by Katee Robert
“Well, you’re right about us having to talk. I screwed up. I’m woman enough to admit that. I’m in therapy for a reason, though I think I need to fire my therapist because you did more good in a week than she’s done in years.”
“Aubry.”
But she couldn’t stop. If she didn’t get this out, she might never say it. “And I know to say I’m a basket case is understating the problem, and that I turned every single one of my issues on you at your sister’s wedding, and I’m sorry, okay? I can’t promise I won’t have meltdowns and anxiety attacks and probably die in the first wave of the zombie apocalypse, but I will try to be better. I promise I’ll try.”
He laughed softly. “Peaches, you’re killing me.”
Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, and her mouth dropped open when Quinn stopped at the end of the track. “Is that—?”
“Old drive-in movie theater? Yeah. It hasn’t been used in over ten years, but I know a guy who knows a guy.”
“Like everyone else in Devil’s Falls.” She pressed her hand to her mouth. “Sorry, that was uncalled for. Did I mention I’m working on my issues?”
“I happen to like your smart mouth. Come here.” He motioned her closer, and she frowned when she made out his truck facing away from the screen, a couch in the bed of it. Quinn lifted her up and she took a seat on the couch, wondering what the hell was going on. He sat next to her, looking unsure for the first time since she’d known him. “I fucked up.”
“Quinn—”
“I let you ramble on. It’s my turn now. There isn’t a relationship worth having that doesn’t have its ups and downs and bumps along the road. I knew that and I still struck out at you when we were fighting. It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right, and I’m sorry.” He didn’t reach out for her, but he looked like he wanted to. He hesitated. “I know we don’t have a lot in common outside the bedroom, but I think what we do have is more than enough. We have the same sense of humor, and that’s more than most couples can say. I like how stubborn you are, and you’re sexy as fuck when you get that focused look on your face when you’re all up in your own head.”
It was almost too good to be true. Her first instinct was to argue with him, but she bit her lip and forced herself to hold still and listen. Because he wasn’t finished yet.
“I think we might be able to learn a thing or two from each other along the way, too.” He reached behind the couch and a whirling noise started up.
Aubry turned to the big screen and her jaw dropped open. “Oh, Quinn.” It was Deathmatch, on a massive screen, in the middle of a field. “How did you—?”
“How else am I going to convince you that the outdoors isn’t out to get you?” He grinned, but the expression fell away. “It might not be easy, peaches, but I’m willing to fight for you. Will you do the same for me?”
Like there was any other answer. “Yes.” She threw herself into his arms and kissed him with everything she had. Aubry pulled away enough to say, “I submitted my game.”
His eyes went wide. “What?”
“You’re right. I can’t spend my whole life hiding because I’m afraid of being hurt. Look at what you inspired me to do. I went to Deathcon. I got into one of those flying death traps without being tranquilized. I submitted my game.” She gave a tentative smile. “I couldn’t have done it without you. You make me want to be, if not a better person, at least one who’s slightly more higher functioning in the greater society.”
“I didn’t do that, peaches. You did.” He settled her against him. “I’m proud of you.”
“We’re an unstoppable partnership, that’s for damn sure.”
“You’re amazing.” He framed her face with his hands, his thumbs feathering over her cheekbones. “I have to say, that I’m pretty much in love with your contrary ass, Aubry Kaiser.”
Her entire heart lit up like the Fourth of July. “That’s good, because I’m head over heels for you.” She kissed him again. “I can’t believe you did all this for me.”
He rearranged her beneath his arm. “You have to admit, it’s pretty damn gorgeous out here.”
“I do, though I fully expect you to save my ass if mutant crocodiles show up.”
“Crocodiles, zombies, serial killers, and mutants of every variety.”
“If that’s not a declaration of love I can get behind, I don’t know what is.”
Epilogue
Aubry couldn’t calm down, and she sure as hell couldn’t sit still. She felt like Jules must on a daily basis—too much energy for anyone’s health. She shot a nervous glance at the television that she’d jury-rigged to her computer. I can’t believe I’m doing this.
“Peaches?”
If anything, her tension ramped up a notch at the sound of Quinn’s voice, even as the rest of her went all melty. She even managed a smile as his big frame filled the doorway. “Hey.”
Quinn’s gaze slid over her in a move she could almost feel. “You look half a second from losing it. What’s going on?” He shifted, sliding one hand behind his back, and she zeroed in on him.
“What’s that?”
“Oh, no. You’re the one who’s been acting sneaky and underhanded for the last few days—you go first.” He stepped fully into the apartment and looked around. “I forgot how tiny everything is in here. It’s like stepping into a dollhouse.”
They hadn’t spent much time here in the last few months. It turned out that Quinn had a great setup for gaming and, beyond that, playing Deathmatch with him was even more fun than playing with the faceless people on the Internet. In turn, he’d drawn her out of her shell a little bit further with each month they were together.
She lifted her chin. “That’s just because everything in your house has to be fit for a giant or it will collapse under your immense weight.”
He laughed. “You like that I’m immense.”
Yeah, she really, really did. Aubry took a step back and motioned to the couch. It looked shabby compared to his most excellent leather one, but they weren’t going to be here for long. “Sit.”
“Is this the part where you strap that contraption from Clockwork Orange to my eyelids and try to convince me—again—to see that damn movie?”
“Power Rangers is going to be sublime, and I’ll thank you kindly to stop referring to it as ‘that damn movie.’” But she couldn’t help the smile that slipped through.
Quinn sat where she motioned to and took the Xbox controller she handed him. “How about a deal? I’ll go see that movie—without bitching and moaning about it—if you come riding with me.”
“Riding.” She narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t be trying to convince me to get on the back of one of those hellbeasts would you? Because those damn animals are out to get me.”
“Peaches, they’re horses, not hellbeasts.”
“I disagree. The Headless Horseman rides one—and so does the Wild Hunt. I could go on.” When he just watched her, an amused smile on his face, she sighed. “I’ll consider it.”
“Good enough.” He turned to look at the TV. “So, if you didn’t lure me here for nefarious purposes, why are we here?”
As if on cue, her nerves kicked up a notch, her stomach twisting. She took a breath, counting slowly in her head. The panic didn’t completely dissipate, but her voice sounded mostly normal when she spoke. “I have something to show you.”
It took far too little time to get things up and running, the screen clearing to display an armored knight with a sword almost as big as he was. She bit her lip. “You’ve gamed enough in the last few months to muddle through the controls.”
Quinn sent his character forward, moving around the room. She surveyed it with a critical eye. It could use another layer of detail. She knew she should have waited. “It’s not finished—”
“This is your game, peaches?” He leaned forward, studying the screen as his character swung
the sword, chopping the table into splinters. “This is fucking fantastic. Where’s something for me to kill?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He motioned to the screen. “Now, I know for a fact you wouldn’t have put a demo in my hands if there wasn’t something to murder. Point me in the right direction.”
She gave him curt instructions, watching as he hacked his way through a group of zombies. “Your gaming skills have gotten impressive.”
“I have this really hot girlfriend who’s into that sort of thing.” He grinned without taking his eyes off the screen. “The detail in the blood spatter is impressive. I expect nothing less. Where to next?”
This was the moment of truth. She tried to keep her tone cool and confident. “Go check out that shack in the woods?”
“You really know how to show a guy a good time. What are the odds of encountering more zombies?”
Not great. “Why don’t you go over there and find out for yourself?”
His character opened the door and Quinn went still. She tried to see it from his point of view. Was the text not clear? God, she’d fucked this up, hadn’t she? “This was a dumb idea.” She reached over his shoulder to grab the controller, but he caught her wrist, his gaze never leaving the screen.
“Am I reading this right, peaches? Because that sure as fuck looks like a marriage proposal from where I’m sitting.”
Considering there was a banner strung across the inside of the cabin reading Will You Marry Me? she didn’t see how it could be anything else. Aubry didn’t know how proposals were supposed to go, but she was pretty damn sure he was supposed to be doing…something…other than sitting there like a Quinn-shaped statue.
Her throat tried to close and she made a grab for the controller with her other hand. “Let’s pretend this never happened.”
He exhaled a long breath. “We’re going to laugh about this one day.”
She felt more like throwing herself in front of a runaway train. Aubry yanked against his hold, but he didn’t release her. “I think I’m just going to die of humiliation instead.”
“Come here.” He towed her around the couch to sit next to him. “Funny story.”
“This doesn’t feel funny.”
He shot her a look. “I had a plan—I might even go as far to say I had a brilliant plan.”
What the hell was he talking about? “Quinn—”
“Shhh. It’s my turn now.” He pulled a small black moleskin book out of his back pocket. “After we left here, I was going to take you into El Paso to that little B&B where we spent that first night together.”
“It was a great first night.” She managed to smile just thinking about it.
“It was.” He handed her the notebook. “We’re still going, by the way. But I’m giving this to you now.”
“What is it?” There weren’t any markings on the outside, and it was held closed with a black elastic band.
“Open it and find out for yourself.”
Hearing her earlier words echoed back to her made her heartbeat pick up. She carefully took the band off and opened the book. It took her a few seconds to understand the words written across the top of the first page in neat block letters. In case of zombies…
Below it was a bulleted list detailing how she and Quinn would survive a zombie apocalypse. Aubry looked up, looked back down, pressed her lips together, and turned the page. Each page detailed a different event.
In case of mutant alligators…
In case of mutant cannibals…
In case of ritual sacrifice…
It went on and on, each event one they survived. Together. Aubry turned the last page and read the larger letters. Marry me, peaches. “Great minds think alike.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
She smiled so wide she knew she had to look goofy as hell, and she didn’t give a damn. “I’ll say yes if you do.”
“Yes. As if there was any question.” Quinn pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “I love you.”
She’d never been one to believe in happily-ever-afters—until Quinn. And now…
Aubry kissed him again, pushing him back against the couch. And now she was so damn ready to take the next step into her very own happily-ever-after. “I love you, too. And yes. Fuck yes. Hell to the yes. I would love to marry you, Quinn Baldwyn.”
Acknowledgments
Thanks to God, for the journey that made this book all the better for the wait.
Big thanks to Heather Howland for helping me shape this beast into a beauty and for loving Quinn and Aubry as much as I do!
Huge thanks to Mandy and the team at Barclay Publicity for being so supportive and being part of this journey with me!
Hugs and thanks to Julia Particka, Piper Drake, and Hilary Brady for being my go-tos for everything from plotting to sharing a hot beverage. You all are amazing and I couldn’t have done it without you!
Thank you to my family for their endless patience, and all my thanks and love to Tim. Kisses, babe!
Foolproof Love #3
Dear Reader,
The Foolproof Love series is so incredibly close to my heart for many different reasons. It was the first category romance series I ever contracted, and it went through many incarnations before finding its way into your hands. It’s also filled to the brim with some of my favorite characters and stories that I’ve written to date. The series wraps up with Daniel and Hope’s story. It’s been a long time in coming, and they’ve both had quite the winding journey through endlessly rocky roads.
For the heroes in this series, the car wreck that happened thirteen years previous was the turning point in a lot of ways. It spurred Adam into leaving Devil’s Falls for all but the shortest visits. It was the shot of reality Quinn needed to leave his family’s plans behind him for good. But for Daniel, it was the one event he can’t get past. He’s been stuck in place ever since, and he needs some meddling to get him back to reality. And we all know that meddling is what the Rodriguez family does best.
We met Hope briefly in the last book, and words cannot encompass my love for her. She’s a fighter and a survivor and she’s probably more well-adjusted than most of the heroines I write… Except when it comes to her blast from the past. There’s no telling what will happen when two people who loved so intensely and fell apart so spectacularly come together again.
So settle in, lovely readers. I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
This one’s for you.
Katee
To my readers.
Chapter One
Hope Moore held her breath as she passed the sign declaring Welcome to Devil’s Falls. She hadn’t crossed the town boundary in thirteen years, not since she sat next to an open grave as they lowered her brother into the ground. Not since she turned her back on her entire life here, whisked away by her parents to the best medical facilities Texas had to offer.
She touched her knee. She’d never cheered again, never run track, never done any of the things she’d had planned when she was eighteen and had graduated high school with stars in her eyes.
Stars in her eyes, and love in her heart.
Neither had lasted past that car crash.
Oh, it had taken the love a lot longer to die than it had her knee, but Daniel Rodriguez made sure she knew where she stood with him.
She caught herself taking her foot off the gas and picked up speed again. There was no telling if she’d see him while she was here, but it couldn’t matter. She’d moved past what happened that night, moved past the disappointment that she’d almost let sour everything else about her life. It might not have happened like she planned, but she’d made the best of her college experience, and she’d gone on to create a successful little niche for herself, helping people and institutions with too much money on their hands
create trusts and scholarships for those in need.
And now Hope was back in town to finally do that in her brother’s memory.
She pulled onto Main Street, heading for the only lodgings someone out of town with no relatives to stay with would consider—Sara Jane’s B&B. It was a nice little place, but Sara Jane was nosy to a criminal degree and gossiped more than anyone Hope had ever come across. The second she checked in and went up to her room, everyone with a phone would be getting a call letting them know that she was back in town.
It wasn’t that it was a secret, but she couldn’t help but feel that she’d always be John Moore’s little sister, the one who survived when her older brother—her better in a lot of ways—didn’t. She knew that was her own insecurity. She’d had too many years of therapy to believe anything else, except in her darkest heart of hearts, the place she didn’t let see the light any more than strictly necessary.
But it was hard to ignore that little voice when driving through Devil’s Falls. No, not through. To. This was her destination.
Her parents hadn’t been too thrilled about her coming back, even for a limited time, but even they couldn’t deny that this scholarship she was here to set up was a good thing—the right way to honor John. He’d been in the middle of a full ride at the University of Texas when he was killed, and it made sense to set it up to allow other kids the opportunity he’d never be able to realize.
She pressed a hand to her chest and pulled into the nearest parking spot against the curb. God, even after all this time, it still hurts. Most days it didn’t. He’d been gone long enough that she’d processed her grief as much as one person could process grief, and she was able to focus on the good memories.
Most days.
Her eyes focused on the sign she’d been staring blindly at, and she frowned. Cups and Kittens. That was new. In a town as mired in the past as Devil’s Falls, change was something of a novelty. Or maybe she was biased in a negative way, because the only thing this town held for her was memories. Some bad, mostly good, all dust now.