Are you reading it already? If not, grab your copy and snuggle up in a chair. Be prepared for so much fun. Here’s an excerpt as Nessa and Matt meet again after their one night stand:
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"I think we've met," he said with a small smile, holding out his hand. "I'm Matt Draper."
Nonplussed, Nessa looked up at his face, and he did seem vaguely familiar. More than vaguely, in fact, but put on the spot like this, she couldn't think where she might know him from. Glasses with dark frames, sandy blond hair neatly brushed back from his face, styled nicely. A shade of blue in his minister’s stole highlighted striking blue eyes. The suit he wore was tailored in a stylish fit, and the man was built.
She'd been to a lot of weddings and met a lot of ministers in the past two years, but…
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Emily exclaimed. "Reverend Draper, this is Nessa Martini, from Wedding Protectors."
And then it hit her.
OMG. Oh, no. Not possible.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure we had coffee together once," he went on, his smile broadening, the all-too-familiar dimples appearing.
Someone touched her elbow and she jumped.
"I'm heading out," Ranney said to her, then smiled at the group. "We're sure there's no serious problem, but if we get an okay from the vet, then everyone can relax and enjoy themselves. Hello," –this was to Matt or Marcus or whoever he was–"I'm Ranney Martini."
"Ah.” His dimples deepened. “Family business?"
"No, my daughter and I just happen to both work at Wedding Protectors."
"You're Nessa's mom?" He seemed to be enjoying this immensely.
"Yes. And you must be the–oh, gosh–are you–"
"Ranney, the Uber's here!" Mrs. Barr called.
"Nice meeting you," Matt/Marcus told her.
"Oh, I'll be back." She hurried away, Emily and Mr. Barr following in her wake. This left Nessa and Matt/Marcus staring at each other, and only one of them was smiling.
"Were you flirting with my mother?"
"What? Of course not! I'm on duty here!"
"Is this some kind of scam? Are you stalking me? Were you the follower who sent me d!ck pics last month and PMed me a picture of my car?”
“Excuse me?”
“Was this all some plan, Marc or Matt or MasonD!cksOnline?”
“What did you just call me?”
“Your user name. I had to fill out a complex FBI form when you threatened to take me across state lines so you could take me to northern Maine and have me walk barefoot through a wild blueberry forest, then lick the squished ones off my feet.”
He had the audacity to look at her like she was the weird one.
Taking one step back from her, he looked around, then said softly, “You’re seriously freaking me out here.”
“I’m freaking you out?” Never before had she wished so hard for the head of Wedding Protectors security, Archie MacDougall, to be at a rehearsal. Nothing about this wedding case was flagged for high security, so unfortunately, she was on her own.
“Yes. I’m not a stalker. I don’t send those kinds of pics to anyone. I don’t even sext in committed relationships. A picture may be worth a thousand words but actual touch is a million times better.”
“You could be lying. You could have found my Instagram channel and bought a ticket to that fundraiser. Set me up from the start."
“Instagram channel?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know who I am online. You’ve been following @verynecessary and you planned this all out. We have security here, you know–I can have you removed. Your name's not Matt Draper and you're not a minister! You're Marcus Bell from Somerville, some kind of unemployed volunteer. You can't marry these people! Oh, my God, how am I going to tell them?"
"Shhh! I am, and I can. You have misunderstood literally every single thing about me. I’m not sure how that happened, but your wrongness is... thorough.”
“HEY! I’m not wrong. What kind of minister has a one-night stand?”
“The kind who never intended it to be just one night.” He sounded so… sincere.
“And you look great, by the way,” he added. “Why didn't you call me?"
"Seriously? Because you don't exist! You’re too smooth. I’m not falling for this. Liv was right! I've got to call Kari right now and ask her what to do. Oh," she moaned, "how am I going to explain how I even know about you to my boss?"
"Nessa, calm down. Everything is fine. You’re over-reacting.”
"Don't you dare tell me to calm down! You sniped my silent-auction item, you pretended to care about animals, you slept with me under a false name, you sent me d!ck pics, you’re stalking me at work, you’re pretending to be this poor bride and groom’s minister, and now you're going to get me fired!"
“I’m so glad you’re being chill about this,” he muttered.
"Reverend Draper? Is there a problem? I think we can get started now." Mrs. Barr appeared at his elbow, clutching a tissue, still seeming a little shaken from her dog Pinky's brush with death but ready to carry on bravely. She looked from Nessa to Matt/Marcus expectantly.
"We just need two minutes, Mrs. Barr. There's just a small detail or two that Nessa and I need to iron out and we'll be right with you."
"You're our iron man, so take whatever time you need." Tittering, obviously pleased with her little joke, Mrs. Barr moved off in the direction of her husband.
Bizarre, Nessa thought, but pretty much everything had been bizarre since she stepped out of the Uber, and she had bigger things to figure out right now. Matt/Marcus put his hand on her elbow as if to guide her, but she yanked it out of his grasp.
"Nessa, just listen for a minute. I'm a minister. Unitarian Universalist. Notice how Mrs. Barr just called me Reverend Draper? That’s me. Matt Draper. I told you last week when we were–" the look on her face made him quickly restructure his sentence, "–last week when we were talking that I work in the nonprofit sector. I didn't want to overwhelm you with too much detail."
"Too much detail… you mean, like, your real name?"
"I told you my name when we met. Matthew Draper. I'm guessing you forgot between the fundraiser and–" there was that look again, "–well, morning? And you looked for a clue in my bedroom? You called me Marc before you left. Because Marcus Bell was my roommate at Harvard. Divinity school. And the only way you would know that was if you checked my books. Do I have that right?"
An unpleasant sense that she might be overreacting, or even possibly in the wrong, flickered across Nessa's consciousness. Plus, did he say he went to Harvard? Ranney and Mame would die from happiness if she brought home a Harvard man.
What the hell? she screamed inside her head. What are you thinking?
“Yes,” she admitted. “I couldn’t remember your name, though I knew it started with an M. And I found a book with the name Marcus Bell in it, so I assumed.”
“There we go. The heart of the misunderstanding. See? Easily cleared up.”
“So you’re not Reverend D!ckPic? Or MasonD!cksOnline”
He cleared his throat and said very softly, “You’ve seen the real thing. Why would I need to send a pic?”
"All right," she said, mouth going dry at the memory, pulse migrating between her legs. She tried to remember what dignity sounded like, or even basic professionalism. “We have work to do here. We can talk about this another time."
"You're right. Let's grab a drink after this is over and we'll straighten it all out."
Dignity. Professionalism. She ignored him. Gosh, he was cute. For a minister.
A minister. That was a new one.
She looked up at the sky, half expecting a lightning bolt to smite her instantly.
This is my favorite book of the series. I am in love with Matt and Nessa!!
I am so In love with this story 😍