âYou know, no one is watching us. You donât have to pretend to want to kiss me.â
Julian smiled. âIf thereâs one thing Iâve learned in my years in LA, itâs that someone is always watching. But even if there werenât, I would still kiss you.â
âWhy?â Her dark eyes searched his face in confusion, her brows drawn together.
She honestly didnât think she was kissable. That was a shame.
âItâs not that hard. Just take a deep breath, tilt your head up to me and close your eyes.â
He intended it to be a quick kiss, knowing it would take a while for them to work up to a convincing one. But he found that once they touched, he didnât want to pull away.
* * *
One Week with the Best Man is part of the Brides and Belles series: Wedding planning is their business ⦠and their pleasure
ANDREA LAURENCE is an award-winning author of contemporary romance for Mills & Boon Desire and paranormal romance for Mills & Boon Nocturne. She has been a lover of reading and writing stories since she learned to read at a young age. She always dreamed of seeing her work in print and is thrilled to share her special blend of sensuality and dry, sarcastic humor with the world.
A dedicated West Coast girl transplanted into the Deep South, Andrea is working on her own happily-ever-after with her boyfriend and their collection of animals, including a Siberian husky that sheds like nobodyâs business. If you enjoy her story, tell her by visiting her website, www.andrealaurence.com; like her fan page on Facebook at facebook.com/authorandrealaurence; or follow her on Twitter, twitter.com/andrea_laurence.
To my baby sister Hannahâ
Being a girl is tough. Surviving your teenage years with your self-esteem intact is a major feat. Youâve got a long way to go, but no matter what, I want you to remember: you are smart enough, you are talented enough and you are pretty enough. Donât let anyone tell you otherwise. You can do anything you put your mind to, and if and when you choose to fall in love, that man will be damn lucky to have you in his life. Donât settle for someone that treats you like anything less than the best thing that has ever happened to him.
One
âPardon me,â Natalie said, leaning in toward the man sitting across from her. âCould you run that by us again?â
Gretchen was glad Natalie had said it, because she was pretty darn confused herself. The four owners and operators of From This Moment wedding chapel were seated at the conference room table across from a man wearing an expensive suit and an arrogant attitude she didnât care for. He wasnât from the South; that was for sure. He was also talking nonsense.
Ross Bentley looked just as annoyed with the womenâs confusion as they were with him. âYou advertise From This Moment as a one-stop wedding venue, do you not?â
âYes,â Natalie said, âbut usually that means weâll handle the food, the DJ and the flowers. Weâve never been asked to provide one of the wedding guests a date. This is a wedding chapel, not an escort service.â
âLet me explain,â Ross said with a greasy smile that Gretchen didnât trust. âThis is a very delicate arrangement, so this discussion will need to fall within the confidentiality agreement for the Murray Evans wedding.â
Murray Evans was a country music superstar. On his last tour, heâd fallen for his opening act. They were having a multiday wedding event at their facility next weekend, the kind the press salivated over. Those weddings usually required a confidentiality clause so that any leaks about the event are not from the venue. Frankly, Gretchen was getting tired of these big, over-the-top weddings. The money was niceâmoney was always nice, since she didnât have muchâbut carefully addressing thousands of invitations in perfect calligraphy wasnât that fun. Nor was dealing with the high-and-mighty wedding guests who came to these kinds of shindigs.
âOf course,â Natalie replied.
âI represent Julian Cooper, the actor. Heâs a longtime friend of Mr. Evans and will be attending the wedding as the best man. Iâm not sure how closely you follow celebrity news, but Julian has just had a big public breakup with his costar of Bombs of Fury, Bridgette Martin. Bridgette has already been seen out and about with another high-profile actor. As his manager, I feel like it would look bad if Julian attended the wedding alone, but he doesnât need the complication of a real date. We just need a woman to stand in and pretend to be with him throughout the wedding events. I assure you thereâs nothing inappropriate involved.â
Gretchen knew of Julian Cooperâit would be impossible not toâalthough sheâd never seen any of his films. He was the king of dude filmsâlots of explosions, guns and scripts with holes big enough to drive a truck through them. That wasnât her thing, but a lot of people loved his movies. It seemed a little ridiculous that he would need a fake date. His sweaty, hard abs were plastered all over every billboard and movie preview. While Gretchen might not appreciate his acting skills, she had a hard time discounting that body. If a man who looked like that couldnât get a last-minute date, she was doomed.