by Dee Tenorio
“Marry me.” A command if she ever heard one.
“You’re still not asking,” she reminded, but she was smiling against his lips anyway. She’d been saying that to him as long as she’d known him, could see the next sixty years of her life filled with that very statement. At least.
“Still not stupid,” he replied, rubbing his cheek to hers. And, oh, the soft bristles of his thickening stubble… She loved that sensation. “Come on, Susie. Make my life worth living.”
“Oh, how am I supposed to say no to that?”
“You’re not.” His hands settled over her belly, adding warmth, letting the baby know he was there. That he’d always be there.
She covered his hand with hers. “I will, then, if you return the favor.”
His eyes glittered. “Consider it done.”
Which was the beautiful thing about this man of hers. She already did.
Epilogue
“Havelocke Jackman, you leave that baby alone!”
Not that Susie thought for one second her hiss would deter him. As usual, one teensy little wail, and he was on his way to pick up the latest little Jackman terror. Three months old and their demanding little girl knew she had her daddy in the bag.
“I don’t know why I bother,” she said, watching as Amanda settled herself on the couch next to Cole, who was working his game controller like a fiend. The football game he was playing against Daniel had all the other occupants on the couch riveted, a few of the brothers breaking ranks just enough to demolish the third tray of snacks Amanda had put out for them. “He’s spoiling her rotten.”
“There’s no such thing,” Locke replied from the hall leading to their bedroom. In his arms, cuddled under his chin, her belly flush to his heart, was the plumpest little morsel anyone in Rancho del Cielo had ever seen. Except for the fluffy curls in her corn-silk hair, she was her daddy all over again. Well, the curls and her round little belly. Her blue, blue eyes were just like Locke’s, as were the dimples in her cheeks. In fact, just about every part of their little girl was dimpled. She was already tall for her age group too, probably destined to look like some volleyball-playing Nordic princess. “You can’t over-hold a baby.”
“Wanna bet?” she asked dryly, because while he was in the Boathouse working, she was the one hoping to use her arms as something other than a pedestal.
“You know you’re as bad about this as I am,” Locke answered, not the least bit concerned with her false exasperation. He settled next to her, stretching his legs out on the chaise, cradling the baby with one big hand. Little fingers curled into the fabric of his T-shirt, grabbing and releasing like a kitten. All she needed was a tiny little purr and the picture would be complete.
“Yeah, I know.” Every day, she wondered if she was dreaming. But somehow, it was real. There had been a few bumps along the way to the baby’s birth, of course, but nothing they couldn’t handle. They had their miracle, sleeping next to them in a bassinet he’d surprised her with just before the birth. It matched the style of the crib they’d added to her side of the room, this time carved by his hands. She felt silly having them both in there, but there was just something about having the baby next to her bed, where she could listen to her breathe and know she was safe.
Even now, in the midst of a rambunctious Jackman weekend—since all of them were home, filling the house with noise and their own particular brand of prank-filled brotherly joy—she’d never felt so at peace. So happy. She’d been afraid to use that word for a while, not wanting to break the spell.
But it occurred to her, when the baby slipped safely from her body, that maybe happiness wasn’t a spell.
She remembered gasping, still catching her breath from that last, overwhelming push, when Penelope handed the wrapped bundle into Locke’s waiting hands. He looked down into that tiny face, then back to her, and there just wasn’t a way to describe what she saw. He looked like a man who’d been given more happiness than he knew how to hold.
And then he shared it with her, laying the baby on Susie’s chest, his hand steady there on her tiny back.
No, happiness wasn’t a spell.
It was a gift.
You couldn’t earn it, couldn’t steal it. Couldn’t even destroy it, if it didn’t belong to you. But you could cherish it. Protect it. Hold it in your heart and never let it go.
So she leaned her head on Locke’s shoulder, smiling as the smell of baby powder and soap tickled her nose and her little girl struggled to turn her round little head. As always happened when those baby eyes found her, focusing on her the same way as in those moments after birth, Susie felt a torrent of love fill her. Gratefulness, for the gifts she’d been given.
The baby called, a tiny grunt of effort that had Locke’s lips curling.
Susie put her finger under the grasping hand, still excited when the baby’s grip took hold. Another grunt, this one pleased. So she whispered what she always whispered when her daughter looked her way. What she’d said as she first touched her dream, come to life, for the very first time.
“Hello, Hope.”
About the Author
Dee Tenorio has a few reality issues. After much therapy for the problem—if one can call being awakened in the night by visions of hot, able-bodied men a problem—she has proved incurable. It turns out she enjoys tormenting herself by writing sizzling, steamy romances of various genres spanning paranormal mystery dramas, contemporaries and romantic comedies. Preferably starring the sexy, somewhat grumpy heroes described above and smart-mouthed heroines who have much better hair than she does.
The best part is, no more therapy bills!
Well, not for Dee, anyway. Her husband and kids, on the other hand…
If you would like to learn more about Dee and her work, please visit her site and blog at www.deetenorio.com. She can also be reached by readers at [email protected].
Look for these titles by Dee Tenorio
Now Available:
Midnight Sonata
Midnight Temptation
Midnight Legacy
Test Me
Kiss Me Again
Love Me Knots
All Of You
All Or Nothing
Shaken
Rancho Del Cielo Romances
Betting Hearts
Love Me Tomorrow
Burn For Me
If you can’t beat ’em…seduce ’em.
The Virgin’s Revenge
© 2012 Dee Tenorio
Rancho Del Cielo Series, Book 4
Amanda Jackman’s love life is the stuff dreams are made of…which is fitting, because it’s all in her head. Thanks to six oversized, overbearing brothers who treat her like the family jewel, she’s lived in a padded little box.
Determined to get a life before she needs a padded little cell, she sets out to throw off the yoke and live on her own terms. Except she seriously underestimates the lengths to which her brothers will go to keep her safe and sound.
Cole Engstrom’s life might just be at an end. Cornered by all six of the massive Jackmans—men he normally considers his friends—he learns he’s their choice to marry their sister…or else. Make that first choice, but not the last.
Rather than watch Amanda’s brothers club their way through potential mates, Cole figures it’s best to just play along for a while and buy her some time to find a man of her own. It’s a good plan. Until Amanda figures it out—and decides he’s the one to relieve her of her “sheltered little virgin” status. One seduction at a time…
Warning: This sexy romp of a book contains a virgin, a man and a plan. Game. On.
Enjoy the following excerpt for The Virgin’s Revenge:
“We want you to marry Mandy.”
Cole Engstrom never knew you could reverse-snort up a French fry, but there you have it. Someone call Guinness.
A few solid thwacks on the back later from one of the notorious six Jackman brothers, and he was breathing marginally well again. That didn’t mean, of cour
se, his hearing was any better.
“What?”
“We—” Locke Jackman leaned forward in his diner seat, bracing more of his weight on his oversized hunks of arm and nailing Cole in place with a vivid blue glare, “—want you to marry Mandy.”
When Locke said we, he spoke for all six of the brothers. Probably their deceased parents, grandparents and all the generations that traveled over the Atlantic more than two centuries ago. He was more than big enough to pull something like that off.
Cole risked a glance at the elder twins—as Daniel and Dean were typically called—who sat on his left, their bulk swallowing most of the curving diner bench in the darkest corner of Shaky Jake’s bar. He should have known they were out to get him when they’d invited him here for lunch and dragged him to this spot. Not only were they cheap, they were scared of the dark. Yet both of them nodded and grinned at him like they’d done him a favor. He smelled a set-up. He also had the suspicion they were stealing his fries.
“Why?”
Locke smiled. Sort of. When you have a face that big and that closely resembling a brick wall, it’s probably harder to be convincing about joy. “We like you.”
Wasn’t that reassuring?
“Does Amanda?”
Locke shrugged. “She will.”
“So, she doesn’t know anything about this?” Adding two and two while surrounded by two trios of human mountains with zero common sense was slow going.
“Why tell Mandy? She’d just argue with us. But she needs to get married. It’s time. Mom and Dad would have had her married off years ago, and since they aren’t here, it’s up to us.”
Cole didn’t want to remind Locke that the main reason Amanda wasn’t married off was because their parents had died, and no man who wanted to retain his moving parts was going to attempt to so much as look Amanda’s way with the mini-hulks blocking his path.
“And you picked me because…”
“The elder twins said you were nice to her.” Locke nodded to the two boys who’d been Cole’s friends since junior year in high school. He’d been a skinny, chain-smoking computer nerd in their weight-training class. They’d openly seen him as a project.
By the end of the year, he’d quit smoking, at least, but he was still slim and never destined to bench much more than his own weight. They kept him anyway—he had a car. There were times he wondered if that was why they’d adopted him in the first place. Times like now, he wondered why he’d adopted them back.
The elder twins grinned at him, still nodding, both chewing. Bastards.
“Didn’t they tell you I’ve planned to never get married?” Because Daniel and Dean knew damn well he was never getting married. Ever. They even knew why. Hell, Locke knew why. It wasn’t a secret.
“Plans can change.” Locke’s unfaltering gaze bored into Cole, placidly threatening. Threatening what, Cole wasn’t sure, but it didn’t take a lot of imagination to guess it would be painful.
Still. Some things Locke couldn’t force, no matter how he tried.
“Not these ones.”
He felt the tension suddenly ratchet up in the shoulders on either side of him. And though Locke didn’t move even a muscle, Cole swore he grew impossibly more hulking.
“Look, Amanda’s a nice girl.” She was too. Very nice. Nice to talk to, nice to spend time with, nice to look at. All right, more than nice to look at. More like stunning, with that silky white-blonde hair and blue-gray eyes, curves he’d give his right nut to stop thinking about, and good God, legs for miles. Tall, like her brothers, but delicate and quiet in comparison. Sweet too.
But if she believed for one second that he’d gone along with this ridiculous plan, he had no doubt whatsoever she’d rip his throat out. No self-respecting girl wouldn’t, and Cole made it a special rule never to piss off the quiet ones. Usually, they’d already had lots of time to think about body disposal.
“But?” Locke was no idiot. Not like the others, who followed his orders like good pets.
“But she and I aren’t…involved.” And he’d taken great pains to make sure that they would never be involved. He enjoyed her company way too much to risk ever dating her. That was a surefire way to make her think him an asshole.
“Of course you aren’t. Yet.” There it was, Locke’s scary smile again. The one that was a cross between a pit bull growl and a hungry tiger attack. Either one would eat you alive, so Cole was sure to stay perfectly still and not tempt either. “You’ll ask her out. Date for a while. But not too long—I won’t have Mandy embarrassed because her boyfriend won’t settle down.”
Sure, Cole could see how that might be embarrassing.
“Then, in about six months, you ask her to marry you. She says yes, you get hitched and it’s all done with.”
Done with? His life, maybe. Hers, definitely. “What if Amanda says no?”
“Why would she say no?” Locke’s subtext was easy to read; she’d better not say no. “Be nice to her, make her feel pretty, tell her she’s a good cook and you’re set.”
“Mandy really is a good cook,” Dean added.
“You guys think all it takes to get married is to tell a girl she’s pretty and that she can feed you from now on and she’ll fall over from the romantic sentiment?”
Dean actually thought about it.
“Good point. Women are picky about stuff like that. You’re just going to have to make her fall in love with you or something,” Locke concluded.
Or something. Cole thought longingly to the fry that had mercifully tried to kill him minutes ago. Why had he fought it?
“I know this sounds completely unlikely, but…let’s say she doesn’t fall in love with me and the prospect of feeding me every day for the rest of her life isn’t enough of an enticement to get her to marry me?”
Locke shrugged. “At least you tried.”
Cole took his first breath of the meal…
“We’ll just find someone else and try again.”
…and choked on it.
“Try again? You mean you guys are going to shop Amanda around until someone bites?”
Locke didn’t smile this time. He didn’t do anything. He just stared, his blue gaze as implacably serious as the resolute will he’d used to raise the family currently surrounding him.
Asking Cole to marry Amanda was one thing. The Jackmans were his friends, despite Locke’s unnerving ability to…well, unnerve him. He wasn’t going to go telling anyone that the brothers were off their rockers and just short of pitching their sister on the auction block, and they knew it. Even the youngest ones. But should he turn them down, Amanda would quickly become a laughingstock in their quaint little southern California town of Rancho del Cielo. And no one in RDC ever forgot a good laugh.
Put like that, turning them down wasn’t an option.
Locke pulled something out of his shirt pocket and clacked it onto the center of the table. “See you at dinner, Cole. Seven o’clock. And wear a tie. You’re courting.”
He slid out from behind the table with a little more grace than someone his size should have been allowed. Within seconds, Cole found himself alone at the massive booth with an empty plate, a raw set of nerves and an open jeweler’s box complete with a glittering engagement ring.
For the first time since high school, Cole Engstrom was dying for a cigarette.
She needs an escape…and he’s exactly what she had in mind.
Take What You Want
© 2013 Jeanette Grey
College senior Ellen Price spends every spare minute studying to get into medical school. Until spring break yawns before her, as empty as her wallet.
With no money to hit the beach, she fills her empty to-do list with a plan: for just one week, she will become the kind of take-no-prisoners woman she secretly wishes to be, starting with the hot guy at the bar. It's a no-risk situation: at the end of break, he’ll head back to his campus, and she’ll go back to hers. No muss, no fuss.
At first, Josh Markley isn’t
sure what to think when the quiet, intense beauty from his pre-med classes approaches him for a night of casual sex. Even more mystifying, she doesn’t seem to return his recognition. But if she wants to play “strangers in a bar”, he’s game.
Their passionate night is a welcome respite from life’s stress, but afterward, Josh realizes he wants more—from himself, from life, from Ellen. Except she still thinks he’s a one-off she’ll never see again. Confessing the truth now—before she figures it out on her own—could shatter the fragile beginnings of just what the doctor ordered. A forever love.
Warning: Contains mistaken identities, a sometimes-glasses-wearing hottie, deep questions about figuring out what you want from life, and a red-hot college romance.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Take What You Want:
“You look beautiful,” he murmured, kissing his way toward her ear.
She hummed and touched his chest, tilting her neck and giving him more of herself to kiss. “You look nice, too.”
“Thanks.” He pressed his lips once more over her pulse point, then stood up straight and slid his hand to the small of her back. “After you.”
He held his breath as they made their way toward his car. She let him hold the door for her and glanced up at him as she folded herself into the seat. Her skirt rose up on her thighs, and from this angle, he could see down her shirt.
He closed the door and took the long way around to his side of the car, forcing a few long, hard breaths before climbing in beside her. The instant they were closed inside that space together, all his efforts at calming himself were for naught. He’d been inside her twice, but sitting there like that, going out like normal people, felt like another thing entirely. He glanced over at her, only to find her gazing at him, her expression easy and sure. And she looked so beautiful.
Out of nowhere, he said, “Thank you.”
Her laughter rang out like bells. “For what?”