by Aliyah Burke
“Because it’s two women. Was she hot?”
“Sure,” she replied drolly. “A regular knockout.”
“Sorry, I’m listening.” He leaned back, hands outspread briefly before he lowered them to the armrests.
“He told me I had to let it go and move on. The fact of how you did what you did to me was there but I couldn’t allow it to run my life and possibly ruin my future.” She crossed her arms. “I didn’t want to listen to him but I thought about why I didn’t. Because he was right and made sense.”
She pushed away from the bed and walked around his bedroom, stopping here and there to pick up little things he had lying around. “I can’t ever allow myself to be happy if I don’t learn how to forgive you and move on, Dale. I don’t want to be miserable for the rest of my life.” She shoved her hands in the pockets of her pants. “On the other hand, I can’t do what we have been for the past few months. I’m not wired that way. I’m an all-or-nothing kind of girl.”
He moved up behind her on silent feet and waited for her to turn back into him. He didn’t have long to wait.
“Crap, you move quietly.”
He cupped the sides of her face, swiping his thumb pads along her lips. “Give me a chance. Give us a chance. I can get this right, Allie. I swear. We had it all once; it could happen again.”
“My brain says I should run away as fast as I can the other direction.”
Christ, what if I lose her a second time? “And your heart?”
“Stay in the arms of the man I love.” Her smile was tentative. “I’ve always followed my heart.”
“You love me?”
She nodded, not once breaking his gaze.
Relief swarmed over him, and he kissed her, desperate to have her taste back in him. When she wound her arms around him, he knew, this was his last chance, and he’d be damned before he messed this one up again.
Autumn, one year later
“Don’t we have to get going?” Allie asked the man who lay naked next to her, his hand moving idly along her spine.
Dale grunted. They’d had a marathon bout of sex earlier that afternoon, and she’d woken less than five minutes ago to the featherlike teases of his fingers upon her skin. She loved the way he touched her. Like he couldn’t—or wouldn’t—ever get enough.
“Who cares? I want to stay in bed with you.”
“It’s a party.”
“We’re having one,” he grumbled along the small of her back before he nipped her ass. “A private one for just the two of us.” He laved along the spot he just bit, soothing the sting.
“We need to get going.”
He sighed and moved up her body, dragging her close to drape all over him. She slipped her arms under his shoulders and rested her cheek against his chest, the strong steady beat of his heart calming and comforting as always.
“Can’t we be late?”
“It’s your group. You have to explain to Griz why you weren’t there.”
He groaned. “That man’s name should never be mentioned in this bed. Or whenever we are thinking sex.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I was,” he said candidly. “Allie, you have my mind on it permanently.”
“So, then I shouldn’t ever say the man’s name?”
He kissed the top of her head. “Good, you’re seeing it from my view now.”
“No, we need to go. It’s a party for Trystan and Ivy’s baby. We can’t miss it; they postponed it for when Tyler wasn’t here and I didn’t have classes just so we could attend.”
“I know, I know. I just had plans, such plans, for this ass.” He squeezed her, and she moaned, hips rolling against his cock that grew stiffer by the second.
“No. I have to tell you something,” she said, getting off him and walking naked to the bathroom.
He appeared in the mirror behind her, hair tousled and his good looks amplified by the scruff he kept on his face. “What’s that?”
She worried her lower lip. “Remember two months ago when we had sex?” Laughter spilled out of her at his expression. “Right, be a bit more specific. Without the condom?”
“Yes, I remember. What about it? I have to admit, I loved being inside your pussy without a barrier between us and would love to… Oh shit.” He snapped his mouth shut. “Are you saying”—he spun her towards him—“what I think you are?”
“If what you’re thinking involves a squealing bundle of joy that hangs around for at least eighteen years, then yes.”
He sank to his knees before her, placing his large hands over her womb. “You’re carrying my baby?”
She wasn’t sure how he was going to react so she just nodded. Sure, the year hadn’t been all peaches but we were moving in the right direction I’d like to believe. What will this do us?
His lips on her belly answered her question. “Thank you, Allie. Thank you.”
His eyes glinted with unshed tears, and she knew he wouldn’t let them fall. He didn’t have to; the fact they were there meant enough to her.
She held the back of his head and kept him close to her and the unborn baby in her. Their baby. Who knew? Perhaps he was right in regards to them and a future together, it could happen again. Whatever came, she knew he would be there for his child. While she still didn’t have her parents in her life, she had him and his family, plus their friends. She would be fine. They would be fine.
~THE END~
Additional books by Aliyah Burke:
Megalodon Team
Kincade’s Rose
Harrier’s Healer
Connelly’s Flame
Greeley’s Spyce
Vittano’s Willow
Dimitri’s Moon
O’Shea’s Love
Chayton’s Tempest
Haikon
A Love for Lera
Graham Family
Justice Is Always Ready
Denim & Spurs
With This Ring
Dream Lover
Cottonwood Falls
Relentless
Fracture
Ravish
Spark
Savor
Intensity
Inferno
Serial
Keeper of the Stars Pt. 1
Keeper of the Stars Pt. 2
Keeper of the Stars Pt. 3
Keeper of the Stars Pt. 4
Keeper of the Stars Pt. 5
Astral Guardians
Chasing the Storm
Highlands at Dawn
Fields of Thunder
Branded by Frost
Driven by Night
Moon of Fire
Interludes
Temporary Home
Alone with You
Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore
In Aeternum
Casanova in Training
Harbour of Refuge
Protected by Shadows
Polar Opposites
Rakes & Rogues
What the Earl Desires
Her Reluctant Viscount
Her Pirate Rogue
Code of Honour
A Marriage of Convenience
The Lieutenant’s Ex-Wife
A Man Like No Other
When Stars Collide
Born to Fly
Landing in Love
You Save Me
Wild as the Wind
Zulu Spectre
Hearth, Holly, & Honor (3 in 1)
All Romance Ebooks
It Was Always You
Standalone
Code Name: Papa
Preconception
If You Dare
May You Always
Dutch & Lobo (in In the Trenches collection)
His Purrfect Mate
Under the Mask
That Fateful Ride
On the High Seas (in What White Boyz Desire collection)
The Detective’s Lover
Just a Dream
Love Under the Endless African Sky
Add A Little Mistletoe<
br />
Something Tangible
Seducing Damian
Through the Fire
Sin is Not a Four Letter Word
Holiday Surprise: Unwrapped
Raw Exposure
Co-written with Taige Crenshaw
Unbreakable Bonds
Kemet Uncovered:
Talios
Devi
Linc
Saffron
Taber
Ashia
Co-written with McKenna Jeffries
McKingley:
All the Wright Moves
The Best Thing Yet
Risky Pleasures
Pure Harmony
Irresistible Forces
Seductions Dance
About the Author:
Aliyah Burke is an avid reader and is never far from pen and paper (or the computer). She loves to hear from her readers and can be reached, here. She can also be found on Facebook or Twitter: @AliyahBurke96.
She is married to a career military man. They are owned by four Borzoi, and a DSH cat. She spends her days sharing time between work, writing, and dog training.
I hope you enjoyed reading, It Could Happen Again. If you could help others to find and enjoy this book as well, I would appreciate that act of kindness. You can do this by recommending it to your friends and/or reader’s groups. Also by reviewing it to let others know you liked it—and why—on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ARe, and other places.
Thank you so much for your support!!
