No Promises Required

by Cari Quinn

  “Don’t care.”

  “I’ll get you one, whatever you want. Do you still like the same pink stones you did as a kid?”

  She hadn’t thought she could be any more touched. She’d been wrong. “Pink tourmaline? Like my mom’s high-school class ring?”

  “Yeah, that’s it.” He locked his arms around her waist, so tight he snatched her next breath. “Whatever you want,” he repeated. “Oh, and I’m not playing football anymore. I’m sticking around here.”

  “Say what?”

  He grinned and lifted her into his arms, spinning her in a slow circle. “Guess I’m going to build houses and be a husband. I mean, eventually. Assuming we keep heading the way we’re heading—okay, I’m shutting up now.”

  Laughing, she pushed at his chest to make him set her down. It was only then that she realized she hadn’t even thought of what effect the distance between them would have on their relationship. It hadn’t mattered.

  Loving him—and being loved in return—mattered so much more.

  She had so many questions. So much she wanted to say. Instead, she laced her fingers tighter behind his neck and turned her cheek to his. There would be time to talk about all of that later. “You okay? Without football, I mean.”

  “I’ve never been more okay.” He crushed his mouth to hers and stole her next sentence and the breath she still hadn’t gotten back. “I’m going to make you so glad you agreed to be mine, Jilly Bean.”

  “That’s a freebie,” she warned, grinning up at him. “And I already am. But you forgot one important thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “This means you’re mine, too.”

  “Absolutely.” He brushed his fingers over her cheek. “So am I going to score tonight?”

  “Darlin’,” she murmured, “I thought you’d never ask.”

  Epilogue

  Jill stared at her reflection in the mirror and grinned. “Hello there, Mrs. Townsend.”

  She’d done it. After accepting Bryan’s formal proposal three months ago, she’d married him in front of all their family and friends, one year to the day that they’d encountered each other on the night of Cory’s bachelor party. And soon, she’d get to enjoy her wedding night. She couldn’t wait.

  Any minute now he would enter the suite and strip out of his sexy-as-hell tux. Since he’d started working with Dillon on the Helping Hands houses, he’d gotten even more buff. She wasn’t sure how that was possible. His knee had healed up almost as good as new, and he seemed to really enjoy the kind of physical work he did with Dillon. Plus, his increasingly ripped body made a mighty fine distraction when she needed a respite from studying for her Vet-Tech coursework.

  She didn’t have much time to study, what with work and helping to babysit Vic and Cory’s adorable daughter, Tatiana, whenever she could.

  Bryan, Vic, and Melly had a relationship with both of their parents now, albeit strained at times, and Jill was glad to have a chance to get to know the Townsends better, too. The pair of thriving kittens—now cats—that they’d adopted, and Bryan’s dog Bingo took up any other spare moments she had, filling up her house with enjoyment and noise.

  This was her life, and she loved every chaotic minute of it.

  She turned away from the mirror as the door to the hotel suite opened. She’d had to rush to get there ahead of Bryan, but it was all worth it when she saw the way his jaw dropped at the sight of her in her frilly white slip and veil.

  “Sit on the bed,” she murmured. “Get nice and comfy.”

  “I’m not going to be comfy for a long time.” He reached down to blatantly adjust himself in his pants. He killed the hell out of a tux. “And I’m damn sure not going to be nice on my wedding night.”

  A grin slipped free before she forced her features into serious lines. “Wedding night? Would your wife do this?” She hit play on the sound system, and “Shoop” emanated from the speakers. Then she lifted her arms above her head and started to dance, slow and sensuously.

  The old her from that strip club last year might have wondered if her strip tease was actually sensual, but judging from his rapid intake of breath, she was pretty sure her transformation into full blown seductress was complete.

  “Holy Christ,” he said.

  “Shh, Mr. Townsend. We keep it clean here.” She hiked up her slip and revealed the new lacy garter she’d slipped on just before he arrived. His groan wound thick waves of arousal through her belly, and she used them as fuel to stave off the embarrassment that tried to stop her in her tracks.

  Tonight, she would give him this gift—and herself.

  Swiveling her hips in time with the music, she teased her breasts with her fingers, bringing the nipples to hard points while she walked across the room to him. With every step, his jaw locked more.

  His ass hit the bed a moment before she stepped between his spread knees. She planted her hand in the center of his chest and pushed him back on the mattress, straddling him with surprising efficiency. It wasn’t hard to keep her hips moving, because her husband was freaking hot.

  When his stiff length nestled in the warm vee of her thighs, she forgot her routine long enough to grin at the size of his erection. Damn, she’d actually pulled this off. Spectacularly.

  Her grin spread at his growl as she plucked at her nipples and gyrated shamelessly on top of him. Now she would get her reward. And it was a big one, too.

  Just as she lowered her mouth to his, he gripped her shoulder, his eyes going wide. “Fuck. No. Wait.”

  Rocking her pelvis over his shaft ripped another groan from his throat. “No waiting. We haven’t had sex in three weeks, thanks to your wanting to wait for the wedding. Do you have any idea how wet my pussy is for you?”

  “Fuck.” His glazed expression made the practicing she’d had to do to say that word to him all worth it. He shook his head and shut his eyes. “No, baby, let me show you something first. I promised myself I’d give it to you tonight. Two minutes.”

  With a dramatic sigh, she flung herself onto the bed. “It better be good.”

  “It is.” He adjusted himself one more time and lunged to his feet to retrieve his wallet from the nightstand. “I better get the damn husband of the year award for this one.”

  Before she could question him, he thrust a folded paper into her hand. “Read that.”

  She unfolded the page and read the letter in slow, dawning shock. By the last line, her eyes were wet.

  Dearest Bryan,

  I’ve treasured your friendship these past few years. Bringing up kids is hard. It takes molding raw material into a rough shape, and from there, the child does with it what they wish. You have better raw material than most. One day I hope you’ll realize how much good is in you, as I always have.

  My girl has wonderful raw material, too. I’ve seen you looking at her. Maybe someday you’ll settle in for a longer look. Perhaps she’ll even look back.

  All my love,

  Nora

  Swallowing hard, she glanced up at him. “This is from my mother? Where did you get this?”

  “She sent it to me years ago after she got sick. I couldn’t bear to read it then, so I carried it around in my suitcase for years. It probably sounds stupid, but it felt like keeping a piece of her with me even after she was gone.” He shrugged. “I finally read it when I was trying to figure out how to get you back. I was hoping there was some clue in it.”

  “Oh, Bry.” She flicked her fingers under her cheeks to try to stop the flood, but it was useless. “She wanted us to be together.”

  “Looks like it. Guess not everyone thought I would be bad for you.”

  “No one thinks that anymore, if they ever did,” she said gently.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t show it to you sooner. I was waiting for the right moment. And to be honest, I kind of expected it to disappear. Like it was some magical grimoire.”

  “She’d be so happy for us.” She clutched the letter to her chest. “That we love each other s
o much, and that we’re happy.”

  Bryan covered her free hand on the bed, squeezing it gently. “I think we’ve made her proud.”

  Blinking away her tears had turned into a momentous task. “It feels like I’m living a miracle every day.”

  “Baby, you are my miracle. Don’t you ever forget it.”

  How could she when he proved it to her every day of her life? He’d even given her a little of her mom back.

  “Thank you for showing it to me, today of all days when I miss her more than ever.” She rose, folded the letter, and pressed her lips to the paper before slipping it into his wallet. Then she pushed Bryan onto his back on the bed and pulled off her slip before climbing atop him in just the slinky panties and garters.

  “God, you are so beautiful.” The reverence in his expression nearly brought her to tears again, but she forced them back in favor of biting his earlobe.

  “Shh. Let me love you.”

  “Oh baby, I won’t be stopping you again anytime soon.”

  She grinned and eased back. “Oops, I almost forgot.” She dragged the ruler out from under the pillow and pressed it into his hand. “Thought you might’ve been missing this.”

  His growl reverberated through his body. “God, I love you.”

  Smiling, she unzipped his pants. “I know.”

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  Acknowledgments

  Thanks so much to my editor, Stephen Morgan, for making this book so much fun to work on and for helping me to make it shine! I truly appreciate it.

  Thanks to the Word Wenches, my reader group with Taryn Elliott, who always offer encouragement and man candy photos to keep me racing back to the computer. Love all of you!

  Thanks to Tessa Bailey, who helped me refine my ideas for this book early on. Your feedback always helps so much.

  About the Author

  USA TODAY bestselling author Cari Quinn wrote her first story— a bible parable —in 2nd grade, much to the delight of the nuns at her Catholic school. Once she saw the warm reception that first tale garnered, she was hooked. Now she gets to pen sexy romances for a living and routinely counts her lucky stars. When she’s not scribbling furiously, she can usually be found watching men’s college basketball, playing her music way too loud, or causing trouble. Sometimes simultaneously.

  www.cariquinn.com

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