by Caitlyn Blue
The Trouble With Bachelors
Caitlyn Blue
Contents
Also By Caitlyn
1. Emma
2. Zach
3. Emma
4. Zach
5. Emma
6. Zach
7. Emma
8. Zach
9. Emma
10. Zach
11. Emma
12. Zach
13. Emma
14. Zach
15. Emma
16. Emma
17. Zach
18. Emma
19. Zach
20. Emma
21. Zach
22. Emma
23. Zach
24. Emma
25. Zach
26. Emma
27. Zach
28. Emma
29. Zach
30. Emma
Epilogue
Much Ado About Bachelors
Also By Caitlyn
Connect With Caitlyn
About the Author
Copyright © 2017 by The Sassy Muse, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This book is a piece of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Editing: Megan Records & Kara Malinczak
Proofreading: Dianne Van Winkle
Cover Design: The Sassy Muse, LLC
ISBN: 978-1-946121-02-8
ALSO BY CAITLYN
Windy City Bachelors
The Trouble With Bachelors
Book 1 (Emma & Zach)
Coming in 2017
Much Ado About Bachelors
Book 2 (Sarah & Reed)
It Happened One Bachelor
Book 3 (Brynn & Paxton)
How To Marry A Bachelor
Book 4 Novella (Julie & Paul)
Forsaking All Bachelors
Book 5 (Riley & Jayce)
It Takes A Bachelor
Book 6 (Gabby & Sam)
Windy City Millionaires
Distracted By Her
1
Emma
“Here’s how the game works.”
My cousin Sarah is a high school drama teacher and has no trouble raising her voice over the clamor of the twenty guests attending the coed wedding shower I’m throwing for my sister Julie and her fiancé, Paul.
“You tell two truths and one lie. Whoever guesses correctly gets a point.”
When Sarah read me the list of games she’d planned for the guests to play, I wasn’t sure how they would go over with the guys. Julie had agreed to Paul’s idea for a coed bridal shower. My cousins and I hated the idea. We wanted to throw an over-the-top, girly, Parisian-chic party with an elegant tasting menu, champagne, and fantastic desserts.
Instead, the shower is turning into a culinary showdown of barbecue versus canapés. Paul owns a microbrewery and has provided a keg of craft beer for the guys while we’re serving the ladies ‘Honey, I Do’ honeydew martinis and ‘Almost (Rose)married’ tequila cocktails garnished with rosemary and blackberries.
When I decided on the food I was going to serve today, I anticipated my choice of appetizers, including prosciutto stuffed, roasted Brussels sprouts and potato nests filled with sour cream and smoked salmon, would keep me in the kitchen the entire time. The shower attendees include the wedding party and other assorted friends of the bride and groom with the ratio of guys to girls a fifty-fifty split. What I didn’t expect was having trouble keeping up with the demand for finger food and signature cocktails while the stack of hamburgers and brats went cold.
Thankfully, Sarah is keeping the guests distracted and the party rolling with games while I scramble to whip up more food. Keeping one eye on the stove timer, I step from the kitchen into the dining room of the Victorian house I share with my three cousins. The silver trays filled with canapés have been decimated. As I condense what remains, I glance toward the living room where the guests are gathered.
The first contestant is Zach Thorne, my sister’s high school boyfriend and first love. He’s also Paul’s best man. Six feet of cocky charm with spiky dark brown hair and eyes the color of dark roast. In a room full of hotties, he’s always the first guy my gaze goes to.
“Julie dumped me at our senior prom,” he says, pausing for the inevitable chorus of boos. “And went home with Paul instead.”
This is false. Julie didn’t go to senior prom. She broke up with Zach the day before the dance after she found out he cheated on her—a fact that Julie has never forgiven him for—and she and Paul didn’t start dating until almost six months later.
“Julie and I went skinny dipping at her uncle Greg’s cabin.” Zach shoots Paul an unrepentant grin. “Sorry, buddy.”
Well, that one’s true. I followed when they snuck out and peered at them from the bushes. I was sixteen, and he was the first guy I saw naked. It pretty much ruined me for every man that followed.
“The dent Julie put in her dad’s car was my fault.”
Truth? Since I knew the first confession was false, this one had to be true. My sister had gotten into so much trouble for borrowing Dad’s car without permission. She and Zach had gone to a concert and afterwards she’d been grounded for two weeks.
While everyone guesses which of Zach’s tales are true or false, I duck back into the kitchen. The cheese puffs are almost ready to come out of the oven. Laughter erupts from the other room as I tap my fingers against the worn countertop and watch the stove clock count down the seconds.
Zach Thorne. Whenever his name pops into my head, I sigh. Before he was my sister’s boyfriend, we were in speech class together my freshman year. I had such a crush on him. Of course, being two years older, he had no idea I existed—until that fateful day when the teacher paired us up for an assignment.
The cheese puffs look fantastic as I pull them out of the oven. It’s a favorite recipe of Aunt Carol’s. All my best recipes are from one family member or another. Tried and tested, their origins dating back several generations, each one is lovingly inked on a 3x5 index card and tucked in a tin box I inherited from my grandmother. Some are nearly illegible from age or from being spilled on, and one is scorched all down one side from the infamous grease fire of 1979. I could transfer the recipes to new index cards, but each time I touch a card, I think about the women who made that recipe before me. There’s a reason I chose to go into the family’s antique business rather than follow Julie into corporate America.
Something feathers along my upper back, sending tingles racing down my spine. Before I detect the source, strong fingers wrap around my shoulder, pulling me ever so slightly off balance.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding,” murmurs a familiar masculine voice next to my ear.
While I’m reeling from being caught off guard, warm lips plant a friendly kiss on my cheek. Lightning shoots through my body. My arm jerks, tipping the hot tray and launching cheese puffs across the room. As if in slow motion, I watch all my hard work arc through the air and hit
the floor where they bounce and roll in all directions.
For a split second I don’t care about the ruined puffs or my duties as hostess. All I want to do is turn around, wrap my arms around Zach’s neck, and kiss him hard on the mouth. My stomach clenches at the thought.
Obviously my high school crush hasn’t diminished over the years, but I’m older and wiser now. Even if he hadn’t broken my sister’s heart, I couldn’t take his flirtation seriously. He’s strong out of the starting gate but fades in the stretch. More of a sprint than a marathon kind of guy. A fling, not forever.
“Damn it, Zach.” I drive an elbow backward, hoping to get him to back off before I do something I’ll regret. As if sensing my intention, he moves out of reach and all I connect with is empty air.
“Whoa, you’re jumpy.”
“Oh no.” Gabby’s wail fills the kitchen. My cousin is staring at the scattered cheese puffs. “What happened?”
“It’s Zach’s fault.” I drop the tray onto the stovetop. It lands with a bang that punctuates my heightened emotions. “He snuck up behind me.”
“I didn’t sneak. You just didn’t hear me come in.”
Dressed in jeans and a crisp white button-down, he’s hard to ignore, especially when his clean, masculine scent invades my nostrils and makes me giddy. Attraction sucks. Sure, it can be intoxicating and a total rush, but it’s also uncontrollable and without mercy. Especially where Zach’s concerned. My reaction to him is as predictable as sunrise. And it makes sense, right? After all, he’s built to get a woman’s libido going with his broad shoulders, flat stomach, the hint of stubble, and a wicked smile that makes my knees unreliable. Not to mention the way my nerve endings spark at every random, glancing contact between us. Damn. It’s just not fair.
Grinding my teeth, I focus on Gabby. “Are we out of ‘Honey, I Do’ martinis again?” I ask, glancing at the empty pitcher in her hands.
She nods. “I can’t believe how fast we’re going through them.”
Sarah, Gabby, and I split up the hosting duties. While I take care of the food and Sarah handles the entertainment, Gabby is putting her bartending skills to good use. Brynn got up early to help prep the food and promised to help with clean up. At the moment she’s sitting at the kitchen table working on her laptop. Apparently she has a presentation due Monday at the advertising agency where she works. I think it’s just an excuse to stay away from Paxton Mercer, one of Paul’s groomsmen. She blames him for breaking up her engagement and can’t stand occupying the same city as him much less the same room.
“What’s up with the guys?” I grumble, grabbing the broom out of the closet and starting to sweep the scattered cheese puffs into a pile. What a waste. “I didn’t think any of them would be caught dead eating any of this.”
“Everyone knows what a great cook you are.” Zach leans against the counter and grabs the lone cheese puff stuck to the tray. Before I can protest he pops it in his mouth and delivers a winning smile. “Delicious.”
I curse the rush of delight that he likes my cooking. “Too bad you’re the only one who’s going to get a chance to taste those.”
“How come you’re so cranky today?” Unlike so many guys I’ve dated, he doesn’t look in the least put out by my less than charming behavior.
“I’m not cranky.” Cranked up maybe, thanks to that unexpected kiss. My cheek continues to tingle happily from the touch of his lips. “I’m trying my best to make this wedding shower go smoothly.” And having Zach in my kitchen, grinning at me like we’re the best of friends, isn’t helping my blood pressure.
“You know, you really need to be nicer to me. After all, we’re going to be spending a lot of time together in the next couple of months.” He plucks the dustpan from my hand and places it on the floor so I can sweep the gathered cheese puffs into it.
“What are you talking about?” As far as I know, the only time I’m going to see him between now and the wedding is the rehearsal dinner.
“I just talked to Paul. He wants us to host a combined bachelor/bachelorette party.”
“What? No.” I shake my head. “It’s bad enough that we’re doing a coed wedding shower. I refuse to do a combined bachelor/bachelorette party. My sister is not going to go for that.”
“Let Paul worry about Julie.” The glow in his eyes dims at my dismay. “I thought it was a great idea.”
“It’s not.” I had plans to do a cool Sex and the City themed party where we all dressed up in our best designer outfits, put on stilettos, and vamped our way through a series of downtown hotspots. “And besides, don’t you guys want to get drunk and ogle strippers or something?”
He snorts. “Do you seriously see your sister letting Paul do that?”
“Okay, you have a point.” I badly want to grin along with him, but sharing a joke sets a dangerous precedent and I’m already leaning toward lapses in judgment around him. “But couldn’t you go bar hopping or paintballing or something manly?”
“Paul really wants to do something with the whole group.”
I grind my teeth and curse my future brother-in-law. Just as he horned in on Julie’s bridal shower, now he’s trying to take over my bachelorette party. As the wedding draws closer, Paul has become unusually clingy, monopolizing Julie’s time as if he’s afraid she’ll change her mind about marrying him.
“They have the rest of their lives to be together.” I resist the urge to sweep at Zach’s feet with the broom in an attempt to shoo him away. He’s only the messenger. “This is the night they’re supposed to go crazy one last time with their friends. As single people.”
Zach dumps the cheese puffs into the trash. “You’re pretty wound up about this.”
“I just want to have one last night with my sister before she gets married.”
“She’s becoming Mrs. Paul Nolan, not leaving the country. Besides, they already live together. It’s not like you see her all that much now.”
He just doesn’t get it.
“It’s going to be different after they say their vows. I can’t explain it, but the wedding is going to change everything.”
2
Zach
Emma sends me out of the kitchen with a full pitcher of tequila cocktails, effectively cutting off further discussion about the combined bachelor/bachelorette party. I head to where Gabby has set up a temporary bar on the built-in buffet.
“Okay everyone,” Sarah says in the living room, bringing the guests’ attention back to the bride and groom. “The next game is purse raid.”
“That’s not fair,” calls Sam. He’s Paul’s cousin and Gabby’s boss at Coastal Vibe, a seafood restaurant owned by his family in the River North neighborhood. “The guys don’t have purses so we can’t play.”
“Then let’s call it purse and wallet raid,” Sarah counters, looking around to see if anyone wants to argue further. When enough of the guests are nodding, she goes on to explain how the game works. “The bride and groom will pull items out of their purse and wallet, and each player will see if they have a matching item. If you don’t have the item, you get eliminated. We’ll start general and get more specific.”
While the girls fetch their purses, I return to the kitchen. Emma is filling trays with desserts. She’s an excellent hostess, and her duties have kept her too busy to participate in the party fun. I stroll over and take the tray of tiny decorative sweets away from her.
“I need to put those out.”
“You need to come play a game.”
“The games are for the guests.”
“The games are so everyone can spend time with the bride. And groom,” I add as an afterthought.
She gives a huge sigh. “Fine.”
“Excellent. Go get your purse.”
“My purse?”
“They’re playing something called purse raid?”
Emma frowns. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”
“I don’t think anyone is actually going to raid your purse. You’re supposed to see if
what’s in it matches what’s in Julie’s.”
“How about I just give you my purse and you compete for me?”
I’m a little startled that she would give me access to something so personal. On the other hand, maybe she doesn’t carry the sort of intimate things other women do. I imagine her purse is full of old spoons that could be made into flowers or broken watches she would take apart to make steampunk jewelry. Maybe it even has some old maps that she intends to recycle into envelopes or luggage tags and sell in her family’s antique store. She loves to repurpose things no one wants anymore, making them useful again.
It’s something that doesn’t appeal to me at all. I like my stuff brand new, out-of-the-box. I’m all about the newest trends and anything up-and-coming. The hottest ideas. The latest and greatest. I don’t make anything. The only thing I sell is my expertise and myself. I’m an idea guy, plain and simple, with a short attention span. Consulting suits me. I focus on startups, giving them direction, using my contacts to help them find funding, and then sending them on their way.
Get in. Dazzle them with my expertise. Get out.
It’s the same in business as it is with women.
“Actually,” I say, setting the dessert tray on the dining table. “The guys are using the their wallets for the game. You should come play with me.”
Her eyes go wide, making her look like a startled rabbit. What did I say? That she should come play the game with me. Why is that so shocking? I do not understand Emma. Never have. She’s as big a mystery to me as why cows always face north or south while eating. Yep, it’s weird, but they do.
“Give me a second,” she says before vanishing back into the kitchen.
I’m convinced that I’ve lost her, but a few seconds later she returns with a large blue bag.
“With everything that could possibly fit in there, you should be able to win.” I peer over her shoulder, trying to see the purse’s contents, curious if I was right about what she carries.