Nina Harrington - Last-Minute Bridesmaid

She’s taking her bridesmaid duties very seriously!

It wasn’t how she planned to spend the weekend—but now Kate Lovat has been drafted in to be an emergency bridesmaid!

It may mean squeezing into the original bridesmaid’s dress, but it’s not all bad. She’s spending the day with Heath Sheridan, her old school crush turned publisher extraordinaire! She’s living out her teenage fantasy—with limos, stylish dresses and hanging out with Heath. But the sparks flying between them are even greater than she could ever have imagined, and soon Kate realizes that you have to be careful what you wish for—because sometimes you get a whole lot more than you bargained for!

LAST-MINUTE BRIDESMAID

“Let me check that I understand the deal,” she whispered.

“One all-expenses-paid wedding, complete with bridesmaid duties, in exchange for two full days of your time as a business consultant. And you would be doing the actual number crunching—not some minion. Okay?”

Heath took her hand and pressed his long slender fingers around hers and held them tight just long enough for her to inhale his intoxicating scent. Combined with the texture of his smooth skin against hers as he slowly raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of her knuckles, sensible thought became a tad difficult for a few seconds.

Because the moment his lips touched her skin, she was seventeen again and right back on her doorstep.

“Better than okay. It’s a deal.”

Dear Reader,

Do you remember that high school St. Valentine dance when you were the only girl who turned up without a date?

Kate Lovat was rescued at the last minute by the stepbrother of her best friend Amber. Heath Sheridan is a gorgeous star university student and heir to the Sheridan publishing empire—and as far as Kate is concerned, the dreamiest date alive.

Now ten years later, it is Heath who needs the favor. Heath is the best man at his dad’s third wedding and has just been dumped by his girlfriend. He needs a replacement bridesmaid in a hurry!

Handsome business executives, limos and manor houses—bring it on!

And where would Kate be without her very special friends? Amber, Kate and Saskia met up again at a high school reunion and are all back in London and all working hard to make new lives for themselves.

Saskia is still single and trying to stay sensible and in control, while Amber had been reunited with her teenage love, Sam. Look out for Saskia’s story, which will be coming soon.

In the meantime I do hope that you enjoy Kate and Heath’s journey to love and the happiness that they each deserve.

I am always delighted to hear from my readers and you can get in touch through my website at www. NinaHarrington.com.

Every best wish,

Nina

Last-Minute Bridesmaid

Nina Harrington

www.millsandboon.co.uk

About Nina Harrington

Nina grew up in rural Northumberland, England, and decided at the age of eleven that she was going to be a librarian—because then she could read all the books in the public library whenever she wanted! Since then she has been a shop assistant, community pharmacist, technical writer, university lecturer, volcano walker and industrial scientist, before taking a career break to realize her dream of being a fiction writer. When she is not creating stories that make her readers smile, her hobbies are cooking, eating, enjoying good wine—and talking, for which she has had specialist training.

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Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Excerpt

PROLOGUE

High school parties were the worst punishment in the world! In fact, there should be a law banning them for all girls who had not managed to find a date—especially on Valentine’s Day.

Squeezing in between the gaggles of teenage girls who had formed a tight huddle on the other side of the dance floor, Kate Lovat clutched her empty plastic cola glass with both hands and tried to push her way through to the bar by waggling her hips and elbows.

It would be so much easier if she was a couple of inches taller!

Not even the high-heeled sandals she had bought in the January sales could bring her up to the shoulders of the posh clique of rich girl prefects who had made it their duty to take guard duty on the bar.

From this much sought-after position they could snigger and make snide comments about what every other girl at the sixth form school party was wearing or not wearing, who they had brought as their date and generally act superior in their designer mini dresses, which barely covered their gym-tight assets.

Kate had seen those assets in the school showers many times over the past three years and they still had the power to make her feel that she came from a different species of teenage girl. The kind that hated exercise and would rather eat her own feet than strut around the changing room in only a thong and heels, pretending to look for a hairdryer, which was Crystal Jardine’s speciality.

Shame that Kate was providing them with such excellent entertainment.

So far the evening had been a disaster and she could not even rely on her pals to get her out of this one. Kate lifted her chin and tried to look around the crush of bodies to catch a glimpse of her backup crew.

Amber was laughing and chatting away with Sam in the corner, oblivious to anyone else in the room, Saskia was doing her best to entertain a girl cousin who had arrived from France the day before, and Petra was flirting with every boy in the room while her handsome date was at the bar. Nope. For once she was on her own.

‘Kate...what a lovely dress,’ Crystal simpered as she sneered down at her. ‘It was so clever of you to find something second-hand suitable for a petite figure. Is that why you’re the only girl in the class to turn up without a date on Valentine’s? What a shame. After you’ve gone to so much effort to clean yourself up.’

A ripple of amused snorting ran around Crystal’s little band of followers, which had been dubbed the Crystallites by Saskia. Cold and transparent and all the same.

She couldn’t help it. Kate had to run one hand down the side of her new strapless dark purple satin prom dress. She didn’t have much in way of boobage or hips for a girl aged seventeen years and one month, but she had done what she could with the help of her friend Amber’s bra collection. ‘Oh, do you like the dress?’ Kate looked up with an innocent expression and tried to fling off a casual reply. ‘I designed it myself but I wasn’t sure about the colour for my evening gloves.’

The tall blonde replied with a dismissive choke, ‘Evening gloves? For a school disco? What era do you think this is? It’s really embarrassing for the rest of us—in fact I suggest that you should take them off right now.’ And with that she reached down and started pulling the sleeve of the glove down from Kate’s elbow before she had time to snatch it away.