Blissed (Misfit Brides #1) Read Online Free

she’d just bared her soul to CJ Blue. All of her soul.
    That she didn’t belong in Bliss.
    That she once wanted to be the Queen General.
    That he wrecked her marriage.
    The QG was going to kill her.
    Hang her from the center gazebo on the Bliss courthouse lawn with a giant D tattooed on her forehead and a Divorcees Be Warned, Thou Art Not Welcome in Bliss sign pinned to her dress. Because obviously Natalie would be in a dress. An ugly-ass, second-hand black bridesmaid dress, most likely.
    There was some appeal to the thought of letting her car run over Marilyn.
    But the car stopped of its own volition under the power of the QG’s frosty glare. Possibly because the car knew in a match between it and the QG, the QG would win. Or maybe the car stopped because Natalie didn’t much like the idea that her son could grow up visiting Mommy in prison.
    Still, that would be better than his growing up without her at all. Was it possible to die of mortification? She hadn’t yet, but the day was still young.
    She threw the car into park and rolled her window down.
    “Miss Castellano.” Disdain dripped from the QG’s turned-down, painted lips.
    Natalie swallowed hard. Her mother had led the Husband Games subcommittee for the Knot Festival, reporting to Queen General Marilyn for almost as many years as Natalie had been alive. By tradition, Natalie should’ve inherited her mother’s place on the committee. It was how things were done in Bliss.
    But the QG had denied Natalie the privilege of formally continuing her mother’s legacy. Were it not for Dad, Natalie would’ve had no role in Knot Fest at all. Instead, he’d convinced the QG to let Natalie represent the Castellano family for one last Knot Fest in Mom’s honor.
    The QG had ultimately relented and put Natalie on the janitorial subcommittee.
    Being the QG, she had the capability to do worse.
    Much worse.
    Especially after catching Natalie in a confessional with CJ Blue.
    She swallowed once more, harder. “Mrs. Elias, nice to see you again.”
    “It is my pleasure,” the QG said, not sounding pleased in the least, “to present to you the news that Mr. CJ Blue has been invited to play in the Golden Husband Games.”
    She stopped and peered at Natalie expectantly, as though Nat was supposed to burst into a round of applause and make a few catcalls for a kiss.
    “Fantastic,” Natalie said. The chorus of shit s and dammit s in her head were quickly adding up to a few more dollars she owed Noah’s college fund. Today had been very profitable for the little guy.
    “I’m not interested in your opinion, Miss Castellano,” the QG said. “I’m informing you so that you understand that he will accept his invitation, and that you will have nothing further to do with him for the duration of his stay in Bliss. If I ever catch you in a compromising position with him again, I will not only remove you completely from the Knot Fest committee, but I will also do everything in my power to remove you from The Aisle. Are we clear?”
    As clear as the ice forming in Natalie’s veins. “Yes.”
    While the QG had formally taken the Husband Games job from Natalie, the truth of what Natalie was doing was a bit stickier. And if she were completely—and no doubt publicly—removed from the Knot Fest committee entirely, the golden anniversary of Mom’s lifelong pet project would be nearly impossible to secretly keep afloat.
    Nat never wished she’d stayed married to Derek, and she never wished she hadn’t had Noah, but being divorced was a pain in the ass.
    And that was a dime she’d happily give Noah’s college fund.
    “We all have to live with our choices, Miss Castellano. I suggest you give your future wiser consideration than you have your past. Starting now.”
    If Natalie had a couple do-overs, she’d fix a lot of things. But she didn’t have do-overs. She had do-your-bests.
    She also had an ugly suspicion that her time of doing her best in Bliss had just been shrunk like