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Chapter 1
Marley Stevenson was trapped.
If she made a left towards the frozen food section, she was going to have to listen to Mrs. Needermyer go on about her single grandson from Berkeley, who was looking for a traditional wife. Whatever the hell that meant.
If she made a right, however, she would be cornered by Darren Weaver, who had the insane idea that Marley was interested in him. Even though she’d been telling him since he tried to kiss her in second grade that it was never going to happen.
He kept trying though, even after she’d punched him in the nose at an eighth grade dance for copping a feel. They’d both been suspended, but her mom had been proud of her. Her mom had gotten an angry call from Darren’s mom about a doctor’s bill, but she’d gladly told her to suck it.
Marley loved her mom, but situations like this made her wish she could escape Sweetheart, California already. Living in a small town could be brutal.
Of course, there was always option number three: back out of the store slowly, leaving her meager basket contents behind, but then she’d be stuck buying a sandwich at Subway again, their only fast food restaurant. How she let her refrigerator insides deplete so thoroughly, she had no clue. Maybe because she’d been so busy now that wedding season had officially started, she’d been eating mostly leftovers from caterers.
Those had run out on Tuesday though, and because she’d been in meeting after meeting the last two days, she’d been unable to make it to the store—until now. But thanks to the limited amenities in the small foothill town, she was having trouble avoiding people and places that set her already frazzled nerves on edge. She had to deal with difficult brides at work; she just wanted to breeze in and out of the grocery store without being pestered by annoyingly persistent—
“Marley!”
Damn it. She’d contemplated her escape for too long.
“How are you, dear? How’s your mother?” Mrs. Needermyer asked.
Marley pasted on her best smile. “She’s good. Busy. You should stop by the café and say hi.”
Mrs. Needermyer patted her ample waist, her faded blue eyes twinkling behind her thick glasses. “Would if I could, dear, but I’ve started a new diet. Can’t be going in there, tempted by all of your mama’s sweet treats.”
Marley smiled politely. Mrs. Needermyer was on a new diet every other week, but nothing seemed to stick.
“I know. I have a hard time not sneaking a few from the pan myself,” Marley said.
Mrs. Needermyer raked her gaze over Marley’s thin frame—and her look clearly said she had a hard time believing that, but it was true. The difference between Mrs. N and Marley was that Marley was forty years younger, ran five miles a day, and did yoga before bed five nights a week to chill out.
Plus, with Marley’s high stress job, she usually only ate once or twice a day. During wedding season she lived on coffee, almonds, and Starbursts. Not exactly the most balanced diet, but the coffee kept her from killing people, the almonds gave her protein to stand up, and the Starbursts…well, they were just freaking awesome.
“Yes, well, you’re lucky to be blessed with such good genes, but they won’t last forever. After thirty, things will start to slow down and travel south, if you know what I mean.”
Please, someone get me the heck out of this conversation.
“Hey there, Mrs. Needermyer.”
Marley nearly groaned aloud, and glare
d at her savior. Darren just grinned at her mockingly.
“I am well, Darren. I am so glad to see you. My car is making the most horrendous sound—”
“If you will both excuse me, I need to get my shopping done and hurry home. Have a good day.”
Marley practically ran for the bread aisle, ignoring Mrs. N’s huff of indignation behind her. She would probably forget about the confines of her diet just to stop in and tell Marley’s mom how rude her daughter was, but at this point, Marley didn’t care. She just wanted to get this done, and go home to Butterscotch, her rabbit. She’d saved the orange and white bunny six months ago from Mr. Peltzer, who’d thought rabbit farming would be a lucrative operation. In no time, there were bunnies everywhere, and the town council members decided to close down Mr. Peltzer’s rabbit breeding, as they couldn’t have the place overrun with rabbits come wedding season.
Marley had been one of the volunteers to help gather them up, and had fallen hard for the tiny bundle of fluff, who had just hopped on over to her and head butted her hand. He was the best man to ever come into her life—that was for damn sure.
Marley tossed a package of milk and honey bread into her basket and rounded the corner, running smack into a hard male chest. When she stumbled back, a muscular arm caught her around her waist, and as she dangled there, leaning back like some historical heroine on the cover of a romance novel, she looked up into a pair of dark, twinkling eyes and a wide, white smile.
“Whoa, there. You okay?”
Marley couldn’t seem to find the words, staring up into a face made of granite: sharp cheekbones, a square jaw, and wide forehead. His ears were the only part of him that didn’t seem to fit the perfectly proportioned handsomeness; they were a bit large and stuck out a bit, but they didn’t detract at all from every other sexy aspect of him. He was built like a mountain, and reminded her of John Cena, especially the way his whole face seemed to get into his amusement.
