An introduction to The Bride Tribe series…
Chapter 1
His fingers caressed mine as he grasped my hand. I watched, eyes wide, as he lowered himself to one knee. This was it. This was the moment I’d been waiting for. My heart pounded loud and steady. It pounded so loud that I couldn’t make out his words as his chocolate-brown gaze locked on mine. It pounded so loud that I couldn’t even hear my own voice as I answered a question I wasn’t sure he’d even spoken.
“Hanna?” His voice cut through my heartbeat as he called out my name. “Hanna, are you there?”
“I’m right here, silly.” I smiled and my heart continued to pound.
When my eyes popped open, I realized it wasn’t my heartbeat I was hearing. It was someone knocking on the front door of my apartment.
I jumped out of bed and barely managed to grab my robe as I ran for the door. With one arm in a sleeve and the other caught in the sash, I realized that the robe was upside down.
“Jake, I’m here. Just a sec.”
“I’ll just come in.”
I heard the slide of his key in the lock and struggled to get my robe situated over my nightgown. It wasn’t really a nightgown—it was a lacy piece of cloth that barely covered my full-bodied frame.
The knob turned and the door swung open just as I managed to get the robe twisted into place. I folded the sides across my body and watched as Jake stepped inside.
Every time I laid eyes on him, it was like the first time all over again.
At a party thrown by a mutual friend, he’d walked in an hour late, drawing all the attention with his wide smile and big brown eyes. At thirty-five he was in better shape than I’d ever been, and his warm personality made him even more attractive. I’d stared at him—openly. He’d noticed, but I still hadn’t been able to look away—at least not until he’d walked toward me.
“Didn’t you hear me knocking?” He smiled as he closed the door behind him. “For a second there I thought maybe you weren’t home.”
“I was dreaming.” I cleared my throat and clutched my robe tighter around me. It was still surprising for me to be around him in intimate moments. As much as I’d worked on my self-esteem over the past year, I still didn’t expect him to enjoy the sight of my body.
“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow and settled his hands on my hips. “About me?”
His lust-filled voice tantalized my senses.
“Always.” I bit into my bottom lip.
“I know I probably shouldn’t have shown up so early, but honestly, after last night, I can’t stand to be away from you.” He caressed my cheek in one smooth movement.
“Last night was wonderful.” I shivered in response to his touch. “I’m happy you’re here.”
“Good, because I’m going to make you breakfast.”
“You don’t have to do that.” I laughed.
“I want to.” He met my eyes. “I want to make you breakfast for the rest of our lives.”
My heart pounded again. So it wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t a dream at all. I glanced down at my hand where no ring sparkled—because when Jake had tried to slide it onto my finger, it wouldn’t fit. My cheeks flared with heat at the memory.
“I’m sorry, I thought I had the right size.” He slid the ring down as far as it could go.
“It’s alright. I might have put on a few pounds.” I did my best to hold back tears of both happiness and embarrassment.
“Don’t be silly, you look fantastic. I must have just made a mistake. I’ll get it resized right away.”
“No. Don’t. Just give me a few weeks and it should fit.”
“Hanna, I want it to fit you now.” He slid the ring back off my finger. “I love you exactly the way you are. You’re gorgeous from head to toe and there’s no need to change anything. I’ll get it resized. Besides, do you really think you’ve put weight on your fingers?” He grinned, leaned in and kissed my neck.
“Yes, I do think that’s possible, actually. It’ll be good motivation for me. Before we can get married, I need to lose the weight anyway. It’s time for me to be healthy. It’s not just about how I’ll look in a wedding dress. It’s about knowing that we’re starting our lives together as healthy as possible.”
“That’s a good thought—when you put it that way.” He sighed and looked into my eyes. “But if you’d let me, I’d marry you right now.”
“Jake, I want us to get married, but it’ll be a moment that we can look back on for the rest of our lives. I want it to be special.”
“I understand.” He kissed my forehead. “As long as you know that you’re gorgeous and there isn’t a single thing I’d change about you.”
“And the same goes for you.” I drew him into a deep kiss.
As his hands traveled the curves of my body, I felt the love in his touch.
I knew he told the truth—but I still wanted to change.
I brought my attention back to Jake, who seemed to be studying me intently.
“I really want to see that ring on your finger. Are you sure I can’t just get you the right size?” He caught my hand and ran his thumb along my empty ring finger.
“Soon. I put it in a safe place, until…”
“Until…” He nodded. “So, in the interest of you actually showing off the ring, I looked up the healthiest breakfast I could find—I’m about to launch your taste buds into an entirely new experience.”
“Okay.” I grinned. “That sounds delicious. What can I do to help?”
“Nothing. Oh, yes, maybe some music?”
“Sure. Let me get dressed first.”
“Or…” He grabbed me around the waist. “You could just stay in that.” His forehead touched mine as he looked into my eyes. “Or less.”
“Nope, no way.” I smiled as I pulled away from him. “I’ll put on some music.”
As I turned my favorite music channel on, I heard him cracking eggs in the kitchen.
I slipped into my room to change. The mirror on the back of my closet door reflected my body as I shed my nightgown and robe.
I tried not to look. It was a habit—to only look briefly. I didn’t want to think about the rolls I didn’t like or the fat that hung from places it didn’t belong. As I changed, I realized that if I really wanted to be at my goal weight by the wedding, I needed to lose about fifty pounds.
Fifty pounds.
The very thought seemed overwhelming to me.
It wasn’t as if I hadn’t tried. Yo-yo dieting had consumed my twenties and I’d sworn that I’d be at a healthy weight by the time I turned thirty. Then I turned thirty.
I’d met Jake and known almost instantly that I would marry him. I’d been telling myself that I would be at my goal weight by the time he proposed. And now that time had come and gone in the blink of an eye.
After I dressed, I forced myself to look in the mirror. The woman reflected back to me was the same woman Jake had gotten on one knee to propose to. I was the same woman that he looked at with such desire that it made my knees grow weak—without him even speaking a word.
I wanted to be that woman—only fifty pounds lighter.
End of the preview.
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