The Worst Wedding Date

THE WORST WEDDING DATE PIPPA GRANT Copyright © 2023 All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Editing by Jessica Snyder Proofreading by Emily Laughridge & Jodi Duggan Cover Design by Qamber Designs CONTENTS Introduction 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 Sneak Peek of Flirting with the Frenemy Pippa Grant Book List About the Author INTRODUCTION The Worst Wedding Date A Best Friend’s Brother / Opposites Attract / Enemies-to-Lovers / Forced Proximity / Bad Boy-Good Girl / Destination Wedding Date Romantic Comedy I didn’t know bridesmaid was code for babysitter for the bride’s brother, but if that’s what my best friend needs of me for her dream wedding to go off without a hitch, that’s what I’ll do. Even if Theo Monroe has been a pain in my rear since third grade. Even if he should be responsible enough to not wreak havoc at his sister’s destination wedding. Even if it means we have to share a hotel room in Hawaii, which might be the final duty that breaks me. Not only does Theo know exactly how to push my buttons, but he never wears clothes, he’s hiding a litter of kittens in his room, and he keeps showing up with fresh-baked cookies that seemingly come from nowhere. Also? I have no idea why he’s being such an utter ass to the groom. Or why he’s so proud of the world’s most awkward wedding gift. Or why I suddenly want to know what makes him tick. The story behind his tattoos. How he can afford to rent a convertible in Hawaii. And if maybe all of that utter frustration and irritation I’ve felt for him for years is suppressed attraction that a good girl like me isn’t supposed to feel for the biggest bad boy of Snaggletooth Creek. But I do know one thing. When I find out his biggest secret and the answer to all of my questions, it will change everything. The Worst Wedding Date is a frolicking good time of a destination wedding enemies-to-lovers romcom, complete with a good girl bridesmaid, her best friend’s troublemaking but secretly big-hearted brother, and more than one hitch on the way to happily ever after. It stands alone, has no cheating, and comes complete with ooey gooey goodness. * * * Keep in touch with Pippa Grant! Get the Pipster Report Follow Pippa on Amazon Pippa Grant Standalones The Last Eligible Billionaire (An Amazon #1 Bestseller) Exes and Ho Ho Hos This book is dedicated to anyone who’s ever struggled with perfectionism and learning to break the rules that don’t matter. And also to anyone who lives with loud sneezers. I know you know what I’m talking about. And we love them anyway. 1 Delaney Kingston, aka a bridesmaid who will do anything for her best friend, no matter how terrible it is Ah, smell that? That salty, fresh breeze with a hint of passion fruit and a golden sunset layered over the ocean surf? That’s the scent of happily ever after. After years and years and years of my best friend waiting for her boyfriend to pop the question, then another forever of planning, we are finally here. Their wedding week. Emma’s getting her dream destination wedding, and I haven’t stopped smiling—no, beaming since my plane touched down in Hawaii two hours ago. Everything is love. The gentle wind softening the humid air. The fragrant flowers. The giant coconut trees. The gecko watching me from the shorter tropical palm tree. Emma’s shampoo as she hugs me outside the entrance to the Midnight Orchid Club Resort barely a minute after I texted her that my driver was pulling into the parking lot. “Laney! You’re here!” “Happy wedding week, you beautiful bride, you.” I hug her back like we weren’t watching the January snow fall while we had coffee together at Bean & Nugget Café back home in Snaggletooth Creek four days ago. “Are you nervous? Are you eating enough? Did you have dinner?” She laughs as she pulls back, but it’s higher-pitched than it should be. “Hawaiian feast. You saw the schedule, right? Of course you saw it. You live by schedules.” Her stomach grumbles like she did not, in fact, partake in the Hawaiian feast. It’s an instinctive reaction to reach into my purse and whip out a protein bar for her. “Em? Everything okay?” Her eyes go impossibly wider and she shake-nods her head too fast and insistently. “Of course.” For the first time since I boarded the plane to catch up to the rest of the wedding party after having to delay a day for an unfortunate work emergency, I’m not smiling. “Talk to me. What’s up?” She has three inches on me, so I have to look up to study her. Her blond hair is pulled back in a ponytail. Her sharp cheekbones are undeniably sharper. And I don’t think the tinge of hysteria in her brown eyes is a trick of the fading evening light. “Wedding stress. That’s all. This is normal. How was your flight? Are you exhausted? Here. I have your, erm, room key. We checked in the whole wedding