He looked so confused, she almost laughed.
“The girl you brought with you,” she reminded him, but he still looked blank. “The very pretty Jen Sellers look-alike.”
“Courtney?” he asked, something sly lighting his expression.
“I don’t know what her name is.”
His grin caught her almost as off guard as his confusion. “Jealous?”
Her eyes narrowed on him, and she lifted her head, getting in his face. “Yes. Have you slept with her? No, don’t answer that, I don’t want to know. Just get rid of her before I do.”
Amused hazel eyes stared straight back at her. “She’s not my date.”
“I’ve seen you with her.”
He bit back a laugh and pushed between her legs, and she could feel the ridge of his rock-hard erection through his jeans. She slid her hand down, pressing her palm flat against the erection, feeling better when he hissed and his eyes closed in pleasure and pain.
“Have you slept with her?” The universe stopped while she waited for his answer.
“No. No. I haven’t been with anyone.”
She wasn’t sure because it was dark, but she could have sworn he blushed.
“Seriously? I’m supposed to believe the hottest new chef under thirty in the Big Easy has been celibate all summer?”
He smiled a little as she quoted the headline from a local magazine. Then his smile flickered with something dangerous. “What about you?”
“Me? Who would I even…why are we talking about this?” she whispered.
He turned serious. “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s a hostess at the restaurant. She has a huge crush on Adam, and I might have mentioned he was going to be here tonight.”
She choked on tears she didn’t know were there. He kissed her. “I’m sorry. I’ve brought her with me a few times because I was afraid I’d see you with someone else.”
Her jaw dropped. “You brought a fake date?”
“Business dinner with a colleague,” he said so smoothly it took her a minute to understand.
Laughter was followed by a crippling relief that released all the misery she’d been trying to ignore for months. His mouth teased at hers, and he begged her to stop crying. Then kissed her harder until she stopped. Her hand slid down his chest to his jeans, but he covered her hand with his.
“Don’t. It’s okay. I’ll be okay. Just let me kiss you.”
She ignored him, undoing his jeans and sitting up slightly to shove them down his hips. “I’ve done the unplanned pregnancy once. It’s not going to happen again. I have an IUD. Forget the condom.”
His kiss turned savage, and he fell on her like a starved wolf. Her head lolled back as he pushed hard inside her. He gasped at that first possessions, throwing his head back, unable to move.
She detonated again, aftershocks almost as powerful as the first orgasm. Jared moved then, hard and deep, but he was no match for the storm he’d set loose in her, and within seconds he was cursing, then coming so hard she almost went over the edge again.
He collapsed against her, and she managed to lift her arms enough to wrap them around him. She chuckled, her eyelids losing the battle with sleep as she cradled his head against her breast.
“I missed you,” she admitted, stroking her nails through his hair. “Don’t let me get stupid again. If I try to make you leave again just…”
“Try it,” he warned. “Every time you try to make me go, I’m going to make you come so hard that you forget your own name.”
She laughed. “Then I want you to leave right now.”
He grinned, kissing her again, then his hands were under her shirt, pushing it up so he could tease her breast, sucking one aching peak into his mouth without removing her bra.
He recovered quickly and worked his way back inside her, this time his eyes never leaving hers as he filled her and muttered something about condoms being history. He took his sweet time bringing her to the edge over and over until she bit his ear and her nails scored down his back and he shattered so hard around her and inside of her that this time she did go with him.
Later, when they were slipping their clothes back on, she glanced at her watch, “How long have we been gone? Robbie must…”
Jared caught her hand. “He’s fine. He asked me to come tonight to talk to you.”
“He was stalling me,” she realized, smiling and outraged at the same time.
Jared shrugged. “I told him I would be late. He said you were sad but tried to hide it. He thought maybe I wasn’t around because I didn’t like kids.”
Her throat ached, but she managed to say, “He likes you.”
“And I like him,” Jared assured her. “Despite his misguided belief that Stefan is all that.”
Laughter sputtered out of her, and he pulled her against his chest. They had to go back in, but they both wanted to steal another moment.
“Do you want more kids?” he asked, blowing apart the comfortable silence they floated in.
“What?”
“Do you want more kids? I know you just got Robbie back, but do you think…”
She smiled in surprise. “Do you want kids?”
He nodded. “You’ve met my family. There aren’t enough of us.”
“Yeah,” she smiled, eventually. “It’d be nice to be married next time.”
“Deal,” he grinned.
She coughed. “I didn’t mean…”
He kissed her, grinning against her mouth until she gave up trying to say anything else and kissed him back. He lifted his head a few minutes later and stared down at her. “Too late. Asked and answered. But I admit I expected violins and candlelight when you got around to asking me to marry you.”
She slapped his chest and couldn’t decide if she was laughing or crying. How many more emotions were going to sweep through her tonight?
He grinned, then turned serious again without warning. She wasn’t the only one with moods like a pendulum tonight.
“I’m not leaving again,” he warned her. “This is it, Madlyn. I mean it. I love you. You love me. We’ll figure out the rest. But I want the ring, the wedding, the kids, the happily ever after, possibly even a dog. All of it. I won’t settle for anything else, so if you have any objections…”
“I don’t,” she assured him before she completely broke down. “Except that you’re starting to sound like a grown-up, and I’m not sure I like it.”
He grinned and kissed her again, his light breaking through her as he dragged her the rest of the way out of the darkness. And this time, she went eagerly into that light.
Epilogue
“They have to be freezing.” Madlyn accepted the glass of champagne Jared handed her. She rested against the stone balustrade and watched the yacht that drifted on Lake Como. Bellagio stretched out around them and Lake Como in front of them. She sighed as Jared slid his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder. “I can’t believe Lizzie wanted to spend her wedding night freezing on a boat.
“It’s a yacht, not a boat,” Jared said absently. “And I think it’s romantic.”
“That’s only because we get the house.”
“Nic’s got plenty of houses. He’s not using this one. He said we could stay as long as we want, and I think I want to stay forever. Have you seen the kitchen?”
“I don’t think we’re supposed to see the kitchen in a house like this.”
He grinned. “But forever sounds good?”
She sipped the champagne and ignored his question. He’d been dancing around this for months. They’d been together a year now, and while they weren’t officially engaged, it wasn’t like she was ever going to let him go. But she did like to tease him.
“Forever? In Italy?” She shook her head.
“No,” he said, sounding suddenly very serious. “With me.”
She smiled and set down the champagne flute. “I thought that’s what we were doing.”
“Yes, but I want to make it official.”
&
nbsp; “You have wedding fever, that’s all. It will pass.”
“So you don’t want to marry me?” He followed her back into the bedroom.
She smiled to herself, enjoying torturing him. It never got old. “You haven’t asked me to marry you.”
“That’s because you asked me. I want to know where my ring is.”
She turned, the same affectionate smile on her face, and it died a quick death when the diamond flashed at her from the ring he was holding up.
“Will you marry me?” he asked, well, demanded, his face so serious and guarded she knew he wasn’t sure what she’d say.
But he’d caught her off guard, and she was speechless. The diamond was huge.
“Okay, fine, I’m not asking.” He closed the distance, took her hand and slid the ring on her finger.
She stared down at her hand, the shockingly large diamond winking up at her. She forced herself to meet his eyes. Those beautiful hazel eyes deep with concern and bright with the love she finally accepted that she deserved.
His mouth quirked. “Are you trying to think of a way to let me down easily, or are you just stunned?”
“Yes,” she whispered before she completely broke down.
“Yes?” The easy expression suddenly serious again.
She nodded. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He exhaled in relief, almost doubling over. She laughed and reached for him.
He caught her hand and raised her fingers to his mouth, kissing them gently. “I love you so much, sometimes I can’t breathe,” he admitted, his voice rough with the same emotion choking her.
She went up on her toes, both of her hands framing his cheeks. “I love you, too. You are the reason I can breathe.”
Thank you for reading Madlyn and Jared’s story. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it.
Reviews are critical for self-published writers, so please consider leaving a review somewhere on Amazon and Goodreads. It really does make a difference in getting a book noticed. So your input and help will be very much appreciated.
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More books are planned for Grant, Reese, and Adam.
And Rogan will get his own story, I’m just not sure what it is yet.
Southern Style Series Cast of Characters
The Marshall Family
Jared Marshall: Rock god, pastry chef/baker, reluctant attorney. He owns part of a bakery with Jen Sellers. He and his best friend Adam Granger have a band called Sugar Coma. He went to law school to make his parents happy and works at the family firm. He’s so busy helping everyone else with their dreams, it doesn’t leave him much time for his own.
Grant Marshall: Jared’s other brother. He’s juggling being a single parent with trying to run the family law firm as his father transitions into retirement. He doesn’t have time for a sense of humor or a lot of patience these days. He once clerked for the corrupt judge, Winston Robicheaux, and he has always wanted a chance to bring the old man down. Now he may finally get it.
Milton and Hazel Jean Marshall: Jared’s parents. They are both battling his father’s Parkinson’s disease.
The Robicheaux Family
Madlyn Robicheaux: Her fiancé, Robert Taylor, Jr., died in a horrific car accident when she was nineteen and she’s never quite recovered from the loss. She’s caught between people she cares about and the grandfather she despises and for ten years she’s played an elaborate game. The only thing she wants is custody of her son and she’ll do just about anything to get him back.
Judge Winston Robicheaux: The notorious hanging judge of Louisiana. Lots of powerful friends, he’s almost universally feared and hated. But the whispers of corruption may finally be catching up to him.
Robbie Robicheaux: Madlyn and Robert Taylor Jr’s son.
The Taylor Family
Robert Taylor, Jr.: Died in a horrific explosion trying to get his parents out of the mangled SUV they were trapped in. He was engaged to Madlyn Robicheaux and best friends with Stefan Sellers.
Jen Taylor Sellers: Robert’s sister and only survivor of the Taylor Family, she is married to Stefan Sellers and they are expecting their first child.
The Sellers Family
Stefan Sellers: Long-distance athlete, control freak, so in love with his wife Jen Taylor Sellers it’s embarrassing.
Lizzie Sellers: Stefan’s sister and Jen’s best friend. She's currently engaged to Nic Maretti and finishing graduate school at Princeton.
Ben Rogan: One of eleven siblings, Rogan’s mother and Stefan’s mother are distant cousins. When he wins a scholarship to the private school Stefan, Lizzie and Jen attend, the Sellers pretty much raise him like one of their own. He and Stefan have been best friends since they beat each other up in fifth grade.
Angie Maretti Rogan: Ben Rogan’s wife and Nic Maretti’s sister. Angie’s mother was Miss Texas in college and Angie has never been able to live up to her mother’s expectations or anyone else’s for that matter. She and Rogan have a son Zachary but their marriage is constantly on the rocks.
The Carter Family
Elliot Carter: Local chef/owner of Bistro Lagniappe. Bistro Lagniappe has been in the French Quarter for over a hundred years. Elliot doesn’t want to walk away from his family’s legacy but he’s always wanted to open a place in the Marigny. He, Robert Taylor, Stefan Sellers, Ben Rogan and Jackson Napier were all fraternity brothers at LSU and have stayed lifelong friends. He and Jackson Napier have been in a long term relationship since they both graduated and surprised no one when they came out.
Jackson Napier: His football scholarship bought him a ticket to LSU and out of poverty in New Orleans. He graduated and is about to make detective with the NOPD. Now that he and Elliot can make their relationship official, he’s been trying to think of a way to pop the question. His cousin, Marcus Napier, is world famous for New Orleans Bounce music. Another cousin owns a blues club called Chat Bleu on Frenchmen street. He’s been known to sit in on drums for various local bands and for Marcus when he comes to town.
Other characters
Adam Granger: Brilliant musician, well respected in the New Orleans music scene. When he’s not playing with Sugar Coma at Trick’s, he can likely be found playing in local clubs in the Marigny or Treme or busking on Frenchmen Street with his violin. Recently he discovered that rock star Evie Christian’s new album had three songs that used his lyrics. They aren’t sure how the famous singer got hold of them, and Adam thinks it’s awesome but Jared is determined to find out who stole the music.
Drew Reese: Jared’s best friend from High School and nothing but trouble.
Trick: Owner of Trick’s, a biker bar slash dance club on the edge of the French Quarter and member of Legion MC.
Rafe Warren: Recently divorced attorney who is in New Orleans to help Winston Robicheaux clear his name.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY AUTHOR
Copyright © 2016 Lexxi Callahan
Editor: Deborah Nemeth
This is a work of fiction.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. You may share one copy through Amazon lending. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please delete it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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The Fall of the Red Queen (Self Made Men...Southern Style Book 3) Page 25
