Small Town Trouble: Small Town Brides, #5

By Ava Catori

Taylor thrives in chaos. It's the quiet spaces that leave her uncomfortable with too much time to think. When Kaden confronts her with the truth, she rejects his observations as nothing more than hogwash. After all, what does a divorce lawyer know about love? He's too busy breaking families apart to understand devotion.

Kaden wasn't looking for love when it found him. In fact, he was running away from it. As far as he's concerned, relationships are temporary. When one out of every two marriages end in divorce, how could he believe in everlasting love?

Taylor and Kaden, two stubborn people, are confronted with the last thing they expect—sizzling chemistry. It's the kind of chemistry that makes them question everything they thought they knew about love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ava Catori Books
• Release date: Jun 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393066156

Book preview

Chapter 1

What’s the point in opening yourself to pain? Only the strong survive. Showing weakness won’t win you any points. Vulnerability was for other people . Taylor wore her armor like a badge of honor. With an emergency room full of patients, she didn’t have time to think about her soft spots. It was better that way. The distraction was a welcome friend. Life was hardly as she’d planned and taking time to think about it only left her frustrated.

Halfway through her shift, she’d already bandaged wounds, dispensed meds, drawn blood, and calmed down a panicked woman who was sure she was in labor. Braxton Hicks brought in a lot of first-time pregnant women. A heart attack, a broken nose, and a man with pneumonia rounded out the morning.

She preferred the day shift over the night shift that she’d worked for years. There were fewer drunks and car crashes during the daylight hours. She’d dealt with too many to count over the years.

Generally, chaos was good. She thrived in it, but Julian, one of the administrators, thought the change of shift would do her good. After the incident left her jarred, it was a change he insisted on. They’d discussed options, and this seemed the most promising. A suicidal patient had threatened her life before taking his own. Months had since passed, but the new shift suited her well.

Taylor dropped into one of the chairs in the breakroom, ready for a quick break and an apple. She opened a newspaper that sat on the table.

Dr. Michaels appeared at the doorway. He wrapped his hand around the doorframe and leaned past it. Hey! There you are. I’ve got a huge favor to ask.

Taylor took a bite of her apple and looked up from the article she was reading. Favor?

He flashed a big, cheesy grin her way.

She looked at him cautiously. What’s up?

Do you remember a while back...anyway, I need a favor, he said.

Do you want me to scale a tall building? How about track down your long-lost cousin in the Amazon? Or are you asking me to participate in a bullfight? Not sure I’d be too good with that last one, she teased.

Dr. Michaels chuckled. Nothing that daring, but if you could help me out, it would do me a solid.

She groaned, knowing it wouldn’t be easy. He’d been saving up for this moment. Fine. What is it?

It’s for my brother. He needs a date for his law firm’s holiday shindig. It’s a Christmas party that he can’t get out of going to.

That’s it? Your brother doesn’t know how to get his own date? she asked wondering what the deal was. She’d expected something grandiose, more explosive, or humiliating.

Yeah. Odd circumstances. Here’s the thing, he can’t ask any of his friends and needs a gorgeous girl on his arm who can hold her own. You’d be the perfect candidate. He held up his hand that housed his wedding ring. Not hitting on you, simply stating the obvious.

Gorgeous, huh? Go on...

He needs somebody smart and good-looking who can handle herself with grace and charm. He’s a good guy, not some clown. He’ll treat you with respect. He just needs a fill-in due to a situation...

She sighed. Situation? And, you’ll let me off the hook?

Dr. Michaels nodded. I’ll let him fill you in on the details. Absolutely. We’ll be squared away. Will you do it?

Taylor shrugged. He had her over a barrel. He’d covered for her in a dire situation, and she’d promised him a big favor in return.

Do this, and we’ll call it even, he said. Oh, and it’s a black-tie event.

She thought about it, then agreed. What was the worst that could happen? Hopefully, she wouldn’t regret her decision. At least she’d finally be free and clear from one of the emergency room doctors hanging something over her. She’d made a simple mistake, but that mistake could have caused the hospital big issues when it came to light. She was grateful when he covered but hated that she’d put herself in that position.

Falling asleep in the breakroom after an eighteen-hour shift during an ice-storm meant that one of her patients’ calls weren’t answered when it desperately needed to be. Dr. Michaels stepped in and covered for her. They were all exhausted and had been on their feet nonstop for hours that day. He’d caught the situation before it spiraled out of control, but in that instant Taylor knew what a mess she’d made.

SHE ANALYZED THE SITUATION the following day. It’s not like she had any hot dates lined up. Nope, she had plenty of open space on her calendar. Plenty...yep. What few dates she’d been on recently hadn’t left a lot of opportunities to build a relationship. In fact, the lack of second dates glared like a floodlight in an empty, dark field.

Guys flirted. They looked her way. They asked her out, but then they never asked her back out. She wasn’t raw and grungy. She had manners and always dressed nice. The lack of her dates’ enthusiasm at the end of the evening puzzled her more than anything.

At least her brother found his happily ever after. Connor swore Taylor would meet the right guy one day, though he warned her things wouldn’t change if she didn’t open herself to possibilities. You always have a reason or excuse why things don’t work out. Don’t you get tired of that? You need to try something different, date another kind of guy. You’re great at picking out donkeys, but what about nice guys? Why are you always drawn to losers, like guys who only want one thing, or guys who don’t treat you with respect?

That’s not true. I’m open to anything, she offered.

Connor snorted and chuckled. Sure, you are, sis. I’m just saying, look at Cassidy. I never in a thousand years thought I’d end up in love with her. If I hadn’t been willing to look past our initial encounter, things might have worked out differently.

It probably helped that you were laid up on our sofa for a couple of weeks, too. Huh? Want to find me somebody to camp out there, now that the two of you have moved out?

Anyway, I’d better run. Lunch break is over, and I need to get back to work, he said.

Give Cassidy a hug for me, Taylor added, before he slipped out the door.

Taylor was open...well, sort of.

Sometimes.

She grumbled and dropped onto the sofa. At least she had a date for a Christmas party...that wasn’t hers...and she didn’t know the guy. She sighed. It was something.

Lately her social life had been non-existent. It’s not like she was overly choosy. She simply had standards, but that didn’t account for her lack of holding onto a relationship. She hated all the pesky questions and the getting to know you phase. Why couldn’t they simply like each other and move on with it? Who cares what her favorite color is? And who cares what her first car was when she started driving? Did any of that matter?

And leave the past in the past...what was the point of dragging up her childhood?

We’re just not connecting...

I feel like I barely know you...

Something is missing...

You’re like a paper-doll...pretty on the outside, but empty within. No matter what I ask, I get pushed away. You draw me in, then refuse to open the door. When do we get to us?

Okay, so maybe there was a pattern, but the right guy