by Lisa Suzanne
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped as I took in the scene before me. The man I loved was telling me that he wanted to commit his life to mine after I’d only been free from my first husband for a week. The haunted Jesse who held his secrets inside was gone. This was a man who was an open book that only I had the pleasure of reading, and I wanted to read with him for the rest of my life.
“I don’t have a ring or a date in mind or anything like that. But, V, I have a promise. I promise to commit my life to yours. I promise to love you every single day the way you deserve to be loved. And I promise that someday soon, we will go ring shopping together and have whatever kind of wedding you want to have. Sound good?”
Like I said earlier, we all get one true love in our lives, and it’s up to us to find it. Fate will act and try to push us together, but ultimately it’s up to us to recognize who that one person is when he’s standing in front of us.
“Yes!” I yelled into the quiet night. “Sounds perf!” He stood up and wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in my neck. He planted a row of kisses from behind my ear to my jaw, and then his lips met mine.
Someday soon I would marry Jesse Drake, and with that, I knew that Fate had led me to the right man this time.
EPILOGUE
Two Years Later: Jesse Drake
She was more beautiful every day, but today she was glowing. I had loved her from the first second I had ever seen her, and I bided my time patiently waiting for her. I had known she was the woman for me the very moment I spotted her, but I didn’t get the luxury of having what I knew was mine because she had found someone else first.
But the past didn’t matter anymore. She was my wife now, and she would be forever. She had taken an empty void that I’d had for fifteen years and managed to fill it with her laughter and her beauty and her wisdom without even trying. She was the one person put on this earth for me, and while Fate had played a fun little game in keeping us apart, we’d eventually found our way together, right where we belonged.
I’ll never forget the night she told me she was getting divorced from the asshole with two first names. I had plans that night to hook up with Tami from the bar again, but the moment I saw that Veronica was suffering, I had to be there for her. I never imagined what it would actually lead to for us. I always held onto the hope that someday it would all work out, but I never would have guessed that she’d been attracted to me all along, too, and that living together would ignite the feelings between us that would turn so quickly from friendship into something deeper. But I knew the moment that I first held her in my arms that I didn’t want to ever hold another woman again.
“It’s okay, baby,” I murmured, and she held my hand tightly. I glanced down at the IV taped to her hand, careful not to squeeze back too hard.
“I’m scared, Jesse,” she said, looking up at me from her hospital bed as tears streamed down her face.
“I know, V. I am, too. But we’ve got this.” I was much more confident in her than I was in myself, but I wasn’t about to let that weakness show through. I had to be strong for my wife. I had to be her rock when she was scared, and I knew that this was one of her biggest fears realized. Hell, it was one of my biggest fears realized, too, but I was the man. I wasn’t going to admit to her how many sleepless nights I’d had just thinking about this day.
So I kissed her tears and brushed them away with my thumbs, and then I pressed a kiss to her forehead as I thought about our families sitting in the waiting room. My mom and V’s mom had become close friends once Mrs. Freemont saw how much I loved her daughter and how good we were for each other. V was right; her family was conservative, but they were family, and when it really mattered, they had come through.
“I love you, Jesse Drake.”
“I love you more, Veronica Drake. You have nothing to be scared about. I know that together, we are going to be every single thing she needs.”
She smiled at me through her tears. “I love you,” she whispered to our sleeping, sweet pink bundle that she held in her arms.
Someday she would say it back to us, her mother and her father.
I leaned down and kissed our baby on her forehead. “I love you, Allison Carly Drake. You and your mother are my whole world.”
And they would be. Forever.
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With each book comes a longer list of people to thank, and there are countless people to whom I am grateful for their support with this book.
Thank you first to my husband for being patient with me while I wrote nonstop during the month of November. Thank you, Rock Man, for being by my side, for listening to me rave about how hot Jesse Drake is, and for not being worried when I told you that I wanted to write a book about an English teacher getting a divorce and falling for a coworker. You know you’re my number one always and forever… well, you and the dog.
Thank you to my family and friends. I have the world’s best parents and family, and special thanks to my brother for maintaining my amazing webpage.
Thank you to my awesome street team, TEAM LSD. I have found a beautiful group of women who support me and encourage me every single day. Special thanks to Karen Muller, the world’s greatest PA. I don’t know how I ever did this without her. Jennifer Dotson and her fucking vodka and pictures give me inspiration to write hot sex scenes, but more than that, she has become a trusted friend. April Pool-Jamison coined the term “Yummypants” and I have to thank her for letting me steal it to describe Juicy Jesse. Anna Nicole Ureta was with me from the beginning and I’m grateful to her for her unending support. I also want to thank the rest of the wonderful women in TEAM LSD: Joann, Sara, Katie, Janna, Linda, Johnnie-Marie, Jennifer, Gia, Kelly, Crystal, Lenissa, Tiffani, and Kristine.
Thank you to the hundreds of blogs and Facebook pages and Facebook groups who have supported me and my characters. It doesn’t go unnoticed, and I appreciate all you do to help spread the word about my books to your readers. Special thanks to Mary Tatar from Love Between the Sheets for organizing the Blog Tour for Separation Anxiety, to Karen Muller for organizing the cover reveal, the release day blitz, and the release week celebration, and to Jennifer Dotson for her behind the scenes support for the release celebration.
Thank you to Jenn Elliott for the title Separation Anxiety.
Thank you to the musicians who make music that inspires my writing, specifically Matchbox Twenty and Maroon 5.
Finally, thank YOU for reading. If you enjoyed the story, I would be grateful if you left a review on Amazon (and Goodreads)!
XOXO, Lisa Suzanne
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa Suzanne is a high school English teacher who lives at home in Arizona with her amazing husband and adorable yellow lab. She loves summer more than her students do. She has loved to write for as long as she can remember.
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ALSO BY LISA SUZANNE
HOW HE REALLY FEELS (HE FEELS, BOOK 1)
Julianne Becker is desperately in love with her boss, Nick Matthews. She has daydreamed about him since the day she first met him a year earlier, but she is firmly stuck in the friend-zone until New Year’s Eve, when the game completely changes and she finds out how Nick really feels about her. They embark on a sexy affair that’s everything Julianne ever dreamed of… except she can’t tell anyone about it. What will happen if anyone finds out about their secret relationship? And how will her lifelong best friend, Travis Miller, react when Julianne begins a relationship with someone who isn’t him?
How He Really Feels is a novel that explores relationships and love between coworkers and fri
ends. It contains some adult situations and is intended for mature readers.
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/12MiuoM
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/12U6kJn
WHAT HE REALLY FEELS (HE FEELS, BOOK 2)
He told her How He Really Feels and had his heart broken. Now Travis Miller is trying to move on from the greatest heartbreak of his life by getting out of town. But two nights before his big move to California, Travis meets a mystery woman who grabs hold of his broken heart and gives him hope that he can piece it back together.
Will Travis ever figure out What He Really Feels, or will he be stuck on his first love forever? Will he find his happily ever after?
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/12MiuoM
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/12U6kJn
Coming Soon: SINCE HE REALLY FEELS (HE FEELS, BOOK 3)