by Lori Ryan
Justin held her through the night. She wasn’t sure if he slept at all. She drifted in and out of sleep, often not sleeping for more than a few minutes, it seemed. She would jerk awake and Justin would be there to soothe her.
At some point, when the sky started to lighten in the morning, they both fell asleep for a little while. Cora woke more slowly that time. Maybe because it was daylight then.
She watched Justin sleep and felt herself relax. She felt the tension that had been with her, even in sleep, drain.
He opened his eyes. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.”
He made a show of looking around. “I thought for sure your father or brothers would show up to check on you in the middle of the night.”
She laughed. “Nah, if anyone was that crazy, it would be my mom. Ashley probably had to hold her down.”
“I know how they feel.” He ran a large hand over her arm and up to her shoulder. “We’ll let them get eyes on you again today, so they don’t start to worry.”
“Not yet,” she said and wrapped her arms around his neck.
When they kissed, it was slow and deep, long. They were soothing kisses. The kind she needed right now. Justin spoke to her, as he ran his hands over her body.
There were promises in his words. Promises to keep her safe, to cherish her. Promises that he would come for her, always. That no matter what happened, he’d always protect her.
Cora couldn’t touch him enough. She ran her hands over his skin, through his hair, over his mouth. She wanted to feel all of him, to know she was there, alive and safe.
He made love to her slowly and gently.
When he was deep inside her, her arms and legs wrapped around him, he spoke. “You’re everything to me, Cora.”
She held his gaze. “I love you, Justin.”
Truth burned in his eyes when he spoke. “I love you, Cora Walker.” He began to move slowly with her again. “I love you with everything I am.”
Epilogue
Our heroine is very, very happy.
This narrator wasn’t getting any better with time, but he was accurate. Cora was very, very happy.
She watched as Ashley opened her baby shower gifts. It was a co-ed shower so Justin stood behind her, his arm wrapped around her holding her to him. They stood to one side, joining the crowd in the oooing and aaahing that was happening with each gift.
Cora turned and grinned up at Justin. He smiled back and dropped a kiss to the top of her head.
She loved that he looked so much more relaxed than he used to. She still had that pinch me, this can’t be real thing going on whenever she thought about the fact she and Justin were together. But, more than that, she was glad to see how much he’d changed in the last six months.
He still worked a lot. He was passionate about his work so it made sense that he’d want to devote time to that. Now, though, he took weekends and evenings off because they wanted to spend time together. He’d hired a deputy director at Raise the Veil and turned over a lot of his workload.
He had also gone back to taking martial arts and was teaching a self-defense class in town with Garrett every other month. They offered it free to anyone who wanted to attend.
“She looks beautiful, doesn’t she?” Cora whispered to him. She thought Ashley really had that glow people talk about during pregnancy, even if her ankles were clearly swollen.
Justin leaned in and whispered in her ear. “She’s as big as a house.”
Cora elbowed him, drawing a laugh and an amended response.
“A beautiful house. She’s an absolutely gorgeous pregnant house.”
“Damned right.” Cora turned back to watch Ashley open another of Cora’s gifts. She might have gone a bit overboard.
Between her and the rest of the Walker siblings, Ashley wouldn’t need to shop for this child.
Ashley opened the box and laughed, holding up a onesie that said “feed, burp, wipe, repeat.”
Haddie sat on one side of Ashley in a T-shirt that read, I might look young, but I’m the honorary grandmother.
Laura was sitting on the other side of Ashley, with Cade behind her on the couch. She pointed at the onesie. “I want that one when you’re done with it.”
She’d said that for nearly every cute onesie Ashley had gotten. Laura and Cade were expecting another baby four months after Ashley’s due date. Cora suspected Katelyn was pregnant, too, but since she and John hadn’t said anything yet, no one was talking about it.
Babies were in the air in Evers. Cora looked around the room. Carter and Lilly sat on one side of the room. They were married now and she wondered if they might be next.
Phoebe and Shane were there, as were Gina and the General. General Brophy had retired. He had moved to town and he and Gina were officially an item, which was beyond adorable, Cora thought.
Presley and James had made an appearance for the baby shower. Even though he stayed close to the door most of the time, his back to the wall, he was talking and laughing with the other guests.
Cora looked around. The room was filled with all the people she loved. Her parents and sisters and brothers. Her friends. They were people she cherished in her life, and she knew she didn’t need to worry that they would leave her.
Yes, some might move away. Others were growing older and wouldn’t be with them all forever. At times, things would change, but that was part of life. She was okay with that, now. She would live for the moment and focus on what made her so blessed in life, not what might happen someday.
The somedays could swallow you up if you let them.
Justin pulled Cora into his arms in his living room and kissed her, forcing himself to keep the kiss soft. He’d been dying to get her out of the baby shower but she’d been so happy, he hadn’t suggested they leave until most of the guests had gone home.
Still, it was hard not to let himself do all he wanted to do to her right now. He had other plans for the evening, though. “Wait here for a minute?” He asked, leading her to the couch.
She gave him a questioning look, but nodded and sat.
“Be right back.”
He went down the hall to his bedroom and got the room ready. He’d had everything tucked away in one of the dresser drawers for a week now and he couldn’t wait any longer.
He went back down the hall to find her craning her neck as though she might be able to see what he was doing.
She shot him a cheeky grin when she was caught.
It was crazy how nervous he was about this. It wasn’t like he thought she’d say no, but still, he wanted everything to be perfect for her.
When she gasped as she entered the room, he knew he’d gotten it right. Small candles lit the room and dried jasmine buds Presley had gotten for him covered the duvet on the bed. The scent filled the room. In the center lay the notebook she’d written his bucket list in. He’d added Marry Cora and Make Cora Happy for the Rest of Our Lives to the list.
She covered her mouth with her hands, tears making her brown eyes glisten in the candle light.
Justin dropped to one knee and pulled the ring box from his pocket. “Cora, I don’t even have words to tell you what you’ve done for me, what loving you means to me. There’s no way for me to tell you what you’ve given me. So much was missing from my life, but it’s all there now. Love, happiness, family. All of it. You’re already everything to me. Will you be my wife?”
She didn’t say anything. She dropped to her knees and kissed him. She was crying and not talking, but he got the sense they were good tears and this was the yes kind of kneeling and kissing going on.
He kissed her back, pulling her into his arms and cherishing her. He’d meant what he said. There was no way to explain what she meant to him, but he might be able to make her feel it in his kiss. If not, he’d spend the rest of his life trying to show her.
And then she was saying yes over and over against his mouth as they kissed and he knew the only thing that might ever top this day would be their weddi
ng. Or maybe the birth of their first child. Or maybe all of the other things he wanted to share with her.
Thank you for reading the Heroes of Evers, TX Series. I hope you loved all of these books! If you want to try something else I’ve written, check out my Sutton Capital Series. The first book, Legal, Ease, is free at all major retailers.
Also by Lori Ryan
Heroes of Evers, Texas Series
Love and Protect
Promise and Protect
Honor and Protect
Serve and Protect
Desire and Protect
Cherish and Protect
Treasure and Protect
The Sutton Capital Series
Legal Ease
Penalty Clause
The Baker’s Bodyguard (A Sutton Capital Series Novella)
Negotiation Tactics
The Billionaire’s Suite Dreams
The Baker, the Bodyguard, and the Wedding Bell Blues (A Sutton Capital Series Novella)
Her SEALed Fate
The Sutton Capital Series Boxed Set (Books One Through Four)
The Sutton Capital Series Boxed Set (Books Five Through Seven)
Sutton Capital Intrigue
Cutthroat
Cut and Run
Cut to the Chase
Sutton Capital On the Line Series
Pure Vengeance
Latent Danger
Wicked Justice
Triple Play Curse Series
Game Changer
Game Maker
Game Clincher
The Triple Play Curse Boxed Set
Standalone Books
Stealing Home (writing in Melanie Shawn’s Hope Falls Series)
Any Witch Way (writing in Robyn Peterman’s Magic and Mayhem Series)
All In (writing in the Sleeper SEALs Series)
About the Author
Lori Ryan is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes romantic suspense, contemporary romance, and sports romance. She lives with an extremely understanding husband, three wonderful children, and two mostly-behaved dogs in Austin, Texas. It’s a bit of a zoo, but she wouldn’t change a thing.
Lori published her first novel in April of 2013 and hasn’t looked back since then. She loves to connect with her readers.
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