by J. S. Scott
Her lips were smiling, but her eyes looked troubled. I was worried about Jade, but until she was ready to talk about whatever was bothering her, there wasn’t much I could do.
“You two lovebirds need to tell the caterer to bring on the food. I’m starving,” Aiden suggested in a loud, booming voice down the table from Liam and me.
“When are you not starving?” Liam said drily, but he motioned for the waiters to start the food service. “Does he ever stop eating?” Liam asked in a quieter tone.
I smiled. All of my brothers could eat like horses. “No. They’ve been that way for as long as I can remember.”
I didn’t mention that there had been so many times that my older brothers had sacrificed their food for me, Jade, and Owen. They were making up for lost time now that they’d never need to worry about having enough food for the whole family ever again.
“Glad I ordered extra food,” Liam said good-naturedly.
He’d ordered a ton of food—more than my brothers could eat. And I knew he’d done it because he knew how much they liked to eat.
“I love you,” I blurted out as I turned to look at him, my heart in my throat as I thought about how lucky I was to have a man who cared about my family.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Liam asked as he saw a tear roll down my cheek.
I shook my head and swiped the random tear away. “Nothing. I was just wondering what I’ve ever done in my life to deserve a man like you.”
He smiled at me as he tipped my chin up to look at my face. “Nothing. You didn’t have to do anything. You just had to be you. And for the record, I love you, too.”
I knew he loved me. He proved it with actions as well as words. I looked at his handsome face, thinking once again how damn attractive he looked in formal wear. “Maybe we can skip the cake,” I said, in a voice just loud enough for him to hear.
Suddenly, I didn’t really care if I ate or not. I wanted to get Liam home and strip off every item of his clothing until I could touch his heated skin. Words didn’t seem like enough right now. I wanted . . . him. I needed to show him that I loved him as well as saying it out loud.
He laughed. A loud, deep, and thoroughly amused sound that melted my heart. “Sweetheart, we can eat first.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I don’t think I can wait,” I whispered against his ear.
“You’re hungry—”
“I want you more,” I said, my mouth next to his ear.
“Fuck!” he said in a quiet, frustrated tone. “I saw a few vacant rooms as we were walking toward the ballroom, but that isn’t exactly what I had planned for our first time together as man and wife.”
“We could get back before our food is cold,” I said suggestively. I didn’t need a perfect honeymoon. All I needed was Liam.
I felt his shoulders tense beneath my arms. “Feeling adventurous?” he asked huskily.
“Very.”
He rose without any further prompting. I could see the playfulness in his eyes as he pulled me to my feet.
“We’re coming back so I can feed you,” he said insistently. “We can’t be gone long.”
“I guess I can wait,” I said, even though I still urgently wanted to be alone with him.
“Yeah, well, I can’t,” he said gruffly, tugging me gently toward the exit. “Consider this a preview for what’s going to happen later.”
I laughed as I looked at the wide-eyed stares my family was giving us as Liam single-mindedly hauled me away from our wedding reception.
“We’ll be back,” I called happily over my shoulder to the table full of siblings we’d just left.
Later, I’d remember it as the happiest, most beautiful reception I could have asked for, even though Liam and I had needed to have our dinner reheated.
But I wasn’t about to complain.
My new husband had made it more than worth the sacrifice.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As always, my thanks go out to my acquiring editor, Maria Gomez, and all of the Montlake Romance team for their continued support of The Sinclairs. I loved writing this series, and I’m so grateful to have so many people at Montlake who care as much about the books as I do.
To my personal KA team . . . you’re the best. Thank you for everything you do for me every single day so I can focus on writing.
To my Gems and all of the bloggers that organize promotion for my new releases and sales . . . you ladies amaze me with every single release. Thank you for being such incredible individuals.
Huge hugs to my readers who allow me to continue doing what I love!
XXX Jan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2013 by Carrie Herzog
J.S. “Jan” Scott is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling romance author of series like The Sinclairs and The Billionaire’s Obsession. She’s an avid reader of all genres, but love stories have always been her favorite. Writing what she enjoys reading, Jan pens both contemporary and paranormal romances. They are almost always steamy, generally feature an alpha male, and include a happily ever after—she just can’t seem to write them any other way! Jan lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains with her husband and two very spoiled German shepherds, and she loves to connect with readers. Please visit her at www.authorjsscott.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authorjsscott.