HITCHED
by Erin
Nicholas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
And she thought the bridesmaids dresses were her biggest problem...
Allison
Ralston would rather be anywhere other than this wedding. Even if
the
wedding is hers. Especially since the wedding is hers.
But
Allie's determined to restore her family's happiness, and if tying the
knot
with longtime family friend, Josh Brewster, is the way to do it, then
she'll
walk down that aisle, toss that bouquet and drink that champagne.
Oh,
she'll definitely drink the champagne.
There’s only one thing that could get Gavin Montgomery back
to Promise Harbor. And she’s about to
say I do to another man. Now he’s back to claim what’s his—even if he has to do
it in the middle of her wedding.
Allie is shocked—and okay, a little turned on—when Gavin
literally sweeps her off her feet. Safe in his arms, she succumbs to fatigue,
stress, and yes, the champagne, only to wake up in his bed. In Alaska.
Now
that he’s put four thousand miles between Allie and all her responsibilities,
Gavin’s determined to show her that they can make a life together. If he has his way, the next wedding Allie
will be planning will be theirs.
Warning: Contains a guy so in love he’s willing to break up
the wedding of the season, a bride who just needs to get to, well, anywhere else, and enough hot sex to
take them from New England to Alaska and back again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
Gavin headed for the rental car, mostly because he had no
idea where else to go. It was right in
front of the church, parked crookedly at the curb, the keys still in the
ignition.
Just how he’d expect someone to park who was about to break
up a wedding and steal the bride.
Break up a wedding.
Steal the bride.
Hell. What had he
just done?
Had he really just carried Allie out of her own wedding?
Gavin felt a trickle of sweat slip down his back—and it
wasn’t that hot out here.
Holy shit.
He’d really done it.
And looking down at the woman in his arms, he knew he would
do it all over again.
It was moments like this that being a selfish bastard—as his
father so eloquently put it—was a good thing.
He wasn’t going to lose any sleep over Josh Brewster and the wedding
without a bride. Maybe Josh really loved
Allie. Maybe his heart was in pieces
right now. But Gavin didn’t really care.
This was about him and the fact that he was in love with her. Josh was on his own.
Yanking the passenger door open, he nudged Allie inside and
slammed the door before jogging to the driver’s side. He slid behind the wheel, shifted into drive
and pulled away from the curb, aware of Josh’s angry presence by the church’s
side door. Gavin kept his eyes on the
street until they were a block away, then he glanced over at Allie. She was watching him with those big green
eyes that had made him mush for years.
“You okay?” he asked,
giving her a little smile. She would be
if she wasn’t now. He’d make sure of it.
“Strangely enough, I
think I might be,” she said.
One corner of her mouth curled up at the corner and Gavin
knew he was right to interrupt the wedding.
It wasn’t like declaring that he still loved her and wanted her back
could have really waited until after the wedding.
He smiled. “How do
you feel?”
“Like the dream I had
where you came home and swept me off my feet finally came true.”
Those words were clear and they punched Gavin in the
gut. “Yeah?” he asked gruffly.
“Yeah.”
He couldn’t believe he’d been within minutes of losing her
for good. He took a deep breath. He’d come here to tell her how he felt, to
beg her not to get married.
The not-getting-married thing seemed taken care of. For now anyway. Now for the I-was-stupid-to-let-you-go
speech. “Allie, I…”
“I’m starving,” she
interrupted.
O-k-a-y. “What do you
want?”
“A cheeseburger. With bacon.”
He couldn’t help his smile.
Allie was one of those girls who could eat like crazy and never gain
weight. Then he frowned. She’d never been this skinny though. She hadn’t been eating any bacon
cheeseburgers lately.
“You don’t look
good,” he said simply.
Her eyes widened.
“Well, thanks.”
“Seriously. Did you
sleep last night?”
“Four hours.” She wrinkled her nose. “Maybe three.”
“And you haven’t
eaten?”
She shook her head.
“Couldn’t.”
“But you’ve been
drinking.” It had been clear in the
church in the way she’d slightly slurred her words.
“Definitely,” she
confirmed. “Lots.”
“Today too?”
“Champagne.” She spread her arms wide. “Happiest day of my life.”
Uh, huh.
That champagne was playing a huge part in her leaving the
church with him.
Gavin shoved one hand through his hair, taking a corner too
fast. He knew that her state of mind
came, at least in part, from a bottle and knew that he should be torn about
that. But he wasn’t. He’d had to get her out of that church. At least long enough to tell her that he was
still in love with her.
“How’s your head?” he
asked. Surely she was feeling the effects
of the night before. On the phone it had
been clear she was drunk. But he hadn’t
been able to help the thump of his heart when he’d heard her voice—and the
words to the song.
“Swimmy,” she
answered, wrinkling her nose again. “Is that a word?”
He shook his head with a slight smile in spite of knowing he
shouldn’t find this funny. “I don’t
think so.”
“Well, that’s how it
feels,” she said. “Like my words are
swimming around and around. Like they
can’t find the way.”
“Okay, we need to
sober you up. Then talk.”
She frowned. “I’m
really hungry.”
A cheeseburger he could do.
That was now the plan—focus on one thing at a time.
“Can we grab my bags
out of my car?” she asked. “I’ve got crackers in there. And Twizzlers. And a Snickers. And lip gloss.” She rubbed a finger over her bottom lip as if
being without lip gloss and licorice was the biggest problem in her life. She grabbed the bottom edge of her bra
through her dress and wiggled it. “I
need a different bra, too. Bernice
picked this one out.”
Gavin wasn’t sure what that had to do with anything. “Al, I can…”
She reached up and pulled her veil from her hair, then
looked down at her dress, lifting the skirt with her hands. “I need a brush and
some different clothes.”
Finally, he just grinned. With that list, how could he doubt
she needed her bags? And he was on board
with her not needing to keep the dress on.
That was a good sign she didn’t intend to go back to her wedding any
time soon. “You bet. Where is it?”
“It’s right by the north
door of the church. The blue Focus.”
Right. Her car would
be at the church. Great.
Praying for a little divine intervention—that he was pretty
sure he didn’t fully deserve—he took a left and headed back for St.
Mark’s.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Erin Nicholas
is the author of sexy contemporary romances.
Her stories have been described as toe-curling, enchanting, steamy and
fun. She loves to write about reluctant
heroes, imperfect heroines, sex with food and happily ever afters. She lives in the Midwest with her husband who
only wants to read the sex scenes in her books, her kids who will never read
the sex scenes in her books, and family and friends who say they’re shocked by
the sex scenes in her books (yeah, right!).
You can find
Erin on the web:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ErinNicholas
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erin.nicholas.90
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ReplyDeletehahah! She was already drunk at the ceremony! Looks like she NEEDED to be saved from the alter!
ReplyDeleteandralynn7 AT gmail DOT com
This really sounds like a fun story. I loved the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteI kind of feel sorry for Josh. Poor bugger is left at the alter.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
I think "swimmy" is definitely a word! A good one, too.
ReplyDeletecatherinelee100 at gmail dot com
Thank you so much for letting me stop by today!
ReplyDeleteYep, I don't think Allie needs to worry about the bridesmaid dresses anymore.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com