The Wedding Agreement (The Green Family Series Book 1)

by Annie Dyer

  The Wedding Agreement

  Annie Dyer

  Copyright © 2021 by Annie Dyer

  All rights reserved.

  Apart from any permitted use under UK copyright law, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any former by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

  Engagement Rate is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

  Please note this book contains material aimed at an adult audience.

  Editing by Eliza Ames

  Cover design by Najla Qamber Designs

  Cover image copyright ©2021

  Imprint: Independently published

  Created with Vellum

  Also by Annie Dyer

  The Callaghan Green Series

  In Suggested Reading order (can be read as stand-alones)

  Engagement Rate

  What happens when a hook up leaves you hooked? Jackson Callaghan is the broody workaholic who isn’t looking for love until he meets his new marketing executive? Meet the Callaghans in this first-in-series, steamy office romance.

  White Knight

  If you’re in the mood for a second chance romance with an older brother’s best friend twist, then look no further. Claire Callaghan guards her heart as well as her secrets, but Killian O’Hara may just be the man to take her heart for himself.

  Compromising Agreements

  Grumpy, bossy Maxwell Callaghan meets his match in this steamy enemies-lovers story. Mistaking Victoria Davies as being a quiet secretary is only Max’s first mistake, but can she be the one to make this brooding Callaghan brother smile?

  Between Cases

  Could there be anything better than a book boyfriend who owns a bookstore? Payton Callaghan isn’t sure; although giving up relationships when she might’ve just met The One is a dilemma she’s facing in BETWEEN CASES, a meet-cute that’ll have you swooning over Owen Anders.

  Changing Spaces

  Love a best friend’s younger sister romance? Meet Eli, partner in the Callaghan Green law firm and Ava’s Callaghan’s steamy one-night stand that she just can’t seem to keep as just one night. Independent, strong-willed and intelligent, can Eli be the man Ava wants?

  Heat

  Feeling hungry? Get a taste of this single dad, hot chef romance in HEAT. Simone Wood is a restaurant owner who loves to dance, she’s just never found the right partner until her head chef Jack starts to teach her his rhythm. Problem is, someone’s not happy with Simone, and their dance could be over before they’ve learned the steps.

  Mythical Creatures

  The enigmatic Callum Callaghan heads to Africa with the only woman who came close to taming his heart, in this steamy second-chance romance. Contains a beautifully broken alpha and some divinely gorgeous scenery in this tale that will make you both cry and laugh. HEA guaranteed.

  Melted Hearts

  Hot rock star? Enemies to lovers? Fake engagement? All of these ingredients are in this Callaghan Green novel. Sophie Slater is a businesswoman through and through but makes a pact with the devil – also known as Liam Rossi, newly retired Rockstar – to get the property she wants - one that just happens to be in Iceland. Northern lights, a Callaghan bachelor party, and a quickly picked engagement ring are key notes in this hot springs heated romance.

  Evergreen

  Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without any presents, and that’s what’s going to happen if Seph Callaghan doesn’t get his act together. The Callaghan clan are together for Christmas, along with a positive pregnancy test from someone and several more surprises!

  The Partnership

  Seph Callaghan finally gets his HEA in this office romance. Babies, exes and a whole lot of smoulder!

  The Green Family Series

  The Wedding Agreement

  Imogen Green doesn’t do anything without thinking it through, and that includes offering to marry her old - very attractive - school friend, Noah Soames, who needs a wedding. The only problem is, their fauxmance might not be so fake, after all…

  The Atelier Assignment

  Dealing with musty paintings is Catrin Green’s job. Dealing with a hot Lord who happens to be grumpy AF isn’t. But that’s what she’s stuck with for three months. Zeke’s daughter is the only light in her days, until she finds a way to make Zeke smile. Only this wasn’t part of the assignment.

  Manchester Athletic FC

  Penalty Kiss

  Manchester Athletic's bad boy needs taming, else his football career could be on the line. Pitched with women's football's role model pin up, he has pre-season to sort out his game - on and off the field.

  Hollywood Ball

  One night. It didn't matter who she was, or who he was, because tomorrow they'd both go back to their lives. Only hers wasn't that ordinary.

  What she didn't know, was neither was his.

  Severton Search and Rescue

  Sleighed

  Have a change of scenery and take a trip to a small town. Visit Severton, in Sleighed; this friends-to-lovers romantic suspense will capture your heart as much as Sorrell Slater steals Zack Maynard’s.

  Stirred

  If enemies-to-lovers is your manna, then you’ll want to stay in Severton for Stirred. Keren Leigh and Scott Maynard have been at daggers drawn for years, until their one-night ceasefire changes the course of their lives forever.

  Smoldered

  Want to be saved by a hot firefighter? Rayah Maynard’s lusted over Jonny Graham ever since she came back to town. Jonny’s prioritised his three children over his own love life since his wife died, but now Rayah’s teaching more than just his daughter – she’s teaching him just how hot their flames can burn.

  Shaken

  Abby Walker doesn’t exist. Hiding from a gang she suspects is involved in the disappearance of her sister, Severton is where she’s taken refuge. Along with her secrets, she’s hiding her huge crush on local cop, Alex Maynard. But she isn’t the only one with secrets. Alex can keep her safe, but can he also take care of her heart?

  Sweetened

  Enemies? Friends? Could be lovers? All Jake Maynard knows is that Lainey Green is driving him mad, and he really doesn’t like that she managed to buy the farm he coveted from under his nose. All’s fair in love and war, until events in Severton take a sinister turn.

  Standalone Romance

  Love Rises

  Two broken souls, one hot summer. Anya returns to her childhood island home after experiencing a painful loss. Gabe escapes to the same place, needing to leave his life behind, drowning in guilt. Neither are planning on meeting the other, but when they do, from their grief, love rises. Only can it be more than a summer long?

  Bartender

  The White Island, home of hedonism, heat and holidays. Jameson returns to her family’s holiday home on Ibiza, but doesn’t expect to charmed by a a bartender, a man with an agenda other than just seduction.

  Fake Perfect Love

  What you see on a photograph isn't always real.

  It's a life filtered. Posed. One image from a hundred taken.

  They say a picture speaks a thousand words. Well, it also tells a thousand lies.

  Lies about me. Lies about him.

  You believed that our love was real. It wasn't.

  Until it was.

  And then it ended.

  Tarnished Crowns Trilogy

  L
overs. Liars. Traitors. Thieves. We were all of these. Political intrigue, suspense and seduction mingle together in this intricate and steamy royal romance trilogy.

  Chandelier

  Grenade

  Emeralds

  Crime Fiction

  We Were Never Alone

  How Far Away the Stars (Novella)

  To all of those people who have been involved in a wedding that isn’t their own - the bridesmaids, the stylists, the planners.

  And the husbands. Because let’s face it - it was never your wedding, was it?

  Contents

  1. Noah

  2. Imogen

  3. Noah

  4. Imogen

  5. Noah

  6. Imogen

  7. Noah

  8. Imogen

  9. Noah

  10. Imogen

  11. Noah

  12. Imogen

  13. Noah

  14. Imogen

  15. Noah

  16. Imogen

  17. Noah

  18. Imogen

  19. Noah

  20. Imogen

  21. Noah

  22. Imogen

  Epilogue

  ENGAGEMENT RATE

  SLEIGHED

  PENALTY KISS

  Thanks and all that!

  About the Author

  Also by Annie Dyer

  Chapter One

  Noah

  “I completely disagree with the colour for the bridesmaids’ dresses.”

  My mother’s voice tore through the dusty peace of the salon. We were seated in her favourite room in Wastham Hall, our family’s country home in Norfolk. The room hadn’t changed since I was a child; the chair I’d been sitting in when she administered a scolding about my English grades was still proudly placed next to the window that overlooked the lawn, recovered in exactly the same material as it had been back then. The settee was a new leather chesterfield, but exactly the same as the one that had been there when I received my first lecture on what a suitable girlfriend looked like. And there was, of course, the small, walnut side table on which my mother’s latest notebook was placed.

  I had no idea what was in those notebooks; I never did have the urge to take a look, but I was pretty sure it was a list of all my failings and misdemeanours. Lady Soames-Harrington was not one to overlook an error, no matter how small.

  “I think it’s too late now to change.” I glanced out of the window where my niece was dancing around the lawn, and hoped my mother didn’t notice. If she did, she’d complain that the child was ruining her grass.

  The lawn, one should note, was key to her ladyship’s happiness. This was something myself and my brothers had never fully understood. Football, rugby, cricket and setting fire to the delicate blades of grass had been strictly forbidden and punishable in many, many ways. To be fair, the setting fire I could understand – that had been problematic – but the rest… when I had children, they’d be able to play on the lawn as much as they wanted.

  Just as long as that lawn was not Lady Soames’.

  “It’s never too late to change. I can have a seamstress to your fiancée’s apartment tomorrow to take measurements, and they’ll be ready with plenty of time for any alterations, although I can assure you that the people I would arrange wouldn’t need to make any alternations.” She picked up her notebook and studied her pen.

  I sat a little further back into my seat and glanced over at my father. He was studying the paper he always placed in the salon, knowing that Lady S didn’t approve of technology in there. He didn’t look up, fully immersed in the crossword and paying no attention whatsoever to the conversation.

  “Carla is pretty set on what she’s chosen.” My wife-to-be would certainly not humour my mother in any way, shape, or form. Both were as stubborn as hell, and both were extremely happy to use me as their go-between.

  “Why is Carla not here? I had assumed she’d be with you this weekend.” Her Ladyship sat up a little straighter, those finishing school lessons on deportment never having quite left her.

  Jeanne Soames-Harrington, neé Buchanan, had been a Lady from birth, the second child and oldest daughter of my maternal grandfather. She married my father, who was also a Lord, at nearly thirty, had my brothers when she was thirty-two and thirty-five, then I arrived, rather a surprise, when she was forty-two.

  She was now seventy-four, her father ninety-eight and still one of my favourite people, living in his Scottish home that was from the stuff fairy-tales were made of. Physically, Grandfa was in the finest of health, but dementia had relieved him of some of his faculties a few years ago. I visited him as often as I could, which wasn’t as often as I liked, given work and the various engagements I had to attend.

  “Carla’s having a girls’ weekend to prepare for her hen events.” I tried to bite back the irritation I was feeling. We were due to get married in six weeks. In that time, she had three hen parties: this weekend in London with meals at the top restaurants, a spa day, and ‘secret’ events that I’d seen the invoice for. It was enough to buy a top of the range Maserati. Another was a five-day trip to Monte Carlo; the third a sedate afternoon tea with her mother and older guests.

  Lady Soames’ nose wrinkled briefly. “How very modern.” There was a brief shake of her head. “I have informed her that I find her bridesmaids’ dresses more than distasteful. I understand she’s a modern woman, but she has been brought up to have some dignity. Also, I raised the issue with her mother.”

  I nodded and glanced back outside. My niece – the daughter of my eldest brother, Angus, was still running on the grass. I really hoped my mother didn’t spot her. Luckily for Catherine, Lady S’s attention was all on me.

  “Her mother understood, of course. I think she’s most disconcerted by Carla’s behaviours.”

  She wasn’t the only one.

  “Apparently, Carla’s dress is rather undignified also.”

  “I wouldn’t know, mother. Tradition is that the groom doesn’t see the dress until the wedding day.” I sighed and folded my arms, trying to conjure up some form of excitement at seeing my bride walk down the aisle towards me, and failing miserably, just as I had for most of the last six months since we’d become engaged.

  Don’t get me wrong, Carla was gorgeous, in a way that social media expected her to be. She was the daughter of the owner and CEO of a company that developed software, and her father was ambitious for her to step into the upper classes of society, hence the reason for part of the marriage.

  Or possibly most of the marriage.

  “Of course, and this will be a very traditional wedding. I was hoping she’d be with you this weekend. I had the Hollyhock room specially prepared.” There was another shake of the head. “Such an inconvenience.”

  My mother was under no illusion I was a virgin, but she had every hope that Carla was. She wasn’t. I had first-hand experience that her V-card had been well and truly stamped, and not by me. Not as much experience as you might’ve expected given we’d been engaged six months and ‘dated’ for two, but we’d managed a few nights together in between dates on her hectic social schedule.

  “I’m sure Carla didn’t mean it to be an inconvenience, mother.” I was pretty sure Carla hadn’t even thought what preparations might occur for in case she stayed. This wasn’t what you could call a love match. Complicated match was definitely a better description.

  There was a shout from outside, my nephew, Catherine’s slightly older brother rugby tackled her from behind, slamming them both onto the ground. I watched, ready to run outside if Catherine was injured, but instead she wriggled free and punched him in the face.

  The sound had caught Lady Soames’ attention, her usually pale skin flushing pink. Not with concern for her grandchildren, but instead for her lawn.

  “I’ll go and ask them to play elsewhere.” My father put his paper down and stood up. “You continue with your conversation. That’s far more important.”

  My father was one of the few people w
ho could play her like a fiddle, completely ignoring the glare she gave him, folding his paper and strolling out of the room, knowing full well she wouldn’t argue with him in front of me.

  That would be uncouth.

  “Have you arranged for movers to pack and transport Carla’s belongings to your home while you’re on your honeymoon?” Lady Soames clasped both hands in her lap. “You shouldn’t return to different houses after your honeymoon.”

  I didn’t let the wince show. I wasn’t sure I was ready to live with Carla. She stayed over a couple of times a week, usually after we’d been out to dinner with some of her society friends or business acquaintances of mine. I lived in West Brompton, in between Chelsea and Fulham, in a house that had been in our family since it was built.

  Carla had an apartment in Chelsea that she shared with her friend, a friend who’d made appearances on a long running reality TV show, something I figured my mother was unaware of. If she was, she’d been remarkably calm about it, and I had a feeling that if she knew what Carla’s friends were like, she’d be terminating this engagement with immediate effect.

  “I have a team booked.” This wasn’t quite true. I had the number of a team to book when I got round to it. And when I’d discussed it with Carla. She’d hinted at moving in already, but we’d decided that we were better waiting until after we were married – which seemed to please both sets of parents, at least. Carla had mentioned that she wanted to make a big deal of it when she moved in, having a housewarming or something so she could show her new friends where she now lived, which seemed to be the theme of our relationship so far.