BooksBarbecue
Back First Comes Love
Chapters (92)
  1. First
  2. Love Connection
  3. Zero
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. One Month Later
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Six Months Later
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-one
  27. Twenty-two
  28. Twenty-three
  29. Twenty-four
  30. Six Months Later
  31. Twenty-five
  32. Twenty-six
  33. Twenty-seven
  34. Twenty-eight
  35. Twenty-nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-one
  38. Thirty-two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. I Have Never
  41. One
  42. Two
  43. Three
  44. Four
  45. Five
  46. Six
  47. Seven
  48. Eight
  49. Nine
  50. Ten
  51. Eleven
  52. Twelve
  53. Thirteen
  54. Fourteen
  55. Fifteen
  56. Sixteen
  57. Seventeen
  58. Eighteen
  59. Nineteen
  60. Twenty
  61. Twenty-one
  62. Twenty-two
  63. A Christmas Date
  64. One
  65. Two
  66. Three
  67. Four
  68. Five
  69. Six
  70. Seven
  71. Eight
  72. Nine
  73. Ten
  74. Eleven
  75. Twelve
  76. Thirteen
  77. Fourteen
  78. Fifteen
  79. Sixteen
  80. Seventeen
  81. Eighteen
  82. Nineteen
  83. Twenty
  84. Twenty-one
  85. Twenty-two
  86. Note from the Author
  87. Sneak Peek – To the Stars and Back
  88. Two
  89. Three
  90. Four
  91. Also by Camilla Isley
  92. About the Author

I shrug. I don’t know what I do or should hope. From the moment the boss asked me on this trip, I’ve spent countless hours daydreaming about what could happen. Dinner à deux by the ocean, dancing at the ball—very Beauty and the Beast in my head—bookended by Richard whisking me off my feet at the end of the night. In reality, I’m pretty sure nothing is going to happen. This is just business for him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he brought a Californian date along for the evening. Oh, the horror… what if he does?

“Are you still here?” Mark interrupts my mental rant.

“Yeah, sorry.” I’m about to explain my inner turmoil when my phone beeps, startling me. “It’s Richard, he’s here.”

“Please tell him to join you,” Mark begs. “I have to meet this guy.”

“You can’t say anything,” I warn.

He does a zipper-over-the-mouth gesture. “My lips are sealed.”

“Do you mind if I change shoes?”

Mark seems surprised by the question. “Please, go ahead.”

I climb down from the stool and swap flats for spiky black pumps.

“Whoa.” Mark’s eyes widen when my head comes back level with his. “You shot up… like… five inches!”

“That’s the whole point.” I store my ballerinas inside the hand luggage, close the zipper, and sit back on the stool.

I wring my hands together until Mark places a warm, dry hand on top of mine and says, “Relax. You don’t want to spook the boss.” He smiles encouragingly.

When he lets go, I force my hands apart and dry my sweaty palms on my skirt. “Do I look okay?”

“You look perfect. The guy’s a fool if he doesn’t notice.”

“Blair.” Richard’s voice makes me jolt. “There you are. I thought I was early, but you beat me.”

“Hi, Richard.” Even if I see him every day, my pulse starts racing and I suspect my cheeks are once again matching my red hair.

Mark winks and buys me some time to recover. “Hello there, can I get you something to drink?”

Richard scratches his head. “What are you having?” he asks me.

“Organic carrot beet ginger juice.”

“Erm, sounds delicious.” The boss tries not to make a too-disgusted face and turns toward Mark. “A pint of lager please.”

Mark’s lips twitch. “I only have American-sized pints if that’s okay?”

“You shoddy Americans.” Richard laughs and Mark chuckles along. At once, it’s like they’re old friends who’ve been running the I-am-American-you-are-British joke between them for years. This Mark guy really has a way with people.