by Anna Brooks
“Jesus, relax. The last thing he needs is for you to have a heart attack. You don’t need any more visits to the hospital.”
The past four months have flown. Declan and I have spent every second together we could. It’s been easy. So easy. As soon as we both learned to let go of the past, we got so excited about the future. We have the best years of our lives ahead of us, and I can’t wait to grow old with him.
Two car doors slam. Everyone rushes to their places, and I stand in the middle of the yard. The back gate opens, and Dec walks back with all of his fishing gear and drops it when he sees me. His head falls, and he pinches the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.
I walk over to him, and before I can even say anything, he pulls me to him and buries his head in my neck. I let the tears I was holding loose, and we cry together. I can hear everyone behind us crying as well, but Clover’s laughter pulls us apart.
He looks at me and wipes the tears from my eyes. “What did you do?” He laughs and waves at everyone then shakes his head.
“Wanna get married?”
“Jesus, honey.” He gives his body a little shake and turns to Nik. “You’re an asshole.”
Nik smirks and walks over to Lisa, where she waits for him with open arms. The two of them have been such a big help for me to set this up.
“Well, you wanna?”
“Of course I want to marry you. I’ve wanted to since I was a teenager. I can’t believe you did this.” He holds my face in his hands and presses his lips to mine. “Christ, I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I take his hand and lead him to the altar where a pastor stands, waiting to join us as man and wife.
Chapter 27
Declan
I CAN’T TAKE MY eyes off Amie. Her watery eyes connect with me, and my knees are fucking weak. They duped me. Nik took me fishing while she planned a surprise wedding. With everything that’s happened between us, I wanted to give us a little time to just be together. To date again—well, we live together, so it wasn’t really dating.
“Are you guys ready?” the pastor asks.
I try to focus on what’s going on in front of me and finally clear my throat. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
“Ready,” Amie whispers.
I take her hands in mine and squeeze. “Love you,” I mouth.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…”
As the pastor talks, I hate to admit it, but I’m not paying attention. I’m looking into Amie’s eyes and making my own vows without words. Telling her promises I’ve said before. Giving her more than a ring, more than a signed piece of paper. I’m giving her me. Everything that I am.
“Amie, you requested to say your vows first.”
I’m shocked by this and have to wipe my sweaty palms on my khaki shorts. I laugh at myself, because it makes sense now why Nik wanted to go to a fancy place for lunch.
“Yes, I did.”
“By all means,”—the pastor holds out his hand to motion to her—“the floor is yours.”
“I’ve loved you since I was sixteen years old.” Her eyes well up with tears, and I fight back mine so I can see her beautiful face.
“Every decision I made from the moment we met was made with you in mind. I did things because of you. I hid things from you because I only wanted what was best for you. I pushed you away. But through it all, I never stopped loving you. And my vow, sorry”—she laughs and wipes her eyes—“my vow moving forward is to make decisions with you, not to assume I know how you’re going to react. Even though I know you well enough to know, you still have the right to make your own choices.”
She squeezes my hands. “I vow to love you, to cherish you, to respect you, to honor you”—her breath hitches—“and to be the best mother to your daughter for the rest of my life. I won’t ever lie to you or be unfaithful to you. But most importantly, I vow to let go of the past and live for the future. Our future. Our family’s future.”
She looks down the aisle, and my mom sets Clover on the grass. Her little legs can barely keep up with how fast she runs down the aisle giggling, and I finally lose it. My eyes blur, and I crouch down to hold my arms out for her. When she reaches me, she hits me in the face like she loves to do, and I kiss her cheeks.
She has a bow tied around her wrist, and Amie pulls it loose, then slides the ring off and puts it on my finger. I look away from her gaze because I can’t take it. She brings out emotions in me that I don’t ever show, emotions I didn’t even know I had.
“Declan, would you like to say something?” The pastor interrupts my moment, and I finally look up into my almost wife’s beautiful face. She’s smiling and happy. Like she used to be.
I nod at the pastor. “Yeah, yes, I would.”
I hitch Clover up on my hip, and before I chicken out, I begin speaking. “There hasn’t been a single day in my life since I was sixteen that I haven’t thought about you. Even when we were apart, you were still with me. You never left me. And I never left you. My heart belongs to you. It always will.”
I grab her hand with one of mine. “I have everything I always wanted. And my vow to you is to make you happy.”
“You make me happy,” she interrupts.
“And I’ll continue to do that. We can do anything if we’re together, and as long as you’re by my side, I don’t need anything else. You and Clover are my entire life, and because you know me as well as you say you do, you know what it means when I tell you that my vow is to love you until the day I die. My love is unconditional. My love is yours.”
“That was really good for not being prepared.” She laughs.
“I don’t ever need to rehearse how I feel about you.” I raise an eyebrow, and she wipes under her eyes.
Pierce walks over to me and hands me a ring. Amie’s promise ring.
“I don’t want something new. I want that. I want all the happy memories we have to be right next to the new ones we’re going to make. I want to look down on my hand and see the past and the future together.”
I slide the ring onto her finger and lean forward to kiss her. Clover kicks and squirms, and I kiss her cheek, too.
“I now pronounce you man and wife. Kiss your bride. Again.”
Everyone laughs, and I kiss Amie. Again. She wraps her arms around Clover and me. Our families cheer, and as I look out at them, I can’t help but become overrun with emotions.
My cousin Char and her husband, Travis, hold their kids, Caroline and Sean. I couldn’t be more proud of the woman she is today. I know she’s in good hands with Travis. He’s a good man and an even better father.
I’m overjoyed that his brother, Brandon, came into our family as well. I look out at him and his wife, Mary, who is holding their son, Steven, and smile. The two brothers are men I am honored to have with me today.
My baby sister stands in Liam’s arms with Melody, and my throat begins to tingle when I see how happy Meara is for me. She’s always been a spitfire but always out of love. The fact she’s here supporting my new wife and me means the world to me.
Pierce whistles and his girl, Ruby, gives him a little shove, then wipes her eyes. He laughs and kisses the top of her head. She’s made him so happy, and for that alone, she is already in my good graces.
Nik, my best friend. The man who has been my rock when I needed, the man who is more like a brother to me than a friend, stands with his fiancé, Lisa, and I give him a knowing smirk. He’s next.
Our parents cheer us on, and Amie intertwines our fingers as we step down from the podium. We’re swept up in congratulatory hugs and pulled in different directions. But just like always, I find her. Everyone else blurs out, and she’s the only thing in my line of vision.
I watch as she throws her head back and laughs. It hits me straight in my dick and in my gut. I can’t believe she did all this for me. She looks over at me and smiles, and I walk toward her. She stops smiling, and when I reach her, I pick her up.
“We’ll be rig
ht back.” I carry her bridal style, and my dad opens the back door for us.
When I see what’s inside, I almost drop her. “Holy shit.” She grabs on to me tighter, and I turn in a circle. A large three-tier cake sits on the dining room table in the middle of a decorated house. The kitchen smells heavenly, and I turn my head to see caterers busily slicing.
I walk past them and head to our bedroom. As soon as I’m inside, I kick the door shut and set her down. My hands frame her face, and I kiss her. Harder than I ever have before. Days, weeks, months, years… a fucking decade and a half of my hopes and dreams pouring out. I press my forehead against hers and rub my thumbs along her cheekbones.
“I have something for you.”
“We can’t.” She laughs. “Everyone is downstairs.”
I chuckle under my breath. “Oh, you’ll get that later. But what I’m talking about is something else. It’s something bigger. It’s a part of me that I’ve always wanted to share with you.”
“Okay…”
“Stay here.”
I kiss her nose, then grab an envelope out of my dresser drawer and hand it to her.
“What is this?”
“Open it.”
With shaky hands, she slides her finger under the seal and pulls out the papers. When she sees the heading, her hands shake, and she looks at me with the most sincere shock and love I’ve ever seen.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course. I want this. Clover wants this. You and I are official, and that means it should be official with our daughter.”
“But—”
“No, no buts, no overthinking. If you need to process this, it’s fine. I could sit here and declare my undying love for you and tell you how lucky Clover is to have you in her life. But the reality is you know it as much as I do.”
“Know what?”
“That we belong together. All three of us.”
“I don’t need to think about it. I’m…” She sniffles. “I’m honored, Declan, really.”
“Good. Now that that’s out of the way…” I pick her up and toss her on the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Making love to my wife.”
I unzip my shorts and pull out my already hard dick. “You seriously think looking at you in that little white dress, surprising the shit out of me with this wedding, listening to you say your vows, agreeing to adopt Clover… did you think I wouldn’t need to be inside you?”
I push her dress up and growl at the white garter on her thigh.
“Yeah, but not till later when everyone left. I even got us a hotel room for the night. I made arrangements with—” She gasps when I slide into her.
I lean over her and seal my mouth over hers, each of us muffling the other’s moans and grunts. I slow down and sit up, watching as I connect with my wife.
“I love you,” she whispers.
“Love you too, honey.”
“So much.”
“So fuckin’ much.”
“Never stopped.”
“Never did, never will,” I vow.
I entwine our hands and raise them above her head, looming above her. She tightens against me, and I pant against her mouth, building to my own peak. My eyes look into hers as we find our release together.
“I’ve never felt or seen anything more beautiful than that in my life. Thank you for giving me this. For giving me everything.”
“You’re the one who has given me more than I could ever ask for.”
“You surprised me.” I laugh. “No idea how you kept this from me, but I’m pleased you did.”
“Speaking of, don’t you think it’s a little rude to leave everyone out there while we’re participating in post-marital coitus?”
“Yeah, probably.” I slowly slide out of her and help her clean up.
She fixes her hair in the bathroom, and we walk downstairs holding hands. When we make our way outside, everyone hoots and hollers. Amie buries her head in my side out of embarrassment.
“I can’t believe you carried me in there like a Neanderthal. Now they all know what we did.”
I tilt her head up and give her a small peck. “I’m not sorry.”
A letter from the author
Well, this is the end of the It’s Kind Of Personal series. It’s been a fun, sexy, and emotional journey with these characters. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading their stories as much as I’ve loved writing them.
Thank you for coming along on their ride with me. When I started writing Make Me Forget, I didn’t plan on the series being as big as it is. As sad as I am to see them go, I’m excited to move on to some other stories. You’re going to notice some characters from this series pop up in other books (and maybe even get their own stories)!
I’m so, so grateful and humbled by the support I’ve received, and I can’t thank you enough for taking a chance on me. <3
Love,
~Anna xo
Sneak Peek of Easy Sacrifice
DESPITE DANCING AMONG THE crowd of steamy bodies, my skin doesn’t feel too heated, but when I get outside and see him, it begins to burn. He’s leaning on his truck right outside the club, watching me. Waiting, maybe? The door closes behind me, and the bass from inside dissipates as the pounding of my heart begins to echo in my chest.
His eyes don’t move from my own, and if I could walk, I’d run to him, but he’s got me paralyzed. I haven’t seen him in six years, not since he was behind a glass partition when he told me he never wanted to see me again… I was the one who pulled the trigger, but he took the blame.
Now he looks… fucking hot. His arms are huge. His eyes are still beautiful, but they’re definitely harder. His hair’s a tad longer than it was before. And in the pants he’s wearing I can see the outline of his cock.
“Ready?” he asks, pushing off of the door.
I don’t think I heard him correctly. “What?”
“Ready?”
He certainly can’t be asking what I’ve dreamt of since the first minute I laid eyes on him. Since he kissed me that night, all I’ve ever thought of is that I want more. I’ve always wanted more. “Huh?”
“Jessa,” he sighs.
“What?”
“Are you ready?”
“For what?”
He walks right up in my personal space and crowds me into the closed door without actually touching me. The warmth from his body ignites me even further, and I feel my face reddening and my panties dampening. His index finger traces the outside of my mouth, and his eyes turn darker as he watches his finger.
“Me,” he whispers.
He bites his bottom lip, and I instantly remember the last time he kissed me. I’ve never experienced that magnitude of lust since then, and all he did was kiss me. I try to push the rest of the memories from that night far into the back of my brain and just focus on the few minutes he had his hands on me and how badly I want more of it. Of him.
When I’m alone in my bed, he’s who I imagine when I touch myself. When I had sex with the measly two other men in my life, I pretended they were him. I know what I want… what I’ve wanted since I was a teenager.
“Yes.”
Other Books by Anna Brooks
It’s Kind of Personal Series
Make Me Forget
Show Me How
Prove Me Right
Tell Me When
Remember Me Now
Not Your Hero
Acknowledgments
I have to thank my husband for his support. He’s been my rock during this process and it’s just one of the many reasons I love him. My boys, thanks for (kind of) leaving me alone when I needed to write. I love that you guys support me so big, and I’m so proud of both of you.
To my reader group, Anna’s Allies. You guys make my days so much fun, and I look forward to our games and love getting to know you all! Special shout out to Crystal, thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to the group and to me! <3
I have the best beta rea
ders. THANK YOU to Nikki Belaire, Crystal Singer, Heather Carver, Nicole Richard, Nancy White, Elizabeth Himsworth, Shannon Ferguson, Kelly Lincoln, and Polly Brown. You guys have given me the best advice, and I appreciate you guys beyond words.
To those of you who are on my ARC team, you’re the bomb! Thanks for being so awesome!
I’ve dubbed these women the Dream Team, because they are the absolute best! Kari from Cover to Cover designs, Jenny from Editing 4 Indies, Bree from Vivid Words Editing, Stacey from Champagne Formats. Individually you are all outstanding, but when your talents are put together, it makes for a beautiful book. You guys are stuck with me forever.
My promotional team! Erin from Southern Belle Book Blog, Colleen from Itsy Bitsy Book Bits, and Heather from Social Butterfly PR. I can’t express how grateful I am to you guys. You make things so easy for me. Thank you.
Bloggers!!! There are so many, and I want to acknowledge a few. Amazeballs Book Addicts, Two Unruly Girls With A Romance Book Buzz, Through The Booking Glass, Sister Spot Book Blog, Itsy Bitsy Book Bits, Fiction Conviction Book Blog, and every single blogger that has taken the time to share, read, review. YOU are the real rock stars, and if I said thank you seventy-four thousand, five hundred twenty-three times, it wouldn’t be enough.
And last but not least… my readers. Without you, I couldn’t be me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for loving my stories.
About the Author
Anna began writing when she thought the world would want to hear her sick lyrics through song. Since then, she’s realized her childhood dream wasn’t so far-fetched, just misguided. Now she writes romance with real emotions and happy endings. If Anna isn’t writing or reading, she can be found by a space heater drinking a ridiculous amount of Diet Dr. Pepper. She also likes to hang out with her husband and two boys. If it weren’t for them, she wouldn’t ever leave the house. Anna was born in Wisconsin but now lives in the Evergreen State.