Marry in Haste

Letter to ReaderTitle PageDedicationCHAPTER ONECHAPTER TWOCHAPTER THREECHAPTER FOURCHAPTER FIVECHAPTER SIXCHAPTER SEVENCHAPTER EIGHTCHAPTER NINECHAPTER TENCHAPTER ELEVENEPILOGUECopyright

Parker kissed her as though he’d been dying of thirst and she was a pool of cold springwater.

How could he have fooled so many people for so long? Hadn’t anyone bothered to get to know the man—this caring, passionate man?

Only Abby had found the true Parker. She was in love with him.

He shouldn’t have kissed her. He was supposed to be dazzling her, not kissing her, but Parker couldn’t help himself.

He wasn’t used to having his feelings overrule his head. People who were ruled by their emotions got into trouble. His brother Jay was a perfect example. But with any luck, Jay had already forgotten about a certain temporary executive assistant.

Now all Parker had to do was to see that a certain temporary executive assistant forgot all about Jay.

Dear Reader,

This is a brand-new miniseries about matrimony, featuring strong, irresistible heroes, feisty heroines and four marriages made not so much in heaven as in a hurry!

When the authors came up with the idea for WHIRLWIND WEDDINGS we gave them just one stipulation: their heroes and heroines had to meet and many within a week! Mission impossible? Well, a lot can happen in seven days....

Heather Allison says: “My wedding was anything but whirlwind. After five years of dating, I married my high school sweetheart on the Fourth of July in Houston, Texas. I still can’t believe my mother didn’t talk me out of an outdoor reception. It was July, for pity’s sake! Even the cake was sweating. But when we saw the fireworks display, we forgot all about the heat, humidity and mosquitoes—we must have, because every year we’re right back outside watching for fireworks on the Fourth.”

www.millsandboon.co.uk

In memory of Megan Alyssa Fox, who is only gone from our sight.

CHAPTER ONE

“ABIGAIL? Could you come into my office?”

Slipping her feet into her pumps, Abby Monroe stood and smoothed the skirt of her suit. Pausing to pick up the notebook and pen she always kept ready on her desk, she walked across the plush terracotta and jade diamond-patterned carpet and into the office of the Executive Assistant to Parker Laird, of Laird Drilling and Exploration.

Abby loved the carpet, with its deep pile and thick pad that put a spring into her step. In fact, she loved everything about working on the twenty-sixth floor of the Laird building.

As she’d climbed the corporate ladder during the past four years, Abby had discovered that the more important the person she worked for, the higher the floor and the thicker the carpet.

This was the top floor and the carpet was so thick, if it were any thicker, the doors wouldn’t slide over it.

Even the atmosphere was different than it was on the lower floors. This was the nerve center of the whole company and power hummed through the air, generated by Parker Laird, himself.

Valerie Chippin, the Executive Assistant and Abby’s boss as of five weeks ago, closed the door and waved Abby over to the sitting area by the corner windows.

This was unusual. Abby hadn’t ever been invited to sit on the jade leather chairs and love seat before. As she followed Valerie, Abby admired the view from the spacious corner office.

Someday, she would have an office like this, with all of Houston, Texas—or someplace else—at her feet.

But that was some other day and not today.

She sat in the chair across from Valerie and crossed her feet at the ankles.

“I’ve been very pleased with your work the past several weeks,” Valerie began.

Abby covered her surprise with a smile. Valerie wasn’t one to compliment her staffs performance, yet Abby had continued to work hard, just as she’d always done.

“And so has Mr. Laird,” Valerie added diplomatically.

Abby maintained her smile, though she was certain Parker Laird didn’t have a clue that she existed. Oh, he nodded, if he happened to catch her eye as he stepped off the elevator, but more often than not, he was reading the Wall Street Journal and continued to do so as he entered his office, which took up half the twenty-sixth floor.

Abby’s desk was positioned opposite the elevator where she was the first person people saw. It was her job to act as receptionist, in addition to her other duties. Though receptionist duty was a step down from the secretary she’d been, Abby didn’t really mind, recognizing that she was the least experienced member of Valerie’s staff.

But she wouldn’t always be.

“As you know, I’m going on vacation next week,” Valerie continued.

Expecting some long-term assignments, Abby opened her notebook, but Valerie shook her head.

“Not yet.” She drew a breath. “It’s an awkward time for me to leave, I know, since Laird is establishing drilling operations in the El Bahar oil field, but my husband booked this cruise a year ago.” She smiled and patted her perfectly coiffed blond head.

Abby mentally compared the sleek style with her own naturally curly auburn hair and sighed inwardly, longing for the professionalism of tamable hair.