Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
James “The Wedding Wrecker” Carter. That's who.
His mission is to expose cheaters, liars, and frauds before they can say "I do." And he's frustratingly good at his job.
And me? I'm Emma Marshall, wedding planner extraordinaire who happens to believe in things like happily ever afters, love, and the power of a perfect wedding. Or at least I did until a certain wedding wrecker gave me the best night of my life, then wrecked my biggest wedding, along with my career, the following day.
Three years later, I’m finally ready to give another big wedding a shot and rebuild my reputation. My little sister is marrying the son of one of the richest men on the planet, and they’ve asked me to plan everything.
Am I terrified of screwing it up? Absolutely. So imagine my horror when the wedding wrecker shows up at the mountain ski resort with the rest of the wedding party. Worse? He decides to play hero by pretending to be my boyfriend to ward off the unwanted advances of the world’s creepiest groomsman.
Now I'm sharing a room with the most infuriating (and irresistible) man I've ever met. He's cynical, sexy, and has a terrible habit of making me want to break all my carefully crafted rules—rules that are supposed to keep him on his side of the bed and me on mine, among other things.
The problem? While I'm busy planning the perfect wedding, he might be plotting to wreck it. And if he does, he'll destroy my career. Again. He’ll also destroy my little sister’s perfect day, which is something I’m never going to let happen.
But convincing the wedding party we’re legit means more “fake” kisses than I can handle. It means being carried away from the ski slopes when I barely twist my ankle so he can “pretend” to pamper me all day by the fireplace. Except nothing about his soft touch or the way he looks devastatingly gorgeous in those sweaters he keeps wearing feels pretend.
Worst of all, it means getting glimpses of the man beneath the emotional scars—the one whose past breaks my heart and almost makes me understand why he does what he does.
Almost
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE - JAMES
My wife looked stunning in her white wedding dress as she moved across the reception hall. Occasionally, she stopped to mingle, give a soft smile, or say something that made people laugh.
My wife.
"Strange, isn't it?" my best friend, Derek, said.
"What's that?" I asked, eyes still locked on Katie as I tried to memorize the way she moved tonight. She noticed me looking, tucked a hair behind her ear, and winked before turning back to our guests.
Logan shifted in his chair, his dark eyes clouded as he considered his next words. "Forever. That's the idea, right? But can you really love one person forever? People change all the time. What happens if you two change in different directions?"
I gave him a soft punch on the arm. "Save it. It's my wedding night. I'm planning to enjoy forever, not sit around wondering how it'll go."
"Right. You're right," he said, but there was something in his eyes I didn't particularly like.
I licked my lips, considered asking him, and then let the topic drop as I got up to circulate around the room with my drink in hand.
"Another scotch?" The bartender held up the bottle as I passed.
I shook my head, raising my still-full glass. "Thanks. Trying to remember this night."
He smiled knowingly. "First day of the rest of your life, right?"
"Something like that."
What was it with people saying that like it was a prison sentence instead of something to celebrate?
My brother Chase clapped a hand on my shoulder, nearly making me spill my drink. "There's the man of the hour." His words were slightly slurred. "Did I mention how honored I am to be your best man?"
"Only about fifty times." I smiled, used to Chase's drunken affection. He'd always been the emotional one between us.
He stumbled slightly and caught himself on my shoulder. “Dude. Did I show you the fish I caught last weekend?”
“You told me about it,” I said, grinning. Chase was an obsessive fisherman, and always had some new trophy to brag about.
“Forty pounds,” he said, opening his phone and fumbling for his camera roll. I was watching the screen as a text popped up.
A text from my wife.
On my brother’s phone.
Only an hour after we said our vows.
I leaned forward as the world shrank in around me.
Chase’s eyebrows rose, and he drunkenly tried to swipe it away. Instead, he tapped the message and opened it for both of us to see.
I saw Katie in what looked like a bathroom stall. She had her tongue out, almost casually. She was winking at the camera and she had her wedding dress pulled down so one of her breasts was in plain view. My blurring eyes drifted to the message below.
Katie: Your turn. You look hot in that tux, so send me something for later.
Everything suddenly felt too tight. My tie. My suit. The air pressing in around me and the laughing, dancing people.
I blinked through a suffocating tangle of emotions just as I saw Katie come walking out of the bathroom hallway. She gave her dress a little tug, as if readjusting it, spotted me, and blew me a kiss.
I felt numb as I looked at my brother, eyebrows drawn together. I realized I was waiting for him to explain, as if there was any possible way to explain what I’d just seen on his phone.
His face was pale. “James—”
"How long?" My voice sounded strange, distant.
He swallowed hard, running a hand through his hair—a nervous habit we both shared. “I’m sorry, James, I—”
“How long?” I asked again. Numbness was starting to be tinged with rage.
"Eight months, maybe?"
Eight months. They'd been sleeping together while she helped me pick out wedding bands. While she wrote her vows. While she promised forever.
"Is she..." I had to force the words out. "Is she with anyone else?"
His silence was answer enough.
I laughed then, a sound that held no humor. "Who else?"
"Come on, man... Do you really want to know?"
"Who else, Chase?"
He told me three names. All friends. All people who'd been at my wedding, smiling and congratulating me while knowing exactly what kind of woman I'd just pledged my life to.
"You deserve this," I said simply before punching him across the jaw hard enough to knock him on his ass. "If I see your face again tonight, I'll punch it again. In fact, consider that a running promise. Show me your face, and you're going to get knocked on your ass. Forever."
People gasped and backed away, giving us space. The general air of light conversation hushed in a moment.
"James, please," Chase said, touching his reddening jaw as he lay sprawled on the floor. "She said you wouldn't even care. She said you probably cheated on her, so it was—"
I stopped in my tracks, turning to face him. "I never fucking cheated. I never would."
I walked toward Katie, moving through the crowd like a ghost. Everything looked different now. Faces that had seemed friendly hours ago now held secrets. Smiles that had seemed genuine now looked painted on.