Page 1 of Without a Hitch
PROLOGUE
TILLY CAMDEN
Without A Hitch!
They say behind every good man is a great woman. They say a hospital is only as good as its nurses. They say a hotel is only as good as its employees. They say behind every good wedding is a bridesmaid who gets shit done.
Okay, so maybe that last one isn’t quite true, but as I stand here, arms spread wide, yelling at one bridesmaid to put down the ice bucket and another to drop the hairspray while I’m wearing a sherbet orange dress and my hair is teased to within an inch of its life, I’m going to say it’s true.
Why, might you ask, am I playing referee in a wedding where I don’t know a single soul? Not even the bride or groom?
Well… That’s a funny story. One I’m happy to tell, but it started a few years ago while I was working for my brother-in-law’s brother (Did you follow that?), traveling the world, and staying in some of the fanciest hotels I’d only ever dreamed about.
I was just a girl with a dream. A dream of starting my own wedding planning business (because weddings are my happy place!), writing my own blog (to keep my sanity in the insanity that’s life), and to not, under any circumstances, fall in love with my boss’s best friend (because that’s always a bad idea).
Okay, that last one came later. Much later. Much, much later, after I learned why he had that slightly British lilt to his voice. Or why he could be so charming to those he cared about but the devil incarnate to everyone else. Or why, why, why he would do the sweetest things but never admit to them.
This is my story of business, sex, and love. Buckle up, buttercup—it’s going to be a bumpy ride!
CHAPTER1
TILLY
Six Months Ago
“You got penis whipped. Pe-nis whipped!” My childhood best friend, Delaney, gasps as our roommate, Hadley, stares on in wide-eyed horror.
Eli, my only sister in attendance, documents our reactions with photos on her cell phone as any good sister would. Her long legs are on display tonight, and the dirty blond hair she got from our father falls in loose curls that frame her face. She’s beautiful, even if she is annoying.
She holds the phone out for another photo op, and I let out a low groan. “I—I think I’m going to kill Sloane.”
Sloane! My youngest sister, an award-winning romance novelist who, since marrying her super-spy husband, has veered off into the erotica category. I don’t even want to think about how she comes up with her story ideas, but it’s probably why she’s now six months pregnant and home on bedrest while we’re at a male strip club in Myrtle Beach at her request. Research, she’d called it.
I’m vaguely aware of Hadley digging around in her purse and then coming at me with a tiny spray bottle. “Hads, I love you, but if you’re about to spray my face with hand sanitizer, I might lose my shit.”
“But germs,” Hadley whispers, glancing over her shoulder like she might offend the male stripper. She adjusts her glasses but lowers her spray bottle.
“Please,” I say with a slow exhale. “Can we please go somewhere else?Anywhereelse. I’m positive we have enough ammunition for Sloane.” My skin crawls as strangers’ eyes still laugh in my direction. I sink even deeper into my chair, wishing it would just swallow me whole already. A fire drill would be my dream come true right now.
“Who knew schlongs could even rotate like that?” Delaney whispers. Her bright pink lips remind me of cotton candy as she licks the sugared rim of whatever sickly-sweet cocktail she just sucked down.
An involuntary shiver runs down my spine. It doesn’t seem fair that my longest dry spell since I started having sex ended ten seconds ago with a ten-inch torpedo bitch-slapping not one, but both cheeks.
If it weren’t for my darker complexion, I’d have a penis-sized bruise on my right cheek. That fucker hurt. My mother’s tiny percentage of Asian-American heritage shows in my bronzed skin. All three of my sisters and I look eerily similar. Considering we all have different mothers, I suppose it’s a testament to my father’s Irish genes.
My complexion is a part of my identity I’ve always struggled with. I have my mother’s silky dark hair and tawny skin, but my features are all my father’s. My eye shape, bone structure, even the slant and size of my teeth, match my sisters, who are all spitting images of our father. I’ve never truly felt Asian or Irish. I’m just me. I blend in where my sisters and gorgeous friends are destined to stand out. That’s why we were all shocked when it was my chair that Brawny Barry spun away from the table for the impromptu chair dance.
Eli leans in, roping her arms around my neck and dragging the other girls in close for a selfie. The extra two inches she has on me shows as she reaches around us to take the picture. “Yup. Let’s go! I’m in the mood to dance.”
I barely contain a groan. I want to go home, crawl into bed, and watchHow To Lose A Guy In 10 Daysuntil I fall asleep, but I’ll never ruin their fun. When Delaney gives a little whoop of glee, I know she’s feeling good, and I nod in agreement.
None of us know our way around, but we pile out into the street anyway. We’re on the strip and bound to find a club in either direction, so turning to the right, I lead the way. I’m thankful when, less than a block away, Pink’s “Raise Your Glass” filters out of a club. I grin, knowing we’ve found our place.
Even Hadley does a little dance that has her strawberry blond hair bouncing in her always efficient ponytail, so I step forward and offer the security guard my ID. The girls follow closely behind as I open the door and wait for each of my friends to pass.
Two steps in, Eli grabs my hand, which sets off a chain reaction. I grab onto Delaney, who takes hold of Hadley. Our single-file train pushes and slides to the dance floor of the dimly lit club. The beat of the music vibrates through my lungs like a tremor I can’t control.
Staring at my girls, I can’t help but grin. Their bodies are engulfed by the music the second we step onto the floor that’s sticky with spilled drinks. Our bodies shimmy and sway to song after song as flashing lights turn our skin all the colors of the rainbow. It doesn’t take long for our group to be encircled by random guys, and with a heavy sigh, I watch as they each pair off.
