A TEMPORARY MARRIAGE: PART ONE (AVALON BAY ROMANCE SERIES Book 1) by Vicky Dean Read Free Book Online Page B

a wonderful idea and your mother and I can help with the catering. How exciting!”
    “Yes, it’s good. I’ve made the right decision,” Cassie said.
    “No regrets?” Aunt Maggie asked.
    “No,” Cassie said. She wondered why she’d ask that question, out of all questions, at that moment. Because really, the only thing that worried Cassie about her decision was the undeniable attraction she felt towards Richard. If this was to work, she had to keep a check on those feelings and just treat it as the business contract that it was.

GOODBYE NEW YORK
     
    Cassie and Richard were having lunch at a small steakhouse near the Royal Oak before he headed back to Avalon Bay. Today, she was feeling particularly excited and she was eager to meet him to talk some more. So, of course, there had to be a few major problems at work, which made her run late.
    “Ah Cassie, I thought you’d stood me up,” he’d said as he rose to his feet.
    “What kind of woman stands her fiancé up,” she said, laughing at her joke. “But I am sorry, last minute problems. That’s the nature of the hotel business.”
    “So, I’d better get used to it, huh?” Richard said, smiling at her with that entirely too sexy look.
    He knew how to smile and she saw that he realized the impact his smile had, too. “Well, I have the afternoon off so let’s have some fun, organize a few things, unless my mom and aunt have it all planned already.”
    “You told them?”
    “I did. I wasn’t even going to accept your offer until I talked to them again, but then…”
    “What made you change your mind?”
    She wasn’t about to confess that it was the words he’d said to her. Instead, she said, “It was just the right thing to do, for everyone.”
    The waiter came over and Cassie smiled brightly at him, making him almost knock over a water glass. “What would you like to drink?” he asked.
    Cassie looked at Richard. “I think champagne’s in order, what do you think?”
    “Whatever the lady wants,” he said.
    The waiter asked, “Celebrating something special?”
    “Our engagement,” Richard said.
    “Well, congratulations,” he said. Cassie noticed him look at her ring finger. Yes, a ring would be important, she guessed.
    “When I told Philip last night he said he was going to drink a bottle of champagne to celebrate. He was really relieved,” Richard said as the waiter arrived with the champagne. “And Cassie, so am I. Although I am still in shock at my grandfather’s behavior.”
    “Well, what’s done is done, and by giving me Primrose House, he’s helped me fulfill a dream and it will be great to spend more time with mom and Aunt Maggie. Cheers!” Cassie raised her glass and then tapped it against his.
    “Now, Philip is drawing up a contract between us but says the sooner we marry the better. It’s nearly the end of May. When can you move back to Avalon Bay?”
    “I’ve given my notice in and requested eighteen months leave of notice. And I’ve sublet my apartment from the 1st of July.”
    “Wow, you have been busy. All that in a day?” he asked.
    “Everything just sort of fell into place,” Cassie said.
    “Destiny, maybe?” Richard asked.
    Cassie sensed a playfulness in his voice. Business only , she thought.
    “Maybe,” she said.
    “So it looks like a July wedding. And to make it more authentic, a white wedding.”
    “Sure,” Cassie said. “But Richard, I have a favor to ask. I want my best friend Teri to be my bridesmaid. I haven’t told her anything at all yet and she’s going to be shocked. And I know Philip said not to tell anyone about this crazy arrangement but I can’t keep it from Teri.”
    “I think Richard is more concerned with people in California knowing. If you trust Teri, I’m sure that will be fine as long as she keeps it to herself.”
    “Oh, I have no worries about that.”
    “Now, Philip says that we must come up with a plausible story as to how we met up again. It will be the talk of Avalon