“Yes really. And we decided since we both love you and want what’s best for you, even when it’s staring you in the face and you can’t see it—”
“Paige!” Hayley pretended outrage even though she knew Paige spoke the truth. It had taken her much too long to see what her two best friends saw or sensed from the beginning.
“You were so dead set on sticking to your plan, you were looking to throw away something really special. Not just Ray, but Fletcher too. We couldn’t let that happen.”
“So you’ve been plotting. The two of you?”
“Maybe plotting’s too strong of a word. Encouraging. That’s what we’ve been doing.”
“Encouraging me toward Ray.”
“Encouraging you to do what was best for you, not what you thought everyone else expected. Not stick to a plan you made months or years ago when it was no longer right for you. We wanted you to be happy, that was all.”
“And you didn’t think I could figure out how to do that on my own?”
“I was afraid maybe you forgot how,” Paige said quietly.
Hayley chuckled. “I think I came close.”
“Anyway,” she said, as they turned a corner, “Once Andre and Phil retire after this season, they’ll be ready for a change of scene. My L.A. crowd’s going to go crazy over them. They’re both in great physical condition, cameras love them and they already have a following. Phil’s got a background in marketing, and Andre needs to use that business degree he got while he was playing at LSU. It’s going to work out perfectly for all of us.”
“Except for me,” Hayley told her wistfully. “I miss you. And now I’ll miss seeing Andre and Phil too.”
“Not to worry. I already told Ray we expect long-weekend visits from you guys quarterly. And we’re going to be popping back here on a regular basis as well. There’s no way my child’s going to grow up and not know who his godmother is.”
“His?”
“Or hers,” Paige said playfully. “But I think it’s a him.”
They meandered the rest of the way around the block until they arrived back at the house. Ray was leaning against the rear of his Explorer.
“I think I’ll go see what Lonny’s up to,” Paige informed them and went inside.
Ray watched Paige’s progress until the door closed behind her. “I knew there was a reason I liked her.”
Hayley poked him in the ribs. “Too bad for you, she’s married.”
“Ha ha.” Ray’s hand cupped the back of her head. Shivers ran down her spine. When he kissed her she discovered all the little broken pieces of her shattered heart had glued themselves back together. She was whole again. She’d almost lost everything but she’d gained more than she’d ever thought possible. When the kiss ended she looked into Ray’s eyes, sure of what she wanted to say. “Ray?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you. I’m in love with you. I should have told you before, but—”
“But you were scared.”
She nodded. Once again he needed no explanation.
“But I’m not scared anymore. You’re my hero.”
Ray smiled at her. “Nah, I just needed a damsel in distress to save me.”
They gazed giddily into each other’s eyes for a moment before Ray snapped his fingers. “I got you something.”
He opened the driver’s side door and reached across the seat. He reappeared and handed Hayley a bouquet of red roses.
Tears welled in her eyes. “Oh, Ray. You didn’t have to do this. Adopting Fletcher, waiting for me to see what was right in front of me was enough.”
“I’ve got some more news for you. Tim called a few minutes ago. Carlos is being charged with manslaughter after all. The witness that backed out agreed to testify after another witness came forward. A member of Carlos’s gang, as a matter of fact. So it looks like Carlos is going to be in jail for a long time.”
“Wow. That is good news.”
Ray grinned. “Would you like to go to the movies with me this weekend?”
Hayley smiled back. “You mean like a date?”
“Yeah. I think it’s time we started dating.”
He bent to kiss her when an unusual sound broke the still air, a sound they’d never heard before. She and Ray turned to look at Fletcher as he trotted around the corner of the house toward them. He laughed out loud at Brutus, tugging for all he was worth on the other end of a long stick. When Fletcher saw Hayley watching, he repeated his earlier attention-getting statement, which to her ears most definitely sounded like. “Look, Mama.”
“On second thought, since we’ve done everything else backwards, maybe we should get married before we start dating.” He grinned at her. “What do you think?”
Hayley’s gaze drifted to Fletcher, who was still playing with Brutus. “I think I wanted Fletcher to have a real family. Some stability. It would be good if his parents were married. To each other.”
“Right.”
She turned back to Ray. “Hey, wait. Was that a proposal?”
He’d been watching her closely the entire time. “No, it wasn’t, but this is.” He got down on one knee and took her hands in his.
“Hayley, would you marry me?”
She tugged her hands away from his and bent toward him, threading her fingers through his hair. “Would you marry me?” she asked softly. “For forever?”
Ray grinned in delight. “Is there any other way?”
About the Author
When not writing fiction, Dr. Seuss-like poetry or song lyrics, Barbara Meyers masquerades behind a green apron at the local Starbucks where she picks up story ideas in exchange for serving up lattes.
A native of Southwest Missouri, she grew up in the Midwest, but was later successfully transplanted to Southwest Florida. Her hobbies include tormenting her long-suffering husband and interfering in the lives of her grown children. She also likes to sneak into nearby gated communities to walk her almost perfect dog, Pepper. For exercise and meditation, she plugs in MP3 ear buds and takes long bicycle rides and beach walks.
For the truth about Barbara Meyers, check out www.barbmeyers.com.
Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/barbmeyers
Contact her at [email protected]
Look for these titles by Barbara Meyers
Now Available:
The Braddock Brotherhood
A Month From Miami
A Month From Miami
© 2008 Barbara Meyers
They told themselves it was only for a month…
Perrish, Florida was supposed to be just an eye-blink for Kaylee Walsh on her way to a glamorous new life in Miami-minus her sleazy ex-boyfriend. She’s not about to let a little car trouble or an empty wallet throw a monkey wrench into her plans. Not even when there’s a handsome mechanic on the other end of that wrench.
Rick Braddock knows better than to give a second glance to a woman with big-city dreams. But getting Kaylee back on the road means car repairs she can’t afford. So he offers a trade. His services for hers. As a babysitter and housekeeper, that is.
They tell themselves it’s only for a month. But as they settle into comfortably domestic days and intensely intimate nights, Rick realizes what a treasure he’s discovered in Kaylee. And for Kaylee, the lure of Miami is losing its shine.
Then Rick discovers a fortune in stolen gems hidden in her gas tank. Is Kaylee the woman he thought she was-or is she taking him for a ride?
Warning: This title contains blowing and swallowing (of bubble gum), engines overheating with sexual tension, and explicit love scenes featuring superior handling and mind-blowing torque.
Enjoy the following excerpt for A Month From Miami:
She couldn’t tear her gaze off Rick. And it wasn’t just his bare chest, the well-developed biceps or the corded muscle in his arms. It was the area directly below the waistband of his jeans. The fly to be exact. The not-quite-zipped fly from which a glimpse of white briefs teased her imagination.
What would it be like, she wondered, to slide that zipper down ever so slowly. To ease that denim down over those briefs. To explore at her leisure what lay beneath.
Heat swept over her. Unable to fight the feeling of light-headedness, she swayed slightly on the stool. “Oh!” She gripped the counter with her free hand to steady herself.
“You okay?” Rick bent closer, peering at her. His fingers touched her ankle as if that would keep her upright.
“I’m—I’m okay,” Kaylee breathed. Okay, if she didn’t count the hot spot that had developed on her ankle.
“Let me see.” He covered the hand that held the washcloth and lifted it. The cut had stopped bleeding. Kaylee relinquished the washcloth without a fight.
“How about some of this antibiotic ointment on there?” Rick held up a tube. “And we’ll wrap it in gauze for tonight. Tomorrow you can put bandages on it.”
“Sure. Okay.” If he’d said, how about coming to bed with me and letting me kiss it and make it better, Kaylee knew she’d have agreed just as easily.
With his forefinger, Rick spread a thin line of ointment along the narrow gash. Kaylee felt it as if his finger was touching not her foot, but somewhere much more sensitive. She held onto the counter as her eyes rolled back in her head. Her thoughts ran wild.
Such tenderness. Such attention to detail, Kaylee thought. Is that how Rick would be as a lover?
Stop it, she warned herself. It’s not like you’ll ever find out. She was here because of Old Blue. Which Rick would fix while she babysat Molly. For a month. No longer. Because she had bigger, more important places to be than Perrish, Florida. And no man, not Bobby Lou Tucker, and certainly not Rick Braddock, was going to hold her back from her dreams.
Rick wrapped a strip of gauze around her foot and secured it. “I think you’ll be okay now.” He tapped her ankle and stood.
Kaylee did too, and that put them eye to eye and almost chest to chest in the tiny bathroom. She’d never been so aware of herself, of her own body, as she was standing in close proximity to Rick Braddock. She could feel every breath she took, felt her breasts swell and her nipples tighten beneath the thin fabric of her pajama top.
The ribbed cotton taunted her with its light pressure. She needed more. Much more. Like Rick’s hands cupping her breasts, his thumbs rubbing her aching nipples, his tongue flattening against them.
“You okay?” he asked in that husky nighttime voice of his.
Moisture pooled between her thighs.
“No. Yes.”
Rick gave her an odd look. “Come on. Let’s get you back to bed.”
“Yes.” Your bed. With you in it.
Rick helped her to a chair then went for a broom and dustpan. Kaylee watched while he swept up the mess she’d made.
“I’m sorry about your lamp. I’ll—I’ll replace it.” Even as she said it, she wondered how.
Rick’s mouth quirked up in his now-familiar half smile. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll put it on your tab.”
He dumped the broken pieces into the kitchen garbage can and returned. “Sorry about Brutus. He’s not usually so affectionate with—”
“Strangers?”
“Yeah.” Rick seemed confused by his dog’s uncharacteristic behavior. “He’s usually out like a light on the floor by my bed, and he never moves.”
“What can I say? Kids and dogs. They love me.” With men, however, it was an entirely different story. “I can’t believe all the ruckus didn’t wake up Molly.”
“She’d sleep through a Category Eight hurricane. A broken lamp is nothing.”
Kaylee nodded, glad she hadn’t disturbed anyone else. She crawled back to her makeshift bed and rearranged the sheet over her.
Rick gazed at her for a moment, then took a couple of steps closer. “Will you be okay?”
“Fine.” She forced a smile. “Good night.”
He nodded, though he didn’t look terribly convinced. He moved away and turned off the overhead light. “Night.” He disappeared into the darkness.
Rick stepped over Brutus and crawled back into bed, punching his pillow in frustration. Great, Braddock, just great. The first woman who’s turned you on in two years just happens to be Kaylee Walsh. Kaylee, who didn’t want to be stuck in a small town with a small-town guy any more than Brenda had.
She’d hightail it to Miami as fast as that old car of hers could get her there once he had it up and running. Like Brenda, she wouldn’t look back at what she’d left behind.
Rick flopped over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He’d known the moment he’d set eyes on her that Kaylee Walsh was nothing but trouble for him. He’d had an instantaneous gut reaction when he’d slid out from under Frank Selby’s pickup and spotted her standing over him.
Tonight’s fiasco had done nothing but confirm his initial reaction. For as long as he lived he’d never forget the sight of a scantily dressed Kaylee sprawled on the floor amidst the shattered lamp. Her brunette hair cascaded around her shoulders; her blue eyes were dazed and confused.
The moment he’d touched her to help her into the bathroom, he’d reacted all the way to the tips of his toes. His fingertips had accidentally brushed the side of her breast and instantly longed to do more.
The entire time they’d been in the bathroom, he’d had all he could do to act unaffected and stick to the business of dressing her wound.
Rick rolled to his side, bunching the pillow until it was hard as a rock. If the rest of his body wasn’t getting any relief, why should his head?
Kaylee’s nightclothes consisted of a ribbed cotton undershirt that hugged the curves of her generous breasts and vividly outlined her nipples, and a pair of equally well-fitting boxers that did fabulous things for her hips and exposed her legs in all their glory.
Rick groaned and rolled to his stomach again. No. Bad idea. Too much pressure from the mattress. He flipped to his back and stared at the ceiling some more.
What would it be like to have Kaylee’s curves pressed up against him? To feel the heat of her skin beneath his? To lift that skimpy shirt away from her breasts and slide a hand below the waistband of her boxers?
He knew how it would be. In his heart he knew how it would be with Kaylee. Hot and glorious and passionate. Steamy, great sex. She’d give and she’d take in equal measures. And when she left, she’d take a piece of him he’d never get back.
He couldn’t let that happen.
If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you…run.
Full Circle
© 2011 Avery Beck
Nine years ago, Elisa Haley set tongues wagging when she returned home from college single and pregnant. Finally, her long-delayed graduation is just weeks away. She’s ready to move out and move on to a bright, shiny future in another state…until a face from her past walks into her brother’s veterinary office. A man who once offered her one night of comfort in his arms. The memory burns as hot in her soul as the guilty secret he must never learn.
Tired of the big city, grieving a recent loss, Dr. Liam Barton longs for a home and family in a quiet small town. When he arrives for his first day at the veterinary clinic, he’s not surprised to find Elisa behind the desk. Curiously, though, she barely acknowledges their shared past, and insists she can’t wait to get out of the town he’s already come to love.
Elisa, determined to be nothing more than friends, tries fixing Liam up with Windy Flats’ most eligible women. Yet the old passion still simmering between them melts her resolve, and uncovers secrets that refuse to stay buried. Secrets that put both their hard-earned futures—and their hearts—at risk.
Warning: Paranormal? No. Sci-fi? Nothing otherworldly here. Just a sinfully gorgeous vet who loves animals, and knows how to turn a gal inside out with supremely mushy love scenes? Oh, absolutely!
Enjoy the following excerpt for Full Circle:
Liam closed the door of his Explorer and inhaled the breezy rural air. Though June in central Texas sent temperatures soaring a
bove ninety, the sparsely populated roads and rich green trees of Windy Flats offered a welcome respite from Dallas’s endless traffic jams and multiple high-rises. The silence alone made him feel he was on vacation instead of beginning his first day at a new job.
He shouldn’t have any problem building a life here.
He dropped his sunglasses into his pocket and headed for the single-story building in front of him. Modest in size, it appeared to have once been a house, which gave it a warm atmosphere a sterile office building couldn’t compete with. No wonder the town’s residents brought their beloved pets here for treatment and, occasionally, boarding. He’d done his research—Dr. Haley’s place was popular. To earn the partnership he eventually hoped to gain at the clinic, Liam suspected he might work harder to earn the respect of the clients than he would to treat their animals.
The sun blazed down and he sweated as he made his way up the sidewalk, but the chill that greeted him when he stepped through the door didn’t come from the central air-conditioning. An attractive woman sat behind the desk, and though her fingers stopped typing when he entered, she continued to stare intently at her screen as though willing him to turn around and walk back out.
He cleared his throat. “Excuse me, I’m—”
“The new doctor.” Coming out of her trance, she rolled her chair away from the computer and faced him with crossed arms.
His mouth fell open, his heart sinking to his knees. This woman didn’t look exactly like her, but at the same time, he knew those eyes. He knew that face, that voice.
Elisa Haley, his most painful loss until his mother’s unexpected death a few months ago. She was in the same room with him for the first time in nine years.
“That’s right,” he managed to say through his shock. “Looks like you succeeded in your field of choice too.”
He was referring to the way they’d met, in a first-year biology class back in college, where they had discovered their mutual pursuit of medicine and become friends. If they focused on the good memories, maybe he wouldn’t have to think about what had happened later.
A Forever Kind of Guy: The Braddock Brotherhood, Book 2 Page 31