The Wedding Affair (The Affair Series Book 2) by Suzanne Halliday Page A

sister. When my folks entered the marital sweepstakes, both couples joked about how cool it would be to have kids at the same time. Like twins but not. Guess the universe liked jokes because that’s exactly what happened. Our moms were pregnant together, and I get the award for being first on the scene. And then five weeks later, Ryan came along.”
    “Twins, but not,” she murmured.
    “It’s pretty romantic, if you ask me,” Andi declared.
    A throb of pleasure snaked along his nerve endings when Sam shifted in her seat and crossed her legs, angled in his direction. Did she know her body language was sending out signals? When she tilted her head and studied his face, he saw nothing but a guileless freshness in her expression.
    She had no idea how she affected him.
    “What’s your sister’s name?”
    “Alianna Sommerfield. But she uses the name Ali Morgan. She’s a writer.”
    Andi jumped in with a hoarsely barked, “Excuse me?” Turning to Kyle, she shook her head and asked in an incredulous tone, “Ali Morgan is your cousin?”
    “Uh, yes?” he answered.
    Ryan looked from Kyle’s bemused smirk to Andrea’s flabbergasted expression to Samantha’s slack-jawed reaction and snickered.
    “Why am I just hearing about this now?”
    He heard Samantha’s soft giggle at her friend’s tone of spousal indignation.
    “Shit, honey,” Kyle stammered when his fiancée’s annoyance became crystal clear. “She’s on the invitation list.”
    “As Alianna Sommerfield, you stupid jackass.”
    Samantha reached for the toothpick sticking out of a pineapple chunk, waved her hand over her choices, and plucked the one with a little aqua pearl seashell.
    Kyle and Andi forgotten for the moment, he watched mesmerized as she slowly lifted the local fruit to her waiting mouth. When her lips parted, and he saw her tongue accept the golden tidbit, he nearly fell out of his chair. The way she bit into the chunk and how her tongue licked the juices off her lips consumed his thoughts.
    “Are all men this dense, or is it just you? Ryan,” Andi snapped. “She’s your sister. Did it ever occur to you that maybe letting me know an international best-selling wildly famous author was going to be at my wedding?”
    No way was he taking flak for this slice of Sommerfield absurdity.
    “I don’t lead off every conversation with, ‘Hey, did you know my obnoxious sister is famous.’” He shrugged and smirked at the same time. “And besides, I’m not her damn spokesman. For months, you’ve been cooking up this tropical shindig with my aunt. In my book, she shoulda told you.”
    The disgruntled bride crossed her arms and slumped heavily into her seat. She even managed a dramatic, “ Harrumph .”
    “Sami, help me out.”
    The lady at his side dropped the pretty seashell pick onto a plate and grabbed a napkin, which she used to wipe her mouth.
    “Don’t have a dog in this fight,” she pithily replied. Ryan coughed to cover his laugh.
    “Oh, yes you do,” Andi swiftly retorted. “My mom will go off when she learns someone famous for creating hot sexy stories is here. You’re my maid of honor.” She pouted. “How about if, when, it happens, I put you in charge of managing Dolores’s freak-out?”
    “Ouch. That’s a bit underhanded.” Samantha leaned into him and mock-whispered as means of explanation, “The only time her mom’ll get on her knees is to pray.”
    Ryan chuckled and a clearly horrified-at-what-she-said Samantha slapped a hand over her mouth.
    With a resigned sigh, he took up for his superstar sister as Kyle tried valiantly to coerce Andi into a sweeter mood.
    “Okay, newsflash,” he drawled. “Ali doesn’t dress in leather or a schoolgirl outfit. She doesn’t wear hooker heels, and she doesn’t wear a collar. She doesn’t travel with an entourage although I’m fairly certain she flew in on a private plane. She writes filthy stories about likable characters. It’s her job, guys. But in real life?