by Paula Graves
“Know what cherry blossoms are good for?” he asked.
“What?”
“Weddings.” He kissed the side of her throat.
She turned to look at him, a little frown between her eyes. As she started to argue, he silenced her protest with a kiss.
Sooner or later, baby, you’re going to see that we belong together, he thought.
Sooner or later.
He just didn’t know how soon.
“YOU ELOPED?” ISABEL STARED at Rick and Amanda in disbelief. “No big Cooper wedding?”
“We’re not the big-wedding sort,” Amanda said in apology, accepting Isabel’s quick kiss and turning to look at Rick. “Besides, I’m pretty sure he got me drunk.”
“Liar,” Rick said, grinning at her and feeling a rush of sheer joy at the sight of the happiness shining in her blue eyes. “We finished up with the hearing around midday, so we decided to rent a car and drive ourselves home. She’s the one who spotted the chapel in the mountains on the drive back and said we should get hitched.”
“Luckily, Virginia’s licensing laws allow same-day weddings, or he might have had second thoughts and run,” Amanda answered with a laugh.
“We need a party!” Isabel said, clapping her hands together. She hurried over to the phone.
“I knew we shouldn’t have told her first,” Rick murmured, wrapping his arms around his new wife’s waist.
“I wouldn’t mind a little shindig,” Amanda admitted, turning to kiss him. A few mind-reeling seconds later, she drew her head back and looked up at him. “Happy?”
“Delirious,” he admitted. “You?”
“Not bad at all,” she said with a wry chuckle. “Did you ever get through to Jesse about what we were talking about?”
“Jesse wants to talk to you,” Isabel interrupted, holding out the phone.
Rick took the receiver. “Hey, Jesse.”
“You always were the impulsive type,” Jesse said, though there wasn’t a hint of censure in his voice. “Congratulations. Amanda’s a remarkable woman.”
“Yes, she is,” Rick agreed, smiling down at her. She arched her eyebrows in response.
“And as for what you called me about yesterday, yes. We have the budget for it, and I’ve already seen firsthand what an asset she’ll be.”
“You’re hired,” he told Amanda. She grinned back at him, clearly pleased. “She accepts,” he told Jesse. “And now, get your butt over here to Isabel’s and grab you a few Coopers on the way out. We’re having a wedding party!”
He handed the phone back to Isabel and turned back to his wife. “Are you sure you really want in on this? The Coopers can be a rowdy bunch to deal with.”
“I’m sure,” she said firmly, wrapping her arms around his waist. “But are you sure you really want to work with your wife? That’s a whole lot of togetherness....”
He’d already spent three years without her. It had felt like an endless lifetime.
No way on earth he’d ever get enough of her.
“Sounds like a dream job to me,” he murmured as he bent to kiss her again.
* * * * *
ISBN: 9781459223455
Copyright © 2012 by Paula Graves
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Table of Contents
Prologue
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
