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J ulia shaded her eyes as she waited by baggage claim with a caramel-and-pecan cluster from the Azul Caye Chocolate Company. After Mom and Jim got hitched, Bo and Alex exchanged vows at the courthouse to keep Bo from getting kicked out of the country.

Not super romantic, but necessary.

However, this weekend, eighteen months in the making, was the overdue big, fussy, over-the-top wedding. Alex’s best friend, Mariele, insisted on hosting the ceremony and reception at her resort in the mountains. It promised to be more of a vacation than Mom’s nuptials.

Good, because life had been a blur.

Since Mom’s wedding, she’d left Ithaca for LA; scored a back-of-house job at the Ritz-Carlton, where she’d risen through the ranks; and, as predicted, fallen in love with Carson.

Eh, that was a lie.

She was in love with him from the start, but it took her ages to stop denying it.

With the resort nearly complete, she’d quit her Ritz-Carlton job a month ago to start up the hospitality and guest services’ back office at Stone Adventures and Resort.

They’d welcome their first guests when they launched in two months. Everything was dropping into place.

The only thing missing was Carson.

She rubbed her forearm, where a fourth gem tattoo joined the trio representing Dad, Alex, and herself. Mom’s diamond was a welcome addition, and she had room for one more, right inside her elbow. Alex had filled the spot on her body with a citrine to represent Bo.

Carson’s birthstone was a pearl.

“Hey, beautiful,” a familiar rumbly voice said.

Julia leapt into Carson’s arms. He swung her around, nearly knocking into other travelers. A glimpse of this man still sent adrenaline thrumming through her.

She glanced at his bag. “Is that all you packed?”

“You were expecting more?” He laughed and set her down.

“For someone who’s moving here, yes. Here.” She thrust the cluster at him. “It’s been too long since you’ve tasted Belizean chocolate.”

Carson had promoted his COO to CEO of the LA office. Danny, thank God, was staying in LA as an associate who was still receiving a boatload of executive coaching. Carson would spend his next six months spinning up an office here.

“The rest of my clothes are on the moving truck.”

“Which will be here in…?”

“Four days. I have all the important stuff.” He patted his oddly bulky messenger bag.

Hmph. That was a weird tone. Was he sweating?

“What’s the important stuff?” she asked.

He pursed his lips. “I’d rather not say.”

“Carson Miller. I demand you tell me what’s in the bag.”

“No.” He shook his head. “I refuse. Not here in baggage claim.”

She popped her hands on her hips. “You can’t refuse.”

“You’re infuriating.” He knelt, then withdrew a small velvet box from his bag.

“I planned to do this tonight on the beach where we had our first kiss, but, Julia Sapphire Stone, your impatience is one of the many things I love about you. You never let me get away with anything and love me through my bad moods. You got away from me once, but I want to spend the rest of my days making you happy. Will you marry me?”

With shiny eyes, she knelt with him. “You had me at infuriating. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

As they kissed, she giggled.

“What?” Carson asked.

She wiped away a happy tear. “The wedding invitations will confuse people. ‘Mr. and Mrs. Jim and Michelle Miller request the honor of your presence at the wedding of their children, Carson Miller and Julia Stone.’”

“We’ll workshop it,” he said, then rose, pulling her to him. “Now let’s go home.”

* * * * *

Thank you for reading Destination Weddings and Other Disasters by M.C. Vaughan! Check out her next hilarious and thrilling romance with a spy heroine and her unknowing civilian boyfriend, Code Name: Gorgeous , out early 2026 from Afterglow Books!

If you liked the glimpse of Jules’s sister, Alex, and her partner, Bo, read their exciting Belize-filled adventure Romancing Miss Stone !

By-the-numbers Bo Ferguson has his future all planned.

Then his archaeologist fiancée dumps him.

Via text. From Belize. Navigating the rainforest to win her back is way out of Bo’s comfort zone, but so is the idea of starting over.

Fortunately, he’s secured a tour guide willing to lead him into the unmapped jungle.

Unfortunately, she’s annoying, impulsive—and attractive as hell.

Jungle expert Alexandra Stone is in no position to turn down a job after her regrettable ex stole everything from her family business and ran.

Sure, Bo might be frustratingly uptight, but Alex needs the money.

And besides, there’s something…fun about pushing the guy’s adorably rigid buttons, especially when it clearly gets a rise out of him.

But the close confines of their shared camp make it hard to ignore the tension beneath the bickering, prompting the sweltering heat between them to erupt into sweaty, wild passion.

Bo can’t deny his brief time with Alex has been the most exciting of his life.

But the journey they’re on still leads to one place—his ex-fiancée—forcing Bo and Alex to confront their pasts, their fears and the question of just where this adventure will take them…

You can find Alex and Bo’s banter-filled opposites-attract love story Romancing Miss Stone in all formats wherever books are sold.

Keep reading for an excerpt from The Code for Love by Anne Marsh.