“What won’t we believe?” Noah asked.
“She’s real.”
Alexis scrunched up her face. “Who is real?”
“The Russian’s wife!”
Noah stood and looked over Colton’s shoulder. “Holy shit.”
Alexis peered around him and followed his gaze. A tall, impossibly gorgeous woman stood just inside the entrance to the ballroom. Next to her, looking both shocked and slightly pitiful, was the Russian.
“I thought she couldn’t come to the wedding,” Noah said.
“Looks to me like he wasn’t expecting her,” Alexis said.
As if on cue, the woman turned on one dangerously high heel and began to walk out. The Russian raced after her.
“Uh-oh,” Noah breathed. “That doesn’t look good.”
“Maybe we should follow them,” Colton said.
Noah shook his head. “Leave them alone. Something’s obviously wrong.”
“Oh, I hope not,” Alexis said, leaning on the table. “He’s so tenderhearted. It would destroy him if he’s having marriage trouble.”
Colton smirked at Noah and left the table. Noah returned to his seat, and Alexis once again rested her head on him. “How long should we stay?”
“If that’s an offer to leave so I can finally get that dress off you, then my answer is now.”
She laughed and brushed the tip of her nose against his jaw. “Looking forward to that, are you?”
Noah’s long fingers slipped inside the back of her dress. “You should too. I have some fun stuff planned for you tonight.”
“Fun stuff we’ve done before?” Her voice was suddenly breathless.
Noah caught her earlobe with this lips. “And some that we haven’t.”
Alexis tilted her head and sighed as he kissed behind her ear. “And where did you learn these new fun things?”
He turned her face toward his. And just before lowering his mouth, he murmured, “The Bromance Book Club, honey.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This was a very personal project for me because it tells a story I know well. Shortly after I married my husband, he donated a kidney to his sister in an emergency, fast-tracked donation. Just two months after finding out he was the only genetic match in his family, the surgery was successfully performed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
So my first thanks has to be to the doctors, nurses, and entire transplant team who cared for him then—and the amazing health care professionals who continue to take care of transplant donors and recipients today. Every donation experience is unique. And though I had to employ some creative license in a few details in Alexis’s kidney donation for the sake of the timeline, the heart of the story is based on firsthand experience and a simple fact: living-organ donation can save lives. For more information, including how to become a kidney donor and the donation process, please visit the National Kidney Foundation at kidney.org.
As always, enormous thanks to my agent, Tara Gelsomino, for the reassuring patience and unwavering belief in the Bromance boys. Equal gratitude to my editor, Kristine E. Swartz, who knows how to talk a panicky writer off the edge. And to the entire marketing, publicity, and sales teams at Berkley Romance—you are the best in the business.
Thank you to my friends—Meika, Christina, Alyssa, Victoria, and all the women of my beloved Binderhaus. I couldn’t do this without you.
And finally to my family. Thanks for putting up with me. You’re the reason I do this.
Photo by Lauren Perry of Perrywinkle Photography
Lyssa Kay Adams read her first romance novel at a very young age when she swiped one from her grandmother’s stash. After a long journalism career in which she had to write too many sad endings, she decided to return to the stories that guaranteed a happy ever after. Once described as “funny, adorable, and a wee bit heartbreaking,” Lyssa’s books feature women who always get the last word, men who aren’t afraid to cry, and animals. Lots of animals. Lyssa writes full-time from her home in Michigan, where she lives with her sportswriter husband, her wickedly funny daughter, and a spoiled Maltese who likes to be rocked to sleep like a baby. When she’s not writing, she’s cooking or driving her daughter around from one sporting event to the next. Or rocking the dog.
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