Chapter 1

At my best friend’s wedding, a bridesmaid caught the bouquet. It bounced off her hands and landed in mine.

Everyone turned toward my boyfriend, Ethan Cole. We’d been together eight years. The crowd began chanting, “Marry her! Marry her!”

Ethan walked over. I blushed, waiting for him to say he would.

Instead, he calmly took the bouquet from my hands and gave it back to the woman who’d caught it first.

“She got it before you did,” he said, smoothing my hair. “We’ll have another chance.”

The spotlight followed the flowers away.

The bridesmaid, Chloe Reed, smiled up at him. Ethan stepped back into the crowd as if nothing had happened.

My wedding was next week.

My best friend, Sophie, looked ready to slap him. I caught her wrist.

“Not today,” I whispered. “You’re the bride.”

At the reception, I sat with Sophie’s family while Ethan laughed with his friends. Chloe sat close beside him, closer than a secretary needed to sit.

She hadn’t been a bridesmaid until the groom’s side needed one more. Ethan had brought her to parties and work events for months, always calling it “good experience.”

Sophie hugged me during the toast. “She’s been circling him for half a year. I looked into her. Her tricks are subtle.”

“Sophie. Please.”

The reception wasn’t over yet.