The Real Thing (The Bouquet Catchers Book 5)
Page 31
He started moving toward the driver’s side of his car, but he did give her one last devastating smile, dimple flashing. “Chin up, Parv. You’re pretty damn perfect yourself.”
There was a time not so long ago when that compliment would have made her melt into a happy puddle of feminine hormones at his feet, but she’d learned not to take his compliments too seriously. He was only being nice to his little sister’s best friend. Nothing more.
So she smiled and bantered back, keeping it light. “You’d know all about perfection.”
He laughed and slid into his car, zipping out of the parking lot a moment later.
Max Dewitt. Her first and most devastating crush. And he still didn’t have a clue.
Thank God. The last thing she needed was for him to figure out she’d pined for him for ten solid years between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four. She’d only begun to be able to talk to him without her tongue swelling up in the last five years. He was comfortable with her now. If he found out she’d once doodled Mrs. Parvati Dewitt on everything she owned, he’d probably be kind and sympathetic and look at her with the same barely-veiled pity that her aunts had been sending her way for the last several years.
Poor spinster Parvati.
Poor broke spinster Parvati.
Poor broke failure spinster Parvati.
Her family was going to be asking her today, over and over and over again, how the business was going. If she was dating anyone.
She could handle the dating question—she’d been handling that one for years—but when they asked her about Common Grounds…
She was going to have to lie.
Soon enough the truth would come out. When she closed Common Grounds, everyone would know that she had failed, but this was her parents’ day. She refused to be the one less-than-perfect aspect of their legacy. If she told the truth, it would spread through the party like wildfire, carried on a wave of well-intentioned concern—which just made it that much worse. They all wanted the best for her, so it was that much more painful when she disappointed them. Her parents would worry. Her sisters would be annoyed with her for ruining the big day.
As lies went, it was a small one.
And maybe when she was forced to admit defeat and close Common Grounds for good, she could claim she just wanted a change. That she wasn’t in debt up to her eyeballs. Better they think she was too flighty to stick with it than that she was a failure. If they believed it.
Parvati turned away from the Big Green Mermaid of Doom and pulled out onto the Pacific Coast Highway, headed north toward an afternoon of lies, starting with the one she told herself as she drove.
“Everything will be great.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in Alaska, contemporary romance author Lizzie Shane has traveled the world, but keeps coming back to the frozen north where she uses the long winter months to cook up more happily-ever-afters (and indulge her addiction to books and movies). A Golden Heart® winner and three-time finalist for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® Award, she also writes paranormal romance under the pen name Vivi Andrews. Learn more about Lizzie and her books at her website or follow her on Facebook.
And don’t miss the rest of the series…
OTHER BOOKS BY LIZZIE SHANE:
Reality Romance
Marrying Mister Perfect
Romancing Miss Right
Falling for Mister Wrong
Planning on Prince Charming
Home for Christmas (A Holiday Novella)
Courting Trouble
The Bouquet Catchers
Always a Bridesmaid
Little White Lies
Dirty Little Secrets
The Decoy Bride
The Real Thing
Yours For Christmas
All He Wants for Christmas
Miracle on Mulholland
An Unplanned Christmas (Coming July 2019)
Table of Contents
Start
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
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Epilogue
Thank You
About the Author