"Amber, I promise I'll get you the best deals. Your wedding will be perfect. You'll cherish those memories for the rest of your life."

A hint of a sarcastic smile played on Graham's lips. I caught his eye and cocked a brow. He kept my gaze until I looked away squirming. So my instincts had been right. He wasn’t big on marriage... yet he was footing the bill for the wedding menus. Intriguing combination.

"I have some layouts for the save-the-date e-mail that I think you'll like. I have to see the location as soon as possible so I know what type of tent will fit best, where to locate it, things like that. Next, we'll be talking about the menu. Once you choose a few options, I'll arrange for a tasting. At the tasting, I'll also have my florist make a few arrangements you can choose from."

"Wow!" Amber blinked. "I feel like half the wedding is in the bag. I'm starting to feel like I'm de-stressing."

"Leave the stress to me, Amber. That's what I'm here for. I’ll show you save-the-date templates right now. I also have pictures of invitations."

"Sounds great. But can we get some drinks first?" Amber suggested.

Graham rose to his feet. "I'll go buy some. What do you want?"

Everyone agreed on coffee, and I ended up walking to the counter with Graham. He couldn't carry four cups by himself.

"Thanks for taking on the wedding on such short notice," he said as we waited for the barista to prepare the drinks.

"My pleasure. I'll be sending you the menu budget as soon as I put it together. Do you need a list of best man duties?"

"Amber already took care of that."

"All set to be best man, then?"

"I'd say I am." His tone was challenging, as if he was daring me to disagree. He smiled, and the left corner of his lips caught my attention. Was that a... a dimple? Moving on. I debated bringing up the best man speech, but I wanted to have a plan first, what with him being Jace's boss and all. He fixed those baby blue eyes on me. They looked hypnotic. His light brown hair was messy in a sexy way. I wondered if that was how he looked when he woke up in the morning. I wasn't just squirming now; I felt my body temperature go up.

We spent the next two hours combing through the materials on my laptop, deciding on the save-the-date text, the type of printed invitations, as well as crosschecking our calendars for the next appointments.

"Want to have dinner with us?" Amber asked after I closed my laptop.

"Thank you, but I already have plans. I'll keep in touch."

We chitchatted for a while longer, but then I had to excuse myself. I didn't want to be late to pick up Milo from school.

As soon as I was alone with Amber, I was going to pepper her with questions. I liked to get the scoop: When did he propose? How had he proposed? Had he dropped on one knee? Did they have an audience? I'd barely refrained from asking all those things today. I lived vicariously through my brides. I'd been twenty-three when I discovered I was unexpectedly pregnant. My announcement was certainly not met with a marriage proposal, or hell, even a hug.

I arrived at Milo’s school in time for pick-up, and once we were both inside the car, I asked “How was your day, baby boy?”

"Mom! I told you, I'm not a baby anymore. I'm a grown-up boy."

"Okay, okay. How was your day, grown-up boy?"

"We have a new soccer coach. He's cool. I'm starving."

"We'll be at Aunt Val's house in no time."

My siblings and I got together every Friday to have dinner at my sister Valentina's house. It was hands down the best way to kick off the weekend and catch up. There were six of us, so there was never a shortage of news. Everyone was already there and gathered around the table when Milo and I arrived.

My oldest brother, Landon, was fussing over Maddie—his pregnant wife. Next to him, Jace was trying to convince our brother Will to be his wingman when they went out later tonight.

"Afraid you can't get a date without my help?" Will was sporting a shit-eating grin.

"I'm wounded!" Jace exclaimed.

"Detective William Connor. My, oh my. Being a wingman is a bit like cheating on a test. Isn't coloring outside the lines a little beneath you?" Val teased.

"Hey, once the badge comes off, I'm officially not on duty. I break the rules in my free time, for a change of pace."

My other sister, Hailey, pulled Milo into a hug then kissed my cheek.

Tags: Layla Hagen The Connor Family Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net