by Max Monroe
“What?” he blurted on a near shout.
Winnie feigned confusion, playing along like the best damn actress I’d ever seen. “It’s no big deal, Nick. Just normal girl chat,” she lied, before hopping to her feet and walking past Nick out into the hallway, most likely to grab a fresh roll of painter’s tape for the woodwork around the windows.
But my husband stayed frozen in his spot, his eyes widening so far that I momentarily wondered if they’d get stuck in that position. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water as he tried to regain the power of speech.
God, men were so damn gullible sometimes.
Eventually, I couldn’t hold back my smile, and once that smile cracked my lips, my obnoxious laughter followed suit.
“Jesus Christ,” he muttered and ran a hand through his hair. “You’re evil,” he added and pointed an accusing index finger toward me.
“What?” I feigned ignorance. “Me? No way. I’m your loving and caring wife.”
A man on a mission, he stalked toward me, and before I could stop him, he lifted me into the air and wrapped my legs around his waist. “You might be my loving and caring wife,” he whispered into my ear, “but you’re also evil.”
“I am not! I’m as sweet as pie!” I protested through a bunch of giggles, and he shut my laughter up quickly with a kiss.
“Sweet as pie, my ass,” he eventually said and leaned back to meet my gaze with narrowed eyes.
“Okay, fine,” I admitted. “I guess the little white lie about sharing bedroom experiences was a bit too much, huh?”
He chuckled. “Ya think?”
“You know,” I started with a soft smile, “considering a year ago, we didn’t think we’d be able to stay together, it’s a pretty big deal that Winnie and I can even joke around about something like that with you.”
Nick’s smile mimicked mine. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
I was one hundred percent right. We’d come a long, long way from where we were over a year ago.
Not only were Nick and I together, husband and wife, but we’d even started getting Lex more than just every other weekend. Now, she was with us every other weekend, but also every Wednesday of the week.
And somehow, someway, the past circumstances that we’d both thought would prevent us from being together had ended up being two of the most amazing things in my life.
Winnie and Lexi—my best friend and my stepdaughter.
Between my two favorite girls, and my amazing, superhero husband, life couldn’t get any better.
“I love you, Nick,” I whispered against his mouth and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
“I love you too, baby.” He grinned and set me to my feet, but before I could get back to painting, he whispered into my ear, “But if you and Winnie do get around to discussing the power of Nick’s Big Bang, keep in mind that I saved my best cosmic expansion for you.”
“Wow, Trivia Buff. Did you learn that from The Big Bang Theory or your daughter?”
He smiled. “I’ll never tell.”
THE END
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First of all, THANK YOU for reading. That goes for anyone who’s bought a copy, read an ARC, helped us beta, edited, or found time in their busy schedule just to make sure we didn’t completely drop the ball by being late. Yeah, that’s us—sliding in fifteen minutes behind schedule. Actually, that’s 95% of our characters too. We guess art imitates life.
Thank you for supporting us, for talking about our books, and for just being so unbelievably loving and supportive of our characters. You’ve made this our MOST favorite adventure thus far.
THANK YOU to each other. We’re a carefully crafted system of checks and balances in both productivity and horrible ideas. If it weren’t for having each other as partners, our books would be six months late and filled with conversations about cheese and kidnapping. (Don’t bother trying to figure this one out.)
THANK YOU, Lisa, for always saving our asses. Even when you’re in Korea. Will you be our editor forever?
THANK YOU, Amy, for understanding that when we say we’re going to send you our next manuscript soon we actually mean we’re going to send it 2 weeks from now and you’ll only have 24 hours to read it. Oh, and by the way, if it’s not too much trouble, make sure you love it. You’re the best agent in the whole wide world.
THANK YOU, JoAnna & Sandra, for being superior Counselor Feathers. We love you. You are the reason Camp Love Yourself is the coolest place to be (cough, it sure as hell isn’t us. #multitaskingfail)
THANK YOU, Sommer, for always creating the hottest covers. And for giving us options even though we both know we’ll always end up choosing your choice anyway.
THANK YOU, Stacey, for always putting up with us. Without you (and your patience), our books would be a poorly formatted hot garbage mess.
THANK YOU, mystery promo video man ;), for doing graphics for us that are better than our kindergarten creations. Way to take one for the team.
THANK YOU to every blogger who has read, reviewed, posted, shared, and supported us. Your enthusiasm, support, and hard work do not go unnoticed. We’d give you something really cool, like getting you signups and arcs in a timely fashion, but yeah, you shouldn’t hold your breath. Early prep and readiness aren’t our strong suit.
THANK YOU, to the people who love us. They support us, motivate us, and most importantly, tolerate us. Sometimes we’re not the easiest people to live with, especially when there is a deadline looming. And since we always have a deadline looming, it’s safe to say we’re stressed out asshole 50…65…75…90% of the time. Good thing we’re so funny and charming, huh? We love you.
P.S. We know you love us, too.
THANK YOU, to our Camp members! You guys are the best! Meet us in Bora Bora (okay, Denver) someday soon (July 2018 for Book Bonanza)? We’ll bring the wine. ;) No, seriously, meet us in Denver. We’re coming out, betches!
As always, all our love.
XOXO,
Max Monroe