by Piper Rayne
I mentally hope he decides to come on this car instead of the one in front of me. I’d like to see the type of guy who can pull off that stunt like he’s filming a movie.
Sliding to the edge of my bench seat, I tip my head to see him and the conductor talking through the residue covered glass window. He hands him a plastic container and the two do some type of handshake before he mindlessly presses the button for the doors of my car to open.
He steps into the car that only holds me, a passed out guy and the smell of my mama’s Italian sauce. All the air rushes out of my lungs. He’s drop-dead sexy. I have no idea how to describe him. He’s gorgeous. Light brown hair that sticks straight up on top and trimmed on the sides. Enough scruff to make my thighs shake with want. Ripped jeans, a dark button-down and a pair of sneakers. So casual and so mouthwatering at the same time.
Just when I’m about to slide over and beg him to sit with me, his lips tip, his mouth opens in the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen on a man. Perfect straight white teeth. Damn, I’m not sure I’ve ever been this attracted to someone before. It’s not even just him. It’s how he’s looking at me. Like he’s been searching all over the world for me and he just found me.
“You’re new?” He opens up the plastic bag and places a Tupperware container next to the man passed out.
“Do you know everyone who rides the train?” I ask and he keeps walking toward me and I find myself holding my breath the nearer he comes because with every step, my heart beats a touch faster.
“I know everyone who rides the last train on Sunday night. Yes.” He slides his backpack off, sitting in the seat right in front of me. He leans his back against the train window and extends his feet along the bench of the seat. “That’s Gil.” He nods toward the sleeping man. “He’ll be getting off at Peekskill.”
I lean forward. “Is he okay?”
He laughs like I’m not crazy for asking. “Yeah. Watch. He’ll get up at Peekskill without anyone waking him up.” He bends forward and I hear the plastic of the bag rustling. “You hungry?” He holds up a third Tupperware container.
“No, thanks.”
He nods. “Good idea not to take food from a guy on a train that you don’t know. Someone taught you well.” His smile deepens and a dimple forms in his right cheek. Seriously, who sent this man my way, the train fairy?
“I have my own anyway.” I lift my jacket and he peeks over the seat.
“What is it?”
I open my container of meatballs. “Italian.”
He sighs and his hand moves across the seat, grabbing a meatball with his finger and thumb, the sauce is about to drip right before his head falls back and he drops it into his mouth like a cherry. Please tell me he gets off early because my libido is revving in overdrive and it’s going to stall out soon.
“Aren’t you afraid of taking food from a stranger on a train?”
“Nah. You look sweet. Something tells me you didn’t bring food on the train to poison a random stranger.”
He’s funny. And so at ease and free-spirited.
“It’s my mama’s and if she knew I was sharing with you, she’d want me to tell you that there’s something off in her meatballs tonight. Unfortunately, she’ll figure it out at midnight and feel the need to text me.”
He retrieves a bottle of water. “Nothing wrong that I can tell.”
“Too much garlic. It’s overpowering the meat. My brother miscalculated.”
He stares at me for a moment and I cross my legs, becoming uncomfortable under his scrutiny. “If you knew, why didn’t you say anything?”
I shrug. “I like garlic?”
His eyes narrow, but in a teasing you-intrigue-me way. “Sibling rivalry. I get it.” He sips his water as I admire his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down and secures the cap on the bottle.
His eyes fall back on me and I straighten my back like I wasn’t just ogling him. “I don’t have sibling rivalry.”
“Okay.” He lifts a Tupperware container up over the seat. “Try one of these.”
I raise my hand. “I’m okay, but thank you.”
“Come on. I promise they aren’t poisoned. I tried the staple of your culture. Try mine?”
“Shrimp?”
“Garlic prawns.” He moves it closer and though my stomach says no more food, my eyes say damn that looks good. When my nose joins in on the debate, I raise my hand to grab one.
If my brothers saw me, they’d knock it out of my hand saying I’m crazy and what am I thinking. I laugh imagining the whole scenario.
“What’s so funny?” He picks up a shrimp himself and eats it, closing up the container afterward.
“Nothing.”
“That’s the way you’re going to play it, huh?” He looks around. “We’re all by ourselves and I’m the last stop. Humor me until you get off.”
He’s getting off at Cliffton Heights too? That shouldn’t make my stomach feel like it’s filled with helium and it might float away, but it does.
I bite into the shrimp. It isn’t rubbery and it’s still warm. The butter drips down my chin as I take another bite. I’ve had garlic shrimp before but never this good.
“Told you it was good.” His cockiness draws me into him further. Maybe it’s growing up with three overly confident brothers, but the more sure a man is of himself, the more I seem to want him.
“It’s excellent.” I finish the shrimp off and he holds up a napkin for me to dispose of the tail in. “You’re so prepared.”
He nods. “Don’t worry, in ten minutes you won’t feel a thing. You’ll just pass out.”
I stare blankly at him and then he laughs.
“I’m kidding. Seriously. Kidding.” He extends his hand. “Ethan.”
I place my hand in his, ignoring the way the heat from his large hand travels up my arm. “Blanca.”
“Beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”
Heat rises to my cheeks. “Thanks.”
He wiggles in his seat, spreading his legs out a bit more and getting comfortable. “So tell me what was so funny.”
“I was just thinking about my brothers.”
“Clearly you have more than one?”
“Three,” I answer.
“Older or younger?”
“All older.”
His eyes widen and he nods. “Must be some sibling rivalry going on.”
“There isn’t any sibling rivalry.”
His smile only grows. “Italian family. Three older brothers. They all successful?”
I shake my head.
“No?”
I frown. “Okay, yeah.”
He smirks. “Married?”
I roll my eyes in a playful way. “One is.”
“The other two?”
“Seriously? Engaged and committed.”
He raises those perfect eyebrows like I should just admit he’s right.
“I’m telling you. I’m the baby sister. The only daughter in an Italian family. I’m not starved for attention.”
“And yet you know your brother put too much garlic in the meatballs and haven’t told your mom yet because a small part of you wants her to figure it out and blame your brother.”
“NO!” I screech and then lower my voice. “No,” I whisper-shout. “I would have said something if I knew when they were being made, I could just tell when I tasted them.”
He nods a few times like, ‘okay continue to lie to yourself.’
“You’re not right.”
“I am.” He winks and those balloons in my stomach take flight. Damn traitor.
The conductor announces Peekskill and Gil stands up, swooping up the Tupperware container. He looks around and when he spots Ethan, he nods in appreciation.
“Have a great night, Gil,” Ethan says.
Gil doesn’t respond and I watch him stumble down the stairs and out onto the platform. When I look back to Ethan, he’s smirking.
“I’m almost always right,” he says, but his facial expression te
lls me he doesn’t necessarily believe it.
“You know nothing about me or my relationship with my brothers.”
He taps his index finger on his chin like he’s thinking. “I bet they’re protective?”
“That’s not rocket science. Three Italian brothers being overprotective of their baby sister is somewhat expected.”
“But I bet it bothers you.”
I shrug. “It would bother anyone.”
He shakes his head. “There are some people who like protectiveness from other people. Makes them feel cared for. Loved.”
I look around the train car. It’s only the two of us. “Am I on the psychoanalyze me train?”
He laughs. “This is the most fun I’ve had on a Sunday night in months.”
“That’s not something to be proud of,” I deadpan.
I’m not going to admit that it’s the same for me because he’s a stranger and I know nothing about him. He could be buttering me up to kidnap me later.
He says nothing and since I hate awkward silence, I finally succumb.
“Fine. You’re right, it bothers me.”
“Because you want to prove to them you’re an equal?”
I shake my head. “Okay… next topic.”
To my surprise, he does let it go, taking out a container of cookies. Chocolate chip at that. So classically American.
“What culture are you from?” I ask.
“Spanish. Not the cookies though.” He holds the container out toward me. “Peace offering. I tend to interrogate people because I love digging and dissecting what makes them tick. My apologies.”
I pick up a cookie hoping I’m not about to drop unconscious before we hit Cliffton Heights. “Thanks. Apology accepted.” I bite the cookie and an explosion of sugary goodness fills my mouth.
“Which one is your stop?” he asks.
“Cliffton Heights.”
He gifts me with a deep smile that draws his dimple out. My ego soars at being the one to pull it out of him.
I’m in so much trouble.
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Cockamamie Unicorn Ramblings
Let’s celebrate the fact that all the Bailey siblings are off and living their happily ever afters with the love of their lives! Yay!
* * *
Sedona is the one storyline that evolved from the beginning of the series, though most of it was off page and in our heads. When you read about Jamison and Sedona in book one, Lessons from a One-Night Stand, we weren’t sure what was going to happen with them except that they would have to break up at one point. We threw around a lot of ideas early on. The original one being that their relationship would’ve ended in high school and they wouldn’t have come back together until after college. Then as we wrote each Bailey book it was hard to get every character in at some point. We brought Jamison back in Phoenix’s book, Confession from a Naughty Nanny, more for Phoenix rather than Sedona, but it fit perfectly. Writing a couple even as little as they appeared was hard knowing we had to break them up at some point. But there’s this saying in writing called ‘kill your darlings’ and we knew at some point we’d have to do just that.
* * *
While writing the Bailey series, Piper had a vision of Jamison returning to Lake Starlight and Sedona being pregnant with someone else’s baby. But this is before we ever decided that Sedona would be pregnant herself when she left Jamison. So we had to rework some timelines but we think it was all worth it in the end because it was a great twist and so very fitting for the Baileys.
* * *
While writing Juno and Colton in Secrets of the World’s Worst Matchmaker, we finally hashed out Sedona and Jamison’s storyline. And it was sad and heartbreaking but we knew these two were meant to be together. Even good people find themselves dealing with situations beyond their control sometimes and they don’t do the best job of it. That’s all part of life. But Jamison fought hard to be the man his lady love and daughter needed him to be which makes their HEA even sweeter in our minds.
* * *
And BuzzWheel… we know you aren’t surprised it was Grandma Dori who wrote it. How could it be anyone else!?!
* * *
We’re just going to reflect for a moment now on the series as a whole…
* * *
Almost two years ago, the two of us sat in a hotel room at a writing conference with our assistant, Shawna. We made a decision to write a nine book series not knowing the outcome. What if after three books, the series was bombing and we were committed to six more? We were scared to break away from our three book series formula. And now as we draw the series to an end, we’re not ready to say goodbye. This family we love so much gained traction over the past two years, earning USA Today Bestseller status on book #7 and #8. Although we wanted that title, we only wanted it to be because that many readers were enjoying our stories. You’ve all loved and adored and championed this family these past couple of years and there are not enough thank you’s we could give you to express how appreciative we are. THANK YOU!
* * *
And without our team listed below, these stories would never see the light of day!
* * *
Danielle Sanchez and the entire Wildfire Marketing Solutions team!
Cassie from Joy Editing for line edits.
Ellie from My Brother’s Editor for line edits.
Shawna from Behind the Writer for proofreading.
Our sensitivity readers— Kristi Myers, Laura Anne, Kim Rust and Alyce Zawaba.
Sarah from Okay Creations for the cover and branding for the entire series.
Sara from Sara Eirew Photography for the awesome picture of Sedona and Jamison.
Bloggers who consistently carve out time to read, review and/or promote us.
Our Piper Rayne Unicorns who champion this series to others with their whole hearts.
You the reader who took a chance on our book with so many choices out there!
* * *
No tears! No tears! Operation Bailey Birthday is coming in November and someone is having a very special birthday and we’re going to fast forward in time a bit! So no tears until the candles are blown out!
* * *
XO,
Piper & Rayne
About Piper & Rayne
Piper Rayne, or Piper and Rayne, whichever you prefer because we’re not one author, we’re two. Yep, you get two USA Today Bestselling authors for the price of one. Our goal is to bring you romance stories that have "Heartwarming Humor With a Side of Sizzle" (okay...you caught us, that's our tagline). A little about us... We both have kindle’s full of one-clickable books. We're both married to husbands who drive us to drink. We're both chauffeurs to our kids. Most of all, we love hot heroes and quirky heroines that make us laugh, and we hope you do, too.
www.piperrayne.com
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Also by Piper Rayne
The Rooftop Crew
My Bestie’s Ex
A Royal Mistake
The Rival Roomies
Our Star-Crossed Kiss
The Do-Over
A Co-Workers Crush
* * *
The Greenes
My Beautiful Nemesis
My Almost Ex
My Vegas Groom
* * *
The Baileys
Lessons from a One-Night Stand
Advice from a Jilted Bride
Birth of a Baby Daddy
Operation Bailey Wedding (Novella)
Falling for My Brother’s Best Friend
Demise of a Self-Centered Playboy
Confessions of a Naughty Nanny
Operation Bailey Babies (Novella)
Secrets of the World’s Worst Matchmaker
Winning My Best Friend’s Girl
Rules for Dating your Ex
* * *
The Modern Love World
; Charmed by the Bartender
Hooked by the Boxer
Mad about the Banker
* * *
The Single Dad’s Club
Real Deal
Dirty Talker
Sexy Beast
* * *
Hollywood Hearts
Mister Mom
Animal Attraction
Domestic Bliss
* * *
Bedroom Games
Cold as Ice
On Thin Ice
Break the Ice
Box Set
* * *
Charity Case
Manic Monday
Afternoon Delight
Happy Hour
* * *
Blue Collar Brothers
Flirting with Fire
Crushing on the Cop
Engaged to the EMT
* * *
White Collar Brothers
Sexy Filthy Boss
Dirty Flirty Enemy
Wild Steamy Hook-up
