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Wedding Season: A Collection Of Romance Reads
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WEDDING SEASON
A Collection of Romance Reads
Natasha Anders Alissa Baxter Marie Dry
Ashleigh Giannoccaro Sharonlee Holder Suzanne Jefferies Sophia Karlson Romy Sommer Jo Watson Tanya Wilde
Contents
THE FIRE INSIDE
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
About Romy Sommer
Also by Romy Sommer
Latest from Romy
A LOVE LOST
A Love Lost
About Alissa Baxter
Also By Alissa Baxter
Latest from Alissa
PICTURE PERFECT
Picture Perfect
About Sophia Karlson
Also By Sophia Karlson
Latest from Sophia
PRIEST
Priest
About Suzanne Jefferies
Also by Suzanne Jefferies
Latest from Suzanne
PROMISES OF FOREVER
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
About Natasha Anders
Also by Natasha Anders
Latest from Natasha
UNDER THE HIGHLAND SKY
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Epilogue
About Tanya Wilde
Also by Tanya Wilde
Latest from Tanya
HOUDINI’S HACK
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
About Sharonlee Holder
Also by Sharonlee Holder
Latest from Sharonlee
MELISENDE AND THE STAR WARRIOR
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Epilogue
About Marie Dry
Also by Marie Dry
Coming Soon from Marie
CUT THE CAKE
Dominic
Valerie
Dominic
Valerie
Dominic
Valerie
Dominic
Valerie
Dominic
About Ashleigh Giannoccaro
Also By Ashleigh Giannoccaro
OCCUPIED!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
About Jo Watson
Also By Jo Watson
Latest from Jo
About ROSA
THE FIRE INSIDE
Romy Sommer
Chapter 1
Ryan Morgan climbed out of his sports car and rested his arm on its roof for a moment as he surveyed the landscape—the clear sky above, and mountains reflected in the dark, still waters of Coombethwaite Lake.
He breathed in deeply, and rolled out his shoulders. For the first time since he’d left London that morning, the tension in his neck and shoulders eased. With luck, that tension would be history by the end of tonight’s stag party.
The King’s Head pub sat on the very edge of the water, separated from the lake by nothing more than a slope of lawn scattered with wooden tables and benches, all occupied by either tourists or locals on this fine summer’s evening. He shielded his eyes against the glare of sunlight off water. It was a moment more before he spotted Nick.
His uni flatmate hadn’t changed a bit in the years since they first met. Nick still wore his hair cropped short, and still had the physique of a man who worked out regularly.
Ryan kept in shape, and knew he wasn’t too shabby for a man in his mid-thirties who spent way too much time in an office, but beside Nick and his brawny mates, he no doubt appeared a lightweight. He slammed the car door shut, pocketed the key, and headed across the lawn to where Nick and his friends laughed loudly at some joke.
Nick looked up as he approached, and rose to greet him, grabbing Ryan into a one-armed hug, the kind Ryan hadn’t experienced since his footie-playing days.
“You’re a drink behind the rest of us.” Nick slid back into his seat at the crowded table. “Sam’s inside getting us the next round of beers. You’ll have to hurry to add yours to the order.”
“Beer—just what a weary traveller wants to hear!” Ryan smiled. Just being around Nick made him feel years lighter, as if he were a carefree student again.
He headed inside the gloomy pub with its low-beamed ceilings and wallpaper the colour of dried blood. A couple of tables were occupied, but the only person being served at the bar was a young woman. No sign of Nick’s mate Sam.
Ryan leaned against the dark wood bar and waited as the barman filled her order.
The young woman glanced his way, and he caught the brief, but quickly stifled, flare of interest in her eyes before she looked away. She tucked back a stray wisp of ash-blonde hair that had fallen loose from her messy bun, an unconscious preening gesture that made him smile.
“I’ll be with you in a moment.” The barman sent him an apologetic grin as he pushed two foaming pint glasses across the bar towards the young woman. “Here you go, Sam.”
“You’re Sam?” Ryan couldn’t keep the incredulity out of his voice. Nick had told him his mates were all local firefighters.
She turned, hand on hip, stance shrieking defiance. God, he’d never seen eyes that colour before. Perhaps it was a trick of the light in this under-lit pub, but her eyes were an unusual tawny shade, reminding him of the lioness that had once stared him down during an African safari.
Her appraising gaze flicked over him. “I am.”
“But, you’re a girl.”
She glared, her back stiffening, making him think even more of a lioness about to pounce.
“Okay, not a girl,” he amended. “A woman.”
Very much a woman. Though she was tall enough to almost look him straight in the eyes, and lean rather than curvy. The white collared shirt she wore was tailored just right for the swell of her breasts, and her jeans clung to slender hips and long legs. His body tightened in a way it hadn’t in far too long.
She frowned, eyes narrowing to cat-like slits. “Of course I’m a woman.”
“I’m Nick’s friend, Ryan.” He held out a hand to her, reinforcing his smile with as much charm as he could muster, hoping to undo the misogynistic arsehole impression he’d no doubt given her.
She nodded, and shook his hand. “Sam Redfern.” Her hand was small and slender, but the grip surprisingly strong, and her touch shot a spark through him. Like a spark igniting an engine, jump-starting him out of his weariness. He turned her hand over in his, examining it, not wanting to let her go. She kept her nails short and practical, and her fingers wer
e work-roughened, scored with tiny nicks and cuts, mostly healed. With his thumb, he stroked the callouses on her palm.
Arching an eyebrow at him, she eased her hand out of his, and leaned over the bar to check on the barman who was filling another two pint glasses.
In Ryan’s experience, there were only two kinds of women: the kind who were tongue-tied in his presence, and the kind who wouldn’t stop talking. Unusually, Sam didn’t appear to be either. Her gaze brushed over him again with a self-assurance that suggested she wasn’t tongue-tied, nor did she rush to fill the silence between them.
He opened his mouth to ask her how she knew Nick, but before he could say a word, a body slid between them—a curvy, dyed blonde vacuum-packed into a cherry red dress. The dress was tight enough to reveal a particularly perky chest. Unable to help himself, Ryan looked down.
“Hi,” the blonde breathed. “You’re Ryan Morgan.”
Really? I had no idea. But he bit back the retort. He usually saved the biting comments for when the cameras were rolling.
“I’m Cindy,” the blonde purred.
Of course you are. Cindy, Candy, Brandy. Their names were usually as indistinguishable as their faces. “Nice to meet you, Cindy.” He smiled the polite, charming smile he reserved for fans, though the act was wearing increasingly thin these days. “Would you mind? We’re in the middle of a conversation.”
“No, we weren’t.” Sam reached for the four pint glasses the barman had set before her, balancing them with practiced ease, and slipped away from the bar.
He watched until she stepped out into the pub garden, her body silhouetted for a moment against the bright sunlight outside, before realising he’d missed his chance to add his order to the round. He shrugged and turned back to the bar.
“What’ll you have?” asked the barman.
“One of those.” Ryan nodded towards the door Sam had departed through.
“I watch your TV show every week.” The blonde again. She was definitely one of the talkative ones.
He willed the barman to hurry, so he could chase after Sam.
“I’m a singer.” The blonde pouted, realising he hadn’t yet bestowed his full attention on her, but still persistent.
“Sorry, honey. I’m off duty this weekend, but you’re welcome to send your demo to my office.” Ryan dropped his money on the counter, grabbed hold of his pint, and pushed past her, heading for the tables on the lawn outside and the siren call of the first woman in years who hadn’t thrown herself at him.
Sam was already seated with Nick and his mates when he joined them.
“This is Ryan,” Nick said to the table at large. Then to Ryan, “and this is my crew.” He swept an arm around the table, performing the introductions: Drew, the local lord of the manor; Isaac, the brooding farrier recently returned from far-off places; Daniel, novelist and single dad; Ken, the crew's newest recruit, and the twins, Ben and Jake, identical down to their matching dimples. And Sam. Lucky for Ryan he had a good memory for names and faces, or he’d be lost.
He sat astride the end of the bench beside Sam, and she shifted up to make more space for him. Or more accurately, to make space between them.
“You’re a firefighter too?” he asked.
She crossed her arms over her chest and raised her chin. “I am. You have a problem with that?”
He grinned. “You’re certainly the prettiest fireman I’ve ever seen.”
“Retained firefighter,” she corrected. With a roll of her eyes, she turned away from him, swigging down a mouthful of beer.
The brush-off only intrigued him more. Even before he’d become a household name, women had fallen over themselves to attract his attention.
“You’re the hot-shot talent scout on that TV show,” said one of the twins.
That TV show, the reality talent show that had painted a target on his back. He’d been a career-maker before the show, but ever since the first season aired, every wannabe singer and musician in the county wanted a piece of him. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Sam had done. “That’s me.”
The other twin grinned. “You must get lots of chicks throwing themselves at you.”
“All the time.” Ryan suppressed a sigh, thinking of the dyed blonde in the pub whose name he’d already forgotten. “Trust me, it wears thin after a while.”
“Yeah, right.” Nick slapped him on the back. “Like having your pick of any woman out there ever gets old.”
“You tell me. You’re the one getting hitched.”
The entire table erupted with laughter as Nick blushed. “Lizzie’s worth giving all that up for.”
“You’re a lucky man.” And Ryan meant it. He wished he was in his friend’s shoes, settling down with the one woman worth giving up all others for. He cast a sideways glance at Sam, and for a second their gazes met before she looked away. The colour of her eyes was no less stunning out here in the sunlight.
The dyed blonde and her two friends had moved to a table nearby. They laughed and talked just a little too loudly, in the obvious hope of catching his attention. Ryan tuned them out.
“Oh well, guess that means the rest of us won’t get a shot at any of the bridesmaids then, with a celeb around,” Isaac joked.
“It’s not the fame that attracts the women to him,” Nick said. “It’s the smell of money.”
Nick wasn’t wrong, even though Ryan had spent the better part of his adult years trying to hide the fact that he’d been born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. These days, there didn’t seem much point, though. ‘Net worth’ was the second most popular Google search term linked to his name, after ‘girlfriend?’
Over his shoulder, the dyed blonde began to sing.
“You’re welcome to the bridesmaids,” he said to Isaac. “Especially if they think they can sing.”
Sam coughed, covering a laugh. He caught her eye and grinned, and she smiled back. An honest-to-goodness smile that lit up her eyes.
With an effort, he dragged his gaze away from hers, clearing his throat before he spoke again. “In fact, if Lizzie has any single girlfriends with absolutely no aspirations for their ten seconds of fame, I’ll gladly volunteer to escort them to the wedding. The last thing I need is to spend an entire evening fending off desperate women with too much alcohol in them.” That was the way he spent every other night of his life. He was tired beyond belief of the endless events he attended. More and more, all he wanted was a real conversation over dinner. A real flirtation with some real chemistry.
“You can always take Sam. She doesn’t have a date.”
Yeah. That kind of chemistry.
Sam choked on the dregs of her beer. “That’s exactly the way I’d like to keep it, thank you very much. I don’t need a man.”
“Oh come on, Sam. It’s not like bringing a date to the wedding would kill you,” Nick said.
Sam glared at him. “You never know. It might. I’m ready for the next round. Whose shout is it?”
“I’ll take this one.” Ryan stood.
Nick also rose. “I’ll help you with the drinks.”
Back inside, Nick leaned up against the bar as they waited for their order. “Our idea of a stag night is probably pretty tame compared to the fancy parties you usually attend.”
“I’m enjoying this more than any party I’ve been to in years.”
Nick studied him. “You know, that’s not a bad idea I had.”
“What idea?”
“If you’re serious about wanting to avoid all the ambitious single women at the wedding, you should come as Sam’s date. You’ll be safe as houses with her.”
“But will she be safe with me?” Ryan waggled his eyebrows and Nick laughed.
“You don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell, mate. I’ve known her since we were kids, and you’re not her type.”
“What’s her type?”
Nick wrinkled his nose. “Actually, I guess I don’t know. It’s never come up. Sam’s just one of the guys. She’s no
t that interested in men.”
Oh, she was interested in men alright. That searching look she’d sent him at the bar had contained enough heat to prove that. Maybe she just wasn’t interested in the men she’d known all her life and grown up with.
“I’m game. Safe is my middle name.”
Nick threw his head back in laughter. “Who are you, and what have you done with my favourite wingman?”
Chapter 2
“Are you crazy? Hell no!” Sam slammed the compartment door closed on the gear she’d meticulously stowed away in the fire engine.
“Please. It’d really help Ryan out. And it’ll be much better than sitting at the desperate singles table.”