at him, her mouth forming a large "O." "Jax…….I …….these panties……." She straightened up and put her hands on her hips angrily. "There’s feathers on the panties, right in the front! That’s……that’s trashy!!"

He giggled again. "And I happen to think it looks extremely sexy on you." Jax pulled her towards the bed again and finally succeeded in getting her to sit down on the side with a grumpy snort.

"You *would*!" She shook her head. "This outfit is like something straight out of Lucky Spencer’s fantasies." Brenda grimaced and leaned back against the pillow again and closed her eyes. "Well, I guess since my headache does seem to be getting better, I’ll keep this ridiculous thing on …… if it makes you happy……" The inquisitive eye popped open again. "…….AND you have to tell me where we are……."

The plan, as well as Brenda’s sleeping attire, had been Lucky’s idea. He was firmly convinced that the only way to prove to Brenda that she belonged with Jax was to make it a reality, whether she liked it or not. Jax had convinced Lucky that they needed to bring Lois in on the plan, and he later was extremely thankful that he had.

Lucky’s plan included getting Brenda drunk on the Long Island Iced Tea and then flying her to Las Vegas on the private jet. He insisted he knew a Justice of the Peace who would marry them without a qualm about Brenda’s state of inebriation. Jax would tell Brenda they were married the following morning and there would be nothing she could do about it. End of story. They would live happily ever after.

Lois provided the voice of reason and feminine sensibility. She knew Brenda would find a loophole in the marriage license if she had entered the contract in a less-than-competent state. And she knew Brenda would hit the roof when she found out how she had been coerced into marrying Jax, no matter how much she loved him. So Lois proposed the plan now in progress – take Brenda to Las Vegas and just TELL her that they got married. Make her think that she was agreeable to the proposition. Let her live with Jax for a few weeks – maybe two months – and find out that married life wasn’t the disaster she thought it would be. Then, when she was in a REALLY good mood, break the news to her that they weren’t married after all. Explain that the past few months had just been to prove to her that her fears were groundless.

Brenda slapped Jax on the arm lightly. She was still lying back in the bed with her eyes closed and her arm draped across her forehead. "Jax – are you gonna tell me where we are or do I have to call information?"

Jax took a deep breath. {Here goes nothin’.} "We’re in a hotel in Las Vegas."

Both eyes popped open, along with her mouth. "Las Vegas?" Jax nodded and she sat straight up. "NEVADA???!!!"

"No, Las Vegas, Indiana." Jax ducked when Brenda swung one arm at his head weakly. "Of course Nevada, sweetie!!"

Brenda remained sitting up straight and folded her arms. "And just WHY are we in Las Vegas, Nevada?"

"Because…….that’s generally where people go when they want to get married."

"Married." Brenda laced the word with a generous helping of sarcasm. "*Again* with the married joke."

"It’s no joke, Brenda," Jax replied, with just a touch of "hurt feelings." "We got married last night."

"We got married last night." Brenda said it as a statement, and Jax nodded seriously. "Jax, you can cut it out with this ridiculous charade, OK?" She gestured towards the ring on her left hand. "I mean, I KNOW I’m not married and I KNOW we’re not in Las Vegas because I KNOW I would never agree to marry you."

"Um…….actually," Jax hedged, folding his hands in his lap, "getting married was YOUR idea, Brenda."

"MY idea?"

"Um-hmmmm," Jax nodded. "And we ARE in Las Vegas."

"Las Vegas?" Brenda rubbed her hair with both hands, as though she were trying to clear the fog out of her brain. "LAS VEGAS? How the H*LL did we get to Las Vegas? I mean, I can understand how I could wake up in San Francisco and not remember getting there, or maybe even Catalina, but LAS VEGAS? That’s in another state – in the middle of the freaking desert!!!"

"You know, you really should stop hanging out with Lucky Spencer, love," Jax teased, tapping her lightly on the end of the nose. "You’re starting to talk like him." Brenda fumed and folded her arms across her chest so Jax held up a hand and then re-settled himself in the bed to sit Indian-style facing her. "OK – what do you remember about last night?"

"I remember going to Lucky’s house to play poker. You were there….." Brenda frowned, trying to bring back the memories. "……and Lucky served this really incredible iced tea, and then……" She grimaced. "It all gets kinda blurry after that."

"You don’t remember proposing to me….." Brenda’s jaw dropped. "……after I had lost nearly every hand at poker?" She shook her head. "And telling me that since I was unlucky in cards, I had to be lucky in love and we should get married?"

Brenda gave him a vacant stare. "Not at all, but it sounds fascinating. What else did I say?"

Jax launched into Lois’s scripted version of the events of the night before. "Well, Lucky thought it was such a wonderful idea that he said we SHOULD get married. And then Nicholas remembered he had a friend with a private jet who owed him a favor, and since he’s an incurable romantic….."

"He is." Brenda shook her head and then gestured with her hand. "Go on."

"Well, everything moved pretty quickly after that. You called Lois and she packed a bag for you, and Nicholas’s friend made the arrangements with the airport. We hopped in my car and had just enough time to pick up your bag before we were scheduled for takeoff."

"And this was all MY idea?" Brenda was still incredulous but not angry. Yet.

"Um-hmmmm," Jax lied. "And so we flew out here and after we checked into the hotel, we went to one of those all-night wedding chapels….."

"Ohhhhhh….." Brenda groaned and covered her eyes with her hand. "Not one of those tacky Elvis drive-through places……"

"Well, it wasn’t the Cathedral at Notre Dame, but Elvis wasn’t my best man either," Jax chuckled.

Brenda stared down at her hand and suddenly her eyes widened. "But the ring! How did we get the ring? Did we go shopping for it first? Because I don’t remember ANYTHING about that, and a woman’s BOUND to remember shopping!"

"Well, most of the shops were closed because it was so late, but we DID manage to find this charming little pawn shop." Jax cringed inwardly at the fabrication. The ring was a real obstacle to their plan until Jax remembered that his grandmother had given him her wedding ring as a remembrance. He didn’t have it yet when he and Miranda got married, and somehow she never seemed to like the antique styling and preferred the ring she picked out when Jax had proposed.

"A pawn shop?" Brenda held up her hand and eyed the ring critically. "We got this at a PAWN SHOP?"

"Yeah – you picked it out yourself." Jax felt the first stirrings of panic. {We’re busted. She suspects something.} "Have you changed your mind in the clear light of day?"

"NO!" Brenda grabbed Jax’s arm and smiled broadly as she turned her hand, making the diamonds twinkle in the sunlight. "I love it. It’s just……well, you usually don’t find jewelry that looks this good in pawn shops." Jax arched an eyebrow inquisitively. "At least," Brenda rushed on, "that’s what they tell me."

Jax settled back down beneath the covers and pulled Brenda down next to him. He wrapped his arm possessively around her waist and nuzzled her neck. "So…….how does it feel to be an old married lady, Mrs. Jacks?"

There was about 30 seconds of silence and when he finally looked up, Brenda was still staring straight ahead, not responding at all to his romantic overtures. "Actually ……" She finally turned and looked him in the eye. "It doesn’t feel any different than being a single lady." She shrugged her shoulders. "It’s funny – I just don’t FEEL married."

Only through monumental self-control was Jax able to stifle the panic he felt. {I’ll never be able to do this. It was a mistake – a HUGE mistake. I can’t pull this off for six weeks. I can’t even lie to her for six HOURS!!! I should just tell her the truth now before it goes any further.} "Brenda……"

Before he could make the confession, Brenda placed her fingers against Jax’s lips and smiled sexily. "But you know – now that the Tyelenol has started working and my headache’s gone – I DO remember proposing to you."

"You……" Jax gulped. "You do?"

"Uh-huh." Brenda traced the cleft in his chin with her fingertip. "And the plane trip out here and shopping for the ring……and that *cute* little man in the pawn shop!"

"Yeah……cute little man." Jax hoped his face wasn’t pale and he didn’t betray just how sick inside he felt at deceiving Brenda. "He was really somethin’, alright."

Brenda started tracing little circles on Jax’s chest. "But there’s still something you’re gonna have to help me with, because I have to admit I still don’t remember it."

Jax’s breath hitched as her hand roved beneath the sheet. "What’s that?" he whispered huskily.

"Did we……." Brenda suddenly threw back the sheet and climbed over Jax’s tummy to straddle him. She braced her hands on either side of his waistline. "Did we have an *amazing* wedding night?"

When Brenda lowered her head and her hair swept across Jax’s abs, he tossed his head back and groaned. "Well, since it was so late by the time we got back to the hotel, and then we had some champagne to toast our marriage……" He caught his breath and chewed on his lower lip when she intensified her actions. "…….God, Brenda, if you keep that up, I won’t last long enough for us to have a wedding night this morning!"

Brenda lifted her head and her eyes sparkled with passion. "That’s funny," she purred. She slid up his chest and lay flat against him, brushing her "feathers" against the parts of him she had just been favoring with her attentions seconds earlier. "Cause I thought that "keeping it up" was what I was doing!" She said the words with little girl innocence that completely shredded the last of Jax’s self-control.

"Come here, Mrs. Jacks!" he growled, flipping her over on her back. Her sexy nightgown and panties disappeared in record time. Jax slid his arms under her armpits and teased her with his manhood until she was arching and panting beneath him. When he finally gave in to her pleas, she moaned loudly. "NOW what do you think of married life?"

"I think……." Brenda locked her hands behind Jax’s head and reveled in the rhythm he set. She quickly reached her peak and he followed soon afterwards. "I think……." she finally sighed, "I think that getting married is probably the best idea I ever had!"

**************************

Jax scrawled his name in the medical chart and closed it firmly. He glanced up at the clock in the ER lounge, sighed loudly, and settled back in his chair, staring at the pile of charts still in front of him. Figuring he deserved a break and since he was alone in the lounge, he closed his eyes briefly and allowed his mind to drift.

{Twelve days. We’ve been married twelve days. Twelve days I’ve been lying to Brenda – and carrying it off like a charm.} Jax sighed again. {But how much longer can I really expect to be able to do this? I’ll *never* make it for six weeks! I was a fool to expect this would work! A fool to listen to Lucky and Lois! A fool……}

Jax had called himself every name under the sun for the past twelve days. He was tempted more times than he liked to admit to confess the entire scheme to Brenda and beg her forgiveness. But somehow, a magical rainbow seemed to have formed around their lives.

When they got back from Las Vegas, both Jax and Brenda agreed that they wouldn’t make a big deal out of the marriage. They had called their closest relatives and broken the good news – of course, Harlan and Veronica were disappointed they missed the "ceremony," and RJ and Ellie were strangely subdued. But Jax kept telling himself that it was just the shocking quickness that took them by surprise, and when he spoke to Miranda the following day, she confirmed that the children were begging to come out and celebrate with their father and his new wife. And Harlan and Veronica called soon afterward to inform the "newlyweds" that they were planning a visit in a few days.

Since Jax’s condo was bigger than Brenda’s, she agreed to move in with him. Ned, Lois, and the poker buddies helped transfer Brenda’s earthly belongings the following Saturday and then they held an impromptu "wedding reception" at a nearby restaurant. Since even Ned was in on the scam, Jax relaxed and for the first time since it all began, he began to think that maybe Lucky’s scheme was a good idea after all.

It took a while for Jax to get used to living with a female again. His medical journals were replaced on his bookshelves with volumes of romance novels. Brenda’s computer took the place of honor normally reserved for Jax’s laptop on his desk. Since he was working odd hours and shifts, Brenda managed to get a lot of her writing done when Jax was gone. Not only did it help pass the time alone, but it gave her the solitude she said she needed to create her characters and complex plots.

Jax started noticing little changes in his life. A large box of Lucky Charms sat next to the small box of granola in the kitchen cupboard. Two-liter bottles of Diet Coke pushed aside throw-away bottles of orange juice in the refrigerator. Honey-and-almond-scented shampoo competed with dandruff-control formula and lost miserably. The presence of a box of feminine hygiene products in the bottom of their medicine cabinet brought a smile to Jax’s face.

Brenda came home from the grocery store to find him sitting in the living room one day. "Jax! I thought you had to cover on some special surgery today!"

He rose and pulled her into his arms for a blistering kiss. "I got one of the other surgeons to cover for me at the last minute." He pulled back and his eyes betrayed his passionate motives. "Are you disappointed?"

"Not at all!!" Brenda smiled and arched her back contentedly as Jax began to unbutton her blouse, placing kisses as he went. "Did…..uh……" She caught her breath and fought to keep her train of thought. "Did anyone call while I was gone?"

Jax had his face buried against her breasts. "Um-hmmm," he mumbled. "Someone named Kathleen. I told her you’d call her back later." He fumbled with the belt buckle on her blue jeans. "MUCH later."

The only noise in the room for about fifteen seconds was heavy breathing, but then Brenda clasped Jax’s hair and forced him to look up at her. "Sheehan or Woodiwiss?"

Jax frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Kathleen Sheehan or Kathleen Woodiwiss?"

Jax straightened up and set his hands on his hips. "What’s the bloody difference, and why do you need to know RIGHT NOW?" Before she could answer him, he swept her up into his arms and started carrying her towards the bedroom.

"Well, Kathleen Woodiwiss writes historical fiction, and Kathleen Sheehan writes contemporary fiction." She was still chewing on her lower lip and considering the possibilities of either phone call when he set her on her feet next to the bed. "And I’ve been talking to Kathleen Sheehan about collaborating with her on my next book……but Kathleen Woodiwiss……Wow, she’s sold more books than anyone I know……"

Jax ripped his shirt off, startling Brenda when the buttons scattered across the room. "Do we really need to talk about books right now?"

Jax’s lips curved up in a satisfied smile as he remembered what had happened after that. But then -- "Excuse me……..Doctor Jacks?"

The sound of a feminine voice – definitely not Brenda’s – brought Jax back to the present. He opened his eyes and looked up at the door of the ER lounge to see Karen Wexler. "Ms. Wexler," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes and straightening up in the chair. "What can I do for you?"

She came into the lounge and held a file out to Jax. "I’m so sorry to disturb you, Dr. Jacks, but would you sign off on this chart for me so I can release the patient in Trauma Room 1?"

Jax blinked repeatedly and opened the chart with a frown. "Refresh my memory ……which one was this?"

"The 56-year-old male – rule-out MI."

"Oh, yeah – right." Jax squinted at the file and read its contents briefly before setting it on the table and scribbling his name again. He closed it and handed it back to Karen. "Here you go, Ms. Wexler."

"Thank you, Dr. Jacks." She took the file and turned to leave the lounge. As she opened the door, she spun and gave him one last smile. "And Dr. Jacks?" He looked up at her from his stack of files. "I just wanted to tell you……" When she paused, obviously searching for words, Jax arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "Well…….I just wanted to say that I think it’s really wonderful news."

"Wellllllll, of course it’s wonderful news," Jax drawled in confusion. "It’s *always* good news when a patient’s chest pains turn out to be indigestion and not a heart attack."

Karen gave Jax an "awww, isn’t that sweet" smile. "Absolutely." She suddenly stepped to the side as the door opened even wider and Monica Quartermaine appeared beside her. "Excuse me, Dr. Quartermaine," she said reverently. "I just…….um……I needed Dr. Jacks to sign off on a patient for me. I was just leaving."

Karen almost tripped over her own feet in her haste to get out of Monica’s way. As the door slid shut behind her, Monica chuckled softly. "Never ceases to amaze me how flabbergasted med students get when confronted by the Hospital Chief of Staff."

"I can’t imagine either – especially since we stopped telling them that the Chief of Staff gobbles down med students for breakfast years ago!" Jax rose from his chair with a smile and went to the coffee pot to refill his cup. "Sooo…..what brings you down to my little corner of the hospital today, Monica?"

She walked over towards the round table where Jax’s files sat. "I just thought I’d come down and sit in for a while with the MASTER….." Jax scowled at her in confusion as he headed back for his own chair. "You know……" She tossed a newspaper towards Jax’s side of the table, "…..sit in with the man who single-handedly managed to perform the world’s first moose-to-human heart transplant……"

"WHAT????!!!" Jax almost spilled his coffee but Monica just pointed wordlessly to the tabloid. He turned the paper around and when he read the headline, his eyes got as wide as saucers. "WHAT THE BLOODY H*LL IS THIS????!!!"

Jax stared slack-jawed at the large picture of himself on the front page of the Enquirer. The headline screamed, "FAMOUS ROMANCE NOVELIST WEDS MEDICAL PIONEER!!!" He held the paper closer to read some of the article and started to sputter furiously. "This……..this is purely preposterous!!"

Monica shrugged, her face totally serious. "I’m not really sure, Doctor Jacks." She tossed another newspaper at him. "According to this one, your chief claim to fame is developing the cure for glifungal fever."

"GLI-WHAT???" Jax continued to stammer as Monica gave him the copy of The Star.

"But," she sighed, "according to this rag, you’re only a mere cross between Albert Schweitzer and Jonas Salk." Jax grabbed the tabloid out of her hands before she could give it to him. "My, my," Monica smirked, "how the mighty have fallen."

Jax looked from tabloid to tabloid to tabloid, his face growing redder by the second. Each one had headlines that touted his recent "secret" marriage to super-novelist, Brenda Barrett. He suddenly looked up, rose from the table, stalked towards the door, and slapped it open with one hand, never breaking stride. "AMY!!!!!!!???????"

Monica followed Jax out of the lounge, a tickled grin on her face. In fact, as he made his way through the ER towards the main desk, an entourage started to grow behind him. They all formed a circle around him as he confronted the blushing and shrinking nurse. "AMY??? What have you done??"

"Doctor Jacks!" She looked from one face to another, silently wishing the floor would open and she could drop through into some black hole. "I just thought……I mean, aren’t you……." She finally just shrugged her shoulders and smiled benignly. "Congratulations!!"

Jax only fumed that much more when the crowd launched into a round of applause. "How……how did anyone find out?" he growled at Amy beneath the snickers and murmuring.

"Well, Brenda called here the day before yesterday and when I told her you were still in surgery, she said just to tell you that your wife called." Amy blanched when she saw the tabloid newspapers in Jax’s hand. "But I NEVER told anyone outside the hospital, Doctor Jacks! I SWEAR I didn’t!"

"Hmmmmm….." Jessie Moore sidled up next to Jax, appearing out of the crowd. "I wonder if those tabloid reports would have anything to do with the fact that I saw V loitering around the front desk the other day?" Jax swallowed hard. "Or the fact that she’s suddenly requested a permanent transfer to Urology?"

Jax narrowed one eye and slammed the tabloids down on the desk just as a man in a business suit approached him. "Doctor Jacks?" Jax turned to face him. "Jasper Jacks?" He folded his arms across his chest as the room became as silent as a tomb. The man smiled. "I’m Paul Wilson from the Tattler, Doctor Jacks, and I was just wondering if you might have time for an interview……"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!" Jax spun around and raced back towards the lounge with the reporter on his heels.

"Well then, how about just a few pictures?" Jax grabbed the handle of the door to the ER lounge but the reporter slapped it shut with the flat of his hand. "You know – maybe where you’re riding on top of some gurney, pounding on some guy’s chest? Or one where you’re using those electric paddle things to shock some broad back to life?"

"Jessie," Jax murmured through gritted teeth, "if this man isn’t out of the ER in the next thirty seconds, I want you to call security." He turned to her and gave her a Vulcan death stare. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir, Doctor Jacks." With his lab coat flapping behind him, Jax disappeared into the lounge. Jessie turned to the reported and smiled. "If I were you, I’d leave before Doctor Jacks demonstrates those paddles on YOU – without the aid of anesthesia!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jax gripped the steering wheel tightly as he drove towards his condo. Actually, his fury had calmed somewhat since he made the decision back at the hospital. The decision to tell Brenda everything.

When Lucky and Lois had outlined the plan, it had seemed so simple. Jax had never considered the possible ramifications, including the reaction from their respective families and friends. Nor had he even DREAMED that the outside world would take such an interest in one little wedding. Or pretend wedding.

He whipped the SUV into his vacant parking spot and was gratified to see Brenda’s car parked next to him. At least she would be home, and he could get it over with before it got any worse. Before it turned into some monumental disaster ala The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Jax strode purposefully up the steps to the condo and fit his key into the lock but the front door swung slowly open on its own. It was then that the loud voices and laughter coming from his living room finally made an impression. As his eyes adjusted from the bright late afternoon sunshine to the artificial light inside the condo, he was shocked to see a large number of smiling faces in his living room. Strange faces. FEMALE faces.

"HONEY!!" Brenda jumped up from her chair and did a little happy dance before prancing over to greet him. She landed a kiss on his cheek and threw her arms around him. "I’m so glad you’re home early!!"

"Brenda……." Jax’s face resembled a deer’s caught in the headlights on an oncoming Mack truck. "Who are all these people?"

"That’s why I’m so glad you’re home, Jax! They surprised me!" Brenda giggled and started pointing to the faces of women representing every hair color and skin tone in the rainbow. "That’s Lea, and Tyra, and Sydney, and Janis, and Victoria, and Kathleen……" A petite brunette waggled her fingers at Jax in a wave, which he returned dazedly. "……you talked to her on the phone, remember?"

"Ummmm….." Jax smiled politely but then grabbed for Brenda’s flailing hand. He pulled her aside and leaned over to growl into her ear. "Who ARE these women and what are they doing here?" He eyed the women suspiciously. They were all looking back at him like they had end-stage PMS and he was the last Hershey bar on the planet.

"That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, Jax!" Brenda wrapped her arms around Jax’s waist possessively and turned him back to the admiring throng. "These are all of my fellow romance writers! They came here today to give me a surprise belated-bridal shower!" Jax’s soft whimper of panic was drowned out by the applause from the other women. "Isn’t it wonderful?"

To be continued……