by Jen Doyle
“Oh, God,” she said. “That sounds awful.” But she was smiling as she looked up at him, even though her eyes were brimming with tears. “Are you telling me this to make me stay?”
And now he was the one who needed to turn away. He wouldn’t do that. No matter how much he wanted to, he’d never be the one to hold her back. He shook his head. “I didn’t want you to leave without knowing how much you’re loved. That you’ll never be alone.”
She didn’t answer right away. He had no idea if that was a good or a bad thing. But he wasn’t sure he had the strength to look down right now and not give in to the urge to drop down to his knees and beg, so he just stood there, waiting for her to respond.
“About that,” she finally said.
And here we go.
With a sigh, he told himself he was ready for this. He had to be. “I’m leaving for Miami on Monday,” she said, not unexpectedly. “And I’ll be on the road for six weeks, two of them in Boston with Sam.”
He couldn’t keep the grimace from coming over his face. “Yeah, I got that the other day.”
“Will you meet us there?” she asked. “For a few days, at least?”
He looked down at her, wanting desperately to say yes. But he couldn’t do this with her. Not if she couldn’t—
“Because I’ve been thinking,” she said, turning to him and taking his hand.
Without even realizing it, he looked up, his eyes gauging how close they were to everyone else, who could see them...
Except then it occurred to him the reason for that was because she was the one who didn’t want people to know about them. Was afraid they might talk.
Then her hand went to his chest and she stepped up so close to him he had to put his arms around her to steady himself. The fact that Jason, of all people, noticed was something she needed to know. “Fitz...” Especially because now Wash was avoiding all pretense and openly staring, as were Mama Gin and Lola beside them. Dorie was grinning her head off.
“In case I wasn’t clear enough about it the other day,” Fitz said, “I’ve fallen completely in love with you.”
His attention zoomed right back to her. Screw everyone else. “What?”
Her hand moved up to his shoulder, to the back of his neck. “I’m not sure when exactly. Maybe that time in the car.” She smiled. “Maybe all of them.”
His mouth fell open.
“I have to go away, because that’s my job. But it turns out that since I really love you, too, I’m coming back afterwards and staying, whether I take the new job or not.”
She hadn’t accepted the job?
“I actually made a proposal to Sam that would partner our expanded foundation with the one he wants to build. Pending board approval, of course.” She smiled apologetically. As if Deke gave a flying fuck about approval right now. “But only if the home-base of operations is here.” Her grin grew wider. “I was wondering what you thought about maybe building out the space above the bar.”
Deke’s head was spinning. “But...” He actually felt dizzy. “Lola said you were looking at condos in Chicago.”
For a second she seemed confused. Then her head fell against his chest and she laughed. “I am. With Dorie. For her and Nate.” When she looked back up, though, her smile was gone. The look on her face, in fact, was scared and unsure in a way that didn’t seem encouraging. Considering she was now standing with her arms around him, he decided it would be okay to kiss the top of her head and tighten his arms around her just in case it helped. It sure as hell helped him.
“Were you serious the other day?” she asked. “About wanting to spend your life kissing me?”
Still a little stunned at the turn this had taken, Deke looked down at her as she began to pull away.
“Could you please say something before I have another freaking panic attack?” she practically hissed.
She did look a little pale. Kind of like she was about to face a runaway train. Or a tornado. “Completely serious,” he said, only able to get the words out because he didn’t want to make her feel worse. He pulled her to face him and brushed the hair out of her eyes. “Are you asking what I think you’re asking?”
She shook her head and, yeah, his blood may have run a little cold. At least until the moment she said, “I’m not asking anything. I’m telling. Honesty and trust, right?”
For possibly the first time in his entire life, Deke was completely unable to speak. He did manage a nod, however.
“Okay, then,” she mumbled before taking a deep breath. “The fact that everyone is staring right now makes me feel like I might faint. But when I look into your eyes—when I feel your arms around me—somehow it all fades away.”
Deke had been a pretty happy guy all his life; in the bigger scheme of things, at least. But he hadn’t known his heart could soar—not like this. He could not get this fucking smile off his face. And that was before she added, “I want to be with you, Deke. I want to spend my life with you, even if that means I end up married to the mayor of this whole damn town. To my complete surprise, I don’t give one iota of a crap if that’s the biggest story to hit Inspiration since the last time I was big news.” The tears that had been brimming in her eyes overflowed as she looked up at him. “As long as I’m with you.”
His smile was so big it was probably being picked up by satellites right now. “That’s one freaking hell of a baby step, Angel,” he said, pulling back a little. “I can tell this to the world?”
“No more secrets.” She looked happier than he’d ever seen her.
So he lifted her up, wrapped her legs around his waist and in front of the whole town, he kissed her—and she let him. Then, loud enough for the entire town to hear him, he said, “I’m therefore declaring to the entire universe that I belong to Angelica Wade Hawkins.”
He touched his forehead to hers. “And she belongs to me.”
* * * * *
Acknowledgments
If the first book takes a village, then the second book takes a lot more support from that village. So first, I must give a huge THANK YOU to Kelley, for the countless nights, weekends, and pretty much otherwise round-the-clock taking the reins at home (yes, I did that one on purpose) so that I could write. Thank you also to Mom, who gave up Sunday-morning crossword-puzzle time—you are one of the three best grand/mothers in the world. And to Dad, for going along with it all, as well as Lucy, Will and James for all of your patience and love. Maybe someday you will read my books, but not today.
Thank you also Jess, Jenny T. and, again, Mom, for your early and ongoing support, as well as to Bobbi L. and Bobbi D. for the absolute perfect feedback at the most crucial time.
To Jon and Billy for keeping an eye out for my baseball facts, Heather for the Inspiration perspective, Jenny #2 from behind the bar and Emma for, well, some important research that will not be named. I am deeply grateful for all of your comments; any errors are mine alone.
I’m also especially grateful to Christine W. for coming back into my life just in time (on all fronts).
And a tremendous shout-out to Jonathan and Jenny at J. Stevens Salon for helping to start this journey off with a bang, not to mention Jess (yes, again!), Rachel, Jaime, Colleen, plus Jen Hallock, Bobbi Lerman, Kristen Drew and Nicole Michaels for that amazing first week and all of the cheerleading along the way.
None of this would have been possible without Sarah E. Younger and Alissa Davis. I am forever grateful to both of you for seeing The Dream and turning it into the reality.
Also available from Jen Doyle
and Carina Press
Calling It
About the Author
Award-winning author Jen Doyle is a big believer in happily-ever-afters—so she decided it was high time she started creating some. Jen holds an MS in library and information science from
Simmons College GSLIS and, in addition to her work as a librarian, has worked as a conference and events planner as well as a communications and enrollment administrator in both preschool and higher education environments. Some might say that there is very little difference between the two; Jen has no comment regarding whether she is one of the “some.” She currently lives in the Boston area with her husband, three children and three sometimes problematic cats. Visit her at jendoyleink.com, Twitter.com/jendoyleink and Facebook.com/jendoyleink.
Pick up a new sport this season! Scoring a happy-ever-after is always guaranteed.
CALLING IT by Jen Doyle
“Sexy and sweet and packing some serious heat, CALLING IT is a debut home run.”
—Marina Adair, #1 national bestselling author of Summer in Napa
After a near career-ending car accident and with paparazzi surrounding his penthouse, all-star catcher Nate Hawkins can only think of one place to go: home. But when he finds his old apartment occupied by a half-naked woman wielding a baseball bat, he’s not sure what to think…except that maybe his luck has finally changed for the better.
KNOCK OUT by Michele Mannon
Worth the Fight, book one
“With her gifted writing, Mannon allows readers to laugh out loud, swoon and bite their fingernails at all the appropriate times.”
—RT Book Reviews, Top Pick!
A former ballerina turned ring girl meets her match in a brooding, sexy MMA fighter.
KNOWING THE SCORE by Kat Latham
London Legends, book one
“I love Kat Latham’s London Legends series—the rugby players are hot, the emotion is hard-hitting and the sex is sizzling!” —Molly O’Keefe, RITA Award–winning and bestselling author
A rugby player with a scandalous past gives up his vow of celibacy to help a virgin overcome her fear of intimacy.
PAIRING OFF
Red Hot Russians, book one
“…a very enjoyable book by a knowledgeable author about a sport I love to watch…”
—Smart Bitches
A scandal-plagued American figure skater’s last chance at gold means pairing up with Russia’s sexiest male skater…who happens to be the first man she ever loved.
THE WINNING SEASON by Alison Packard
Feeling the Heat, book two
“This was a trifecta for me—a great heroine, a realistic courtship, and the added benefit of a well-integrated backdrop. It’s one of of my favorite books of the year.”
—Dear Author
After hitting rock bottom, bad-boy catcher Matt Scanlon is traded to the team he’s loathed since boyhood, and he must confront a painful incident in his past before he can rebuild his life and his career.
RUSH ME by Allison Parr
“Parr delivers sharp, witty dialogue and sarcastic one-liners that I found hilarious. And, you get football.”
— USA TODAY
When post-grad Rachael Hamilton accidentally gatecrashes a pro-athlete party, she finds herself alone with quarterback Ryan Carter, darling of the professional football league. She thinks he’s a dumb jock with a sexist attitude, and he thinks she’s an uptight, elitist snob. But when Rachael reluctantly agrees to cohost dinners at Ryan’s apartment, the two opposites find they have more in common than they imagined.
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If you love romantic comedies with British flair, you’ll love ACT LIKE IT by Lucy Parker—available now!
ACT LIKE IT
by Lucy Parker
A sharp-witted heroine and an infuriating-but-swoon-worthy leading man bring down the house in this utterly charming contemporary romance debut.
“I liked this book so much, I read it twice.”
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ISBN-13: 9781459294356
Called Up
Copyright © 2016 by Jen Doyle
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
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