Bridesmaid with Attitude

He took her hand, enveloping it in his own work-roughened one, and squeezed hard, coating her hand with grease so their fingers slipped against each other.

‘Theo Berkeley.’

‘Okay, Theo, if you promise to pull out all the stops and let Lula hold her wedding here—including the use of your family chapel to hold the ceremony in if she wants to—we’ve got a deal.’

He gave her a discerning look. ‘I’d have to square that with the vicar.’

‘Then square it.’

He snorted in incredulity. ‘She must be a very good friend.’

‘She is.’

She’d swear that she glimpsed the glimmer of a smile in his eyes. So there was some life in there. He might come across as cold, and as hazardous as liquid nitrogen, but she could sense there was a lot going on under that tough surface. She’d bet her life on it.

The idea of breaking through the frigidity to uncover it made her whole body tingle with excitement.

‘Okay, Theo, let’s do it. Let’s get romantic.’

This is the second part of the first duet I’ve ever written—and I had so much fun with it! After she made a rather striking appearance in FIRED BY HER FLING, as Lula’s best friend, I was desperate to give Emily her own happy-ever-after, and in BRIDESMAID WITH ATTITUDE I got my chance.

Emily is the epitome of an anti-heroine: she’s bolshie, a little on the self-centred side, and very determined to get what she wants—no matter what it takes to get it. And I love her. She’s had a very tough upbringing, but she hasn’t let it beat her down, and even though it’s made it hard for her to let people get emotionally close she lives her life to the max.

In order to force her out of her self-protective bubble she needs a hero with a determination to equal her own—and in Theo she finally meets her match.

These two challenge each other in ways they’ve never experienced before, and through dogged persistence—and some truly testing events—together they finally manage to overcome their worst fears and emerge on the other side as stronger, more confident and much happier people.

I hope you enjoy their journey as much as I did.

With best wishes

Christy x

BK (Before Kids), CHRISTY MCKELLEN worked as a video and radio producer in London and Nottingham. After a decade of dealing with nappies, tantrums and endless questions from toddlers, she’s come out the other side and moved into the wonderful world of literature. She now spends her time writing flirty, sexy romance with a kick (her dream job!).

Christy loves to hear from readers. You can contact her at [email protected], through her website, www.christymckellen.com, via Facebook, www.facebook.com/christymckellenauthor, or on Twitter, www.twitter.com/christymckellen

www.millsandboon.co.uk

This one is for my fabulous courtesy cousins, Vanessa and Fiona, two of the strongest, smartest and kindest women I’ve ever had the pleasure to know.

Cover

Excerpt

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

EPILOGUE

Copyright

EMILY APPLEGATE SWUNG her motorbike in through the open gates of the grand Buckinghamshire estate and screeched to a halt in the car park allocated to visitors, snatching the keys out of the ignition and dismounting in one smooth, practised movement.

Leaving her crash helmet swinging from the handlebars, she marched up the sweeping driveway towards the imposing Elizabethan mansion that sprawled like a hubristic monarch before her.

The heels of her biker boots dug into the golden gravel with a satisfying crunch as she made a beeline for the front entrance.

She was going to have someone’s head—namely the stuck-up Lord of the Manor who’d had the gall to cancel her best friend’s booking to use this grand house for her wedding reception only one month before the wedding.

Ignoring the glares of the two imperious-looking stone lions that guarded the door, she raised the heavy brass knocker and hammered it down hard three times, the tension in her fists matching the determined clench of her jaw.

You did not do that to a bride-to-be. Especially not someone as sweet-natured as her best friend Lula. The poor woman didn’t need complications like this right before the most hotly anticipated event of her life.

She knew from numerous tipsy conversations with Lula over the years that her friend had been dreaming about her wedding day for ever. In fact the fantasy of happy-ever-after had been the thing that had helped keep her friend positive through an emotionally isolated youth with parents who didn’t give two hoots about her.

Their miserable childhoods had actually been the common denominator they’d bonded over after meeting at university, and the fact that they understood and identified with each other’s pain had kept them bound together ever since.