The Wedding Party:  THE BEST MAN'S BRIDE

HARLEQUIN® AMERICAN ROMANCE®  #1210
May 2008
ISBN-13:978-0-373-75215-7

Second book in the four book The Wedding Party series

Reviews

"Lisa Childs delivers by bringing readers back to Cloverville to experience another facet of the McClintock--Jameson "wedding that wasn't" with The Best Man's Bride (4). Bridesmaid Colleen McClintock, the plain-Jane sister, has secretly had the hots for best man Dr. Nick Jameson for ages, but she never thought she'd have a chance with the playboy doctor. Will the tentative bond these two unlikely lovers forge be enough to convince them to work out their trust issues? Spending time in Cloverville with the McClintock clan reminds readers why community and all of our relationships are so important." -- Whitney Kate Sullivan, RT BookClub

Excerpt 

Chapter One

 "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Nick Jameson asked his best friend.

"I was going to ask you that," Josh Towers said as he peered into the mirror on the wall of the groom's dressing room, straightening a bow tie that was already perfectly straight. But then, nearly everything about Josh was perfect – apart from his taste in women.

Nick sighed. "What do I need to know? I'm not getting married." Not ever.

"You missed the rehearsal, you know."

"Hey, I was on call last night." Nick shrugged, testing the seams of the tuxedo jacket. Tuxedos were called monkey suits for a reason, he thought. They were damned near as comfortable as straitjackets.

Not that he'd ever been in a straitjacket but if for some reason he considered doing what Josh was--getting married--he'd put himself in one.

"And what's so hard about what I have to do?" Nick asked his friend. He had stood up with Josh at his other wedding--first one. He was such a hypocrite. How could he stand up for something in which he put no faith? "I just walk down the aisle with some girl on my arm."

"You're the best man," Josh reminded him. "You're in charge of the rings, too." He dug the gold bands out of his pocket and handed them over.

The metal, although warm from Josh's pocket, chilled Nick's skin as the rings lay in his palm. The anxiety built in his throat, nearly choking him. He didn't even like to touch the things.

"Daddy," one of Josh's twin four-year-old boys said, "we're the ring bears."

"Funny, you don't look like bears," Nick teased, chucking the boy under the chin. Must have been Buzz since his black hair had been kept buzzed short for the past two years after he'd gotten a hold of Josh's electric razor. TJ's hair was a little longer and moussed into half-inch spikes. Both twins had deep blue eyes and now they stared up at him as if he were trying to make off with one of their Tonka trucks.

"Yeah," said TJ as he tugged on Nick's pant leg. The twins' tuxedos matched his, black with white pleated shirts, black bow ties and red cummerbunds. "We're supposed to carry the rings."

Nick would gladly have handed over the gold bands, but he doubted Josh would trust them to the devilish duo. The boys had a well-known penchant for "flushing" things, including their dad's pager and cell phone.  

"Hey, buddy," he said to his best friend, "I'll let you handle this one." With a grin, he ducked out of the groom's room, leaving Josh alone with his unruly twin sons.

No wonder the guy had decided to marry a woman he barely knew. The boys had him outnumbered and he needed help fast--he needed a mother for his sons. Although Nick understood Josh's reasons, he didn't agree with his friend's decision. After the boys' mom had taken off when the twins were just babies, why would Josh ever trust another woman?

Nick would never make that mistake, not that he didn't think some women were worthy of trust. His dad swore his mother had been a paragon of virtue. Nick, himself, had never known her. He'd been younger than the twins when she died. It wasn't that he mistrusted all women, so much as that he really didn't trust himself. If a guy as smart as Josh hadn't had the sense to fall for the right woman, a guy like Nick didn't stand a chance.

Hearing the outraged howl that signaled a major temper tantrum inside the groom's room, Nick walked farther away from the door. Sure, he could have gone inside and tried to help out--he was the best man, after all. But Nick was going to have the boys all to himself during Josh's honeymoon. If he hadn't already sworn off marriage and fatherhood, he was damned sure he would after two weeks with the twins.

Another door opened farther down the hall and a bunch of women spilled out. A young girl dressed like a miniature bride, a blonde, a redhead and a brunette dressed in shiny red, strapless gowns. Which one of them was he supposed to walk down the aisle?

Maybe he should have come to the rehearsal, but Cloverville, Michigan was more than an hour from where he worked in Grand Rapids. He sighed. Now he wouldn't be working only in Grand Rapids; he and Josh would have a practice in Cloverville as soon as their new offices were finished. Personally, he hoped the contractors took their damn sweet time. If Josh wasn't his best friend, he wouldn't have let the other man talk him into opening their office here. He had no interest in Cloverville.

Then the brunette turned, her rich brown hair moving like a silk curtain around her bare shoulders. His fingers itched with the need to touch it, to see if her hair could possibly be as soft as the chocolate-colored strands appeared. Her gaze met his, her eyes as deep a brown as her hair.

His chest clenched and his breath caught, as if he'd slammed on the brakes and his seat belt had pulled too tight. Heat flushed his face and dampened his palms. So that he wouldn't lose the rings before the ceremony, he wrapped his fingers around them and shoved them deep into his pocket. Even his hand shook. What the hell had just happened to him?

# # #

DR. NICK JAMESON. Colleen McClintock had known, of course, that he would be at the wedding. He was, after all, the best man. Did he recognize her? Colleen doubted it. How could he recognize someone he had never noticed before?

And yet he saw her now, staring at her so intently that goose bumps rose on the bare skin of her shoulders and arms. She regretted talking Brenna out of matching wraps--the maid of honor had been right. Colleen should have risked fumbling the flowers or tripping on the shawl for a little more cover-up.

But between her bad luck and her innate clumsiness, she hadn't wanted to risk embarrassing herself or her sister. That was probably why Molly had chosen her longtime friend Brenna Kelly as maid of honor instead of Colleen. She'd worried that her little sister would mess up her important day. Or maybe she'd never considered Colleen at all. Kind of like Dr. Nick Jameson hadn't until today.

Was it the red dress Brenna had chosen? The strapless sheath of satin had somehow produced curves Colleen hadn't been aware she possessed. And the color was so vibrant -- for the first time in a long while, she didn't feel invisible. 

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