“Here’s an idea to ponder,” he told her. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, ever since my mom asked me some questions that got me started. We don’t get one life. We get lots of lives. Lots of choices. We’ve already had one of ours, and now we’re looking at another. And we’re lucky, too. We’re lucky all the way around. We get to start on that new life together, and we get to pick how it’ll be. We get to live our best life. Our choice. Our rules.”
“But… your work,” she said. “Your traveling.”
“I haven’t been doing it so much lately. You notice that?”
“Yes, but…” She didn’t know what to say. She got adventure and babies? And Blake? It was too much.
“Seems I was running around,” he said. “Trying to fill up my life. But I’m thinking I was looking in the wrong places. I want to try it differently now. I want to try it with you, because I have a feeling that’ll turn out better. And someday, when we have a baby or two and it’s time for them to go to school? Then we decide what our next stage looks like. In the meantime, I’ve got all these houses just going to waste, and I’ve got a couple boats, too. If Russ wants to use that one sitting at the dock in Wild Horse to do some guiding, that’d be good. Meantime, you and I’ve got some cruising around Hawaii to do, and I’ve got some houses that need glass studios built in them, so you can get inspired and go to work.”
She knew what she was doing now. She was laughing. “Blake.” She stood up, tugged him to his feet, and went straight into his arms, and he held her. So close, so tight, and a whole lifetime’s worth of secure.
She put her palms on his face, smiled into his eyes, and said, “Silver-tongued devil. I don’t need you to sell me. I’m already sold. You had me a whole long time ago. You had me jumping off the rocks, and you’ve had me ever since.”
He smiled down at her, and there was a lifetime’s worth of tenderness in that smile. “Badasses gotta badass.”
Surely one heart couldn’t contain this much happiness. It was impossible. But it was real. “Yes, they do,” she said. “They surely do. And they gotta do it together.”
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Got a comment or a question? I’d love to hear! You can email me at [email protected]
Thank you to my alpha read duo, Kathy Harward and Mary Guidry, for their help and inspiration as they read along with this book.
Thanks to Barbara Buchanan, Carol Chappell, and Bob Pryor for their feedback, and a special thank-you to Phalbe Henriksen for proofreading the story.
A thank you as always to my wonderful assistant, Mary Guidry.
Thanks to my husband, Rick Nolting, for everything: for reading along (always heroic), for keeping absolutely everything else in our lives going, and for his love and support.
Thanks to the staff at Meal Ticket, my favorite Berkeley restaurant, for feeding the author so well and putting up with me drinking so much of your terrific coffee.
And finally, thanks to my readers for taking a chance on a new series with me. Without you, none of this would be possible. I appreciate you.
The Portland Devils series
Dakota & Blake’s story: SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL
The Escape to New Zealand series
Reka & Hemi’s story: JUST FOR YOU
Hannah & Drew’s story: JUST THIS ONCE
Kate & Koti’s story: JUST GOOD FRIENDS
Jenna & Finn’s story: JUST FOR NOW
Emma & Nic’s story: JUST FOR FUN
Ally & Nate’s/Kristen & Liam’s stories: JUST MY LUCK
Josie & Hugh’s story: JUST NOT MINE
Hannah & Drew’s story again/Reunion: JUST ONCE MORE
Faith & Will’s story: JUST IN TIME
Nina & Iain’s story: JUST STOP ME
The Not Quite a Billionaire series (Hope & Hemi’s story)
FIERCE
FRACTURED
FOUND
The Paradise, Idaho series (Montlake Romance)
Zoe & Cal’s story: CARRY ME HOME
Kayla & Luke’s story: HOLD ME CLOSE
Rochelle & Travis’s story: TURN ME LOOSE
Hallie & Jim’s story: TAKE ME BACK
The Kincaids series
Mira and Gabe’s story: WELCOME TO PARADISE
Desiree and Alec’s story: NOTHING PERSONAL
Alyssa and Joe’sstory: ASKING FOR TROUBLE
Rosalind James, a publishing industry veteran and former marketing executive, is an author of Contemporary Romance and Romantic Suspense novels published both independently and through Montlake Romance. She and her husband live in Berkeley, California with a Labrador Retriever named Charlie. Rosalind attributes her surprising success to the fact that "lots of people would like to escape to New Zealand! I know I did!"
Silver-Tongued Devil (Portland Devils Book 1) Page 37