Dirk pointed to Tanner, then looked at me. “Exactly why I will never get married. Ever. You are an instant killjoy. A guy just wants to have a little fun with someone who’s here to visit. I can’t think of a better woman. In and out. Literally.”
I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. “One of these days, Dirk Littlewood. One of these days.”
He shook his head. “Never. I’m pretty sure I’ll be struck by lightning before I ever entertain the thought of settling down with one woman.”
“Ditto,” Tanner added, but for once in his life, he didn’t sound confident . . . at all.
I smiled as I watched Tanner’s gaze following Timberlyn across the room. There was something familiar about the way he watched her. I recognized that look, and for some reason, I looked out at Brock, still on the dance floor with Morgan.
He was watching Tanner as well. Then he looked at me and raised a brow. He’d noticed too.
I focused back on my baby brother and Dirk, both racing to reach Timberlyn first.
“This is most definitely going to be fun to watch.”
Epilogue
KAYLEE
Christmas
I wrapped the shawl tighter around my body to chase away the chill as I stared out the window. Snowflakes fell softly, covering the mountains and meadows with a fresh coat of white. The snow sparkled like a thousand diamonds.
Glancing down, I smiled when I saw my own diamond.
One more look out the window, and I sighed in contentment. It was beautiful and perfect for Christmas Day.
The sound of Ty walking around upstairs had my heartbeat picking up. I was both nervous and excited this morning. This was our first Christmas together. I turned and looked at our beautiful tree. It was simple, silver and blue the only two colors on the tree, along with the white twinkle lights.
I sat down on the sofa, grabbed my tea, and crossed my legs. As I took a sip, my handsome husband walked down the steps and into the living room. His dark-brown hair was a mess, most likely from my fingers in it earlier, after he’d woken me up to make love to me. His blue eyes landed on mine, and he smiled.
My insides melted. How was it that he could still make me feel like all this was new? The flutters in my stomach, the way my heart felt like it skipped a beat, the way my body got covered in goose bumps when he simply put his hand on my lower back as we walked into a room together. The man knew how to bring my body to life.
“Good morning and merry Christmas,” Ty said, bending down and kissing me quickly.
“Morning. Merry Christmas to you.”
“We need to be over at my folks’ place around ten.”
“Okay.”
I watched him walk into the kitchen, my mouth watering at the sexy sight before me. I dabbed at the corners of my mouth, ’cause, you know, the man still made me drool.
Ty was dressed in cotton pajama pants that hung low on his hips. His broad chest and back were bare, and with every move he made, his muscles flexed. I licked my lips and tried to keep my libido in check. She seemed to have a mind of her own, though.
“I made blueberry muffins to bring, and a quiche.”
“Damn, that sounds good now!”
I laughed as I replied, “Do not eat any of it, Ty Shaw. I made some banana bread you can have, though. Or I can make us some breakfast.”
Last Christmas, I’d been invited over to the Shaws’ annual Christmas breakfast. Of course, Ty and I weren’t together then, and we spent much of the day taking jabs at each other and then playing with all of Blayze’s games. Looking back, I had to giggle. It was so obvious how much we liked each other and were trying to fight it.
Closing my eyes, I let out a long, slow breath. My occasional nightmares had stopped many months ago, pretty much after I’d stayed in Ty’s bed every night. Ty hadn’t had a nightmare since we got married at the lake. It felt good knowing he was able to leave more and more of his past behind as we grew our lives together.
He walked into the living room and set his coffee on the table, then added more wood to the fire.
“Want to open presents now?” I asked, my voice a little bit too excited.
Ty grinned. “Who gets to open one first?”
“Me! I want to open one first.”
“Okay, let me see which one.”
He walked over to the tree and bent down, picking up presents and looking at them, only to put them down and pick up others.
“You’re picking up the presents that are for you! Pick one out for me!” I said, tossing a throw pillow at him.
“Fine, fine. Here, open this one.”
It was a small box. I crinkled my brows and stared at it. “It’s so light.”
“Don’t judge, Kaylee. Big things come in little packages.”
My gaze lifted to look at him. “I’m glad you think so.”
“Open it already!” he said, taking his coffee and sitting down next to me on the sofa.
Once I’d removed the wrapping paper, I pulled the lid off and looked inside. It was a brochure.
I picked it up and looked at it, and then looked to Ty. “You got me a brochure for Hawaii?”
“Yep.”
I snarled my lip. “If I had known you were going to be a cheap bastard, I’d have thought twice about marrying you.”
He laughed. “What else is in there, Kaylee?”
I set the brochure to the side and stared at the piece of paper. My eyes filled with tears as I picked it up and looked at my own handwriting.
A year ago, we were playing some silly game at Stella and Ty Senior’s house, and one of the tasks was to write down one location on your bucket list where you would like to visit. Mine was Kauai. I’d never gone, because the idea of that long a flight made me nervous, but I mentioned it that night. It was my dream place to visit, and Stella told me I should go.
I lifted my eyes and met Ty’s gaze. “You kept this?”
He smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. Stupid, I know, but it was important to you, and I thought . . .”
Every nerve ending in my body tingled as I anticipated his response. “You thought what?”
Ty looked me in the eyes, and I felt my breath hitch. Just when I thought he couldn’t possibly make me love him more, he looked at me like I was his everything.
“I thought back then that maybe I could take you there someday.”
My heartbeat quickened, and I covered my mouth in an attempt to keep myself together. This man. This amazing, beautiful, selfless man loved me more than I could ever imagine.
“How could you ever think you weren’t good enough for me? To do this, keep this, and . . . and . . . I love you, Ty. I love you so much.”
I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around him.
“Oh, princess, I love you too. More than you’ll ever know.”
He held me for a few minutes and then pulled back and kissed me gently on the lips. Then he grinned as he looked down at the brochure. “I hate to say it, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got you beat this year in the gift department.”
With a raised brow, I said, “I didn’t realize we were competing.”
He tapped my nose with his finger. “You’re cute, Kaylee. I may be madly in love with you, and you may be my wife, but I’m always going to be the guy who wants to kick your ass at Monopoly, and gift giving, and competing for our nieces’ and nephews’ affections.”
“I see,” I said, getting up and picking up a present. I handed it to him before I sat back down on the sofa. “Well, I’m a hundred percent positive my gift kicks your gift’s ass. Don’t get me wrong!” I said, holding up my hands. “Your gift is mind-blowingly amazing, and I cannot wait to go. But we should probably book it sooner rather than later.”
He stared at me with a confused look on his face. “Okay, I’m fine with that. Maybe get away some this winter.”
I nodded. Then motioned for him to open the gift. Ty looked like a little kid as he unwrapped the shirt box. Taking off the lid, he moved the tissue out o
f the way and stared at it. Then he looked at me, then back to the shirt.
It took everything I had in me not to laugh. His confused face was my second-favorite gift this Christmas.
Ty took the shirt out and held it up.
“The blue will bring out the blue in your eyes,” I casually said of the light-blue T-shirt. “I thought maybe you could wear it to your folks’ place.”
“Ah, yeah, sure.”
He stared at it again and then looked back at me. “What the fuck is a DILF?”
I’d had a special T-shirt made that said, CERTIFIED DILF. EST. 2020.
I lost the battle and laughed. “You really don’t know what it means?” I asked, trying not to laugh too hard.
Ty chuckled and shook his head. “No idea.”
“Have you heard of a MILF?”
He looked up in thought. “‘Mom I’d like to fuck.’ Right?”
I nodded, then looked at the shirt, then at him. He just stared at the shirt, so I decided it was time for gift number two.
I crawled on top of him, pressing my core against his already hardening dick. “Dad I’d like to fuck.”
When it finally dawned on him, his eyes teared up. “Holy shit, Kaylee. Are you serious right now?”
I nodded and let a little sob slip free.
“You’re pregnant?”
“Yes. I found out two weeks ago. I’m almost six weeks pregnant.”
He cupped my face and kissed me senseless.
Ty’s kisses were so different from any other man’s kiss. Even John’s. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because of how deeply he loved me, and how much I loved him. Whatever the reason, they were addictive. I could have sat on that sofa all day and simply kissed him.
He finally pulled his mouth from mine and looked at me. “I can’t believe it. We just started trying.”
“Well, we know from your brother Brock that the Shaw swimmers are strong.”
He laughed. “Wow. This is unreal. It’s crazy! I need to make love to you right now.”
“I like the sound of that.”
Ty held on to me as he stood. I wrapped my legs around him as he turned us and laid me on the sofa.
“The sofa?” I asked with a laugh.
“I want you . . . now.”
“Okay,” I whispered, my hands going to his sleep pants and pushing them down.
Ty yanked my silk Victoria’s Secret Christmas pants off and groaned when he saw I didn’t have any panties on. “I hope you can handle fast, because I don’t think I can do any foreplay.”
His eyes burned with desire, and I used my legs to pull him closer to me. Ty pushed into me, and it felt like I had been taken to heaven and back. We were lost to each other as he leaned down and kissed me. It wasn’t rushed; it was slow, beautifully slow.
“Ty!” I gasped when I felt my orgasm building.
“Kaylee,” he groaned, burying his face into my neck as we both came at the same time.
After our breathing had returned to normal, he slowly pulled out of me, then reached for his pants. He moved to the side and pulled me into his arms, kissing me on the forehead.
“You’re pregnant. We’re having a baby.”
I nodded and shivered as his hand went to my stomach.
“Our baby is growing inside of you. That is crazy insane.”
With a chuckle, I agreed. “Beautifully crazy.”
He nodded. “I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl. I just want them to be happy and healthy.”
“What’s the first thing you’ll do if it’s a boy?”
Ty looked up and thought about it. “Buy him a bull.”
“Oh, good Lord,” I whispered. “If it’s a girl?”
He searched my face, then traced over my eyebrows, down my nose, and over my lips. “If it’s a girl, she’s bound to be beautiful like her mama, so I’m going to have to buy me a new shotgun.”
“A shotgun?”
“Yeah, to keep all the little fuckers like me away from my daughter.”
I playfully hit him on the chest. “Are you scared?”
Ty didn’t even hesitate. “No. Not one bit. Are you?”
Chewing on my lip, I nodded. “A little. Full disclosure: I forgot to feed Blayze once. Like, for almost a full day. Totally slipped my mind.”
He leaned back and laughed his ass off before looking back into my eyes. “Damn, this is going to be the best adventure I think I’ve ever been on,” he said, looking down at my stomach with an expression of pure awe.
I placed my hand over his, which was still on my stomach, and took in a deep breath before slowly letting it out. “Better hold on tight to that rope, Ty Shaw. It’s our turn to be parents.”
He winked. “This is going to be fun.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kelly Elliott is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling contemporary romance author. Since finishing her bestselling Wanted series, Kelly has continued to spread her wings while remaining true to her roots with stories of hot men, strong women, and beautiful surroundings. Her bestselling works include Wanted, Broken, Without You, and Lost Love. Elliott has been passionate about writing since she was fifteen. After years of filling journals with stories, she finally followed her dream and published her first novel, Wanted, in November 2012.
Elliott lives in central Texas with her husband, daughter, and two pups. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading and spending time with her family. She is down-to-earth and very in touch with her readers, both on social media and at signings. To learn more about Elliott and her books, you can find her through her website, www.kellyelliottauthor.com.
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Always Enough Page 27