One Taste

by Cari Quinn

  “I asked what it said, didn’t I?”

  “How should I know? I wouldn’t read someone else’s private mail.” At his narrow-eyed look, she relented. “Okay, so maybe I’ve held the occasional envelope up to a lightbulb. But not something like this. Not something of yours.”

  He cleared his throat and opened his envelope. She watched as he silently scanned the page, then turned her attention elsewhere to give him a moment of privacy.

  Birds chirped outside the open doors of the church. And beaming sunshine filled the doorway, a reminder that life always went on. For better or worse.

  “Three weeks ago, he found out he had two clogged arteries,” Shawn said softly. “His doctors told him he should schedule surgery immediately. He didn’t listen. Someone was out at work whose ass he had to cover.”

  Thanking God his voice hadn’t yet taken on that eerily hollow quality she’d heard from him recently, she rubbed his shoulder. “My fault.” She shut her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry today. “Not yours.”

  “The day he talked to you was the day they told him he had to get in right away, that he couldn’t wait any longer. He insisted on scheduling it two weeks out. He wanted to wait until we got back so he could hear the good news.” He shook his head, smiling faintly. “The man refused to be deterred.”

  “Like father, like son.” She rested her cheek against his. “We gave him good news today. Or we will, if you don’t say really annoying things that piss me off.”

  His arm circled her waist. Squeezed. “Oh yeah? Like what?”

  “Like even suggesting I’d say I loved you to please your mother.” Her belly fluttered with nerves. And excitement, even though she knew she had no right to feel anything but grief on a day like today. But part of her hoped Dillon would be happy she’d finally laid her feelings on the line. Or she would, soon. “I said I loved you because I do.”

  “I know that, Rach.” He sounded so tired. “I never doubted that.”

  “Then?”

  “There’s love, and then there’s love.”

  “I know, you explained it to me already. Fruit and honey and all that. And breasts.” She glanced upward and grinned. “Maybe we should take this conversation outside.”

  “I rather like having it here.” He lifted her hand to his lips, kissing the tips of her fingers. “It’s not just the sex thing. Though that’s important too, undoubtedly. But maybe my mistake was expecting you to feel what I feel, at least on my schedule. Things like that take time.”

  “We’ve had almost thirty years. What more do you want?”

  He released a frustrated chuckle. “I’m trying to give you an out.”

  “An out? From what? From loving and being loved in return by the most wonderful man I’ve ever known? From marrying him and having his perfect little babies, who, by the way, better not be as completely blind as their father.”

  He sucked in a breath. “Blind and struck dumb.”

  When she chanced a glance into his eyes, they weren’t flat or emotionless. The green brimmed with heat. With life.

  She curled her fingers around his. “I love you,” she whispered, helpless to control the tremor in her voice. But she didn’t want to. She knew he needed to see what loving him did to her, without any shields. “If I have to keep saying it until you believe me, I will. I’ll say it every day for the rest of my life.”

  “You want that? Really? Forever?”

  His choked question drew out her tears, and she let them run free. “With all my heart.” She squeezed his hand, marveling that her own was steady. Amazing considering all her internal organs were quivering. “I don’t have a ring.”

  “I’ll get you one --” he said quickly, but she shook her head.

  “No. For you. Because I’m proposing to you.” She noisily cleared her throat. “I don’t have a ring, but I do have these.”

  He said nothing as she picked up the tray of pills nestled next to her hip. She pried each one loose and then dumped the pile in his hand.

  His throat jerked. “Are these --”

  “My birth control pills. I’m not going to need them anymore, because I’m officially going off them.”

  “Oh.”

  She had to laugh at his complete nonreaction. “If it’s too soon, we can wait. My eggs are good for another few years.”

  “No, no need to wait.” He shook his head as if to clear it. “Sorry, I’m just trying to figure out how I ended up getting engaged at my father’s funeral while discussing having a baby. The steps are fuzzy.” He shifted to grin at her. “This is what our life together is going to be like, isn’t it?”

  “Most likely,” she agreed.

  “God, I can’t wait.” He fisted the handful of pills and reached for her with his other hand, pulling her in for a hard kiss. His mouth gentled, and he kissed her again, tenderly. Showing her all the possibilities she hadn’t dared wished for until she’d faced losing everything that mattered.

  “Does this mean you’re saying yes?”

  “Show me a ring, and we’ll talk.” He laughed at her consternation and nibbled her lower lip as his gaze roamed her face. “Of course I’m saying yes. The answer was yes before you asked the question, and the answer will be yes until the day I die.”

  “Oh.” She let out a shuddering breath. “Well, that’s good then.” She pressed a hand to her jumping stomach. “Excuse me, I may need to go throw up now.”

  He laughed again, the sound lighting her up inside. “Might as well start practicing, right? For when it’s real.” His hand cupped her flat stomach, and she swallowed over the mammoth lump in her throat. “I can’t wait to see you carrying my child. Our child.”

  She edged closer to him on the pew. “Just as a reminder, I’m teaching till May. So seriously, you’ll need to get on this in a hurry or your window of opportunity closes till next year.”

  His lips quirked. “Duly noted. I’ll empty my calendar.”

  “See that you do.”

  He rubbed his knuckles over her damp cheek. “How is it possible the saddest day of my life is also the happiest?”

  “Happiest up till now. We’ll have to get busy making other happy days, a whole chest of them.” Emotion filled her voice, heralding round two of her tearfest.

  So she’d lied. Tears were to be expected on this saddest, happiest day.

  “That’s a promise I intend to hold you to, Rachel Cooper.”

  “Ditto.” Smiling, she laid her lips on his. “I’m so in love with you, Shawn Griffin.”

  His breath rushed out, as if she’d just lifted a giant weight from him. “I’ve waited so long to hear that.”

  “We’ve both been waiting.” But as happy as she was, she had to be sure. “You don’t think we’re getting ahead of ourselves?”

  Shawn grinned. “Baby, I think we’re right on time.”

  WANT MORE SEXY NYC-BASED ROMANCE? CHECK OUT TEST SHOT, AVAILABLE NOW!

  Book 1 in the Hot Shots talent agency series

  He’s the man her fiancé handpicked for her…she just never expected to fall in love.

  Layla Palmer is starting over in New York City with a new job at Hot Shots, an agency that specializes in hiring talent for jobs with an erotic bent. Happily engaged, she writes off the changes in her relationship with her fiancé, Aidan, as growing pains. But that all comes into question when her beloved fiancé comes up with a startling suggestion: he wants to watch her have sex with another man.

  Aidan's a man on the edge, fighting demons he won't name in fear of losing the woman he loves forever. But the game he's playing can only continue for so long, especially when the man they decide to invite into their bed turns out to be Layla’s newest prospective model, Sawyer Blake.

  Passion explodes between them, threatening to spill over and burn them all. Soon Aidan and Layla's already incendiary relationship hits the boiling point. Now she's fighting her own battles, including the conflicted feelings of lust and love she harbors for both men. But how can she figure o
ut who to trust when everything she ever knew is changing, including herself?

  Visit Cari at www.cariquinn.com to sign up for her brand new newsletter to stay up-to-date on all her upcoming releases, contests and opportunities to receive bonus content!

  LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD

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  Let Your Voice Be Heard

  HIT OR QUIT: After you finish INSATIABLE please consider leaving an honest review here or on Goodreads.

  COME PLAY WITH US: My best friend, Cari Quinn, and I have a blast on our Facebook group, Word Wenches. It’s all about the teasers, giveaways, music, hot guys…oh and books. Join us!

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  GET INFORMED: Sign up for my NEWSLETTER for contests, advanced notice on new releases & other fun. Visit my website: http://www.cariquinn.com.

  About Cari Quinn

  USA Today bestselling author Cari Quinn grew up wanting to be a singer more than anything else. When she realized she probably wouldn’t be hired as the opening act for the Foo Fighters, she stopped singing and started writing. Now she happily writes about rock stars, MMA fighters, suited heroes, bodyguards and everything in between. And she blasts her music as loud as the neighbors can stand, because hey, she’ll always be a rock star in her own head.

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  Also by Cari Quinn

  Boys of Fall Series

  Going Long

  Going Deep

  Going Hard

  Tapped Out Series

  Shadowboxer

  Body Shot

  Sneak Attack

  On The Ropes

  Love Required Series

  No Dress Required

  No Flowers Required

  No Romance Required

  No Promises Required

  If You Dare (KindleWorlds)

  Tempted By His Best Friend

  Suspended

  A Winchester Falls novel

  SHANE & KENDALL

  She came to California for a will reading and inherited a stepbrother that she never knew existed.

  Kendall Proctor has spent her life taking care of people. It's all she knows. A summons to her estranged father's will reading brings her face to face with a man her father raised as his son, and who now owns fifty percent of her business thanks to a legal technicality. Anger, confusion, and one passion-fueled moment forever changes their relationship sending them on a roadtrip to an uncertain future. Shane and his grouchy but steady ways make her dare to believe that she could count on someone for the first time in her life.

  Shane Justice always does what's expected of him. Playing it safe has left him with nothing to show for it but an empty bank account and half ownership in a bed and breakfast over three thousand miles away from home. To make matters worse, his joint partner is exasperating, sexy, and drives him to the brink of insanity. He can't stop thinking about her, wanting her, or touching her. Kendall's not part of the plan, and he always has a plan.

  A cross country trip, forced proximity, and a passion that defies all sense and logic will either break them or save them.

  eBooks are not transferable.

  They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  SUSPENDED

  © 2013 Taryn Elliott

  Rainbow Rage Publishing

  Cover by Late Nite Designs

  All Rights Are Reserved.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First Rainbow Rage Publishing ebook edition: March 2015.

  Original ebook released by Loose Id: February 2013.

  Created with Vellum

  Chapter One

  The paper in her hands trembled. Creases from the number of times she’d read and reread this single sheet of paper left it looking old and worn. But the summons was only two days ago and had come as a complete surprise. Lawrence Justice had been absent since her kindergarten graduation. Her only memory of her father was broad shoulders and blond hair so light it looked like goose down.

  The same hair she saw in the mirror every morning.

  Kendall Proctor adjusted one of the many pins it took to contain her hair into the knot at the base of her neck. Instead of highlights like most of the female population, she’d added in hints of honey gold to cut the startling near-white color. Ever the reminder that she was so very different from her mother’s dark, Italian features.

  She jammed the paper back into her bag and swung her feet out of the compact car she’d rented. Monterey, California was a far cry from Winchester Falls, New York. Even the scent of water on the air was different—briny and metallic somehow. Maybe she’d sneak away after the reading of the will and find the coastal road she’d read about during her eight hours in planes and airports today.

  Three cars lined the moss-ridden half wall that hugged the hillside property. She climbed the steep walk-up, her shoes clicking on flagstone. Worrying the strap of her purse, she ducked under the trumpet-shaped blooms that hung from an arbor at the end of the path. Honeysuckle and jasmine scents drew her ever closer to the massive, dark house. She didn’t know quite how that could be possible with all the windows, but it was. It looked like a sterile page from Architectural Digest.

  The wide wraparound porch was slate-gray stone filled with shadows.

  Nothing said welcome. Not even a happy little wreath on the door.

  Not that this was a happy-little-wreath kind of place. Probably too passé for the California set. She had one for every season. What did that say about her?

  She stopped at the base of the stairs. What the hell was she doing here? The letter burning a hole in her purse was a formal request for her attendance at the reading of Lawrence Justice’s will. She wasn’t even aware her father remembered her name, let alone put her in his will.

  Hell, the only reason she knew he’d passed away was because of the letter. He might’ve been a big name on the West Coast, but in Winchester Falls, New York, he damn well hadn’t rated a news bulletin.

  She tucked the unruly lock of hair behind her ear once more. This was a mistake. She should turn around and go back to the airport. Sitting by the ocean would be better. Another eight hours in the airport would be better. Anywhere but here. She wanted nothing to do with the man who skipped out on her mother—skipped out on her without even a good-bye. The only good thing he’d done for them was give them the Heron. She didn’t want anything else from him.

  But no, her mother had impulsively bought a plane ticket—nonrefundable, of course—to send her one and only baby girl to see what Kendall’s rich father had left her.

  She rubbed the tip of her middle finger between her brows, wishing away the brewing headache. She didn’t give a rat’s ass what her father had to say
. As far as she was concerned, graveside admissions were bullshit. She’d never been his daughter in any way. Why on earth had he decided to add her to the will?

  If the Heron weren’t in such financial distress, she would have told the lawyer who’d contacted her to take a dive off the nearest cliff. And there were plenty in Monterey to leap off. Again, her mother had fielded that call.

  She’d been too busy on the trawler. Winchester Falls had a wealth of perfect spots for fishing. The lake had even been mentioned in a few fishing magazines. It was the only thing bringing any money into the bed-and-breakfast these days. All her dreams of lovely rooms and community evenings around the dinner table had been buried under fishing tackle and bait.

  She sighed and smoothed her hand over her hips to straighten any wrinkles in her suit. The flight had been eternal, and the flight back tonight would be even worse. But she couldn’t afford a hotel room. Not when her mother had cleaned them out to buy the absurdly expensive ticket to the frigging West Coast.

  Kendall took a deep breath and buttoned the hidden hook of her lilac jacket. The suit felt like a straitjacket. She was getting too used to cargo pants and T-shirts. If she kept this up, she was going to have to turn in her girl card.

  She lifted her gaze to the porch again and found disconcerting dark eyes studying her from the shadows. “Hello.” When he didn’t say anything back, she swallowed. “I’m Kendall Proctor.”