“I need to be inside you.”
I nodded, spreading my legs as he rolled on the rubber and moved in closer.
“We can have more foreplay next time. I need you too.”
Archer thrust into me in one slow, steady stroke, and we shared a groan when he bottomed out inside me. I wrapped my legs around him, keeping him close.
“I missed this. I missed you.”
Rocking his hips into mine, Archer’s whole body covered mine. His hands slid over my breasts, my sides, everywhere he could touch. Leaning down, he kissed me, each stroke of his tongue against mine fueling the fire building low in my belly.
I was absolutely consumed by him—being together, every motion seemed to bring us closer together—until I could hardly tell where I ended, and he began.
As his speed picked up, his thrusts getting deeper and harder, I groaned out against his lips, clinging to him, my nails digging into his shoulders. I could feel my pussy start to clench around him, my orgasm teetering on the edge.
A couple more thrusts and I was there.
I cried out, my thighs squeezing around his as my pussy tightened, gripping him as I came hard and fast.
Archer groaned, pumping in and out of me a couple more times, following me over, grunting out my name as he held still, deep inside me, his cock pulsing as he came. He slid out of me slowly as if he was reluctant to separate. In a quick move, he rolled us over, so I was sprawled over his chest, his hands keeping me close.
“I love you, V.”
I looked up at him, at the earnestness and emotion in his eyes, and even though I was still afraid of what it would all mean, I leaned up and kissed him softly.
“I love you, Archer. Or Isaac. No matter what your name is, as long as I get to call you mine, I love you.”
His arms tightened around me and his eyes twinkled with happiness. “You can call me yours as long as you’ll have me.”
For the first time in as long as I could remember, Archer made me believe there was a chance I really could believe in happily ever after. As long as he was by my side, looking at me like that, it might just be possible.
Epilogue
ARCHER
Almost three years later…
The buzz of the tattoo gun never bothered me, never made me nervous.
But I was nervous today. Not that I was getting my daughter’s name and her baby footprints tattooed over my heart—that was just the icing on what I hoped would be the cake.
My nerves had everything to do with the small silver band in my pocket.
Veronica gave me more in my life than I ever thought it would be possible for a guy like me to have. I had a gorgeous little girl, the sexiest, smartest girlfriend I could’ve ever wanted. I had more than just fear of being found out, of Bonnie Macchio’s men finding me again. I had love, a family, a home.
And now, the thing I wanted more than anything was a wife.
“Daddy, what doin’?” Danielle, our two-year-old, teetered over and looked up at me with the same big, expressive blue-grey eyes her mom had.
I grinned at her and cupped her cheek, keeping an eye on her so she didn’t jerk the chair around or trip over the tattoo machine’s cord.
“Daddy’s friend is drawing a picture.”
Veronica came over and scooped up the curious little girl, holding her up.
“See, that’s your name.”
When V first suggested naming her after my first WITSEC alias, I was skeptical, but now that I’d seen her grow, watched her become the little girl she was turning into, I couldn’t have picked a better name. She was a new chapter in our lives, just like I hoped tonight would be.
The library where I worked was having a Book Lover’s Day celebration, not unlike the one I had been planning for the Jubilee Falls Library, but this year’s celebration was, I hoped, going to be extra special. I had a bag of books for Danielle, new additions to her personal library, all about horses and unicorns. And for Veronica, a proposal I was desperate for her answer.
When we first found out she was pregnant, she was nervous about bringing a baby into our crazy world. I’d asked her to be my wife then, but she claimed she couldn’t do that, not until we knew for sure Isaac was going to be sticking around for a while.
I still wanted to marry her as Archer, as myself, but after almost three years of being Isaac and not having any more scares, I didn’t want to wait any longer. I wanted Veronica to be mine, for our family to be official—at least, official on paper. I knew, long ago, she was it for me. I couldn’t imagine loving anyone else as much as I loved her and Danielle.
“Okay, we’re all set. You want to take a look?” Molly, my tattooist, shut off the machine and pointed at the full-length mirror in the corner.
V followed behind, Danielle chattering her ear off as I stared at the permanent connection with my little girl. No matter how big she got or where her life took her, she was always going to be ours.
“It’s perfect.” Veronica grinned at me in the mirror, her hand skimming over my lower back. Just the simple touch set my nerves on edge, making me want more of her hands on me.
“Yes, it is.” I pulled her around and kissed Danielle on the top of her head before capturing V’s lips. I knew she was talking about the tattoo, but I couldn’t help but mean my family—V and Danielle were my perfect.
After paying for the tattoo, V drove us over to the library. Danielle loved being there almost as much as I did, joining me for every story time she could. “Daddy, will you read me the princess book again?”
I chuckled. “We’ll read the princess book for bedtime.” V and I read to her every night, and she’d grown particularly fond of The Princess Bride.
As she ran off to play a couple of games, I pulled V off to the side and took a deep breath.
“Isaac, is everything okay?” She looked around, her private investigator radar going on high alert.
“Yeah. I just…” I dropped down on one knee and pulled out the ring. “It would be a lot better if you were Mrs. Isaac Stephens. Be my wife, V.”
Her eyes grew wide, and her hand went to her belly. She looked around again, then dropped to her knees with me. She kissed me hard before leaning forward to whisper, “Yes, Archer. I’ll be your wife. But I have something I have to tell you.”
I wrapped my arms around her. “What is it?”
“I was going to wait until we were home to tell you this. Until Danielle was in bed.” She grabbed my hand and pressed it to her belly. “You’re going to be a daddy again. We’re pregnant.”
It felt like time stopped for a moment—this had to be a dream. It was the only thing that made sense. It was the only way all this perfect could be going on at once.
“Our family is growing?”
She nodded. “And I think it’s high time we made it ‘official.’ You’re mine. I’m yours. That little girl over there and this little one to be determined… they’re ours.”
Book Lover’s Day and the noise of the celebration faded to nothing as her lips pressed against mine again.
I never would’ve guessed that WITSEC would’ve led to finding her, but I didn’t miss being an accountant. I loved working with books, inspiring kids to love books, and being with the woman I loved.
Book Lover’s Day was definitely my new favorite holiday with the family I never could’ve believed would be mine.
Want more?
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Dear Reader,
Thank you for joining us for another holiday celebration! We hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.
This book is a bit of an homage to a certain teenage private investigator from Neptune, California. We both really love the show, and totally binged the new season that came out on Hulu. We hope we captured a bit of her sass, her dry wit, and her insatiable need for the truth, while still letting our Veronica be her own character.
I had a lot of fun writing this book, but there were definitely some challenges to be had. Turns out, it’s really hard to keep track of one character that goes by three completely different names throughout the book! The last thing I wanted to do was accidentally have Lynette calling him Archer! If we did miss one of these somewhere, we’re deeply sorry – it was a bit like trying to wrangle someone with split personalities!
Next up, we’ve got a spicy, steamy Pumpkin Spiced Latte Day book for you – Billionaire Barista. We’ll be bringing in a few characters you’ve just barely gotten to meet so far and introducing some new ones we hope you’ll love! If there’s a side character whose romance you’re just dying to read, let us know. We might have something cooking already, or we might just need to come up with something special!
We’re also working on a Halloween novel, Unmasked Desire, and we’re teaming up with a group of other romance authors to get our readers a bunch of new holiday short story romances too! October’s going to be a busy, exciting month for releases.
We’d love to hear what you think about Lip Locked in the Library, so please leave a review! We really appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us and other readers!
If you want to know more about what’s going on in McKenna Rogue’s world, learn more about upcoming books and other authors we (and our pets) love, sign up for our McKenna Rogue’s Rebels’ Newsletter and get a FREE book. You can also join our exclusive Facebook Group, McKenna Rogue’s Rebels.
Looking forward to hearing from you! Can’t wait to share more of our books!
XOXO
McKenna Rogue
Also by McKenna Rogue
Defying Expectations Series (Wright Family Romances)
Silver Screen Seduction (Prequel)
Renovating the Heart
Moonshot Desire
Christmas Crush (December)
Backstage Baby (2020)
Feeling the Heat (2020)
Heated Escape (2020)
Reckless Heart (2020)
Love Demands a Holiday Series
For Love and Donuts
Sparks of Love
Lip-Locked in the Library
Billionaire Barista
Unmasked (October)
Snowed In (December)
Coming Soon…
Wayward Curves (Curvy Girl and Fae Romances)
Fated & Found
Fated & Furious
Fated & Flummoxed
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
Lip Locked in the Library
First Edition, September 25, 2019
Copyright © 2019 Anubis Press GP, All rights reserved.
Cover by EmCat Designs
Editing by Sandy Ebel - Personal Touch Editing
Lip Locked in the Library Page 15