Sinfully Summer: HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance Page 17

  They went bonkers, pushing one another, jumping and standing on the tip toes of their skyscraper heels to gain a measly inch in the hope of catching the bloody thing. Alexa grinned when she saw Jenna squirming among the others.

  Sarah began a painfully slow countdown and she turned to look for Ric. He wore a smug grin and had a dark look in his eye that made her tummy flip. The git knew she didn’t want to be involved in this part of the ceremony. If she was going to get married, it would be because he proposed to her, not because she caught a bunch of flowers and guilted him into it.

  ‘Three!’

  Alexa turned back to the screaming crowd just in time to see a blur of red and white flash in front of her eyes. The bouquet smacked her off the cheek and she stumbled back, her hands flying to her stinging face.

  ‘Alexa!’ Sarah shouted over the crowd of woman diving to the floor to get the bouquet.

  Warm hands turned her around and she looked up into dark eyes shining with concern. ‘Querida, are you okay?’

  She grinned up at Ric and slid her hands around his neck. ‘Mortified, but okay.’

  He closed the distance between their heads and pressed his lips to hers. Her skin prickled, but she didn’t think it had anything to do with the bouquet hitting her face. Standing on her tiptoes, she pressed herself closer. Ric pulled away and she whimpered.

  Chuckling, he turned to look at Sarah and winked. Alexa frowned up at him. ‘What was that about?’

  ‘I didn’t think her aim would be that good.’

  She gasped. ‘You told Sarah to throw the bouquet at me?’

  Grinning down at her, he said, ‘Of course. How else was I going to persuade you to marry me? You were supposed to catch it though, not let it knock you out.’

  Her jaw dropped as she stared at him, unable to believe he’d gone to so much trouble. What happened to getting down on one knee with a ring?

  A frown formed between his brows and she held her breath, waiting for the rest. ‘I spoke with your father today when you were helping Sarah get ready.’

  A swarm of butterflies invaded her tummy. ‘What about?’

  He darted a glance around the gazebo. Hundreds of guests had attended the wedding and Alexa was glad Sarah’s grandfather’s country manor was big enough to hold them all.

  ‘Come.’

  Ric escorted her away from the ruckus to the edge of the tent. He slid into a chair at an empty table and pulled her onto his lap. ‘Since you two are building a relationship, I wanted to be honest with him.’

  Again, Alexa was shocked speechless. In the six months since her father had come to the charity ball in Marbella, Ric hadn’t mentioned that he wanted to get to know Robert or share the dark secrets of his past with him—even though he’d told her almost everything. It hurt her so much even though she knew he kept the worst of his memories from her.

  She wished she had a time machine so she could go back and save the terrified little boy who was abandoned by his mother. But for him to tell Robert too, since the press hadn’t dug very deep, Alexa realised that he truly did mean what he said. He wasn’t afraid of losing respect any more. All he cared about losing was her.

  So far she’d worked through a lot of her issues with her father, and apologies had been made on both sides. After all these years, she didn’t know how she managed to keep a grudge when she could have had her father through it all.

  Ric snared her hands in his. ‘Alexa, you’re it for me. You’re my whole life. I had to tell Robert everything and prove to him that I still deserve you. I don’t want to lose you.’

  Her throat felt thick. ‘You’d never lose me,’ she whispered. Pulling a hand free, she reached up and stroked his smooth jaw. ‘What did he say?’

  ‘He said he respected me for letting him know, but it didn’t change his opinion of me. And when I asked for your hand in marriage he gave us his blessing.’

  Tears welled up and spilled over so quickly she didn’t have a chance to wipe them away. He placed a hand on either side of her head and wiped the moisture with his thumbs. Her heart worked overtime and her chest swelled at the love and adoration in his eyes. When he looked at her like that, she felt like the centre of his universe.

  One corner of his mouth tilted. ‘So, Green, what do you say? Do you want to be my wife?’

  Alexa loved this man with all her heart, but she couldn’t resist a little payback. After all, the sneak freak planned to trick her into marriage. ‘I’ll marry you.’ The pride and love in his expression took her breath away, but she forced herself to drag in a breath. ‘On one condition.’

  He stared her down and she could see the confusion in his wary gaze. ‘What’s the condition?’

  ‘We do one last wild thing before we become boring old farts.’

  Ric’s whole body shook as he laughed. ‘What did you have in mind?’

  ‘I want to bungee jump out of a helicopter with you.’

  His face paled a shade and Alexa smirked. ‘Not man enough any more, Castillo?’

  He slid his arms around her waist and hauled her closer on his lap. ‘I’m man enough for any of your crazy ideas, Green.’

  And he spent the rest of his life proving to her that he was.

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  HarperImpulse is an exciting new range of romance fiction brought to you from the women’s fiction team at HarperCollins. Our aim is to break new talent from debut authors and import the hottest trends from the US, bringing you the very best in romance. Whether that is through short reads for your mobile phone or epic sagas that span the generations we want to proudly publish romance fiction that gets everybody talking.

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  First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2013

  Copyright © Aimée Duffy 2013

  Cover Photographs © shutterstock.com

  Aimée Duffy asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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  Ebook Edition © June 2013 ISBN: 9780007537600

  Version 25-07-13

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