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surmised in only minutes; she would be miserable married to Chad.  The stiff-necked yuppie would do everything he could to squash that wild spirit of hers until there was nothing left but an empty shell.  Jake didn’t like the nasty looks Chad gave Bri, or the condescending tone he often used.  And he especially didn’t care for the way Chad put his hand on Bri’s arm or nudged her with his elbow whenever she laughed too loud or got a little too animated when she was talking. 
    A woman like that was made to laugh , and if Chad wasn't around, Jake imagined he would hear a whole lot more of that melodious sound.  It was care-free and infectious and made him smile on those infrequent occasions when it wasn’t cut short by her oppressive fiancé.  The saddest part of it all was that Bri seemed to take it all in stride.  He doubted she even knew what was happening, but the people who loved her had certainly picked up on it. 
    Several times , he noted the way her father’s lips pressed together when Chad said or did something to dampen Bri’s light-heartedness.  It was obvious Phillip was fighting back the urge to direct some biting words of his own towards his future son-in-law.  And her mother visibly cringed whenever Chad corrected Brianne or made some remark about how hard he worked at teaching her the proper way to conduct herself. 
    Over the course of the next hour, Jake watched Bri’s vibrant personality slowly wilt under Chad’s constant little reminders , and by the end of the meal she was barely speaking at all.  He hated seeing the light in her eyes dim and that beautiful smile fade, and he hated Chad even more for doing that to her.  He’d always considered it tasteless and just plain unsporting to go after another man’s woman, but in this case he felt justified.  Because Jake knew he was the only man she had ever made love to, and because he intended to keep it that way. 
                                                                      ***
    If it was possible to die of embarrassment, the death march would have played at least a dozen times for her that evening.   How many times had Chad given her that blank stare when she said something he deemed inappropriate?  At one point he leaned over and whispered that she should take lessons from Brandy who spoke so softly everyone had to strain to hear her and whose laughter was nothing more than a quiet little twitter that could hardly be considered a laugh at all. 
    He even had the nerve to compare what they were wearing and asked Bri why she couldn’t dress like that.   It was downright degrading and she was just thankful he hadn’t said any of those things loud enough for the others to hear.  Of course, he’d managed to make so many other demeaning remarks she’d wanted to run back to her room and hide her head in shame.
    It was agonizing sitting at the same table with Chad and Jake, not only because of the horrible way Chad treated her, but because she couldn’t keep herself from comparing the two men.  They were night and day, and looking at Jake’s rugged good looks in contrast to Chad’s starched male model features made her wonder how she had ever thought Chad was so attractive. 
    Oh , he was good looking, but he didn’t make her temperature rise or her heart race like it did when her eyes fell on Jake’s handsome face.  And even though Chad was a decent kisser, he’d never made her feel like a pat of butter on a hot skillet or turned her insides to mush the way Jake did.  Thank God, her father hadn’t wanted to talk business and she was able to escape, claiming a headache.
    Now, all alone in her room and brooding over what she considered a disastrous evening, she really was starting to develop a pounding headache.   It wasn’t really that late, but she’d half decided to go to bed anyway when there was a sharp rap on her door.  Positive it was Chad