Fall in Love Book Bundle: Small Town Romance Box Set

by Grover Swank, Denise

  Jason did three numbers before taking a break and speaking into the microphone to the huge live crowd in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

  “Vegas, wow, that’s fun,” Tori said. “Bet Jordan’s having fun.”

  “Shhh!” Ellie told her.

  Everyone’s eyes widened. Tori never got snapped at, and since she’d been pregnant, she’d been treated like a queen, especially by Ellie, who was beside herself over the idea of her first great-grandchild.

  “Hey, everybody, thanks for coming out tonight,” Jason said into the microphone. The crowd in Vegas roared.

  Jason grinned and waited for the noise to die down a little. “This last year and a half or so has been pretty crazy for me. All my dreams seem to be coming true, and there are some really important people who’ve been a part of that.”

  He went on to thank his manager, his parents, and a couple of other people. Then he said, “But there is one very special person who’s been here with me from the beginning, and who I have a very special question for tonight.”

  The crowd went crazy. The noise was incredible, and Leo reached for one of the remotes to turn the volume down a bit. Ellie slapped his hand, but he did succeed in lowering it a few notches.

  “Yeah, I hope she feels the same way about it,” Jason said, grinning into the camera. “Now I just need her to come out here with me.”

  Suddenly the camera panned to a blond woman who stepped out from backstage. Again, the crowd went wild.

  It was Jordan. Though it didn’t look much like the Jordan Charlie remembered. She was in a sparkly black dress and high heels with a denim jacket with lots of rhinestones. Her hair was in a twist, and she had full makeup on. Charlie honestly couldn’t remember ever seeing Jordan in anything more than lip gloss.

  She also looked terrified.

  She lifted her hand tentatively and waved to the crowd, but she seemed focused on walking across the stage.

  Charlie could understand. Probably every woman in the world could understand. If you’re not used to high heels, walking in them, especially on a slick surface, not to mention with millions of eyeballs on you, was not a piece of cake.

  “Daaay-um,” Zeke said with a slow, appreciative drawl. “Jordan’s got great legs. And other stuff.”

  Jason met Jordan partway across the stage and took her hand. He was smiling like someone had just given him a million dollars.

  “Oh my gosh,” Maddie said. “This is pretty exciting.”

  “I would die,” Paige said. “I hate public proposals.”

  The group laughed. Yes, Paige said proposals, plural, and she knew what she spoke of. The girl had been proposed to five times before she’d come to Autre to be with Mitch. Mitch was letting her be in charge of her next proposal. She was going to ask him to marry her when she was ready. But the proposal was just a formality. The two of them were absolutely going to end up together.

  “You already promised me you would ask Mitch to marry you here at the bar in front of all of us,” Ellie told her.

  Paige nodded. “I guess I don’t consider you all public.” She smiled at the group. “You’re family.”

  “Aww,” Juliet and Tori said together.

  “Shhh!” Ellie told them again, waving her hand to shut them up as Jason pulled Jordan to the microphone at the front of the stage.

  The crowd had been cheering the entire time, but now as he swung his guitar to his back and went down on one knee, they quieted.

  “We’ve known each other forever,” Jason said with Jordan’s hand in his.

  Charlie found herself holding her breath. But not so much for the words that were about to come from Jason’s mouth but because Jordan still looked petrified and like she was about to wobble off of her heels at any moment.

  “And we’ve been through a lot together,” Jason went on.

  Ellie was watching the TV, practically without blinking. Fletcher, on the other hand, had yet to look at the screen as far as Charlie could tell, and he looked like he was about to throw up.

  “It just seems right,” Jason said, “at this point in my journey, that I ask this question.”

  A couple of loud whistles came from the audience, but for the most part, everyone was quiet.

  “I love you, Viv. Will you marry me?”

  There was a long beat of silence.

  Fletcher’s head came up quickly. His eyes now focused on the TV.

  Then Zeke asked, “Who the hell is Viv?”

  Ellie swung to look at Fletcher. “Does he call Jordan ‘Viv’?”

  “What? Is that like her middle name?” Zeke asked.

  But Fletcher wasn’t looking away from the television. Charlie looked too. Jordan looked white as a ghost, and she visibly wobbled on her heels now.

  No one in the live audience seemed to know what to do.

  Jason quickly got to his feet, grabbing both of Jordan’s hands. “Oh fuck,” he said into the microphone.

  That was going to be a problem with the television producers.

  “No, I’m sorry, Jordan. Jordan. Of course. I want you. “

  Suddenly there was a crash, and the camera panned to the drum set that was now partially lying on its side, the cymbals having crashed against the floor as the drummer bolted off of her seat and ran for the side of the stage.

  “Uh, that’s Viv.”

  They all looked at Zander.

  “What?” Ellie demanded.

  Zander nodded. “Vivian Holbrook. Jason’s drummer.”

  Ellie turned to face him, her hands on her hips. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that Jason Young basically just proposed to Vivian.”

  “Why would he do that?” Ellie asked.

  “Maybe because he’s actually in love with her, but his management team told him that breaking up with a sweetheart like Jordan would look bad for him right now,” Zander said.

  “How do you know this?”

  “I might have… read it… somewhere,” Zander said.

  “Do you follow country music celebrity gossip?” Ellie asked him, her eyes narrowed, daring him to lie to her.

  Zander shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “I can’t believe you’ve been holding out on me!” Ellie exclaimed. “We could have been talking about Kelly and Brandon and Brett?”

  “Well, apparently, you wouldn’t have been that great to gossip with,” Zander told her. “People have been talking about Jason and Viv for a while, and you seem shocked.”

  “Don’t you tell me Jason Young has been cheating on Jordan,” Ellie said.

  “Okay, I won’t tell you. But he basically just told you,” Zander said, pointing at the television.

  Ellie shook her head, clearly not wanting to believe such a thing about her favorite musician. “Maybe he was just nervous in front of all those people. This is kind of a big deal. Maybe he just said the wrong name. Obviously, he knows Vivian really well too,” Ellie said.

  Zander snorted. “Asking a woman to marry you is kind of a big deal. But not exactly something where you get the wrong name. Especially when you’ve been with the woman you’re asking for ten years.”

  “But—” Ellie started.

  Suddenly Fletcher shoved back from the table and stood. He tossed his wadded napkin onto his plate, then turned and headed for the back door.

  “Where are you going?” Ellie called after him.

  He yanked the back door open and looked back. His eyes flickered to the screen in the back of his grandmother’s bar. “Vegas.”

  Charlie pivoted in her seat to look at the television. Jordan was running off the stage, tears streaming down her face, and Jason was going after her. The camera showed a bodyguard stopping him as they let her pass. Then his manager joined him, and they had a brief, heated discussion.

  “I can’t believe they’re not cutting to commercial,” Maddie said, leaning in attentively.

  “They better not cut to a commercial,” Ellie said. “I’ll call my cable company and complain so lou
dly they won’t know what hit them.”

  “Won’t matter,” Zeke said. “That whole thing is going to be all over the internet in five minutes if it’s not already. Everyone there has a cell phone.”

  God, he was right.

  Charlie stared at the screen. She felt so terrible for Jordan.

  But damn… the way Fletcher had gone storming out of here headed for Vegas? That was a whole new level of exciting.

  She felt Griffin lean in.

  “Just telling you now, when I propose, it might involve an otter or two. Or maybe a lemur. But it will be nothing like that.”

  When he proposed. That was like a proposal for a proposal, wasn’t it? She gave him a huge smile and leaned in and kissed him. Then said, “As long as it’s not the goats.”

  “No? But everything started with the goats and the barn,” he said with a grin.

  “Yeah, but Sugar isn’t going to take my ‘yes’ well. Or,” she said, leaning in and putting her lips to his ear, “the way we celebrate after. She might leave a scar this time.”

  Even though Sugar had a new goat boyfriend, Pepper, she still loved Griffin most, and if he and Charlie got too frisky in the barn, Sugar would come and bite Charlie’s pant leg. So far, she’d only nicked the skin, but Charlie didn’t trust her. And she refused to get completely naked in the barn anymore.

  “Good point.” Griffin’s hand dropped to the upper curve of the butt cheek Sugar had tried to take a chunk from about three weeks ago.

  “Is someone going to Vegas with Fletcher?” Paige asked.

  “Nah, he’s okay,” Zeke told her.

  “He didn’t look okay.”

  “He better not beat Jason Young up,” Ellie declared. “I like that pretty face, and I don’t want his tour postponed.”

  “Wow, you’re team Jason?” Maddie asked. “I’m totally team Jordan.”

  “Well, of course, I’m team Jordan,” Ellie said. “I just don’t want Fletcher all over the country music gossip pages as the guy who messed up that nice face.”

  “It’s kind of fucked up that you care more about how Jason Young looks than how your own grandson feels,” Zeke told her.

  “Oh, shut up, you.” Ellie threw a cornbread muffin at Zeke, hitting him right in the forehead. “That’s not what I said.”

  Zeke picked up the muffin and took a big bite.

  “What about how Jordan feels?” Paige asked. “My God, how humiliating.”

  “I’m team Fletcher,” Zander declared. “I hope he does beat Jason’s ass, and I hope he finally gets Jordan in his bed where she belongs.”

  “Well, that would make you team Jordan too, then,” Paige said with a grin.

  Mitch looked at his girlfriend. “Is that right?”

  “Oh, for sure. Jason Young and Fletcher Landry fighting over her?” Paige fanned her face. “Go, Jordan.”

  Maddie and Tori both nodded.

  “Well, I’m definitely team Fletcher,” Owen agreed. “Fuck Jason Young.”

  “Well, no shit. I’m team Fletcher too,” Ellie told them all. “I didn’t know we had to pick sides.”

  “Oh, after that?” Maddie asked, pointing at the TV. “We definitely have to pick sides.”

  Griffin just shook his head. “This family…”

  Charlie grinned up at him. “Crazy. I know.”

  “Yep. I’d even say… it’s otterly chaotic around here.”

  She gasped. God, she loved when he teased and got playful. “And that is otterly delightful, Dr. Foster.”

  “I can’t seem to resist,” he admitted.

  Charlie laughed and snuggled happily into his side.

  He found them all irresistible.

  Thank God. Because it was very, very mutual.

  * * *

  Thank you so much for reading Otterly Irresistible! I hope you loved Griffin and Charlie’s story!

  There is so much more to come from Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild and the Landry family!

  Up next is Fletcher and Jordan in Heavy Petting!

  About the author

  Erin Nicholas is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over forty sexy contemporary romances. Her stories have been described as toe-curling, enchanting, steamy and fun. She loves to write about reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines and happily ever afters. She lives in the Midwest with her husband who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books, her kids who will never read the sex scenes in her books, and family and friends who say they’re shocked by the sex scenes in her books (yeah, right!).

  Find her and all her books at www.ErinNicholas.com

  Facebook: facebook.com/ErinNicholasBooks

  Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/3155383.Erin_Nicholas

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  * * *

  Read on for:

  1. Sneak Peek of Heavy Petting, Book #2 in the Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild series by Erin Nicholas

  2. Erin Nicholas’s Booklist

  Sneak Peek of Heavy Petting, Book #2 in the Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild series by Erin Nicholas

  He's her best friend

  A reformed bad boy turned hot teacher.

  And after one spur-of-the-moment Vegas wedding... her husband.

  Jordan Benoit and Fletcher Landry have been best friends since they were six. He's always been The Guy. When she needed picked up, cheered up, or lifted up--like literally, to see the stage at a concert--Fletcher was the guy.

  So when her boyfriend dumps her--on national TV--Fletcher immediately gets on a plane and comes to her rescue.

  And when she ends up in a Vegas wedding chapel and needs someone to say, "I do"...yep, Fletcher's the guy.

  * * *

  And check out this little peek at Jordan and Fletcher!

  Excerpt from Heavy Petting

  Available now!

  “Marry me.”

  “Date you.”

  They spoke at the same time.

  Then stared at each other.

  “What?”

  “What?”

  They spoke simultaneously again.

  “I was trying to give you some freaking space before I said anything.” He seemed very annoyed suddenly.

  She leaned in, bracing her hand on the seat between them. “The last person I need space from is you, Fletcher. I mean, we’ve basically been dating for twenty years. If dating is about getting to know someone and figuring out how well you fit with them and figuring out if you want to spend the rest of your life with them…we’ve done that.”

  He shook his head. “You have got to be one of the most exasperating people in my life.”

  Her eyebrows rose. “Considering your twin brothers are Zeke and Zander, being one of the most exasperating people in your life is pretty huge.”

  He shook his head. “Absolutely exasperating. To think I could’ve kissed you when we were standing next to a king-sized bed and you were only in your bra and panties and you would have been all in.”

  Jordan felt her cheeks flush, but she grinned widely. “I really am a pain.”

  “You really are.” His gaze dropped to her mouth.

  Jordan felt a zing of excitement go through her. She really wanted him to kiss her.

  “I think you dating me is a great idea,” he said after a moment.

  Thank God.

  “You’re sure you’re done dating other people? Having fun with all those girls? All the casual relationships?” she asked.

  “If it means I get to be with you? Absolutely.”

  Her stomach swooped, harder and faster than before. “This isn’t crazy?”

&
nbsp; “It makes a lot more sense than anything else. Like you dating other men. Or either of us being with anyone else.”

  “We’ve never talked about this before.”

  “You’ve been taken,” he said simply.

  Right. That was true. And Fletcher was too good of a guy to go after another man’s girl.

  She still felt compelled to say, “It’s been three years since anything happened.”

  “Again, because you’ve been taken.” His voice dropped. “Only because you’ve been taken, Jordan.”

  Her heart skittered at that and she wet her lips. She thought about her next words carefully. Several seconds ticked by. Then she said simply, “Prove it.”

  Fletcher reached out, wrapped his big hand around her wrist, and tugged her close. He cupped the back of her head and brought her in until they were nose to nose. “This changes everything,” he said. Almost as if it was a warning.

  “I know.”

  “I’m the last frog you’re ever going to kiss. So be sure you want it now.”

  ** END SNEAK PEEK **

  Heavy Petting by Erin Nicholas is available now!

  Also By Erin Nicholas

  If you love the Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild, you can’t miss the Boys of the Bayou series! All available now!

  My Best Friend’s Mardi Gras Wedding (Josh & Tori)

  Sweet Home Louisiana (Owen & Maddie)

  Beauty and the Bayou (Sawyer & Juliet)

  Crazy Rich Cajuns (Bennett & Kennedy)

  Must Love Alligators (Chase & Bailey)

  Four Weddings and a Swamp Boat Tour (Mitch & Paige)

  * * *

  And be sure to check out the connected series, Boys of the Big Easy!