“I—”
He cuts me off. “I’m going to ask you a simple question and you’re going to give me the truth, do you understand?”
Hope and fear flutter in my chest. “Okay.”
He grips my chin and holds my jaw so that I can’t look away. “Do you love me?”
The question shocks me. My pulse speeds up and I sputter. “T-that’s ridiculous. We hardly know each other.”
“Answer the question, Ashley. Do you love me?”
Panic speeds through my blood at two hundred miles per hour. “I did answer. We haven’t known each other a week. How could you even ask such an insane question?”
His eyes glint. “It’s a yes-or-no question. If the answer is no, tell me. But don’t fucking lie to me. Yes or no. Do you love me?”
The “no” trembles on my lips, fighting to get free, because I want so badly to do right by him. A war wages inside me, I don’t want him to feel obligated to me. I don’t want him to be tied to me when that’s not what he wants. But I want to tell him the truth.
For once, in my stupid, sorry life I want to tell someone how I really feel.
And just like that the fight seeps out of me. My shoulders slump. My jaw loosens. And I understand. It doesn’t matter. What he does or feels or how he responds isn’t the point.
I’m the point. And I want to be truthful. I want to risk it all. Because I’m never going to be happy until I realize the only person I can control is me.
I deserve the chance.
Tears fill my eyes. “Yes. I love you.”
No qualifications. No caveats. No excuses. Just a simple, straightforward answer with no apologies.
His grip softens, and his fingers run down my jaw to curl around my neck. He leans down and kisses me softly before whispering against my lips, “I love you too.”
I clutch at his shoulders, my throat too tight to speak.
“I know it’s crazy and I don’t care.” He kisses me again. “All I want is to be with you. Everything else will just have to work itself out.”
I nod and choke out, “Okay.” The words tremble at my lips and I say them, not caring that they sound needy. I am needy. And that’s okay. “Do you promise?”
“I promise.” His lips meet mine, stealing my breath and my heart in one fraction of a second. I feel his commitment, deep down, sinking into my bones.
He lifts his head. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
I nod.
“I’ll take care of everything, okay? You just focus on your dad and your family.” He sweeps my hair back and feathers a touch over my cheek.
I see it in his eyes; he wants to do this. Wants to take care of me in my time of crisis. Wants to relieve my burden instead of add to it. I mold myself against him, loving his solid, steady strength. How he grounds and centers me. I make him my own promise. “You won’t be sorry.”
“I know.”
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make you a happy man.”
He cocks a grin at me, my boyish devil. He winks. “I’ll remind you of that promise when I want to name our first child something weird, like Boa Constrictor.”
Oh my god, he wants kids. With me. Inwardly I scream with glee while I bat at his arm. “Like you’re going to get any say in that.”
“Oh no?” He chuckles and grabs my hand, and we start walking up the beach.
I spin, walking backwards so I can look at him. “Like any girl I’ve had my children’s names picked out since I was six.”
He groans.
I laugh. “So you’re already sorry?”
He tugs, and I tumble into his arms where he kisses me long and deep, promising me absolutely everything I have ever wanted. He pulls away and tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. “Never. You’re mine. And we’re in this together.”
“Good.” It’s settled then.
It’s back to my real life. Only better, because it’s with him.
Hey there!
Thanks so much for reading.
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I hope you enjoyed the first book of the Love and Other Disasters series, THE WALK OF SHAME, as much as I enjoyed writing it. Ashley was a side character in my Undone series and as she says, she was the girl everyone loves to hate, but I’m so glad I wrote her story and she got her happily ever after.
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Do you want to find out more about the series? Join me on my writing adventures? Sign up for my newsletter and be the first in the know. Find out about upcoming releases, get the first look at advanced chapters, participate in exclusive giveaways and bonus content.
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To sweeten the pot you get not one, but TWO stories for free! Not only will you get CRAVE, book one of my Undone series, but you’ll also get a top secret bonus story, featuring Ted and Shelly, that is available ONLY to my newsletter subscribers. I hope to see you there!
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Sign up today! http://jenniferdawsonauthor.com/newsletter/
Internet Stalking Made Easy
Sometimes it’s just handy to have everything in one place, don’t you think? Since I’m a considerate author, here’s some helpful links to that will help you find me as we wander the Internet.
Links to find me:
Jen’s Website
Newsletter Signup (Free books! Yay!)
Facebook Page
Twitter Page
Instagram
Pinterest
If you really like me, you can also find me hanging out with my peeps in my Facebook reader group, Dawson’s Daring Darlings. We laugh, chat, talk about books and I do group only giveaways for fun.
Join My Private Facebook Group
Also by Jennifer Dawson
Want more while you wait for the next Love & Other Disasters book? Try out my other series…
The Something New Series
Small town, contemporary romance with a big city twist.
Take a Chance on Me
The Winner Takes it All
The Name of the Game
As Good as New
She’s My Kind of Girl
Head Over Heels- Coming in Fall of 2017
The Undone Series
Romantic erotica that’s all about the journey.
Crave
Sinful
Unraveled
Debauched
Taken- Coming in 2017
About the Author
Jennifer Dawson grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and graduated from DePaul University with a degree in psychology. She met her husband at the public library while they were studying. To this day she still maintains she was NOT checking him out. Now, over twenty years later they’re married, living in a suburb right outside of Chicago with two awesome kids and a crazy dog.
Despite going through a light FM, poem writing phase in high school, Jennifer never grew up wanting to be a writer (she had more practical aspirations of being an international super spy). Then one day, suffering from boredom and disgruntled with a book she’d been reading, she decided to put pen to paper. The rest, as they say, is history.
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These days, Jennifer can be found sitting behind her computer writing her next novel, chasing after her kids, keeping an ever watchful eye on her ever growing to-do list, and NOT checking out her husband.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Praise for Jennifer Dawson
Blurb
1. Chapter One
2. Chapter Two
3. Chapter Three
4. Chapter Four
5. Chapter Five
6. Chapter Six
7. Chapter Seven
8. Chapter Eight
9. Chapter Nine
10. Chapter Ten
11. Chapter Eleven
Thanks for reading
Internet Stalking Made Easy
Also by Jennifer Dawson
About the Author
Dawson, Walk of Shame
Walk of Shame Page 9