And that was when Evan knew there was no way he would say no. Judging by the smug satisfaction gracing the guy’s mug, John knew it, too. The bastard.
Damn it.
Evan sighed, caving to the inevitable. “If the two of you don’t want to wait to get married, drag Chloe’s ass to city hall when she gets home and get it done. You could always plan the pomp and circumstance for later if that’s what Chloe really wants.”
There. Problem solved.
John was already shaking his head. “She loves her job, and she loves me. She feels torn, no matter how understanding and patient I am with her schedule. She was crying, Evan.”
Well, fuck.
“Chloe deserves to have the wedding she wants the first time we take our vows,” John continued. “She doesn’t want an extravagant wedding, but she does want to walk down the aisle in a pretty dress. She wants to carry flowers and eat and dance with me at a reception.”
“You just proved my earlier point. She wants. Dudes don’t grow up dreaming about wedding stuff. Weddings are for the bride. The bride should be the one who makes the decisions.” He and John were bound to fuck something up and ruin Chloe’s perfect day.
“You sound ridiculous right now.”
“Am I wrong? Are you telling me you actually care about flowers and dresses and reception food?”
Evan wouldn’t give a shit about those things. If he ever decided to get married, the only thing he would care about was making the woman his. The flowers would die, the food was just another meal, and the dress would be on the floor as soon as he could manage. What mattered was his lasting commitment to love, honor, cherish, and protect his bride with everything he had. If his hypothetical woman needed a huge production to prove his commitment, he’d already failed her.
“I care because Chloe cares.” John shook his head. “One day, you’ll understand. In the meantime, I need you to do this with me.”
John was forgetting one crucial aspect of Evan’s life—the one that tossed his reliability out the window. Even accepting the offer to be best man was shitty and unfair to John, because Evan couldn’t guarantee his presence at the wedding. He’d already burned leave for the first two busted dates. This time he’d have to play schedule Russian roulette.
“What if I get called away?” His team wasn’t scheduled to leave the states for a long-term deployment any time soon, but that didn’t mean anything. They could be called on at any moment, for any length of time.
John shrugged. “All the more reason not to waste time arguing when you know you’re going to end up saying yes anyway.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“Say it,” John encouraged, making Evan laugh. “You know you want to.”
“Fine,” he conceded, not even trying to hide his grumpiness. He didn’t know anything about planning a wedding. “I’ll help you.” Evan waited for John to finish his celebratory fist pumps before he continued. “But if this thing goes sideways, I am not taking the fall. As her future husband, Chloe has to forgive you. Me, on the other hand … I do not need her hating me forever.”
“Got it. If we fuck this up, it’s all on me. Done.”
“Not if, my man. When.” Evan groaned and resisted the urge to drop his face into his hands. He suddenly wished they were in a bar instead of a coffeeshop. He could use a shot of something stronger than espresso. “Two heterosexual dudes planning an entire wedding,” he mused. “This is gonna be the worst event in recorded history.”
“If you believe that, you obviously haven’t spent much time on the Internet. We got this. And besides, it won’t be just the two of us. I might be crazy, but I’m not stupid. I found someone to help.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” Evan relaxed somewhat. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. “We’re gonna need all the help we can get. Makes sense to get a wedding planner. Good thinking.”
He extended his fist for John to bump.
“Oh, Presley isn’t a wedding planner,” John said as their knuckles clashed. “She owns a nursery and flower shop. Chloe met her last year when we initially started talking about the wedding. They became fast friends. When I reached out to Presley to let her know about rescheduling, she was gracious and offered to help in any way she could. I probably should have, but I didn’t hesitate. I told her my idea. She loved it. She seemed excited about planning a surprise for Chloe.” John’s chest puffed out. “She called me a romantic and said the world could use more men like me.”
If Evan’s head weren’t buzzing, he might’ve had a smart-ass retort about the kind of men the world needed. As it was, Evan’s brain was dialed in on the name he hadn’t expected to hear ever again.
“Presley?” Evan asked slowly, his heart rate kicking up a notch. “The woman’s name is Presley?”
It couldn’t be. Granted, Presley wasn’t a common name, but there had to be more than one, right?
“Yeah. She owns Masters Flower House and Greenery, that big place off the freeway.” John’s face lit up, his gaze focused over Evan’s left shoulder. “Oh, here she comes. We need her help, so please, for the love of God, Evan. Don’t try to get in her pants.”
His head was still spinning. “Why would I—”
“Because you’re you.”
The man had a point. Evan was far from a man whore—that title belonged to his teammate C-Note—but he was a single guy with a high-stress job. Some guys worked out their stress at the gym. Evan worked his out in bed. Sue him. He’d never had any complaints.
John stood and clapped him on the shoulder before Evan could give his word to behave. “Everything is going to be great. You’ll see.”
What Evan saw as he turned were a pair of bare legs. Toned, tanned, sexy-as-fuck legs that ended with feet tucked into equally sexy black heels. The sixteen-year-old girl he remembered would never have worn heels like those. Or had legs like that.
Evan sat up straight. He scrubbed a hand over his chin as he took a lazy tour over the rest of her. Her gorgeous legs disappeared under the hem of a red dress. A dress that was wider above her knees, but tapered and hugged the gentle curve of her waist like a dream. A dream that turned wet by the time he got to her breasts. Encased in red and framed by silky looking hair the color of milk chocolate swirled with honey, her tits were pert and round. The dress he could envision on his living room floor offered an enticing hint of cleavage.
He had more self-control than to pop wood in the middle of a coffee shop, but damn. What he wouldn’t do if he had those curves under him.
He slid his gaze higher. Up her slim neck to her delicate chin. Over her full lips, her slightly imperfect nose, and, holy shit, her eyes…
Evan froze.
There was only one woman with eyes that green. It was her. Presley Masters.
Interest faded into questions. What was she … why was she …?
“Hey, Presley,” John greeted cheerfully, waving her over.
God, she was beautiful.
That was the last thought Evan had before the past came rushing back with a speed that stole his breath. He cursed and curled his fingers into his palms, the sudden need to strangle his best friend making his fingers twitch.
Author’s Note
I hope you’ve enjoyed Hot SEAL, Cold Feet. This Wedding Edition of SEALs in Paradise was so much fun to write. Watch for the next batch of books from the SEALs in Paradise series coming Spring, 2021.
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If you’d like to read the rest of the Wedding Edition, I’ve included the links.
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Hot SEAL, Bachelor Party by Elle James
Hot SEAL, Decoy Bride by Delilah Devlin
Hot SEAL, Runaway Bride by Cat Johnson
Hot SEAL, Cold Feet by Becca Jameson
Hot SEAL, Best Man by Parker Kincade
Hot SEAL, Confirmed Bachelor by Cynthia D'Alba
Hot SEAL, Taking the Plunge by Teresa Reasor
Also by Becca James
on
Canyon Springs:
Caleb’s Mate
Hunter’s Mate
* * *
Corked and Tapped:
Volume One: Friday Night
Volume Two: Company Party
Volume Three: The Holidays
* * *
Surrender:
Raising Lucy
Teaching Abby
Leaving Roman
* * *
Project DEEP:
Reviving Emily
Reviving Trish
Reviving Dade
Reviving Zeke
Reviving Graham
Reviving Bianca
Reviving Olivia
Project DEEP Box Set One
Project DEEP Box Set Two
* * *
SEALs in Paradise:
Hot SEAL, Red Wine
Hot SEAL, Australian Nights
Hot SEAL, Cold Feet
* * *
Dark Falls:
Dark Nightmares
* * *
Club Zodiac:
Training Sasha
Obeying Rowen
Collaring Brooke
Mastering Rayne
Trusting Aaron
Claiming London
Sharing Charlotte
Taming Rex
Tempting Elizabeth
Club Zodiac Box Set One
Club Zodiac Box Set Two
* * *
The Art of Kink:
Pose
Paint
Sculpt
* * *
Arcadian Bears:
Grizzly Mountain
Grizzly Beginning
Grizzly Secret
Grizzly Promise
Grizzly Survival
Grizzly Perfection
Arcadian Bears Box Set One
Arcadian Bears Box Set Two
* * *
Sleeper SEALs:
Saving Zola
* * *
Spring Training:
Catching Zia
Catching Lily
Catching Ava
Spring Training Box Set
* * *
The Underground series:
Force
Clinch
Guard
Submit
Thrust
Torque
The Underground Box Set One
The Underground Box Set Two
Saving Sofia (Special Forces: Operations Alpha)
* * *
Wolf Masters series:
Kara’s Wolves
Lindsey’s Wolves
Jessica’s Wolves
Alyssa’s Wolves
Tessa’s Wolf
Rebecca’s Wolves
Melinda’s Wolves
Laurie’s Wolves
Amanda’s Wolves
Sharon’s Wolves
Wolf Masters Box Set One
Wolf Masters Box Set Two
* * *
Claiming Her series:
The Rules
The Game
The Prize
* * *
Emergence series:
Bound to be Taken
Bound to be Tamed
Bound to be Tested
Bound to be Tempted
Emergence Box Set
* * *
The Fight Club series:
Come
Perv
Need
Hers
Want
Lust
The Fight Club Box Set One
The Fight Club Box Set Two
* * *
Wolf Gatherings series:
Tarnished
Dominated
Completed
Redeemed
Abandoned
Betrayed
Wolf Gatherings Box Set One
Wolf Gathering Box Set Two
* * *
Durham Wolves series:
Rescue in the Smokies
Fire in the Smokies
Freedom in the Smokies
* * *
Stand Alone Books:
Blind with Love
Guarding the Truth
Out of the Smoke
Abducting His Mate
Three’s a Cruise
Wolf Trinity
Frostbitten
A Princess for Cale/A Princess for Cain
About the Author
Becca Jameson is a USA Today best-selling author of over 90 books. She is most well-known for her Wolf Masters series and her Fight Club series. She currently lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and her Goldendoodle. Two grown kids pop in every once in a while too! She is loving this journey and has dabbled in a variety of genres, including paranormal, sports romance, military, and BDSM.
A total night owl, Becca writes late at night, sequestering herself in her office with a glass of red wine and a bar of dark chocolate, her fingers flying across the keyboard as her characters weave their own stories.
During the day--which never starts before ten in the morning!--she can be found jogging, running errands, or reading in her favorite hammock chair!
…where Alphas dominate…
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Facebook Fan Group:
Becca’s Bibliomaniacs
Contact Becca:
www.beccajameson.com
beccajameson4@aol.com