by Laura Briggs
Shivering with nerves and fear, not with cold, she wrapped her arms close around herself. She wanted him to understand, and she hoped that he did. Please understand, Luke. See how hard I’m trying to make this work.
“Can I say something?” he asked.
She nodded. If he couldn’t accept this situation, that would be the end. If so, she had turned her back on the concept of matchmaking for nothing. No, not for nothing—for the chance to find her own path to happiness, not someone else’s, for a change. For that alone, it was worth it.
“You know what I’m like,” he said. “I’m not a big planner, I’m not a guy who has a lot of ties or traditions. Hence the tattoo. It says it all, really. I keep things loose, but I’m still a serious guy. I hope you can see that.”
“I’m okay with the tattoo,” said Ama. “I like free spirits. I don’t need perfect plans or perfect details for life decisions.”
“You didn’t seem like you did,” he said. “And I get that you’re from a pretty straight-laced background. But you don’t assume things about me. I like that.”
“You didn’t assume that I only eat Indian food, or listen to sitar music, just because my family’s still traditional,” she said. “It was nice to have somebody not assume things about me, either.”
“I tried to say things in the letter that I have a hard time saying in person,” he continued. “Mostly, that I’m thinking about you a lot these days. I feel like I’m myself when I’m with you. There’s no pretending or changing, even though we’re different people. I want to get to know you better because of it.”
He drew closer. He lifted his hand, and Ama felt it rest against her cheek, cradling it softly. It was the first time Luke had touched her like this, deliberately, romantically, and her skin was alive with a thousand pinpoints of electricity. Those callused fingers were sure and steady. Unlike the tremor in her own before she laid her hand over his, holding it in place as long as possible.
“I like you, Ama,” he said. “Very much. Not just because you like my bike, or because I like your desserts, either. Is that okay with you?”
The cold was making tears form in her eyes. “Really, really okay,” she answered. She felt him gently tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, the one the cold wind had been whipping against her cheek all this time.
His lips kissed hers. A shiver traveled deeply through Ama in response—one of surprise, amazement, and disbelief. It was nothing like she had imagined it would be whenever she pictured her first kiss with him. The roughness of Luke’s sleeve cuffs beneath her fingers, the taste of mints on his breath… cold wind in her face, no starlight above. But the energy—the incredible sensation of being this close to him—that couldn’t be imagined in a hundred years of fantasies behind the Tandoori Tiger. How could anything so soft and so strong, firm, and tender at the same time, possibly be real?
He drew back and looked into her eyes. “Do you want to go for a ride?” he asked. “I brought two helmets. I was hoping you’d say yes.”
Recovering, she nodded. “I do,” she answered. “More than anything.”
“Do you want to go to dinner tonight?” he asked.
He was officially asking her out. It was really happening. An official date, with the two of them as more than friends taking a train together on a Saturday afternoon. Though it was cold, Ama didn’t feel it at all. “Absolutely,” she answered. “I would love to.”
“There’s this little place on the other side of the city that makes incredible Italian food. If you don’t mind, we can take off in that direction and see what happens. We can spend the day together, take the long way. Maybe go past the park, catch some of the street performers there. You like Italian food, right?” He grinned.
“Who doesn’t?” she answered.
He tossed her the second helmet. “Come on,” he said. He climbed on the bike and helped her on behind him. When she wrapped her arms around him, she felt his hand clasped over hers, checking the strength of her grip beneath his own. A brief caress from his thumb traversed the curves of her own.
“Hold on tight,” he said. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled at her, then started the motorcycle. It purred to life, zipping into the street a moment later. The cold wind pushed against Ama as they raced along, her heart matching the speed of the wind.
The world was dizzying her with the first taste of love and independence, spiked with fear and uncertainty of the unknown. She might be on the verge of happiness or heartache, but she was going where she wanted to go, and with the person she wanted to be with. At this moment, she was traveling on the wings of the wind with her arms tight around Luke and adventure lying immediately ahead of them.
Anything could happen. Eyes closed and heart pressed close against Luke, Ama hoped that it would.
If you loved One Winter’s Day and need to know how Tessa and Blake first met and what really happened with That Kiss, you need to read One Day Like This.
Get it here!
One Day Like This
Get it here!
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‘I absolutely loved this gorgeous story, straight from the beginning I was hooked … a wonderful … feel-good read that is just perfect for the summer.’ Katie’s Book Cave, 5 stars
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Tessa has finally done it. A beautiful tumbledown house with enormous picture windows, and a white-painted spiral staircase, has come up for sale in the charming Southern town of Bellegrove. She’s sold all her worldly belongings to turn her dream into reality – of opening a one-stop wedding shop.
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With her best friend designing dresses, and a local girl baking artisan cakes, Tessa thinks they might just make a success of it. But she wasn’t counting on her first clients being so completely clueless, or handsome handyman Blake Ellingham announcing that the building needs re-wiring… and, in his usual stubborn way, that it’ll take all summer to fix properly.
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Suddenly, it feels like she’s about to lose all she’s worked for. And trying to ignore the sparks between her and Blake is just making everything harder.
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Tessa won’t waste time on any man who isn’t The One. And she knows it can’t possibly be someone as infuriating as Blake. If she can just get him out of her head, maybe she’ll find a way to save her business and keep her dream alive...
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The perfect feel-good summer romance for 2018 for fans of Debbie Macomber, Jenny Hale and Debbie Johnson.
Order now.
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Also by Laura Briggs
One Day Like This
A Letter from Laura
Thank you so much for reading One Winter’s Day, the second book to feature the adventures of Tessa, Ama, and Natalie—aka the Wedding Belles. I hope that you found it to be a cozy Christmas read, perfect for curling up with by the fireside with a cup of warm tea (or hot chocolate!). To stay up to date on the latest details for the series, be sure to sign up below for notifications about upcoming releases. Your email address will remain completely private, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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I’m so glad you chose to spend the holidays with my characters in Bellegrove, the fictional Southern setting they call home. It’s a beautiful place year-round, and I hope you’ll be ready to visit it again soon for more excitement surrounding the personal and professional lives of the series’ three heroines for a new season and new adventures next spring.
I also hope that if you loved this book you’ll leave a review sharing how you felt about it. To learn more about the series, please join me on social media using the links below—I can’t wait to tell you more about the next story for Tessa, Ama, and Natalie!
Thanks for reading,
Laura Briggs
Laura’s website.
Published by Bookouture in 2018
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An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
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www.bookouture.com
Copyright © Laura Briggs, 2018
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Laura Briggs has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
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eBook ISBN: 978-1-78681-674-0
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
