His hand clasped around mine and then he took both, squeezing. “You ready?”
I laughed. “Not sure,” and that sent a laugh from him, deep and hearty. I could bask in it.
“Open them,” he said, and I did, my eyes adjusting to the dim room. Only the sunshine lit it and I let go of Brody’s hand, walking through. To my left was a ballet barre, it went on for a few feet and was surrounded by wide mirrors. The sun in the room gleamed off them, bouncing and shining on the hardwood floors. And it was wood, solid with a thin layer of dust. My heels left tracks and I turned, seeing more mirrors and barres.
“What…?” I didn’t understand, turning around, but Brody did. His hands in his pockets, he came over to me, just as handsome and beautiful as when I’d last seen him outside. A yellow tie complimented my dress and matched wedding colors and his dark suit formed over the broadest body, and the thickest shoulders. He grabbed my hand, pulling me to him.
His eyes lifted to the room. “Do you think you can do something with it?”
I gasped, trying to find breath, trying to understand. “Do what? What do you mean?”
His hand left mine now, spinning on the heel of his leather shoes. The sunlight did all kinds of things to his golden locks, caught every varying shade of dirty blond he had slicked back. I would never see him this clean again, but that didn’t matter. He did debonair well, but he did messy sexy even better.
He grinned a little. “I got a good deal on it if you want it. If you want to teach in it. It’s your call, but if you want it? You can have it.”
I could have it. I could have this; mine. I went up to him. “Brody, I could never afford this. I could never pay you back.” My hours had been cut even more at the gym and my savings was non-existent since we moved. We’d moved into a house, a place for me, him, and my family and it had been great so far. It had been amazing so far.
“You’re right,” he said, sliding our fingers together. He raised them in the air, bringing me to him by them. “You can’t afford it. But we,” he paused, lifting a finger and gesturing between the two of us, “can. You’ve been wanting to get out of that gym, Alex. You can teach classes here and be your own boss.”
He’d been so full of dreams lately; being a businessman now himself seemed to bring it out of him. He took charge of the delivery unit of Chandler & Sons Furniture Co. recently. Who better than the best driver this side of El Paso?
And he cracked the whip on those boys, too, like a boss.
He was right. I did want this. This was a dream, but what if I wasn’t like him? What if I couldn’t run a business?
But I was willing to try.
“You’ll help me?” I asked, beaming up at him. “I don’t know anything about being an entrepreneur.”
“Mmm, well that,” he said, his lips getting closer, so close. “We can both muddle through. We can both learn along the way. We can grow along the way.”
We would grow, wouldn’t we? We’d done nothing but since we got together. We pushed each other. We leaped together.
His full lips found mine and we did something else together. We kissed in our new ballet studio.
And still made it to his dad’s wedding on time like champs.
Bonus Scene
Blake Chandler
“Pop?”
My eldest, Hayden, stood behind me. He’d even lopped of some of that hair of his for today, dressed in a tux to match his brothers, Griffin and Brody, standing around the waiting room with me.
I’d never get over my boys in all these suits. It seemed to be commonplace these days, my boys settling down and getting formal for it. Griffin had married his wife last year and then of course, Hayden had done the same what seemed like yesterday before him. Even Brody looked to be heading that route. He gave no indicator of that. The boy was private and stubborn in the sense of sharing his business like me, but I could tell by the girl he was seeing, the aisle wasn’t far off. She seemed invested heavily in family, valued it just like my son and that right there, told me there’d be another one of these weddings soon. Honestly, I thought he’d be next to hitch up if someone were to ask me.
I never in my life thought it would be me, that I’d be blessed enough for it to be me.
Hayden stepped back and that blessing, my blessing, walked into the room. Colton, my youngest, escorted her by the arm, and I now knew where he’d wandered off to.
I turned around completely, my boots hitting the hardwood of the chapel’s back room. I had the tightest suit on, constricting and such, but I was now glad I wore it. I felt worthy enough of standing next to her.
A lacy white dress fit the curves of a woman, making her more pretty than I had ever seen her, and she sparkled everywhere. A thin shimmer, a sash, draped around the flare of her waist and a bracelet looped the span of her tiny wrist. She also had on these earrings, like drops of rain dangling from her ears. They matched the two fine strands of rhinestones that rested delicately across her forehead, making her look like royalty; a queen.
“Ann…” I took a step toward her, then another, trying to will myself, and if this woman didn’t look more beautiful as I got closer. Her lashes long, the tight coils of her dark hair framing around her face.
How did a man like me get so lucky?
I took her hand, mine like mitts around hers and so coarse compared.
“She asked to see you,” came Hayden from behind me, and a fierce race hit my heart. I guess I couldn’t help that as a thought immediately surfaced.
Had she changed her mind?
My boys left the room, filing out one after the other to give us space. Colton lowered Ann’s arm. Nodding, he backed away and then closed the door behind himself, quiet as he did.
I brought Ann to me by her soft hands.
“I’m not supposed to see you,” I said, mentioning tradition. “You all right?”
The moments she made me wait for a response were some of the hardest. They couldn’t have been longer than a few seconds, but I definitely felt them shudder through me. I also felt something else, too, when she reached up, her bracelet sliding down her arm. Her palm touched my check and I let that very touch flow through me. I let her flow through me.
She always knew what I needed.
My heart calmed immediately and even more when she smiled at me.
“I’m perfect,” she said, running the pad of her thumb along my cheek. She brushed a whisker and the nerves connected pulsed, warmed under my skin. Her other hand joined and her lips, so full, turned down in the corners.
“But you’re scared,” she whispered. “You’re scared, Blake Chandler.”
She saw right through me and was able to do so in such a short amount of time. I didn’t talk to folks much about things. That had never been how I was, but with Ann, I never had to. She always just somehow knew.
I touched her right back, her hands. I pulled them into my palms and brought them down between us, but I didn’t let go. Once, I might have, but not now, never now.
“I didn’t do this right the first time,” I admitted to her. “With Maggie.” She knew all about my ex-wife. We’d talked about it in detail along with both our pasts.
I moved my thumb over the band of yellow gold around her finger. It was simple and only a few stones, but she said she loved it. She said it was me. She said it was me and her.
I looked up at her. “I was gone a lot, working, and I… I just couldn’t be what she needed.”
Her hands went out to me again, pressing my chest before sliding above my collar. Her fingers brushing my neck felt like flower petals; delicate like her. She tipped her chin, so much smaller than me.
“A man working too much doesn’t make a mother leave her children, Blake,” she said, eyes searching mine. “Just like a woman unable to be a mother doesn’t justify a husband bringing another woman in to replace her nightly.”
Her words shuddered me back to a familiar place, they angered me back anytime discussion of her ex-husband seemed to find us. M
y boys were me. They were a part of me, an extension so intricately weaved I couldn’t imagine a life or world without them in it, so for a woman not being able to do the same, have the same… Ann should have had nothing but support.
I held her close by her hips, breathing her in. Her cheek, a deep brown mahogany I brushed my lips over, the fan of her eyes fluttering down in response.
“We’ll do this together,” she said to me. “No reason to be scared.” An angelic smile touched her lips after she said the words, and she was an angel. My angel.
I closed the distance between our lips, the feel of her mouth like breathing. She did allow me to breathe. She allowed me to live again and I’d never forget that. In fact, I’d spend the rest of my life, our lives, proving I was worthy of that very gift.
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Roxie and Griffin’s story concludes in…
Cherished by You:
A Found by You Novella
~ Blurb ~
We’ve been through a lot…
Griffin and me.
But Miami never broke us. This life never overtook us, and now, we’re planning for the next chapter in our lives.
I can’t believe it’s been over three years since we’ve moved to Florida. They’ve been three years of love. They’ve been three years of trust, but still, life has its challenges. Every day I battle with the burdens of my past while Griffin finds the future to be the biggest test of all.
But together… we’ve made it this far.
~ Coming 2016 ~
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About the Author
Victoria H. Smith has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. She puts it to good use writing romance all day. She resides in the Midwest with her Macbook on her lap and a cornfield to her right. She often draws inspiration for her stories from her own life experiences and the characters she writes give her an earful about it.
In her free time, she enjoys extreme couponing, reading, watching Scandal, and general geekery in the form of Sherlock and DC Comics. She’s a bestselling author and the 2014 Swirl Award winner for Best New Adult Romance, as well as the recipient of the 2015 AMB Ovation Award for her new adult romance FOUND BY YOU. She writes both new adult and adult fiction in many genres, but mainly focuses in contemporary interracial and multicultural romances.
Check out my profile for a list of my other books
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Drop me a line! I love hearing from my readers! <3
Email: [email protected]
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