Can’t Hurry Love, Nadine Millard [10 best novels of all time .TXT] 📗

straight into a rock-hard wall. Staggering backward, she looked up, and her breath caught, actually caught, just like in the movies.

The man who was even now reaching out and steadying her was hands down the most beautiful one she’d ever seen. He was tall enough that she had to bend her neck back to look up at him. His hair was a golden blond, darker than her own ash-blond curls, and his eyes were a deep cobalt in contrast to her own icy blue.

And his smile was the stuff of dreams.

To her shock, Beth felt herself blushing. She never blushed.

As a kid Beth had been captain of the cheer squad and almost always the lead in school plays. Attention didn’t bother her. Scrutiny didn’t faze her. But here she was blushing just because this man was smiling at her.

“Sorry.” She remembered to talk. “I guess I should have looked where I was going.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t,” his smile widened, and her cheeks got hotter. “You ok?”

“Oh — uh, yeah. I’m fine,” she mumbled. “Thanks.”

What the heck?

Why was she acting like a fourteen-year-old with her first crush?

“I’m Josh Larson.” He stuck a hand out, and Beth shook it, her own feeling tiny and delicate in his. “I just moved to town.”

“Beth,” she said. “Beth Carroway. Lived here all my life.”

“Carroway? Any relation to Grayson?”

Beth’s heart sank at the question. Grayson’s Baby Sister Syndrome. If he knew her brother, he’d probably run a mile.

“Yeah. His sister,” she answered dully, just waiting for the inevitable “see-ya” that was heading her way.

“He mentioned a sister, but I was expecting someone younger from the way he talked.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “Because if he had his way, I’d perpetually be ten years old. Sadly, I’m a grown woman.”

“Sadly for him, maybe.”

Beth’s eyes shot up to his at his softly spoken words and damned if her toes didn’t curl, just a little.

His smile was pure sin.

“Like I said, I’m new to town and I don’t exactly have a lot of friends yet. Take pity on me and join me for a drink?”

Beth had a lot to do tonight. Grayson wouldn’t be happy if she didn’t show up. He was big on commitment to running the ranch. And Zoe’s email had seemed urgent from the cursory glance she’d managed. Lots of exclamation points. Nothing good ever came of that many exclamation points. Not from Zoe.

She should say no.

She didn’t even know him! And he was very forward…

“Come on,” he coaxed.

And because she’d read so many books about butterflies in the tummy but had never actually experienced the sensation until right now, Beth answered his smile with one of her own.

“Ok,” she said quietly. “I’d love to.

Chapter One

“They look so happy.”

Beth turned from watching Zoe and Beck dance their first dance as husband and wife.

The wedding had gone without a hitch, thank the Lord.

These two had taken the long road on their way to happily ever after. But they were here now. And she couldn’t be happier for Zoe.

As Beth looked on, Zoe smiled radiantly at her husband who was looking down at her with such love on his face that it made Beth’s eyes fill up. She was beyond thrilled that they’d found a love like this. Nobody deserved it more than Zoe. But she wanted it, too. Wanted it for herself.

She smiled at Brooke Winters who’d sort of helped bring Zoe and Beck back to each other by being the letting agent for Beck’s building. A building that Zoe had wanted to rent for her bookstore, The Book Nook.

“They do, don’t they?” She remembered to answer Brooke’s question.

Both Beck and Zoe had ended up being trapped in the building during a storm and the rest was history.

It had been a year since then. But Zoe had told Beth that she’d known from the second she and Beck had kissed that day that she wanted to be his wife.

Beth sighed wistfully.

“You did such a wonderful job with the cake and desserts, too. And I have to tell you, our clients absolutely love the pastries and muffins we provide. I swear, most of them only come to my open houses for your baked goods.”

Beth laughed at Brooke’s wry tone.

Truthfully, setting up Beth’s Bakery had been a dream she hadn’t even known she’d had until last year.

Now it was thriving, and so was she.

From starting off supplying sweet treats for the coffee shop in The Book Nook to turning the rest of the building into a fully-fledged bakery, the past year had been a bit of a whirlwind.

It was tough dividing her time between the bakery and the ranch where she still did most of the cooking. But Beth had always enjoyed a challenge and honestly, the busyness distracted her from how single she was.

Or at least it had done so until today. But there was something about being single at your best friend’s wedding that upset a girl.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” she answered modestly.

She and Brooke chatted for a while longer about nothing and everything.

“Ok, Dr. Larson is looking insanely good tonight,” Brooke suddenly leaned over to whisper. “And he hasn’t taken his eyes off you.”

Startled, Beth turned her head, and her eyes clashed with Josh Larson’s gaze.

Oh, no. Hell no. She was not making that mistake again.

Before she could stop it, her mind flashed back to that one, perfect night she’d spent with Josh Larson when he’d first moved here.

Perfect really was the only word to describe it.

Beth had felt like she was starring in her own movie that night. Josh had been charming, witty, and hotter than a Rocky Valley summer, and she’d just floated around on cloud nine all night.

He’d only arrived in town the week before, so he was staying at Sheraton’s, the nicest and costliest hotel in the area.

And it hadn’t taken much for him to convince Beth to join him there for that drink she’d agreed to.

Instead of driving to the edge of town where the hotel was situated overlooking