My Kind of Girl

by Candace Shaw

  “Oh, Sean, I don’t know what to say except that I love you, too. Very much.”

  When he gathered her up in his arms, she giggled with pure delight. He captured her lips with his as a relieved moan released from both of them. She’d suffered withdrawals because of being away from him, and kissed him even deeper. He carried her to the bed, and she was thankful that Caitlyn had changed the sheets and convinced her to take a shower.

  Sean placed her down on the bed, and their kissing never ceased until they both cried out during their last climax after making love. Traci lay nestled in his arms, with her head on his chest as he placed a few kisses to her forehead. Her mind tracked back to something he’d said earlier, but she was so overcome with emotion it just dawned on her what he’d said.

  “Sean, you mentioned you told all those women you were getting married.”

  “I am. To you.”

  She giggled. “Oh really? What’s makes you think I’ll say yes?”

  “Because we were meant to be, and I finally found my kind of girl.”

  Epilogue

  Dr. Francis Arrington stood at the head of the table with his champagne glass in his hand as he looked affectionately at his family that had grown over the past few years. Tears welled in his eyes, but Darla stood, wiping them away and kissing her husband on the cheek.

  “Make a speech, Dad,” Sean shouted out, patting his fiancée’s knee under the table.

  “I just wanted to say on behalf of me and my beautiful Darla, that we’re very happy and proud of each and every one of you. You’ve made this 45th wedding anniversary dinner one to remember, especially with the surprise trip to tour Europe for the next month. We definitely have the best children God could’ve blessed us with. Of course, you all have tried my patience over the years, but you’re all headstrong and intelligent. Cannon and Raven, our twins. Our first babies. You two have truly made me and your mother proud. Cannon, your dedication to the medical field has truly surpassed what I could’ve imagined. You understood my real reason for becoming a doctor, and your contribution to the field by starting Doctor’s Unlimited has saved lives all over the world. Raven, you truly are a gem with your seriousness and compassion to make sure your patients are fully aware of every health issue that may occur as women. Your down-to-earth personality and warmth makes your patients feel at ease to discuss their female concerns. Darla and I knew what we were doing when we turned over the ownership of the practice to the two you. We’d groomed you two since day one to be leaders and be a sounding board for your younger siblings. Cannon and Raven, you make us very proud.”

  The twins stood and gave their parents hugs. Once they were seated, their father continued.

  “We thought after the twins we were done, but then Sean came along, turning our lives upside down with his curious nature and questioning everyone around him. However, as you matured, we realized it was more of a concernment for others and you wanted to help people with their issues but in a different way as you analyzed what was really bothering them on a mental level. We’re proud of your dedication to counseling and aiding war veterans any way you can because you know of the struggle my late brother had when you were growing up. I’m sure your namesake is smiling down on you right now.”

  “Thank you, Father. I hope Uncle Sean knows how I much his impact had on my decision to choose the field I did.”

  Dr. Arrington cleared his throat and turned to Bria. “Bria, you have definitely tested my patience along the way, but I have to say I’m proud of your headstrong personality and that you never give up when something is passionate to you. I still can’t believe you were sneaking behind my back doing acupuncture treatments and prescribing herbs to patients. However, once I understood Western and Eastern medicine can work together and you actually knew what you were doing, who was I to stop you? I’m proud of you, sweetie, your mother and I are very proud.”

  Bria wiped a few tears from her eyes. “Thank you, Daddy and Mother, for believing in me and the alternative ways to help our patients.”

  Dr. Arrington turned to his youngest child and sighed. “Shelbi Frances, I don’t know where to begin. You’re my babygirl who could never do any wrong in my eyes, but when you said you didn’t want to be a doctor after graduating from medical school I thought I had failed as a parent. I guess it never occurred to your mother and I that our children would want to be anything else other than doctors considering we’d groomed you all from a very young age. Maybe in a way I was wrong, but at the end of the day, you each have chosen your path that was best for you. While I am glad you decided to go the medical route after all, I would’ve been proud of you if you’d decided to stay a food critic.”

  “Oh … sooooo … I don’t have to work at the practice when I’m done with my residency?” Shelbi asked, running toward her father and kissing him on the cheek. “I’m teasing, Daddy.”

  “Oh thank goodness,” he laughed nervously.

  “Well, again this has truly been an awesome forty-five years with my wife and my children and now I have two beautiful daughter-in-laws and three son-in-laws along with my grandchildren who are the next generation of Arringtons. As I look at my lovely wife, I can honestly say when I first met her, I saw our future in her eyes and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I love you, Darla, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together.” He grabbed his wife to him and kissed her passionately as their family stood and clapped.

  The End

  About Candace

  Born and raised under the sunny skies and on the whitest beaches in northwest Florida, Candace Shaw knew she wanted to become a writer after she read Little Women in fourth grade. Once graduating from the University of West Florida with a degree in Elementary Education, she began teaching and put her dream of becoming a writer on hold until one summer vacation she started writing again and hasn’t stopped.

  When Candace is not writing or researching information for a book, she's reading, shopping, learning how to cook a new dish or spending time with her loving husband and their loyal, over-protective Weimaraner, Ali. She is currently working on her next fun, flirty, and sexy romance novel. You can contact Candace on her website at www.candaceshaw.net, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCandaceShaw or tweet her at https://twitter.com/Candace_Shaw.

  Books by Candace Shaw

  Arrington Family Series

  Cooking up Love

  The Game of Seduction

  Only One for Me

  Prescription for Desire

  My Kind of Girl

  Chasing Love Series (Harlequin Kimani Romance)

  Her Perfect Candidate

  Journey to Seduction

  Free Reads

  Simply Amazing (Arrington Family Series)

  Only You for Christmas (Chasing Love/Harlequin’s website only)

  Enjoy an excerpt from the first book in the Arrington Family Series, Cooking up Love.

  What happens when a suave, handsome chef meets a cute, sassy food critic?

  When Shelbi Arrington accepts a position as a food critic in the hopes of burying her medical career and foregoing her residency, the last thing she’s searching for is love. However, that’s just what the doctor ordered especially when she lays eyes on the handsome chef, Justin Richardson. While sorting out her secret conflict of continuing her medical career, she falls for his mouth-watering charm, leaving her hungry for anything he has to offer.

  Justin is leery of doctors because a doctor’s negligence caused his mother’s death when he was twelve. He has put his focus and energy into his restaurant, which had been a dream he and his mother shared. Justin is immediately smitten by the cute, sassy food critic that has him cooking up different ways to please her appetite. But when things start to heat up, Shelbi learns of a shocking revelation that could extinguish the flame of their relationship. Will Justin be able to forget his pain and commit to the woman who has stolen his heart?

  Excerpt from Cooking up Love

  “This is so de
licious. Do you think they’ll let me have another one?” Shelbi Arrington asked the waitress at Chow Bella’s Italian Restaurant after she took the last bite of the tiramisu, savoring every sweet, sinful taste of the delectable dessert her hips needed to stay away from.

  The waitress gave a sneaky look around the restaurant, then leaned over and whispered to Shelbi, “I’ll see what I can do.” She winked and hurried to the kitchen.

  Satisfied with the response, Shelbi placed the to-go bag, which held the rest of her uneaten lunch, on the chair next to her purse. She had a habit of leaving her doggie bags and made an effort to remember this one. Her uneaten portion would serve as lunch tomorrow. She took out her iPhone and typed a few notes before tossing it back into her purse.

  Shelbi rested her elbows on the checkered red-and-white tablecloth, making mental notes of the patrons and the decor. A few wrinkled their noses, one couple called a waiter over in disgust, and a group of businessmen checked their watches as they waited for the check. A party of eight in the corner booth was being serenaded with “Happy Birthday” by the waiters. Her favorite scene was of a small boy talking louder than anyone else, yet his parents still conversed and neglected to quiet him. The customers seated near gave the couple frosty stares, but they never noticed.

  The waitress returned with a small bag, which she set on the table along with the check. She winked, and Shelbi winked back. She eased the smaller bag into the larger plastic one and tied the handles into a tight knot.

  “Ms. Arrington, here’s the check. Your lunch is on the house, but the manager thought you may want it in case you need the information for your article.”

  “Thank you very much, Lizzie.” Shelbi took the slip of paper from the black leather receipt holder.

  “You’re quite welcome, Ms. Arrington. I feel honored to have served a famous food critic,” Lizzie said before leaving to serve another customer.

  Shelbi laughed. As a contributing food critic for Food for Thought with The Memphis Tribune, she was nowhere near famous. Some of her articles were featured in the newspaper and on their website. Plus, she had a large number of followers on her personal blog, Food Passions, which she started during her undergrad years at Spelman, but she wasn’t famous.

  She pulled her last five-dollar bill from her wallet, as well as all of the quarters at the bottom, and placed the money on the table.

  Checking her watch, she had five minutes to dash to the next trolley that would take her home to her loft apartment at Central Station. There, she could kick off her heels, sip a latte, and eat the other tiramisu—sure to go straight to her hips—and type the article on the Italian restaurant and the other one from a few days ago.

  Once at the trolley stop, Shelbi realized she had given all of her quarters to Lizzie. She dug around her purse for some loose change or a dollar, but all she found were eight pennies, her checkbook, and a half-eaten bag of Skittles. It was a fifteen-block walk from the trolley stop to her loft. She’d made the trip several times in tennis shoes with her jogging partner, but never in her sister’s Christian Louboutins and a dress.

  The red trolley stopped in front of her, and the door slid open. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the trolley driver who had a crush on her and gave her free rides whether she had money or not. She hoped the driver would have pity on her.

  “Good afternoon…um…”—she glanced at his nametag—“Mike. It seems I have given all of my change as a tip to the waitress a few minutes ago. All I have are these few…” She stopped to hold out her hand. “Pennies.”

  The driver tilted his head to the side and looked down at her hand. “All you gave the waitress was some change?” he asked in a harsh tone.

  Stunned at his remark, as well as embarrassed at the line of people behind her groaning impatiently, Shelbi didn’t know what to say or do. She checked her wallet, hoping she had a dollar hidden somewhere.

  “Move it, lady!” a man behind her shouted.

  “Hurry up!” a lady with a crying baby screamed.

  “I have a slice of tiramisu you can have,” Shelbi whispered. “Never mind.” She turned to go before she said something rude, or worse, cried from embarrassment.

  “I’ll take care of it,” a deep, concerned voice to her left said. A whiff of intoxicating cologne floated by as the considerate stranger dropped a one-dollar bill into the trolley’s money slot.

  “Thank you.” Shelbi looked up to see a chiseled, handsome face and a sexy smile that caused her breathing to stop. When their eyes met, an immediate rush of sensual excitement washed over her skin. She glanced at his hand that had just placed the money in the slot. No wedding ring, but it didn’t mean he was single. A man as chivalrous as him probably had women chasing him all over Memphis.

  “No problem.” He placed his hand at the small of her back. “Let’s go sit down.” The warmth in his voice and his kind gesture made Shelbi forget about her embarrassing moment.

  While on their walk, Shelbi assessed his at least six-foot-one muscular frame, curly yet wild black hair, and a fair complexion with a slight tan as if he had just come from the beach. He wore jeans with a rust-colored corduroy jacket and a cream T-shirt, perfect for the first day of fall.

  Shelbi was used to the take-charge kind of guy thanks to her dad and her two overprotective brothers. However, the way the stranger glanced down at her, giving her a comforting smile, made her heart skip a beat or two and was anything but brotherly.

  Once settled in their seats, Shelbi turned toward him and once again was blown away by his strikingly handsome face. Her breathing unsteady, she tried to concentrate on the woman holding a baby the next seat over. Instead, her eyes were drawn to the good-looking stranger with dark, thick eyebrows and a neatly trimmed mustache with a slight beard growing in. He was sinfully delicious. If he were dessert, she would’ve devoured him right then and there.

  “Thank you so much for paying my fare. Where are you getting off? I can pay you back.”

  He chuckled. “Baby, its only one dollar, but did I hear you say you have a slice of tiramisu?” He pointed toward the to-go bag in her lap.

  “Why yes, I do, and you’re more than welcome to have it.”

  “I’m teasing, but it’s nice to know you were willing to give it to me.”

  Their eyes locked on his last four words. A heat wave rushed over her at the thought of giving it to him. Shocked at her thoughts about a stranger, she tried to stay focused.

  “Well, you saved me from walking fifteen blocks in five-inch heels.” Laughing, she stretched one leg for him to see the heels on her shoes—well, her sister’s shoes.

  “Hmmm…very nice…um, shoes,” the gentleman said followed by a wink and a slight biting of his bottom lip.

  Shelbi raised her eyebrow as she caught his curious eyes perusing her toned legs before they settled on her face.

  “So what’s your name?”

  “Shelbi Arrington. And yours?

  “Justin Richardson.”

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Richardson.”

  She froze when their legs brushed as the trolley turned a corner, unleashing goose bumps all over her skin. She pretended to look out the window to hide the heat she felt rising in her face. She’d experienced these types of emotions before, but never within a five-minute time frame. In a few more moments, she would be at home, even though she really wanted to ride the trolley all afternoon with the handsome Mr. Richardson.

  “I haven’t seen you on the trolley before. Are you new to the area?” he asked, studying her face carefully.

  “I just moved downtown about four months ago. Before then, I lived in Nashville.”

  “What brings you to Memphis?”

  “I accepted a job at The Memphis Tribune as one of the food critics for Food for Thought.”

  His thick, dark eyebrows rose slightly. “You’re a food critic? Critique any good restaurants lately?”

  “As a matter of fact, I have. I went to Chow Bella’s for lunch today, and a few days ago, Lilli
an’s for dinner.”

  He nodded. “So, did you like Lillian’s?”

  “I can’t answer your question. You’ll have to buy a newspaper or go online to read my article on next Thursday,” she said, smiling at him.

  “Witty and beautiful. I like that. But I’m sure there’s something you did or didn’t like about Lillian’s.”

  Shelbi hesitated for a moment. She really didn’t want to tell a complete stranger, even though he did just rescue her from embarrassment and sore feet.

  “Well, I was quite impressed with the atmosphere, and the food was delicious overall.”

  “Overall? What was wrong?”

  “Nothing really. A few things could’ve been better. The barbecue sauce tasted a little bland, even though it’s supposed to be the chef’s special recipe. It seemed store-bought, and they don’t serve pork, but this is Memphis, for crying out loud. Where’s the pig?”

  “Um…well, maybe the chef wants to try a healthier angle. Pork isn’t good for your system. It isn’t easy for the body to digest.”

  “I’ll remember your tip the next time I cook bacon.”

  “So…” He stopped midsentence as Shelbi stood.

  “This is my stop,” she said disappointedly.

  “Too bad. I really enjoyed talking to you.”

  “Me too. Thank you so much again for paying my fare.” She stepped off the trolley and hesitantly glanced over her shoulder to see the fine-looking man one more time.