Fiancee for Hire (Front and Center)
Page 19
“I’m abysmally bad at this,” he continued. “I’ll probably be an insensitive prick more often than you’d like. I’m a slow learner and a control freak and a bossy, anal-retentive—”
“You’re right about one thing.”
He swallowed. “Which one?”
“You’re abysmally bad at this.”
“Thank you.”
She smiled as a single tear plopped down her cheek. “So am I. I’m terrified of commitment and petrified of love and a mess of fucked-up ideas left over from a shitty childhood.”
Mac shook his head. “How did two of the most dysfunctional, broken people end up falling for each other?”
Kelli felt her smile get wider, and she peeled off her gloves to wipe away the tear. Then she reached into her pocket for the ring. She held it a moment, studying it. Then she slipped it on her finger and met his eyes again.
“Maybe between your broken pieces and my broken pieces, we can find a way to fit everything together and make something whole.”
Mac nodded. “That sounds good. Also a little dirty.”
She laughed and looked at him—really looked at him this time, not through the haze of a childhood crush or the blur of adult lust, but through the lens of reality.
He was big and powerful and sexy as hell, and everything she’d fantasized about for years.
But he was also shaken and rattled and unsure, which was not what she’d pictured in all her years of imagining him.
He was better.
“Okay,” she said, stepping forward so they were almost touching. “I’m in. Let’s give this a shot.”
Mac grinned and pulled her into his arms, kissing her with a fierceness that took her breath away. Kelli kissed him back, twining her fingers around his neck as she stretched up on tiptoe and he bent low and somehow, they met in the middle.
She wasn’t sure who broke the kiss first, but it was Mac who glanced at the operating table. “Not to kill the mood, but could you maybe do something about those cat nards?”
Kelli grinned and looked down at her unconscious patient. “That’s not your idea of romantic?”
“Actually, I guess it is,” he said. “Any happily-ever-after with you is going to involve balls.”
She laughed and stretched up to kiss him again. “Yes it is. It definitely is.”
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Acknowledgments
Thank you so much to Dr. Emily Bemrose for not only letting me pick your brain for veterinary knowledge, but for taking spectacular care of all my fur-babies over the years. You’re the best!
I’m super grateful to Jeff Jensen, owner of The Reptile Zone in Bend, Oregon, for giving me an awesome introduction to the Argentine tegu and other cool critters. If it weren’t for you, I could never speak knowledgeably about reptile penises at cocktail parties.
I’m flattered, honored, and a little bit baffled by the huge volume of readers who’ve contacted me almost daily since the release of Marine for Hire, asking when Mac and Kelli’s story would be available. Thank you for your enthusiasm and encouragement. This one’s for you!
Huge thanks to Linda Grimes, Linda Brundage, Cynthia Reese, Larie Borden, Bridget McGinn, and Minta Powelson for all your crazy-fast turnarounds and crazy-insightful critiques (and all-around craziness, of course).
My undying gratitude to the whole Entangled team, especially Heather Howland, for crying over my dirty jokes and laughing at my tender moments. Wait, does that sentence need to be edited?
Big hugs and kisses and thank-yous to Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Literary Agency for doling out good advice, moral support, and kick-ass agenting in equal measure.
Thank you to my family, Dixie and David Fenske and Aaron and Carlie Fenske, for always being there for me, and for making sure the world is well stocked with Fenskes. Thanks a million to my awesome stepkids, Cedar and Violet, for understanding why you’re not allowed to read my books or friend me on Facebook.
And thank you to Craig for tirelessly coming to my aid when I request assistance in choreographing a sex scene. You’re a real trooper.
About the Author
Tawna Fenske traveled a career path that took her from newspaper reporter to English teacher in Venezuela to marketing geek to PR manager for her city’s tourism bureau. An avid globetrotter and social media fiend, Tawna is the author of the popular blog, Don’t Pet Me, I’m Writing, and a member of Romance Writers of America. She lives with her fiancé in Bend, Oregon, where she’ll invent any excuse to hike, bike, snowshoe, float the river, or sip wine on her back deck. She’s published several romantic comedies with Sourcebooks, Coliloquy, and Entangled Publishing. Her quirky brand of comedy and romance has won praises from RT Book Reviews, Library Journal, and the Chicago Tribune, which noted, “Fenske’s wildly inventive plot & wonderfully quirky characters provide the perfect literary antidote to any romance reader’s summer reading doldrums.”
www.tawnafenske.com
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