Forever After (Montana Brides) (28 page)

Sam picked her up in his arms, pulling her close. “I’ll agree to the rosebuds if you’ll marry me in two months. How does Italy sound for a honeymoon?”

“Like a wonderful compromise,” Nicky sighed, holding Sam tight.

The End

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Turn the page for a preview of
Forever Wishes
, Jake and Erin’s story, now available!

Forever Wishes

BOOK FOUR IN THE MONTANA BRIDES SERIES

Excerpt

“I’m not going home until a tall, dark, sexy cowboy sweeps me off my feet.” Erin closed the door of the pickup and grinned at her best friend.

“Shh. Keep your voice down,” Nicky whispered. “Someone might hear you.”

“Maybe I want them to.” Erin’s gaze roamed around the parking lot of the Baxter Hotel in downtown Bozeman. More than a few males were walking toward the entrance, but each of them had a female firmly attached to their suit clad bodies.

Erin might be a lot of things, but she firmly believed in first come, first served. If she smelt the faintest whiff of another woman in a man’s life, she crossed him off her list of potential dates quicker than a fly swat whipping through the air.

She took another look around. Who was she kidding? She’d hardly been on a date in the last ten months. She doubted she’d even know what to do with a man if he showed the slightest bit of interest in her.

Nicky locked the pickup and dropped the keys into her purse. “We’re going to a charity ball, not an all you can eat human buffet. And stop pulling on that bodice. The whole thing’s going to fall down around your waist if it gets any lower.”

With a mischievous smile, Erin ran her hands down the side of her crimson dress. She tweaked her satin bodice again before Nicky’s hands slapped her fingers away. “You’re turning into a mother hen,” she laughed. “Just because you’re engaged to Sam, it doesn’t mean I’m off limits to the male population as well. This dress is practically decent.”

Nicky stared at Erin’s chest. “It started off decent when you first wore it to Ellie’s wedding, but that new bra has pushed ever square inch of decency out the window.”

Erin pulled her shoulders back, straining the seams of the gown even further. “I’m sick of being sensible,” she growled. “I’m a librarian, for God’s sake. How sensible can one person get? I’m going to break free of the mould I’ve squished myself into. I want to be frivolous.”

“Well don’t go breaking free tonight.”

The scowl on Nicky’s face worried Erin. A lot. “What have you done?”

“Nothing…well, almost nothing.”

Erin had known Nicky for most of her life. From personal experience she knew ‘almost nothing’ usually turned into ‘something’. “You’d better tell me now before we get into the hotel.”

Nicky pulled her black lacy shawl over her shoulders, stalling for time.

“I’m waiting…”

Nicky crossed her arms in front of her chest, glaring at Erin as if it was her fault they were having a heart-to-heart discussion in the middle of the parking lot.

“The thing is, Sam’s friend invited us to the ball. And we invited you.”

Erin felt her buffet option disappearing in a puff of Chanel perfume. “And where is this
friend
going to sit?”

“With us.”

Her mouth fell open. “I’m twenty-eight-years-old. I’m too old for a blind date.” So much for her night of frivolity. Sam and Nicky had tied her to someone as desperate and dateless as she was.

“Don’t get all pouty on me. Jake’s a lawyer. He moved back home a few months ago.” Nicky rolled her eyes at the scoffing noise coming from Erin’s disbelieving mouth. “He’s a great guy.”

“A great guy?” Erin walked toward a row of miniature trees covered in twinkling fairy lights. His life sounded just about as riveting as hers. Instead of cataloguing rules and management plans, his life revolved around interpreting statutes and locking criminals behind bars. Lawyers weren’t impulsive. They didn’t live for the moment. Erin wanted spontaneous and impulsive. Everything that lawyers and librarians weren’t.

She tried to imagine what would go through the man’s head when he saw her. “You know what he’s going to think, don’t you? He’s going to think I’m pathetic, and that’s just for starters.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. One look at you and he’ll be blown away.”

“Don’t try wiggling out of this with flattery. I’m looking for hot romance, not a night of polite conversation with a boring lawyer.” A taxi honked its horn. Erin’s head shot up. Twenty feet and she’d be a free woman. No Nicky, no Sam, and most definitely no lawyer.

Nicky’s gaze flicked towards the street. “Don’t even think about it.”

With a lingering glance at the row of taxis, Erin hauled the strap of her evening purse over her shoulder. “You are in so much trouble. If he starts snoring during dinner I’m going home and leaving you to explain what happened.”

Nicky pulled her toward the entrance. “I’ve met Jake, and you won’t be disappointed.”

Erin stared at her reflection in the glass doors and yanked her bodice up a notch. She didn’t want him getting the wrong idea, especially if Jake whatever-his-name made her want to bolt for the nearest exit.

Arm in arm, Erin and Nicky marched into the lobby of the Baxter Hotel. Luxurious sofas and armchairs sat in a room three times the size of Erin’s entire house. An enormous crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting a soft mellow light on the gleaming wooden floors.

Sam met them by the front counter.

Erin stared at the goofy grin plastered across his face. “I don’t care how crazy love has made you, Samuel Delaney. I don’t appreciate being set up on a blind date.”

He looked at Nicky. “She knows?”

Nicky shrugged her shoulders. “Of course she knows. We’ve been standing outside for the last ten minutes debating the merits of hot romance over a blind date.”

Erin cringed. She might be looking for a bad boy, but Sam didn’t need to know all the gory details. “You’re not supposed to tell him that.”

Sam’s brown eyes filled with laughter. “I’m kind of hoping for some hot romance too.”

Erin shook her head. “That’s too much information for a woman who wants to live dangerously.” She looked around the room rather than at the two lovebirds making eyes at each other. “So where’s Mr. Desperate and Dateless?”

“Right behind you,” a male voice said.

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