Bonus Novella: The Sunshine Valley Series
Sealed With A Kiss
Three matchmaking ladies decide to play Cupid for the boy next door in this Sunshine Valley novella from USA Today bestselling author Melinda Curtis.
For Kimmy Easley, showing up at her ex’s wedding without a date is unacceptable. She’s got to find someone — and fast — because she can’t face going alone. Convincing her childhood friend Booker Belmonte to go with her is easy but that starts the spread of gossip through Sunshine Valley quicker than wildfire. Kimmy has never thought of Booker as anything more than a friend, so it’s funny how she never noticed how nicely he fills out a tux…
Booker could never say no to Kimmy — he’s had a secret crush on her for years. Accompanying her to the wedding is a no-brainer, not getting his hopes up that it might lead to more than friendship is going to be more difficult. But now that the matchmaking widows club has set their sights on Booker and Kimmy, will they be next to walk down the aisle?
Tropes: small town, friends to lovers romance, fake wedding date romance, matchmakers, rom-com
Excerpt:
“I haven’t seen you in years and you show up with Mims?” Kimmy pushed out the back door of Emory’s and didn’t stop walking until she’d reached the employee picnic table on the back patio near the receiving bay. She sat down across from Booker with her sandwich and a bottle of water. “What’s happening here?”
Her gaze caught on him. On handsome him. And something deep inside stirred with interest.
I need to date more.
Who was she kidding? She needed to date. Period. Starting this week.
“You made me lunch. That’s what happening.” Booker held up his grilled cheese sandwich. “Cheddar, muenster, and swiss. But you spiced it up with…”
“Grainy Dijon mustard, walnuts, and super thin apple slices.” Pride had her smiling back, despite a small voice in her head whispering that Booker was the competition now. Her attractive competition.
Stop. This is Booker.
The guy she’d studied geometry with and thrown French fries at. The guy who’d taken her to prom because neither of them had dates, although that turned out to be a disaster. He was her friend. He could still be her friend.
As long as he doesn’t kill Emory’s lunch business in the next six weeks.
She sighed. “It makes the cheese more interesting, doesn’t it?”
“I’ve never done more than salt and pepper a grilled cheese sandwich. Well done.” Booker took another bite. “You know what would make this better? Two thick slabs of French toast.”
“Heavens, no.” Kimmy unwrapped a shredded chicken sandwich she’d made for herself. “The imbalance of bread to cheese wouldn’t work.”
Booker’s smile fell a little.
“Maybe it would work between waffles,” she said kindly, intrigued by the flavor combinations.
Behind him in the loading dock, several teenage boys were doing tricks on skateboards.
“Isn’t that your brother?” Kimmy pointed to a teen who was shorter and skinnier than the others. “Dante?”
Booker turned, scowling when his eyes lit on his kid brother. “Dante! Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”
Dante skidded to a stop, flipping his board vertical so he could grab the front axle. “We had an assembly today. Short day at school.”
“Then shouldn’t you be at the Burger Shack?” There was no mistaking the command in Booker’s voice.
Dante shrugged. Translated from teen speak that meant yes, but I’m not going.
The other two teens – the Bodine twins – took off in the other direction.
“Gotta go.” Dante waved and followed them.
“But…” Booker twisted back around in his seat to face Kimmy, expression dark. “Aren’t you glad you had an older brother? Because…” He gestured toward the escaping Dante.
“At this moment, yes.” Looking into Booker’s dark eyes, she nearly forgot why she’d come outside to join him. Mental head thunk. Her future. “I hear you’re changing the menu at the Burger Shack.” Might as well address the elephant in the room.
“My parents’ business has been struggling, and they wanted to retire. And I’ve been playing with the burgers and sandwich combos in the store I opened in Denver.” His voice dropped into that low, soothing range usually reserved for lawyers and ministers dealing with sensitive topics. “Burger & Sammie Shack. It’s all mine, and it’s exceeded my expectations.”
“You’re a success.” And she was just the deli girl at Emory’s.
Only for the next six weeks.
Kimmy bit into her sandwich, pausing to relish the blend of basil pesto, melted mozzarella, baked chicken, and olives. They could take away her job, but they’d never take away her ability to make magic in a sandwich.
“It’s not exactly the dream I talked about when we worked at the Burger Shack.” He pulled what remained of his sandwich in half, stretching the cheese as he did so and then wrapping it around the bread before taking a bite. “But it’s just what my family needs. I hope to have the staff trained before the wedding. I’ve got to get back to Denver soon afterward.” He paused to smile, but it was a tentative thing. “I want to show you the menu.”
He wants my input?
Kimmy made a non-committal noise and took another bite of sandwich, considering the cowlick at Booker’s temple. The rest of his hair fell straight and in line. And that was Booker’s life in a nutshell. He knew what he wanted and marched straight toward it, overcoming obstacles like a tank on a battlefield.
Her path to her dreams was slower paced and more circuitous. Not that she wanted to discuss her plans with Booker, owner of the Burger & Sammie Shack. Or his menu.
She switched gears. “I need to find a wedding date.” She set down her sandwich, thinking it could use a bit more garlic. “Maybe I am desperate. Can you imagine? Me up on the stage at Shaw’s?” Gawked at and bid on. She shivered.
What did I get myself into?
“You’ll earn the highest bid of the evening.” That was Booker, ever the optimist.
Booker back in town. Kimmy needing a date. The Widows Club at her lunch counter. Suspicion worked its way into her thoughts.
“I’m just going to be frank here.” She wiped her fingers clean with a napkin, wishing she could just as easily wipe away her promise to be auctioned off. “You walked up to my counter with the president of the Widows Club. Mims cornered you to emcee the event and maybe something more.”
“It’s not what you think.” Booker held up his hands. “My mom brought her into the kitchen at the Burger Shack, and then she said she had something to talk about but wanted to get her steps in, and suddenly I was in your lunch line.”
Kimmy picked up her sandwich and was about to take another bite when she hesitated. “You don’t think they’re targeting the two of us as…”
Booker looked stricken and released a strangled, “No.”
He either believed that or he was friend-zoning her.
The friend-zoning stung given how smitten she was by his good looks today.
It’s a by-product of my need for a date.
“Yeah, you’re right.” She stuffed some chicken back between the bread. “If they were trying to match the two of us, Mims wouldn’t have asked you to emcee. You can’t bid as the host.”
“Bullet dodged,” Booker muttered, not meeting her gaze.
The Story Behind the Story
Both the prequel and bonus novellas in this series feature the Easley sisters. This is Kimmy’s story. I love best friends to lovers stories but I also wanted to put a twist on it. If Kimmy only knew Booker’s secret, they might not be friends. It might be an enemy to lovers story!
Poor Booker has been put in the friend zone by Kimmy and her crush on his best friend. But now that Haywood is getting married, Kimmy is desperate for a wedding date. Who could be safer than her dear friend Booker? LOL.
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