How to Lose a Groom in 10 Days Read Online Free PDF Page A

campground, but after hiking for an hour to their more remote location, even shorts and tees felt sticky on the hot afternoon.
    No surprise that Melanie’s skin heated even more as Grady peeled off that shirt.
    “Maybe it would help if we looked up the instructions online instead of reading through an old marshmallow smudge.” He picked up his phone and started inputting commands with flying thumbs. “There’s no rule against utilizing digital help for problem solving in this wager of yours, is there?”
    “There is no wager.” She set aside the brochure and tried not to stare at the ridged muscles of his stomach or the dusting of light brown hair visible just above low-slung shorts. “I’m just trying to show you the other side of me. How would you feel if I wanted to go camping instead of staying in the team hotel while you were on the road?”
    For that matter, what if she got a call from home and her mother needed bail money after a night in the drunk tank for some local dust-up when Mom turned ornery? How understanding would Grady be when she ran back home to put Band-Aids on the hemorrhaging wounds of the Webb clan?
    “I would work harder to remind you why you’d rather sleep in my bed every night.” He glanced up at her over his phone, the look he sent curling her toes.
    Rendering her speechless.
    Because he had the power to do just that. She knew it. And he knew it. So she wouldn’t go arguing that particular point and give him an opportunity to prove her wrong.
    Pivoting away from him, she walked around the spot they’d chosen to camp, needing to walk off the tingling in her thighs and between her legs. She felt his eyes follow her, making the ache worse.
    “Melanie,” he called in that sexy smooth voice of his, “If you really wanted to camp while I was on the road, I’d lobby the team to let me spend that time with you.”
    “The Stars would never go for that.” She knew how strict the major league clubs were about player curfews and team bonding.
    “They’re more lenient with family guys.” Setting down his phone, he returned his attention to the tent poles, tugging two of them from their canvas sleeves to re-thread them in new places. “They know a player can’t be happy if his family’s not happy.”
    “Right. So they throw a little more money your way and hope the wifey will be content with a new car.” She’d seen with her own eyes how tough life on the road could be for player wives—had been out socially with some of the younger ones in past years when she’d worked spring training events with the families. “That doesn’t satisfy any woman who genuinely loves her husband and not his paycheck.”
    Although it would have made Melanie’s mother happy. She’d stalked the spring training fields around town twenty-some years ago in hope of hooking up with a player and moving out of the Florida backwater town where she’d been born. Maybe that was part of what bothered Melanie about being with Grady. Her mother would make ugly assumptions about her and—worse—she’d crow to all of her barfly friends that her daughter struck it big by snagging a big-leaguer.
    Her thoughts were so dark, she hadn’t noticed that Grady had stalked closer. She felt his presence a second before he put his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her to face him.
    “In that case, thank you for loving me more than my paycheck.” His hands lingered on the bare skin just below her t-shirt sleeves.
    Strong, warm hands. The touch scrambled her thoughts.
    “What I mean is—” She licked dry lips, trying to recall what she’d meant.
    “I know what you mean.” His thumbs moved in the smallest of circles on her arms.
    Her breasts beaded under her shirt, her whole body responding to his nearness. His voice.
    “Maybe we shouldn’t touch each other until we have this situation worked out,” she suggested, her voice cracking while her whole body protested the idea.
    “It feels good though, doesn’t