Page 1 of New Year, New Guy
Chapter One
A trickle of freezing rain slid down the one-centimetre gap between Laura’s upturned collar and her bare neck. This was why no one except her half-baked sister risked getting married in the middle of dismal January in soggy Plymouth instead of planning a destination wedding somewhere hot and tropical.
Picture a winter wonderland. Think of the church fragrant with paperwhites and glowing with creamy white roses and tulips intermingled with pops of yellow forsythia.
She stamped her feet in a desperate effort to return some trace of feeling to her toes. If this idiot didn’t arrive she’d give Polly a piece of her mind.No you won’t.What Laura owed her sister couldn’t be paid back if she stood in the pouring rain for a month. Through the fading afternoon light a bus pulled into the bay in front of her and shuddered to a noisy halt.
A few seconds later she understood why Polly smiled when she’d asked for a picture of Hunter McQueen.
Trust me, according to the way Johnny always describes him, you won’t be able to miss the man.
Laura spotted a huge man towering above the group of passengers who piled off the bus.
‘Yeah, thanks, but I’m good for a ride.’ A deep voice laced with a thick American drawl boomed out. ‘Some cute British babe’s picking me up.’
Gritting her teeth in a weak smile she walked across to him. ‘Mr McQueen?’ An amused grin rested on her, all white teeth and mischievous sky-blue eyes. ‘I’m—’
‘—Miss Laura Williams. My saviour.’
Engulfed in an unexpected hug she was trapped against the broadest, hardest chest she’d ever come into contact with and inhaled the man’s warm woodsy scent. Anyone would think he’d spent the day chopping down trees instead of being crammed in an overheated bus all the way from London.
‘Tiny little thing, aren’t you?’
Finally she managed to wriggle loose. ‘How was your journey? I’m surprised you chose the bus when the train’s far quicker and a lot more pleasant.’
‘I like bus people.’
‘Bus people?’
‘All sorts of people ride buses and most are up for talking.’
Five hours trapped next to a talkative stranger would be her idea of hell.
‘Have you got your luggage yet? I think the driver’s taken everything out.’
‘It’s all here.’ He hoisted a camouflage backpack on one shoulder.
‘That’s it?’
‘Yep. I’m a plain kind of guy all around. Take me as you find me.’
‘I’m the same . . . although not the guy part.’
‘Obviously.’
Laura suspected complete honesty with this man would be a terrible idea. Hunter McQueen was Polly’s wedding surprise for her fiancé. The appearance of Johnny’s old friend should be the highlight of Saturday night’s party. The engaged couple had decided it wasn’t modern to hold separate hen and stag dos which was why everyone was meeting at their favourite Greek restaurant for an evening of great food, lashings of ouzo and the obligatory plate smashing. Laura’s assignment was to keep Hunter McQueen out of the way until the party. She’d briefly wondered if this was a matchmaking attempt on her sister’s part but no way would Polly attempt to pair her off with this garrulous man.
‘Follow me,’ she said, and sighed to herself. This promised to be a long three days.
* * *
‘Mr McQueen, this is mine.’ The brisk statement stopped him seconds away from walking right past a miniature bright blue car.
‘For a start let’s ditch the whole Mr McQueen bit and stick to Hunter.’ A layer of reticence shadowed her eyes and he wondered what lay behind Laura’s wall of quiet good manners. He eyed up the tiny vehicle. ‘Do you have a shoehorn?’
‘Polly didn’t warn me you were . . .’
‘. . . oversized?’ Despite the late afternoon darkness closing around them Hunter sensed her heated blush.
