A grumpy contractor upends the wedding planner’s life…

With hopes of gaining a promotion, Brooke Campbell is all smiles as she temporarily takes charge of the Perky Pink Wedding Company. She’s not only overseeing plans for her boss’s wedding, but also supervising the renovations of the Seabreeze Wedding Chapel. On her way to her first meeting with the contractor, she stops at her favorite coffee shop. A strikingly handsome firefighter and part-time contractor, Logan Montgomery, reaches for the same cup of coffee as her. When his touch startles her, the coffee spills, and his forbidding frown is aimed at her. Maybe some would assume it would be a meet-cute, much like a sweet, creamy, whipped coffee, but for these two their first meet is more like a pot of day-old coffee that not even a heap of sugar packets and a dose of creamer can help. Just wait until they find out they are working together… Oh my!

HEAT LEVEL: closed door love scene

Read an Excerpt

PROLOGUE

 

Monarch, Iowa

 

The big day was here.

She was getting married.

Brooke Campbell’s empty stomach took a nauseous lurch. Her hands had a slight tremor. Was this the way all brides felt on their wedding day?

She stood alone in the downstairs of the country church. Her tight-fitting gown felt as though it were strangling her. Actually, it wasn’t even her gown. Not really.

It wasn’t that the dress had been handed down from her mother to her either. It wasn’t anything like that. The truth of the matter was the dress had come from her fiancé’s cousin’s friend. Her mother was thrilled when the dress fit Brooke.

It wasn’t what Brooke wanted. Who wanted a used wedding gown? And though it was kind of beautiful, it wasn’t designed for her body type, but Josh, her fiancé, was quick to remind her that they needed to be practical. It was imperative they watched every penny they spent now that he’d been given a portion of his parents’ property to farm.

Josh had big plans, including a barn-raising. In fact, the barn took precedence over their home. They were going to start their marriage in a borrowed mobile home until there were funds to build a place of their own.

Josh would make a good husband. He was reliable and hardworking. She knew when they exchanged their vows that would mean the part about until death us do part.

She also noticed how the spark between them had fizzled somewhere along the way. She wasn’t quite sure when that had happened. She supposed it was natural when a couple had been together as long as they had been dating.

Her gaze caught her image in the floor-length mirror. Her white satin shoes poked out from beneath the gown. Even those weren’t hers. They were borrowed from her sister. Tears burned the back of her eyes.

At least her undergarments were all her own. And they were new. A nervous laughter bubbled up from her chest.

The dress just didn’t suit her. Not at all. Even with shapewear, the gown didn’t flatter her. The neckline gaped because her chest wasn’t big enough to fill out the dress.

Her older sister, Candace, usually referred to as Candi, entered the room and gave her a strange look. “Are you ready?”

The laughter died in her throat. Brooke glanced at her sister. “What do you think of me in this dress?”

“That again.” Candi brushed off her concern. “I thought you were okay with it. After all, the wedding is in a few minutes. It’s too late to change your mind now.”

She hated how her sister brushed off her concerns. Everyone had been doing that throughout the wedding-planning process. She didn’t need anything extravagant. Was it wrong that she wanted to feel special on her wedding day?

Doubts crept in from all corners of her mind. She recalled how she’d hesitated when he’d proposed. Who did that?

And when the wedding date had been picked for them by their families because it fit in between the harvest and planting seasons, she’d pushed aside that little voice in the back of her mind that told her this marriage wasn’t right for her. Now that voice was screaming at her to run out the door—to get away from this tiny town. She needed to figure out who she was before she pledged herself to someone else.

When her gaze moved to the door leading to the back of the church, her chest filled with a sense of dread. No bride should feel that way when they think of walking down the aisle to their groom.

It wasn’t too late. She could get it together and be the wife that Josh wanted—that he deserved. Her chest tightened, making it hard to breathe. Her stomach twisted into a painful knot. Her hands and feet felt ice cold. She had to get out of there. I can’t breathe.

“It’s time to go.” Candi’s voice drew her from her troubled thoughts. “Hey, are you okay? You’re so pale. Do you need to sit down?”

Brooke shook her head as she struggled to catch her breath. Her sister reached over and grabbed a bottle of water from a nearby table. She unscrewed the cap before holding it out to her. “Here. Take a drink.”

She didn’t want the drink, but she knew better than to argue with her older sister when she got that hard edge in her tone. Brooke sipped at the water a little and then some more. The coldness felt good against her tight throat.

She handed it back to her sister, feeling a bit better. “I think I’m having a case of nerves. Did… Did you feel that way on your wedding day?”

“Of course. It’s a big deal making a lifetime promise to someone. But once it was over, I was fine. It’ll be the same for you. Now let’s get you down the aisle.”

Her sister gave Brooke’s appearance a quick once-over, and then she handed over the bridal bouquet. They made their way upstairs. At the top of the steps, her father waited to escort her.