Later that night, in the guest room of Claire’s new place, AJ was toeing off his shoes while she slipped out of her dress.
“Are you going to tell me what’s up with this book?”
“What do you mean, what’s up? It’s a book.”
“With a woman in a wedding dress on the cover.”
“Trina gave it to me.” Sasha stepped into the bathroom, grabbed her toothbrush.
“You sure this isn’t her way of dropping a hint?”
She shoved the brush in her mouth, talked around it. “If it is, she dropped it to the wrong person.” Swish, rinse, spit.
Back in the bedroom, Sasha removed the rest of her clothes and got under the covers.
AJ smiled at her. “A woman that sleeps naked. I’m a lucky man.”
He took her place in the bathroom, came back a couple of minutes later just as naked as she was.
With the lights off and AJ lying beside her, she snuggled next to him and noticed the time. “It’s Christmas Day.”
“This is the best Christmas ever.”
“I think so, too.”
“I have something for you, but I didn’t wrap it,” he told her.
She spread her hand over his hip, squeezed.
“Not that, although I’m happy to oblige.”
“I’m always happy when you oblige.”
He stopped her hand and turned to his side to look at her. He pressed his lips against hers and took his time as he kissed her. Everything softened, mind, body, and soul. When he moved away, he whispered, “I love you, Sasha.”
She closed her eyes, rested her forehead against his lips. “Say it again.”
“I love you with everything I am. If I could wrap my heart up in a box and give it to you, I would.”
Again with the tears.
She met his gaze and kissed him hard. When she moved back, her lips moved without sound.
“Say that again,” he said, smiling.
Sasha opened her mouth and tried again. “I love you, too.”
He traced her bottom lip with his thumb. “All right. Now we’re getting somewhere.”
She laughed. “I’m not ready to have your babies.”
“Oh, no, no . . . we have a couple more steps before we go there.” AJ tucked her under him, pinned her legs with one of his. “But make no mistake, the babies you have . . . will be mine.”
He sealed his promise with a kiss.
Acknowledgments
As always, thanks to my team at Montlake for all your hard work to make a manuscript a novel. Thanks to my executive editor, Maria Gomez, for believing in my work and not questioning the stories I want to tell. To my new developmental editor, Holly Ingraham, thank you for helping me shape Sasha’s story into a fitting conclusion to the First Wives series.
For my agent, Jane . . . this one was hard to write on the heels of my father’s stroke, but you were there every step of the way, pom-poms in hand, reminding me that I can when all I could think was I can’t.
Thank you to my readers who wanted to hear Sasha’s story almost as much as I wanted to write it. I hope you enjoy it.
Now back to Jocey Hogan. Lady, when you told me that you ditched the CIA to follow the guy and become the PTA guru of our kids’ elementary school, I knew I had to write that story. You speak three languages? Or is it four? I forgot. You’re smart and beautiful, inside and out, and I’m glad to call you my friend. Thank you for your unwavering support of my career and life choices. Here is to all the bottles of wine we have shared in the past and will in the future.
I love you, my friend. Cheers.
Catherine
About the Author
Photo © 2015 Julianne Gentry
New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee has written thirty books that collectively have sold more than five million copies and been translated into more than eighteen languages. Raised in Washington State, Bybee moved to Southern California in the hope of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and has penned the Not Quite Series, the Weekday Brides Series, the Most Likely To Series, and the First Wives Series. For more information, visit www.catherinebybee.com.
Say It Again (First Wives) Page 30
