The Best Man

The Best Man

From the author of the best-selling The Wedding Caper and Late to the Wedding comes a full-length romance with love, loneliness, and the little lies that protect bigger secretsâ€¦

Novelist Michael Herriman is quiet, predictable, and caught in a comfortable shell that revolves around his work until a delayed flight leads to a chance encounter with a fellow passenger. Delicate and reserved, Kate responds to him with warmth, fanning the spark of attraction he feels. They share an impulsive afternoon exploring San Francisco, a day that ends with the two of them still strangers as they catch their separate flightsâ€¦

â€¦ until Michael returns to Chicago and meets his best friendâ€™s new fiancÃ©. Face to face with Kate and unsure of his own emotions, Michael finds himself roped into being the best man and stranded on a remote English manor for a whole week before the wedding. Unable to avoid Kateâ€™s presence or the growing connection between them, he begins to question whether the best man is the man who allows the love of his life to choose someone else.

Excerpt from The Best Man:

He felt the need to move, to escape, before this awkwardness consumed them. This was nothing like the moment in the airport, the two of them stranded in a crowd of strangers. In re-meeting, they were reduced to pitiful small talk as acquaintances whose past connection was made trivial by recent events.

Michael cleared his throat. â€œIâ€“I should apologize,â€ he said. â€œFor not saying
something earlier at Seanâ€™s apartment. I was tongue-tied for a moment, as they say.â€

She met his glance. â€œI was taken by surprise,â€ she said. â€œIt seemed awkward, no?â€ With a faint laugh that sounded forced to the surface.

â€œSean isâ€“â€ he began, before Kate interrupted.

â€œIt seems like too much of coincidence, doesnâ€™t it?â€ she said. â€œMy meeting you in the airport, on my way to meet Sean.â€

â€œI suppose it wouldnâ€™t have mattered,â€ he said. â€œI meanâ€“if we had somehow knownâ€“â€

â€œWhen Sean asked me to come to Chicago, I knew it was ... I knew it was because of our relationship in Mexico. Although I didnâ€™t expect this, quiteâ€“â€ Her eyes flickered in the direction of the guests milling around them.

â€œI didnâ€™t mention I was from here,â€ said Michael. â€œI didnâ€™t mention anything that was ... that was personal,â€ he continued, his fingers rubbing the glass between them. â€œPerhaps if I had...â€ he trailed off, momentarily, uncertain what to say. â€œPerhaps we would have realized this connection sooner, right?â€

It seemed like a neutral statement for the occasion. The possibilities lingering in his mind since San Francisco dissipated with this statement, like a fog lifting from city.

â€œPerhaps itâ€™s best not to mention it at all,â€ said Kate. There was something more intense in her eyes as she met his own. â€œIt might be best for everyone to just pretend it didnâ€™t happen. Less awkward than explaining why we didnâ€™t say anything. Even if it was harmless.â€

â€œIt was,â€ Michael echoed, surprised by the note of reassurance in his voice so incongruous with the thoughts he banished moments ago. â€œIf we had said something at first, it would have seemed funny even.â€ He forced his tone to sound lighthearted, as if they were laughing over something. The look on Kateâ€™s face was closer to a blush than a flush of good humor.

â€œMaybe, like you said, it would be for the best to pretend,â€ he said, gently. â€œWeâ€™ll just forget about the whole thing.â€
Country USA
Manufacturer Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2012-03-28
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2012-03-28
Format	Kindle eBook

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