âTasting a wine should be like a first kiss,â he said
âYou need to take your time and give it all your attention.â
Jess lifted the glass, but Michael reached for her hand and stopped her before the glass reached her lips.
âLet it slide over your tongue and around the inside of your mouth before you swallow it.â Her insides went wobbly. His voice had taken on a sinfully deep tone and she swore it was reverberating through his hand and up her arm. âTry it.â
She took a sip and so did he. She watched his mouth, and didnât swallow until he did.
âWhat do you think?â
Jess was at a loss for words, and that almost never happened. Instead of answering, she just smiled, took another slow, careful sip of wine and imagined she was being kissed.
Dear Reader,
Iâve always enjoyed learning new things and visiting new places, so doing research for a book is one of the things that makes writing so much fun. Thatâs been especially true with this, my second book set in San Francisco. I love the cityâs dynamic neighborhoods, but this story also took me outside the city and into Northern Californiaâs beautiful wine country. And of course that required research.
Setting provides that all-important backdrop for any book, but as the story in The Wedding Bargain emerged, the contrast between the clamor and commotion of the city and the order and symmetry of Napa Valleyâs vineyards was reflected in the power of family ties, two peopleâs determination to succeed and the struggle that ensues when they want the same thing but believe only one of them can have it.
In spite of their different backgrounds, Jess and Michael do have some common groundâthey both believe family matters more than anything else. I had a lot of fun writing their story, so I hope you enjoy reading it. As always, readers can visit me through my website at www.leemckenzie.com, where youâll find links to my Facebook page and my blog, The Writer Side of Life.
Happy reading!
Lee McKenzie
The Wedding Bargain
Lee McKenzie
From the time she was ten years old and read Anne of Green Gables and Little Women, Lee McKenzie knew she wanted to be a writer, just like Anne and Jo. In the intervening years she has written everything from advertising copy to an honors thesis in paleontology, but becoming a four-time Golden Heart finalist and a Harlequin Books author are among her proudest accomplishments. Lee and her artist/teacher husband live on an island along Canadaâs west coast, and she loves to spend time with two of her best friendsâher grown-up children.
To my dear aunt, Beverly Wegner,
for a lifetime of love and encouragement.
Your strength and courage are an inspiration. Youâll be truly missed and fondly remembered, always.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
Strapless gowns ought to be against the law. Jess Bennett tugged at the top of hers and wished she could blend in to the decor. Not that this amount of shiny turquoise satin could merge with anything, except maybe more shiny satin. She looked around the room for the three other women who were wearing the same dress but in different colors. Nicola, in bright yellow, and her husband, Jonathan, were on the dance floor. Maria, stunning in red, was sitting with her husband, who was proudly cradling their beautiful baby daughter in his arms. Paige was⦠Where was Paige?
Jessâs search for the fourth bridesmaid was intercepted by a man leaning against a column on the other side of the room. He was tall, and his dark good looks hinted at a Mediterranean heritage. Before now she hadnât seen him among the wedding guests, and she decided he was most likely an employee. She connected with his gaze for a second and looked away, but after failing to find her friend Paige, something drew her back to him.
He was still watching her.
She glanced down at the front of her dress and pulled it up some more. Rory, the bride, who was also one of her best friends in the world, had outfitted her bridesmaids in retro-inspired gowns that were designed to make the most of a womanâs curves and cleavage. Or emphasize Jessâs lack of them.
He was smiling when she looked at him again. She had a feeling heâd been watching her for a while, but he seemed more amused by her battle with the dress than he was interested in her.
Easy for him to find this funny. He was wearing an elegantly tailored suit, which probably wasnât as expensive as it looked, given what he was likely to earn working here. Meanwhile, she was decked out in a dress that was determined to abide by the laws of gravity, in spite of the torturous plastic boning stitched into the seams and an obscene amount of double-sided tape that had lost its stick sometime between the photographs and the pre-reception cocktails.
Paige, wherever she was, had the perfect figure for this kind of dressâall curvy and voluptuous. Maria, ditto. Nicola was only slightly better endowed than Jess, but nothing rattled her.