by Violet Duke
The five guys in question had their heads hung in shame.
And oddly enough, this strange display did make it better.
“Next, we have Lia’s brothers back there, the Spencer boys, standing next to every single guy in my gym. They can all tell you that I’ve threatened each and every one of them with severe bodily harm if anyone so much as checked you out, let alone hit on you.”
She jerked in shock over that. One look at the group of fifty or so beefy fighters—who were all standing in cross-armed fighting poses, nodding and grinning widely at her—confirmed he hadn’t been exaggerating in the least.
“And then over there, covering the entire dining area of your brewpub, is every person in this town who knows, and who has known, that I am hopelessly in love with you.”
Xoey scanned the sea of faces in the standing-room-only crowd.
“Everyone there will give you a different reason why they’re convinced I’ve never stopped loving you. And every single one of those reasons would be absolutely true.”
He came back over to her and carefully pulled out a piece of paper. “Finally, there’s this.”
She gasped. “You kept this? All these years?”
“I did. This was the note you left for me on my nightstand after our one night together. And I was wrong, baby. You did sign it. You signed it ‘XO,’ which, at the time, I had thought was just you writing hugs and kisses.”
The crowd murmured as if they’d just witnessed a fantastic plot twist.
Xoey had to admit, it was a pretty darn good one. Freaking universe.
He folded the note back up carefully. “I never forgot you, Xo. And though the universe has had a good joke at our expense for almost a decade now, I truly believe that you and I weren’t ever really apart. You weren’t the one who got away.”
Cupping her cheek gently, he said softly, “You were the one who never left—not my heart, not my soul.”
“You brighten all my days, Xo, every single one. And as the last decade has shown me, I can’t live without you in my life.”
He kneeled down then and she swore, she heard the entire room stop breathing.
“Sweetheart, you once said that everything that’s happened, all the different versions of us over the last decade are all tangled up in each other. For me, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Because look at the life we’ve managed to create during that time.” He nodded over at their son, and spanned his gaze over the entire room. “So maybe we don’t have the perfect, the normal, or even the remotely linear path to happily ever after. But throughout it all, you were always with me, and as you’ve explained to me and your friends, I was always with you, too.”
He took her hands in his. “So Xoey Montenagro, will you please do me the unbelievable honor of going out on that second date that we never got to have ten years ago?”
Xoey felt her heart go haywire.
He was just so…perfect.
While some of the townfolk sounded disappointed it wasn’t a wedding proposal, for Xoey, she couldn’t imagine a more romantic, more stunningly perfect request uttered by the man she’d started falling for a decade ago.
Wiping her tears away, she answered, “I will…on two conditions.”
His utterly masculine, thoroughly primal look of joy at the first part of her response turned amused, and fiercely possessive at the second half. “Name it.”
“First, Blake comes with us on our date.”
“Already planned on it.”
“And second, you agree right now to take us to a Bears-Packers game…so you can cheer for the Bears alongside me.”
He gave her a truly pained look then.
“Might as well get used to it.” She smiled. “We’re going to be a Chicago Bears family.”
Instantly, his eyes softened with emotion, and he rumbled from somewhere deep in his chest, “Deal.”
“Then, yes.”
And the crowd cheered.
EPILOGUE
Four Months Later
“YOU DO REALIZE the entire town is going to kill us,” whispered Xoey, as if every wall, tree, and lamp post outside of his truck had ears. “The whole town had a bet going on how quickly you’d get me to agree to marry you after we got together. They are going to freak the heck out when they find out what we did.”
Isaac looked back at her in surprise. “You knew too?”
She rolled her eyes. “The folks in our town aren’t exactly the world’s best secret keepers. I heard folks talking about it at Luke and Dani’s wedding.”
Staring at his wife of forty-eight hours, he still couldn’t believe they were finally married. It hadn’t been planned; they’d just been in Vegas for a date weekend. But that’s what made it special. For once, they hadn’t wanted to wait for the planets to eventually align, or have their lives and futures dictated by the universe. They’d wanted to become husband and wife, and so they did.
Of course, they had every intention of having a ceremony and reception in town with all their family and friends.
But this had been for them.
Not that they expected the townfolk to be any less miffed.
Truly though, their only defense was that after waiting ten years for their happily ever after, neither of them wanted to wait ten minutes to get married.
“We’re going to have to go in sometime, sweetheart.”
She peered up at the side entrance of Ocotillos like it had sprouted horns and a tail. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
When they pushed the service entrance doors to the dining area of the brewpub, Isaac and Xoey came to an abrupt halt.
As did what looked like, at least a hundred townfolk who’d been running around and causing quite the ruckus not two seconds prior.
“Hey guys,” waved Xoey.
With her right hand. To hide the ring, no doubt.
He smothered back a chuckle and mentally started a countdown.
The crowd split like the Red Sea less than two seconds later.
The women rushed over to see Xoey’s ring while the guys headed to the bar to get Isaac a congratulatory drink.
After about five minutes of congrats and other good cheer—two of them spent with their son, of course—who they’d both missed like crazy, Xoey asked the same incredulous question that was on his mind as well.
“You guys aren’t mad?”
The manic meddling, and chaotic co-dependency of the town was actually one of its charms. Suddenly having a bunch of rational folks in their midst was going to take a little getting used to.
“Of course not,” cried out someone from the back he had no chance of pinpointing. “If anything, we’ve been wondering what the heck was taking you two so long.”
Murmurs of laughter and agreement echoed around the room.
Just when he thought he had them all figured out.
“So what’s with all this?” he asked, pointing around the dining room. There were giant poster boards of every color, two whiteboards with notes, clipboards at nearly every table, and a big blueprint of the town square. There were also at least a dozen folks on their cell phones reporting back information to everyone.
Darcy, who was now navigating her wheelchair pretty well with her slowly improving left hand, wheeled up with three clipboards on her lap, and a huge smile. “The town is planning your second ceremony and reception.”
Of course. There was the crazy town they all knew and loved.
“They got started probably two minutes after Blake had mentioned to Lia that you’d video conference called him in to your ceremony in Vegas.”
They’d wanted him to be a part of it.
And lucky for them, he’d thought attending his mom and dad’s Vegas wedding by FaceTime was just the coolest thing ever.
Peering over at the clipboards, they saw that they mostly contained sign-up sheets.
“You two are quite beloved.” Darcy winked at them and rolled away, Blake and his favorite four-legged buddy bounding along beside her, hi-fiving
folks along the way.
“Isaac, these are all the proposed winnings from the bet the town had on us.”
Frowning, Isaac read through the lists. “You’re right. That’s the pot of everyone’s wagers.”
Dani slung an arm around each of them and explained, “The town decided to donate it all to your wedding. Every last item the folks went in with. From free landscaping, to free car work, to pies and breads, and maple butters and jellies, and yes, even giant sex toy baskets.”
Xoey tipped her head back and started laughing. “You’re telling me that our wedding is going to have doorprizes?”
“Plus a raffle, and at last vote, game booths, too,” added Dani with a pleased grin.
Touched at the unending kindness and overwhelming weirdness of their friends and neighbors, Isaac joined in the laughter. Hell, he flat-out loved this insane little town.
Rylan, always the gambler, looked up from the list in question then and asked, “Out of curiosity, who would’ve won?” He slid over the list. “Any of those times come close to how long it took for Xoey to say yes?”
Isaac didn’t even bother looking. “Nope,” he replied with a smile.
Suddenly, the whole room quieted.
“Sorry guys,” he continued. “But no one would’ve won the bet.”
He gazed lovingly at his new wife. “Because Xoey proposed to me.”
THE END
Sienna & Grady’s story is up next!
Love, Sidelines, and Endzones
coming Spring 2015
-- Turn the Page for a Sneak Peek! --
-- SNEAK PEEK –
LOVE, SIDELINES, AND ENDZONES
By New York Times Bestselling Author
Violet Duke
“Hey, hon. How’s that dad of yours doing? Healing up okay?”
Sienna Whitman took a seat at the bar and smiled at the passing Ocotillos waitress who’d been bringing her breakfasts since she’d been a kid. “He’s doing good. He’s recovering from the triple bypass well, and of course, making the nurses crazy.”
Xoey, her friend and co-owner of Ocotillos slid a mug of Hefeweizen her way. “So then why the long face?”
Sienna sighed. “The new head coach that took over for him just hired the last assistant coach today.”
“Ouch.”
Exactly. After paying her dues for the better part of a decade, trying to prove herself, she finally thought that this season would be her chance to be hired as an assistant coach for the school she’d been giving her blood, sweat, and tears to.
But no. She was again asked to come back as the team’s more ridiculously overqualified statistician. And the hiring perk they threw in to show her how much they appreciated her?
A new golf cart.
Sienna took a sip of her beer and continued her rant, “Worst of all, they couldn’t have hired a guy more wrong to replace my dad! He wants to run a crazy new system that doesn’t mesh at all with our players or our philosophy. And from what little I’ve heard, his entire focus is on his dumbass offense plays.”
Xoey gave her a sympathetic, and somewhat…loaded smile. “I’m sure he’s not that bad.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sure he’s worse.” She took another big sip of beer, still grumbling about asshat coaches who didn’t respect the defense.
A low, deep chuckle resounded from behind her.
And Sienna felt a strange sizzle shoot up her spine.
Weird.
Xoey’s smile picked up a few more watts, just as the big, warm body behind her crowded her space even more.
Why wasn’t she more annoyed about this?
“Sienna, I don’t think you got a chance to meet my new tenant yet. He just moved into town and needed an apartment so he’s renting out my old studio above the brewery.”
Eyes twinkling with merriment now, Xoey swung her bar towel back and forth to make introductions. “Sienna, Grady. Grady, Sienna.” With that, she turned and walked away, calling over her shoulder, “Have fun. Play nice.”
‘Grady’ pulled up on the stool beside her and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Grady Richardson. Your new resident football dumbass.”
Oh, crap.
LOVE, SIDELINES, AND ENDZONES
A Cactus Creek Novel, Book 5
By New York Times Bestselling Author
Violet Duke
-- Coming Spring 2015 --
Grady Richardson is used to folks questioning why he never went pro. Sharing genes with a family of NFL greats, it should've been the natural decision. But instead, he chose coaching. Back when he was getting hit with hard life lessons for all his wrong choices, it was the first one he'd made that had felt so right. Moving to the oddball town of Cactus Creek is now officially the second. Here, folks care less about his name and more what the local auto shop teacher--daughter of the coach he's replacing--thinks of him. It's refreshingly different. She's refreshingly different. An opinionated powder keg with mind-melting curves and a garage full of tools he's sure she'd like to hurl at him half the time, Sienna Whitman is the president and sole member of his non-fan club. And lately, it seems all their heated debates over his high-scoring offense dominating her old school defense is starting to mean something a whole lot different in his head...
Sienna Whitman is used to being kept on the sidelines. Cactus Creek's town coaching legend--just plain 'Dad' to Sienna--could've recommended her as an assistant coach to his successor upon his retirement. But thanks to that pesky lack of a Y chromosome on her resume, here she is, back as overqualified team statistician, secretly feeding field plays to her coaching buddies through her phone yet again. Now, it wouldn't be half bad if not for the new head coach continuously pushing her buttons at every turn. Mr. All American good looks with that 'new school offense' of his is driving her crazy. And not just because he's under the very mistaken notion that she's a sex addict in rehab, thanks to the opposite-of-quick thinking by her partners in crime on the field--seriously, if only her Bluetooth had a kill function. No, it's the unprecedented realization that just being around Grady makes Sienna want that rehab center's number for real. On speed dial.
Hell, it's going to be a long season.
SWEET TALK BOXED SET
Ten NEW Contemporary Romances
to Benefit Diabetes Research
by
Brenda Novak, Melody Anne, Violet Duke,
Melissa Foster, Gina L Maxwell, Linda Lael Miller,
Sherryl Woods, Steena Holmes, Rosalind James,
Molly O'Keefe, and Nancy Naigle.
With a foreword by #1 NYT Bestseller Robyn Carr
In 2014, the boxed set curated by Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research (titled A SWEET LIFE), raised almost $100,000 net to the charity in only one month. This year we’re back for a second helping, and you can indulge, too! Priced at only $9.99, this heart-warming, limited edition collection features ten BRAND NEW contemporary romances by New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors...
You can make a difference while you read! All proceeds from the sale of SWEET TALK will be donated to the Diabetes Research Institute via Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research.
Featuring a foreword by #1 NYT Bestselling Author Robyn Carr and a bonus story, the Brenda Novak classic, WHEN WE TOUCH, which kicks off her popular small-town contemporary Whiskey Creek series.
In this new tale from NYT bestselling author Melody Anne, Liam Felton had it all, or thought he did. That was until he lost his best friend and brother in arms all in one day. Then his life forever changes when his best friend's will is read and Liam discovers that he now has a child to raise.
When behind-the-scenes sports analyst Jackson Gray is assigned the task of teaching the ins and outs of college and pro football to the network’s newest on-camera beauty, sideline reporter Leila Hart, the last thing he expects is to become the one getting schooled—in lessons in love, that is—from a woman who clearly knows way more about sports than she lets on. JACKSON by
NYT bestselling author Violet Duke.
From New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster comes a new, sweet and sexy wedding romance, PROMISE MY LOVE, the follow-up novella to DESTINED FOR LOVE (The Bradens).
NYT bestselling author Gina L. Maxwell introduces her new military series with Macen "Mace" Barnett, ex-Navy SEAL and leader of the rebel G.H.O.S.T. Group in DEADLY OBSESSION. Going undercover as a stunt double, Mace works to catch the psycho stalking his brother's co-star, Ashlynn, while she works to prove that Mace's heart isn't dead after all.
From NYT bestselling author Linda Lael Miller we have a heart-pounding tale of unrequited love come to fruition in INTERLUDE, the story of a woman holding out for the man she’s never forgotten--the sexy cowboy she’s always loved.
#1 NYT bestselling author Sherryl Woods takes readers back to her beloved Chesapeake Shores for the story of a woman stuck in a dead-end job who discovers it's never too late for a whole new dream.
In the latest romance from NYT bestselling author Steena Holmes, Charlie Peters knew running away wasn’t the right thing to do, especially from her fiancé, but with her sister in the hospital, now seemed like the perfect time. And it wasn’t just him she was running away from, but the promise of the life they could have together. She wasn’t meant for happily-ever-afters, even though Marcus was her Prince Charming.
Rosalind James’s JUST IN TIME (ESCAPE TO NEW ZEALAND) brings you one bad boy of New Zealand rugby, one erotic modeling contract that doesn’t stay in Vegas, and one good woman to pick up the pieces.
Rita Award winning author Molly O'Keefe writes a heart-warming story of two friends who find love where they least expect it in A DATE FOR A CHRISTMAS WEDDING.
