Free My One and Only: Book 1 in the Love and Weddings Trilogy by Shannon Guymon Page A

so retro and sweet.”
                  Pule nodded and walked toward the bedroom. “Food and love. They go together.”
                  Meredith smiled. “True. I’ve never really thought about it, but you’re right.”
                  Pule came out moments later with the picture in his hands. “So are you going to tell me why you were jumping around your house like a cheerleader on crack?”
                  Meredith laughed and covered her face with the pillow. “Please forget you saw that little display of joy. I was just happy because I got a text from Brogan and he wants to show us the preliminary website. It’s not going to be perfect or anything, but it’ll be so cool to see our baby come to life, you know? We’re going over tomorrow at seven.”
                  Pule smiled and walked over, sitting next to her on the couch. “It’s good to see you so happy and excited about life again, Mer. You were sad for too long.”
                  Meredith cleared her throat and looked away from Pule’s intense gaze. “It’s good to be happy again, I guess. I always thought that I’d be happy again when I got over . . . I mean when I fell in love again, but starting a business and doing something you’re passionate about? That’s a great way to find your joy in life too. I wish I’d known that sooner,” she said softly.
                  Pule gave her a half-smile. “So are you totally over Kam then?”
                  Meredith felt like covering her face with the pillow again but held her chin up instead. “I am. And that feels good too. All that crap about it’s better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all? Total garbage. Love hurts. Love can be excruciating. And when your heart breaks, there’s nothing you can do except feel the pain and wait for it to slowly, slowly fade over time until you can breathe again. But yeah, I’m breathing again. I’m happy again. I can see your brother and not want to burst into tears. I’m in a good place. I even think I’m ready to fall in love again.”
                  Pule’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes sharpened. “ Really .”
                  Meredith noticed Pule’s expression and remembered her thoughts from earlier that day about her suspicions that he might be starting to like her. Yikes. Time to put up some road blocks.
                  “Yeah, really. I’m kind of excited about this website. I can’t wait to meet my true love.”
                  Pule’s eyes turned hard as he frowned. “I’ll be on the website too. What if you and I get matched up?”
                  Meredith opened her mouth to say something and then stopped. She was on dangerous ground here. “Well, um, that would probably be really weird for you. I mean, I dated your older brother and I know your parents wouldn’t approve of you and I dating and I know how close you and your brother are. I’d hate to cause you two problems. But that does bring up a good point. I’ll talk to Brogan about a way to block people you don’t want to date. Why be set up with me when you can be set up with gorgeous girls without all of my weird baggage?” she said with a laugh as she watched Pule closely for his reaction
                  He gave her the typical Matafeo reaction to anything they didn’t like. Stone face . Ugh. He must have learned that from Kam.
                  “What if dating each other was no big deal though? Like, what if my parents were okay with it and Kam didn’t care?” Pule asked, suddenly sitting much closer to her.
                  Meredith looked at Pule askance and bit her lip as she searched for anything to say to diffuse the situation. Pule was getting a little intense and that worried her. A lot.
                  “Pule,” she said gently. “You have