A Harem of One [The Moreland Brothers 3] (Siren Publishing Allure) by Jennifer Willows Read Free Book Online

dry and slightly itchy when using them.
    By the time Jamie wandered back to her cabin, she was tired and sorely wished for another nap. But there wasn’t time at this point really. The wedding was scheduled for sunset, and the reception was opening the event. Kind of backward, but Charli decided participants would have more fun on the yacht by day than at night. Plus with the event finished earlier, the honeymoon could begin immediately. Some guests had already milled aboard and were dipping toes in the pools or Jacuzzi tubs sprinkled throughout the deck. Several of the waitstaff already mingled with the handful of guests, offering champagne and canapés.
    Jamie walked on. She wanted to avoid the random conversations that tended to occur at these types of functions. As she was a listener, strangers tended to take advantage of her nonjudgmental ear. If she wasn’t careful, she would end up conversing about someone’s last bout with gout or eyeing photos of children and grandkids she would never meet. Let alone the one time she had a random conversation with a guy she thought was cute. “Was cute” being the operative words, as the conversation took a weird turn, and Jamie found out Mr. Right had a nasty case of syphilis he was battling with the aid of modern medicine. Ugh. Definitely not the man for her in any shape, form, or fashion, Jamison thought. The next turn led her to the interior of the yacht where the bridal party and immediate family were to sleep and change clothes.
    The reception was to take place on board at six that evening, and the wedding ceremony would follow at eight. Jamie dropped her Sac hobo bag on the bed and took enough time to put a cap on the curls scattered across her scalp. It was a vain attempt to keep the style fresh until showtime. After that was over, she could give a care less what happened to her hair. Jamie was a no frills, no fuss type of girl, and the constant primping needed to look fierce or chic was not her style. Put her in a T-shirt and jeans, that was all she needed to be comfortable and content. Only settings like this one, lavish and beyond her own, left her scatterbrained and prone to stammer. It was now four hours and counting for the wedding of her best friend’s dreams.
    A quick rap against the door had Jamie calling out to come inside. Even as she wanted to dismiss the thought it was Marq, she couldn’t help but to hope it was. It wasn’t, and the disappointment must have shown, as the entrant frowned back. Makenzie.
    “Hey, boo, what’s wrong?” Makenzie was peering around the door, afro puff filling the air around her.
    “Nothing, come in. I was thinking we could have a dish session this afternoon.”
    “Hope you’ve got nothing bad to spill, ’cause last thing we need is Charli flipping on her wedding day.”
    “Nah, just wanted some conversation, that’s all. Between the film festivals and this blog, I barely have seen either of you in the last year. Only for the weddings…” Jamie’s face tightened then smoothed out blankly. Her usual face.
    “It’s all right you know more than anybody. I want NCindieseen to succeed. Great gains come with sacrifice and risk. So don’t think that you are pushing us to the back burner. I know I haven’t been the friend I used to be either. Now that my paintings are selling like hotcakes and I’ve gotten hitched, I don’t have the same amount of time I used to either.”
    Jamie smiled and walked over to her friend, who snatched her up promptly for a hug. Makenzie smelled good, almost like everything warm and homey lived in her skin.
    “Come on. Let’s go get Charli.” Makenzie smiled broadly and tugged Jamie out the still ajar door.
    When they reached the hallway, Mak finally realized she had no idea which room was Charli’s or where that room might be.
    “Where are we headed anyway?” Mak asked, looking back at Jamie.
    “You’re asking the wrong one. We need to call her. I got lost looking for my own