Romantic Interludes

by TWCS Authors

  Memphis moved his hands from her face down to her waist and traced small circles with his fingers on the small of her back. Kennedy shivered and she felt him smile against her lips. He grabbed the hem of her sweater and tugged.

  “I think this needs to come off,” he whispered, leaving her lips to kiss along her jaw and down her throat. “Arms up, beautiful.”

  Kennedy eagerly did as he asked and lifted her arms so he couple strip her of the sweater. He tossed it to the floor and she had a fleeting thought of Luke getting his teeth on it, but all warnings or thoughts of another shredded article of clothing was hastily forgotten when Memphis dipped his tongue between her breasts.

  He slid his hands up her sides and over her ribs to her chest, flicking his thumbs over her nipples as she arched her chest against his mouth. When he pinched the tips through her bra, Kennedy had to bite her lip to keep from crying out, not so much from pleasure this time. Her nipples felt so incredibly sensitive it was almost painful.

  “Memphis.” She wrapped her legs around his back and forced him closer to her. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”

  Memphis straightened and she gave a silent sigh of relief that the trick worked and his attention was no longer on her chest. Kennedy watched as he pulled the shirt over his head and dropped it next to hers. She loved watching him undress, loved seeing the way his body moved and the muscles bunch and roll under his skin with the simplest of movements. She could sit and look at him all day and never grow bored.

  “You always have the carnal look in your eyes when you look at me, Kennedy.”

  His husky voice snapped her attention away from his upper body to his eyes and she licked her lips at the heated look he had.

  “Does that bother you?” The question was unnecessary since she already knew the answer.

  “It does a lot of things to me, bothering me isn’t one of them.” He grabbed her hand and placed it on the bulge beneath his fly. Both of their breaths hitched when she instinctively molded her hand to fit over him. “This is what that look does to me,” he told her, his voice sounding low and thick. “I don’t even have to touch you to get hard. All I have to do is see that erotic haze cloud your eyes and I instantly want you. And it’s there every time you look at me, Kennedy. Every fucking time. Do you have any idea how good that makes me feel? Knowing you want me that much all the time?”

  “Yes.” She dropped her eyes to her hands so she could watch his body’s response as she trailed them over his stomach and up his chest to his shoulders and down his arms. “Because you look at me the same way.”

  When she reached his hands, she glanced back up at him and Memphis linked their fingers together and brought the back of her hand to his mouth for a gentle kiss before draping her arms over his shoulders and leaned into her, forcing her to lie back on the table.

  “Let me show you, Kennedy Adams, how much I want you.”

  Kennedy closed her eyes as he kissed and nipped and licked his way down her body. When he lingered on her stomach, his kisses tender and loving, she had an overwhelming feeling to tell him right then. She didn’t need to think of a fun way to tell him, the moment was perfect.

  She lifted herself onto her elbows and peered down at him.

  “Memphis, I’m—”

  He chuckled as he met her eyes over the length of her body. “I know. You’re about to melt into a pool of sexual frustration if I don’t stop teasing you, right?”

  Kennedy shook her head, but Memphis was too busy unfastening her jeans and pulling them down her legs to notice. Her brain screamed at her to speak up, but her body was too lost in the feeling of Memphis’s mouth on her thighs, of his tongue snaking beneath the lace of her underwear.

  “Memphis . . . Oh God!” Kennedy fell back on the table, her hips thrusting up as Memphis tugged her panties just far enough down with his teeth so he could close his mouth over her heated flesh.

  It wasn’t long before Kennedy went over the edge, Memphis riding out every shudder her body gave with his mouth. When she finally stilled and only her ragged breathing filled the room, Memphis pulled the lace off her legs and made quick work of losing his jeans and boxers. He grabbed her hips and pulled her closer to the edge of the table.

  “Open your eyes and look at me, Kennedy.”

  He waited until she did as he commanded before pushing into her. Kennedy moaned as she locked her legs around him, pulling him deeper inside with each slow stroke. She sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck, needing to be close to him, to taste his kiss and feel his heart beat against her chest as he loved her.

  When it was over they were both out of breath and covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Keeping her as close to his body as possible, Memphis carefully carried her to their room and curled around her in bed.

  He was soon fast asleep, and Kennedy smiled as she snuggled closer to him, his arms wrapped around her waist, unknowingly protecting their little one while he slept.

  “I can’t believe he kicked me out of the house!”

  Kennedy rolled her eyes at Vanessa’s overdramatic reaction. “He didn’t kick you out, he told you to leave for the day so you could have a day to yourself. And he sent you to a spa, Vanessa. That’s not kicking you out of the house, that’s spoiling you.” Kennedy tried to keep the phone in place and hang onto her shopping basket at the same time as she grabbed the groceries she needed.

  Vanessa pouted. “It’s Valentine’s Day. He should want to spend the day with me.”

  “You know, you’re kind of being a bitch about this,” Kennedy told her, annoyed with the whining. “He’s done something incredibly nice for you. If you’re going to say anything, it should be thank you.”

  Silence greeted her on the other end and she worried she may have gone too far and offended her friend.

  “Van—”

  “You’re right. God, I am a bitch.” She sniffled. “It’s the pregnancy hormones, I swear. You know I’m not like this!”

  Pregnancy hormones. Great. So by the end of this thing there was a pretty good chance Memphis would hate her. She bet mothers-to-be didn’t read that in What to Expect When You’re Expecting.

  “Have you decided how you’re going to tell Memphis?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “Is giving him a peed stick on too cliché?”

  “By cliché, do you mean gross?”

  “He wouldn’t have to touch the peed on part!” Kennedy huffed. “I’d be careful. Like, pee in cup and dip the stick that way careful.”

  “Well, it’s better than throwing up on his junk while giving him head, I’ll give you that.” Kennedy laughed and then tried not to gag when the mental picture popped into her head. “If you didn’t want to do it today, you could always wait and make him some kind of sculpture.”

  Kennedy considered that for a minute and then shook her head.

  “No, I want to tell him today. I almost told him last night, so I don’t think I can keep it in long enough to . . . make him . . . something,” she spoke the words slowly as an idea came to her. “Vanessa, I have to go. I just thought of a way to tell him without handing him the messy pee stick.”

  “I want details later!”

  Kennedy ended the call and dropped the phone in her purse as she raced around the store collecting everything she would need.

  When she got home she unpacked everything onto her bed and booted Luke out into the backyard so she didn’t have to worry about him jumping up and ruining the display.

  She searched through her closet until she found the box that held the handmade cream colored lace handkerchief her grandmother made years ago and carefully arranged it on the center of her bed. She grabbed the little white bear holding the blue balloon that announced, “It’s a boy!” and the silver rattle with the words “Baby Girl” scrawled on it and set them both in the center of the handkerchief.

  Snatching the rectangular box out of the shopping bag she hurried to the bathroom, did her thing and nervously waited for the lines to show
up. Maybe it was silly, but she couldn’t help but worry that it wouldn’t be positive this time. What if the other test was a fluke? Could you get a false positive?

  Her palms were so sweaty the test slipped out of her fingers when she went to pick it up and landed with a clank in the sink. Cursing, Kennedy closed her eyes, took two deep calming breathes and picked the stick up again.

  Two pink lines.

  Kennedy practically skipped back to the bedroom and placed the test with the bear and rattle. She grabbed Memphis’s camera, took the picture and booted up his computer. After downloading the picture to the program he always used for work, she made sure to delete it from the camera and then went to work editing.

  She turned the picture black and white, but kept the balloon blue, the pink writing on the rattle and the pink lines on the test so each of them stood out. After she was satisfied with the way it looked she printed it off, waited a moment to make sure the ink was dry and then put it a frame.

  Kennedy held the photo away from her and almost cried. That was her positive test. No. That was their positive test. Their baby. She only hoped Memphis would be half as excited as she was.

  After carefully wrapping the picture she left it on the bed, closed the door so there was no chance Luke could rip it apart when she let him back in and then went to cook her husband Valentine’s Day dinner.

  “That was amazing, beautiful,” Memphis said, praising her cooking like he always did.

  Kennedy gave him a shaky smile as she picked up the plates and set them in the dishwasher. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her temple.

  “Can I give you your present now?”

  She nodded, not trusting her voice to answer in case in came out all squeaky and high. He turned her around and handed her an envelope.

  She cleared her throat as she turned it over in her hands. “What is it?”

  He laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

  “Why don’t you open it and find out?”

  She tucked her finger into the corner and ripped it open, pulling out a black and red invitation card. She read what it said and looked at Memphis with wide eyes.

  “How did you do this?” she gasped, rereading the invite to the newest art gallery opening in New York. “This is a personal invitation, Memphis! For opening night,” she added.

  “You said you wanted to go and, with a little help from Ryder, we made it happen.”

  “But . . . only the best artists get invited to openings like this one,” she whispered, still staring at the invite.

  “Hey.” He lifted her chin so she was forced to look at him. “When are you going to realize you are one of the best?”

  “Thank you.” She threw her arms around him and pecked his lips. “I have something for you, too.”

  Her heart was pounding as she took his hand and led him to the bedroom.

  “Oh I like where this is going,” he teased.

  She sat on the bed and waited for him to do the same. Her hands trembled as she handed him the picture and she felt like at any second she was going to pass out.

  “You’re shaking.” He set the gift on his lap and picked up her hands.

  “I’m a little nervous,” she whispered.

  “About going to New York?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Just open your gift. Please.”

  Memphis cocked an eyebrow at her but did as she asked and tore open the wrapping. When the paper was on the floor and the picture was revealed Kennedy thought her heart was going to stop.

  Memphis just sat there, staring at the picture of the little collection she had created, not moving, barely breathing. She saw his grip tighten on the frame and panic suddenly swelled in her chest.

  “Memphis.” Her voice broke and he ignored her. “Memphis, please say something.”

  “Is this . . . Are you . . .” He didn’t lift his eyes away from the photo as he tried to put a simple sentence together. “Are we . . .”

  He wasn’t looking at her. He wasn’t smiling. Oh God, what if he didn’t want this? What if he wasn’t ready for their lives to change like this? What if he decided this was all too much?

  “Yes. That’s real.” Kennedy’s voice cracked again and she had to swallow a couple of times. “I’m pregnant. We’re going to have a baby,” she finished for him.

  What would she do if he didn’t say anything? What would she do if he told her he didn’t want a family yet?

  “We’re going to have a baby.” He slowly touched the frame and traced the two pink lines. “We’re going to have a baby.” Finally he looked at her and she saw the unshed tears shining in his eyes as he broke out into a huge grin. “We’re going to have a baby!”

  Kennedy nodded as relief flooded over her and she was finally able to smile at him. He dropped the picture to the bed and crushed her to his body as he flooded her face with kisses, repeating, “We’re going to have a baby,” over and over again.

  Kennedy laughed when he dropped to his knees in front of her and slowly lifted her shirt to reveal her stomach. He carefully laid his palm on her skin and stroked his thumb back and forth.

  “This is ours.” He looked up at her, the smile still firmly in place. “We made this. I’m going to be a dad,” he said in awe.

  “Yes, you’re going to be a dad. So . . . you’re okay with it?”

  “Okay with it?” Memphis climbed back up over her body and looked down at her. “I’m more than okay with it. Kennedy, there are no words to express how happy I am right now. We’re going to be parents. Together. That’s my dream come true, beautiful. When did you find out?”

  “Yesterday. I was terrified. I’m still terrified,” she admitted.

  “You have nothing to be scared about. Not this time.”

  “We don’t know that. Anything could happen.”

  “You’re forgetting one thing.” He moved off her and lay next to her instead, resting his hand on her stomach. “This is our baby. He, or she,” he added when Kennedy raised an eyebrow at the gender preference, “is going to have both of our determination and strength. He’ll be a fighter like me and completely stubborn like you. She’ll be artistic and smart and beautiful.” He brushed a tear from her cheek. “He’ll be curious and keep us on our toes. But as she grows up we’ll trust her to make the right decisions because of how we raised her. Together, with so much love and spoiling yet just enough discipline to know we did right.

  “This is our baby. That’s going to make a difference. Trust me.”

  “I do trust you.” She reached up and stroked his face. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” Memphis leaned over and gently kissed her stomach. “And little Monroe Adams.”

  Kennedy giggled.

  “Monroe Adams?”

  He grinned up at her.

  “It works for either. You don’t like it?”

  Kennedy shrugged one shoulder, smiling at him as she ran her fingers through his hair. She was pretty sure she would agree to anything right now just to keep that smile on his face.

  “I guess it could work.”

  “It’s both of us,” he said, resting his cheek against her skin once more. “What more could you ask for?”

  Nothing. Everything she wanted was in that room with her.

  Including Luke—who was quietly chewing her favorite sweater.

  Last Call by Jennifer Schmidt

  Category: Romance

  Publication date: Sep 29, 2011

  ISBN (paper): 978-1-61213-064-4

  ISBN (ebook): 978-1-61213-065-1

  Summary: Novalee Jensen thought what happened in Vegas would stay in Vegas, but two years later, her Vegas indiscretion shows up in her bar. Novalee’s fears come true as the sudden appearance of the stranger brings questions everyone wants answers to, and the secret she’s kept to herself for so long is exposed.

  Dean Philips is on a mission to find his wife and bring her back to Nevada, all without exposing his own secrets and lies.
Lies that could not only cost him his fortune, but also the woman he’s yearned to know since that fateful night two years ago.

  http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books/detail/41

  Risking It All

  Category: Erotica

  Publication date: Sep 13, 2012

  ISBN (paper): 978-1-61213-117-7

  ISBN (ebook): 978-1-61213-118-4

  Summary: She was the fresh faced college student warned to stay away from his womanizing ways. He was the campus Casanova intent on living up to his bad boy reputation. But it only takes one run in for Kennedy Monroe to change her mind about Memphis Adams.

  Twelve years later the duo are closer than ever, the best of friends, but one night changes everything and soon Kennedy finds herself risking it all.

  http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books/detail/67