“That’s why she’s doing this,” Frank said to me. “She just wants to make sure you keep your money. It won’t last.”
Brooke let out a frustrated growl. “Do you hear a single word I’m saying?”
“I hear you just fine. But you’re young, Brooke. You should know better, Mo.”
“Dad!” she barked out, making us both flinch again. “Listen to me. I can see that you and Mo won’t be friends like before, and it breaks my heart. But you will be civil to him because he’s my husband.”
“I will do no such thing.”
She stared at him for a long moment. “Well, that’s too bad. I won’t be able to see you anymore—”
“Brooke, no,” I said. The last thing I wanted was for her and Frank to become estranged.
“See. He’s nicer than you or me. He cares about us and our relationship,” she said to Frank.
“He’s an old man taking advantage of you.”
“When we have children, I won’t allow you to see them if you continue to treat him like this.”
That made Frank pause, and then his eyes narrowed. “You fucker. You knocked her up.”
“No.” At least I didn’t think I did. I hadn’t used a condom with her. Ever.
“I think I’m going to scream.” Brooke clenched her fists. “I’m not pregnant, Dad. But Mo and I are married. We’re going to have children. Children who won’t know their grandfather if he doesn’t get his head out of his ass.”
I squeezed her arm, wanting her to know I appreciated her passion about this, but I didn’t want to keep Frank from her or any children we had. “Brooke, really. I don’t—”
“No, Mo. He’ll say unkind things to them about you, and I won’t have it.” She slid her arm through mine. “Let’s go. He’s made his decision.”
I looked back at Frank, hoping he’d make some move towards her. I could live with his animosity toward me, but I didn’t want to be the reason he and Brooke were estranged.
“I know what you’re thinking, Mo, but it’s like you said before. No one is coming between me and my Dad except him, just like I’m not between you two. It’s all on him.”
I nodded and reached out to open the car door for her. I supposed, over time, he might come around.
She was about to step into the car when Frank called out. “You broke my heart, Mo.”
I sighed, letting the guilt wash over me. But then I looked at Brooke and saw my future as clear as day.
“I’m sorry about that, Frank. I really am. I want you to know that I love Brooke. I plan to spend my life making her happy. I plan to be the man you’d want for her.”
Brooke stood and watched us.
“She deserves better,” he said.
“I won’t argue that. But she’s chosen me, so I’ll do my damnedest to be worthy.”
“Jesus, when she’s thirty, you’ll be nearly fifty. How will you keep up? I’m forty-five, and she exhausts me.”
“If you’d stop treating me like I was twelve, and start treating me like an adult, you won’t be so tired all the time. Speaking of which, give me my phone back.” She moved around me and started for the porch. “I can’t believe I let you take my phone,” she grumbled as she stalked into the house.
I was left outside with Frank alone. Frank and his shotgun.
“You hurt my girl, I’ll shoot your dick off,” he said.
“If I hurt her, I’ll deserve it.” And that, I figured, was our first step back toward something a little less hostile.
“Well, that was interesting,” Brooke said next to me as we drove off toward town to get takeout and see Tucker.
“Remind me to not get on your bad side. You’ve got quite a temper on you that I never knew about.”
She grinned at me. “Don’t forget it, buster.”
We drove for a bit, and then she asked, “Did he threaten to shoot you again when I got my phone?”
“He threatened my dick.”
She winced. “Boy, it would be a shame to lose that.”
“I see how it is,” I said as I turned into the steakhouse that she insisted we needed to order from because Tucker needed to fully appreciate Nebraskan beef. “You just love me for my dick.”
She slid her hand over said appendage, which of course, liked the attention. “It is nice.”
I took her hand and brought it to my lips. “Hands off unless we’re going home to use it. And if that’s all that you love about me, that’s fine. I think of all my body parts, that one will change the least as I get old.”
She laughed. “You’re still worried about that.” Then she frowned. “So, dicks don’t get wrinkly and age?”
“I don’t know, actually, but I’m going to stick with no.”
“Well, then, we’re going to have a long and active marriage.” She kissed me. “Mo?”
“Yes, dear?”
She laughed. “Can I legally change my name? I want to be Brooke Valentine.”
I was already riding high, but at her request, my heart fucking soared. “Absolutely.”
I left her with Tucker and headed to City Hall, where I checked in with Sinclair, telling her I wasn’t leaving office just yet, and letting Trina know I’d be out until Monday. Then, I stopped by to see Jeannette and to tell her that I was married and in love with my wife, who, in turn, was married and in love with me. Finally, I ran errands, which included heading home to pick up my truck after asking my foreman to arrange for it to be cleaned and a few items thrown in the back.
When I picked Brooke up from Tucker’s, she stopped short when she saw I’d changed vehicles.
“What’s going on?”
I helped her in the truck. “I had a dream about you and me and the back of a truck.”
She grinned. “A sexy dream?”
“Part of it, yes.” Until Frank shot me. I didn’t tell her that. Instead, I drove us out on my land to the river. By the time we arrived and I’d helped her into the bed of the truck, the moon and stars were out.
“This is very romantic,” she said with the sweetest smile on her face.
“Good.” With the pads and pillows arranged, I sat against the cab and pulled her next to me. “In my dream, you told me that you and I weren’t wrong. Not if I loved you.”
“I was very smart in your dream.”
I kissed her head. “Yes, just like in life. Then Frank showed up with his shotgun, and, mind you, you were naked.”
She winced.
“Anyway, he asked if I was willing to risk my life, and I told him, yes, I was willing to risk it all.”
She pressed her palm to my cheek. “I hope our love doesn’t cost you—”
“Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what the dream meant in terms of risk, but then I realized losing you was a cost I couldn’t bear. Whatever I had to risk to have you with me, I was willing to do.”
“I love you.”
“Good. Because I have something for you.” I pulled out the item I’d picked up earlier when I’d left her with Tucker.
She gasped at the little black box. “Mo.”
I flipped it open to show two gold bands. “If you don’t like them, we can take them back. But you and I are married. It’s time that we act like it.”
A tear ran down her cheek. “You’re so romantic.” She took the larger ring and held it up to me. “A symbol of my undying love.” She slipped it on my left ring finger.
I took the other ring. “This is my promise to spend my life making you happy.” I slipped it on her finger and then pulled her hand to my lips to kiss it before kissing her.
“I’m so happy.”
I smiled. “One more thing.” I pulled another box from my pocket and opened it to show the diamond ring I’d bought. “I know this is backward, but will you marry me?”
She laughed. “Ah, okay.”
“This time with a real ceremony. In front of friends and family. I want to do this right.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” she said, kissing me all over my face. I sli
pped the ring on her finger next to her wedding band.
I pulled her in my arms. “The dream is complete, except you’re still dressed.”
She scooted down until she was lying on her back. “Well then, let’s get naked.”
Epilogue
Brooke: Four Months Later
I had no clue that life could be even better than a fairy tale until that night out in the back of Mo’s truck. That night, he’d let go of all his concerns and was one-hundred-percent committed to me. I committed everything I had right back to him.
Since then, life was beyond all I could hope for. Yes, my father was still a jerk sometimes, but he was coming around. So much so that he was now walking me down the aisle to rejoin my life with Mo’s. This time, our friends and family were all there.
Sinclair, with Wyatt and her daughter, smiled as I walked by. Now that things were right with Mo and me, she wasn’t threatening to fire me. Trina was there, too, with her new husband, Ryder, and she was just starting to show with their child due in late spring.
Tucker grinned and gave me a thumbs-up, and I was glad to see him happy with his life in Salvation, although, sometimes I wondered if he was putting on airs for me.
But I’d worry about that later. Right now, my focus was on Mo and sharing our love with our friends and family. This time getting married was infinitely better than the first. All the vows, all the promises…this time they were real. And when Mo kissed me after us being pronounced husband and wife, I felt the power of his love and commitment, as I had from the moment that he asked me to marry him again four months ago.
After that night, there was no more hiding. He announced his engagement and marriage to me officially, not just at the office, but to the media as well. There were a few comments about our age difference and that I’d been his assistant, but it was mostly entertaining gossip and not a scandal. No one even seemed to care that I was still working at the office. In fact, Trina told off the reporter who tried to ask questions about the legitimacy of our marriage. By then, Trina knew the truth, and she’d put Erika in her place in the way only Trina could. I couldn’t help myself, and I gave her a hug, and surprisingly, Trina hugged me back.
“The women in the mayor’s office have to stick together,” she’d said.
As Mo’s term was coming to an end, the election was around the corner, and Sinclair was kicking butt over Stark’s guy, Jay Wallace. Not that she had the election in the bag, but she was leading, and Mo felt certain she’d win.
“Once I’m out, I’ll just be a lowly rancher,” he said as we watched Sinclair make a campaign speech at Oktoberfest.
“And I’ll be a rancher’s wife. I can’t wait.”
“I thought you were going to keep working your way up through City Hall,” he said.
“For now. But I want to be your wife, for us to be a family first.”
“I’ve always wanted a family,” he said softly.
“So, let’s start,” I said as I pulled him out of the event and home to bed.
Now, four months later, I married the most wonderful man again, as he led me through the snow-covered wonderland toward the decked-out barn where we had our reception.
“It’s gorgeous, Mo. It’s like a dream,” I said as I admired the décor.
“A dream come true,” he said, pulling me into his arms for a dance.
“Can I cut in one last time?” my father asked, coming up to us.
Mo graciously stepped back but waited for me to give the okay. I held my arms out for my father, and we had our father-daughter dance.
“You look happy,” my dad said, and I could tell while he liked that I was happy, it still made him a little grumpy.
“I’m ecstatic, Dad. Thank you for being a part of this day. It wouldn’t have been right without you.”
He grunted. “If he hurts you—”
“You’ll shoot his dick off, yes, I know.”
He looked at me in surprise. “He told you that?”
“Yes. He won’t hurt me, though. He loves me. He loves you, Dad.”
He glanced over to where Mo was talking to Trina. She motioned to her belly like she was inviting him to touch her, which he did. He jerked and smiled like he’d felt something. My heart swelled, wanting to give him that.
“It’s still weird for me, Brooke.”
“I know. But you always wished for him to find happiness and a good woman. And he has. I mean, who’s better than me?”
He pursed his lips. “When you put it that way.”
After the dance, Mo was back in my arms, and we floated around the dance floor like we were in a dream. I knew our loved ones were around us, but looking up into my man’s eyes, it was like we were the only two there.
“I saw you with Trina,” I said.
“She let me feel the baby move. Amazing.” His eyes filled with awe.
I took his hand and pressed it over my belly. He looked at me.
“You can’t feel it yet, but soon…”
He stilled as his breath caught. “Does that mean?”
I nodded. “Don’t tell my dad, but you knocked me up, Mr. Mayor.”
Tears welled in his eyes, and I felt so happy to be the one bringing him such joy. He pulled me close. “I love you so much. So goddamn much.”
“I told you we were meant to be.”
He laughed. “I’ll never doubt you again.”
He leaned forward and kissed me, long, slow, and with such love that I knew, without a doubt, we’d have the forever we’d always dreamed of.
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Book Four - Accidental Meeting
Prologue
Holly
I prided myself on being careful, calculated, and practical. I wondered where all that had gone as I watched Tucker Marshall in my kitchen. He shouldn’t be moving his young, sexy body around my house. I shouldn’t be thinking of him as sexy, dammit. He was just a boy. Well, at twenty-four, he was a man. He was all man, I noted as I glanced at his fine ass in butter soft jeans as he opened a cabinet in my kitchen. I’d already had to muffle a sigh when he reached up to replace a lightbulb on my porch exposing his rock hard abs.
“This is a little squeaky,” he said, looking at the hinge.
“Yes,” I managed, once again reminding myself that he was too young for me. At thirty-seven, I had to seem ancient to him. He didn’t treat me like that, but come on. I was thirteen years old when he was born. Sure, the mayor was nearly twenty-years older that his wife, Brooke, but men could get away with marrying someone so much younger. A woman just looked silly being with a younger man, didn’t she?
I should have never started a friendship by-text with him after he was hired to teach here in Salvation, Nebraska. I’d helped arrange his job interview and when he was hired, I agreed to help onboard him with the school district. I’d never met him in person, which, if I had, I probably wouldn’t have let the texting go from professional to friendly to flirty.
I should have known he’d be so young considering he was Brooke’s friend. She worked with the mayor before she became his wife, and since I needed all the help that I could get in my new mission to expand the library, I wanted her on my side. Helping her friend get a job seemed like a good way to do that.
Tucker slid his hand down the side of the cupboard and my body tingled with the wish that it was that cupboard.
Get a grip, Holly, I told myself. I shouldn’t have texted him that picture of me when I was feeling pretty for the first time since my fiancé left me at the altar three months ago. I’d been drinking then too. Just like I’d had a few cocktails at Salvation Station earlier. Perhaps this was a sign to stop drinking. I wasn’t drunk, but clearly, the control over my libido was compromised.
; He turned to me, and I worked to bring my gaze to his eyes, so that he didn’t know I was staring at his ass before.
“You’ve got a few things around that could use some attention,” he said leaning against the counter. He had the sort of confidence that had him at ease wherever he was, including my kitchen.
“I suck at DIY.” At the use of the word suck, I felt my cheeks heat worried that he’d think I was talking in innuendo. And once I thought that, I couldn’t help but wonder about his dick. Good God, I was a hormonal mess.
“I’ll do it,” he said.
Did I mention he was terribly affable and agreeable?
“How much do you charge?” I asked. He wouldn’t be the first teacher that had a side-hustle. Maybe home-fix-it man was his.
He straightened from the counter and took a few steps toward me. “I’ll do it for a kiss.”
Like a backdraft, an inferno of heat flashed through my body. My brain screamed to make him leave.
My body clearly had other plans as it stepped toward him. “That sounds expensive.”
He shrugged. “I’m sure you can afford it.”
No I couldn’t. He was a work colleague. He was too young. And…My concerns vanished as he stepped closer to me. He was so close now that I could feel the heat of his body. My pussy clenched in anticipation.
“How will I know I get my money’s worth?” Who was this woman, I wondered? I wasn’t one to banter, at least not in sexual terms. And yet, here I was essentially daring Tucker to kiss me. Or more.
His dark eyes flashed with heat. “I won’t finish until you’re satisfied.”
Aw man, I think I could come just from the promise of sweet, erotic pleasure in his eyes.
He studied me for a moment.
“Is there something wrong?” I asked.
“I just want to make sure you’re sober enough when I take a down payment.”
I don’t know what that meant, but if he needed me sober to take it, I’d give him the confirmation he needed. Sure, I’d had a few drinks and he drove me home because of it, but I had the complete mental clarity to know what was going on. And to stop it, if I wanted. Which I didn’t want to do.
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