Almost Married

by Kylie Gilmore

  He waggled his brows. “I’ve got something to show you too. Me first.”

  He snagged her around the waist, pulling her close for a kiss that was hard and demanding. Slow and gentle Dave seemed to have left permanently once Griffin arrived on the scene. He had one arm banded around her waist, holding her tight against him as his mouth claimed hers. She gave up on showing him her surprise, looping her arms around his neck and letting him have his way with her.

  A noise out front reminded them they had company. Dave jerked back. He pressed his thumb to her lower lip with a heated gaze. “Give me one minute.”

  He turned and opened the front door. “Hey, all. I’m about to get lucky with the love of my life, so if you could come back tomorrow morning at eight a.m., I’d be happy to tell you all about Big Genius and his new way of calculating numbers using higher mathematics.”

  Camera flashes went off. Some of the reporters chuckled.

  “Dave!” Steph exclaimed with a laugh.

  Dave shut the door and locked it. He closed the blinds too. While he was watching out the small front door window for the reporters to leave, she went to her purse for the FedEx envelope she’d wanted to show him.

  A few minutes later, he turned to her with a grin. “They’re gone. For now, anyway.”

  She laughed and handed him the envelope. “Signed divorce papers.”

  He pulled out the papers and read them. He stared at the signature. Just kept staring.

  “Aren’t you happy?” she asked. “I thought you’d be jumping up and down.”

  He stared at her. “I think I’m in shock.”

  “Well, be happy!” She threw her arms around him.

  He blinked. His eyes were shiny with unshed tears. “I’ve never been happier.” He set the papers on the coffee table and turned to her. “Steph, will you marry me?”

  “Yes!”

  He cradled her face with both hands. “Will you have all my Little Genius trademark babies?”

  She laughed. “I would love to have all your Little Genius trademark babies.”

  He dropped his hands and whispered in her ear, “I’ve done research on a woman’s erogenous zones.”

  A flash of heat went through her. “I can’t wait.”

  Dave practically ripped off her clothes before tossing her on the bed. Good for his word, he worked through all her erogenous zones, telling her exactly what he planned on doing, waiting for her to say it was his, all his, before following through while she quivered from his thorough attention.

  She didn't mind one bit when he woke her in the middle of the night. He couldn't see much in the dark without his glasses, so he said he'd have to go by touch and taste. He worked his way down her body, and just when she couldn't wait another second to have him inside her, he flipped her over and explored from the nape of her neck down to her toes. She had never felt so cherished, so well loved in her life.

  At breakfast, he made her an omelet and fed her bits of it while he held her on his lap. She wore an oversize Columbia sweatshirt and nothing else, at his request. He’d bought an extra Columbia shirt for his place because he loved to see her in it. Apparently, brains were a real turn-on for him.

  “I can’t wait to make you all mine,” he told her.

  “I dare you.”

  Dave didn’t need any more encouragement.

  ~ ~ ~

  Griffin couldn’t believe the firestorm of press over Dave. The man was a phenomenon. They called him Mr. Genius because of those commercials he’d done as a kid. It had been a month, and Dave had already done a geek-chic modeling job and a few commercials for some new electronic learning system. While Dave was moving up, Griff was scaling down. His focus was back on the music, not the lifestyle. It was first, last, and forever about the music. That was something Christina had reminded him of. As crazy as she was, she kept it real.

  A thought hit him. Christina. She had to have been the one to leak out the news about Dave being in those kiddie commercials. Sure, with some digging the press could’ve found out about Dave’s commercials, but the way the news spread so quickly after that Shrek picture, it had to have been her. Dave would’ve revealed that tidbit a lot earlier if he really wanted to snag the spotlight. Griff would’ve thought of Christina’s devious role in all this sooner, except he was too busy selling off his properties and getting ready to move to a brownstone in Brooklyn. Paulie D had thrown fits about it. Griff had fired him. In fact, he’d let all of his staff go, except his manager, Bill. He’d also filed a restraining order against Mandy. He’d had stalker fans before, some weird shit women gifted him with, but never someone that pulled a gun on him. He’d been shaking in his boots when that happened, but he’d kept his cool for Steph’s sake.

  The music scene in Brooklyn was hopping. He couldn’t wait to be part of it. And he could easily visit Joey from there. He pulled out his cell and texted Christina. He had her number programmed in his phone as Crazy Christina. He didn’t know why he’d bothered to program it in. He’d never intended to call her. His text said simply: I know it was you.

  She replied immediately: Took you long enough, Sherlock.

  He smiled and texted back: I’m moving to Brooklyn. I hope I never see you.

  She texted: Your ugly mug belongs in Cleveland.

  He broke out into a wide grin and replied with a smiley face. She meant he belonged in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

  She texted back. An emoticon? I expect more from a badass rocker. Fail.

  He replied with a shocked face emoticon.

  Then she reached out through the power of text, grabbed him by the collar, and sent a bit of poetry: I want to hear your soul music. No matter how long it takes to get your shit together. Hear me?

  He sucked in a breath, touched by her faith in him. He replied: You’re a ballbuster.

  I’m your fucking muse.

  He immediately heard the beginnings of a rip-roaring guitar riff.

  Tell me what pisses you off, he texted.

  She went on and on. Her words became the lyrics to a new song, “Crazy Thing.” He’d found his muse. Crazy Christina opened up a very different vibe in him. It was euphoric.

  Epilogue

  “So how does it feel to be Mrs. Olsen?” Dave called from the bedroom. They were at his family's lake house for what promised to be a beautiful summer-long honeymoon. They’d be house shopping soon with the money from Dave’s modeling gig and commercials.

  Steph pulled the red satin and lace robe over the matching slip she'd picked out for their wedding night. She was dressing in the bathroom to surprise him. “It feels great!”

  She smiled as she pulled her hair up, leaving a few tendrils to hang down. After her divorce was final, she and Dave had immediately planned a church wedding and reception for the weekend after the school year ended. Someone had made a huge anonymous donation to their school district's music program. Steph had a feeling she knew exactly who it was. The same benefactor that had established a trust in her brother’s name. Griff had a new hit getting a lot of attention, inspired by, of all people, Dave’s sister. She’d hit it off with Christina right away, both women passionate about family.

  She grabbed her surprise for Dave, hid it behind her back, and stepped out of the bathroom. “How does it feel to be a married man?”

  He took her in, head to toe, and swallowed visibly. “I've never been happier in my life.”

  “Good,” she practically purred. She sauntered over to him where he lay on the bed wearing only his black Dr. Who boxers that read Trust Me I'm the Doctor. She kissed him and, while his eyes were closed, slipped on her surprise for him. She pulled back. “How do you feel about a little role-playing?”

  She wore a Princess Fiona wedding headband—ogre ears with a small tiara and veil.

  “I thought you'd never ask,” Dave said fervently. “Be right back.”

  She sat up and watched as he rummaged through his suitcase and came up with his ogre ears and handcuffs. He shove
d the ears on his head. “First you need to be rescued,” he said, striding over and snapping the cuffs on her.

  She wrapped her cuffed arms around his neck. “Yes, my adorable ogre.”

  He pushed her gently back on the bed, shifting the pillow so it was under her head. Slow and gentle Dave was back. Though she could still bring out the animal in him with a well-timed dare. He was very competitive and could never turn down a challenge. She liked to let him win by a landslide, leaving them both panting and satisfied.

  He met her eyes with a grin. “Then I have to transform you into the human princess by working every erogenous zone I've researched!”

  “Oh, Dave.” She shivered, knowing how intent his focus and attention could be.

  He leaned close, his lips just a breath away. “How do you feel about being Uhura tomorrow night?”

  “Uhura?”

  “From Star Trek?”

  “I, uh, like it?”

  He closed his eyes. “You haven't seen the original Star Trek, have you?”

  “No.” She bucked her hips to remind him what was important. She could feel his erection pushing against her through the boxers.

  “We'll stream it on the laptop,” he croaked.

  “I dare you to make me scream.”

  Dave got right to work. And he didn't stop until much, much later when she screamed his name like a freaking hallelujah.

  What a stud.

  ~ ~ ~

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  You’ve just read book #2 in the Clover Park STUDS series. The books in the series are Almost in Love (Barry & Amber), Almost Married (Dave & Steph), Almost Over It (Will & Jasmine), Almost Romance (Ian & Kate), and Almost Hitched (more Ian & Kate). I hope you enjoy them all!

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  Read on for an excerpt from Almost Over It, Will and Jasmine’s story:

  The most aggravating man in the world turns her on…

  When Jasmine Davis opens her new dance studio, she’s shocked to find she shares the building with Will Levi, aka the man she fought with all summer at the community theater. Will is rigid, uptight, and irritating, so why is she so turned on?

  Ex-bad boy Will has been living a life of penance ever since he crashed his car, nearly killing his brother. Jasmine is just one more reminder of the life he doesn’t deserve, but when one perfect kiss sets them on the slippery slope toward love, they both fear it will end with a crash. What do you do when the one person you can’t live with is the one person you can’t live without?

  Jasmine went to work eagerly the next afternoon for her two after-school classes. Clover Park had a lot of families, and word had gotten around that a former Broadway dancer was the instructor. Of course, most people in town knew her already. She'd grown up here.

  Today she'd teach jazz and hip-hop, so she left her hair down in its wild curls. She liked to whip her hair around with certain dance styles. She did her usual stretches, remembering how Will had spied on her yesterday. She wondered if he'd show up again today. The music wasn't too loud, quieter than yesterday anyway. She turned and stretched, facing the windows of the waiting room. No Will. Good. She didn't need to start every day with a fight. She finished stretching and danced just for the hell of it, lost in the music and the joy at the freedom of movement as energy flowed through her body. She danced a few more songs, then set up for the jazz class.

  A short while later, cars started pulling up and parking out front. Some went around back. She had fifteen girls signed up in the eight-to-twelve-year-old class. She bounced on the balls of her feet. This was going to be awesome. She welcomed each girl, introduced herself to their parent, and invited them to stay in the small waiting room, where she'd left some magazines and several chairs.

  The girls were eager to learn, some of them were in awe, remembering her from when she'd danced in The Lion King last year. A lot of families in town had come to the city to watch her in that family-friendly production. She finished the class an hour later and snagged her water to rehydrate. Her next class started in fifteen minutes.

  She heard the chime that indicated the studio door had opened. Guess some students had shown up early. She headed to the waiting room to greet them and stopped short at the sight of Will standing there, looking aggravated. His hair was even wilder today, like he'd stuck both hands in it and pulled. He wore a white coat with his name embroidered over one pocket, Dr. Levi, D.D.S. A yellow bow tie peeked out the top of the buttoned-up coat.

  She grinned. “Here for the hip-hop class, I assume?”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw. He was pissed about something. This should be good.

  “We need to talk about the parking situation,” he said through clenched teeth.

  The man needed a drink or a massage or to get laid or something. Her cheeks warmed. She wasn't going to help him with any of the above.

  She lifted her hair off the back of her neck to cool it. “I parked in my reserved spot.”

  He stared at her neck. He did that a lot. Staring. She didn't know why because it always seemed to make him madder.

  He glowered at her. “I have patients that need to park in this lot. You can't hog all the spaces for your classes. You need to ask the parents to form an orderly line for drop off and pick up.”

  “Oh, I do, huh?”

  “Yes, you do.”

  “Is that what the yoga studio did?” Her dance studio had previously been a yoga studio.

  He stared at her legs in tights that ended at the ankle; then his gaze fixated on her bare ankles. He spoke slowly. “I wasn't here when they were open, but I have to assume they found street parking. Otherwise, my dad would've mentioned it as a potential problem to me.”

  She shrugged. “Sometimes the parents like to stay to watch class. I mean, seriously, how many parking spaces do you really need? You can only work on one mouth at a time.”

  His head jerked back up to look in her eyes. “Just don't let them park out front,” he ground out. He was going to whittle his teeth down to little stubs if he didn't stop clenching and grinding them. She felt it only fair to point that out to a man obsessed with teeth.

  “You should loosen up your jaw,” she said. “You're going to do some serious dental damage.”

  “Oh, that's rich.” He shoved both hands in his hair and pulled. His hair stayed all wild, sticking out every which way. It was a little unsettling the way it made him look less uptight and more her kind of guy. “I put in four years at dental school, three years of graduate work in orthodontics, and you're telling me about dentistry.”

  She flashed a smile. “I keep my jaw nice and loose. Look at these choppers.” She opened her mouth with a wide grin. She expected him to get madder and quieter, but instead he approached her.

  She took a step back. He moved with her, and his hand cupped her jaw.

  “Open,” he said.

  Her heart picked up speed. “Will, I'm not your patient.” His hand was warm and firm. She should hate his touch, should pull away, but she found herself frozen. He'd never touched her before. Never been this close. He had this warm, spicy scent that wrapped itself around her.

  He stared at her mouth. “I want to see your choppers.”

  This was weird, she thought even as she opened her mouth. He stared, very seriously.

  “Bite,” he said.

  She clamped her teeth together in a bite. His warm finger stroked her jaw as he murmured, “A perfect bite. My father's work?”

  She met his brown eyes, startled at the fire burning in them through his glasses. “Yes.”

  He nodded once before his gaze dropped to her mouth. She was having trouble forming a coherent tho
ught as his warm hand now cupped her cheek.

  “Jaz?” he asked before he slowly dipped his head.

  “Yes?” she breathed, her heart hammering furiously.

  “Dr. Will! There you are!” a voice boomed.

  Want to read the rest? Almost Over It is out now!

  Other Books by Kylie Gilmore

  The Clover Park Series

  The Opposite of Wild (Book 1)

  Daisy Does It All (Book 2)

  Bad Taste in Men (Book 3)

  Kissing Santa (Book 4)

  Restless Harmony (Book 5)

  Not My Romeo (Book 6)

  Rev Me Up (Book 7)

  An Ambitious Engagement (Book 8)

  Clutch Player (Book 9)

  A Tempting Friendship (Book 10)

  The Clover Park STUDS Series

  Almost in Love (Book 1)

  Almost Married (Book 2)

  Almost Over It (Book 3)

  Almost Romance (Book 4)

  Almost Hitched (Book 5)

  Happy Endings Book Club Series

  Hidden Hollywood (Book 1)

  Inviting Trouble (Book 2)

  Acknowledgments

  Dear readers, I took some artistic license with Connecticut divorce laws. I am not a lawyer. Thanks for living in my fictive dream for a time. Thanks to all of the rock star romances that made me think: what if it wasn’t the rock star who got the girl? Big hugs to my hubby, Big Guy, and Little Guy for cheering me on. Love you guys! Thanks, as always, to Tessa, Pauline, Mimi, Shannon, Kim, Maura, and Jenn for all you do. And thank you dear reader for taking this journey with me!

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks are not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.