Not five minutes down the road, Amanda fell asleep with her head on his shoulders, and he was thankful for the time to get his bearings under control before going back home. He loved being a father, but he also knew he wanted to be a husband, and having both would require work.
"Baby, wake up. We're almost home." he told her as they drove closer to the ranch to pick up Lucy.
She stirred a little before opening those big eyes of hers, filled with love and contentment. "Are we going to get Lucy?" she asked him, half-asleep.
"Yeah, we are." He smiled when she kissed his cheek before pulling away from him to her side of the truck.
Her hand out of the window, letting the wind fly though her fingers, she looked over at him with a bright smile. "Let's get our girl and go home. I missed her. She's become a part of me."
His heart swelled at her choice of words. She called Lucy theirs, and that meant more to him than she could ever know. He squeezed her hand, feeling fulfilled and happy. For the first time in his life, he knew he was feeling the kind of love his father had always talked about, the forever kind. "I love you, forever."
Epilogue
Two months later
Drew had no idea why he was so nervous. This was everything he'd ever wanted, everything he ever could dream about having one day. He looked at the stretched-out blanket on the side of their home, smiling when Lucy spun around and around, singing at the top of her lungs. A month before, Drew had come home with adoption papers for Lucy, and Amanda's face when she saw them would forever be engraved in his mind. She had cried when Lucy walked up to her and said, "If you sign this, you'll be my mom and I'll be your daughter."
At that moment, he was waiting for Amanda to come home from one of her catering contracts, holding a box he had found months back while working on the house. At the time, he had no idea why he had been the one to find her mother's old wedding band, but since he was getting ready to ask her to marry him, it all made sense.
When he heard her truck come down the driveway, he glanced over at Lucy. She stopped spinning and looked at him with a big smile and two thumbs up, and his nerves disappeared. He walked over to the truck and when Amanda jumped out and ran to him, he opened his arms and lifted her off the ground, spinning her around. The last two months hadn't always been easy. There were still times where the balance they were working toward wasn't quite right, but they had stuck with it and made it work.
"I missed you today," she told him when he put her down.
"We missed you, too." He took her hand and walked to the blanket. When she saw Lucy, she let go of his hands and ran toward their daughter. Amanda picked her up and kissed her, making Lucy laugh and giggle.
When she put Lucy down, she glanced around then looked at him. "What's all this for?"
He walked to where she was and sat down, tugging her down with him. "Our first date was on this blanket. I was so nervous that night. I didn't know what to do. I was so afraid of messing things up. That first night, I knew you were it for me. I fell in love with you on this blanket, looking at the stars, so it's only fitting that I ask you to marry me on this blanket." He smiled when he heard Lucy giggle and start clapping her hands as he pulled out the box. He knew Amanda recognized it the second she saw it.
She covered her mouth with her hands as he spoke. "You have shown me what it means to truly love someone, and to truly be loved by someone. I know I'm not perfect, but I promise to spend the rest of my life being the man who makes you happy. You have helped me create a family, and I love you more every day. Will you marry me, baby?" He opened the box. "I found it when I was clearing up the attic before we started the renovations."
"Yes, Yes, I'll marry you." She jumped in his lap and kissed him, knocking down some plastic containers in the process, not that he cared. "I can't believe you found my mom's ring," she exclaimed when he slipped the ring on her finger.
"We're a real family now." They both turned around when Lucy spoke.
Amanda took her by the hand and pulled her to them. "Yes, we are."
The End
Acknowledgements
I want to say a big thank you to my mom and my family for always believing in me.
To my grandma, in heaven, thank you for watching over me every day and for giving me your love of books.
To the readers, thank you for taking a chance on me, and making Forgive Me my 5th book. Your support means more to me than you will ever know.
To the bloggers who take the time to support me, you guys rock.
To Becky, and the entire team at Hot Tree Publishing, I want to say thank you for believing in me, and for believing in this story. Your support, and trust, make this unpredictable journey possible. Thank you for guiding me through the edit process (I think I’m getting the hang of this lol) and for pushing me to be a better writer.
Thank you to Claire Smith for working her magic on the cover. Your talent is truly a gift.
To my friends who have been beside me through thick and thin, I don’t know what I would do without you guys. Thank you for being a part of my life, and for always pushing me to follow my dreams.
Excerpt from Heart of the Music
(Saints & Sinners #1) by Kaithlin Shepherd
"Jarrod, what are you doing here?"
"Well, I figured since you probably didn't have food, I would stock up on some provisions, hence the bags, and then I thought to myself that all of this food was more than enough for two people. So I thought I would crash your party."
Not giving her time to object, he took a step forward, gave her a quick kiss, tasting the wine on her lips, and made his way into the kitchen. "So I got enough food to last us for two days."
"Us?" Her dipped brows and head tilting to the side made him smile. God, he loved how she never expected him to be there for her, because it allowed him to surprise her over and over again.
"Yeah, us… me and you," he told her with a smirk, while putting the food away.
She was feeling unbalanced, and that was exactly what he wanted. He needed her to understand that this thing between them was for the long haul. It wasn't something that would stay only while they were on the road.
She walked behind the counter and helped him put the food away until she found the chocolate. Then he was on his own. The woman had three weaknesses: shoes, coffee and chocolate. The instant she saw the wrapped bar, she took it in her hands, unwrapped it, and, had a piece in her mouth within seconds, before dropping the chocolate back on the counter. She moaned softly… and he was just a man. With every moan she made, his cock grew harder behind the fly of his jeans. He leaned back against the counter and watched her almost have an orgasm on the spot.
"Enjoying that over there?" he asked, thinking about her making those sounds while he was buried deep inside her, feeling nothing else but her around him.
"It's almost orgasmic. You want to try it?" she whispered, her voice sounding raspier than he'd ever heard it.
This had to be hell. He had planned on making her dinner and romancing her before he fucked her senseless again, but seeing her eat that chocolate and hearing her sweet moans had him thinking about fucking her on the kitchen counter. He'd be damned if watching her play with him wasn't the sexiest thing ever.
"Oh, I'd love a taste of something all right." He didn't make a move toward her, though. He was hell-bent on waiting for her to come to him.
He didn't have to wait long. Trish slowly moved toward him, grabbing a piece of chocolate off the counter, and he couldn't wait to see where she was going with this. She stood inches away from him as she took a bite out of the chocolate and moaned softly again, the sound bouncing off his body, waking up every cell in him. She didn't move and she didn't touch him; she just stood there, looking gorgeous as hell. And then she almost drove him to the edge.
She leaned forward, ran her tongue over her lips, and after what seemed like forever, she finally pressed her mouth to his. He forced himself to take the kiss slow at first, but with her biting his l
ower lip every chance she got, his control wouldn't last long. Pulling away from her, he looked into her eyes to see if she was feeling the same things he was. When he saw passion and need in those big brown eyes, that was all he needed to know.
Available on all digital platforms and in paperback.
About the Author
Kaithlin Shepherd was born and raised in Canada where she learned to figure skate and crafted a love affair with coffee. Growing up in a household filled by strong-headed women, she learned early on that life is what you make it. You've probably never met a bigger country music fan, and in the words of Brooks and Dunn, "she's a die-hard George Strait junkie."
Creating a world away from her own daily, she loves the feeling of creating a universe where her fans can forget about everything in their life. She loves writing alpha male characters and she doesn't shy away from turning up the heat with scorching hot sex scenes.
For more information on Kaithlin Shepherd, visit her at:
Author website: www.kaithlinshepherd.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/KaithlinShepherd
Twitter: www.twitter.com/KaithlinS
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/kaithlinshepherd
About the Publisher
Hot Tree Publishing opened its doors in 2015 with an aspiration to bring quality fiction to the world of readers. With the initial focus on romance and a wide spread of romance sub-genres, we envision opening up to alternative genres in the near future.
Firmly seated in the industry as a leading editing provider to independent authors and small publishing houses, Hot Tree Publishing is the sister company to Hot Tree Editing, founded in 2012. Having established in-house editing and promotions, plus having a well-respected market presence, Hot Tree Publishing endeavors to be a leader in bringing quality stories to the world of readers.
Interested in discover more amazing reads brought to you by Hot Tree Publishing or perhaps you're interesting in submitting a manuscript and joining our HTPubs family? Either way, head over to our website for information:
http://www.hottreepublishing.com
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Excerpt from Heart of the Music
About the Author
About the Publisher
Forgive Me (Callaway Book 2) Page 19