by Lucy Score
“Suit yourself,” he said.
I lasted all of ten seconds. “Okay. Gimmie.”
He sat up and snapped on the bedside lamp. He was grinning, and it made my heart turn to liquid gold.
“First, tomorrow you gotta help me pack.”
“Pack?”
“I’m moving in here officially and I don’t know what shit your parents will want and what they won’t.”
“My parents?”
“Liza J gave us the house. I’m giving your parents the cabin.”
I sat up and pulled the sheet up to my chest. “You’re giving my parents the cabin,” I repeated.
He gave me a wolfish look. “Your ears still ringin’, Daze?”
“Maybe. Or maybe it’s all the orgasms you keep giving me that are slowing down my auditory processing.”
He hooked me behind the neck and tugged me closer. “Your mom just got a job at Waylay’s school. Part-time counselor. She starts in January.”
I brought the heels of my hands to my eyes. “My parents are…”
“Movin’ to Knockemout.”
“How did you do this? How did you… Waylay gets to grow up with her grandparents right next door!” Every damn dream I’d ever had was coming true, and he was making it happen.
“One thing you gotta understand, Naomi. If there’s anything in this world you want, I’m gonna get it for you. No questions asked. You want it, it’s yours. So here.” He thrust a stack of papers at me.
Blindly, I held them up. They looked like some kind of legal contract. “What are these?”
“Flip to the signature page,” he instructed.
I followed the handy yellow tab and found my sister’s signature scrawled across the line.
The words “guardianship” and “parental rights” popped off the page.
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
“She signed over parental rights to you. It’s official. No more hearings or home visits. Way is ours.”
I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe. I could only cry silently.
“Damn it, baby. I hate when you do this,” Knox grumbled, gathering me up and dropping me in his lap.
I nodded, still crying as I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight.
“Now, it’s time for something I want.”
The man could have anything as far as I was concerned. Both my kidneys. My favorite purse. Anything at all.
“If you’re trying to have sex with me for the fourth time today, I’m gonna need some Advil, an icepack, and a gallon of water first,” I teased through sobs and sniffles.
His laugh was a rumble in his chest as he threaded his fingers through my hair and stroked.
“I want the wedding sooner rather than later. I’m not wasting another minute without making you my wife. You can have anything you want. A big church wedding. A backyard barbecue. A five-figure wedding dress. But I have one demand.”
Of course it was a demand and not a request. “What’s that?”
“I want daisies in your hair.”
Yes! There will be more from Knockemout. While you’re waiting for Book 2, don’t miss Knox and Naomi’s bonus epilogue here.
In the mood for more steamy small-town romance?
Tap here to dive into Pretend You’re Mine
**If you are having any trouble tapping on the extra scene please type lucyscore.net/twngobonusepilogue into your phone or computer browser.**
AUTHOR’S NOTE TO THE READER
Dear Reader,
I finished this book at 11:03 p.m. on November 4, 2021, and promptly burst into tears.
I started it five months earlier. Just a few days before David, Claire Kingsley’s beloved husband and my sweet friend, passed away suddenly. Not only was I leveled by his death, but he was the third friend’s husband to leave this world far too soon in two months.
I was crushed. It never occurred to me that there would be a world without David. Let alone a world in which three of my closest friends would be widowed tragically in their forties.
I didn’t know what this book was about when I started it. Even when I was halfway through it, I still wasn’t sure. But now that I’ve finished it, I finally get it. This book is about the bravery it takes for us to love someone when we all know how every love story ends. It’s about choosing love over fear again and again. It’s about showing up and being brave even when we know it’s going to hurt like hell.
Knox’s fear of losing someone he loved and falling apart was so real for me. I ended up working through a lot of my own grief and fear while I wrote this story. At times I couldn’t get past the loss my friends were suffering. Other times I had the presence of mind to remember how lucky we all are to love someone so much their loss is devastating.
My wish for all of us is that we love whole-heartedly and are present enough in our relationships that when we part our only regret is quantity not quality. That we all understand that the pain of loss is what gives the rest of our life color and flavor and texture.
Thank you for reading and being brave, my friends.
Xoxo
Lucy
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Kari March Designs for the perfect cover design.
Jessica, Dawn, and Heather for your editorial fabulosity.
Joyce and Tammy for beta reading TWNGO and assuring me that it wasn’t an emotional dumpster fire.
Josie, Jen, and Claire for being strong enough to comfort others even in the face of your worst loss.
Mr. Lucy for telling me to quit worrying about deadlines and pub dates and just focus on writing the best story I could.
Sparkling water for pretending to be soda.
My readers for supporting me even when it took so damn long to write this book. You’re the greatest.
LUCY’S TITLES
Standalone Titles
Undercover Love
Pretend You’re Mine
Finally Mine
Protecting What’s Mine
Mr. Fixer Upper
The Christmas Fix
Heart of Hope
The Worst Best Man
Rock Bottom Girl
The Price of Scandal
By a Thread
Forever Never
Things We Never Got Over
Riley Thorn
Riley Thorn and the Dead Guy Next Door
Riley Thorn and the Corpse in the Closet
The Blue Moon Small Town Romance Series
No More Secrets
Fall into Temptation
The Last Second Chance
Not Part of the Plan
Holding on to Chaos
The Fine Art of Faking It
Where It All Began
The Mistletoe Kisser
Bootleg Springs Series
Whiskey Chaser
Sidecar Crush
Moonshine Kiss
Bourbon Bliss
Gin Fling
Highball Rush
Sinner and Saint
Crossing the Line
Breaking the Rules