After 8 years of waiting...he's got 1 month to make her his.
To Love and to Cherish
The Wedding Belles #3
Lauren Layne
Releasing Oct 18th, 2016
Pocket Books
Sex and the City meets The
Wedding Planner in The Wedding Belles, a contemporary and witty
romance series about three high-powered New York City women who can plan any
wedding—but their own.
Alexis Morgan has spent the past six
years devoted to turning her tiny start-up into Manhattan’s premiere wedding
planning company, The Wedding Belles. Now that her business is thriving, it’s
time to turn towards her much neglected personal life, and Alexis approaches
her relationships like she does everything else: with a plan. Not a
part of that plan is Logan Harris, the silent partner in the Belles, and the
one person who’s been there for her since the very beginning. But Alexis needs
someone fun, and Logan’s all business, all the time—except when a late night at
the office ends with an unexpected kiss that leaves the usually cool and
together Alexis reeling.
Logan has lusted after Alexis since the
day he walked into the tiny Harlem apartment that used to double as her office.
But the ambitious wedding planner has always been untouchable...until now.
Alexis has made it clear that she’s on the dating market—and equally clear that
he’s not in the running. But when Alexis finds herself in need of a date for
her sister’s last minute wedding in Florida, Logan knows it’s the perfect time
to show Alexis that there’s more to him than numbers and spreadsheets—and
beneath the pinstripes and glasses lies a hot-blooded heartthrob. As Florida’s
sultry days turn into even hotter nights, Logan’s out to convince Alexis that
the fling of a lifetime could just maybe turn into forever...
“Hello.”
The sexy British accented startled Alexis out of
her thoughts, and she glanced up, both alarmed and intrigued to find that the
face that awaited her was every bit as appealing as the voice.
The man was about her age—early, maybe
midtwenties—and ridiculously cute. His hair was dark and maybe just a touch too
long, as though he intended to get a haircut but kept forgetting. The eyes were
brown and friendly, accented by trendy black-framed glasses.
The chunky cable-knit sweater with elbow patches—for real—bordered on dorky, but then,
Alexis had always had a soft spot for dorky. He had a bit of the Clark Kent
thing going on, which had always been far more her type than the overrated
Superman.
“Hi,” she replied quickly, realizing that she’d
been staring.
His smile grew wider as he extended a hand. “Logan
Harris.”
Darn. Even the name
was good.
“Alexis,” she said.
“Does that come with a last name?” he teased,
lowering himself to the vacant barstool beside her.
“Not to strange men,” she retorted.
“I could buy you a drink. Get rid of the ‘strange’
part.”
Alexis’s smile slipped as she remembered that
romance, even flirting, wasn’t part of her plan. She’d learned the hard way
that she could have one or the other—her own business or a boyfriend—not both. And even if she wanted the latter, the latter
didn’t want her back.
“No thanks; I’m fine,” she said, letting the
slightest amount of chill enter her voice. The ice-princess treatment, Roxanne
called it.
Logan shrugged, undeterred. “All right then. May I
borrow your menu?”
She nodded, and he picked it up, perusing it for
several moments and paying her no attention.
It was both a relief and also a bit of an insult,
if she was being entirely honest, to be given up on so easily.
Alexis tried to turn her attention back to her
laptop but watched out of the corner of her eye as he finally shut the menu,
waiting patiently to catch the bartender’s eye.
“Hi there,” he said, when the bartender ambled back
over. “I’d like a Stella, and a maybe bite to eat?”
Alexis didn’t miss the once-over that the bartender
gave Logan before the curvy redhead leaned over the bar, displaying perky boobs
as she clicked her pen and pulled a notepad out of her back pocket.
“Shoot,” the bartender said flirtatiously, looking
a good deal friendlier than she had when she’d spoken to Alexis.
Not that Alexis blamed her. A cute Brit could do
that to a girl.
“All right then,” Logan said. “I’d like the burger,
medium, with Swiss. Fish and chips, extra tartar, and . . . how’s your chicken
club?”
The bartender blinked. “It’s good. But you want all
that?”
“I do. Thank you.”
“Suit yourself,” she said, scribbling Logan’s order
on the pad.
“Hungry?” Alexis couldn’t resist asking after the
bartender moved away.
Logan gave a sheepish smile. “I’m a recovering
student. I sometimes get so wrapped up in my day that I forget to eat.”
“A recovering
student. What does that mean?”
He turned slightly toward her. “Someone’s showing
plenty of interest in a strange
man.”
She bit her lip. “I’m sorry if I was rude before.
I’m just not really in the market for . . . you know.”
He gave her an easy smile. “Everyone’s in the
market for a friend, Alexis.”
She opened her mouth and then shut it as she
realized he was right. She could
use a friend. She’d spent her entire life in Boston and knew almost nobody in
New York. This guy seemed nice and nonthreatening enough—what would be the harm
in a little conversation over dinner? It had been too long since she’d had
somebody to share a meal with.
Logan seemed to know the moment she capitulated,
because he turned more fully toward her. “A recovering student, Alexis, is a
recent graduate. One who hasn’t quite absorbed that there will be no more
finals, no more requisite all-nighters, and no more dorm sex.”
Alexis laughed. “Undergrad, then?”
He gave her a wry look. “How young do I look,
darling? MBA from Columbia. Just finished up end of last year.”
She felt a little stab of relief that he wasn’t
twenty-two.
He leaned toward her slightly. “Twenty-five next
month, just in case you were wondering. As
a friend.”
She tried to hide her smile and failed. “Columbia,
huh? You’re a long way from home.”
“Noticed that, did ya?” He winked. “I came out here
for undergrad, also Columbia. Always figured I’d go back to London and maybe
someday I will, but . . .” He shrugged. “Seems I have stuff to do here first.”
“Such as?” She took a sip of her wine, dismayed to
see that it was half-empty.
“Well, this will probably shock you, given my vast
amount of brawn, but I’m an accountant. Or at least I will be, once I get my
business up and running.”
Alexis was impressed. “Your own business?”
Most twentysomethings, even those with an
entrepreneurial bent, opted to get a few years of work under their belts for
someone else before branching out on their own.
He nodded. “I’m working out of my flat for now, but
I’m hoping to lease some office space soon, get some legitimacy. If nothing
else to get my father off my back.”
“He’s not a fan of your plan?” Alexis asked.
Logan’s shoulder lifted, and for the first time he
seemed a little sad. “Both parents have had it in their head that I’d come
home. Run the family business in London.”
“Which is . . . ?”
He spun his beer glass idly. “Financial consulting
firm. My father’s the CEO, Mum’s the COO.”
“Wow, that’s . . .”
“Scary?” Logan supplied.
“I was going to say impressive. That they work
together—without killing each other, I mean.”
“They’re in love. It’s atrocious,” he said with a
wink. “What about your folks?”
Alexis laughed. “Not
in love. They divorced when I was in high school. Dad’s remarried and happy
now, I think. Mom not so much.”
“And you?” he said. “Are you happy, Alexis?”
She pursed her lips, surprised and yet not entirely
unsettled by the personal question. “It’s been a while since anyone asked me
that. Since I even thought about it, really.”
“Think it out. I’ll wait,” he said with a wink.
She didn’t have to think that long. “I’m almost happy.”
“You sound quite confident on that.”
She shrugged. “Let’s just say that I need a few
things to fall into place in my professional life, but once that happens . . .
yeah. I’ll be happy.”
She’d make sure of it.
Don't Miss Any of the Wedding Belles Novels
In 2011, she ditched her corporate career in Seattle to pursue a full-time writing career in Manhattan, and never looked back.
In her ideal world, every stiletto-wearing, Kate Spade wielding woman would carry a Kindle stocked with Lauren Layne books.
For a list of all her works, please be sure to check out her official website!
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