Page 1 of Bridesmaid By Chance
Prologue
HUDSON
“Pull harder…Husband.”
“I don’t want to hurt you…Wife,” I say on a grunt as the strings of her corset dig into the flesh of my fingers.
“How could you possibly hurt me any more than you already have?” Sloane counters with that telltale sass that I’ve grown to know very well.
A sass that grates on my nerves—like a rusty knife, spinning and twirling in my insides. I’ll tell you one thing for certain: when I initially hired her as my assistant, there wasn’t one telltale sign of that sass. But now…now it’s all I fucking get.
I let go of the strings of her corset and take a step back, fucking irritated with this situation that I’ve gotten myself into because it’s…it’s…Sloane.
Sloane Galloway, thirteen years younger than me and sister to one of my best friends, brother-in-law, and business partners.
She’s my assistant.
She’s my biggest fucking secret.
What kind of secret? Well, she’s my wife.
Yup, you read that correctly. My wife.
It happened so fast, I can barely remember the circumstances.
Shit. That’s a lie. I remember every second of how it happened.
Every goddamn, intricate second when I felt my world shift.
When everything changed.
When vulnerability met need and I succumbed to the combination, falling like a leaf, barely putting up a fight.
It all started as a favor to a friend.
Jude’s sister needed some help finding a temporary job to gain some experience straight out of college. Being the upstanding guy that I am, I offered her a job at the company. It was a win-win for everyone. I needed help. She needed help. A solution was formed.
What I didn’t expect was to be…distracted.
And yes, it was my problem not hers.
The pervy fucking grandpa over here—that’s me—couldn’t stop feeling his heart beat just a touch faster anytime she was in the room.
Nor could I get rid of the florally addictive scent of her perfume in my office.
Her hair—long, sleek, brown—captivated me.
Her deep brown eyes that are so large, so doe-like, that I kept staring at her longer than I should have.
It got to the point that I could feel her…all around me.
I saw her all the time.
Her husky voice greeted me every morning.
Her tailored outfits hugged her body in all the right places.
Her attentiveness, the way she would look at me…the occasional brush of her hand.
