Amber Williams - Married One Night

What happened in Vegas…followed her home!

Olivia Lewis is not the marrying type. So when a wild weekend in Vegas leaves her with a surprise husband, she’s happy to sign anything to erase her mistake—even if that mistake is handsome, charming and comes with an English accent. Fortunately, her groom has other plans.

Bestselling author Gerald Leighton knows he can make his new bride fall in love with him—he just needs time. In exchange for a quickie divorce, Olivia grudgingly gives him a few weeks to attempt to woo her. And whether Olivia likes it or not, Gerald plans on using every second to win her heart!

“What memories do you have of our time in Nevada?”

“Our one-night stand, you mean?” Olivia asked.

Gerald grinned. “Precisely.”

She sighed, lifting a hand. “Oh, I don’t know. Not much, to be honest. Tequila has a debilitating effect on my ability to retain information.”

“As it does for all us mere mortals,” he said with a thoughtful nod. After a moment’s hesitation, he covered her hand with his free one. “I hope you don’t take this too hard, but it seems on that night in Las Vegas, somewhere along the line we happened to find ourselves embedded in a wedding chapel.”

Her lips twitched in wry humor. “A wedding chapel. You’re kidding me, right?” When those grave, green eyes neither smiled nor strayed from hers, she fumbled. “You’re…you’re not? Kidding?”

Dear Reader Dear Reader Title Page ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dedication 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 CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN CHAPTER EIGHTEEN CHAPTER NINETEEN CHAPTER TWENTY CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO EXTRACT Copyright ,

I’m thrilled to give you the second book set in Fairhope, Alabama, Married One Night. If you have not yet read the first book, A Place with Briar, that’s okay! You don’t need to read it to enjoy Married One Night. If you have read Briar’s book, you’ll be happy to know that this is Olivia’s story.

It seems that everyone’s got that one friend, the hopeless matchmaker. In the first book, Olivia’s cousin Briar even goes so far as to compare her to Emma Woodhouse…that is, if Emma were a forthright tavern-keeper with a bawdy laugh. It struck me that, although Olivia’s character likes to match up friends and family members with their prospective mates, she’s alone. A few allusions to her past reveal that her own love life has not been ideal. My editor must have noticed, too, because in her notes to me, she seemed to want to know more about Olivia’s history and what it would take for her to meet her match….

Enter Gerald Leighton! He’s charming, handsome, British…he’s even wealthy, a self-made man (and, believe it or not, a renegade earl). Another fun fact about Gerald? He’s a man not at all afraid of commitment, and from the moment he sees Olivia, he knows what he wants. When I realized that Gerald would be Olivia’s hero, he struck me as an unlikely match for her. I dove in and hoped for the best…and (as Gerald would say) blimey, did I have a blast! Pitting the commitment-phobic heroine against the idealistic yet irresistible hero was an entertaining experience. I was surprised, too, by how much they had to learn and gain from each other. As the saying goes, opposites attract, and oftentimes it’s because one gives the other something no one else can.

I hope you enjoy Married One Night! Stay tuned for the third book in the series—Adrian’s story—coming soon…

Amber Leigh Williams

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dedication 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 CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN CHAPTER EIGHTEEN CHAPTER NINETEEN CHAPTER TWENTY CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO EXTRACT Copyright

Amber Leigh Williams lives on the Gulf Coast. A Southern girl at heart, she loves beach days, the smell of real books, relaxing at her family’s lakehouse and spending time with her husband, Jacob, and their sweet blue-eyed boy. When she’s not running after her young son and three large dogs, she can usually be found reading a good romance or cooking up a new dish in her kitchen. Readers can find her on the web at www.amberleighwilliams.com!

To family—near, far and dearly departed.

I respectfully ask forgiveness for borrowing a few footnotes from our respective Scottish and English (even the illegitimately royal) bloodlines. Enormous gratitude for writing down and passing on the stories.

Cheers to you for the inspiration (and hold fast)!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text What happened in Vegas…followed her home! Olivia Lewis is not the marrying type. So when a wild weekend in Vegas leaves her with a surprise husband, she’s happy to sign anything to erase her mistake—even if that mistake is handsome, charming and comes with an English accent. Fortunately, her groom has other plans. Bestselling author Gerald Leighton knows he can make his new bride fall in love with him—he just needs time. In exchange for a quickie divorce, Olivia grudgingly gives him a few weeks to attempt to woo her. And whether Olivia likes it or not, Gerald plans on using every second to win her heart!

Introduction “What memories do you have of our time in Nevada?” “Our one-night stand, you mean?” Olivia asked. Gerald grinned. “Precisely.” She sighed, lifting a hand. “Oh, I don’t know. Not much, to be honest. Tequila has a debilitating effect on my ability to retain information.” “As it does for all us mere mortals,” he said with a thoughtful nod. After a moment’s hesitation, he covered her hand with his free one. “I hope you don’t take this too hard, but it seems on that night in Las Vegas, somewhere along the line we happened to find ourselves embedded in a wedding chapel.” Her lips twitched in wry humor. “A wedding chapel. You’re kidding me, right?” When those grave, green eyes neither smiled nor strayed from hers, she fumbled. “You’re…you’re not? Kidding?”

Dear Reader

Title Page

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dedication

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

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

EXTRACT

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

OLIVIA LEWIS WOKE up in a Sin City penthouse amidst petal-strewn, silk sheets. She bolted upright in bed...and groaned, wavering as the world turned. And turned again.

Okay, make that silk sheets, rose petals...and the most vicious hangover of her life .

Hissing, she pressed a hand over her eyes, the other on her head to stop the contents from sloshing around. Her mouth felt like sandpaper, and her stomach writhed. Obviously the obscene amount of liquor she’d consumed the night before was turning on her in sickly rebellion.

“Oh, holy moly,” she wheezed. “What the hell happened last night?” Peering around, she squinted against the desert sunlight streaming through the undraped floor-to-ceiling window that spanned the entire left wall of the bedroom. At the sight of several curiously unmentionable items scattered across the bed and floor, she became more than a little curious about the events of the previous evening. Especially when she saw the tattered remains of her red dress hooked on the wall sconce at the other end of the room.