Icing on the Cake by Karla Doyle

 
 
Nia and Conn’s wedding will be fairytale perfect…if their siblings can get along. Free-spirited, anti-establishment Sara has always been on the outside of her family’s fairytale mold. Now she’s being forced smack into the middle of it at her sister Nia’s wedding. Alongside the cocky and annoyingly sexy best man—Conn’s cop brother. Curtis doesn’t buy in to organized romance and fairytales. But for his brother, he’ll throw on a tux and fake it for a few hours. His flak vest would have been a better choice around the maid of honor. He should have brought his handcuffs too, because somebody needs to restrain the dark-haired spitfire—and he’s just the man for the job. One night to indulge the spark between them, then goodbye—that was the agreement. Curtis isn’t looking for a relationship and he sure doesn’t want a troublemaker for a girlfriend. The last thing Sara needs in her daily life is a cop looking over her shoulder, no matter how hot he is. But giving in to their chemistry is much more fun than giving it up…  
It’d been a year and a half since fate—or more specifically, car trouble and bad weather—had brought Conn and Nia together. In that time, there’d been several occasions where the Lawler and Chambers families had mixed. Sara hadn’t attended. Not even Christmas dinner at her sister’s house. Sara’s family didn’t make excuses on her behalf, nor did they seem upset. Instead they affectionately tossed around terms such as “free-spirited”and “nonconformist.” Well, the free-spirited nonconformist better walk through the church doors, stat. Anybody who got in the way of his brother’s happiness, especially this weekend, would be answering to Curtis. Badge and handcuffs not required for that job. “You didn’t bring a date for the wedding,”Conn said, interrupting Curtis’internal threats toward a woman he’d never met. “Nah. With the wedding all the way up here, that would’ve meant spending an entire weekend together at the various family-bonding events. An invitation like that tends to send the ‘this is serious’message.” Conn stretched his arms along the top of the church pew while nodding. “Gotcha.” “Yeah.”Not that Curtis had anything against commitment. The right woman just hadn’t come along. Because he purposely kept busy with the wrong ones. “Since you’re flying solo this weekend, I need a favor.” “Spending tomorrow in a monkey suit isn’t favor enough? Especially after that overly friendly tailor at the tuxedo-rental place got a little too much enjoyment out of measuring my inseam?” One of Conn’s patented grins took over his face. “Did you check the pockets yet? He might’ve slipped you his number.” “Whatever, man.”He gave Conn a friendly shot to the ribs. “How you, the totally unavailable groom-to-be, got the hot Asian chick to measure you while I got stuck with the grabby-hands guy, I have no fucking idea.” “Was she hot? I didn’t notice.” Oh man, he was serious. Love had put blinders on his brother. Big time. “Ten out of ten,”Curtis said, shaking his head. “So, what’s the favor?” Conn’s smile thinned. “Keep an eye on Sara. Make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble.” “Babysitting detail.” “Yeah.” “Is she that bad?” “I hope not,”Conn said as the church’s front door slammed and all heads turned toward the entryway. Call him fucked-up, but one look at the dark-haired beauty who’d just strutted into the building, and Curtis kinda hoped Sara lived up to her troublemaker reputation.