Bargaining with the Bride (Honeybrook Love, Inc. 1)

But come Monday? Everyone would be wondering what sort of position she’d gotten into for him in order to earn her title.

Fabulous.

Finally, she cleared her throat and said, “I’m not going to worry about that right now. Unfortunately, I’m woefully behind on all my wedding planning and I have a bunch of appointments to go to today. So…you and the dog can make yourselves even more comfortable. I’ll be back tonight in case you want to hook me up to wires or something.”

She turned to make for the stairs, but Garret’s voice stopped her, “Wait, don’t you want me to go with you?”

“Why would I want that?” She furrowed her brow.

“Wedding planning is difficult. Shouldn’t the groom be involved?”

“I…guess.”

“Excellent. It’ll be the perfect opportunity to learn your preferences and—“

She stalked from the room before he could add anything else, calling over her shoulder, “Be ready in five.” And then, to herself, she muttered, “God save me from this day.”

7

"So, what is it we have to do?" Garret buckled in beside her, staring at her like a puppy on his way to the park, and she let out a deep breath.

What had she gotten herself into here?

r /> "Are you sure you want to go? This is going to be really, painfully boring."

"I'm game. Just tell me what I need to do."

"All right, then." She backed out of the driveway, doing a mental run-down of all the things that were still piled up on her wedding to-do list. She'd gotten her dress a month ago, so at least he wouldn't be along for any of that. The venue and caterers had also been selected a while back. Which, she guessed, just left...

Everything else.

"We should probably get a dress for the bridesmaids."

Garret nodded thoughtfully, and she tapped her hands on the steering wheel.

"We also need, um, a tux for you. And a cake. And flowers."

"You still have to do all of that with only a month to go?"

She gave him a warning glare, "I would have gotten it done earlier, but my boss is a slave driver."

"I've heard that. But isn't he also stunningly handsome?" He raised his eyebrows, but she ignored him.

Luckily, the tiny dress boutique was only a couple of blocks from her house, so the time she was required to explain herself to Garret was blissfully short. Or, at least she thought it would be.

"Who exactly is coming to this wedding?" He held the door open for her and something chimed as she crossed the shop's threshold.

"Who knows? My mother... Ugh, it was such a disaster."

She made her way to a rack of frilly pink dresses. This was what her mother would want. Traditional, classic. Boring. She fingered one with disgust, wondering if it was in her sister's size.

"What do you mean?" He glanced at a dress that was so loud she could hardly hear what he'd said.

"When I told my mother I was going to elope, she said that people would think I was pregnant."

"So?"

"So, she said she couldn't bare to have a shame marriage in her family and I simply had to have a wedding."