Break Away (The Baltimore Banners Book 5)
Page 22
"Of course. Yes."
Monica glanced over at Emily, silently communicating her surprise and hesitation. Emily smiled and nonchalantly kicked the back of her foot, forcing her sister to move forward. With one last glance—was that desperation? Or promise of retribution?—Monica turned back to the coach and followed him out of the room.
JP entered less than a minute later, a frown on his face. "Why is your sister following Coach?"
"She wanted coffee."
"What?"
Emily shook her head as JP pulled her into his arms. "I’ll explain later."
"Okay." He dropped a kiss on her forehead then looked at her, concern reflecting in his dark eyes. "Is everything okay? Did you two get things worked out?"
"Yeah, for the most part." Emily rested her head on his shoulder, breathing in his warm scent. Spicy, masculine. Purely JP. "We’ll probably talk some more, but I think we’re good for now."
"Good, I’m glad." He nuzzled her neck, then just held her. His arms were strong, comforting. Protective. And Emily couldn’t think of a single other place she’d rather be.
"So, about that apartment—" JP stiffened in her arms, just for a brief second. He sighed, his hands tightening around her waist as he stepped back.
"I thought you were going to wait until after the holidays."
"I changed my mind."
Disappointment crossed his face and flashed in his eyes. He made no attempt to hide it but he didn’t argue with her, either. He just waited, watching, with a spark of what might be hope still lurking in the depths of his eyes. "You did?"
"Yes. I decided I don’t want an apartment."
That tiny spark of hope flared, growing a little brighter. "No?"
Emily shook her head and smiled up at him. "No. I think I’m going to accept your offer and live here. I mean, if you still want me to—"
"Don’t be foolish! Of course I still want you to. Why would you think I don’t?"
"Just checking." She laughed and leaned up to kiss him. Soft, sweet, full of promise. And cut too short when JP pulled away, a small frown on his face.
"But what changed your mind, mon ange?"
"Something Monica said. She said I needed to stop being afraid. And she’s right. I want to live in the present, JP. In the future. With you. I love you."
The glimmer of hope she had seen in his eyes grew, exploding into something warm and promising. He grinned at her and she realized that what she saw as promising was really his love, as strong and sure as her own.
"My Emilie. You’re mine. You always have been. I love you."
His mouth closed over hers, warm, full of hope, full of promise.
Full of a future finally able to break away from their past.
*****
Other titles by this author:
Emeralds and Gold: A Treasury of Irish Short Stories (anthology)
Finding Dr. Right
Silhouette Special Edition
Crossing the Line
(The Baltimore Banners, Book 1)
Game Over
(The Baltimore Banners, Book 2)
Blue Ribbon Summer
(The Baltimore Banners, Book 3)
Time To Heal
Body Check
(The Baltimore Banners, Book 4)
Coming Soon:
Playmaker
A Baltimore Banners Intermission Novella
(SEDUCED BY THE GAME Cancer Charity Collection)
Available January 15, 2016
Delay of Game
(The Baltimore Banners, Book 6)
Available February 2016
About the Author:
Lisa grew up with an overactive imagination, strong encouragement from her parents, and an insatiable infatuation with the Peanuts gang. That infatuation—along with an impatience she has yet to outgrow—jump-started her love of writing. After all, why should she be forced to wait a whole week to read the stories of her favorite characters when she could create stories for them whenever she wanted?
That love of writing continued to grow, along with all those voices in her head, even during her assorted careers: first as a firefighter with the Baltimore County Fire Department, then a very brief (and not very successful) stint at bartending in east Baltimore, and finally as the Director of Retail Operations for a busy Civil War non-profit.
Lisa currently lives in Maryland with her husband and two sons, one very spoiled Border Collie, two cats with major attitude, several head of cattle, and entirely too many chickens to count.
Interested in reaching out to Lisa? She'd love to hear from you, and there are several ways to contact her:
Website: www.LisaBKamps.com
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Twitter: @LBKamps https://twitter.com/LBKamps
Email: LisaBKamps@gmail.com
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