I shake my head because there is a huge lump in my throat and I’m afraid to try to respond. He pulls me to him and holds me while I cry soundlessly. After a few minutes, Saint lets go and wipes the silent tears away, giving me a questioning look.
“I’ve never felt anything like that, Saint,” I tell him honestly, my voice thick with emotion. “That was a connection that, in my almost forty years of life, I’ve never experienced, and I now know why. You.” He kisses me gently before nodding, his eyes bright with unshed tears.
“I felt it too, E,” he chokes out. “You are it for me. I love you.”
I bury my face into his chest, breathing his scent in deep. “I love you too, Saint Cordero.”
WAKING UP IN SAINT’S arms is like heaven. When I start to stir, he pulls me closer, nuzzling his face into my hair and sighing in contentment. I giggle because his breath on my neck tickles, which makes him do it on purpose, and then I know he’s awake.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he mumbles into my hair, making me laugh.
“Morning,” I reply, my throat is kind of scratchy, probably from screaming his name half the night. God, what this man can do to my body.
“I need water,” I grumble, pushing away from him.
I throw on Cord’s shirt from last night and head to the kitchen. After filling a glass of water and chugging it, I notice a coffee pot, so I start digging around in his kitchen to make some coffee.
“Snooping through my cabinets already, huh?” his gravelly voice fills the air.
“Actually, I was being a good girlfriend and making us some coffee and breakfast,” I tell him with a smile.
He walks up and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me to him.
“I can’t even tell you how much I love having you in my kitchen, in my shirt, making us coffee. I was actually scared this would never happen for us,” he tells me honestly.
I nod, knowing we almost lost this chance because we had so much to fix in our own lives.
“Baby, don’t even think about it,” he tells me sternly before flipping me around so I’m facing him. He brings his hands to my face and lifts my head so I have to look at him. “I know we haven’t really finished talking about all of the stupid shit we both did, but know this,” he pauses and presses his lips to mine, before continuing, “we are going to start over and we are going to make it work. If we can go six months without speaking, and almost instantly fall back into each other’s arms, we can do this.”
He takes the coffee pot from my hand, sets it down on the counter, lifts me up and wraps my legs around his waist, and just like that, the conversation is over. He’s absolutely right, and I’m not going to even attempt to fight it.
“Can I ask you a question without you getting mad? It’s something I’ve been wondering, and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll always wonder,” I ask him honestly.
“You can ask me anything, Ellie. I won’t get mad,” he replies, setting me down on the counter, and starts making coffee.
“Have you been with anyone since you met me? I mean, after I left, did you date at all?” I ask timidly. He studies my face for a minute before he responds.
“I’m not going to lie to you, Ellie.” He pauses and my heart stops because I am now unsure if I want to know this information. “I went out on a date a few months after you left. I thought, if I put myself back out there, it would help me get over you, but it didn’t work. I went out on one date, it was a disaster and that was the end of my attempt at dating.” I nod once and start fidgeting with my empty coffee cup. “Ellie, I didn’t sleep with her. I can see it written all over your face. Before last night, it’d been a really long time since I had a woman in my bed, or any bed for that matter.” He takes the cup from my hands and puts it on the counter, his finger raising my chin to look at him.
“Now answer your own question, Ellie. Has there been anyone other than me since we met?” And now it’s his turn to look worried.
“No,” I murmur. “No other dates. Saint, you’re the only man I’ve slept with beside Justin. I’ve always had very old-school feelings about sex. I firmly believe it should only be shared between two people who truly care about each other.”
He pulls my head to his and kisses me deeply. “I couldn’t agree more,” he croaks out.
And then he takes me to his room and once again shows me how deep his feelings for me really are.
One Year Later . . .
“MOOOOOOMMM!”
Don’t answer him. He knows I hate that.
“Mom!”
“Destry Joseph Harper! Stop it right now! Come down here to talk to me . . . and you better have clothes on when you do!” I scream up the stairs.
Destry moved in with Saint and me last week because Sara moved in with Eli, and Ben decided to live in the dorms. To say the boys had had enough of living together was an understatement. They literally did nothing but fight all the time. Destry will be moving into an apartment with a few of his friends from school. One of the roommates just graduated and is leaving, so Destry is taking his room.
“Have you seen my BSU sweatshirt?” Destry asks as he walks into the living room where I’m sitting.
“It’s in the hamper, Dez. You wore it like two days ago,” I laugh.
“You haven’t done laundry since then?” he asks seriously.
“Um, in case you forgot, you’re nineteen years old, mister. You can do your own damn laundry. Just cause you live here doesn’t mean we revert back to me doing all your chores for you.” I laugh at the look of horror on his face.
I get up and walk to the laundry room, show him how to use it since it is a little more high tech than what he’s used to and then leave him to it.
I’m making a simple breakfast of fruit, pancakes, and coffee when Saint joins me in the kitchen.
Wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me into him, he whispers, “How are you this morning, beautiful?”
I turn and wrap my arms around his neck, kissing him sweetly on the lips.
“Ugh, stop doing that,” Destry groans as he walks into the kitchen.
“Doing what?” Saint asks him innocently, before lifting me off the ground and placing me on the counter, kissing me one more time for good measure.
“Kissing . . . you guys are always kissing,” Destry scolds.
“We’re newlyweds, what did you expect?” Saint laughs. “You’re lucky kissing is all you’re walking in on.”
And with that, Destry fake gags and leaves the kitchen. Serves him right.
I never thought I’d marry again. I knew the first night Saint made love to me that we would be together for the rest of our lives, but I really hadn’t thought about marriage. It was, after all, just a piece of paper. I didn’t need a piece of paper to tell me I was dedicated to one man, and one man only. I’d had that piece of paper last time and it hadn’t made a damn bit of difference when it came down to it. I knew in my heart Saint was my soul mate, my best friend, and that’s all that mattered to me.
On the day he moved me in with him, Saint made us an amazing dinner and set up a big blanket with candles, wine, and the whole shebang, out in the backyard. He’d made love to me under the stars that night, and then proposed to me. It was intimate and sweet and, of course, I said yes. I love him with every ounce of my being.
A month later, we had a small ceremony in the backyard, in the exact spot he’d proposed, with only our closest friends and family to witness it. Deacon was even able to get leave and fly in to surprise Saint. It had been a perfect evening. That was six days ago.
“Well, Mrs. Cordero, are you ready to head off for our lavish honeymoon?” Saint asks, looking as excited as a ten-year-old at Disney World.
“You bet your ass I’m ready,” I jump into his arms. “Let’s go create our own defining moments.”
Note to my lovely readers:
After my family, editor and beta readers all read Defining Moments, there were lots of comments and questions like: “What was wrong with Ben?”
“You didn’t mention the dinner with Sara and Eli?” “What did Destry mean when he told Ellie ‘Tynlee is a girl a guy like me should be looking for’?” and “I want more of Sami and Bishop’s story!”
Well, I obviously left several things open ended . . . but it was for good reason.
I hadn’t originally planned to make this a series, but the more I wrote about these characters, the more I fell in love with them. I couldn’t give them each the time they deserved in this book, because, well, this was Ellie and Saint’s story.
With that said, I am currently working on a new manuscript that is still untitled and unrelated to this one. When it is completed, I’ll be returning to the Harper and Cordero families to give you their stories.
Acknowledgments
First and always foremost, to my husband George and our beautiful boys. There is no way I could accomplish half of what I do without your love and support. Y’all are my world.
To my editor, Virginia Cantrell at Hot Tree Editing. Thank you for helping me bring Defining Moments to life. Loved working with you on this project!
To Cassy Roop at Pink Ink Designs. Once again, I am completely blown away by the beauty you create. Thank you for making Defining Moments beautiful, inside and out.
To my Hot Tree betas: Jessica, AnnMarie, Cindy, Shannon and Jess. A huge thank you for your honest and constructive feedback. Some of the comments made me laugh, some made me cry, and some made me rewrite. ☺ Thank you!
To my family/friend betas: Mama, Donna, Molly, Brandee and Chantel . . . THANK YOU! Having y’all be the first to read it and give me your honest opinions helped me make this book better than I could’ve hoped for. I love you all big heaps.
And last, but definitely not least, to my readers. Thank you for taking a chance on me and my books.
Other books by Andee Michelle:
Raising Landry
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Find Andee on Social Media at:
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Or email Andee at:
[email protected]
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