Ben gave him a companionable sock on the arm. “Really? How’d you turn into the Big Man on Campus?”
“The whole reason Keiko got fired was for treating the creative department, well, like crap. So HR asked me, as the head of it, to represent them and make sure that her replacement respects the process as much as the profits.”
“Way to go. You’ll be running that place before you know it.”
“God, I hope not.” Distaste coated his words. And Tabitha had to admit that as an acknowledged groupie of his amazing games, she’d far rather have him designing than upgrading to a fancier title with less time to let his imagination run wild.
Ivy lifted her glass even higher. “Work is going great for all of us. But what matters most to me doesn’t have anything to do with profit margins or getting mentioned in the news. I want to thank you. All of you.”
The fountain burbled behind her. The scent of hundreds of flowers Tabitha couldn’t begin to name perfumed the air. Romance hovered around them like a heart-filled cloud. And she wished she still had Drew’s handkerchief. She’d heard that Ivy liked to make speeches. The kind that made tears run fast. Like being squirted in the face by those annoying mall perfume pushers.
“Daphne, Milo, Gib, Sam and I thought we had a pretty good thing going. A tight-knit group.” Ivy linked hands with Ben. “But then it grew. Ben, you were first—and my favorite, of course. Then Mira, Tabitha, Drew and Matthew. You helped take us from being a group of friends to becoming a family. My life is so much better with all of you in it. I love you all.”
One by one, they each clinked glasses. Tabitha saw that hers weren’t the only moist eyes. And when she blinked away the tears, for a second, she could see straight into the future. Years of working together, playing together. Parties and vacations, all surrounded by the people she loved, shared with the man she adored. The vision was so perfect Tabitha almost didn’t want to open her eyes.
But then she did. Tabitha saw the smiling faces of her friends, felt the strong, loving grip of her fiancé. And knew that this sun-dappled day was just the beginning.
* * * * *
Don’t miss Up To Me, book one of Christi Barth’s new Shore Secrets trilogy, coming in June 2014.
Go back to the beginning of Christi Barth’s Aisle Bound series with Planning for Love, A Fine Romance and Friends to Lovers—available now!
Planning for Love
Wedding planner Ivy Rhodes is the best in the business, and she’s not about to let a personal problem stop her from getting ahead. So when she’s asked to star in the reality TV show Planning for Love, it doesn’t matter that the show’s videographer happens to be a recent—and heartbreaking—one-night stand.
The more time they spend together, the more Ben realizes Ivy isn’t the wedding-crazed bridezilla he’d imagined. But if he doesn’t trust himself to make a relationship last, how can he convince Ivy to give him another chance?
A Fine Romance
They say you form your first impression of someone within thirty seconds of meeting them. Or, in Mira Parrish’s case, within thirty minutes of not meeting them, when said person is supposed to pick you up from the airport and never shows. This is not a perfect start to her new life. Her friend Ivy is depending on her to run a new romance store, and Mira can’t afford to let her down.
Sam Lyons should probably apologize. But every time he sees Mira—which is often, since his family owns the bakery next to her shop—he can’t resist antagonizing her. There’s something about the sexy, straitlaced woman that drives him crazy. He can’t get involved, though. He has too much baggage to be any good in a serious relationship.
If there’s going to be anything permanent between Mira and Sam, they’ll need to let go of their pasts and look to the future…
Friends to Lovers
As florist and co-owner of a successful Chicago wedding planning business, Daphne Lovell has been there for the happiest days of other people’s lives. As for her own life? Well, it’s hard to be perfectly happy when you’re carrying a torch for your sexy, womanizing and oblivious best friend. So when the lights go out on New Year’s Eve, she seizes the opportunity to kiss him senseless.
It takes trust to move from friends to lovers, and as Gib’s work situation worsens, he is no longer sure he can risk the friendship he relies on most. It’s up to Daphne to convince him that some things are worth fighting for…
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About the Author
Christi Barth spent years performing in musicals. She snared a husband, sang about love and gave people a happy ending at every performance. Then, as a wedding planner, she still spent every day immersed in romance. Now she writes it! She’s thrilled to wrap up her good memories of Chicago in this conclusion to the Aisle Bound series. Christi lives in Maryland with the absolute best husband in the world (sorry, ladies, but it’s true!).
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ISBN-13: 9781426897955
A MATCHLESS ROMANCE
Copyright © 2014 by Christi Barth
Edited by Angela James
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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