Cassidy swiveled around, leaving an openmouthed Janice in the middle of the office as she strutted to the elevator.
Epilogue
One year later
The Hawthorne family reunion had kicked off the day before, but Cassidy, Matthew, Roarke, Derrick, and their spouses and children had been on St. Simons Island since earlier in the week.
Cassidy and Antonio sat on the beach, exhausted after a morning of swimming and splashing around in the waves. After a long rest, they walked to the house, past the eight-foot tables set up in the grass for when everyone arrived for lunch. They stopped to talk to lounging family members before going in to shower and change clothes.
When they went out to the back porch, they sat on the swing. The raucous laughter of children running and playing carried on the summer breeze. More family members had arrived, and the caterers were setting chafing dishes of food on the side tables.
Matthew and Lorena played football with the teenagers. Married a few weeks ago at a church in Atlanta, as of this week, they were on their honeymoon. Matthew had taken a month off, and Lorena had temporarily closed the offices of her grant-writing business.
They’d already received word that the grants Lorena had applied for last year on behalf of the community center where Matthew volunteered had been won, so they looked forward to a worry-free vacation. In a few days, they were on their way to Costa Rica for an active two weeks of kayaking and hiking in the rain forest.
Uncle Reese was stationed at the grill, his favorite spot during every family get-together. Even though the meal was catered, he’d insisted on doing his own cooking. At the same time, Roarke tried to convince him to give up the secret recipe for his barbecue rub.
“I don’t know why he bothers trying,” Celeste, his wife, said. She sat in a rocking chair on the porch, holding their sleeping son. “Uncle Reese is taking that recipe to his grave.”
Derrick chuckled. Cassidy’s half brother stood with his shoulder against one of the porch columns, overlooking all the activity. “He’s determined to get it, though.”
“You ain’t ready for it, nephew,” Uncle Reese was saying, shaking his head with regret. “You can’t handle it. You ain’t ready yet.”
Arianna, Celeste’s daughter, hurried over with her cousin Violet’s hand in hers. The girls had been playing on a blanket under a tree. Not yet two years old, the toddler struggled to keep up with Arianna.
“What happened?” Derrick asked, immediately on alert when he saw his daughter’s red, scrunched-up face. He walked down the stairs to meet them.
“She fell, Uncle Derrick.”
“Daddy, boo-boo.”
“You got a boo-boo?”
“Yes.”
“Let me see.”
Derrick crouched in front of Violet and examined the allegedly injured hand. “Oh, I see it.” He dusted off her palm and then blew on it. All the while, Violet watched him with rapt attention. For the final dose of medicine, he made a big deal out of kissing her palm. “Mwah. How’s that? All better?”
Her eyes no longer shined with tears, and her frowning face transformed into a big smile.
“Give Daddy a kiss.”
Violet kissed his cheek. “Mah,” she said, not quite duplicating the sound. Happy once more, she took off with Arianna to play with her cousins.
“I’m going to start praying now for the boys who try to date her,” Celeste said.
“She’s not going to be allowed to date, remember?” Antonio said. “He’s locking her away until she’s thirty.”
“Oh, that’s right. I forgot.”
“Wait until you have a daughter, Antonio. Then you’ll understand,” Derrick said. “By the way, I wasn’t joking when I said I’m putting her on lockdown.”
“A modern-day Rapunzel,” Cassidy sighed. “Poor Violet.”
They all laughed.
Cassidy felt a sense of satisfaction as she watched her siblings. In the past couple of years they’d become closer, and their family had increased in size as each of them married.
The porch door swung open, and Eva, Derrick’s wife, exited. Immediately, he was at her side. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
She’d spent the morning in bed. At three months pregnant, she was experiencing heavy bouts of morning sickness, much the same as when she’d been pregnant with Violet. The dull, unhealthy pallor of her dark brown skin indicated she was still unwell.
“Not much better, but I can’t stay in bed all day.”
“The air will do you some good, sweetie,” Celeste said.
Derrick pulled a folding chair from one of the tables on the lawn and set it next to Celeste. Eva gratefully lowered onto it.
A few minutes later, a truck drove up from the local frame shop. “It’s here,” Cassidy announced, rising from the swing. She and her brothers had taken pictures together a couple of days ago. The same photographer would be back tomorrow to take photos of all the family members attending the reunion, but they’d wanted photos of just the four of them.
The employee from the shop brought the framed photograph up on the porch, and Derrick signed for it. Right after, Roarke made his way over to take a look. The picture showed them all dressed in white, the three brothers standing in order from oldest to youngest, with Cassidy between Roarke and Derrick.
Matthew had made an off-color joke, and the photographer had continued snapping. The effect was natural and unstaged, a moment in time with all of them laughing, their arms linked around each other.
Antonio peered over Cassidy’s shoulder. “Nice.”
“I love it,” Cassidy said.
“Ready to hang it?” Roarke asked them.
“Yes.”
Roarke called out for Matthew, and he came running. Inside the house, they went to the wall of photos in the hallway. Other pictures of family members through the years hung on the walls—cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles at family get-togethers during various holidays. Prominently displayed in the center was a photo of their great-grandfather Joseph Hawthorne and his wife. Their great-grandfather had been the original owner of the house, and it remained in a trust for future Hawthornes to enjoy.
Roarke and Derrick worked on hanging the picture while Cassidy and Matthew gave conflicting feedback on whether or not it was straight. When it was finally attached to the wall, they stood back and admired it.
“Look at us,” Cassidy said. “We look so handsome and pretty.”
“Especially me,” Matthew bragged, rubbing his chin. Roarke popped him upside the head.
“I think Grandpa Joseph would be proud,” Cassidy said.
“I think so, too,” Roarke said. “You’re the first female team leader in the hacking department at your company. Derrick’s business is expanding.”
“On my way to world domination,” Derrick added with a devilish grin.
“I’m headed to Chile.” Chile was often referred to as the astronomy capital of the world. After hearing him give a speech at a conference in Germany last year, the Department of Astronomy at the University of Chile invited Roarke to spend a year teaching there. This was not only a huge honor, but an opportunity to work with the greatest minds in the field of astronomy, an international coalition of astrophysicists, mathematicians, and engineers. “And Matt, as unbelievable as it may seem, is actually married.”
“And still sexy,” Matthew added.
“And vain,” the other three said in unison. They had a good laugh at his expense.
“Come and get it!” Uncle Reese’s booming voice traveled in from outside.
“Let’s go.” Matthew hurried out first. Derrick followed.
Cassidy paused at the door. “Roarke, are you coming?”
“In a minute.”
“What are you thinking about?” She rejoined him at the wall.
He stared at all the photos. “Wondering how our lives would have turned out if our parents hadn’t died when they did.”
Cassidy paused before she answered.
“There’s no way of knowing. But you did good, Roarke. We turned out okay.”
He gazed down at her. “Yeah, we did, didn’t we?”
Cassidy nodded. She slipped her arm around his waist, he flung his arm around her shoulders, and they went outside to join the rest of the family.
The End
More Stories by Delaney Diamond
Hot Latin Men series
The Arrangement
Fight for Love
Private Acts
Second Chances
Hot Latin Men: Vol. I (print anthology)
Hot Latin Men: Vol. II (print anthology)
Hawthorne Family series
The Temptation of a Good Man
A Hard Man to Love
Here Comes Trouble
For Better or Worse
Bailar series (sweet/clean romance)
Worth Waiting For
Short Story
Subordinate Position
The Ultimate Merger
Free Stories
www.delaneydiamond.com
About the Author
Delaney Diamond is the bestselling author of sweet and sensual romance novels. Originally from the U.S. Virgin Islands, she now lives in Atlanta, Georgia. She has been an avid reader for as long as she can remember and in her spare time reads romance novels, mysteries, thrillers, and a fair amount of non-fiction.
When she's not busy reading or writing, she's in the kitchen trying out new recipes, dining at one of her favorite restaurants, or traveling to an interesting locale. She speaks fluent conversational French and can get by in Spanish. You can enjoy free reads and the first chapter of all her novels on her website.
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http://delaneydiamond.com
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Book Excerpt
From The Temptation of a Good Man, Book 1 of the Hawthorne Family series
Can true love be found after one night of passion?
Celeste Burton goes out with her girlfriends to celebrate turning thirty and winds up spending an unforgettable night with the man of her dreams. One week later, as a favor, she attends a wedding with a friend as his date and is shocked when she sees Roarke again.
Roarke Hawthorne despises cheating. Cheating tore apart his family years ago. When the physics professor sees the woman he spent the night with show up at his sister’s wedding on the arm of his brother, he knows he should keep his distance. But because of the night they set fire to the sheets in his hotel room, he can’t resist the urge to be close to her—nor can he resist the temptation to have her back in his bed.
Excerpt
Lust flickered in his eyes, and for tense moments they stared at each other, lost in the memories of heated whispers and tangled sheets. Then, as suddenly as he’d grabbed her, he dropped her arm like a hot coal.
“Derrick doesn’t deserve to be lied to and made a fool of.” He stepped around her toward the door.
Celeste grabbed his forearm to stall his exit. “Wait, please.”
“Celeste, I can’t do this.”
She slipped between him and the door. She couldn’t be the reason for a confrontation between the two brothers, and she couldn’t bear the humiliation of Derrick finding out she’d slept with his brother the first night they met. “Please don’t say anything to Derrick. I’ll stay out of your way. I promise. You won’t even know I’m here.”
He looked down at her hand, and she followed his gaze to where her fingers wrapped around his arm. She withdrew them with haste. When her eyes found his again, desire shimmied down her spine at the hunger she saw in his.
“That’s not what I meant,” he said, his voice thick and low. “I can’t be near you. You’re too much of a temptation. Maybe you can stay away from me, but I don’t know if I can keep my hands off of you.” He slammed his palms against the door above her shoulders.
Celeste jumped, her eyes widening in shock. Shaken, she pressed back against the hard door to distance herself from him. They were too close, and the instinctive movement did little to protect her from the heat of sexual frustration emanating from his pores.
His chest rose and fell with each deep breath, and a storm brewed in his dark brown eyes. “What are you doing to me?”
The tortured question needed no answer. Even if she’d been obliged to respond, he seized her mouth before she could, and his tongue thrust between her lips. The muscular, dark cords of his arms encircled her waist and held her against his body, crushing her soft curves into each hard contour of his.
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