“Riley.” Josh reached for her.
She twisted away and raised her voice. “I’m sorry, okay?” she said to the others. “I fell in love with Josh and we kept it a secret, but it wasn’t meant to hurt anyone, and I didn’t sleep with him because he’s my boss.” She looked at Josh and lowered her voice as she took his hand. “I’ve known Josh all my life, and I spent years trying to push away the feelings I had for him and feeling like he was too good for me, and you know what? That’s what’s bullshit. Josh is the kindest, most generous person I know, and I’m proud to be with him. I’m not going to hide anymore, or feel bad because any of ya’ll think I did something wrong.” Oh God, ya’ll. She turned back to Simone. “And I’ll never hurt my friends if I can help it. I’m sorry, Simone.”
“Okay, well, nothing like a grand entrance,” Josh said.
A muffled laugh rose from the group.
Josh addressed them. “Look, this is pretty simple. We’re in love. We’re getting married, and JBD is going to be JRBD very soon. I value each of you, and I have a speech ready that outlines exactly what I value about each one of you, but none of that matters at this juncture.” He went to Riley’s side and took her hands in his.
Riley tried to steady her trembling limbs.
Josh let go of one of her hands and turned back to the staff. “The bottom line is that whether it’s JBD or JRBD, we’re the same designing family we were before. We just have one more family member, and an important one. Ya’ll know I’m not one for ultimatums, but tonight I’m making one, so please listen carefully. Riley is going to be my wife, which means she’s more important to me than anything else. If you cannot see yourself working in our offices with Riley and me as equal partners in the business, or if you feel that you’ll cast sneers in her direction, or you cannot refrain from gossiping about her, or us, then please take this time to walk out those doors forever, because I will not tolerate snide looks, nasty comments, or any type of innuendos.”
“Ya’ll?” Riley whispered.
“Sometimes I slip,” he said with a wink.
“Sorry I gave you the stink eye,” Simone said to Riley.
“Sorry I didn’t tell you about me and Josh.” Riley embraced Simone.
Hushed whispers rose from the crowd. Savannah and Mia appeared by Josh’s side.
“That’s what you should have done ages ago,” Savannah said.
“I’m just learning about this relationship stuff,” Josh said.
“Mr. B., look.” Mia turned toward Riley, who was now surrounded by the other staff members. “I think things are going to be okay,” Mia said.
Josh let out a breath as he watched his fiancée with the employees he trusted, and he realized that the protective instincts he’d felt for Riley were never going to change.
Riley noticed Josh watching her with the other staff members with a concerned look in his eye, and she went to his side.
“Thanks for standing up for me. I hope I didn’t embarrass you too much,” she said.
He pulled her against him. “Nothing you do could ever embarrass me. I’m just going to have to get used to the Incredible Hulk rearing his powerful head and taking my body over every once in a while.”
Riley pressed her hips against his. “Mm. Incredible Hulk? Powerful head? Now, that’s something we should explore.”
“Get a room,” Savannah teased.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea.” Josh kissed Riley. “Mia, can you handle the rest of this?”
“I’ve got this,” Mia said.
“You have to make your speech,” Riley reminded him as he pulled her toward the door.
“I think I just did. Come on. Let’s go find some his-and-her edible underwear.”
The End
Please enjoy a preview of the next
Love in Bloom novel
Sea of Love
The Bradens, Book Four
Love in Bloom Series
Melissa Foster
Chapter One
LACY SNOW SAT between Kaylie Crew and Danica Carter, literally surrounded by her half sisters. In the year and a half since she’d met them, they’d become her closest friends, her coconspirators, and the women she most looked up to. She’d known they existed her whole life, but as the child of their father’s mistress of more than twenty years, she couldn’t exactly knock on their front door and introduce herself.
Kaylie reached for her hand and squeezed, flashing a sisterly smile. She and Lacy shared the same robin’s-egg-blue eyes and buttery blond hair, though Kaylie’s was shiny with a natural wave and Lacy’s was a mass of spiral curls, like Danica’s, save for the color. Danica took after their father with dark hair and olive skin.
“God, this place is gorgeous,” Kaylie said.
“It was built in a similar fashion to the original Chequesset Inn, which perished during an ice storm in the 1930s,” Lacy said.
Max and Treat had fallen in love in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and it was only fitting that they wed at the Wellfleet Inn. The two-story inn overlooked the bay. Treat owned resorts all over the world, so it came as no surprise when he purchased the inn and added it to his collection.
“Oh my God,” Kaylie whispered. “You’re such a fact girl.” She looked at the altar. “Excited?”
Nervous, Lacy mouthed. She’d waited fifteen months to see Dane Braden, Treat’s younger brother, in-person again. Fifteen long months of sharing emails, intimate phone calls, sexy video chats, and too many unfulfilled fantasies to count. Fifteen months of Lacy working twelve-hour days seven days a week, vying for a promotion at her job, and long nights spent dreaming of Dane. She reached for Danica’s hand and—deep in conversation with her husband, Blake—Danica took Lacy’s hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. She’d met Danica and Kaylie just before their double wedding, in a Nassau resort owned by Treat Braden, the six-foot-six, darkly handsome man now standing at the altar, gazing into their friend Max Armstrong’s eyes. Max’s dark hair fell in gentle waves over the spaghetti straps and soft lines of the beachy wedding gown that Riley Banks, Treat’s brother Josh’s fiancée, designed for her. Weddings had a way of making the beautiful even more glamorous. Max and Treat were a striking couple, and they should have held Lacy’s attention as Treat held Max’s hand and looked lovingly into her eyes, promising her a lifetime of adoration, but Lacy’s gaze shifted to his right. To the line of Treat’s four striking brothers, proudly standing as his groomsmen, each one more handsome than the next. Each brother’s dark eyes were trained on their eldest brother as he vowed to love, honor, and cherish his soon-to-be wife—each one except Dane. Dane’s smoldering dark eyes stared hungrily at Lacy, sending a shock of heat right through her. Damn, he’s sexy. Lacy couldn’t blink. She couldn’t look away. Hell, she couldn’t breathe.
“Careful,” Kaylie whispered, “you’ll drool on that pretty dress of yours.”
Lacy felt her face flush, but she still couldn’t tear her gaze away. Each of the Braden brothers had thick dark hair, and while Treat and Josh wore their hair short and Rex wore his cowboy-long, covering his collar, Dane’s hair fell somewhere in between, as if he’d missed his last trim; it brushed the tops of his ears, with sides that looked like he’d just run his hands through them. No. Lacy narrowed her eyes. That’s not it at all. As she watched Dane’s lips lift into a smile, she bit her lower lip and thought, He looks like he could have just come from the bedroom—or, like he’s ready for it.
He winked, and Lacy caught her breath.
“Behave,” Kaylie warned.
“Oh my God,” Lacy whispered, drawing her eyes to her lap. “He’s so…”
“Sexy? Gorgeous? Hot?” Kaylie offered, arching a brow.
“Shh.” Danica shot a harsh stare at them.
Lacy and Kaylie drew their blond heads together with a silent giggle. Danica shook her head, and though Lacy couldn’t see her face, she knew that her eldest sister was rolling her eyes at them with her lips pinched in a tight line.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Mr. and Mrs. Treat Braden.”
The announcement sent a shiver of nervous energy through her stomach. Everyone stood as Max and Treat walked down the aisle hand in hand. Max’s smile lit up her eyes, and Treat walked with his shoulders back, his eyes on Max, beaming with pride. Kaylie’s blond hair tumbled down her back as she reached her sinewy arms around her husband Chaz’s neck and kissed him. Lacy watched Danica smile lovingly at Blake; then he took her chin in his hand and kissed her. Lacy turned away, thinking about Dane.
As Treat and Max approached, Lacy and her sisters tossed rose petals.
“Congratulations!” Lacy shouted, but her eyes had already left Treat and Max and had settled on Dane once again. She hadn’t remembered how broad his chest was, and the wanton look in his eyes hadn’t seemed quite as strong over Skype and FaceTime. Her pulse ratcheted up a notch.
“You’re so beautiful!” Danica said to Max.
The groomsmen made their way down the aisle next, and Kaylie squeezed Lacy’s hand so hard that Lacy winced.