I stare at him with the moonlight falling on us. The sky is clear tonight. The air is perfectly crisp.
I took a step toward him when he said those three words.
Those three words.
I love you.
Keats loves me.
“Can we go inside?” He glances behind me at the open doorway of the cabin.
I look around. “How did you know where to find me? How did you get here?”
“Bianca,” he says her name quietly. “I ran into her in the lobby of your apartment building. She drew me a map, so I got my driver to bring me.”
I take that all in. Bianca wouldn’t have sent Keats to find me if she didn’t believe that it was the right thing to do.
She’s always protected me.
“I can drive.” Keats chuckles. “But, my hands have been shaking since I saw you tell me that you love me.”
I scrunch my brow. “What?”
“You were on my stoop the day we were supposed to host the Newmans for dinner.” He shakes his head. “The day I fucked up.”
“You swore,” I point out with a slight smile.
He nods. “My doorbell cam recorded you standing there, and I read your lips.”
“You read lips?”
His gaze stays on my face. “I do.”
I take a chance because isn’t that what life’s about? Aren’t we supposed to dive into the deep end and trust that good things are waiting for us when we surface?
“I love you,” I say silently without a sound escaping me.
He leans forward to rest his forehead against mine. “I love you too, Maren. I fucking love you.”
Chapter 59
Maren
“I know about the baby, Maren.”
I absorb each of Keats’s words one-by-one. I don’t look at him. I hold onto the burst of pain that always courses through me when I think about the son I never got to see alive.
Taking a deep breath, I let go and reach for Keats’s hand.
He’s sitting next to me on the bed. He shed the hoodie he was wearing and his shoes and socks. He’s dressed only in jeans now.
His hair is a mess, and I can see something in his eyes I’ve never noticed before.
Peace, maybe. Or perhaps it’s hope.
I feel it too.
“I was going to name him Timmy after my dad.”
That was the plan. I hadn’t told my dad that before I miscarried. I’ve never mentioned it since.
We don’t discuss that loss.
“That’s a beautiful name.” Keats reaches for my hand. “I’m sorry about my text. It was thoughtless. I should have called you that night.”
I wrap my fingers around his. “You were upset about losing Fletcher as a client.”
Lifting my hand to his lips, he kisses my palm. “I was seething with jealousy because I saw you hugging a man in a diner.”
I exhale a breath slowly. “That was Royce.”
His eyes lock on mine. “I didn’t know that. All I saw was the woman I love more than anything wrapped in another man’s arms.”
“You thought I was…”
“Cheating?” he finishes my thought. “I thought he was a better man than I am. I was scared that I was losing you.”
“I don’t cheat,” I say clearly. “I wouldn’t do that to you. I’ve never done that to anyone.”
Leaning closer, he kisses my cheek. “I should have known that. I let my past dictate my actions. I was rude to you. It was wrong.”
I try to piece together everything he’s saying.
“So, you saw me with Royce, and then you found out that Fletcher chose Finn over you?”
“Us,” he corrects me.
I smile softly. “Us. Do you know why he chose Finn?”
His gaze drops. “It doesn’t matter at this point.”
It matters to me, so I tell him that. “Tell me.”
He gathers both my hands into his lap, holding them firmly in his grasp. “Some friend of Patrika’s overheard you talking while you were having a coffee at a café in midtown. You were discussing the fact that the Newmans assumed we were dating, and that got back to Patrika pretty fast.”
“Shit.” I close my eyes. “I blew it.”
Keats lets out a loud chuckle. “You didn’t blow it. It happened. It’s over.”
“You wanted him for a client, Keats.”
“I want you, Maren,” he counters. “Fletcher was work. This right here is life.”
“You’re not upset?”
“About losing Fletcher?”
I nod.
“Hell, no.” He shakes his head. “Finn will do right by him. He’s in good hands.”
I move his hands to the center of my chest and hold them there with mine. “I’m in the best hands.”
He darts up to his knees. “Damn right, you are.”
My gaze falls to the waistband of his jeans and beyond to the outline of his erection beneath the denim. “That’ll cost you.”
“Name your price.” He slides his hands to my shoulders. “I’m not talking money, Maren. Tell me what I owe you.”
“Show me how much you love me, Keats.”
***
The chill in the air races over my skin, tempering the heat that is blooming there as I near my second orgasm of the night.
I drag my hands through Keats’s hair, reveling in how soft the strands are and how rough the scruff on his jaw is as it scrapes against my inner thighs.
I arch my back off the bed when he hones in on my clit with the tip of his tongue.
“Coming,” I whisper. “I’m so close to coming.”
He hums his approval sending a vibration through my core that lures a deep moan from somewhere inside of me.
“You like that,” he whispers.
“So much.” I groan.
He applies more pressure. His head moves as he eats me ravenously.
I let go. I close my eyes, and I come with a soul-wrenching cry that brings tears of pure joy to my eyes.
Keats slows his movements. He licks my cleft with long, leisurely strokes of his tongue.
When he looks at me, I see tears in his eyes too.
“I love you, Maren,” he whispers as he crawls up my body.
“I love you,” I say breathlessly. “I want you.”
He rests his forehead against mine. “No condom. I didn’t think about bringing any. I just wanted to get to you.”
“I’m clean,” I offer.
His eyes search mine. “I’m clean too. You’re sure you want that?”
The thought of him sliding inside me bare sends a jolt of desire through me. “I want it so much.”
He slowly spreads my legs and climbs between them.
With a glance over my body, he lowers his lips to the center of my chest. “You are my life.”
I hold my breath as he slides his cock into my channel in one painfully slow movement.
“You are my everything,” I whisper. “You will always be.”
Epilogue
One Month Later
Keats
“Why the fudge am I not sneezing around you?” I hold Dudley in the air, so we’re face-to-face.
“Dr. Hunt thinks you were allergic to his old shampoo.” Arietta stands next to me. “Not him.”
I turn to look at her. “I guess this means he can move back in with me.”
I watch as her smile drops into a frown. “I don’t mind watching him a little longer. Maren said your sister is coming back soon.”
Maren is right.
Sinclair is due back in New York next week. I’ve missed her. My life has completely changed since she’s been gone. I can’t wait to tell her that I’m in love.
I want to do it in person to see her face when she hears the good news.
“I’m going to drop him off at doggy daycare.” She scoops up an oversized black tote. “Tell Maren that I hope she has a good day at work.”
I laugh as I take a sip of the coffee I just poured.
“She’ll be with me, Arietta. How can she not have a hell of a good day?”
“You swore, Keats.” She smiles. “You owe a hundred to the fund.”
I nod as I watch her walk away. We met for the first time the day Maren and I came back from Tupper Lake. That was a little more than a month ago. Since then, we’ve spent time together, and we’re slowly building a friendship.
“Don’t work too hard,” I call after her as she nears the door to the apartment she shares with the woman I love.
She turns back to face me. “I wish Mr. Calvetti said those things to me.”
“You wish he said a lot of other things to you.” Maren comes out of her bedroom dressed for the day.
I left her tangled in the sheets after I woke her with my head between her legs. We finished off with her on top of me, sliding her body over mine as we both whispered how grateful we are to wake up this way every fucking day.
We haven’t spent a night apart since we got back from the cabin. We’ve spent a few nights here and the rest at my townhouse.
Our townhouse.
Maren has already started packing so she can move in with me.
Arietta’s gaze drops to the floor. “I don’t wish for that.”
“Is there another office romance blooming?” I wash that question down with a mouthful of coffee.
Arietta shifts her attention back to me. Her cheeks are rosy. A smile is luring the corners of her lips up. “I’m going to start using a dating app soon, so the answer to that is a big no.”
With that, she opens the door and walks out, leaving me alone with the most beautiful redhead in the world.
***
An hour later, we’re at the office.
Maren decided to continue working with me even though Royce Knott offered her the opportunity to buy out his brother’s shares to become a partner in what would have been Knott & Weber Public Relations.
She thought long and hard about it. We talked it through, but ultimately the decision was hers to make.
Her future is next to me. We both know that. She wants to help me handle the client list I have, and together, we will selectively choose athletes to pursue in the future.
Maren has her eye on a tennis ace. She’s nineteen, new to the circuit, and incredibly talented.
My love wants to take the lead on this one, so I’m all for that. Morgan Sports Management is going to take on a new partner in the form of my future wife.
I watch as she sits behind my desk, typing something on my laptop.
“You’re beautiful,” I whisper.
She glances up to where I’m standing next to the window. “You’re handsome as fuck.”
I bite back a smile. “You swore.”
“I owe a hundred.” She sighs. “I pinkie swore with Stevie. I need to pay up just like the rest of the family.”
The family.
That’s exactly what we are.
“I’m sending an email to Fletcher Newman,” she announces. “You’re not going to believe what’s going on with him.”
I hope it’s all good news. He’s a great young man with a future that is overflowing with possibility.
Turning to face her, I lift my chin. “Tell me.”
“He didn’t sign with Finn after all.” She leans back in her chair. “He’s going back to school to study architecture.”
I shake my head, unsure if I heard her correctly. “What?”
“He wrote to me and said that he realized that he loves to watch baseball, but playing is not his passion.”
The sport lost a promising talent, but the world gained someone willing to chase their dreams. That’s a win in my book.
“I’m setting up a meeting between him and Myles Sims. He’s the best architect in this city. Maybe he can mentor Fletcher.”
I don’t need to ask who Myles is to her because I know he’s not the guy who holds her heart in his hands. I’m that lucky bastard.
“Myles is another cousin of mine.” She laughs. “I have a lot of them all over this city.”
She taps her finger over the keyboard before she pushes back to stand.
“Remember the day I walked in and found you covered in glitter with a champagne bottle in your hand?”
I huff out a laugh. “How the heck could I forget that?”
“That’s how I want you on our wedding night.” She smiles. “Carefree, happy, and without pants.”
I don’t hear any of that but the wedding night part. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
Her beautiful blue eyes slide over my face. “You’ve asked me twice in the past twenty-four hours.”
She’s right. I have. Both times happened when we were in her bed.
I drop to a knee to do it right this time. Reaching into the inside pocket of my suit jacket, I pull out a small square box.
Maren’s hand darts to her mouth. “You have a ring?”
I bought it the day we came back from Tupper Lake because I knew she was my every tomorrow. I went to Whispers of Grace. It’s a jewelry store run by Ivy Marlow-Walker. She’s gifted when it comes to creating timeless pieces. I chose a silver band with one stunning ruby in the center and a circle of small diamonds surrounding it.
I pop open the lid.
Maren lets out a gasp. “Keats.”
“I didn’t plan on doing this in our office, but what the he…heart. It’s about our hearts, so it doesn’t matter where it happens.”
She nods. “You’re right.”
“I’m indebted to you for showing me that love can be this good. For accepting me and all my faults and for giving me a chance to believe that the future can be amazing.” I take a breath as I stare up and into her eyes. “I love you more than Stevie loves unicorns or seals, or whatever she’ll love next. Marry me, Maren. I’ll make every day we have together better than the last.”
Her head bobs up and down as tears fill her eyes. “I’ll marry you. Of course, I’ll marry you.”
I slide the ring on her finger, jump to my feet, and take her in my arms.
“Our adventure has only started,” she tells me before she kisses me.
She’s damn right. The very best is yet to come.
Do you want to see what happens next for Maren and Keats? Click here .
Preview of Game Changer
Sneak Preview of GAME CHANGER, a new refreshing standalone romance.
I’m not the kind of guy who will kidnap you and hold you prisoner on my yacht. I could. I have a yacht, but we should talk about it first.
We can get kinky if you want, but my dungeon isn’t red. I went with something more nuanced.
I’m polite, I’m generous, and I always call after we spend the night together.
But don’t be mistaken – this gentleman still knows exactly where to bite, lick, touch, and suck.
I’m William Knight.
Professional Wingman. Master of Sex. The Dating Doc.
My official title is Personal Advisor. At least that what’s my business card says.
I’ve built a very successful career helping men get the women they desire, while schooling them in the lost art of respect and chivalry.
I have it all. Money. Power. Respect.
Until I meet her.
Opal Waverly is the game changer. Not only is she smart, successful, and witty as hell, but she’s kind. She’s the type of kind that sneaks into your heart and cracks it open far enough that love slips in.
Hear that? That’s me waxing poetic while I drown my sorrows in a glass of scotch because Opal is the object of another man’s desire.
And he’s paying me an obscene amount of money to make her fall in love with him.
Author’s Note: This breathtakingly refreshing romance does not contain any cheating or a love triangle.
Chapter 1
William
“If you asked me to go home with you, I would.”
I shift my gaze to the right so it lands on the woman who just uttered those words to me. She’s cute. Bl
onde hair, blue eyes, lips that look like something other than nature played a part in their fullness.
The tight black dress she’s wearing fits the occasion. I’m at a fundraiser because I do my part to contribute when it’s needed. Tonight, it’s a gala to benefit an observatory on Long Island that is crumbling under the weight of its age. The host is a man I did business with two years ago. The woman he married last month is an astronomer, so he took on the role of raising money even though he can cut a check for millions, and it wouldn’t leave a dent in his bank account.
“What do you say, handsome?” The woman next to me trails a finger up the arm of my tuxedo jacket.
I say no.
It’s not because she’s not desirable. She’s pretty, but she also has a tan line wrapped around the ring finger of her left hand. Either she’s married and looking to score some tall, dark-haired, chiseled jaw handsomeness on the side, or she’s recently divorced. She could be a widow, but I doubt like hell she’s in mourning.
She saddles up closer to me at this makeshift bar in the corner of the ballroom at one of Manhattan’s most luxurious hotels.
“Do you have a roommate?” Her finger reaches the top of the collar of my white button-down shirt. “You can’t take a woman home, is that it? I can get us a room here if that’s the case.”
I turn so I can give her my full attention because women deserve that.
Her eyes trail over my face.
I’m better looking than most men in this place. That’s not ego talking. I know that I was blessed when it comes to good bone structure and height.
I’m gifted in other ways, but she won’t enjoy that tonight.
“I’m flattered.” I flash her a smile to lessen the blow of the next words out of my mouth. “I’m not interested.”
I could have played it kinder and told her that I’m tired or in a committed relationship.
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