by Linda Cajio
She eventually sobered. “He … he took the men’s movement too far.”
“Well, I’m giving it up,” Jake said. “I needed it, but now it’s time to let it go, and to let men and women find their own way.”
She gazed at him. “Can we?”
“Together.”
“You think too much like a man.”
He laughed. “What the hell am I supposed to think like?”
“I don’t know. But we’ll always be on opposite sides.”
He pulled her to him. “We’ll work to compromise. Unless you don’t want to try.”
“I want to try,” she said, knowing that if she didn’t she would be settling. He would be man and she would be woman, and they wouldn’t always mesh. But she couldn’t live without him, either.
He kissed her soundly. “I love you, Charity.”
“I love you.”
She knew she wouldn’t settle for anything less.
Epilogue
“Stop that, Jake! The kids!”
Jake nodded, but didn’t pull his hands from inside the bodice of Charity’s gown. Her breasts were slightly fuller from her having had three children, but he was hardly complaining. In fact, he found the phenomenon fascinating. Her taut nipples scored his palms in the way he loved so much.
Piping voices were heard in the hall, and Charity finally slapped his hands away.
Their two eldest, Jeremy and Alison, scampered into the bedroom, then stopped dead when they saw their parents.
“Nice dress,” Alison said. She was eleven and a continual study in blasé.
“Wow!” ten-year-old Jeremy exclaimed with absolutely no blasé. “A real babe, Mom.”
Jeremy was all boy and at the machismo stage, much to his mother’s chagrin.
“Better than great,” Jake said, grinning as he eyed the strapless gown of fuchsia chiffon. The tight bodice outlined her breasts, and the skirt skimmed over her long legs. She was subtly different after fifteen years, fuller and richer and at times completely mystifying to him. But there was more than a touch of gray in his hair and his waist was an inch or two thicker. He knew he drove her insane upon occasion—and not necessarily in the bedroom. But they always compromised in a true partnership.
Charity looked at the two kids. “Where’s your brother?”
“Steven is with Jasmine,” Alison answered, “waiting for Dad.”
“Tell them I’ll be down in a moment,” he said, then shooed the two out of the room. They were good kids, and he sometimes couldn’t believe they were his own. “Sure you don’t want to stay home tonight?” he asked Charity. “We could lock the door and fool around.”
“Yes, I’m sure.” She smiled and kissed him. “It’s not every day you get Corporate Man of the Year award.”
He grinned. “There are some people who are still wondering if I paid off the judges.”
“You settled that old strike brilliantly, got that government contract for Wayans—”
“You got the contract with all your hard work.”
Her eyes twinkled with amusement. “We got the government contract, and you got the health benefits back for all the employees. And you negotiated for all those who had health care from another source to voluntarily give up Wayans’s plan.”
“You,” he murmured, nuzzling her neck, “were the negotiator of that.”
“Great minds think alike.” She put her arms around his neck. “And now you’re chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Wayans, a rock-solid Fortune 1000 company.”
“You’re forgetting I’m married to a woman with her master’s in accounting and her own consulting business. And you were worried I’d hold you back. Who pushed you to get your master’s?”
“You,” she murmured, kissing his ear.
He drank in her marvelous scent, thinking he would never tire of the feel of her in his embrace. It was as natural as breathing and wonderfully exciting.
“I’m still worried …” she began, then pulled back. “Get your hands out of my dress!” But she was laughing. “Steven is waiting. And you can’t miss your award, either.”
“Right.”
Downstairs, his youngest, six years of angelic expression and charm when he wasn’t getting into trouble, already had on his coat. The boy was practically hopping up and down with impatience. So was the black cocker spaniel beside the child. Jake didn’t know which one enjoyed this more, Steven or Jasmine.
“Dad, come on!” Steven said, grabbing his hand and dragging him along toward the patio doors. The dog bounded ahead.
“The last vestige of Iron John,” Charity said, descending the stairs with serene dignity. “How the mighty have fallen.”
“It’s all you’ll let me do,” he complained. “You insisted on retiring Dances with No Clothes On.”
“Have you seen yourself naked lately, dear? It’s not a pretty sight.”
“Very funny.”
“Don’t mind Mom, Dad,” Steven said once they were out in the crisp autumn air. “She’s just a woman. They don’t understand.”
“Truer words were never spoken, son. Just don’t ever let your mother hear you say it.”
Steven grinned.
A large moon, the color of orange marigolds, hung low in the November sky. Frost already shimmered on the grass. Jake bent down and rubbed Jasmine on the head, then gave the dog a couple of firm pats on the chest, just the way she liked it.
“Ready, son?” he asked.
Steven nodded.
Jake looked up at the moon, pursed his lips, and howled low in his throat. Steven’s higher-pitched howl joined his. Jasmine danced around, whimpering at first, then lifted her head and bayed like a siren on a fire truck.
Jake managed to smother his grin as he howled for all he was worth with his youngest. Charity suddenly appeared beside him, tucking her arm in his and putting her free hand on her son’s shoulder.
“Thought I’d join the Halford Howl,” she said, then tilted her head up and let loose with a low moan.
Jake burst into laughter. “The family that bays together stays together.”
“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go get your award.”
For the real Jasmine,
who came into our lives at the right time
and taught us the family howl
THE EDITOR’S CORNER
Welcome to Loveswept!
Kick off the summer with these sultry Loveswept reads. We’re starting June off with two fantastic e-originals …
FLIRTING WITH DISASTER, fan favorite Ruthie Knox’s latest novel in her scorching-hot Camelot series, where a no-strings-attached fling blooms into love.
TRYING TO SCORE, Toni Aleo’s captivating second novel about second chances and healing hearts, featuring the hockey hunks of the Nashville Assassins.
… And ending the month with HER BETROTHED’S DILEMMA, a special original historical short story from Loveswept author Megan Frampton.
We also have some wonderful classics for you to enjoy:
Temptation runs rampant in Linda Cajio’s DOUBLE DEALING, #1 New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen tells an engrossing story about a man who promises a forever love in FOREVER DREAM, and Sandra Chastain enthralls with her three searing romances, SINNER AND SAINT, SHOWDOWN AT LIZARD ROCK, and SCARLET LADY.
If you love romance … then you’re ready to be Loveswept!
Gina Wachtel
Associate Publisher
P.S. Watch for these terrific Loveswept titles coming soon: July brings Samantha Kane’s sensual new e-original, TEMPTING A DEVIL, Toni Aleo’s third entrancing book featuring hockey hunks, EMPTY NET, Ruth Owen’s dazzling AND BABIES MAKE FOUR, Jean Stone’s beguiling SINS OF INNOCENCE, Katie Rose’s utterly irresistible A HINT OF MISCHIEF, Iris Johansen’s seductive TIL THE END OF TIME, Sandra Chastain’s enticing stories, DANNY’S GIRL and SILVER BRACELETS, and August heats up with three e-originals: Stacey Kennedy’s intoxicating CLAIMED, Elisabeth Barrett’s blazing SLOW SUMMER BUR
N, and Toni Aleo’s red-hot CROSSING THE LINE, as well as Sandra Chastain’s stirring SURRENDER THE SHADOW, Katie Rose’s unforgettable COURTING TROUBLE, Adrienne Staff’s alluring CRESCENDO, Iris Johansen’s tantalizing YORK, THE RENEGADE and Ruth Owen’s ultra-sexy BODY HEAT. Don’t miss any of these extraordinary reads. I promise that you’ll fall in love and treasure these stories for years to come.…
Read on for excerpts from more Loveswept titles …
Read on for an excerpt from Toni Aleo’s
Taking Shots
Chapter 1
Eleanor “Elli” Fisher didn’t understand why she was so forgetful. She was convinced that if her ass wasn’t attached to her, she would forget it at home too. But really? How in the world did she forget all the bulbs for her light stands?!
Elli stood in the entrance of the Luther Arena, waiting for Harper Allen, her assistant, to bring the bulbs back from her studio on the western side of Nashville. This was one of the most important days of her career and she forgot the bulbs.
God, I am an idiot.
How did she manage this? She ran her hand through her unruly brown curly hair, sighing. As if forgetting the bulbs wasn’t enough, she was also having a really crappy hair day. This was her first year with the Nashville Assassins. She couldn’t blow it. Being chosen to be the photographer for a hockey team was huge, but when it was for the team that just won the Stanley Cup and had the prospect of winning again? Hello, it was HUGE.
When she saw Harper running into the arena with the bulbs in hand, she let out the breath she had been holding. Damn, that was fast.
“For Christ’s sake! It’s a mad house out there!” Harper complained in her thick southern accent. Her hair was in spikes this week. The spikes were also purple, which made it even more interesting. Hadn’t she discussed with Harper how they needed to keep a professional image? Yes, purple was a team color.
But still!
“I know, come on. Let’s go put the bulbs in.” She didn’t have time to have it out with Harper right now; she had to get to the ice. They all but ran towards the entrance to the ice. Once there, she was greeted by the Assassins' PR rep.
“Ms. Fisher, how do you do? Are you ready?”
Melody Yates was intense. That was the only way Elli could describe her. She was from New Jersey, and had been converted into a Southerner. And that made no damn sense to Elli, but whatever, this was her boss. So she flashed a huge grin and turned on her southern charm.
“Yes, ma’am. Let my assistant put these bulbs in, and we can get started.”
“Good, the boys will be out soon. Then we’ll go downstairs for the other shots we need.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Harper ran ahead of them and started setting everything up. Elli took in a deep breath. She had been photographing weddings almost her whole adult life, and now she was moving to sports. She had always wanted to do sports photography, partly because she had such a love for hockey, but she never could get an opportunity. Now, thanks to a job opening, and being related to the owner of the Assassins, here she was.
This was her chance.
A big one.
Harper handed Elli her camera with a big smile. Harper knew how important this day was, and also how nervous Elli was.
“Go on over there and let me test shoot, Harp.” Harper started towards the goal and turned with a stick in her hand, making a stern face. It brought a smile to Elli’s face. Harper was a dork, but God, Elli loved her. After fixing the aperture on her camera, Elli called Harper over as the guys started skating onto the ice.
“Good golly, Miss Molly! Look at them! Good Lord! They are gorgeous!” Harper whispered as all the guys came out and sat on the bench. Elli took her time looking the guys over. They were gorgeous, alright. But she already knew that, since she never missed a home game. Sometimes she thought it was the uniforms: bright purple and black, with a masked man on the front of the jerseys that brought out their good looks. But nope, even with the helmets off, these men were just plain gorgeous.
Getting back in the zone, she called for the coaches first. Trying to bottle her nerves, she got started. After shooting the coaches, it was on to the team. Each player came out in front of the goal, striking his pose. Elli zoomed in, taking a head shot before taking one with him holding a stick. After that picture, each lined up for an action shot, which consisted of skating towards her while shooting a puck. During all of this, Harper offered up commentary.
“For the love of God, El, that dude is hot!” Elli rolled her eyes, taking the shots she needed.
“Hush, Harp.”
“No, really. Like, please, can I hit on one of them? Just one?”
“No.”
“You’re no fun.”
Elli laughed it off. She was starting to get into her groove, just as the captain and the alternate captains came off the bench.
“Oh, to hell with what you say. Number two is mine, after this!” Elli gave her a pointed look as Jakob Titov, the Assassins' leading scoring forward, skated in front of the goal. Jakob was extremely good looking, with hard lines to his face, bright green eyes, and dark brown hair. He was a looker, but not Elli’s type.
He reminded her too much of her ex-boyfriend.
“Hush, Harper!” Elli said as she took the shots she needed. What she didn’t need was Jakob making eyes at her assistant, which he did. And, of course, Harper returned them. She didn’t know why it bothered her so much that Harper always flirted with the clients. It didn’t matter how old they were or what they looked like, or even if they were the groom. She always found something in them that she liked. It was probably the fact that they all had a penis.
Elli loved Harper, but Harper was a little promiscuous and didn’t care who knew. Guys had no worth to her unless they were naked and inside her, as she always said. Elli always wondered what made Harper that way. It made no sense. There had never been a guy who had done Harper wrong in the twenty two years they had been friends. Her parents were good people. So Elli really didn’t understand where it came from. And, of course, guys liked Harper. She was wild, beautiful, skinny, and amazing.
Everything Elli wasn’t.
Jakob lined up, giving her his action shot. After she got it, he skated towards her and Harper instead of his teammates.
What the hell was he doing?
“Nice hair, beautiful,” he flirted in his thick Russian accent. Harper just smiled widely, as Elli flushed deep red. Elli didn’t know why she was embarrassed, but she was. She didn’t want attention on Harper right now, not with the importance of this job.
“Nice stick,” Harper said, looking down at where he was holding his stick. Jakob gave her a devilish smile and skated towards the bench.
“You are impossible, Harper Allen,” Elli said, flustered.
After getting it together, Alex Welch came next. Alex was easy to shoot. He had good lines, and bright blue eyes, so the pictures were bound to be fabulous. Next was the captain, Shea Adler.
Elli blushed as she got to the close-up of Shea. She had always thought the defenseman was gorgeous. With his almost black hair that fell in the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen, and a crooked nose that had been broken two years ago during a game with the Red Wings, she had to admit that she had a little bit of a crush on him. When he smiled, her heart melted. Yeah, his teeth were probably false, but damn, he had a pretty mouth.
“Why’s he blinking so much?” Harper asked. Elli was too busy looking at his mouth to notice.
“Harp, shut up,” she whispered, but then she noticed that the captain was blinking a little too much.
“Is he hitting on you?”
“Oh, my God!”
Elli’s whole face flushed deep red as she looked down at the picture viewer of her camera. In all the pictures, the captain’s eyes were shut. Elli looked up, and Shea was rubbing his eyes.
“Mr. Adler,” she said as she started walking towards him. He looked over at her.
“I’m sorry, but I need
you to stop blinking. Your eyes are closed in every picture I have taken.”
“I’m sorry.”
Oh God, his voice was butter, thick with a Boston accent. Elli swore she came at the sound of it.
“I got new contacts and they are bugging the hell out of me.”
“Someone get Adler another pair!” somebody yelled as he pinched the little lenses out of his eyes, throwing them down on the ice.
“We can do this without them, right?”
Elli just nodded. Gosh, he was gorgeous! He tried to make eye contact with her, and it was obvious that it was hard for him to see.
“I won’t be able to see your beautiful face for a little bit, but I’ll have a new pair soon. Then I can stare some more.”
Elli stood there blinking.
Was he flirting with her?
Did he just call her beautiful?
She turned without a word and went back to work. When it came time for Shea Adler to skate off, he ran into the goal, then the wall, before making it to the bench. Everyone was in a fit of laughter except for Elli. She was still in shock.
Shea Adler had called her beautiful.
After the shoot downstairs, which consisted of the guys in sexy suits holding their hockey sticks, Harper and Elli started cleaning up and tearing down the equipment. Elli didn’t hire big crews; she didn’t like them. All she needed was Harper and two other assistants, and she was good. The day had been great. All the shots were fantastic. Once she edited them, they would be golden. The guys were amazing and sweet, not really as cocky as the sports reporters make them sound. They were good guys.
Elli was packing up her camera when she saw Jakob Titov coming towards her. He gave her a grin before going over to where Harper was standing. She watched as he flirted with Harper, who was playing hard to get; something she had perfected. Jakob pulled his phone out as she did the same. They were exchanging numbers. He asked her something and Harper just giggled and then leaned forward, giving him a kiss on his cheek.
