Serena gasps and covers her mouth before my brother gets another word out.
Axel looks to Lex with nothing but love and adoration in his eyes. “We’re expanding. There will be one more member of the Collins family come next spring.”
The table erupts in cheers as everyone stands to their feet. Serena and Sunday are the first to collapse over Lex with a firm embrace. I head over to my brother and pull him in.
“You’re the man. Congratulations. Can’t wait to meet my future niece or nephew. I know he or she will be damn good-looking.” I give a playful sock to his arm. “And smart as hell. With Lex as its mother, I expect nothing less.”
“Agree.” He leans in, and that mirror version of my face grows serious for a moment. “I’m happy for you, man. You deserve the best. And I do believe you found her.”
“I believe it, too.” We hug it out, and soon enough our party clears out. It’s just Serena and me as we say goodnight to Sunday and Seth.
Sunday offers me a quick embrace. “I’m watching you. I may not have a gun like Marlin, but I’ve got something far more dangerous—ripe hormones ready and willing to ignite on command.”
We share a laugh as the two of them take off.
Serena smiles up at me with a devilish gleam in her eye. “Now what, Professor Collins?”
“How about we head to my place and work on your final? Axel swung by earlier and dropped off a few bottles he thought might complement hot honey.”
“Done!”
We head out the door and into the humid Hollow Brook night, and I hold her right under that oversized black bear they keep just outside the entry.
“I wish Emilia could have been here today. I’m sure she would have loved to see us together. Or at least I hope she would have.” My entire body grieves for my sister at once. It’s still a fresh wound, especially when my family gathers for events like this one. I don’t think I can ever get used to not having her around. And here Serena is missing both her mother and father. I plan on making sure she feels all the love and affection she deserves in this lifetime.
“Oh, she would have,” Serena asserts as if she knew firsthand. “Remember me telling you about the time I wanted a kiss and you ditched me?”
I cringe at the thought and give a subtle nod. No part of me wants to own what an ass I once was to Serena.
“And remember me telling you she said to brush it off?” she continues. “Well, there was a little more to the story. She said you probably didn’t want to kiss me because I was far too beautiful and you might accidentally fall in love. She went as far as suggesting that I forgive you and play nice—that you’d come around eventually.”
My body goes numb for a solid five seconds. “Emilia said that?”
She nods as tears build in her eyes.
“She couldn’t have been more right. She called it, didn’t she?” An ache pushes through my chest, and it’s all I can do not to weep at the thought of my sister predicting so accurately what’s transpired. “I’d like to think she’s up there watching over us. I know she loved you. She told me at least twice a day how adorable she thought you were.”
A tear glides down her cheek. “I’m still adorable, and don’t you forget it.” She gives a slight laugh, but her expression grows serious. “I loved her, too.”
“I know.” I wrap my arms around her, and Serena and I hold one another like that for a good long while.
“We’ll keep her memory alive,” she whispers into my ear. “I want to.” She pulls back and blinks up at me with tear-lined lashes, that familiar naughty grin building on her lips. “How about one day, not all that far away, when you and I plan a family of our own, we name one of our little girls after her?”
My heart swells with love for this woman before me. “That sounds amazing. And if we have all boys?”
“Oh, sweetie, we’ll keep trying until we pump out a pink little sweetheart with hair long enough to put in pigtails on day one. I’m going to have a heck of a good time with our little Emilia. Of course, I’ll practice by spoiling Sunday’s precious angel first.”
I belt out a laugh as we head to the car. “Little Emilia. I really like the sound of that.”
“You should. It’s beautiful.” She gives my side a pinch. “How about we do a little baby-making practice for the next five years?”
“Sounds like a damn good plan. I’m already counting down the hours.”
“It’ll go by quickly. Life always does.”
“You know what doesn’t go by quickly?” I whisper deep into her ear, and Serena quivers against me. “The things I’m about to do to you.”
And we both walk a little faster.
Axel dropped off five new bottles for Serena and me to play around with. We’ve already poured the liquor and carefully administered the heated honey to each and every glass.
“You ready for a taste test?” I lift my glass, and she does the same.
“Salute.” She takes a careful sip and shudders. “Bleh! Definitely not that one.”
“Agreed.” I shudder right along with her. We try out three more and groan our way through the offerings.
“Last one.” She hikes her glass my way before leaning in to sniff it. “My God, that smells like heaven. What is it?”
“Cinnamon infused whiskey. It’s one of The Pelican’s and the Black Bear’s best sellers.”
“No kidding?” Her eyes widen, and we take a sip on three. Serena’s mouth falls open. “Winner, winner, hot honey dinner!” she chants, whooping it up as she jumps into my arms. “This is it! This is the drink I’ll officially gift to the Black Bear. They’re going to make a fortune off it. This is really delicious.”
“I agree. It tastes damn good with hot honey. You know what else tastes damn good with hot honey?”
A dirty giggle brews deep within her. “Me?”
“Damn right.” I swoop Serena off her feet and start to make my way out of the room with her, but she protests and reaches for the honey pot until it’s safe in her hands.
“I think tonight we make all of our hot honey dreams come true, one delicious kiss at a time.”
“Words I would never dare argue against,” I say, speeding us off to the bedroom.
She smears a line of the warm honey over my lips before kissing it off. Kissing Serena routinely arouses me to heights unknowable before, but tonight, with the sweet backbeat of Hollow Brook honey, she sends me into the stratosphere before I ever get her horizontal.
Serena gives a sultry laugh as I lay her onto the mattress. “This brings new meaning to the words licked you, you’re mine.”
“I’ve always been yours, Serena.” I lick a line up her neck and feel her trembling with laughter beneath me. “And I always will be.”
Serena and I spend the night partaking in exactly what we plan on doing for the rest of our lives. There are acrobatics involved, hot, sticky, sweet honey, a few stray rose petals that I can never seem to quite get rid of no matter how often I change the sheets, and whole lot of love and kisses that stretch into the early morning light. Serena and I have everything we’ve ever wanted, and we found it in the very last place we looked—right in front of us. In each other.
It couldn’t have happened without Emilia, though. It was always her dream for me to teach one day, so when the opportunity presented itself, I took it on behalf of my sister. In an effort to make my sister’s dreams come true, I accidentally made my own dreams come true as well.
That’s exactly what life has become with Serena in it, a beautiful, beautiful dream come true.
Weeks go by, and Sunday and Seth have a beautiful baby girl named Priscilla Rose Baker. Her moniker was given in honor of Sunday’s own mother who had passed. They call her Rissy for short, and Serena and I are smitten with her already.
So much has changed this summer. Life has propelled forward in both frightening and beautiful ways. And even though I spent the summer teaching, it was me who learned the biggest lesson of them all. Love is something you
don’t need to chase down and force your way into. When the time is right, it will chase you down.
It will happen just the way it was meant to happen.
It may not be easy, but it will always be worth it.
Having Serena in my life is worth stumbling over a thousand hurdles and obstacles, and maybe a body or two.
Yes, if I had to, I would do it all over again.
Serena is worth it.
She is worth everything to me.
Life doesn’t get better than that.
A Note from the Author
Thank you for reading HOT HONEY KISSES (3:AM KISSES 17). If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review at your point of purchase.
Look for SHAMELESS KISSES (3:AM KISSES 18), Eli and Harley’s story coming up next!
Books by Addison Moore
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WEBSITE http://addisonmoore.com
Romance
3:AM Kisses (3:AM Kisses 1)
Winter Kisses (3:AM Kisses 2)
Sugar Kisses (3:AM Kisses 3)
Whiskey Kisses (3:AM Kisses 4)
Rock Candy Kisses (3:AM Kisses 5)
Velvet Kisses (3:AM Kisses 6)
Wild Kisses (3:AM Kisses 7)
Country Kisses (3:AM Kisses 8)
Forbidden Kisses (3:AM Kisses 9)
Dirty Kisses (3:AM Kisses 10)
Stolen Kisses (3:AM Kisses 11)
Lucky Kisses (3:AM Kisses 12)
Tender Kisses (3:AM Kisses 13)
Revenge Kisses (3:AM Kisses 14)
Red Hot Kisses (3:AM Kisses 15)
Reckless Kisses (3:AM Kisses 16)
Hot Honey Kisses (3:AM Kisses 17)
Shameless Kisses (3:AM Kisses 18)
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Value 3:AM Kisses Boxed Sets
3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 1-3
3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 4-6
3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 7-9
3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 10-12
* * *
Low Down & Dirty (3:AM Kisses, Hollow Brook 1)
Dirty Disaster (3:AM Kisses, Hollow Brook 2)
Dirty Deeds (3:AM Kisses, Hollow Brook 3)
* * *
Burning Through Gravity (Burning Through Gravity 1)
A Thousand Starry Nights (Burning Through Gravity 2)
Fire in an Amber Sky (Burning Through Gravity 3)
* * *
Beautiful Oblivion (Lake Loveless 1)
Beautiful Illusions (Lake Loveless 2)
Beautiful Elixir (Lake Loveless 3)
Beautiful Deception (Lake Loveless 4)
* * *
The Solitude of Passion
* * *
The Social Experiment (The Social Experiment 1)
Bitter Exes (The Social Experiment 2)
Chemical Attraction (The Social Experiment 3)
* * *
Someone to Love (Someone to Love 1)
Someone Like You (Someone to Love 2)
Someone For Me (Someone to Love 3)
* * *
Mystery
Little Girl Lost
Young Adult Romance
Melt With You (A Totally ’80s Romance 1)
Tainted Love (A Totally ’80s Romance 2)
Hold Me Now (A Totally ’80s Romance 3)
* * *
Paranormal
(Celestra Book World in Order)
Ethereal (Celestra Series Book 1)
Tremble (Celestra Series Book 2)
Burn (Celestra Series Book 3)
Wicked (Celestra Series Book 4)
Vex (Celestra Series Book 5)
Expel (Celestra Series Book 6)
Toxic Part One (Celestra Series Book 7)
Toxic Part Two (Celestra Series Book 8)
Elysian (Celestra Series Book 9)
Perfect Love (A Celestra Novella)
* * *
Ethereal Knights (Celestra Knights)
Season of the Witch (A Celestra Companion)
* * *
Ephemeral (The Countenance Trilogy 1)
Evanescent (The Countenance Trilogy 2)
Entropy (The Countenance Trilogy 3)
* * *
Celestra Forever After (Celestra Forever After 1)
The Dragon and the Rose (Celestra Forever After 2)
The Serpentine Butterfly (Celestra Forever After 3)
Crown of Ashes (Celestra Forever After 4)
Throne of Fire (Celestra Forever After 5)
Acknowledgments
I hope you enjoyed this 3:AM KISSES mystery. It was such a fun adventure for me to share with you. Serena and Shep had me chuckling each time I read through the manuscript, and I hope they did you as well. There have been so many lighthearted journeys in the 3:AM KISSES Series, and I thank you for taking each one with me! I always enjoy bringing in characters from past books, and I hope you got a kick out of it the way I did.
Special thank you to my beta, Jodie Tarleton, who goes the extra mile with each book. You have amazing hawk eyes, and I’m thankful you let me borrow them! Hugs to you and all of your precious children! Thank you to Shay Rivera for reading over Hot Honey and giving me insightful feedback on the novel. It is so very much appreciated! You are too sweet and kind for words. I hope you’ll be up for another book! And a thank you to Tabby Coots for wanting to read no matter how busy your life can be. You are always so sweet to me.
A hearty and gracious thank you to Kaila Eileen Turingan-Ramos for doing a thorough inspection of the book ON YOUR VACATION. I feel like a beast. I am so glad you’re still speaking to me! Don’t ever stop.
Big hugs to my girl, Lisa Markson. You know I love you to the moon and beyond. Your friendship is precious to me. Don’t ever leave me. And to Kathryn Jacoby—I’m so glad we finally had a chance to meet! And at Disneyland! It seems right that I went to The Happiest Place on Earth to meet with the nicest person on the planet. You’re a special lady, and I’m blessed to know you. Hugs!
To the wonderful, magical Paige Maroney Smith, thank you from the bottom of my heart for always saying yes. You are a lifesaver. I love you! XOXO
And last, but never least, thank you to Him who sits on the throne. Worthy is the Lamb! Glory and honor and power are yours. I owe you everything.
About the Author
Addison Moore is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who writes contemporary and paranormal romance. Her work has been featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine. Previously she worked as a therapist on a locked psychiatric unit for nearly a decade. She resides on the West Coast with her husband, four wonderful children, and two dogs where she eats too much chocolate and stays up way too late. When she's not writing, she's reading. Addison’s Celestra Series has been optioned for film by 20th Century Fox.
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Hot Honey Kisses: 3:AM Kisses 17 Page 21