No groom? No Problem.

When her fiancé tries to turn their wedding into a publicity stunt, Jenna ditches the nuptials—and the groom she shouldn’t have been with in the first place—and skips straight to the honeymoon. The getaway driver, her ex-fiancé’s former business partner, Zach, is the perfect guy to help reshape her romantic newlywed itinerary into an anti-couple, anti-romance, anti-honeymoon adventure for two.

They trade couples yoga for kickboxing lessons. Five-star dining on the beach for pizza and beer at a dive bar. Forget couples massage—Jenna’s getting that tattoo she’s always wanted, and dares Zach to get one, too. And those naughty boudoir pics she took in place of romantic sunset snaps? Those aren’t going in anyone’s wedding album. Not that Zach will forget them anytime soon.

As each item on Jenna’s anti-couples list is checked off, the anti-honeymoon with Zach feels more and more like the real thing, and she wishes the list was just a little bit longer…and even steamier.

Excerpt

“Need help with your bags or anything?” Zach called from the hallway.

Jenna sighed from inside the dress’s folds. “Yes, actually I do need some help.”

She heard the bedroom door open. “In here,” she said, shoving the skirt back down so it covered her ass. She tugged it into place just as Zach entered the closet.

“I need you to rip this off me.”

“Pardon?” He looked like she’d just asked him to play strip poker.

“I’m sewn into the dress,” she explained. “I need you to pull the back seam apart.” She turned her back so he could get at it.

“You’re sewn into the dress?”

“It’s a designer thing. Apparently.” This would be her first—and last—experience wearing a designer gown. If she ever did actually meet a man and make it through the whole wedding ceremony, it would be on a beach somewhere. No pinchy shoes, no fussy hair and make-up, no designer gown and no Python. Just a flowy comfortable dress, her bare feet, and the ocean waves. And a groom, of course. One focused on her and not making things appear perfect for a magazine spread.

“If you say so.” He sounded uncertain and really she couldn’t blame him. Even though he probably had women taking off their clothes in front of him all the time, they probably didn’t often ask him to rip them out of a wedding gown. At least not on the first date.

Jenna jumped when his hand brushed her bare shoulder. His heat was like a volcano at her back and the clean, soapy smell of him made her want to inhale deeply.

“Sorry,” he murmured, though she wasn’t sure what he had to be sorry about. “Just…rip it?”

“At the seam. It should pull apart.”

He tugged at the fabric tentatively.

It didn’t give way like she thought it would. “Harder,” she said, trying to speed things up. His nearness was disconcerting and a little space would be a good thing.

“I’m going to rip it.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “Just get me out of this thing. Please.”

Zach popped the top stitch and it all separated at once, from her nape to her ass.

She clutched the front of the dress to her breasts.

“What the hell is that?” he asked and it took Jenna a minute to figure out what he meant.

“The Python,” Jenna said, turning around. “Haute Couture isn’t made for women with curves in mind. Elliot and the designer thought this would make the dress flow better.”

“Wow,” he muttered, staring. Then he shook his head. “Please tell me you’re not sewn into that thing, too.”

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About the Author

Bethany Michaels is the author of over a dozen contemporary novels and novellas as well as a handful of Regency-set historicals and light paranormal romances. The first book in her Nashville country music series, Nashville Heat, was an RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee.

When not working on her next book, Bethany enjoys movies, traveling, camping, hiking, and volunteering with her kids’ scout troops. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and four teens.