Sometimes the love that’s closest to you is the hardest
to see.
Quinn Shaughnessy’s two older brothers have found their
true loves … but Quinn’s not about to join that parade. Nope, as he tells his
best friend Anna, there’s a lot more to life than getting tied down to one
person. He’s positive tomboy Anna will be on his side — except she’s
inexplicably developing other interests — even dating! Suddenly Quinn is seeing
Anna in a very different light.
Quinn has been Anna’s buddy since they were both five
years old. She can tell him anything — except the one big secret she’s been
hiding for years — that she’s fallen in love with him. Now Anna is determined
to make a life for herself that doesn’t include pining for Quinn. Falling in
love with your best friend? Easy. Telling them how you really feel? Impossible.
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR:
Samantha
Chase released her debut novel, Jordan’s Return, in November 2011. Since
then, she has published seventeen more titles and has become a New York
Times and USA Today bestselling author. She lives with her husband
of twenty-four years and their two sons in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
BUY
LINKS:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1WKwygP
iBooks: http://apple.co/1WKwBcv
EXCERPT:
One look at
the massive beach house had Quinn Shaughnessy shaking his head. Why this
wedding couldn’t just be a normal event—at a hotel—he couldn’t understand. It
would be easier. It would be more practical.
And it would
mean there was a bar on the premises for him to go to and get away from his
family for a little while and maybe pick up an attractive woman.
Not that he
didn’t love his family—he did. But three days with everyone back under one roof
was a little more togetherness than he was in the mood for. No matter what the
occasion.
Ever since
moving out of the family home at eighteen and going to college, Quinn had never
looked back. There were the occasional trips home for school breaks, when he
was forced to go home and share a room with one of his brothers, but for the
most part, he found excuses to stay other places. He enjoyed his space, his
freedom, and he’d never felt the need to make excuses about it.
Being one of
six kids in a four-bedroom house growing up had been less than a dream. When he
went to college—even though he shared a room there with one other guy—living in
the dorm felt different. No one was looking over his shoulder or trying to get
him into trouble or trying to tell him what to do.
It was like
nirvana.
After
graduation, he’d lived on his own while on the race-car circuit. When his
career came to an end—sooner than he’d anticipated—Quinn still managed to land
on his feet. And with a place of his own…rather than going home.
The large
house loomed in front of him.
Aidan and
Zoe were getting married this weekend, and because Zoe didn’t have any family
left and Aidan was a private kind of guy, they’d opted for a small, intimate
wedding. On the beach. With only the family and a few friends in attendance.
All under
one roof.
He cursed
under his breath and sighed. It was only one weekend. It was the chant he kept
repeating in his brain as he climbed from the car and stretched. Why they had
to choose a beach four hours from home when they lived at the beach in North
Carolina was beyond him. And to make it worse, they’d chosen a location that
wasn’t all that far from Hugh’s Hilton Head Island resort! They could all be in
their own rooms at a luxury resort right now, having drinks served to them by
the pool instead of this.
“Clearly, being
in love makes you an idiot,” he muttered and opened the trunk to grab his
luggage.
“You’ve been
here less than five minutes and you’re already calling people idiots?” a voice
said from behind him. Turning, he saw his brother—the groom—walking toward him
with a big, sappy grin on his face.
Quinn
straightened. “Not people, just you,” he teased.
“Aww…you say
the sweetest things,” Aidan teased right back before grabbing Quinn in a bear
hug. “Glad you made it.”
“Like I had
a choice.”
Aidan sighed
good-naturedly. “This makes Zoe happy. So I’m happy.”
“You could
have picked a place closer to home. Or Hugh’s place.”
Aidan shook
his head. “The resort was beautiful and everything would have been taken care
of, but Zoe and I aren’t like that. We wanted a place where—”
“You can be
in control?” Quinn interjected with a laugh.
Aidan couldn’t
help but laugh with him. “Something like that. Either way, the house is great—six
bedrooms—and we snagged the place next door for the rest of the guests.”
“How many
people are coming? I thought it was just us.”
“No, we
couldn’t do that. We do have friends we wanted to have here, you know. Some of
them had to travel a lot farther than you, so we wanted to have them close by
and give them a place to stay.”
“Makes
sense. So who’s on the guest list? Any single friends of Zoe’s?” he asked with
a lecherous eyebrow waggle.
“Keep your
hands to yourself,” Aidan chided. “Three of her friends from Arizona are flying
in for the weekend. They’ll get one of the bedrooms next door. Then Aunt Rose
and Uncle Ryan will have one, Uncle John and Aunt JoAnn will have one, the
Hannigans will be over there, and Bobby snagged the last bedroom. It’s a kiddie
space and we’ve all gotten a good laugh at that one. Can’t wait for him to get
here and see his reaction.”
“Man, that’s
going to be good,” Quinn laughed. “So everyone else is over here? In this
house?”
“Yup. It
will be like old times.”
Quinn
groaned. “Oh…good.”
“What? What’s
wrong with that?”
“I’m sure it’s
not a big deal for you—you get to share a room with Zoe. But I’m going to have
to share a room again with Riley and Owen. It’s like I’m twelve again.”
“Actually,
you’re sharing a room with Dad.”
His eyes
went wide. “Why?”
“Riley’s
people didn’t want him traveling alone—he’s made the news lately with his plans
to take an extended break from singing and the press is hounding him. They’re
sending a bodyguard with him.”
“So the
bodyguard gets my space in the room?”
Aidan
nodded. “So you’ll be spooning with Dad.”
Quinn
groaned even louder. “Oh, man, come on! Why me?”
“Because you’ve
always bitched about sharing a room with the twins. Your entire life! So I
figured you and Dad would be a better fit. It’s only a couple of nights. You
can handle it.”
“Dad snores.”
“Trust me,
bro, so do you. It’s like a match made in heaven.”
Turning,
Quinn picked up his suitcase and slammed the trunk shut. “Screw you. This
sucks. Please tell me there’s at least some beer in the fridge.”
Aidan
nodded. “Go around back. Zoe’s out by the pool, and she’ll give you the grand tour
and show you your room—and where the beer is.”
“Where are
you going?”
“I’m picking
up Riley, Owen, and the bodyguard from the airport. They’re landing at one of
the smaller ones to try and avoid some of the drama and bypass the press.”
“Well, just
give me a few and I’ll go with you.”
Aidan shook
his head. “It’s going to be tight in my car as it is and I have no idea what
kind of luggage any of them are bringing. You hang out here and get settled in.
Hugh and Aubrey should be arriving in about an hour, and Dad and Darcy shouldn’t
be too far behind.”
“Fine,”
Quinn grumbled. “I’ll stay and be the welcoming committee. Thanks.”
“It’s that
sparkling personality of yours that helped make the decision.” He gave Quinn a
friendly pat on the back. “Keep on smiling, sunshine.”
Quinn cursed
a little more colorfully this time and gave his brother the one-finger salute
before turning and heading for the house.
“If this
whole situation didn’t suck before, it certainly does now.” He stepped away
from his car and made his way toward the gate on the side of the house. Aidan
said he’d find Zoe back there. Maybe he could convince her to give him a sofa
to sleep on rather than sharing a room with his dad.
It held
little to no appeal.
Okay, fine,
he’d share the room with his father and smile when he was supposed to and be
nice to people. It was only three days and there were going to be three single,
out-of-town girls here for him to entertain.
Maybe it
wasn’t going to be such a bad weekend after all.
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