PRETTY FALLING PIECES

by Isabelle Culpo

Cover & Excerpt Reveal

Release Date: October 27, 2021

Cover Design: Isabelle Culpo

Genre: Contemporary romance / Women's Fiction
Trope: Workplace romance, inspirational

Synopsis

She always stood out from the crowd… for all the wrong reasons.

Imogen learned a tough lesson at a very young age—people will judge and bully you because of your looks. Since that discovery, she’s lived her life in the background, invisible.

Now, she’s a new person on the outside, but remains the same self-conscious, distrustful young woman on the inside. But her life takes an interesting turn when she catches the attention of a man who sees her as the compassionate woman she is. The only problem is she’s wary of others’ true intentions and unsure if his attentiveness is authentic.

Follow Imogen’s journey as she struggles to separate the trauma of her past from the promise of a better future filled with love, compassion, and the happiness she’s always deserved.

Excerpt

Jet lag creeps up on me the next morning.

One minute I’m finishing up a surprisingly delicious homemade stir fry and heading off to bed, the next it’s 11 a.m. Sunday and I’m due to meet Jess for lunch in two hours.

A few pieces from my newly purchased wardrobe are thankfully washed, ironed, and hanging in my closet, ready to throw on. I pull out the cream cardigan with pearl detailing and a pair of light blue jeans, pairing those with diamond stud earrings and nude heels that I already owned.

After putting on some makeup and tying my hair up in a loose bun, I head out the door.

My self-appointed stylist, Jess, messaged me this morning and I’m surprised it didn’t wake me. Look cute, was all she said.

I don’t know about cute, but I hope this will suffice.

* * *

When I arrive, I see she’s secured us an outdoor table under a beautiful canopy of pink and purple wisteria.

“You look perfect,” she says, standing to kiss me on the cheek. There’s a pride in her eyes that I don’t remember seeing before I left for Africa. It makes me question how she felt being seen with me before.

“Thank you,” I reply. “So do you, as per usual.”

She fluffs out the skirt of her floor length coral dress then sits. “Have a seat. The guys are just getting the drinks.”

“Guys?” I ask.

I catch her trying to hide a smile. “Yeah, Trent and his friend are buying us lunch today. I think you two will get along well.” My eyes widen and she lets a snicker slip. “There’s also the fact that he’s sexy as fuck. So even if you don’t talk to him, he’ll still be fun to look at.”

“Why didn’t you warn me we’d be having company?” I whisper.

“Because I knew if I did, you wouldn’t come.”

True.

“Now calm down, you look beautiful!” She reaches over, fussing with the pieces of hair framing my face. When I see two men from the corner of my eye approaching, I bat her away, mortified.

Instinct tells me that Trent is the first to the table, carrying two tall glasses of white wine in his hand. He’s tall and handsome with pale blue eyes, sandy blond hair and a beard. “Imogen, hi.” He extends his hand out to me. “I’m Trent, your future brother-in-law.”

I turn to Jess, noting her face lighting up like a Christmas tree.

Okay, that was kind of cute.

Together they make a stunning couple.

“I feel like I already know you, Jess talks about you so much.” He takes a seat next to her.

“Thanks Trent, it’s nice to meet you.”

He looks past me to the man standing behind me.

The one I haven’t allowed myself to look at yet and don’t really want to.

“This is my best mate, Theo. Although I believe you’ve already met,” he says, winking.

Surely not.

I turn my head and lo and behold, it’s the same Theo from last night, dressed in dark jeans and a crisp white t-shirt that shows off his tanned forearms. They were covered last night and I think this man needs to wear sleeves permanently. It’s a health and safety risk having them out on display like that.

Before taking the seat next to me, Theo offers his hand to me again, and I suddenly remember how I left him hanging last night. “It’s nice to see you again, Imogen.”

When I place my hand in his, my breath catches.

Loudly.

Like I’m a sheltered spinster from the 1800s.

Jess barely contains herself.

I’m going to kill her for this.

She’s saved by the bell though because the waiter arrives at our table to take our order. Since I’m in the company of three supermodels, I opt for the healthiest thing on the menu, a Green Goddess Salad.

“Theo, how’s the waterfront development coming along?” Jess asks.

“Good. Construction is underway so we’ll start fitting it out soon. Yesterday our engineer fucked up our roof guttering system, so we had a massive internal leak, but luckily that’s now fixed.”

Trent scoffs, “As if!” and that’s when I see the teasing in Theo’s eyes.

So that’s why he missed the party.

Theo laughs at Trent taking the bait. While they continue discussing industrial draining, Jess leans back in her chair, tapping her fingers together like an evil mastermind.

What is she up to?

“Theo, did you know that Imogen’s an interior designer? Since she’s just got back from Africa, her schedule’s free right now. Maybe she could help you with the waterfront?” she suggests innocently.

I tap her leg under the table, but she keeps her eyes directed at Theo.

“I’m sure he already has people in his team working on that, Jess,” I quickly add. The last thing I want is for him to feel obliged to say yes since he’s been put on the spot.

“I don’t. We usually outsource design during the later stages of the project. Would you be interested, Imogen?” His eyes bore into me, awaiting an answer, but my brain short circuits.

For him to even consider me is incredibly generous, but I only have experience designing residential.

“Honestly, it’s fine” I say, shaking my head “I’ve got a few of my previous clients lined up who want work done. I don’t have experience on a project of that scale anyway.”

“I can help you with anything you’re not sure of. We’re not quite at the stage where you’d need to be working on it full-time so you can continue with your existing clients. My office is downtown. We can meet tomorrow morning at ten if that works?”

I can see now why his company’s so successful. He doesn’t take no for an answer.

I nod and smile, but it doesn’t reach my eyes. “Okay then.”

He smiles at me when I accept, and it’s so breathtaking, I want to dip my head in the champagne bucket filled with ice.

“Well, that’s settled then,” Jess claps, satisfied that her work here is now done.