Not You Again

NOT YOU AGAIN ALI PARKER STAR KEY PRESS CONTENTS Find Ali Parker Description Dedication Introduction Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Epilogue Insider Group About the Author Copyright FIND ALI PARKER www.aliparkerbooks.com DESCRIPTION The last time I saw my new colleague, she was on top of me. Literally. She’s my best friend’s sister. It might have been a hot one-time fling at his wedding. Maybe. And the preacher from the church might have been the one to wake me up with my pants around my ankles. What? It was worth it. Years later she’s pissed that we’re working together. Personally, I like having her curvy figure around to keep things interesting. But she’s a boss in business—and a goddess in bed. Lucky me. We have six months to get a job done. Our task? Romance and architecture. How hard can it be? Turns out it’s not that easy with a woman whose heart is cold as ice. She doesn’t believe in love. Unfortunately for her, I do. And I love a challenge. She has her eyes on the deadline. I have mine on the prize: Her. DEDICATION To all of my funny girls out there. I am one of you. I love a good laugh more than anything else. This book is what that’s all about. Hope you fall in love with it. I did. <3 Ali Introduction Well hey there! Thank you so much for grabbing one of my books. I sure hope you love it. I’d hate to part ways once you’re done though. How about we stay in touch? We have a great family of readers on my Insiders Newsletter Group that you just can’t miss out on. We do exclusive giveaways, facebook parties, Christmas cards, event invites and sneak previews for this amazing group. And as a HUGE thank you for joining, you’ll receive a free book on me! Join the fam Here! PROLOGUE PAYTON As I walked down the aisle, I should’ve been looking at Grant but the only person I could see was Karson. With those light green eyes that had always reminded me of summer, he looked at me like he was a man who’d been in the desert for days and I was a tall glass of ice-cold water. Tingles ran through me, and even if I’d wanted to, I wouldn’t have been able to stop them. It’d been four long years since I’d last seen him in the flesh, and tonight, I was hoping to see him in nothing but the flesh. The beautiful sounds of the rock version of Canon in D filled the air as I made my slow progression down the aisle, unable to stop staring at my childhood crush just as much as he seemed to be unable to stop staring at me. I didn’t believe in love, but the closest I’d ever come to feeling the emotion had been with him. Well, maybe not with him, but for him. The Neidums had moved in next door when I’d been so young that I didn’t remember the time before they’d become our neighbors. My brother, Grant, and Karson Neidum had become best friends almost instantly and they’d stayed that way for all this time. As for me, I’d never really become friends with him but there had been a time when I wished I could be. I’d wanted the kind of relationship with him that my brother had, but they were four years older than me, and as kids, that gap had just been too big. Maverick, Karson’s brother, was two years older than them, and therefore, it hadn’t been an option for me to befriend him, either. So I’d been left on the outside looking in, the little sister to the three boys who turned into men right before her eyes. When that had happened and I’d started growing up as well, I’d suddenly realized that I didn’t want the same relationship with him that my brother had always had with him. What I wanted from him was something else entirely. Secretly, it still was. I’d been crushing on him forever and now he was finally back from college just in time for it to be my turn to go. The fall semester started next week, and since I wanted to get settled on campus before classes kicked off, I was leaving sooner than I wanted to think about right now. What it all came down to, however, was that I only had tonight with Karson. After he’d been away for four years and I was about to go for the next three, I had to work with the time we had. As I reached the front of the aisle and turned to wait for the bride, my gaze remained on his. Those green eyes had always reminded me of new leaves and freshly mowed grass, of baby plants breaking through the ground after a long winter, and of the brighter moss growing on the rocks by a riverbed. With his tanned skin and the warmth in those eyes, looking at him was like seeing the very embodiment of all the best parts of summer—and that included all the fun to be had over the break. With shaggy black hair, he stood about six foot five and he was built like a lumberjack. All bulging muscles and broad shoulders under his fitted black suit. I wouldn’t have believed it to be possible, but he’d only gotten more handsome during the time he’d been gone. The music changed to the wedding march and my