Finding Solace: A Small Town Second Chance Romance

by S. L. Scott

  “Do you think Shelby likes me?” Billy starts in again. “She flirts with me, and we hung out a few times, but—”

  “Shut up, Billy.” I laugh. Right before the girls reach us, I whisper to him, “She likes you, or she wouldn’t give you the time of day. You guys need to seal this deal, once and for all. Make your move at the reception. Chicks love weddings.” I turn back in time to take the hands of my sweet woman. “Hi.”

  She whispers, “Hi.” Her hands aren’t shaking, and her voice is steady. She’s confident like the girl I always knew her to be. The difference is, she’s not that girl. She’s a woman who acknowledges the challenges of her past and is choosing to focus on the future. She’s as kind as she is beautiful, accepting me with open arms despite my past. I begin to tell her all the reasons I love her, but it’s the last one that means the most to me. “When I think of love, I think of you, Delilah. Home is where the heart is and my heart is wherever you are, my wife and soul mate. You gave me a reason to stay, and in return, I pledge to you my love in this lifetime and every life after.”

  Emotions trickle across her face but end in a smile just for me. “You showed up here on a motorcycle in the pouring rain. If that wasn’t a love song in the making, I don’t know what is. There you were, Jason Koster, looking at me with eyes that carried the years’ worth of burdens, breaking my heart. What you didn’t know is I had a broken heart, too. You carried half of my heart with you all those miles you traveled and all the seas you sailed. We didn’t have to be together to know we were no good apart. Two halves only make a whole when the puzzle pieces fit, and we fit. Forevermore, our souls will be whole because we found our way back to each other.”

  “I always did enjoy a good love song. Care to finish this melody together?”

  “I do.”

  34

  Jason

  “Then what did he say?” Delilah asks, drawing figure eights in the sand.

  How am I expected to finish a story about a minister when she’s dressed in a skimpy bikini? She’s way too distracting, and some guys were eyeing her earlier. I almost kicked their asses for ogling my wife like that.

  I’ve discovered it doesn’t matter what she’s wearing, though. Whether she’s wearing a fancy dress in Paris or she’s mostly naked on the beaches of California, they stare everywhere we go.

  Makes me miss the privacy of the farm where I’m the only one who gets to ogle.

  Lounging back on the sand, her baby belly is barely a pooch. I actually think that’s from the hot dog she had at lunch, along with the salad, the large glass of water, and two scoops of ice cream. I don’t argue though. She’s insisting it’s what our baby boy needs.

  I’m kind of hoping for a girl. She’ll be a badass like her mom and learn to throw a football like her dad. Guess we’ll find out in about five more months. In the meantime, it’s been one long honeymoon. Shelby took a leave of absence to handle the farm while we’re gone with the help of Billy. He and Paul manage the fields like they always have. Billy is happy on the farm with Shelby for now, but Paul and Lorraine are going to love the vacation to Hawaii we’ve booked for them. They’ve been friends to me and parental figures to Delilah. It feels good to be able to give back to the people who have given us so much.

  The floor plan for our home on the other side of the lake is approved, and the construction is underway. We’ll be able to settle in before the baby comes.

  There’s a lot to be grateful for, and I owe it all to the woman next to me. “Who?”

  “The minister, Jason.”

  “He said I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.”

  Waggling her finger at me, she says, “Come over here.” She’s irresistible.

  I kneel between her legs and then drop my hands on either side of her head. I’ve traveled the world with this woman. Nothing compares to her natural beauty. “What is it, sweetheart of mine?”

  “I’ve been thinking. Even though we’ve both been to hell and back, we’re finally living the life planned for us all along. We’re living our destiny.”

  “I have no doubt.”

  Lowering myself down, I’m careful about putting too much weight on her. When I kiss her, a little moan is shared. “Want to go back to the hotel?”

  “Can we order room service?”

  I stand and offer her a hand. Coming face-to-face, I wink. “Anything you want.”

  “Anything?”

  “Any. Thing.”

  She’s quick to grab her bag and head to the car. Kicking sand up with her feet, she grants me with her gorgeous face when she looks back over her shoulder. “Good. I have a few ideas.”

  “Do they include me or food?” I grab the blanket, dusting the sand off as I hurry to catch up with her. “What are you craving?” Fuck the blanket. She looks too delicious to keep my hands off. I scoop her into my arms, putting her into a fit of giggles.

  “I’ll give you a hint. I brought your jersey with me.”

  “You want me to put it on?”

  Tapping her chin on the side of the SUV we rented, she twists her lips. Such a tease. “I was thinking more along the lines of me wearing it for you . . . with nothing else underneath. What do you think about that?”

  Holy fuck, as if I couldn’t desire her more, she goes and concocts the best plan in history. Since I’m still lost in those images, she says, “I also have a new cheer I want to show you. That doesn’t include any clothes at all.”

  I open the door for her, and reply, “They didn’t make me MVP for nothing. You’re about to see how I score a touchdown.”

  Slipping inside the car, she smirks, “I’m hoping this includes a few tackles and first downs, hotshot.”

  Once I’m in the driver’s seat, I start the engine. “You ready to back up all this big talk?”

  “I can back it up.”

  “I know you can.” Taking her hand, I kiss it. “Hey.”

  Delilah is the definition of the purest love. Sure, she’s being playfully sexy, but there’s so much more to her that challenges me to be a better man. I’ll strive every day to meet that demand. She replies, “Hey.”

  Feeling much like the shy kid I was once around her, I hesitate, but then I lean into my personal sanctuary, touching her cheek. “After the adventures we’ve had, traveling to all these places these past few months, have your dreams come true?”

  “Don’t you know, sweet man? I didn’t have to travel the world to make my dreams come true. I just needed to be with you.” She leans into my hand. “Do you think the farm can give you long-term peace to calm your restless soul?”

  “It’s never about the farm, or the lake, though both are peaceful places. It’s always been about you.” I kiss her forehead, and whisper, “I’d lost myself, but I found my way home because you gave me a reason to stay.”

  She takes my hand from her cheek and lowers it to her belly. “Now you have two.”

  “How do you feel about three?”

  Though her eyes go wide, she doesn’t say no. “Is that why we’re building a five-bedroom house?”

  Moving my hands to the top of her belly, I rub gently. “No, that’s for the fourth baby I was going to beg you to have down the road. That’s why we’re building five bedrooms.”

  “You want four kids, Jason?”

  “I want a big family, sweetness.” I sneak in a kiss attack on her neck, making her laugh.

  “You keep that up, and we might end up with a football team.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  Tilting to give me more access, she also caresses my neck. “Oh Lord, help me. You are my complete undoing.”

  I lean back to get a good look at my girl, her hair hanging over her shoulders, looking so much like the day we began. Kissing her palm, and then the side of her mouth, I whisper, “I was undone the moment I laid eyes on you, honeysuckle.”

  I thought I knew what love was. It’s all tied up in a pretty package of silky hair and soft skin, a smile that warms me all the way on the inside
, and a soul that cares for me despite my bad deeds. Delilah holds every emotion I’ve ever felt—happiness, heartbreak, protectiveness, possessiveness, compassion, and ecstasy. I’ve never been able to identify everything I feel for her with a single word.

  It’s an overwhelming emotion—soft, rounded on the corners, but sharp-tongued, fiery and passionate, pure and comfort, desire and lust, kindness and genuine . . . safe.

  Complicated to describe.

  Easy to feel.

  Perhaps heaven is the best word for it.

  The day I meet my daughter, my head clears, and things aren’t so complicated anymore. All these feelings—jumbled inside my heart in a mass of emotion—become clear when I look at Delilah with tears in my eyes. I still need more than one word to describe what my wife gives me that day:

  Love.

  Hope.

  Faith.

  Faith Noelle Koster is born on a Sunday morning in early spring. She comes into this world screaming, but as soon as I hold her in my arms, she stops and coos. This little human might be small, but she is mighty. When her tiny fingers wrap around one of mine, she does more than hold my hand, she steals my heart.

  Two days after we arrive home with our bundle of joy, I wake up before five in the morning to find the bed next to me empty. I quietly pad down the hall and find my wife sitting in a rocking chair holding our newborn. Watching her in this sweet moment, I’m reminded how I once thought I didn’t deserve this life. I didn’t believe that a sinner like myself deserved solace from the wrongs I committed.

  But here I am, living proof that sometimes, the bad guy simply needs to find a reason to be good. Sometimes, their souls aren’t completely black but just a little singed around the edges. Sometimes, it just takes seeing the light to make it all right.

  I walk into the room and catch Delilah’s eyes. Her early morning smile is one of my favorites, though she argues she’s tired and has dark circles. I don’t see anything less than beautiful. “How’d I get so lucky to be your husband and Faith’s father?”

  When she reaches for my hand, I kneel next to her chair and take it. She says, “It was never about luck, babe. It was destiny.”

  Destiny.

  Jason Koster

  If you’d like to spend more time with Jason Koster, you can find him in SAVAGE, where he was first introduced. I fell in love with this man the moment he walked onto the page. That was when I knew I had to give him his own happily ever after.

  SAVAGE is now available here: SAVAGE

  TURN THE PAGE to read the Prologue and Chapter 1 of this epic romance for Free.

  SAVAGE

  Welcome to the mysterious world of the rich and the damned in this gritty, modern day fairy tale. Two star-crossed lovers will either find their destiny or meet their fate in a world where demons come in the form of familiar faces and pawns aren’t just players, but deadly.

  She was my destiny.

  I was her downfall.

  We were a match made in hell.

  But when we were together, that hell was pure heaven.

  The moment I laid eyes on her, I knew she would pay the price for my sins. I wasn’t much older than she was, but old enough to know better. Old enough to know she would be good for me and I was bad for her. But I pursued her anyway. Back then I had hope that maybe she could change my future.

  Maybe together we could change our fate . . .

  Prologue

  The sun shouldn’t be shining

  Considering the pain I’m feeling, it’s too bright.

  Too happy.

  Too blue.

  The periwinkle sky reminds me of the only blue I want to see. Brilliant blue eyes, not found in the heavens, but here on earth.

  The world dims momentarily. “Where’s your boyfriend?” the man asks.

  How did I end up here? Like this?

  I know. I just don’t want to admit the truth. Even now.

  Closing my eyes to block him out, I search my mind for the answer. “He’ll come for us,” I whisper.

  Us.

  A sharp slap to my face sends my head to the right. I’m too stubborn to scream, to give him any further satisfaction, even as the taste of copper coats my mouth. Curling to the side, I hold my stomach, attempting to protect the only thing that matters. I haven’t told Alexander. I haven’t had the chance. I was going to, but an unforeseen detour brought me here.

  Grief begins to envelop me, but I try to hold on, just a little longer. Reaching out, I touch the red pooled in front of me, wondering if that’s someone else’s blood. It can’t be mine. There’s too much to be mine. I’m alive, but now I’m wondering for how long.

  “Where’s King?” is shouted, but I’m too tired to answer. Even if I could, I don’t know where he is.

  He didn’t answer his phone. I allowed him to ride away, and the memory of his face causes my breath to stutter in my throat. As I cough, and blood splatters my present, I wish I could change the past. I wish I could go back to the beginning and relive our love from the start.

  I would do so many things differently. Despite how we ended, I wouldn’t change us. I wouldn’t change our love.

  His life is full of lies—the kind he tells and the ones he lives. Lies that have become mine and will haunt me as I learn to live without him. Those lies still haunt me as if they are mine to survive.

  He once told me he would give me the life I dreamed about—the ending I deserved—a happy ending—but with rocks cutting into my skin and a stranger kicking the life from me, I start to wonder if all hope is lost.

  Until I hear that familiar sound—the distinctive sound of a Harley’s exhaust foreshadowing my knight in leather armor.

  It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since I’ve seen him.

  It won’t matter what bad has happened between us.

  Our love will never die, even if I do.

  “I told you he’d come for us.”

  Knowing he’ll be here soon, I close my eyes, and dream of the fairy tale we once had . . .

  Chapter 1

  Alexander Kingwood IV

  This is my favorite way to wake up.

  Often pretending to be asleep, I spy on her as she climbs out of bed, finding peace watching her day begin. Life is better with her around.

  Simpler.

  Happier.

  A kiss to my face. Location varies from the tip of my nose to forehead, the occasional closed eyelid before she sneaks out of bed, tiptoeing into the bathroom and then back out. I struggle to stay still this morning, needing her in ways that aren’t quiet. The night clogs my throat, my voice still gruff. “Come back to bed.”

  Standing at the dresser, digging through the top drawer where she keeps some of her things, Sara Jane looks back at me with a smile at play on her lips, simultaneously giving me a peek at some side tit. “I thought you were asleep.”

  I stretch my arms up and grab hold of the top of the headboard behind me. “I’m up.” Her back is smooth. The curve from her waist to her hips defined more with each year that passes. Her ass sits high and tight above her legs. Her body caught at the other end of transitioning from a girl’s into a woman’s. Giving her a solid once-over, she knows what’s on my mind. “Come back to bed,” I repeat the request without a plea. She’ll come. She always does for me.

  Sara Jane is not just good to me. She’s good for me. She’s kept me from burying myself or being buried more than a few times. My pretty firefly has seen me through my highs and lows and now stands by my side as the one constant in my life, the only person I can truly count on.

  Her lace panties slide down her thighs and she returns. She knows what I want. She wants it too, so I don’t have to put on a big production or sweet talk her back into bed. Settling on top of me, she slides down over my cock, ready for me, slick with desire. Slow and steady feels like a good idea this morning. I hold her hips, keeping my grip light as she fucks me.

  Her hands press to my chest and she leans down to kiss me. Before she has a chanc
e to pull back, I grab her face, making sure our eyes meet, and I hold her gaze. “You know how much I love you, right?”

  Softness covers her expression as she smiles. “As much as I love you, Alexander.”

  Alexander. Hearing her say my name keeps me grounded to her and planted in reality. She’s the only one who calls me that, the only one I allow to call me by my full name.

  When she sits up, she begins to rock, her head dropping back, her hair long, the tips running over my thighs. Her tits are amazing, full with weight to them. For someone so small, she was blessed in all the right places. My pretty little firefly has changed a lot since we first met. If possible, she has become even more stunning.

  The first time I saw her, I knew she would be mine. Nothing would keep me from her. Something wild and untamed stirred deep inside just from the sight of her.

  Cruise hadn’t understood. He’d been busy talking about some cheerleader he scored with the night before, but my mind had drifted, which had been standard anytime the chicks from school were brought up. I’d lost interest in the easies by tenth grade. But after what happened two weeks before, I’d struggled to find pleasure in anything. My taste buds had dulled, and life lacked color.

  Except for that damn blue polka-dot umbrella and the girl standing beneath it, who stole my world from under me. She was sunshine on a rainy day, a rainbow against gray clouds, hope in a Catholic school uniform. She was why poetry was written and art created. I could deny I became a fool for love the second I saw her, but it would be a lie. She made me want to be a better man, a better person in life. She made me think twice about the direction I was heading. But we both knew better. Our course was already set, our love a sweeping storm that would brew for years before raging.