by Piper Rayne
“Jagger’s cousin Grady is a snowboarder,” Quinn says, and I give her a ‘shut up’ expression because seriously, I do not want that crazy spreading through my family genes.
“Uh, snowboarder!” Sophie’s eyes light up.
The flight attendant comes up to us, bending down to whisper in my ear.
“The pilot has to re-route us. We’re landing in Honolulu.”
“What?” Teegan screeches. “What’s the matter?”
Leo pulls her closer, and Teegan’s knuckles turn white clutching his shirt. I gather flying isn’t really her thing.
“Don’t you worry,” the friendly flight attendant says and then leans down to me again. “Some bad weather,” she whispers.
I smile and nod. Having done the job I assigned her, she heads back to the prep area.
“Are we going to miss opening ceremonies?” Quinn asks.
“Nah, we just might not be able to stay in Seoul that long.”
“Too bad Payne and Via couldn’t have come,” Leo says, trying to distract Teegan, I think.
“They’re having fun up with Vance’s parents in Oregon.” Layla smiles.
“Yeah, with all the snow up there right now, they’re enjoying everything they can’t do down by us,” Vance adds.
An hour later, we land in Hawaii. We all grab our luggage since the pilot told us we can’t get out until tomorrow at the earliest, and even that isn’t guaranteed. I pretend to call the hotel to get us rooms while the guys keep Quinn talking and away from me.
I hang up, tucking my phone into my jeans and heading toward them with the luggage.
“I got us rooms, but we’re paying big. It was the only place that had room.”
Teegan cringes and glances up to Leo.
“Who’s got Sophie?” Vance asks.
“She can stay with us,” Teegan says and Leo tilts his head at me.
I laugh, almost making him believe I’d do that to him. “No, I’ll cover her. She’s got her own room.”
Sophie picks up her luggage, sashaying away from me. “I like this sugar daddy shit.”
All the girls laugh, and the guys roll their eyes.
Everyone crashed last night, including Quinn and I, but I wake up early for my swim. Quinn arrives right as I’m finishing, wearing her bathrobe, sipping coffee.
“I’m getting used to waking up alone. I don’t like it.” She raises those eyebrows and my gaze moves up from her red, white and blue flag-painted toes to her legs. My memory takes care of all the parts that aren’t visible right now.
“Come here.” I pat the cement where I’m leaning, three-quarters of my body still in the water.
“I’m in my robe and people will start coming down soon.”
I glance around to see the hotel staff preparing the pool area for a busy day. “Come on.” I pat the spot again. “I want a sip of coffee.”
Unable to deny me, she walks over, properly sitting down to ensure she’s not showing off the masterpiece that’s under the robe. Her feet dangle in the water and she tips her mug to my mouth.
I stand up. My arms stretch, my hands firm on her ass.
“You trust me?” I ask.
“In this position? At this moment? No. I don’t trust you.”
I chuckle because truth is, she shouldn’t.
“I want you to go out with the girls today. The pilot left me a message and we’re grounded here for one more day.”
Her lips tip down. “That sucks.”
“Let’s make the most of it. You go with the girls and we’ll get together for dinner. I’ll make reservations for sunset on the beach.”
Her eyes light up. “So, you don’t need a lesson on swooning?”
I slide her along the cement until her ass is perched on the edge.
“Jagger,” she warns, and my head falls in the sliver of an opening at the bottom of the hotel robe. Damn, I can smell her from here and my tongue by instinct licks her leg. Her free hand grabs a chunk of my hair. “Jagger, back away.”
I chuckle into the seam of her legs. Resting my chin on her thighs, I look up at what has become my everything. “I love you.”
Her face softens. “I love you.”
“Is there a hole in your pocket?” I fiddle with the outside of the robe.
She quizzically looks down at it, pushing her hand into the pocket.
“I don’t feel a hole, but there’s something in there.” She blushes pink when she can tell what it is. “Jag,” she sighs with a smile.
“What is it?” I ask, my hands still wrapped around her, wanting to be closer.
She pulls out the ring, the large diamond sparkling in the early morning sun.
“Now?” She sets her coffee down, smoothing out her hair, tucking in the folds of the robe. “I just woke up.”
I take the ring from her grasp, hold her left hand and hover the ring over her finger.
“I told you before that I’m never letting you go again. Quinn, I’ve never loved anyone else and I never will. Make an honest man of me and marry me?”
She nods, tears starting to form, and I slide the ring onto her finger—a perfect fit, thank God.
Both of her hands cradle my face and she bends down, kissing my lips. Kissing her back, I take the opportunity to pull her into the water with me.
“Jagger!” she yells, breaking apart.
“Shh…you’ll wake up the guests.” I grab the tie of her robe and open it a bit, exposing her to only me.
“You do know how to get me to do what you want.” She finally relents and gives in, wrapping her legs around my waist.
“And this time it only took me asking you to marry me.”
She swats at my stomach and my lips descend on hers briefly as I spin us around in the water.
“So, you’ll meet me down at the beach at sunset?” I ask a few minutes later.
“For dinner, yeah, but we just got engaged. I want to spend the day with you,” she whines, gripping me tighter to her body. Damn, her nipples are so hard they could cut me. It feels delicious.
“I’m taking you up to the room right now, but I’m going to ask again, Quinn. Will you meet me on the beach at sunset?” I say it slow and finally realization dawns on her face.
“Now? You want to do it today? I have nothing.”
“That’s why you’re going with the girls. Right now, Vance and Leo are telling them the plan. You’re going dress shopping, and having a spa day. At sunset you’ll walk down a candlelit path to me and become Mrs. Jagger Kale.”
Tears fall from her eyes and her lips crash down to mine. Our tongues part and we enjoy gazing at each other for a while longer.
Seven o’clock that night, the sun is almost touching the ocean, or so it seems. Layla, Teegan and Sophie all take their turns walking down the aisle, filing off to the left. Right about now, Quinn’s dad should be approaching her. The music begins, and all our guests stand. My parents, who flew in for the day. My brother, his wife and kids. Marisol, who is now the picture of health with her new kidney, Isa, Quinn’s mom, and her editor. How all these people kept this secret I have no idea. The only people who didn’t know were the girls because they could not be trusted. They would’ve let it slip. Vance opted not to have Payne and Via come because, and I quote, “I need alone time with Layla, like now. Naked in a bed with no one slipping under the covers.”
My bride arrives, standing at the edge of the resort, slipping off her sandals, and her dad holds his hand out as she comes down the last of the stairs and hits the sand. Her dress falls just past her knees, and it’s flowy like her sundresses so the question of whether she’s wearing panties or not floats into my consciousness. Her eyes are on me, her smile wider than I could’ve imagined. Leo clasps me on the shoulder as I gaze at the woman I love more than anything else on this earth.
She stops right before the officiant, her dad kissing her on the cheek. I shake his hand and he nods. It will probably take my entire life to prove to him how much I love her.
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nbsp; She hooks her arm through mine and giggles. Her head falls to my shoulder. Rising to her tiptoes, she cups her mouth and whispers into my ear. “What’s your wager? Panties or not?”
I turn my head to her, claiming her lips, and our guests laugh. She doesn’t fight me, but instead kisses me just as fiercely back. When we part, she runs her thumb over my lips to get the lipstick off.
The excitement inside is palpable that the two of us really are getting our happily ever after. Because I know for certain that it will be a happy ending. No matter what comes our way, we’ll face it—together. And that’s all that really matters in the end.
The End
That Grady Kale is hiding something, right?
Check out his story in our new BEDROOM GAMES SERIES coming 1.29.17
Cold as Ice
Did you miss out on Vance and Layla’s path to love?
The Manny
How about Leo and Teegan’s dog walk to a happily ever after?
Doggie Style
Cockamamie Unicorn Ramblings
Jagger, oh Jagger…
Rayne loved Jagger from his first introduction in The Manny. We know many of you were skeptical he could redeem himself, but there’s something about a guy who owns who he is and doesn’t really give a shit about people’s reactions.
He came to her easy during writing, the problem is we knew we needed someone who would challenge him. We teased you with Sophie and Victoria in the two previous books. They each had strong personalities and wouldn’t take his crap. Perfect matches in a way. We contemplated Sophie, but when we finally sat down to plot his book, we both agreed that it had to be someone from his past.
Enter Quinn.
She held the power in their second chance from the moment they came face-to-face in the kitchen. So, although she didn’t have as sharp of comebacks as the other two girls, she fit perfectly with Jagger.
Rayne fell just as hard for Quinn. Chore Play is our ninth novel. Every couple brings something magical to the page, but what we loved about this one is neither Jagger nor Quinn changed the essence of who they were. Jagger is still that snappy comeback, crude guy, who probably thinks a little too much of himself, but he found the love of his life who will slap him upside the head when he gets a little too arrogant.
The same as with the entire Dirty Truth Series, without all these people putting their heads and fingers to the grind, the book would never be what it is!
Letitia from RBA Designs for the amazing eye-catching cover.
RJ Locksley for line editing. Thank you working your magic especially around the holidays.
Shawna from Behind the Writer for taking time away from her family to get this done for us.
Enticing Journey Book Promotions for their organization and willingness to change things around not once, not twice, but three times when we say, we need to push back the release.
All the bloggers who carved out time to promote us and/or read and review the book. Not to mention understanding we were running behind.
Our first readers of a really shitty, unedited copy—Heather and Angela.
All our early ARC readers, first for wanting to read our stuff early, for giving Jagger a chance and for posting their reviews.
And of course, all our unicorns. We can’t ask for a better group to interact with daily. You love our characters as much as us and that warms our hearts more than our happily ever afters!
We’ll see you in a short few weeks. The Winter Games are here and there’s some snowboarders you need to meet. Well, you met the first one already. Yes, Grady Kale, Jagger’s cousin, is first to drop in the pipe with his story, Cold As Ice.
xo,
Piper & Rayne
About Piper & Rayne
Piper Rayne, or Piper and Rayne, whichever you prefer because we’re not one author, we’re two. Yep, you get two established authors for the price of one. You might be wondering if you know us? Maybe you’ll read our books and figure it out. Maybe you won’t. Does it really matter?
We aren’t trying to stamp ourselves with a top-secret label. We wanted to write without apology. We wanted to not be pigeon holed into a specific outline. We wanted to give readers a story without them assuming how the story will flow. Everyone has their favorite authors, right? And when you pick up their books, you expect something from them. Whether it’s an alpha male, heavy angst, a happily ever after, there’s something you are absolutely certain the book will contain. Heck, we’re readers, too, we get it.
What can we tell you about ourselves? We both have kindle’s full of one-clickable books. We're both married to husbands who drive us to drink. We're both chauffeurs to our kids. Most of all, we love hot heroes and quirky heroines that make us laugh, and we hope you do, too.
www.piperrayne.com
Also by Piper Rayne
The Modern Love World
Charmed by the Bartender
Hooked by the Boxer
Mad about the Banker
The Single Dad’s Club
Real Deal
Dirty Talker
Sexy Beast
Dirty Truth
The Manny
Doggie Style
Chore Play
Bedroom Games
Cold as Ice (1.29.18)
On Thin Ice (2.12.18)
Break the Ice (2.26.18)