by Karli James
Her confidence in herself has grown exponentially over this past year. Gone is the insecure woman who still hesitated in her faith in me; in us. Her shyness over her body around me has dissipated, and let me just say—thank.fuck. Once she started to really see herself the way I see her, she really started to own her sexiness. She became braver, and let down her guard. Walls fell, brick by brick, and I was always there—just waiting to love on her the way I promised her I always would.
I wish I could fully express to her what it means to me to be the one so close to her heart; to truly know exactly how far she’s come. She’s always been beautiful to me, but now, she’s more. She’s wildly lovely, and the newfound exuberance she has for herself, and for life, shines from her being like the fucking stars in the blackest of nights.
Not a single day has gone by that she hasn’t given me something new; another piece to add to my collection. Let me tell you, my Kara pieces are stacking up and pretty soon we’re going to be able to create a whole new puzzle.
Currently, I’m waiting for her to get home from looking at a property before we head out to Shaney’s to celebrate the one-year anniversary of The J Project. I don’t normally celebrate my books’ anniversaries, but this is Sarah and Jase. Give me a break.
I couldn’t go view the property with her this time, because as it turns out, after my little six-week hiatus from writing, I had a ton of new, non-crouton ideas. I put out a couple of stand-alone rom coms, and now I’m working on the second in another three-book series. Long story short: I’m busy as shit and writing my ass off, all of the times.
Life has been amazing, and full, and oh, my girl is home.
“Hi shmoopies.”
“Look at you with the nick name. That’s like five times in the past year Kar. Slow down, girl.”
“Right? I almost don’t recognize myself. How’s the writing going?”
“Meh.”
“Uh oh, who’s giving you shit?”
“How did you know?”
“I know your ‘meh.’”
“It’s that asshole, Declan.”
“Again?”
“Yes! Why is he such a pain in the ass write?”
“Shoot. That probably means he’s going to be awesome. Remember how annoyed you were with Sarah? And look at her. You really turned that girl around. She was fab.”
“She was essentially you.”
“Like I said…”
“I cannot with you.”
“You can, and you will.”
“Oooh, feisty today. I like it. How’d the property seem?”
“Meh.”
“Really? Again?”
“Siiiigh. Yes. What is my life? I finally decide to do this and I can’t find the right space.”
“You will.”
“And you’ll figure out Declan.”
“I know. But guess what time it is?”
“Tanker Time?”
“Smart and beautiful.”
She’s laughing as I grab her purse, her free hand, and drag her out the door.
Twenty minutes later we’re sitting in the back booth in Shaney’s, which has become our spot. Kara’s prattling on about all the things, and I’m just staring at her. Soaking her all in. She’s mine, and sometimes I just need to stop, and breathe that knowledge in; it’s good to be reminded that she was almost not mine, and damn if I’m not the luckiest s.o.b around.
Her cheeks are flushed with excitement as she talks about bar plans, and her hands are waving about in her very Sicilian way. Her strawberry-gold hair is loose and wavy, one side tucked behind her ear. Her make-up is minimal, her freckles are poppin’, and her eyes are bright. But the best part? Her grin that’s wide, and gorgeous, and making that dimple I love so much, wink from the side.
Mine.
As much as I love her, and love listening to her go on about her new adventures, it’s time for me to cut her off. I’ve waited a lot longer than I would have liked, and now I need move forward with the main event of the evening.
“Kar, I’ve loved hearing about your day, and hey, I’ve even loved hearing about Allison, who we see ALL the time by the way, and how well her blog is doing, but I need to interrupt you.”
“Hey! We don’t see her ALL the time, Jude.”
“Umm. She has regular sleepovers at the apartment, Kara. Sleepovers. Not even drunken sleepovers, just…like ‘Oh hey, I’m here guys. Cool couch.’”
“I think she’s lonely.”
“Well, she could easily fix that.”
“Yeah, I know. But something is going on, and she won’t tell me. I can tell. It’s stressing me out that it’s something big enough that she doesn’t even want to confide in her best friend.”
“You need to stop worrying. When she’s ready to open up, she will.”
“What if she doesn’t?”
“Then she doesn’t. All you can do is be there for her, and love her anyway. Without conditions. Just, be there.”
“You’re right.”
“What was that? I’m not sure I heard you…hold on, let me grab my notepad app, I’d like to mark this occasion down.”
“Shut it.”
“Have you met me?” She rolls her eyes at me as she takes a sip of her drink, but there’s a smirk flirting around the edges of her mouth.
“Alright, give it to me. You wanted to talk book titles, tonight right?”
“Yeah. I know this is supposed to be a date, and a celebration, but I wrote this list of titles that I’ve come up with so far, and I was wondering if you could just look them over for me and let me know what you think. You always give good title.” She rubs her hands together in eager anticipation. Girl is a nerd for coming up with book titles. I love it.
“Absolutely, hand it over. I love this part.” I chuckle as I slide the piece of notebook paper over to her, and watch her begin to read. When she starts laughing, I know she’s found the one.
“Jude, ‘Will You Marry Me’ seems kind of obvious and cheesy hon, what were you thinking…” Right then she looks over and up, and her breath catches as her hands fly to her mouth. I’m at her side, on my knee, holding out a ring that I don’t know any specs on. Sorry, I just know it was pretty and said, “That’s the one, that’s Kara’s.” It sparkles a lot though, so that has to count right?
“Holy shit. Wait is this for real?”
“What the fuck Kara, of course it’s real! You think I would buy you a fake ring?”
“Not the ring, you dick! You’re seriously asking me to marry you?”
“Oh, my sweet baby J…you are such a ruiner. Yes. Yes, I am seriously asking you. You told me several times I had to wait, so I waited and decided I waited enough.”
“Yay! Thanks for not waiting anymore because I’ve been waiting.” Oh my God…I’ve waited months because she insisted, currently my knee is on digging into the concrete floor of this bar, and she’s telling me that she’s been waiting? I’m swear, this woman…
“Are you for real right now? You’ve been waiting? When did I make my intentions perfectly clear, Kara Marie? You know what? No, it doesn’t even matter. I love you. I’m on my fucking knee. In a bar. In front of a bunch of people who probably think I’m nuts, or that I’m being rejected. So please, put me out of my misery here. Presh, boo bear, boopsies, baby, Kar, Kara…the love of my life, will you make me the happiest of men by letting me add another name to my long list for you, by becoming my wife?”
She’s in my arms in a flash, her lips all over my face, and I’m about to fall backward until I haul us both up and back in the booth with her in my lap.
“Is that a yes?”
“Shit. Yes. Sorry. Put it on me. Put it on me! Oh, it’s so pretty. I love it. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“My piece.”
“My piece, too.”
“Forever.”
The End
Acknowledgments
To the REAL Kara
Thank you for your friendship, an
d your utmost belief in me.
Had you not given me that extra shove when I almost shyly questioned myself (and you know I’m never shy),
I don’t know that I would have fully believed this could be a thing. I love you, and thank you!
To my sister, Boo
Thank you for the new laptop. This wouldn’t be happening,
literally, if you hadn’t said you believed in me, and my dream,
and then provided proper working equipment.
I love you, Buddies Forever
To Clara
Thank you for your help, and your kindness, and your belief in me. This would not even be existing if you hadn’t extended yourself in such a giving way. I hope all of this means that I will be able to continue to write; to do better, to do more, and to maintain a working relationship with you, which honestly feels more like a long-distance friendship at this point. Truly, I will never be able to thank you enough.
To KL!!!
Staaahhpp. Who are you? You’re amazeballs. An author I stumbled upon, who made me laugh and love all the words all over again. AND THEN, you let me pester you. And pester you, and pester you. You answered every question, and offered up advice that has been irreplaceable. I wouldn’t know half the stuff that I know, if it weren’t for you; you made big scary things, less big and scary throughout this indie process. This book is nowhere near your level of talent, but I still appreciate you giving me the courage to follow through even when it’s felt really silly for me to do so without “proper” anything. And with it maybe only having like ten pages of really good stuff. (Just enough for you to read through! Haha.) Truly, you’re the best. Thank you!
To Readers
For anyone who has ordered this book and read it all the way through (ha) I hope you laughed, at least a little. I hope you saw the humor for what it was. I hope it was light enough to lift you up, and I hope you continue on this journey with me as I try to write better, and deeper. Jude is a character that can’t be repeated. That level of ridiculousness in him made for some great dialogue at times, but also unique dialogue, and while I love writing humor, I look forward to creating deeper characters; still with humor and romance, but a bit more seriousness at times; a bit more angst; a bit more broodiness; a bit more steam. Don’t you wanna come along with me to find out how much more I can do? Please say yes. No pressure. I mean, only if you want to, of course. But definitely you should. ;)
About Karli James
Karli James was born on a very early November morning of 2018. She woke up with an idea in her head, and it wouldn’t let go. I began writing from an early age, and I had always dreamed of someday writing a book, something fun and romantic, but never really dared to believe it could happen. This book, though the freshest of Freshman projects, is still a fulfilled dream come true. It’s not without its imperfections; it’s not that it couldn’t have been better written at parts, or better edited, or better proofed, but it’s a dream born of a girl who had very little resources to work with, and she did it anyway.
I wrote it in between the hours of being a full-time mom; late at night, random quiet moments during the day. I wrote it in the middle of some crazy life drama. I wrote it, and read it, and re-read it, and re-wrote, and tried to build fun supporting characters with enough hints to their own stories.
I’m truly just a girl in this world, stepping out for the first time, trying to make her dream real from a small town in Western, NY. There’s so much room for growth; so much room for more storytelling, and I hope I can continue to do so in the middle of this crazy mom life. I’m extremely honest, and candid, and transparent about who I am as an author at this point. So, if you want to know more, don’t hesitate to reach out. Especially if you’re funny! I like funny conversations.
Come Find Me! (I mean, if you want to…no pressure)
I’m currently still building my social media presence, but you can definitely find me on:
Facebook – you’ll find updates, and more in-depth snippets / blurbs here
Instagram – snapshots of what I’m working on, and maybe sometimes pics of the back of my kids’ heads.
Still working on building a newsletter, however if you have questions – feel free to reach out to me, I promise to write back!
Email: [email protected]