The Best Man

By Adrienne Bell

Holly Tanner has built a career on love and danger: her popular novels are chock full of them. But the truth is, she's never come face to face with either, and she doesn't expect that to change at her cousin's gorgeous wine country wedding.

But everything changes the moment Holly meets Michael Silva. Suddenly, she's accepting dares, chasing suspicious peeping toms and kissing under the moonlight. But even though Holly finds herself having the time of her life, she can't shake the feeling that danger is brewing behind the scenes, and that she and Michael are the only ones that can keep everyone at the wedding from becoming a target.

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Part romantic comedy, part thriller, and filled with plenty of intrigue, The Best Man is the wrap-up novella to the Second Service Trilogy, bringing back several major characters from The Wedding Trap, The Agent Next Door, and The Trouble With Temptation.
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• Language: English
• Publisher: Adrienne Bell
• Release date: Dec 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9780985753573

Adrienne Bell

Adrienne Bell has lived her whole life in Northern California. She now resides on the far edge of the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and kids. You can follow the minutia of her life on Twitter, or see the pictures she likes to share on Facebook, or check out the exciting topics that she decides to dedicate a few hundred words to on her blog. Oh, and she thanks you for reading.

Book preview

The Best Man

A Second Service Novella

Adrienne Bell

Contents

The Best Man

Thanks For Reading

Sneak Peek

About the Author

Copyright 2015 by Adrienne Bell

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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written consent from the author/publisher.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead, or places, events, or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

The Best Man

She should have stayed upstairs.

The thought ran through Holly Tanner’s head the moment she stepped into the dining hall of the Gravenstein Winery and her gaze swept over the crowd of strangers. She wasn’t surprised. She’d driven the four hundred miles from Los Angeles alone knowing that she knew hardly anyone on the guest list of her cousin Alex’s wedding.

Hell, she barely even knew her cousin.

Holly only had vague memories of Alex and his family visiting her father’s house one summer when they were children. She remembered Alex was tall, and brave enough to jump from the roof into the pool when none of the adults had been looking, and had relentlessly yanked on her pigtails the entire trip.

She figured the brave part had stuck around since he’d grown to be both a Navy SEAL and a CIA operative. She could only hope that he’d grown out of the hair-pulling phase.

The Tanners were not a close family. Which was why Holly was surprised that she’d received an invitation at all. But in the end, the opportunity to spend a long weekend in a secluded resort nestled in the California wine country was too strong for Holly to resist.

She’d told herself she needed a break, but what she really needed was an idea. She’d finished her latest book three weeks ago, and she desperately needed to get started on a new one. But every time she sat down nothing came out.

Some people called it writer’s block. Others called it the doldrums. Holly didn’t care what label they slapped on it. All she knew was that she was terrified the well had run dry…for good this time.

And that was the real reason she had pulled on her little black dress, run a brush through her long auburn hair, and taken the elevator three floors down. She was more afraid of spending the night upstairs with an empty page than she was facing a room full of strangers.

Besides, she thought, she might even surprise herself and enjoy the evening. Maybe getting out of her own head and into the world for a while would do her some good, shake out some of the cobwebs.

Okay, maybe that was a bit too optimistic. But, still, it couldn’t hurt.

Holly cupped her wine glass a little tighter and put on her best practiced smile as she stepped closer to the table. Her gaze swept over the remaining empty seats for the welcome reception. The head of the table, as expected, was crowded with the wedding party. A little farther down, family and close friends huddled together. It looked like the end of the table was reserved for stragglers.

That was fine by her. The last thing Holly wanted was to be plopped down in the middle of things. All she was hoping for was someone she might share a decent conversation with for the rest of the evening.

She took a sip of her wine as she checked out the remaining empty spots. There was one in between a pair of old ladies, one next to a guy who was laughing way too loud, and another next to a sullen teen with dyed black hair. Holly was just about to give up and head back up to the third floor when she spotted him.

Holly froze. There was no way the man she was looking at was sitting alone. No way in hell.

His slim body gave off a relaxed charm. His hair, the color somewhere between blonde and brown, dusted the top of his ears. She couldn’t make out the color of his eyes because his face was pointed down, but she could make out the expressive brows that slashed above them. Add to all that the five o’clock shadow below some seriously dramatic cheekbones, and it was all Holly could manage not to start drooling in her Merlot.

She checked the chair next to him a second time, just to make sure she hadn’t missed a sweater or handbag slung over the back claiming it, but there was nothing. It was wide open.

But still, Holly hesitated. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d approached a man because she thought he was handsome. Sure, she did her share of mingling at cocktail parties and book conventions, but that was different.

Or was it? Whoever this guy was, he had no idea about the rush of heat that had spread through Holly the second she’d clapped eyes on him. She’d just be another wedding guest looking for an empty seat. And if she ended up not liking him, or things turned awkward, she could always just head back to her room.

She downed the rest of her wine before she lifted her head and, pretending all the confidence in the world, strode over to the other side of the table. Holly stopped at the edge of his chair and cleared her throat. He glanced at her.

Green. His eyes were green for God’s sake. Any hope Holly had of resisting the temptation to spend the evening next to him dissipated immediately.

Is this seat taken? she asked.

He stared at her for a long moment before answering. Holly didn’t mind a bit. She decided in that instant that this guy could keep those gorgeous eyes on her all night long if he wanted to.

N-no, he said, shaking his head. The legs of his chair squeaked on the hard floor as he rose