Be My Forever: The Complete Series Box Set

by Lauren Wood

  The older woman smiled and pushed her black hair off of her shoulders. “Well we certainly can’t be formal around here, now can we? You turned out to be a fine boy Rex. I always knew that you would be. Now if you and Charlie could find you a couple of girlfriends to marry and settle down with, then I would be happy.”

  Charlie walked in around that time and told me not to listen to her. “She is trying to get us to have her some kids. Don’t listen to her. Mom, the deal was off the table for grandchildren tonight, remember? Sherry will be here in a little while and you can hound her for some. She is going to have a better chance of it then we are.”

  Rosalyn just sighed out loud, very loudly so that we would both know her displeasure. “Sherry isn’t the one that is always out. She is going to college. You two are the ones in the city, out every night. Every time I go up there, there is a new girl for me to meet. I think that I should put my faith in you two first.”

  I had to chuckle at her, even though Charlie was looking like he wanted to melt into the floor. He was embarrassed, but it was nothing different than what I was used to. Rosalyn had no qualms to say something like that in front of me or anyone else.

  I steered the conversation away from what was making his face red and tried to ignore the look of anguish in my friend’s face. He really hated coming home, but I always liked to come back here and remember what family was supposed to be like. To a guy like me, this back and forth was as close to family as I got.

  Chapter 3

  Sherry

  The flight was late and it took almost twenty minutes to even find a taxi. There was a line of them, but no one willing to drive all the way to Hartford. I had to pay extra to get the two hour ride covered. It seemed like they would be happy for the higher ride, but not so. It was the drive back with no running clock that was hard to stomach. There certainly wasn’t going to be anyone in Hartford looking for a cab ride.

  Finally I got a nice guy like Steve to make the trip for me. He was tall and older, but handsome. He had a dimple in his chin when he smiled and he made me feel better about finally getting home. Steve was my savior for the time being.

  “Thanks, you don’t know how many people I had to ask before I got to you. No one was willing to take the drive.”

  “I saw you walking down the line. I was curious when you got to me what your game was going to be. It was not at all what I had expected.”

  “No game. I just need to get home and I didn’t want to drive all the way down. I don’t know why I thought getting a cab to make the trip was going to be so hard.”

  “At this time of night, it is slim pickings that will go out of the city. You couldn’t have someone pick you up?”

  “Not this late at night. I missed my flight, so I didn’t want to keep anyone up. You know how people are from small towns. They go to bed at eight.”

  He chuckled and I saw his dark brown eyes looking at me through the rearview mirror. I wasn’t unused to that sort of attention, but we were going to be stuck in this car together for a while and I didn’t want to appear like I was trying to come on to him. My openness got me in quite a bit of trouble and I was trying to be good.

  “Yes, I was raised in a small town in Ohio.”

  Steve pulled into traffic and I was able to relax a little bit because his attention was no longer on me, it was on the traffic around us. The city was bustling and even if I had the time to drive down, I never did get the knack of driving in bumper to bumper traffic. It was chaotic and I preferred something a little slower. Steve was used to it though, so I was able to calm down a little bit and enjoy the ride. It wasn’t long before Chicago was behind us and we were on our way across the state lines to Michigan.

  The scene outside of my window never seemed to be something that I could get tired of. It was just so pretty and I tried hard to think of it as anything else but magical. I missed home and the reasons why were right outside the glass in front of me.

  Seasons changed and instead of the wet, rainy weather I left behind in Seattle, the air here was dry and crisp. Leaves of all colors were on the trees and underneath them, scattered all over to create a collage of color. It was days like this that I missed my home more than anything else. I didn’t come home much because I would get so homesick every time. I would get to missing my family, as well as just the area around me. I missed the fall here the most. It was the prettiest time of year.

  “So how long has it been since you have been home? You look like it has been a while.”

  “It has been almost a year. I come back in the summertime when I am off of classes last year.”

  “What are you studying for?”

  “Biology.”

  He crinkled his nose up, like a scientist?”

  I nodded my head and smiled at his response. It was hard not to get the same reaction all of the time. It was like girls weren’t supposed to be scientists. That or they were picturing me in one of those white vests. It didn’t seem to be hard to stump most people.

  “Huh, you must be one of those smart broads.”

  “I guess so.”

  He looked far less interested and that wasn’t something that I was unfamiliar with either. It was the way of things. I was hot until a guy realized that I wasn’t the cheerleader type. Dating had been interesting since I changed my major from communications. It seemed like the more down my path I was the harder it was to find a guy that I wanted to share it with. Not that Steve was an option, but the way he reacted reminded me that it wasn’t smooth sailing from here.

  He rode for a while in silence. It was peaceful and I was able to see the lights going down for the day and the beautiful colors that the sun gave off. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought that the leaves and the sun were competing against each other. I couldn’t say which one was winning.

  “We’re here?”

  “Huh?”

  My head was leaned against the door and I realized that I must have dozed off in those few moments with no sound but the hum of the engine.

  “We are here Sherry. Your directions were perfect.”

  I looked up at my childhood home and smiled to myself. It was good to be home and all I wanted to do was get inside and get some rest. It had been many hours of traveling and I was ready to stay still for a time. It was hard to do that when I was always on the go, but now school was over and I had time to decide what was next. I had just finished up my bachelors and I was taking some time off before I tried to conquer a master’s degree. This was the long overdue break that I needed. Not sure where it was going to take me yet, but all I could think about now was drinking some tea on the front porch and watching the leaves fall. It would be a long time, years even that I had been able to do that. Every time I was here, it was either summer or a short stint in the winter for the holidays.

  Now I was here for the perfect part of the year. But it was late and everything was dark. Most of the lights were off in the house. It didn’t seem like it was that late to me, but like I had told Steve, things ran a little slower here in Hartford. I made my way up the stairs to the door and let myself in. I wasn’t even going to bother with getting something for dinner. I just wanted to take a shower and then get some sleep. I was still groggy from my nap in the cab and it made me realize how badly I needed to actually get some rest. College life was hectic and I was ready for the slow movement of Hartford, if only for a little while until I discovered what my next adventure was going to be.

  Chapter 4

  Rex

  I just got back from a hot few minutes with Candy in her small apartment in downtown Hartford. She was everything that I had hoped she would be and more. The girl was talented and I had to wonder where she had learned her moves. She was better than any of the city girls that I had had in a while. Candy was going to fit in well at the club. We were going to pick her up in the morning since we were forced to stay overnight. Charlie’s sister had a late flight so she wouldn’t be in until the morning.

  When I got
back to Charlie’s house, everyone was already asleep and since I was told I could stay in Sherry’s room, I made my way upstairs. She wouldn’t be in for a little while, most likely morning, so I was going to get a few hours of sleep before all of that happened. I didn’t remember Sherry as much as I should have. She was always so much younger It had been years since she had been home when I was there and last time I seen her, she was tall and awkward. It made sense that she was going to become a scientist now.

  I went up to her room and noticed that the lights were on. I figured that Rosalyn or her husband had left it on for me. It was one of those thoughtful things that she did that made me feel welcome there more than any other place. It was part of the reason that I always tagged along when Charlie was coming over for a visit.

  I put my bag down and kicked my shoes off. I should go jump in the shower, but it was loud and I didn’t want to wake anyone up. It was down the hall on the other side of the house where everyone was already sleeping. Besides, I didn’t need to draw attention to the fact that I was coming in so late. Charlie wasn’t the only one that didn’t want questions shot his way.

  With the light on, I could see all of the trophies and plaques that Sherry had won over the years. She was ambitious, not like me and her brother. Her ambition was good and pure. Sherry was into sports and academics. Mine came from a want of money that was hard to get any other way. What would my life have been like if I had parents like these? What would it had been like to have all of my energy pushed into other things.

  I shook my head and tittered myself. There was no reason to think this way. I had the life I had and I worked hard to keep what it was that I wanted. Sherry was just a kid, an innocent one and as soon as she got home, me and Charlie would be back in the city and I could forget about the right ways to do things. What I did wouldn’t be considered right by a lot of people, but it gave me the life that I wanted since I was a kid in foster care and never had any clean clothes.

  I was tired and after shirking off my clothes real quick, I slid into the bed and sighed. It was so comfortable and after having my way with Candy, I was actually a little beat. I don’t know why, but it had been a long day and that girl had nearly sucked me dry. Candy was the last thing that I thought about as I closed my eyes. She was going to be a fun tagalong, I could see it now. All we had to do was wait a little longer and then we would be back to the city where things were normal and I didn’t feel so damn unclean around these nice sorts of people.

  Sleep was fast coming because my body was so sore. It was one of those nights that I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. It didn’t matter that I was in someone else’s room or that everything in there was pink. All that mattered was the softness of the bed and the darkness in the room so I didn’t have to see any of it.

  It was a while later that I felt someone shifting into the bed with me and when I was half asleep, I was sure that it was Candy. My mind was still on the wild time that we had together. I called out her name as I pulled her warm body to me. She was wet though and when she made a noise, I knew that it wasn’t Candy and I was getting pulled out of my slumber from the high-pitched sound that came next.

  “What the hell! Who are you and why are you in my bed?!”

  I couldn’t make out the words, but I could surely see and hear that I wasn’t supposed to be here. It took almost a full minute of me blinking into the bright lights to realize that I was still in Sherry’s room, but now I was not alone. A dark-haired woman was staring down at me and I looked down to what she saw in horror and saw that I was out. I never slept with any clothes on and thinking about Candy had made me rock hard. Now this girl was staring at me like I was a rapist or something, yet it did nothing to staunch my body’s desires. A stiff breeze made me this way and this woman in her bra and panties was doing the same damn thing.

  “Who are you?”

  “Who am I? This is my room! What the hell are you doing in here Rex?”

  Her words finally got to me and I didn’t know what to say. “Sherry?” Was this woman in front of me my best friend’s little sister? She looks so different than I remembered. When did she grow up and become a woman?

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  RODEO RANCHER: SNEAK PEAK

  PREVIEWS

  A Bad Boy Romance

  BLURB:

  My darkest desire.

  I wanted my muscled horse trainer.

  One night with him was all it took.

  I was hooked and I needed more.

  He gave me more pleasure than I ever thought possible.

  Cecelia

  Being with him was always a no go. He was a player and I didn’t want to get hurt.

  But I wanted him. Really bad.

  After one night together, I knew everything that I had wished for was real. This was real.

  He was everything that I needed and so much more.

  I wanted him to be mine, all mine, but it was impossible to keep a man like Dante. He was a womanizer and I was just another pawn for him to play with.

  I felt for my boss and now I had to make her mine.

  Cece was every cowboy’s wet dream in town.

  I need her in the worst way.

  Dante

  I tried for years to seduce the boss. Cecelia was what I wanted and every other girl was just a means to an end. But not her. Cece was the end game.

  I finally got her into my arms. I knew that I only needed one night to make her mine.

  All I had to do was get her screaming out my name, begging for more and I wouldn’t be able to get rid of her.

  I am going to have her for life, the girl I waited for all of this time.

  She was going to be mine. All mine. Every inch of that sexy body was going to be mine for the taking.

  Every damn inch.

  Chapter 1

  Cecelia

  “How is hiring going?”

  I shrugged and made a face at my friend. It had been one of those days and the more I thought about the line of people I had to interview most of the day, it would have just made my head hurt more.

  “I still haven’t found some regular hands. I am short four at the moment and I wish I could find a couple real quick. I am sick of trying to cover everything with less people than I need. It never used to be this hard to keep people. I guess the work is too hard or something.”

  “I don’t know how you do it. I work as a secretary sitting on my butt all day. I get tired just watching you run around here.”

  Karen took another drink of her cold coffee and I just shook my head again. I had tried before to get her to work with me on my family’s ranch, but she wasn’t going for it. There were a lot of reasons why not, even though I would pay double what she makes now. Karen just didn’t want to do this kind of work and some days I can honestly say that I don’t blame her. There were days that I didn’t even want to get up, but I loved my job, no matter how difficult it was or how sore my muscles were at the end of the day.

  “I think a lot of people are on the same page Karen. You would think that I was suggesting that they eat a rat. I had a guy today that told me there was no way that one person could do everything I wanted. I think I am just going to have to give up on it all. I wish I could find more people like Dante and Carl. If I had a couple more of them, I wouldn’t have to look anymore.”

  “How is Dante?”

  I sighed and just shrugged a little, not wanting to have this conversation again with her. “The same as always. I don’t know why you bother worrying about him. He is bad news and a heartbreaker.”

  “No he isn’t. He is just looking for one thing and there is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes a girl isn’t looking for a happily ever after, just a good night.”

  I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore her implication. Dan
te was handsome, very much so, but he knew it and that was always a problem. He had hit on me a couple of times when he first started last year, but I wasn’t biting. I knew all about men like him and though Karen thought she just wanted a good night, it would be painful in the end. She would fall, like a woman always does for that type and then be crushed when he doesn’t change his ways. It’s madness.

  “Well, don’t hold back on my account.”

  She crinkled her nose. “No, I don’t think I am his type. You are more the kind of girl I see him at the bar with, then me.”

  “You never know. But I am not getting into it between you two. He is a good employee and I don’t want it getting complicated. He is a wonder with the horses.”

  Karen pouted for a moment and then brightened back up. “If you aren’t going to hook me up, you could at least find out if he has a girlfriend or anything.”

  I could have reminded her that he didn’t date, he brought back random women to the hand house all of the time. They were always different, never introduced and never brought to the main house for dinner. It was rather clear to me what Dante was looking for. Instead of arguing, I just went with it though. She didn’t want to hear my real opinion.

  “I will see what I can do. I don’t know if he is seeing anyone right now, but next time I see Dante around I will ask him.” I just didn’t want him to think that it was because of me and some interest that I had in him. I would have to be clear that I was asking for Karen.

  She thanked me and had this beaming smile on her face. I didn’t get it with Dante. The man was sexy, sure, but how did he get grown women to lose their minds a little bit. It just didn’t make sense and though it was entertaining to see, I didn’t want Karen to go down the same path. She had a tender heart and didn’t need to get it broken because of some pheromone that Dante was letting off. I knew better myself than to get involved with it.