Hard to Love

by K. Bromberg

  When I walk back in, I’m struck by the sight of him. Finn is sitting up against the headboard, pillows propped behind him with his tanned skin so very striking against the white sheets.

  “What’s this?”

  “Just a little Christmas present for you.”

  “For me? But Christmas isn’t for two days.”

  I take a seat before him, sitting cross-legged on the bed, and feel a little punch of desire as his eyes dart down to where the hem of my T-shirt has crept up to show my nakedness beneath.

  “I know, but I think it’s time we continue a tradition in our own way.”

  He narrows his brows. “Now I’m definitely curious.” He takes the box from me and opens the card on top. His eyes light up when he chuckles at the card I tried to replicate from the one he has in a frame on his desk. “We’re playing Cards O’ Fun now, are we?”

  “Perhaps.”

  He toys with the card’s edges before pulling it from the envelope. His laugh reverberates around the room and fills me with love. “Take me somewhere in public and wear this,” he reads. “That’s not much of a dare.”

  I motion for him to open it. His eyes are locked on mine as he pulls the ribbon off ever so slowly. “You never know. It could be some lacey lingerie or—”

  “Ha. You wouldn’t, because you know I’d be photographed with you.”

  He has a point. But it’s his laugh when he sees what’s inside that makes me smile. He pulls out a multicolor ugly Christmas sweater that has Flynn Rider, also known as Rapunzel’s prince, on it.

  He shakes his head and chuckles as he slides it over his head and stares at me while I pull out my Rapunzel one and slip it over my head.

  “These look like Disney threw up all over us,” he says.

  “I know. They’re perfect.”

  “I have other words I think I could use but we’ll stick with yours.” He angles his head to the side and leans forward. “Thank you. It’s my favorite, just like you are.” He presses a kiss to my lips that warms my insides.

  “So you’ll wear it to take me out to breakfast?”

  “That’s not much of a dare, Lancaster.”

  His tongue slips between my lips, and I fall into his kiss. His taste. The sounds he makes. Does this ever get old? Will it?

  For some reason, I just don’t think it will.

  “Maybe breakfast can wait,” I say, shifting so that I’m straddling him, our bodies fitting together perfectly.

  “It can, can’t it?” His lips touch mine as his hands slide up and hold my hips.

  “It can.”

  “What about my present for you?” he asks.

  “I think you’re about to give it to me.” I laugh as I grind where his cock is pressed against his underwear.

  “True,” he laughs, but he then brings his hands up to frame my face and tilts my head back so he can meet my eyes. There’s an intensity to the emotions swimming in his eyes. A clarity that I haven’t seen before.

  “What?” I ask softly.

  “I have something for you,” he says and then clears his throat. “And I’ve been stressing over how to give it to you and what to say and how we can negotiate the terms to your liking—”

  “The terms?” I purse my lips. “Are you telling me that the lifetime contract you were negotiating was for me?”

  “Not for you, but more like with you.”

  “Finn, what are you talking about?” I laugh and then it falls off when Finn pulls a black velvet box out from beneath the pillow beside him. “Oh.”

  His smile is tentative. “I’ve been worried about all the ways I could convince you that this would be a good deal for you. So that you might look at this and see something other than how much I benefit by you taking this deal. But no matter how much I tried, all I can think about is how much both of us entered into this wanting nothing, and how we ended up finding everything.”

  “Finn.” My voice wavers as I say his name and realize the contract he’s been negotiating isn’t with Nike or a sports company. It’s between him and me.

  So like my Finn. The one I’m staring at right now through tear-blurred eyes and with a heart that’s all but swelling out of my chest. My Finn, who has to dot every I and cross every T. My Finn, who is always looking out for those who have put their trust in him to do the best for them.

  “So I can’t promise you that I’ll always be the best partner in this deal. I can’t promise that you won’t feel taken for granted or that I won’t ask too much of you . . . but I can promise you whatever hard times we face, we can always meet at the bargaining table to work it out. And what I can tell you is that I love you, Stevie Lancaster. I love that you take chances. That you’re dedicated and spontaneous and that you love with all your heart, even when you don’t realize you’re doing it. And most of all, I love that you love me. A man who might be hard to love, but who would move heaven and earth to hear your laugh. To taste your kiss. To lie beside you each and every night.”

  My pulse races and my hands shake. Tears well in his eyes before he looks at the box in his hand and then looks back up at me.

  “So I promise to celebrate your victories and be the person you lean against after your defeats. More than anything, I promise to take note of every incredible first with you. Will you marry me?”

  When he opens the box, a little laugh escapes when I see in the top of the ring box, he has his own homemade Cards O’ Fun that says, “Say yes.”

  And then I gasp at the delicate band framing a princess cut diamond. It’s gorgeous but the man who’s holding it outshines its beauty by miles.

  When I meet his eyes, I know he was built to love me. Every complicated inch of me. And I also know from spending the last eighteen months with him, that this is a man my dad would have loved for me too.

  “Yes,” I whisper. “More than yes. Yes, times a trillion.”

  And before he can even put the ring on my finger, I launch myself at him, my lips on his, my body against his, and show him just how beneficial this lifetime contract will be.

  Have you fallen in love . . .

  Have you fallen in love with the whole Play Hard series?

  Hunter and Dekker took their sweet time finding love in Hard to Handle.

  Then Rush swept you off your feet in his and Lennox’s story Hard to Hold.

  Not to be overshadowed was Drew and Brexton in Hard to Score.

  And then there was the unexpected in Chase and Gunner’s story in Hard to Lose.

  I hope you enjoy them!

  New York Times Bestselling author K. Bromberg writes contemporary romance novels that contain a mixture of sweet, emotional, a whole lot of sexy, and a little bit of real. She likes to write strong heroines and damaged heroes who we love to hate but can’t help to love.

  A mom of three, she plots her novels in between school runs and soccer practices, more often than not with her laptop in tow and her mind scattered in too many different directions.

  Since publishing her first book on a whim in 2013, Kristy has sold over one and a half million copies of her books across twenty different countries and has landed on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestsellers lists over thirty times. Her Driven trilogy (Driven, Fueled, and Crashed) is currently being adapted for film by the streaming platform, Passionflix.

  With her imagination always in overdrive, she is currently scheming, plotting, and swooning over her latest hero. You can find out more about him or chat with Kristy on any of her social media accounts. The easiest way to stay up to date on new releases and upcoming novels is to sign up for her newsletter or follow her on Bookbub.

 

 

 
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