That's Amore! - Janelle Denison [0]
I Do, Don't I – Tori Carrington
There Goes the Groom – Leslie Kelly
MEET THE PARENTS
Janelle Denison
PROLOGUE
WEDDINGS, DAISY O'REILLY decided one painfully sunny spring morning, should be outlawed.
From the white dress that cost more than some cars, to the black tux that made most grooms look like waiters, the entire wedding ritual made the Inquisition look painless. Weepy brides and horny bridesmaids, tight shoes and schmaltzy music, all-too-phony smiles and all-too-breakable vows … the whole thing was a bottomless pit in which to dump money. And dreams.
Unfortunately, Daisy was deep inside that bottomless pit. Along with her cousin, she ran an Internet-based business supplying imprinted wedding favors to dewy brides and their clueless grooms. And the cash being tossed down the marriage pit was landing on her with regularity these days, so she supposed she ought to stop cursing the industry that kept her fed, clothed and sheltered.
Maybe she would. Next month. When she hadn't been dumped quite so recently.
"Has he called yet?"
Looking up, she spied her cousin, Trudy, her partner at domeafavor.com, standing in the doorway of the crowded mailroom. "Who?"
Trudy rolled her eyes. "Oh, puh-lease, you know who I'm talking about. Dan the dork who turned you from the smiling, sunny, happy flower after which you're named into this brooding, romance-hating femi-Nazi."
Daisy grunted, then continued packing up the carton full of Hawaiian candy leis they were about to ship off to an engaged couple. She wondered if Hawaiian brides wore them instead of veils … and hula skirts instead of gowns. Sure would be cheaper. Not to mention more comfortable. "You're imagining things."
Tossing her purse on the cluttered desk, Trudy walked over to help. She grabbed the tape while Daisy put the packing slip inside the box. "So he hasn't called. Well, good riddance."
"Yeah. Lucky me," Daisy muttered.
Obviously hearing the tiny hint of hurt Daisy hadn't managed to keep out of her voice, her cousin frowned. "It's not you. When are you going to realize you have no luck with men because you keep picking losers?"
"Well, gee, thanks ever so much for making me feel better," she said. She folded the box closed, then held it while Trudy taped it up.
When they were finished, her cousin put the tape dispenser down, took her hand and squeezed it. "Honey, you're so pretty and smart, and yet you keep going out with jerks, or players who have no intention of getting serious. It's like you want to fail, so you intentionally pick men destined to break your heart."
Daisy's mouth dropped open as her cousin delved a little too deeply into her psyche. There were times, late at night when Daisy was alone, when she would try to come up with reasons for any great guy to fall in love with her. The list was invariably a short one. So each time, she'd say yes to the next Dan the dork or Carl the clueless, figuring there wasn't anything special enough about her to attract—and hold on to—a really great guy.
How the heck Trudy had figured that out, she had no idea. Because, honestly, Daisy had never before even acknowledged it about herself.
"You know I'm right," Trudy said as she finished loading up yet another carton for yet another happy couple somewhere out in engaged America.
This particular carton was filled with tiny metal charms. The little things looked like eyeballs and were, in fact, called evil eyes. Why anyone would want anything with the word "evil" in it at their wedding was beyond Daisy's comprehension. If she ever got married, she figured the closest she'd come would be "evil mother-in-law."
But even the little eyes were better than the final package of wedding favors they quickly got to work on. Those little candy-covered almonds might as well be called colored rocks. The one time Daisy had tried one, she'd lost a filling.
"So, what are the chances that I can talk you into going out with a nice guy, for a change?" Trudy asked as they finished taping up the third carton.
Daisy reached for