Priceless
Page 33
That was just plain painful all by itself.
Except for the groom. He looked adorable attempting to perfect the Charlie Brown. I could tell he was only on the dance floor to entertain his bride, who sat in her wheelchair a few feet in front of him and covered her mouth with her hands as tears streamed down her cheeks from laughing so hard.
A reluctant smile tugged at my own lips. Yeah, he was pretty damn cute with the way he so enthusiastically got into the song, shaking his ass at her. And that tux fit him like sin on an ice cream cone. Made a girl just want to lick—
Not that I’d ever licked that, though I was probably the only woman in attendance—aside from the bride herself—who’d gone on a date with him. Well, half a date. It’d been kind of interrupted by, what do you know, the bride herself, and we’d never gotten a redo before he realized where his heart truly lay.
I didn’t blame the new Mrs. Gamble for ruining my date and crushing what might’ve been a grand passionate romance. Not really.
But the thing was, I had liked Brandt Gamble. I’d liked him a lot, like enough to maybe even break my five-date rule of going all the way if that first one had ever made it to completion. Yet I’d never even gotten a kiss from him. I bet he was a good kisser too. His lips looked like the soft kind that made your toes curl as soon as they were within a foot of you.
He was damn-near perfect all the way around. Gorgeous, good humored, kind, compassionate, hard-working, easy to talk to, and just rough enough around the edges to be wholly and appealingly male.
Glancing away as the song ended and he swept forward to press his soft-looking lips against his wife’s, I cleared my throat, feeling vile for even thinking what I was thinking.
Who in their right mind attended a wedding to watch their crush marry someone else?
Me, apparently.
I was such an idiot. I should just grab my purse, get up and leave already. I was better than this. If I put my heart into it, I could probably get any man I wanted. I didn’t need to mope over some unavailable—
Across the table from me, a guy in a tux slumped into a seat in a sloppy, drunken manner, saying, “Hey, sexy.”
I jerked my gaze up to the man’s face only to groan in misery.
Not a man. Just a boy. Just a cocky, way-too attractive for his mere eighteen years, boy.
The best man, aka Brandt’s annoying little brother, wiggled his eyebrows amorously. “You look good enough to have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And that slit in your skirt, running halfway up your thigh... mmm, baby doll, that’s been driving me crazy all night.”
God, strike me dead now. If there was anything worse than watching the guy you were pining after marry another woman, it had to be spending any time in the company of Colton Gamble.
“Why...?” I demanded, glaring enough that hopefully he’d get the hint and behave for once in his life. “Couldn’t you just say I looked nice?”
“Nice?” He snorted, his brown eyes sparkling with delight. “The bride looks nice. My sisters and little nieces look nice. You...no, you don’t look nice. You look fucking delicious.”
Against my will, heat coiled in my stomach. That’s what I hated most about Colton. His pesky annoyances I could handle and swat aside without another thought. It was the way his stare could make my thighs quiver and breasts go all heavy that made me want to smack him.
He was the complete antithesis of his brother. Whereas Brandt was more humble about his appearance, Colton knew how hot he was and liked to play it up. Brandt seemed to work for everything he had while Colton had a laziness about him, as if he just sat back and let the world come to him. His personality was so loud and domineering, I wasn’t sure what was important to him, except maybe himself, while Brandt wore his feelings for others right there on his sleeve. Brandt’s presence was soothing and put me at ease, while being near Colton always made everything inside me coil and tighten with...I don’t even know. Annoyance? Dread? Awareness? Excitement?
Whatever it was, I hated it. And worse yet, I swear, he knew how much he affected me. His grin always bore that smug, arrogant smirk, as if he could read every dirty thought in my head. I hated that too...almost as much as I hated him.
Okay, maybe I didn’t hate him—I didn’t even really know him—but I could definitely do without all that freaking mess he caused inside me. Messes were just...messy. And I did hate messes. I was the kind of girl who thrived off order and control. It only took one glance at Colton to know those things did not exist in his wheelhouse.
Propping his elbows onto the table, he rested his chin in one hand as he regarded me thoughtfully. “You also looked lonely sitting over here all by your sexy self. So I decided I just couldn’t allow that.”
I ignored how sweet it was that he’d been concerned about my well-being at all, and I sent him a dry glance. “I’m fine.”
He lifted an eyebrow, spearing me with an intense stare that made me squirm inside, as if I could feel him poking through all my innermost thoughts. “Are you?”
Drawing in a breath, I tore my gaze from him and scanned the room, needing something else to focus on. When I spotted Brandt leading his bride toward the cake and punch, I blinked rapidly.
Across the table, Colton leaned toward me. “Tell me something, Julianna. What’re you doing here?”
His question made me squint. Veering my attention back to him, I shook my head, confused. “What do you mean? This is where my place card was.” I lifted my card to show him the name Julianna Radcliffe printed neatly on the folded piece of cardstock. “Where else would I sit?”
But he shook his head. “No. Not at this table, here. What are you doing at this wedding, here?”
My lips parted. Feeling suddenly unwelcome and small, I narrowed my eyes at the source of this crappy feeling. “I was invited,” I bit back.
Colton sighed and glanced momentarily toward the ceiling before meeting my gaze and murmuring, “Didn’t mean you had to come.”
“What?” Back straightening and chin lifting, I said, “Do you have some kind of problem with me, Little Gamble?”
He laughed. The bastard was half a second from making me cry and slink away from this stupid reception with my tail tucked between my legs, and he had the audacity to laugh in my face. Jerk. I should claw his mother-fucking eyes out. And all this time, I’d thought he liked me when he flirted mercilessly. Every time he saw me, in fact, he made some comment about wanting to get into my pants. It made me feel betrayed by all his previous false acts of seduction.
But then he said, “Hell, no, I don’t have a problem with you,” making me frown in confusion. He tipped his head to the side. “What? Have I not made that clear enough every single second I’ve ever spent in your company? Because, you know, I can try harder.”
“Dear God, no!” Against my will, my body settled with relief, learning he didn’t hate me, which pissed me off, because I didn’t want to care what he thought of me at all. “Then what the fuck is your deal?” I demanded, gritting my teeth because I cared a hell of a lot more than I wanted to.
“I don’t have a deal,” he answered flippantly, making me growl out my aggravation. “I’m just curious why you decided to torture yourself and attend this wedding only to watch the guy you’re crazy about marry someone else.”
I froze.
Praying he hadn’t just said what I knew he’d just said, I slid my gaze toward Brandt, only to guiltily slice it right back to Colton, who lifted a knowing eyebrow, waiting for my answer.
So I took a long, slow drink from my champagne glass, nearly draining it, and then I set it back on the table before returning my attention to him.
Affecting an amused laugh, I asked, “What makes you think I’m crazy about Brandt?”
Colton laughed too, like threw back his head and bellowed the sound, making people at other tables glance our way. I ground my teeth some more, trying not to sink through the floor from embarrassment as he slowly settled down enough to say, “Good one.” Wipin
g a tear from his eye, he flicked it from his fingers. “Not have feelings for Brandt. Damn, that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all night. But seriously, you don’t have to play dumb with me. I know you like him. I watched you stare at him for a good ten minutes straight before I came over here to rescue you.”
“I was not—” Oh, shit. I had been staring, hadn’t I? “He’s one of the only people here I know,” I bit out defensively. “And he’s the groom. Who was I supposed to watch?”
Colton grinned. “You could watch me.”
“Oh, Jesus. Really?” I rolled my eyes and reached for my purse from the middle of the table to leave. It was humiliating enough to get caught staring, but Colton’s pathetic flirting on top of that made my night complete. This evening was just too sucky to continue.
“Hey, wait.” Colton flashed forward, snatching my purse before I could get my hand on it.
I glowered. “Damn it, Colton. Give me my purse back.”
He didn’t. Grinning, he clutched it to his chest before holding up a finger. “Just give me a second here. I have an idea. What if I knew how to help you get over him?”
His words gave me half a second of pause, a hope I couldn’t ignore. But more importantly, I just wanted to escape this asshole.
Sitting back, I crossed my arms over my chest, playing along in an attempt to recover my possessions. “And how do you suggest I do that?”
With a shrug, he said, “Same way any woman gets over a guy she likes. By settling for some other lucky schmuck to get your mind off him, of course.” Grinning, he lifted his hand. “In fact, I volunteer as consolation prize.”
TO MY FAMILY
Sadie, who this story is dedicated to, you’re the biggest surprise to enter my life this last year but the best. Watching you grow these past few months has been an honor and joy.
Lydia, you’re the cutest personal assistant an author could have. I don’t know how I would make it through without you around, always eager and willing to help.
Kurt, my best friend and husband, thank you, thank you, thank you. You’re my everything and more.
To my mother-in-law/babysitter, thank you so much. To my own mother, I love you! Sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles, you were all involved in making me what I am today and in return helped my stories evolve the way they did. Thank you!
FRIENDS
Linz and Low. Thank you for the totally awesome book club, for always being there for me and letting me be there for you, for the Play-Doh and tongs inspiration, but mostly, thank you for just being you guys. I don’t know how I stumbled across two such amazing, lovely, giving souls, but I’m so glad I did! Love you lots! And thanks to your husbands and babies for being there for my two besties.
Claudia Mosconi from Italy for your Smallville inspiration, thank you!
Zasharie Rodriguez for your sweetness and awesome reading recommendations, big hugs!
BETA READERS
Ada Frost, Mary Crawford, Reni and Sarah from Inked in Chapters, Sasha Rodz, Shi Ann Crumpacker, Alaina Martinie, Jennifer Skewes, Lisa Jayne, and Amanda at Beta Reading Bookshelf! Thank you, guys. Soooo much!
EDITORS AND PROOFREADERS
Stephanie Parent
Shelley at 2 Book Lovers Reviews
Thank you for always catching so many of my mistakes. You’re miracle workers!
ONE LAST ROUND OF THANKS
To the television show Supernatural for having ten seasons on Netflix that I could watch after giving birth to Sadie, essentially keeping my spirits up so I could continue on and write again someday instead of falling into some kind of postnatal depression, thank you!
Thanks to Google for helping me find information about Cerebral Palsy and discovering amazing celebrities like Masoon Zayid.
And another thanks to Mary Crawford for double-checking my accuracy!
AND GOD
You just keep forgiving me no matter how much I don’t deserve it! Thank you.
Linda grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now she lives in Kansas with her husband, two daughters, their nine cuckoo clocks, and a cat named Holly. Her life’s been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing’s always been a major part of her world, and she’s so happy to finally share some of her stories with other romance lovers.
Please visit her at her website:
www.LindaKage.com
Priceless
Copyright © 2016 by Linda Kage
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses or establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book—except in the case of brief quotations in reviews—may be used, reproduced, or TRANSLATED without written permission of the author.
Contact Information : linda@lindakage.com
Publishing History
Linda Kage, May 2016
Credits
Cover Artist: Kage Covers
Editor: Stephanie Parent
Proofreader: Shelley at 2 Book Lovers Reviews
Published in the United States of America
Title Page
About Priceless
Dedication
Author’s Note
Chapter 1 – Brandt
Chapter 2 – Sarah
Chapter 3 – Brandt
Chapter 4 – Sarah
Chapter 5 – Brandt
Chapter 6 – Sarah
Chapter 7 – Brandt
Chapter 8 – Brandt
Chapter 9 – Sarah
Chapter 10 – Brandt
Chapter 11 – Sarah
Chapter 12 – Sarah
Chapter 13 – Brandt
Chapter 14 – Brandt
Chapter 15 – Sarah
Chapter 16 – Brandt
Chapter 17 – Sarah
Chapter 18 – Brandt
Chapter 19 – Sarah
Chapter 20 – Sarah
Chapter 21 – Brandt
Chapter 22 – Sarah
Chapter 23 – Brandt
Chapter 24 – Sarah
Chapter 25 – Brandt
Chapter 26 – Sarah
Chapter 27 – Brandt
Chapter 28 – Sarah
Chapter 29 – Sarah
Chapter 30 – Sarah
Chapter 31 – Brandt
Chapter 32 – Brandt
Chapter 33 – Brandt
Chapter 34 – Brandt
Chapter 35 – Brandt
Chapter 36 – Sarah
Chapter 37 – Sarah
Chapter 38 – Brandt
Coming Next
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Credits
Table of Contents