Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors)

by Violet Duke

  “Are you sure, you don’t want to—”

  “Sweetheart, really. Don’t do it. We don’t need the added danger to you or the baby.”

  “But don’t you want to know? I mean with me, and Skylar…”

  “Tessa, it wouldn’t matter what the prenatal gene test said. At least not to me.” His frame stiffened. “Are you thinking of terminating the pregnancy based on the results?”

  Horrified, she gasped in outrage. “Of course not!” She glared at him. “Would you still want to marry me if it were positive?”

  He tugged her in close and rumbled against her lips. “Of course I would.”

  She smiled and relaxed. “So we’re really doing this?”

  “Yes. Now take a better look at your present. I think they’re friggin’ cute as hell and I’ve been holding on to them for days, dying to see your face when you saw them.”

  Her heart melted into a puddle of goo.

  She opened the bag and broke out into a huge grin as she pulled out the little novelty onesies he’d bought. “He-Man and She-Ra?” she chuckled.

  “Yep. I know we won’t know what the gender of the baby is for months, but I wanted to get both just in case. We can return the other or give it to Abby and Connor for their kid if the gender matches.”

  She bit her lip to hide the gigantic smile that was trying to break free. “Actually, it might be a good idea to keep both. Just in case we’re having a boy and a girl.”

  At the slow shock blooming across his grin, she confirmed, “Because we’re having twins.”

  EPILOGUE

  “YOU READY TO GO on our honeymoon, sweetheart?”

  Tessa giggled. “Did you see the look on everyone’s faces when we told them what we were doing for our honeymoon night?”

  “Yes,” Brian chuckled. “And I’d pay good money to see it again.”

  He helped his gorgeous wife with her barely showing baby bump into the SUV. Meanwhile, the small group of their closest friends and family were waving and blowing bubbles.

  “Oh! Did you remember to get the cd back?”

  Precious thing. “Honey, I keep telling you, I’ve made over dozens of copies.” And backed up the file in over ten places.

  When she just kept right on staring at him, waiting for an answer, he replied lovingly, “Yes, I remembered to get the cd back.”

  She beamed.

  It thrilled him to no end that she’d loved his little musical surprise for her today. Since he’d wanted Tessa to have something truly special for their wedding day, he’d taken all of willow’s compositions and tracked down her old piano teacher, who’d been happy to play and record every single one. And though Tessa hadn’t heard the music in decades, she’d recognized it almost immediately when it came through on the speakers as the processional music for her walk down the aisle.

  She’d burst into tears.

  Happy tears, she later reassured him after he nearly had a heart attack and went racing up the aisle to get to her.

  “I know you made copies of the cd. And I’m not being weird. This copy is from our wedding day. So I want to keep it as one of our keepsake memories from the ceremony. Of something my amazing husband did for me—and my sister.”

  He stilled for a surprised moment and then broke out into a grin. Per usual, Tessa was always surprising him. Not wanting to spend another second delaying their honeymoon, he quickly slid a kiss over her smiling lips and then ran around to the driver’s seat.

  And waited.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Tessa.

  He checked his watch and opened the glove compartment, counting down 3..2..1.

  Her phone chirped.

  Eyes dancing, she grabbed for the phone and went straight to her calendar.

  He knew exactly what she’d find:

  Happy wedding day

  Where we’ll go: our honeymoon

  What we’ll do: pitch your first tent in the yard…clothing optional.

  She burst out laughing, and the sound hit him square in the heart like it always did.

  “Exactly how many of these calendar entries have you put in my phone?”

  “Just the one,” he said as he finally started up the car. “Because I intend to give you the rest of the reminders of how much I love you in person every day for the rest of our lives.”

  — THE END —

  *

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  Fear not dear readers, you haven’t seen the last of the Sullivans! My spin-off Cactus Creek series—four standalone novels and two novellas—takes place in that quirky town of Cactus Creek I’ve been referencing throughout all the Nice Girl and Nice Guy books.

  Gosh I love this place. I first ‘created’ this special, ruggedly beautiful town years ago; and since then, all my characters from both the Nice Girl/Guy and Cactus Creek series just up and decided it was the place to be. Though my muse and I tried to keep them from crashing each other’s series, these defiant characters were not having it! They each thought the other set of characters were far too interesting. Before I knew it, they were all becoming friends, hanging out together, and eventually butting into each other’s lives with no regard for this author’s sanity. *grin*

  Thus, it’s safe to say that you can count on little cameos from the entire Nice Girl/Nice Guy gang throughout all the upcoming Cactus Creek novels (all available now for sale and/or specially discounted pre-orders) along with a whole new cast of fun, offbeat characters that are as unique as they are lovable. You can check them out HERE and see why fans are wanting to move to this awesome little town!

  OTHER TITLES BY VIOLET

  NICE GIRL TO LOVE Series

  Resisting the Bad Boy (FREE)

  Falling for the Good Guy

  Choosing the Right Man

  Nice Girl to Love: Three-Book Collection

  Finding the Right Girl: Nice GUY to Love Novel

  CACTUS CREEK Series

  A Little Combustible Chemistry (FREE)

  Love, Chocolate, and Beer

  Love, Tussles, and Takedowns

  Love, Exes, and Ohs

  Love, Sidelines, and Endzones

  A Little Holiday Meddling

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  www.violetduke.com

  NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY bestselling author Violet Duke is a former professor of English Education who is ecstatic to now be on the other side of the page writing wickedly fun contemporary romance novels. Her NYT and USA Today bestselling books have been Top 10 bestsellers on Amazon, iTunes, and Barnes & Noble, and featured on IndieReader and GalleyCat as breakout hits. When she’s not writing or feeding her book-a-day reading addiction, Violet enjoys tackling reno projects with her power tools, trying pretty much anything without reading the directions first, and cooking ‘special edition’ dishes that laugh in the face of recipes. She lives in Hawai’i with her two cute kids (daughter Violet & son Duke) and similarly adorable husband.

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  SWEET TO YOU

  By

  Jessie Evans

  © 2013 Jessie D. Evans. This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead, or places, events, or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are prodiuctions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Cover image by Grekov’s for Shutterstock. Cover design by Bootstrap Designs.

  Editing by Edited Ever After Editorial.

  BOOK DESCRIPTION

  Where there’s smoke, there’s fire…

  Thou shalt not l
ie, cheat, steal, covet thy neighbor’s ass, or date thy sister’s ex-boyfriend—simple commandments Maddie Whitehouse has never had any trouble keeping. But when s’mores and whiskey shots lead to skinny-dipping under a full moon with Jamison Hansen at a singles’ camping retreat, Maddie realizes she has some serious repenting to do. Jamison may not be “technically” her sister’s ex, but he’s close enough. Besides, after the way things ended with her ex-husband, Maddie knows better than to get involved with another bad boy.

  Jamison Hansen is falling—hard and fast. Maddie Whitehouse is as sweet as the pastries she bakes, as unpredictable as Georgia weather in the spring, and lights a fire inside him he doesn’t want to put out. And sneaking around to avoid their prying families only makes the chemistry between them that much hotter. Maddie is everything Jamison never knew he wanted, and it isn’t long before the sparks between them kindle more serious feelings.

  But small towns are dangerous places for big secrets—a lesson Maddie and Jamison learn the hard way. Will the new couple be condemned by a jury of their peers, or live happily ever after? Sometimes forever doesn’t come easy…

  CHAPTER ONE

  “CRAP ON A CRACKER,” Maddie Whitehouse muttered as she stepped out of her friend Piper’s van at the Southern Singles Seaside Camping Retreat to see none other than Jamison Hansen emerging from the pickup truck in front of her.

  Jamison Hansen—the last person she wanted observing her trying to remember how to flirt—looking ridiculously handsome with the late-afternoon sunlight glinting off his sun-streaked brown hair. His muscled shoulders strained the fabric of his olive green tee shirt, and his corded forearms exuded pure manliness, while his sculpted backside practically demanded that a woman drop to her knees and thank God for whoever invented blue jeans.

  Maddie had been looking forward to this singles camping retreat for weeks. She’d been so excited when she piled into the van with Piper, Shelley, and Dawn this morning she could barely contain herself. She’d talked her friends’ ears off all the way down to Myrtle Beach, promising to out-hike, out-swim, and out-drink all three of them, so long as they swore to lock her in the van if she let the whiskey get the better of her.

  Most of the time Maddie was a level-headed person, but get a little whiskey in her and she became daring to the point of personal endangerment. But the four women had been best friends since they met at Girl Scout camp in junior high, and Maddie knew they wouldn’t let her do anything life-threateningly stupid.

  They’d actually encouraged her to let her hair down, to start her Month of Maddie—her annual month-long celebration of her May birthday—off with a bang. They knew the past year had been rough on her and insisted Maddie deserved a break.

  A little over a year ago, Maddie’s six-year marriage had ended in disaster when her ex-husband, Serge, left her for another man. She’d spent a good eight months grieving the loss of a friend and partner who had loved her well—if not always with as much passion as she might have hoped for—and only recently emerged from her despair pit.

  She finally felt ready to celebrate being single, to flirt and banter and maybe kiss a sexy stranger on the beach after the bonfire burned low. This singles camping trip was going to be the start of a new Maddie, one who wasn’t afraid to reach out and touch someone, even if that someone wasn’t going to end up being long-term relationship material.

  She was turning thirty in three weeks, for goodness sake. She couldn’t afford to let any more time slip through her fingers. She needed to start enjoying herself, and put her dreams of home and hearth on hold until she met the right guy.

  But now, everything was ruined.

  Jamison Hansen—childhood friend, womanizer, drop-dead delicious firefighter, and a man who smelled so good he shouldn’t be allowed within fifty feet of the ocean for fear his yummy man-scent might attract sharks—was here.

  Three months ago, that would have been bad news. Jamison had always treated Maddie like a little sister, someone he was in charge of pestering to her wits’ end while keeping her safe from danger in all forms, including men with amorous intentions. In the old days, he would have cramped her style; now, he was going to ensure she suffered three days of misery while being forced to watch Jamison flirt the panties off of at least one, if not more, of the single women on the trip.

  Knowing Maddie’s luck, it would be one of her friends, and she’d have to endure a play-by-play description of Jamison’s legendary lovemaking skills the entire trip back to Georgia.

  Because Jamison would be getting action this weekend, there was no doubt about that. The man was the Casanova of Summerville, Georgia, a professional smolder-wielder who had bedded half the women in their hometown, leaving a string of broken hearts in his wake. He was also the man who had almost kissed Maddie last February, when an unexpected eruption of mutual attraction had nearly led to a friendly hug becoming something more.

  Since then, Maddie had done her best to avoid Jamison, but the fire station was right across the street from her bakery. Maddie couldn’t help running into him at least once a week, often enough for his full lips, strong hands, and delicious man-scent to remain in her thoughts and continue to pop up in fantasies so naughty they made her blush just thinking about them.

  It was awful. She had never been attracted to Jamison growing up, and she certainly didn’t want to be attracted to him now. Even if he weren’t the wrong kind of guy—one more interested in conquest than commitment—he wouldn’t be an acceptable man to lust after. He had already locked lips with Maddie’s sister, Naomi. Sure it had happened over a decade ago, and Naomi was marrying Jamison’s brother, but any amount of sister-making-out was too much. Jamison was off-limits. Nothing was ever going to happen between them. Ever.

  Maddie’s head knew that, but her libido did not, a point proven when Jamison turned and their eyes met, sending a shiver of awareness sweeping over Maddie’s skin, raising gooseflesh on her arms and legs despite the eighty-five degree heat.

  Jamison didn’t look much happier to find his weekend of fun crashed by a childhood friend than she was, but his look of displeasure only lasted a moment before he smiled and leapt down from the truck bed with the agility of a jungle cat to prowl across the pine-needle covered ground toward her.

  “What are the chances, huh?” Maddie said, determined to have her first—and last—words with Jamison for the weekend over as quickly as possible. “Guess we’ll just have to try to stay out of each other’s hair.”

  Jamison crossed his arms, one side of his lips lifting in a smirk. “Is that your subtle way of telling me not to interfere while you’re trying to hook up?”

  “No,” Maddie said, rolling her eyes. “That’s my blunt way of saying I’m not here to cramp your style, and I’m sure you’ll extend me the same courtesy.”

  Jamison inclined his head, casting a glance behind Maddie to where her friends were unloading the van. “So I guess that means those three are off-limits?” he asked in a low voice.

  “If you want to go home with all your man parts intact, yes,” Maddie whispered, flinching when Jamison laughed.

  Even his laugh was sexy, a sensual expression of mirth that showcased even, white teeth and that delicious neck Maddie knew smelled better than fresh bread, lavender-scented candles, and a pan of recently fried bacon combined.

  “Got it.” Jamison winked at Maddie before lifting a hand to the women behind her and backing away with a husky, “Good day, ladies,” that triggered a sigh from one of the weaker members of the company.

  Maddie spun back around to find out which of her friends had become tangled in Jamison’s smolder-web to find Shelly and Dawn leaning against the van with slightly dazed expressions and Piper wiping drool from her chin.

  “Are you drooling?” Maddie as
ked, glaring at the athletic brunette she knew Jamison would have made a play for if Maddie hadn’t made it clear that her friends were off-limits. “Tell me you aren’t drooling, Piper Youngman.”

  “Who was that?” Piper asked with a grin, not even bothering to deny the accusation. “I like.”

  “Me, too,” Shelly added with a sigh that stirred the fuzzy blond curls falling into her face. “But you can have dibs, Piper. Since you drooled and all.”

  “No, she cannot have dibs.” Maddie propped her hands on her hips. “Jamison is off limits.”

  Dawn’s pierced eyebrow rose. “Oh, it’s like that, is it? Back off ladies. Studly’s already spoken for by the birthday queen.”

  “No, it’s not like that,” Maddie said. “I just—”

  “And what the birthday queen wants, the birthday queen gets,” Piper interrupted, lifting her hands into the air. “I withdraw my claws. Pounce away, sister.”

  Maddie rolled her eyes. “I am not going to be pouncing anyone, especially Jamison Hansen.”

  “But that’s the whole reason we’re here!” Shelley’s full lips pushed into a pout. “This weekend is for pouncing. It’s like Virginia is for lovers except it’s a weekend instead of an entire state.”

  “Jamison is my sister’s fiancé’s brother,” Maddie explained. As non-residents of Summerville, her friends weren’t privy to the intricate details of her and Jamison’s relationship. “It would be like incest.”

  “No, that’s when you marry a cousin or something,” Shelly said. “I know because my stepsister married her first cousin. She lives in Arkansas, but they went to Tennessee to get married because it’s legal to marry your first cousin there.”

  “That’s it,” Dawn said, frowning as she pulled her shiny blue-black hair into a low ponytail, showcasing the mermaid tattoo on her upper arm. “I’m officially divorcing Tennessee as my birth state. I mean, what is the world coming to when something is illegal in Arkansas but not in the Volunteer State?”