by Rae Kennedy
TO BE
YOUR
WIFE
rae kennedy
Copyright © 2019 by Rae Kennedy
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [email protected]
FIRST EDITION
RAKE Publishing
www.raekennedyauthor.com
978-1-7333189-2-1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TO BE YOUR LAST | CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 1
At least the food is delicious because this guy is fucking awful.
The first words out of his mouth were, “Whoa. You’re, like, really tall.”
No shit Sherlock.
I am tall. And I’m wearing heels, which make me taller. I won’t apologize or stop wearing them.
The evening has spiraled gracefully to shit since that moment.
“So, Chip, do you have any brothers or sisters?” I ask.
“One brother.”
Okay... I sit for a moment, smiling, hoping maybe he’ll ask me a question in return. Why, yes, I have four siblings, Chip. Three older brothers and one younger sister. But no. He does not ask me anything.
Our server comes to refill my water.
“Thank you, Henry,” I say with my sweetest smile. He has literally been the best part of my evening thus far. He’s been my hero, keeping those bread baskets coming during that awkward time after ordering. When there were no menus to pretend to read, just the two of us, sitting across from each other—staring—he brought me carbs and butter and I will be forever grateful.
“You’re welcome. Can I get you anything else?” Henry asks.
“No, thank you.”
He walks off and I have an urge to call him back and order myself a drink. A strong one.
I look back at Chip in his polo shirt and tousled blond hair that many girls might find attractive. You know what I find attractive? A guy who can hold a conversation.
“You’re a communications major, right?”
“Yeah.”
That’s it. That’s all he says. Ironic, actually. I’d laugh if I weren’t so bored. Luckily I couldn’t give two shits about this blind date. I’d agreed to go because I’m always up for meeting new people but I’m not actually interested in making a love match right now. I’m too busy with my last year of school for anything serious and after graduation, I’m moving back home where I already have a job lined up.
Without a word, Chip gets up and heads toward the bathroom. I can’t. I need to get out. I text Haley to call me in five.
Shortly after he sits back down, my phone rings.
“Oh, my gosh! I can’t believe I forgot to silence my phone, I’m so sorry!”
He shrugs and takes a bite of his now cold spaghetti.
Why am I even bothering? Because you’re nice, dammit. I answer the phone. “Hello?”
“How’s the date going?” Haley’s voice is friendly with almost a chuckle in it. There is laughter and noise in the background and I immediately want to be wherever she is—having fun and maybe getting an effing drink. Yes.
“Oh my god! That’s terrible!” I feign my best shocked and concerned reaction. Chip isn’t paying any attention.
“That good, huh?”
“Where are you?” I really want to know.
“We’re at Flanagan’s downtown.”
Fuck. Yes.
“I’ll be right there!” I hang up the phone and give Chip an apologetic look. I start to explain there’s an emergency, but I give up. “I’ve got to go.” I get up and lay forty dollars on the table. That should cover my meal and part of his, but I feel bad making him pay when I’m ditching.
* * *
I step out into the crisp November night and am invigorated. The breeze nips at my cheeks and when I take a deep breath, the fresh air fills me. It smells like fall. I wrap my chunky scarf around my neck, glad my long blonde hair is tied in a knot on top of my head. As I walk down the sidewalk toward Flanagan’s the street is alive with other people ambling to their destinations, laughing and slapping each other on the backs. Mostly other college students but some older folks too. Cars line the street and wait at intersections as the slow-moving pedestrians cross well past the “no walking” sign. The streetlights and headlights make a beautiful painting of light—red, yellow, and green against the black sky.
Voices become louder and more jovial as I get closer to the bar. The air smells faintly of cigarettes and hotdog vendors set up for the late-night crowd.
I reach the front doors, manned by a large guy named Francis. Of course, most people don’t know his name—they might be less intimidated otherwise.
“Evening, Fran.”
He scowls at me. But I smile at him as I hand him my ID and he nods me in with a small smile creeping to the corner of his mouth.
The bar is much warmer than outside. It’s almost humid in here, packed with bodies. Drunk and rowdy twenty-somethings play pool and dance and shoot darts and yell so they can be heard over the loud Irish rock music. I spot Haley right away, sitting at a tall table near the back, a huge foamy beer overflowing before her.
I tend to hang out with a lot of boys, and I’ve only known Haley a couple of months, but I adore her. She is practically my opposite in every way—petite and curvy with wavy dark hair and dark eyes. I’m surprised she’s out, even though it’s a Saturday night. She generally requires dragging, begging, or bribery to get her to come to a party.
“Hey!” I squeal, running up to her and flinging my arms around her shoulders. “Thanks for saving me, Hale.”
Haley is not a hugger, but she puts up with me.
“No problem.” She looks way too sober for this late in the night at a place like this. As I take off my coat and nubby red scarf, revealing my short cream lace dress, I realize why. Across the table is a very drunk guy completely ogling my legs. Like, drool-out-of-the-mouth-and-not-even-ashamed-of-it drunk.
“Court, this is Cade.” Haley directs me to the man to her right, not that he needs an introduction. Everyone in this town knows who Cade Renner is. Sex covered in tattoos. He shakes my hand across the table and I smile at him. I see what all the fuss is about. He is hot.
“Hi Cade, we’ve sort of met before.”
“Uh yeah...” He nods at me. I can tell he is searching for a memory of me, probably in bed, but he won’t find one. Cade gives women attention for a night, not long enough to remember a face or a name. Being someone he hasn’t slept with makes me completely off the radar.
“And this is my brother, Tuck.” Haley gestures across the table to the drunk one, her cheeks brightening as she admits her relation.
He straightens up a bit and stretches his hand out to me. As I take it, he says, “Hey darlin.’” Cheesy. But it makes my face open up and then he flashes me the most
gorgeous smile ever, complete with deep dimples on each side. He has perfectly straight white teeth with a square chin and a sharp jaw. His hair is dark, buzzed short and his ears stick out just a little too wide but as he takes my hand, our eyes lock.
His large hand envelopes mine and sends a wave of liquid warmth up my arm. His eyes are a beautiful mix of green and blue and gold. We have stopped shaking and are just now kind of holding hands. Entranced. His thumb barely brushes along my knuckles and I snap out of it, giggling.
“Nice to meet you, Tuck.”
He looks a tad more devious as his grin widens, his left dimple getting deeper.
“You want to get out of here?” Haley calls to me, breaking the spell Tuck’s eyes are casting and I turn to her as I let our hands fall.
“Are you kidding? I just got here. I’m ready to drink!”
“Oh, hell yes!” Tuck jumps up from his stool lightning-fast with a smack of his hand on the table. “What’ll you have?” He looks at me with excitement. I’m excited too. I need to let out some steam before finals, and Chip certainly wasn’t doing it for me.
“Anything with tequila.”
Tuck looks as though he is about to faint as he crosses both hands over his chest. “I just fell in love.” He actually does stumble a bit but recovers nicely and reaches for my hand again. “Let’s go do this, girl.”
He takes my hand and we walk over toward the bar. We weave through the crowd—Tuck is taking care to block me from flying elbows and other people getting crazy. I am impressed at how steady he is walking and even more impressed with how much taller than me he is. He must be about 6’5” because I’m over six feet in these heels and he still has a few inches on me.
When we finally make it to the bar, there is no bartender. I step up on the foot rail and lean over the counter. As I do this, I realize with my short dress I very well may be giving Tuck a prime view of my ass, but that thought doesn’t bother me enough to jump down. The bartender is at the far end and I wave to get his attention, which is futile. I turn around to face Tuck, who quickly tries to look like he wasn’t just checking out my butt, failing.
“He’s down at the other end.” Even a few inches away, I must raise my voice two octaves to be heard.
Tuck nods. “I’ll try to get him. You stay here.”
He melts into the crowd and I lean over the bar again. It’s times like these I wish I had any sort of cleavage to offer. But alas, this tall, thin frame only comes with boobs that can’t even fill out an A cup on a good day. The bartender turns his head my way for a second and I manage to catch his eye.
“Joaquin!” I recognize him from our English class sophomore year. He smiles and heads my way.
“What’ll it be, pretty girl?”
“Four tequila shots, top-shelf.”
He gives me a nod and starts grabbing glasses.
“Can I buy your drinks?” the smarmy guy next to me—where did he come from?—asks with a skinny smile.
“Oh, thank you so much for the offer, but I’ve got it.” I smile sweetly at him and then turn back to the bar. Hopefully, he will get the message.
Nope. He moves a little closer to me. “You sure? Top shelf is pretty expensive.” He has an abnormally small nose.
A large hand wraps around my waist from the other side and a strong arm eases me gently against a solid torso. I turn a bit startled right into Tuck’s face. His bright green eyes just inches from mine. He’s giving me his dimpled smile. “Hey darlin,’” he says with a wink.
I crack up at this. Really? He bites his lip to keep from laughing too, our noses almost touch. He glances over my shoulder for a second, the twinkle in his eyes giving way to an intense glare. Whoa. That look could murder. The little man scuttles off.
Breaking away from Tuck’s powerful grip, I raise my eyebrow at him.
“I didn’t know if you wanted rescuing,” Tuck says with a shrug. “But I figured if you did, I’d help. And if you didn’t...well, that would have made me completely jealous.” He only slurs his words a tiny bit.
“I could have handled it, but that was easier.” I smile at him, giving him a playful punch in the arm.
Joaquin places the four shots down in front of us. He doesn’t spill a drop of the clear liquid as he fills them to the brims. He tells me the price and I dig out some cash from my pocket.
“Put it on my tab,” Tuck yells over, “and add four more.”
“Hey, I can buy us a round.”
Tuck looks at me with a goofy smile. “But darlin,’ I’ve got you.” He hands me a shot and raises his to mine. With a clank and a couple drops spilled, we down them in a second. We take the next ones then slam them down on the bar right as Joaquin sets down the next four. We carry those back to the table.
Haley and Cade are clearly disappointed we’ve returned and interrupted their alone time. She tells me he is different with her, but I need to keep my eye out for her, especially since Tuck doesn’t know they’ve been seeing each other. Judging from the look in his eyes at that random guy who hit on me, a girl he just met, I think he might actually murder Cade if he knew about him and his sister hooking up behind his back. Especially since the guy is his best friend and roommate. But Tuck is blissfully oblivious.
“Shots!” Tuck slides the little glasses around the table.
“Naw man, you take mine. I’m driving.” Cade passes his back.
“And tequila makes me vomit.” Haley hands hers to me.
Tuck has his eyes on me. When he looks at me it’s like I can feel his stare on my skin.
“They’ve been like this all night. Thank God you showed up.” He raises his glass. “To you.” He sinks it back.
“How about we pace ourselves a little, okay drunky?” I pat his arm. Wow, that’s a solid bicep.
He cocks his head, a sly grin showing his pearly whites. “Okay, I’ll slow down. But I’ve been at it all night. What’s your excuse?”
A lifetime in sports and I was never able to curb my competitive side.
“Touché.” I touch the small glass to my lips and down the burning liquid in one smooth gulp, not letting its effect on me show. We are staring at each other as I reach for the next one and slide its contents down my throat as well. When I grab the shot sitting in front of him, his eyes widen in surprise. I sip that one down too, never breaking eye contact.
“Fuck. Me.” He is impressed.
“Was that a proposition?”
He gets a little flushed up through his cheeks but then smiles, stunned. “Will you marry me?”
“Not a chance.”
“I’ll ask again when I’m sober. I’m much more charming.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. You’ll definitely say yes the next time I ask.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
“Yup.” He hiccups. “Wanna dance?” He holds his hand out to me.
“Sure.”
Tuck has surprisingly good rhythm for his level of inebriation. He wiggles his booty and shimmies his shoulders. At one point I think he throws in some jazz hands. He has that big, silly smile on the whole time. The one that’s completely carefree and fun. He can’t moonwalk or do the worm, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. The best part is he doesn’t care. We laugh at how horrible he is.
“Your turn, girl. Show me your badass moves.”
I pull out a couple classics—the sprinkler and the shopping cart. Tuck claps for me and joins in, laughing the whole time. His smile is so genuine and beautiful, it’s disarming. As we dance, my elbows and hips keep bumping into him. We seem to be drifting closer together.
The next time we make contact, the full length of my arm brushes against his side and neither of us is in a rush to pull away. He’s dancing even closer now. He smells like fresh laundry and a mix of beer and tequila. His eyes are laser focused on me while we dance and he is smiling the whole time.
He is watching me and I’m aware of how warm my entire body is and how fast my heart is be
ating. As the music picks up speed, he lightly touches my back, encouraging me to step closer. I do. Tuck’s hand slides slowly down to my hip.
My pulse quickens. When’s the last time a guy did that to me?
With a little pressure on my hip I move with him and we sway to the music. Our bodies are almost touching and his heat is overwhelming. He’s still looking at me intently, his lips parted. He’s leaning in toward me. Am I holding my breath?
But then the song ends.
“Whew, it’s hot in here,” I pant.
He chuckles, flashing his big smile and deep dimples as his hands leave my sides. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
Tuck wraps his solid arm around my shoulder as we walk back to our table. He leans down to me, his lips brushing at my earlobe. “Do you want another drink before I close my tab? I think I’m done celebrating for the night.”
“No thanks. Maybe just a water?”
He smiles and gives my shoulder two quick squeezes, “Sure thing, darlin.’”
It looks like Haley and Cade have left for the dance floor when I get to the table, their beers still mostly intact.
The crowd has started to thin a little and Tuck returns shortly with a glass of ice water for me. He sees the two mostly full beers and sighs.
“Guess it’s all up to me.” He slides one in front of him and takes a swig. His eyelids are getting heavy and his eyes are glazing over. I softly pat his knee and grab Haley’s beer. Eff, this glass is big.
“I’ll help.”
He sleepily grins, his left dimple appearing as he lays his hand over mine, pressing it around his thigh, just above his knee. I didn’t realize how intimately I was touching him and now I’m a little embarrassed. Let’s change the subject.
“So, what are you celebrating?”
He looks at me dazedly. “You’re gorgeous.”
I roll my eyes but can’t keep a serious face. “I asked you a question.”
He shrugs. “Being single.”
“Oh?”
He nods, his head steadily lowering toward the table. “My girlfriend. Ali.” His cheek is now resting on the shiny surface. “Just dumped me.”
Damn. “I’m so sorry, Tuck. That sucks.”
His eyes are now closed, mouth open. “Broke my heart.”