The Bridesmaid's Gifts

The Bridesmaid's Gifts
GINA WILKINS

CAN YOU TELL WHAT I' M THINKING?– ETHAN BRANNON, SKEPTICHandsome but cynical Ethan was hardly a believer in Aislinn Flaherty' s special " gifts." And despite her attraction to him, the full-time cake maker/part-time psychic vowed to ignore Ethan. Really. Until she started having " feelings" about his long-lost brother. Deep down, she knew she could reunite Ethan with the relative he was sure was gone forever.If only her feelings for Ethan were just as reliable…

There were things about Aislinn he couldn’t easily explain.

They reached the doorknob at the same time, his hand landing on top of hers. He should have removed his immediately, but instead he lingered, intrigued by the feel of her. She glanced up at him, their eyes meeting. Holding.

From the first moment he had seen her, he had been aware of her beauty. He had pushed the attraction to the back of his mind as he had tried to deal with his wariness of everything else about her.

He removed his hand slowly, letting her open the door for him.

“Ethan?”

He glanced over his shoulder. “Yes?”

“Be careful at the stoplight.”

“What stoplight?”

“Every stoplight,” she answered, and closed the door.

Drawing a deep breath to steady his racing pulse, he proceeded with caution. Yep, there were definitely things about Aislinn that were getting harder to explain….

Dear Reader,

I’ve mentioned in previous notes that I don’t always know where my characters are going to take me when I start a book. I usually have an idea in mind, but before long I find them taking the story away from me and sometimes taking it in directions I never envisioned.

That happened with this book, The Bridesmaid’s Gifts. What I had originally intended as a lighthearted story about a reluctant psychic soon changed into something much more serious. I began to realize how hard it is being “different.” Never quite fitting in. Something we’ve all felt at one time or another, but that my heroine, Aislinn, had been fighting all her life. Add to that a hero with serious trust issues…and the conflict between them took shape. A couple of other characters I’d never expected popped up in the book, as well—one of them taking me completely by surprise as she revealed her role in the tale!

This book is a little different from my usual fare, but it’s been quite an adventure for me. I hope you’ll be as caught up as I was in Aislinn and Ethan’s quest for acceptance, trust…and most important, love.

Gina Wilkins

The Bridesmaid’s Gifts

Gina Wilkins

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

GINA WILKINS

is a bestselling and award-winning author who has written more than seventy novels for Harlequin and Silhouette Books. She credits her successful career in romance to her long, happy marriage and her three extraordinary children.

A lifelong resident of central Arkansas, Ms. Wilkins sold her first book to Harlequin Books in 1987 and has been writing full-time since. She has appeared on the Waldenbooks, B. Dalton and USA TODAY bestseller lists. She is a three-time recipient of a Maggie Award for Excellence, sponsored by Georgia Romance Writers, and has won several awards from the reviewers of Romantic Times BOOKreviews.

For Kerry

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter One

“So you’re the psychic.”

Aislinn Flaherty had to make a massive effort to hold on to her pleasant expression in response to the drawled comment. She was doing this for her best friend, she reminded herself. Nic was so happy about her engagement, so pleased to be entertaining her future brother-in-law for the first time. Aislinn was going to do everything in her power to get along with him, even though she already suspected that it wasn’t going to be easy.

“Someone has obviously been pulling your leg,” she said lightly. “I’ve never even pretended to be a psychic.”

“Hmm.” Ethan Brannon was visibly unconvinced. Whatever he had been told—and Aislinn intended to grill Nic about that when they were alone—he apparently believed that she did, indeed, make claims to some sort of extrasensory abilities.

She had met Ethan only ten minutes earlier when she’d arrived at Nic Sawyer’s house for this small dinner party. After introducing them, Nic and her fiancé— Ethan’s brother, Joel—had moved into the kitchen to finish the dinner preparations, leaving Aislinn and Ethan to chat in the living room. This was Ethan’s idea of a conversation starter, apparently.

In an attempt to dispel some of the awkwardness, she moved across the room to an antique buffet in one corner of the room. Nic had set the buffet up as a bar, and had encouraged Aislinn and Ethan to help themselves to a before-dinner drink while they waited. “Can I get you anything?”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you’re having.”

She poured a glass of white wine for herself, a Chivas for him. Carrying both across the room, she handed him his glass. He frowned, looking suspiciously from the drink to her. “Parlor tricks?”

Sipping her wine, she lifted an eyebrow, then lowered the glass. “I beg your pardon?”