by Lauren Runow
I’ll never forget. “You said, ‘I just want to forget reality tonight. I want to live in your dream.’”
“You made your dream our reality. And I don’t ever want to wake up.”
Some dreams are nightmares. Some, you forget as soon as you wake up. This dream isn’t always perfect, and it has had its share of drama.
It’s sweet.
It’s sexy.
It’s fun.
And it’s ours.
Acknowledgments
At the heart of each Sexton Brothers book is the love of a mother for her sons. This book is dedicated to ours so they always remember that their moms love them more than the sun, the stars ...to the moon and back.
A huge thank you to Wilmari Carresquillo-Delgado, April Wells, Stefanie Pace and Kelli Mummert for beta reading this series. Some read Austin, others started blindly with Bryce or Tanner to ensure each story was a stand alone novel. We appreciate your patience and incredible feedback.
A special thank you to Jovana Shirley from Unforeseen Editing for your impact copy edit. Your attention to detail amazes us and we love having your markings on each of the Sexton books.
A huge shoutout to Autumn Gantz of Wordsmith Publicity for your friendship and guidance. We wouldn’t be here without you and thank you for being a Sexton!
Thank Jolana Gelissen for helping with the jokes for Paul.
When you write almost one hundred thousand words some are bound to be missed and we want to thank Grey Ditto, Dale Gardiner and Carlye Slover for helping us proofread Tanner.
Grey was also amazing enough to make us a Spotify link! Check it out!! https://open.spotify.com/user/greyditto/playlist/3LJmA8Fti39QjKAjMbGXmA?si=wulwhYVAQRmOgCw4w5owmw
As always, we wouldn't be where we are without the bloggers, readers and support of our fellow authors. Thank you for all who liked, shared, commented, reviewed, one-clicked and loved the Sexton Brothers.
SEXTON BONUS EPILOGUE
1
Bonus Epilogue
BRYCE
“The bride is almost ready,” Tessa says as she walks into our hotel suite looking like a siren in the daytime. “It took me forever to do her makeup because she wouldn’t stop talking, but I finally—”
I cut her words off with a kiss. Not that I don’t want to hear my gorgeous wife speak. I love her voice, and all that comes out of it. But I also love her mouth, so pouty and full, and the way it feels against mine. As well as the way her body melts in my arms as I slip my hand around her waist and weave the other through her long, flowing dark hair.
“Why, Mr. Sexton. You do know how to take a woman’s breath away,” she says, her hand skimming down the jacket of my tuxedo.
My groin twitches with the simple touch.
“I’ve been standing in this suite remembering all the nights we spent in your old apartment. In the living room, the kitchen, on the fire escape…” I let my words linger on her lips as I roll my tongue against hers, eliciting more sweet moans and an ass grab.
My wife loves my ass and I’m okay with that. As long as she thinks it’s hotter than Henry Cavill’s, I’m good.
“When I was getting Jalynn ready, I looked out the window at the Bay, and it reminded me of our trip to Hawaii. We had that room overlooking the Pacific with the veranda and the hot tub.”
Only Tessa would be able to get me, a workaholic, to reprioritize my life and learn to let go. I give in to her in so many ways, and it seems my days keep getting better and better.
I lean back from my wife and hold her cheek in my hand, drawing small circles with my thumb. “There’s a hot tub we can take advantage of tonight.”
She quirks a brow showing off those sinful violet eyes. “That would be tempting if we didn’t have roommates.”
I lean back on my heels. “Ah. The roommates. Can’t we just kick them out?”
She makes a tsk sound. “I would, but they’re cute, and I’d feel like a real bitch telling them to go shack up with someone else. I mean, we did kind of make a commitment to them.”
“You’re right. We have to let them stay.” I nod with a straight face and then tilt my head as the thought comes to me. “However, they do go to bed kinda early. What if we’re real quiet and we reenact the scene in Superman Returns where Superman climbs into Lois’ bath, fully clothed. I’ll even wear my glasses.”
Her body jolts in my arms. “You play dirty, Bryce Sexton. You know I can’t turn down a Cavill moment.”
“Good thing we’ll be in the bath so you can clean this dirty right up.” I kiss her on the lips just as there’s a knock at the door. “Looks like our roommates are here.”
I open the door and am greeted with the biggest grin a seven-year-old can wear. “Charlie”—I let out a whistle—“you’re looking like quite the ladies man.”
My stepson walks—no, saunters—into the suite with one hand in his pocket and the other swaying as he asses his mother, does a turn and then poses with a wink.
Tessa places a hand on her hip. “Where did you learn those moves?”
“Austin gave me a few lessons. We were running over some very serious wedding game plans. He taught me swagger.”
“Swagger?” Tessa and I say at the same time, both with a bit of a laugh.
“That’s right.” Charlie takes his junior tuxedo coat off and swings it over his shoulder. “It’s very Bruce Wayne.”
Tessa rolls her eyes as I reign in my laugh. I’ve gotta give it to the kid—he’s got confidence in spade.
“Let that be the only lesson we let Austin teach you,” Tessa says as she helps Charlie put his jacket back on. “Next thing you know it’ll be car racing, whiskey and women.”
I place my hands in my pants pocket and consider the odds. Austin is most definitely going to be the one to corrupt our boy. Maybe if he knocks Jalynn up after the wedding, he’ll soften a bit. One could hope, at least.
“Speaking of Austin and women, you may want to go check on that brother of yours,” my mother-in-law, Kathleen, says from the doorway.
I turn and see the most beautiful girl in the whole entire world. No, not Kathleen.
Marina.
I walk over and lift my daughter out of her grandmother’s arms. Bracing her head in my hand, I hold her up to my chest and breath in her clean, powdery smell. “There’s my beautiful girl. Did you have fun taking pictures with Charlie?” I ask her in a high-pitched voice and not embarrassed at all by my baby talk.
She looks up at me with her dark eyes she inherited from me. Her head is still bald and Tessa says she thinks it’s gonna be dark like ours. Doesn’t matter to me. She’s perfect without a spec of hair. She’ll be beautiful no matter the color.
“Bryce, Marina’s neck is strong now. You don’t have to protect it like you did when she was a newborn,” Tessa says.
“I’m not taking any chances,” I respond.
Tessa rolls her eyes, walking over to us and giving our daughter a kiss on the cheek. “Your daddy thinks he can control parenthood like he controls his company. Boy is he ill-prepared for raising a daughter,” she coos to Marina.
“Especially when his daughter is a feminist,” my mother-in-law says as she closes the door.
“Feminist or not, she can learn that good men can take care of her.” I hold Marina close to my cheek and sway her. As I do so I look to Kathleen. “What were you saying about Austin when you walked in?”
She waves her hand toward the hallway. “We saw him in the hall outside Jalynn’s suite. Apparently she’s upset.”
“Upset?” Tessa looks confused. “I just left her and she was doing great. Nervous, but great.”
“She’s nervous about getting married?” I ask Tessa.
She shrugs. “Not the getting married to Austin part. I think she’s just a little…overwhelmed by the, let’s say, over the top aspect.”
Makes sense, I suppose. It’s one of the reasons why Tessa and I married in an intimate ceremony in Tahoe. We didn’t want the giant wedding with people we d
idn’t know, or love, staring at us. We wanted simple, and secluded. This wedding is everything a typical bride could dream of – an extravagant affair at the Fairmont in San Francisco.
“I’ll go see what’s going on.” I pass Marina over to Tessa and then look over to Charlie. “You want to take a walk?”
“Sure.” He turns to his mother. “This is mans work. Bryce and I will be back.”
Tessa nods with a confused brow. “You go do man-things with Bryce and us women will wait right here.”
“Oh, where did I go wrong?” Kathleen sighs dramatically as she takes a seat on the couch.
I laugh as Charlie and I walk out the door.
When we get to the end of the hallway, we see Austin standing outside the penthouse suite. “Come on, baby. Open the door.”
“Twenty carats! Are you out of your fucking mind?” Jalynn screams from the other side of the door.
I cover Charlie’s ears and ask Austin, “What’s going on?”
“Jalynn’s upset,” he replies which is quickly followed by the sound of Jalynn counting.
“Ninety! There’s ninety diamonds on this thing. Austin Sexton you are just not getting it,” she says, and it’s not with a happy tone. “Every tabloid has taken a stab at calling me a gold digger. Now, when I walk down the aisle I’ll be screaming it with how over done this entire event is. They’ll all think it’s my doing.”
Austin turns to me, his hand running along the back of his neck. “I know you’re not supposed to see the bride before the wedding, but I came up here because I bought her a wedding gift. Something she can wear with her dress. I had the wedding coordinator walk it in to her.“ He drops his hand and looks at me with an exasperated sigh. “She’s mad at me now.”
“I picked up on that,” I state.
“Who doesn’t like diamonds?” Charlie surmises. “My mom’s diamond is huge and people are always asking her to see it.”
I laugh at the kid and then turn to Austin. “Why don’t you go downstairs and get ready. Let her cool off and the next time you see her she’ll be walking down the aisle.”
“I’m not coming out,” Jalynn says quietly making Austin and I do a double take.
“You’re what?” Austin looks shell-shocked. His shoulders fall as his hand goes to the door as if touching it would make it magically open. “Baby, please tell me you’re still going to marry me.”
“It’s never been a problem about marrying you. Hell, it’s not even about the necklace. It’s the wedding itself, Austin. I’m hyperventilating here,” she says, and now that she points it out, she does sound a bit winded.
“You think it’s too much?” Austin asks, surprised.
“There are six hundred and three people at our wedding!” she shrieks and I look over at Austin with raised brows and a what-the-fuck expression.
“What happened?” I ask. “Last I saw you had three hundred on the guest list.”
He sways from side to side. “Well, it started small and then it got big,” he says stoically before a smile builds on his face. “That sounded dirty, and if we were in any other situation I’d find it funny but that’s not funny at all.” His expression morphs back to stoic.
“I was doing okay with it,” Jalynn explains. “But after Tessa left, Eva sent me a picture of the ceremony room and it’s packed, Austin. It’s freaking me out.”
“Did you see the alter? I had those peach trees flown in special for you because you always smell of peaches. It’s the first thing I ever noticed about you.” He renders poetically.
“They’re beautiful, really, but I can’t walk down that aisle,” she says and the guy looks like his heart was just ripped out of his chest. “It’s all… just… too much.”
Fuck. This just took a hard turn I wasn’t expecting. It’s also not something I’m good at handling. Jalynn’s my assistant and while she’s always been the one to help me through my issues, I’m not the best at understanding what makes her tick.
I place a hand on Austin’s shoulder. “I’m gonna go get Harper. See if she’ll talk to her.”
Austin doesn’t respond. He just leans his forehead against the door.
We have to save this wedding.
TANNER
“God, you look sexy.” I lean against the doorframe leading to the bathroom and look at my wife, seven months pregnant with our first child, standing in front of the sink and grimacing at her reflection.
Harper looks down at her bump and frowns. “I’m fat.”
“You’re beautiful.”
“I’m a whale who can’t zip up her dress.” She arches her back as she tries to reach her hand to the zipper behind her. “It wasn’t this snug when I picked it up from the tailor two weeks ago. Now, I can’t even close it. I’m such a heffer.”
I push off the frame with a smile. Not that I’m happy about my wife feeling down about herself. That part I hate. What I love is how even though she’s unhappy with how big her stomach has gotten, I know she’s the happiest she’s ever been.
I step behind her and run my hands over her belly and stop in the front toward the bottom where she told me our little one likes to kick. Placing my head on her shoulder, I close my eyes and wait.
It takes a minute or two but eventually those little kicks starts and it’s like heaven in my hand. Harper leans her head back and sighs. I open my eyes and see a blissful, content grin on her face.
“There’s my muse. If I could, I’d paint you in this moment.” I kiss her neck and then nibble on her ear.
She shivers with a tingle. “You’ve painted me plenty, especially since I started to show. Just don’t go selling any of them. I don’t need my plumb bottom in anyone’s home.”
“I’d never sell them. They’re all for me.”
She lifts a finger, accusingly. “So you agree I’m plump.”
“Come here, crazy.” Spinning her around, I grab her face, weaving my hands in her hair and kissing her.
She doesn’t fight it. Instead, she melts into me and gives me every bit of her love as she has since the moment she showed up at my doorstep and told me all the reasons why she was wrong for me. It’s when I knew there would never anyone more right.
“Let me help you zipper this dress.” I turn her and look at open zipper on the side of the dress. Trying to lift it, I can see why it won’t go up. “Your belly is pulling the fabric forward.”
“Our baby is a beast. Doctor said its head is measuring above gestational age.”
I laugh. “What do you expect? My brothers and I are all big men, over six-feet-tall each. That just goes to show you have a Sexton man in there.” I rub her stomach and give my baby some love. “Remind me again why we decided to keep the sex a surprise?”
“Because there are few good surprises in life. Your mother’s death, your father’s part in her death, Austin’s war injury, and then his car accident…I think this family is due for some good surprises.”
She’s right. The Sexton’s have been through hell and back. It’s nice to have a few pieces of heaven running around. Jalynn, Tessa and Harper have brought laughter—real laughter—back to our family. Charlie has been a blessing, and my beautiful niece, Marina, is a miracle.
“I’ve been thinking about names,” I start as I try to loosen the fabric of her dress to zipper it.
Harper lifts her arms to help slenderize her body. “I already told you Rembrant and Banksy are out of the question. Naming our baby after a legendary artist is nice, but we can hang a replica in the nursery and call it a day.”
“Banksy Sexton is a great name, but I digress. I was actually thinking for a girl we name her Colette, after the French author of the book you sent me when we were broken up.”
Harper’s body falls with a sentimental sigh. “That’s beautiful.” A small tear falls down her cheek. “Colette Sexton sounds really beautiful.”
I’m glad she likes it but the odds are this brute in her belly isn’t a tiny girl. “If it’s a boy, I’d like to name him Kevin Bo
ston Sexton.”
Her hands fly to her face as she stares at me with glassy eyes. “You want to name the baby after my father?”
“He’s a hardworking man who knows selfless love. I’d be honored to have our son bear his name.”
She nods her head voraciously. “I know my hormones make me super emotional, but I’m really touched by that. I’d love to name our son Kevin.” With a swallow, she tilts her head and then asks, “Why Boston? Is that some hip street artist or something?”
I raise my brows. “It’s a combination of Bryce and Austin. A sly way of honoring them without them having to know. Their heads are big enough as it is.”
“Austin’s is for sure. Did you see the red carpet he has set up outside the hotel? You can take a photo with a Porsche, Lamborghini or Ferrari and have it put on a mock cover of Car and Driver Magazine,” she says. “Speaking of, we’re totally getting one of those and framing it.”
“Anything my lady wants.” I slide the zipper up the seam until it’s perfectly secure. “There you go.”
She lets out a heavy breath. “My boobs are squished.”
I glance over at her cleavage that is billowing out the top more than she likes. “I can paint over your chest to make it look like your dress if higher.”
“While I’d love some body paint, we don’t have time for that, nor do I want to risk ruining this dress. Do you know how much it cost?” she asks with her hands moving dramatically. “Three thousand dollars. I’ve never worn a dress this expensive in my life.”
“Get used to it, Harper Sexton. This is our life.”
“I’d much rather donate the money to the schools.”
“That’s why I love you so much.”
There’s a knock at the door. I straighten my bowtie as I walk to the door and the sight of Bryce on the other side. I glance at my watch. We have thirty more minutes until we’re due downstairs for the ceremony.