Running Into Love - The Complete Box Set

by Annalisa Nicole

  Max and I wrote our own vows. We haven’t rehearsed them, so I have no idea what he’ll say.

  “Who gives this woman to be married?” the officiant says.

  “Her mother and I do,” my dad says with a smile.

  And once again, my mother has snot running down her nose. That’s one thing I wish I hadn’t inherited from her. It’s so not lady like.

  “Max and Chloe have written their own vows and will recite them for you now.”

  “Chloe, from the first day I looked into your eyes, I knew we were kindred spirits and we were meant to spend the rest of our lives together. I never thought I deserved an angel like you. You always see past my imperfections and make me feel like a man worthy of love. You fill my world with light and happiness. I promise to be there for you and to love you unconditionally. I promise to fight what we cannot see, to hold you close and protect you until my last dying breath. I promise to be faithful and to be the best husband I know how to be. I promise to be truthful and to love you until the day I die.”

  Tears stream down my face; his words were so carefully chosen, so he didn’t announce to everyone here in the audience my past demons. He’s my knight in shining tatted armor. He digs into his pocket and takes out my wedding rings. He slips on my engagement ring and a platinum wedding band with small amethysts around the entire band on my finger. That means it’s my turn.

  “Max, the first day we met, I looked into your eyes and I saw a similarity written in the depths that only you and I can understand. You’ve freed me physically, emotionally, and mentally. You gave me back a life that I thought was gone forever. You not only gave it back to me, but you gave it back with something special. You gave me love. You gave me your love. I promise to never let it go. I promise to be faithful, I promise to love you and to fight our way through whatever may come, together.”

  I turn to Willow, and she places Max’s wedding ring in my hand. I absolutely love Max’s band. He’s not seen it yet, but I know he’ll love it too. I take his hand and slide on his ring finger a platinum band with black diamond’s circling the entire band. In small stones on the top and bottom are purple amethysts. The smile on Max’s face tells me he loves it. He squeezes my hand as the officiant speaks.

  “Maxwell Aloysius Jones, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

  Soft giggles and whispers can be heard all through the crowd at Max’s middle name. He looks to the crowd and instant straight faces appear, except there is still a chuckle coming from Asher. Max looks at him, but if anyone can take Max’s death stare, it’s Asher. Max shakes his head, and then looks into my eyes.

  “I do,” he says.

  “Chloe Rose Peters, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

  “I do,” I say looking into the depths of Max’s soul.

  “What Max and Chloe have fought to achieve, may no man break asunder. By the power vested in me, by the state of Washington, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

  Max’s kiss is soft and warm. He pulls me close to his chest as the crowd goes wild. I pull away and smile at my husband. He pulls me back close and whispers in my ear.

  “Tonight, I’ll have you wearing nothing but those purple boots,” he says.

  Chills race down my arms as he kisses me softly one more time. Max takes my hand and leads me to his motorcycle. He climbs on his bike and steady’s it for me. I grab as much of my dress as I can in my arms, get behind him and wrap my arms around my man. Max in a tux on his bike is so badass. We ride down the center of the aisle as everyone else gets on their bikes and we lead the way back to our house. My dad will take my bike back and before we turned the corner, I caught sight of him steadying the bike, my mom hiking her skirt up and getting on. Crazy kids.

  I think some magical wedding fairies were here while we were gone. The backyard has been transformed into a magical scene. There are way more tables set out then when we left. A dance floor is in place and there is a buffet table with enough food to feed an army. But, as bike after bike start roaring up the driveway, I’m extremely thankful. White lights have been strung from the trees to the center of the yard. I spot the wedding cake and smile. It’s a Harley Davidson with a groom and a bride sitting on top. The bride’s veil is flying behind her like they’re speeding down the road. Everything is just perfect.

  Max gets off and then helps me off. Guests start heading to the backyard and taking their seats, but Max takes my hand and leads me to the front of the house. He picks me up and like he promised, carries me over the threshold as his wife.

  Our reception was magical. From the first dance with my husband, to the father-daughter dance, everything was a fairytale come true. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Max took his mother’s hand and twirled her around the dance floor for their dance.

  As people were getting ready to leave, they each came to Max and shook his hand. He introduced me to each one by name. Some were women who he helped get out of abusive relationships. Every single one of them thanked him for giving them their lives back to them. Each had a different story as to just why they needed his service, but all thanked him. Some tried to pay him because at the time they couldn’t afford it, but Max did his job anyway out of the goodness of his heart. He didn’t take a dime from anyone tonight that tried to pay him, only a handshake or a hug. So many people have so much respect for Max. He truly is a good man, inside and out.

  Max

  I couldn’t wait a minute longer for people to get their asses out of our backyard and to get my wife in nothing by her purple combat boots. There are still about thirty people lingering around. I looked around the yard for Asher. I see him with his arm draped over Willow as he whispers in her ear. She blushes then punches him in the arm. I walked over to him and say, “Can I talk to you for a second?”

  “I’ll just leave you two alone to talk,” Willow says.

  “No, you can both help me out,” I say.

  “I have a date with my wife and her combat boots. Can you guys do something about the people still here? It’s not like I can leave, I live here.”

  “Ah, I see,” Willow says.

  Asher sticks his fingers in his mouth and lets out a loud whistle.

  “This party is moving to the bar people. Rounds are on me,” he says loudly.

  “Thanks, man. I owe you,” I say, shaking his hand.

  “No, you don’t. We’re family, brothers, remember?”

  The yard clears out almost instantly. Free drinks on Asher did the trick. The yard is a mess and it will take hours to clean up. Willow, Ava, Amelia, Shay, and Savvy walk up to us to say their goodbyes and tell us not to touch a thing, they will all be here in the morning to clean everything up.

  Everyone is finally gone. Chloe is tossing empty cups and plates into a trash bag. I set my phone on the table and turn on ‘Love of a Lifetime’ by Firehouse. I walk to my beautiful wife, take the trash bag out of her hand and set it on the ground. I take her hand and bring her out to the center of the dance floor. We sway slowly back and forth turning in a small circle ever so slowly. I hold her hand to my heart and her body close to mine, as I softly sing the lyrics in her ear. Yes, I have finally found the love of my lifetime. I get to the chorus and stop when I sing the part about the stars in the sky. Samuel and his stars speech echo in my mind like he said it yesterday.

  “We have no control over destiny. It’s been written in the stars, each and every member of this family. We cannot see each star yet, but we welcome each and every one of them with love and open arms. May you always shine bright and feel the unquestionable love from each and every member of this family,” he said.

  I hum the rest of the song to her. As I hold my wife close, I look up at the clear dark night sky splattered with millions of stars. I pick one, kiss two fingers and hold them up as
far as they can go. I owe this moment in time to Samuel.

  I take my wife’s hand and lead her inside the back door. I take her upstairs to our bedroom. Since we didn’t have any time to furnish the house, at the last minute I had a mattress and box spring delivered.

  “I’m sorry I don’t have a proper bed for you,” I say as we enter the room.

  When inside, the first thing that catches my eye is the heart I carved for her up at the cabin, sitting in the middle of the mantle. I walk over to the mantle and smile.

  Chloe walks up behind me, wraps her arms around my chest and peels off my jacket. I turn around, and I don’t know how long I was staring at the heart, but apparently long enough for Chloe to change out of her dress and into the hot number she’s wearing now.

  She has on a black negligée. Not wedding night white, but a kickass sexy as hell plunging V lacey top and tiny thong panties. Her purple combat boots tie up the whole delectable package. Her long dark brown hair lies softly over her shoulders. Her lips shine in the flickering light of candles that she’s placed around the room and demand that I kiss them. She grabs me by my belt and pulls me to the mattress. She sits on the mattress and unbuckles my belt, unbuttons the button, unzips my pants and sends them to the floor. I unbutton my shirt and remove it as she takes me in her mouth. My head falls back as I moan.

  “Mrs. Jones, that mouth of yours should be illegal,” I say, as I sink to my knees on the mattress.

  She rolls me over onto my back and then licks up my abs, up my throat, and sinks her tongue in my mouth. I toe off my shoes and sink my hands into her hair as I deepen the kiss. I can’t resist the taste of her any longer. I grab the barely there thread of material on her ass and rip it off. I flip her over and satisfy my never ending hunger. Her legs quake between my head as she whispers my name. Sitting up, she kisses my lips as she turns me over and straddles my lap. She plants her boots at my hips, lifts up and takes me in her hand. As she sinks down, I palm her ass cheeks and help her move up and down. Her legs tremble as she comes a second time. She falls on my chest as I come inside her.

  Pulling her to my side, I drape my arm over her and kiss the top of her head. And like every night I plan for the rest of our lives, tonight she’ll sleep soundly in my arms.

  Chloe and I are only able to take one week off from work for a honeymoon. It’s not your traditional honeymoon, either. We spent that time at furniture stores, do it yourself stores, kitchen and bathroom stores, and every other store in the greater Seattle area, buying furniture and appliances to make our house a home. Every day I come home from work, the love that fills these four walls hits me like a ton of bricks and cleanses my soul.

  We moved Savvy into Ava’s condo and they seem to be getting along just fine. Savvy works almost full time for me during the day. Deuce’s finally reopened and she works a few nights a week there, too. She’s still in school full time and I’m not sure when the woman sleeps. We get updates about Ava and none of them are good. She’s hardly home, and when she is, Savvy says she does nothing but work there too, and usually falls asleep in a face full of paperwork.

  Chloe’s wedding gift to me is a trip to Sturgis, in the rolling Black Hills of South Dakota, next year on their seventy-fifth annual Sturgis motorcycle ride. I can’t wait to ride side-by-side, Harley by Harley, with my wife next August.

  Chloe got her first tattoo and it was all her idea. We each got matching tattoos on our wedding ring fingers. On the top is an infinity sign, purple and black ink lace together in an infinity symbol of our love. On the underside of hers is my name and the underside of mine is her name.

  Progress on Chloe’s House is well underway. My mother has taken on the huge roll of taking lead in the project, along with Adrian and Shay. Shay’s agreed to come out of semi-retirement just for this project. With Adrian in charge of the construction, I know things will get done right. Chloe planted that garden and it flourishes like nothing I’ve ever seen. The flowers seem brighter and taller somehow.

  My mother and I continue to build our relationship. She comes to Sunday Wellington dinners with us, and her and Samantha have formed an unbreakable bond. Samantha even helps out with Chloe’s House whenever she can.

  That file in my safe labeled ‘Dead Beat’ still sits there, unworthy of my time. I don’t care where he is or even if he’s still alive. I’m surrounded by enough love between my wife, the Wellington’s, my mother and my friends to last ten lifetimes. Oh, he still better pray that if he is still alive that I never run into him. He’ll pay, eventually, if it’s not in this life then for sure there’s a greater power just waiting to deliver to him what he deserves.

  Things have finally calmed down when Chloe suggests we take that ride to Samuel’s grave. I’ve made peace with his passing, but we both feel the need to pay our respects to one of the greatest men to ever live.

  We ride out on my Harley, me, decked out in black, and Chloe, decked out in purple. I’ll never get tired of her arms wrapped around my chest and her thighs pressed against mine. Chloe insists that one day she’ll get me on the back of her Harley and I can ride bitch. I don’t see that happening any time soon.

  We pull up to the grave that Asher told us is Samuel’s, just as another car is leaving.

  “Hey, isn’t that Adrian and Shay’s car? I think that’s Ava in the back seat, too,” Chloe says. A man standing next to Samuel’s grave stares blankly at Adrian’s car. Chloe taps my leg and whispers in my ear, “And isn’t that the chef from that one new restaurant in town, Jax?”

  “I wonder what he’s doing here. Does he know Samuel?” We wait a few minutes to give him his space. He shakes his head, then steps in front of the grave next to Samuel. He kisses his palm and places it on the name inscribed in the stone. He turns around, walks to his car with his head down and drives away.

  Chloe and I shrug it off. I help her off the bike and we walk to Samuel’s grave. We kneel in front of the beautiful marble stone holding hands. I can feel Samuel’s love surrounding us. I know how proud he is of me. And I know how happy he is that Chloe and I are husband and wife. I couldn’t have done it without him. Without him in my life, we would never have had a fighting chance.

  The End

  The Running Into Love series will continue with:

  Ava Wellington and Jaxon “Jax” Landry in

  Unavoidable Chance—Running Into Love Book Five

  Acknowledgements:

  To my amazing husband and my two fabulous teenage boys, I love you to the moon and back. Thank you for believing in me and your constant encouragement and never ending love.

  My fabulous beta readers thank you for continuing to put up with me and my last minute demands. Task Mistress Annalisa appreciates it! Erin Dolin, Kellie Donaldson, Kristine Barakat, Amanda Farmer, Cristie Lagarde, and Michelle Hart.

  To my editor, Lindsay, from LTE Editing, you are a lifesaver and I thank you from the bottom of my heart! You are an angel.

  Najla, from Najla Qamber Designs, for yet again another kickass cover! I love everything this cover says about the story! I tell you my vision and you make it happen.

  Tami, from Integrity Formatting, you are a rock star! Thank you for speedy, amazingly awesome formatting! I love you!

  My bff’s, Julie and Julie, thank you for always believing in me. Thank you for all your encouraging words to keep doing what I’m doing. I’d be lost without you two. I love you both!

  Ena Burnette from Enticing Journey Book Promotions, thank you for organizing my blog tours you have mad organization skills.

  Kellie Montgomery from Eye Candy Bookstore, thank you for always being there for. Thank you for your friendship and your amazing PR skills. You are a superstar!

  Alissa Glenn, thank you so much for your mad grammar skills! Thank you for proofreading and making my book shine!!

  And last but certainly not least, to readers, reviewers, and bloggers thank you for continuing to read what the characters in my head make me write. Thank you for leaving reviews and
putting a smile on my face with personal messages and e-mails telling me how my words have affected you. Thank you bloggers for reading, reviewing, posting, and pimping and helping me get my work out there. From the bottom of my heart to all of you, thank you!

  Unavoidable Chance

  Book Five in the

  Running Into Love Series

  by

  Annalisa Nicole

  Second Edition

  All Rights Reserved

  Copyright © 2015 by Annalisa Nicole

  This book is a written act of fiction. Any and all names, places, or similarities are coincidental. No part of this book may be used without written permission except for brief quotations for reviews or blogs. This book may only be distributed by Annalisa Nicole, the owner and Author of this series.

  This book is dedicated to my mom

  Always my best friend,

  always my rock,

  always remembered.

  I love you.

  7/13/53 - 11/11/09

  Unavoidable Chance Table of Contents

  Master Table of Contents

  Take a Chance

  I’ll Take a Chance

  Second Chance

  A Fighting Chance

  Unavoidable Chance

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Acknowledgements

  Unexpected Chance

  A Very Wellington Christmas - Novella

  A Christmas Miracle by Chance – Short Story

  Other Books by Annalisa Nicole