Her Best Friend's Proposal #SYTYCW15 #Special Edition Suzanne Swartz

Chapter 1 #SYTYCW15 #Specialedition

"We should get married."

If she hadn't just swallowed the first sip she'd taken of the white wine, Tess O'Neill definitely would have choked, spitting the pale gold liquid all over herself, the gleaming hardwood floor, and most likely Jackson Blackwood, too. Of course, if Jack had really said what Tess thought she'd just heard him say, he deserved to wear the vintage port.

"Excuse me?"

Jack's dark brown eyes sparkled like black diamonds. "You heard me," he answered with a grin as he tipped the bottle of imported beer to his lips.

Okay, so there went her hearing things theory. Tess cast Jack a sidelong glance, wondering if this was another of his little jokes or if he had simply lost his ever-loving mind. Those were the only explanations that would make a lick of sense.

Right?

Of course, he had to be joking. They were friends, for heaven's sake. Had been for most of their lives. Even in jest it was ridiculous for Jack to even utter anything about the two of them and marriage. At least not in the same sentence.

Or even thought.

At least, Tess thought it should be ridiculous.

Maybe he'd had too much to drink.

Going with that notion, Tess plucked the beer from Jack's hand and set the bottle on the mahogany table. "I think you've had enough of that."

"I've only had three sips," Jack quickly defended his sobriety, mischief twinkling in those dark, dark eyes.

"Then maybe you've been working too hard on your latest book and you're sleep deprived or something."

Laughing, Jack picked up the bottle. "I'm not drunk, overworked, or tired." He took another pull of his beer. "I really do think we should consider getting married. In fact, I've been giving it a lot of thought lately."

What? Given it a lot of thought lately? What the hell was happening here? And who was this man impersonating Jackson Blackwood?

A dream. That's what this was. A preposterous dream. Absurd. Absolutely, positively, undeniably absurd.

It was the only other reasonable explanation. Tess had known Jack since she'd been eleven years old. They'd played on the same soccer and little league team for the love the Pete. They'd been best friends for over half their lives.

Buddies. Pals. Homeys. Peeps.

Never, ever, anything more.

So, then, why on earth would Jack be giving any kind of thought to the two of them getting married? What kind of freaking sense would that even make?

None, that's what, confirming Tess's suspicions she was in the middle of some crazy dream. Any minute her alarm would begin its beep, beep, beeping, she'd wake up, and everything would be normal.

Patiently, Tess waited a few ticks. Yeah, that alarm should be going off any minute. Time to rise and shine and praise the Lord this had all been a very disturbing dream.

She pulled in a deep breath, waiting. She was ready to wake up. Yessiree. Anytime. The sooner, the better.

Ring, dammit, ring!

Tess looked up at Jack. "Pinch me."

Jack laughed and shook his dark head. "You're not dreaming, Tess."

Crap! "Then I must be losing my freaking mind."

"You're not crazy either."

"Then that leaves you. Maybe you've just tumbled right over the edge." She rolled her forefinger and wrist forward to simulate the fall.