They rounded a hall and Riley stifled a gasp. Racks of designer clothing lined the walls; dozens of fabric samples were strewn across long drawing tables, and sketches littered an entire wall. The combination sent her pulse soaring. Men and women milled about, talking quietly and fingering through the samples. A woman wearing jeans, her jet-black hair cut short, pulled a rolling cart filled with clothes across the floor. A man scurried around her with a notebook in hand, talking into an earpiece.
Without thinking, Riley grabbed Josh’s arm—as if they were back in Weston at a farm show and he were Jade. “Oh my goodness. This is amazing!” she exclaimed.
He laughed, and several eyes turned in their direction.
Riley cringed. She must have looked like an excited child seeing Santa for the first time.
“I’m sorry,” she said, frantically patting down Josh’s suit sleeve. “I just…I’m so sorry.” God, I’m an idiot.
“That’s the kind of reaction I’d hoped for,” he said.
She let out a relieved sigh as a tall, auburn-haired woman appeared at Josh’s side and locked her green eyes on Riley, then drew them down her dress, over her curvy figure, all the way to her heels.
“This must be Riley Banks?” She extended a pencil-thin arm in Riley’s direction. “Claudia Raven, head design assistant.”
Claudia’s forced smile and threatening gaze reminded Riley of Cruella De Vil. There was no mistaking the way she pressed her right shoulder into Josh’s back. Riley thought she saw him flinch, but his eyes never wavered from her, his smile never faltered, and she realized that she must have been projecting her own bodily response onto him. Every ounce of Riley’s cognitive thought screamed, Run! Run far and fast. She wanted to flee from the awful woman who, by the look in her evil eyes, already hated her. The woman who silently staked claim to Josh. Instead, Riley forced a smile and took her hand in a firm grip.
“I’m honored to be working with you,” she said, and tucked away any lingering thoughts about Josh. She needed a career, not a Fatal Attraction situation.
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If this is your first Braden book, you might want to start with the very first Love in Bloom book, SISTERS IN LOVE (FREE in digital format at the time of this printing), and find out why more than three million readers have fallen in love with the Love in Bloom big-family romance collection. In Sisters in Love you will meet the Snow Sisters, and in book three, Sisters in White, you will begin to meet the Bradens.
The Love in Bloom big-family romance collection features several families, and characters from each series appear in future Love in Bloom books. All Love in Bloom books may be enjoyed as stand-alone novels or as part of the series.
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More Books By Melissa
LOVE IN BLOOM SERIES order (FREE Ebook)
Love in Bloom Series Guide (Detailed Ebook)
Love in Bloom Series Guide (Black & White Print Book)
Love in Bloom books may be read as stand alones. For more enjoyment, read them in series order. Characters from each series carry forward to the next.
SNOW SISTERS
Sisters in Love
Sisters in Bloom
Sisters in White
THE BRADENS (Weston, CO)
Lovers at Heart
Destined for Love
Friendship on Fire
Sea of Love
Bursting with Love
Hearts at Play
THE BRADENS (Trusty, CO)
Taken by Love
Fated for Love
Romancing My Love
Flirting with Love
Dreaming of Love
Crashing into Love
THE BRADENS (Peaceful Harbor, MD)
Healed by Love
Surrender My Love
River of Love
Crushing on Love
Whisper of Love
Thrill of Love
BRADEN WORLD NOVELLAS
Daring Her Love
Promise My Love
Our New Love
THE REMINGTONS
Game of Love
Stroke of Love
Flames of Love
Slope of Love
Read, Write, Love
Touched by Love
SEASIDE SUMMERS
Seaside Dreams
Seaside Hearts
Seaside Sunsets
Seaside Secrets
Seaside Nights
Seaside Embrace
Seaside Lovers
Seaside Whispers
BAYSIDE SUMMERS
Bayside Desires
THE RYDERS
Seized by Love
Claimed by Love
Chased by Love
Rescued by Love
Swept Into Love
SEXY STAND-ALONE ROMANCE NOVELS
Tru Blue (Set in Peaceful Harbor)
Truly, Madly, Whiskey
BILLIONAIRES AFTER DARK
WILD BOYS
Logan
Heath
Jackson
Cooper
BAD BOYS
Mick
Dylan
Carson
Brett
NICE GIRLS
Phoebe
Francine
Nicole
Genevieve
HARBORSIDE NIGHTS
Includes characters from the Love in Bloom series
Catching Cassidy
Discovering Delilah
Tempting Tristan
Chasing Charley
Breaking Brandon
Embracing Evan
Reaching Rusty
Loving Livi
Standalone Books by Melissa
Chasing Amanda (mystery/suspense)
Come Back to Me (mystery/suspense)
Have No Shame (historical fiction/romance)
Love, Lies & Mystery (3-book bundle)
Megan’s Way (literary fiction)
Traces of Kara (psychological thriller)
Where Petals Fall (suspense)
Meet Melissa
www.MelissaFoster.com
www.MelissaFoster.com/Newsletter
www.MelissaFoster.com/Reader-Goodies
Melissa Foster is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. Melissa has painted and donated several murals to the Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC.
Visit Melissa on her website or chat with her on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups and welcomes an invitation to your event.
Melissa’s books are available in paperback and digital formats.
Story of Love (Josh & Riley's Wedding Novella): Love in Bloom: The Bradens Page 11
