New Release
Spotlight – One Night with the Groom
By Sara Daniel
One Night with the Bridal Party is a subseries of Decadent Publishing’s
popular 1Night Stand line. One Night With the Bride and One Night With the Bridesmaid share the same opening
scene where the bride’s mother presents each woman with a one-night stand a
week before the wedding.
Meanwhile, the poor jilted
groom has been twisting in the wind since his bride left him a year before.
Fear not! He’s about to meet up with the woman from his past who still holds
his heart captive, despite him spending fifteen years trying to forget her.
One
Night With the Groom
As if trying to save the family farm and
pay her mother’s medical bills isn’t enough struggle, Luciana Cortez discovers
her brother has used the last of the mortgage money to buy her a one night
stand. Even if she wasn’t appalled at the prospect, her farm chores leave her
too exhausted for sex. The silver lining: she’s also too busy to think about
the man who’d once pledged to marry her then abandoned her.
Working on an
important business deal, CEO Blake Wellington doesn’t think twice when he steps
out of the limousine…until the car leaves. Instead of the business he needs to
attend to, he’s on the doorstep of the farm where his past love Luciana lives.
Without cell phone service or transportation, he must rely on her for help, a
move that threatens to awaken his long-dead emotions.
As they attempt to
gain closure over the ache and secrets of their past, neither are prepared for
the onslaught of emotions that jeopardize everything they’ve worked their whole
lives for. When the night is over, they must heed their responsibilities and go
their separate ways, even if it means a lifetime of heartbreak.
EXCERPT:
“Blake.” Her heart bled as if she’d stabbed it with a
pitchfork. She dropped her hand from her stomach to her side. “What are you
doing here?”
“I haven’t the foggiest idea.” His lips curved in a crooked
smile.
Aching to wrap her arms around him, to kiss his sexy mouth,
to soak in his presence while grinning at him like a fool, she took a step
back. She might not be hallucinating, but his sudden appearance had the power
to drive her over the edge of insanity and longing. Her heel caught on the
threshold at the opening of the barn, and she stumbled.
He reached for her, but she steadied herself on the
doorframe, holding out her other palm to ward him away. She couldn’t handle
seeing him, let alone skin-on-skin contact.
“Give me a minute,” she begged. “I’m kind of shocked to see
you.” Kind of, ha. Completely would have been an understatement.
His smile faded. “Good shocked or bad shocked?”
“I don’t know yet.” The dead tree beside the barn creaked in
the wind. She’d let her fear over it falling on the barn or, worse, in the
other direction keep her from cutting it down, but the nasty gusts made her
regret the decision.
“Keep me posted on which way it goes. I’m already skittish
about getting shot at.”
“You won’t be unless you touch me, in which case I’ll shoot
you myself.”
“Fair enough.” He pocketed his hands and stepped back.
The distance helped. So did the fact he didn’t call her
bluff. Luciana’s limbs shook too much to pick up any weapon. At one time, she’d
been furious with him for abandoning her when she’d needed him most. Although
he’d bowed to her parents’ pressure and hadn’t fought to save their future
together, her emotions had faded to regret and resignation.
“So, you decided to drop in after fifteen years without a
word, and you don’t have a clue why?” Okay, maybe her anger hadn’t faded.
“I didn’t come to see you.”
“Ouch. Thanks for being straight with me, rather than
sparing my ego. I think.”
He winced. “I didn’t mean an insult. I’m supposed to be in
Des Moines to consider a potential property for my company to add to their
hotel portfolio. But the limo took me here instead and then left me.”
Limo. Hotel portfolio. If he hadn’t been out of her league
before, he’d traveled far beyond her social realm. “So, are you one of those
‘if I build it, they will come’ visionaries?”
“No, I’m a market-feasibility,
make-sure-every-aspect-is-viable-before-I-sink-a-penny-into-it type of
executive. I don’t have a reason that makes any sense for why I showed up here,
and my cell phone isn’t getting reception. If I could borrow your landline to
make some calls, I’ll get out of your hair as soon as possible.”
He hadn’t come to see her. He’d arrived by mistake and
wanted to get far away without further ado. Once upon a time, they’d shared a
rare, special love. She remembered it and regretted losing it, even if he
didn’t.
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