Free The Bridesmaid by Julia London

okay,” Lisa said, sounding like her normal self. “I mean, sure, Kiefer could have been slightly more supportive and all that, but I know that a guy like him only comes around once in a lifetime.”
    Kate lifted her gaze to Joe. He winked at her. “Tell me about it,” she said. “By the way, I’m bringing someone to the wedding.”
    “Who?”
    “The guy on my flight who helped me get across the country,” Kate said. “His name is Joe Firretti.”
    “Yeah, bring him, bring him!” Lisa said excitedly. “Do you know that everything is shut down from Colorado east? It’s a miracle you got as far as you did. We want to hug him!”
    “No, please—”
    “When are you getting in?”
    “Ten this morning,” Kate said.
    She made arrangements with Lisa for someone to pick her up, then hung up and smiled a little tentatively at Joe. “They can’t wait to meet you,” she said.
    “I can’t wait to meet them,” he said.
    Yes, well, he might change his mind after the full force of the Prestons had been visited upon him.

Chapter 9
    They were lucky to be on the same flight, Joe figured, even if they couldn’t sit together. He could see just the top of Kate’s head above a middle seat a few rows ahead of him and wondered if she’d begun her attack on the armrest yet. Every once in a while, she would sit up, turn around, and smile at him. She had happy eyes, he thought. Big, green, happy eyes. He wouldn’t mind starting every day with big, green, happy eyes.
    It seemed ridiculously unfair that Joe would meet a girl like Kate just as he was about to take the biggest step in his career. If he believed in fate, he would be calling it a few choice names right now.
    They landed without a hitch in Seattle, but Joe could hear the guy behind him on the phone as they taxied to the gate. He was irate that the next leg of his flight had been canceled. Weather or air traffic, Joe didn’t know. He was thankful he was at last where he needed to be. Disaster had been averted; he would meet the boss from Switzerland and begin his new job.
    He didn’t feel quite as excited about it as he had forty-eight hours ago.
    Kate was waiting for him in the passenger ramp, the pink raft propped up beside her. She smiled brightly at him when she saw him and caught his hand. “Wait,” she said as he tried to move forward, and pulled him to the side.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Okay,” she said, “Listen. My family is tight. Really tight. So tight they can be a little overbearing,” she said with a charming wince. “And I don’t bring guys home a lot. Maybe never. So…” She shrugged.
    Joe smiled at her angst. “Kate, it’s okay,” he said. “I can handle them.” He picked up her garment bag, tossed it over his shoulder, and took her hand in his.
    “So here we go,” Kate said, looking down at their clasped hands as they made their way up the passenger ramp.
    “Here we go, two people who have been brought together by an epic travel meltdown.”
    Kate smiled. But her smile didn’t seem quite as bright as it had earlier this morning, when she’d been so deliciously naked in his bed. Families had a way of doing that to a person.
    At the baggage claim area, the little scream of happiness Joe heard turned out to be for Kate. He turned just in time to see an older woman who looked like Kate barreling right toward them, a couple of guys and another woman with her.
    “Oh thank God, you made it!” the woman shouted, and threw her arms around Kate, squeezing her tightly, weaving back and forth. Then she suddenly put Kate at arm’s length. “Where’s the dress ?”
    “Right there,” Kate said, pointing at Joe. Joe wondered how anyone in Seattle could have missed the arrival of the dress. “Mom,” Kate said, “this is Joe Firretti.”
    “And the dress,” Joe added, holding up the pink raft.
    “Oh, thank God again,” the woman said, her shoulders dropping with relief.
    “This is my mom, Sandra,” Kate said. “And my dad,