by Claire Raye
Write what you love.
The words I’d written onto her skin on this very beach.
I slip the note into my pocket, smiling as I wrap an arm around her shoulders. “You don’t want to leave it here?” she asks. “For posterity and all?”
I glance down at her, one brow raised. “So some psycho can find it and know where we live? Hell no!”
Nora laughs and leans her head on my shoulder, her arm wrapping around my waist. Inside her pocket, her phone dings with a text message and when she pulls it out, we both read the message.
Alice: WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?? Everyone is waiting and you still need to change!
“God she’s impatient,” I laugh, knowing how much Alice supports her and us in all of this. She and I have grown close over the past twelve months, with James too, and I’m eternally grateful for the way they’ve welcomed me into their family. Her dad came around, eventually, and although I still get the feeling he’s waiting for all of this to fall apart, I know he’s grateful to see his daughter finally happy too.
“Right, anyone would think she has a wedding to go to.”
I chuckle and kiss the top of her head. “You don’t care that I’ve seen you, right?” I don’t even know why I ask it. I know she doesn’t care because last night we shared a hotel bed together. This morning we woke up in that bed together and then we took a shower together. We aren’t like that and our relationship has never been close to being traditional.
And neither will our wedding.
“God no,” she scoffs. “Anyway, it’s not like you saw me in my dress.”
Grinning, I look down at her. “Oh you mean, you’re not getting married in jeans and a tank?” I tease.
Nora smirks at me, her hand sliding onto my stomach. “No, I’m not. And you look very nice by the way,” she adds, her fingers slipping between the buttons of my white linen shirt and brushing across my skin, her touch like a jolt of electricity.
“You always look beautiful,” I whisper, leaning down to kiss her again. “What do you think, should we go get married?” I ask, tipping my head in the direction of our waiting wedding down the other end of the beach. Our beach.
“Yes,” Nora says, smiling.
I return the smile, pulling her in for another kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Fourteen years ago, I sat on this beach and kissed this woman beneath the stars. We kissed, we shared our dreams and we connected, in so many ways. Tonight, we’ll do that again, knowing that we will never lose each other now, that everything else is just a distant memory.
And that we’re creating new memories now.
Memories of us.
What’s Next!
We hope you enjoyed reading Nora and Elliot’s story! If you’d like to see what’s coming next from us, read on for the blurb of Maybe Yours, book three in our Love & Wine series, coming April 2021
Preorder Maybe Yours below!
Maybe Yours
Love & Wine: Book Three
Working together is even more fun when you’re falling in love.
What do a dating app and co-workers have in common? Other than being a terrible idea...nothing! Internet dating is not for the faint of heart and neither is finding out you're accidently dating your co-worker.
At least that’s what Tommy Andrews discovers when he realizes the woman he’s been talking dirty to online is none other than Penny Cartwright, his much younger co-worker who runs the tasting room at Somerville Winery and Vineyard.
But Penny is determined to prove that just because she’s younger, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t know what she wants. And what she wants is Tommy.
As their chemistry sizzles, keeping it a secret from their bosses proves more difficult than denying their attraction to each other.
And you know what they say about dating your co-worker...
Your free books are waiting!
We hope you loved reading Nora and Elliot’s story and we want to say thank you for downloading our book by offering you even more! This FREE prequel gives you a glimpse into the early lives of Beck & Kelsey and takes place before the events of Coming Home to You (Book One).
Grab your FREE copy of Beginning with You, click here!
And, because one freebie is never enough, we are also excited to offer you a FREE prequel of our Hawthorn Hills Duet Series!! This takes us back to the early lives of Sienna, Caleb and Reid and takes place before the events of Complicate Me (Book One).
Grab your FREE copy of Confuse Me right here!
Happy reading and thank you!
A Note from Claire
There’s an interesting story behind this book. It’s actually a book that Raye started writing years ago, back when both of us – Claire and Raye – wrote as separate authors under our real names. We used to help each other out back then, with writing and editing and plotting, but we always wrote solo, something we’ve since discovered is a lot more fun doing together. The Memory of Us was one of those books that Raye was writing, but just couldn’t finish, no matter how much she chatted with me about it. Back then it used to be called The Memory of You and the ending Raye had planned was very different. When we gave up our solo writing careers, Raye gave up finishing this book and left it sitting in a folder on her computer. Then one day, we were chatting (as usual!) and Raye asked if I would help her finish writing it. I knew this story had always driven her crazy, but I was more than happy to help if I could. We went back and forth on the ending again and Raye once more wanted to set this book on fire out of sheer frustration! But we persisted and as strange and interesting as it was for me to take on someone else’s half-written character and try and finish their story, I had a lot of fun doing it. I hope I did Raye’s story justice.
A Note from Raye
This book was and still is my nemesis in some ways. I’m so thankful to have such an amazing writing partner who jumped in and helped me finish this story. She made Elliot everything I hoped he would be but could never manage to get it down on paper. Without Claire this book would still be sitting on my computer taunting me and making me feel a failure. Claire is honestly the most kind-hearted and generous person I know and to say she did this story justice would be an understatement. She made it amazing.
Acknowledgements
Once again, a huge thank you to all of our readers! Thank you for buying our books, for leaving us a review and for all of your support, it means the world to us!
Thank you also to Sarah Hansen for the beautiful cover, which is perfect for Elliot and Nora’s story. Thank you also to our beta readers and editor, your time and support is invaluable.
Thank you to Brit (My Little Book Nook) for your stunning flatlys that you expertly created for our book. We owe you and will always be grateful for your support!
As always, thanks to our crazy husbands, for your random ideas and cheeky one-liners!
About the Author
Not only is Claire Raye a really sweet pen name, it’s actually a pen name for two sarcastic best friends who met through their mutual love of reading. After bonding over books (and wine and cheese), they decided to take the plunge and see if they could write a book together and ta dah... The Rockport Beach Series was born! In addition to their shared love of food and dropping an occasional (read, a lot of) f bombs, the writing duo that is Claire Raye like to write about strong, sassy females who aren’t afraid to say what’s on their mind and the overprotective men who fall in love with them.
Both halves of Claire Raye are married and both of their husbands have a cheeky side that gets plenty of airtime in their books. From their smart mouths to their witty one-liners, there’s plenty of material to use for all those alpha males they love to write about.
Plans are already underway for the next series, which is sure to feature plenty of sass, steam and humor, and of course, a happily ever after! If that’s your thing, then a Claire Raye book is for you!
Table of Contents
Nora
Part One: Nora
Chapter One
Twelve Years Ago- San Diego
Chapter Two
Present Day - New York City
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Part Two: Elliot
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Part Three: Nora & Elliot
Chapter Eighteen: Nora
Chapter Nineteen: Elliot
Chapter Twenty: Nora
Chapter Twenty-One: Elliot
Chapter Twenty-Two: Nora
Chapter Twenty-Three: Elliot
Chapter Twenty-Four: Nora
Chapter Twenty-Five: Elliot
Chapter Twenty-Six: Nora
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Elliot
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Nora
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Elliot
Chapter Thirty: Nora
Chapter Thirty-One: Elliot
Chapter Thirty-Two: Nora
Chapter Thirty-Three: Elliot
Chapter Thirty-Four: Nora
Chapter Thirty-Five: Elliot
Chapter Thirty-Six: Nora
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Elliot
What’s Next!
Your free books are waiting!
A Note from Claire
A Note from Raye
Acknowledgements
About the Author