by Noelle Adams
She couldn’t believe this was her. The real Julie. It felt like it should have just been another vision of the fantasy Julie, the one that never had any connection to her real life.
But it wasn’t. All of it was real. It might not be perfect—her shower didn’t have very good water pressure and the class she’d been to this morning had been kind of boring—but it was still what she wanted. Not a dream. Real life. Just more life than she’d thought could ever be hers.
She even had an amazing boyfriend. The kind of man no one would ever imagine could fall for her. But he had. And he wasn’t some kind of faceless romance hero who said all the right things but didn’t have a human soul. He was real. As real as she was. Not perfect but everything she wanted.
He should be here any minute. Finally out of his cast. He’d told her on the phone that he still needed to use the crutches for a while, but he was moving a lot better and was finally freed up after a very long three months. He’d sounded happy.
He’d sounded happy a lot in the last few weeks. Just as happy as she was.
She checked the time and then checked herself out in the mirror.
Last weekend she’d gone out and bought herself some new clothes, including the very sexy dress she was wearing.
In all honesty, it probably wouldn’t be considered “very sexy” by most people, but it was definitely sexy by her standards. It traced her figure until it flared out slightly at the knees. It had spaghetti straps that often slipped down her shoulders, and the neckline showed a lot of cleavage. It was dark blue, like her eyes. She felt gorgeous in it.
Sure, it had a habit of sliding down in the bodice and threatening to let her boobs pop out, so she had to keep yanking it up, but that must be one of the realities of wearing a dress like this.
She still liked it. She felt pretty it in, the way she felt in her lingerie. And this she could wear out in public.
She hoped Eric liked it too.
On that thought, there was a buzz from downstairs. When she answered, Eric’s gruff voice said, “Am I allowed up?”
She giggled. “Only if you take the stairs.”
“You’re not serious.”
She laughed some more. “Of course not. Take the elevator. Hurry up.”
A few minutes later, she opened the door to his knock and couldn’t resist giving him a hug when she saw his wry, adorable expression. He was propped up on one crutch.
He held her tightly, and she could feel the emotion in his touch, the need. It was real. As real as his big, warm body.
“Well,” he demanded when she finally pulled away. “What do you think?” He extended his leg to show her the walking boot.
“It’s wonderful. How does it feel?”
“It feels…” He trailed off.
She’d been examining his boot, so she didn’t know why he’d stopped talking until she looked up at his face again.
His eyes had grown hot, and he was openly leering at her body.
She gave the neckline of her dress a little tug.
“You look…incredible,” he murmured thickly.
“Thank you.”
“You’re not going out in public in that dress, are you?”
“Of course I am. Is there a problem with that?”
He managed to tear his eyes from her body. “Uh, no. Of course not. You can wear anything you want. I just might have to use one of my crutches to fend off random men.”
She burst into laughter. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“It’s not ridiculous. You look stunning.”
“I appreciate the thought, but I think your perception is tainted slightly because you like me.”
He reached out to tilt her chin up. “You know I more than like you.”
“All right. So your perception of my looks is tainted because you more than like me.”
“It’s not tainted. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And I’m not the only man who’s going to realize that.”
She was overflowing with feeling, but she managed to give him an ironic look. “We’ll see.”
He glanced at his watch. “We better hurry, or we’re not going to be able to see anything.”
She grabbed her purse and walked with him into the hallway. “So where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
She sighed. “Am I dressed appropriately?”
“That dress would always be appropriate.”
She couldn’t help but laugh again.
—
Tim drove them out of Charlotte, and she had no idea where they were going when they got off the interstate.
The sun was getting low in the sky, and it didn’t look like much of anything was around.
“What kind of restaurant is out here?” she asked when they pulled into a parking lot that didn’t seem to be attached to anything.
“You’ll see,” Eric replied, getting out of the car, much more easily than he used to move. He positioned both crutches under his arms.
“Which way?” she asked, looking from Eric to Tim, who had also gotten out of the car.
“This way.” Eric started down a trail that led into the woods.
“Where are we going? Seriously, Eric. This is weird, and I’m not dressed for hiking.”
“We’re not hiking. It’s not far.”
“What’s not far?”
“You’ll see.”
She made an impatient sound in her throat as she followed him. He was still the most stubborn man she’d ever met. At times it was impossible to get him to see reason.
She really had no idea what to expect when, two minutes later, the trail cleared the trees and led down to a level clearing on a hill that overlooked a lake. The sun was setting at the horizon, casting lush pinks and oranges across the sky and the water.
She gasped and reached for Eric’s arm.
The clearing was filled with candles and lanterns, the flickering lights surrounding a small table covered with a white tablecloth and two sturdy chairs. Place settings of expensive china and gleaming sliver were carefully set on each side of the table. There were crystal glasses and a silver champagne bucket on legs, and then pleasant classical music started playing, although she couldn’t see where it was coming from.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kristin slipping away, back up the trail. She must have been here lighting all these candles.
Julie stared around at the whole scene, hardly able to take it all in. It was like a vision from one of her daydreams. Exactly like it. Only so much better because the man at her side was Eric.
Her vision was blurring when she turned to look up at him.
“I know it’s not exactly a picnic,” he said, “because we’re not sitting on the grass. But I’m not sure how well I could manage eating on the ground right n—”
Before he could finish his dry comment, she’d hurled herself at him, hugging and kissing him with all the passion she had inside her.
It was so much passion they both almost tumbled to the ground.
Eric managed to balance them again, hugging her back and chuckling softly. But when they pulled apart and she looked up into his face, his expression had sobered. “I want all of your daydreams to come true.”
She almost lost it. It was touch and go for a minute. She took several shaky breaths as so many feelings coalesced inside her, threatening to turn into tears.
Then Eric asked, “You’re not going to cry, are you?”
“No.” She cleared her throat and composed her expression. “Of course not. I don’t cry when I’m happy.”
“You’re happy?”
“Of course I am. No one has ever done anything like this for me before.”
Eric met her eyes. “I love you, Julie. And you’re not going to live any more of your life without someone to do things like this for you.”
“I love you too.”
“Good. I thought so, but it’s about time you admitted it.”
“You hadn’t admitted it
yet eith—”
“But I said it first. That’s what counts.”
She gave him a light punch on the arm. “If you’re going to be obnoxious, I’m going to have my romantic picnic by myself.”
He chuckled and led her over to her place at the table.
—
More than an hour later, the sun had set and they’d finished their dinner and champagne. They’d spread a thick blanket on the grass and were stretched out on it together, after a little grumbling from Eric as he lowered himself to the ground.
They were occasionally kissing softly, tenderly, nothing becoming too urgent yet.
“I talked to Maddy today,” Eric said. He was on his back, staring up at the stars, stroking Julie’s hair as she nestled against his side.
“How is she doing?”
“Great. Unshakable. Same as always. I talked to Trish too.”
“Any more results on the treatments?”
It was an up-and-down road with the treatments the doctor at Johns Hopkins was trying on Maddy’s still-unknown illness. The first report had been bad. The second report had been promising. She’d gone back for her third treatment early this week, and they hadn’t heard anything else.
“No improvement since last time,” he said after letting out a breath. “But it’s not gotten any worse.”
“Well, that’s good, then. Right? It’s something to be hopeful about. It got better once, and now it’s not getting worse. Maybe it will get better again.”
“Yeah.” He turned his head to look at her. “The doctor seemed encouraged, so they’re going to keep up the new treatments.”
“Good.” She rubbed his chest and then slid her hand up to his face. “There’s hope.”
He met her eyes. “Always.”
She kissed him then, unable to stand the distance between them, and soon the kiss became deep, hungry.
“You know what?” Eric said after several minutes of kissing and caressing. His voice was thick, but it also held a familiar ironic note.
“What?”
He rolled over, moving above her, pushing up her dress enough to settle himself between her legs. “This time, I get to be on top.”
Epilogue
Six months later, Julie, Eric, and Maddy all walked down to the beach together from the house in the Outer Banks.
It was December, so none of them were in shorts or bathing suits. Maddy wore a light coat, and Julie had on a thick hoodie. But it wasn’t a very cold day, and the sun was shining, so they were going to take advantage of the good weather.
They threw a football around for a long time, both Maddy and Eric working hard to improve Julie’s throw and her catch. Then they spread out a blanket and sat down for a little picnic, eating sandwiches, grapes, and cookies while they watched the waves crash.
And Julie was happy. So incredibly happy.
She had a family again, when not so long ago it had felt like she’d lost one.
“Julie?” Maddy asked soberly, after taking a long sip of water. “How many pages do you have written of your dissertation?”
The girl asked Julie this every time she saw her. It was like having a living, breathing hourglass. “The day before yesterday, I finished page one hundred.”
“Wow.” Maddy’s brown eyes were wide. “That’s a lot. How many more do you have?”
“A lot.” Julie smiled from Maddy to Eric. “But I’m making good progress.”
“That’s good.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Julie glanced over to Eric, and their eyes met. She nodded at him, silently encouraging him to do what they’d come out here to do.
She didn’t know why he was nervous. Maddy was going to be happy about it. But this was new, and Maddy was his daughter, and he wanted to be careful about anything that disrupted her life.
They still had no idea how long she would live. She was still going through treatments, and the results were still up and down. It was hard. It was so hard. For Maddy. For her mother. And for Eric. But they were all doing as well as could be expected.
There was still hope.
“Daddy?” Maddy said into the silence.
“Yes, Peanut.”
“Did you have something bad to say to me?”
“What? No. Why would I have something bad to say?”
“I don’t know. Something seems weird.”
Eric chuckled and reached out to brush back his daughter’s hair from her face. “It’s nothing bad, but it is something.” He reached over to take Julie’s hand. “Julie and I are going to get married.”
Maddy’s eyes were wide, moving between Julie and her father. “Really?”
“Yes. I asked her last weekend and she said yes.”
“Oh.” Maddy appeared to think hard for a minute. “So she’d be my stepmom.”
“That’s right.” Eric’s eyes rested on his daughter, watching her closely.
“Why aren’t you wearing a ring?” Maddy asked Julie, peering down at her finger.
Julie reached into the pocket of her jeans. “Because I didn’t want to wear it until we got a chance to tell you.” She slipped the gorgeous, ludicrously expensive engagement ring on her left hand. A princess-cut diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds in the most beautiful platinum setting she’d ever seen.
She showed the ring to Maddy, who stared at it for a long time. “It’s pretty.”
“So what do you think?” Eric asked. “Are you happy for us?”
Maddy nodded. “I’m happy.” She still had on her characteristically serious expression. “I’ve been waiting for it for a long time.”
“You have?” Eric asked, smiling warmly, his shoulders relaxing.
“Of course.” Maddy looked at Julie. “So now you can make Daddy’s eyes happy forever.”
Julie nodded, feeling for a moment like she was so happy she could cry.
Eric’s eyes were happy as he gazed at her. Filled with joy and warmth and possession and knowledge and tenderness and hope. All of it was for her.
He was for her.
Julie managed to turn away from him and everything she saw in his face in order to answer Maddy. “That’s right,” she said. “That will be my job now. Forever.”
About the Author
NOELLE ADAMS handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she reads any book she can get her hands on and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel. You can find her online at:
noelle-adams.com
@NoelleAdams3
The Editor’s Corner
Swing into spring this May with Loveswept! We’ve got something for everyone, so take your pick from these fabulous romance books.
Tracy March brings you another enchanting novel set in Colorado, with book two in her Thistle Bend series, Just Say Maybe. Brenda Rothert releases her first Loveswept book, Blown Away, a sensual, emotionally charged novel of love and loss in which a tender affair gives two daring storm chasers the strength to overcome shattered dreams and the courage to build a future together. Then we go from extreme weather to the world of extreme sports with Zoe Dawson’s pulse-pounding Mavrick Allstars series debut, the steamy Ramping Up. Bestselling author HelenKay Dimon makes her Loveswept debut with Mr. and Mr. Smith. Moving on from the suspenseful to the sensual is a novel of pleasure and persuasion revolving around a high-stakes business deal in which the rules of negotiation are defined by desire in Shawntelle Madison’s Bound to You. New York Times bestselling author Noelle Adams introduces a notorious tech mogul who makes a mild-mannered woman an offer she can’t refuse and gets in return a battle for control—and a million-dollar affair—in Fooling Around. The Hunt Club continues with Pamela Labud’s A Most Delicate P
ursuit. New York Times bestselling author Erin McCarthy follows Nashville’s hottest country music duo as they fight for love in a city where dreams often cost a broken heart in Heart Breaker. And New York Times bestselling author Sawyer Bennett proves that vengeance is sweet—but seduction is to die for—in Sugar Daddy.
Wait—there’s more! Gina Gordon’s White Lace series continues in book two with lots of sizzle and heat in Reason to Believe. A. M. Madden continues the True Heroes series—hot hero alert!—with Glass Ceilings. Two tortured souls share an unbreakable bond even as they break taboos, as Laura Marie Altom does it again with a fabulous stepbrother romance in Stepping Over the Line. Back in the sporting world, Stacked Up continues the Worth the Fight series from USA Today bestselling author Sidney Halston. And Interference continues the Pilot Hockey series from Sophia Henry, where a young single mom falls for a damaged coach pulling double-duty as a cop.
It’s a great month for relationships, so follow us on Facebook and Twitter and let the romance begin!
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@readloveswept
Until next month ~Happy Romance!
Gina Wachtel
Associate Publisher
Read on for a sneak peek of
Heart Breaker
by Erin McCarthy
Coming soon from Loveswept
Chapter 1
When Jolene Hart broke off her affair with Chance Rivers, he left willingly enough, but he threw his guitar in her pool and stole their Song of the Year Grammy off the wall on his way out the door.
She retaliated by putting sugar in the gas tank of his favorite truck and turning his dog against him.
He took up with a blonde named Dixie and Jolene fell into bed with her bus driver. She heard Chance drank too much, and she ate cheesy grits like there was no tomorrow where she had to wear skintight jeans on stage. Together they had been country’s hottest new duo. Separate they were capable of selling almost no records.