by Lex Martin
Keep My Heart
Top Shelf Romance Collection 7
Lex Martin
Kennedy Ryan
Kennedy Fox
W Winters
Contents
Also by Top Shelf Romance
Reckless
Prologue
1. Tori
2. Ethan
3. Ethan
4. Tori
5. Ethan
6. Tori
7. Ethan
8. Tori
9. Ethan
10. Tori
11. Ethan
12. Tori
13. Ethan
14. Ethan
15. Tori
16. Ethan
17. Tori
18. Ethan
19. Tori
20. Ethan
21. Tori
22. Ethan
23. Tori
24. Ethan
25. Tori
26. Ethan
27. Tori
28. Ethan
29. Ethan
30. Ethan
31. Tori
32. Ethan
33. Tori
34. Ethan
35. Tori
36. Ethan
37. Tori
38. Ethan
39. Tori
40. Ethan
41. Tori
42. Ethan
43. Tori
44. Tori
45. Ethan
46. Tori
47. Ethan
48. Tori
49. Ethan
50. Tori
51. Tori
52. Tori
53. Ethan
54. Ethan
Epilogue
Thank you
Also by Lex Martin
About the Author
Long Shot
Author’s Note
FIRST HALF
Prologue
1. August
2. Iris
3. August
4. Iris
5. Iris
6. August
7. Iris
8. August
9. August
10. Iris
11. Iris
12. Iris
13. August
14. Iris
15. August
16. Iris
17. August
18. Iris
19. Iris
20. August
21. Iris
22. Iris
23. August
24. Iris
25. Iris
26. August
27. Iris
28. August
29. Iris
30. Iris
31. Iris
32. Iris
33. August
HALFTIME
34. Iris
35. August
36. Iris
37. August
38. Iris
39. August
40. Iris
41. August
42. Iris
43. August
44. Iris
45. Iris
46. August
47. Iris
48. Iris
49. August
50. Iris
51. August
OVERTIME
Epilogue – Iris
Bonus Epilogue!
Books by Kennedy Ryan
Connect With Kennedy!
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Travis & Viola Duet
This is War Blurb
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
This is Love Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
Hey readers!
What’s Next
About the Author
Connect with us
Books by Kennedy Fox
Knocking Boots
Prologue
1. Grace
2. Charlie
3. Grace
4. Charlie
5. Grace
6. Charlie
7. Grace
8. Charlie
9. Grace
10. Charlie
11. Grace
12. Charlie
13. Grace
14. Charlie
15. Grace
16. Charlie
17. Grace
18. Charlie
19. Grace
20. Charlie
21. Grace
22. Charlie
23. Grace
24. Charlie
25. Grace
26. Charlie
27. Grace
28. Charlie
29. Grace
30. Charlie
31. Grace
Epilogue
Also by Willow Winters
About Willow Winters
Also by Top Shelf Romance
Keep My Heartt
Reckless © 2018 Lex Martin
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced or transmitted in any capacity without written permission by the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
This adult contemporary romance is recommended for readers 18+ due to mature content.
Copy editing by RJ Locksley
Proofreading by Alison Evans-Maxwell, Becky Grover, and Jerica MacMillan January 2020 edition
Long Shot
Copyright © Kennedy Ryan, 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of the book.
This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Editor: Lauren Clarke Editing
Proofreading: Tricia Harden, Emerald Eyes Editing Reach Kennedy
kennedyryanwrites.com
Checkmate: T
his is War and This is Love Copyright © Kennedy Fox
All rights reserved.
Knocking Books
Copyright © 2020, Willow Winters Publishing.
All rights reserved. willowwinterswrites.com
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations within critical reviews and otherwise as permitted by copyright law.
NOTE: This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination.
Any resemblance to real life is purely coincidental. All characters in this story are 18 or older.
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The romance genre is addictive.
We know you need another epic read, so start reading more of our collections today!
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Reckless
By Lex Martin
To Matt & my little bears
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
- Lao Tzu
Prologue
Tori
A blush creeps up my skin as I gun my car through the quiet neighborhood intersection, my clunker’s obnoxious rattle garnering a dirty look from a suburban mom.
Whatever, lady.
I can’t afford to fix that problem now, especially not after I bought my boyfriend’s birthday present.
If it weren’t so hot inside my deathtrap of a car, I’d be jumping out of my skin with excitement to see Jamie. But I’m trying to conserve my energy for our horizontal activities. Although he’s not supposed to be home until tomorrow, I overheard my boss, who’s friends with Jamie, mention that my guy might be back today, and I thought I’d surprise him. It’s his birthday after all, and I have the perfect gift, something I’ve been saving up for weeks to afford.
When I see Jamie’s Bronco parked in the driveway of his house, I slow my beater and pull up to the duplex across the street.
My legs are stuck to my seat, and I slide my hands down my bare thighs below my cutoffs to dry the sweat. As soon as I open the door, a blast of cool air hits me, and I sigh with relief. Austin in early May is still relatively cool and breezy. Thank God, because my car windows don’t roll down, and the air conditioning died long before I got this junker.
Reaching into my messenger bag, I grab Jamie’s present—two tickets to see the Texas Rangers play next month. He’s always traveling to Dallas on business, and I thought it might be fun for us to go together.
I wrestle the balloons out of the back seat and skip up the pristine walkway to his two-story colonial.
Pride fills me as I take stock of how much he did to the property. This place was an eyesore when he bought it a few months ago, but after replacing the roof, stripping the interior to the studs, and replacing the appliances, it looks brand spanking new. I don’t know how he parts with these investment properties because it would break my heart to sell this gorgeous house.
An image of me and Jamie flashes behind my eyes. A vision of us starting a family. Of kids and more birthdays and barbecues in the back yard. I mean, I haven’t decided how many children I want or their names, but I’m pretty sure I want them with Jamie.
Two months ago, I’d laughed off his suggestion that we should get married because we were both drunk, but I can’t lie—I want the white picket fence with him someday.
Yeah, he’s a little older than me, but what’s an eight-year difference in the grand scheme of things? Besides, he’s not all judgy about me struggling with school.
I want to get serious about figuring out my life, which is why I need to keep my shit together long enough to graduate from the University of Texas in a few weeks. Most of my friends seem to know where they’re going and what they’re going to do. Me? I’ve operated on the party-now, plan-later mindset, but that only got me an academic warning, mandatory tutoring sessions, and a run-in with law enforcement.
So I’m trying to buckle down. Do the smart thing. Study and whatnot. God knows school is not my thing, but I’m almost done, thank fuck.
When I ring the doorbell, I’m beaming the biggest, brightest smile, but a second later when he opens the door, he frowns, his dark hair falling into his deep brown eyes.
“Happy birthday, babe!” Ignoring whatever weirdness is going on, I throw my arms around his neck. “I missed you.” He smells so good. Like spicy cologne and man.
“Tori.” His arm comes around my back in a stiff hold. I wait for the passionate kiss. For him to rip off my clothes like he usually does.
Except he just stands there.
What’s going on?
I lean back and look at him. He’s still frowning.
And then he glances down at his watch.
“Late for something?”
You’d think he hadn’t been gone for two weeks. I know we’ve only been dating for six months, but he’s given me jewelry—real jewelry, not that costume crap—and says he wants to marry me someday. Hello, he spoons me after sex sometimes. That has to mean something, right? And he usually makes me come. He’s probably batting in the high .400s, and my trigger does not go off easily, so I’d say these are good signs.
But before I can ask him why he’s being weird, he ushers me into the house. I turn and find him peering down the driveway, his dark eyes shifting from one side of the street to the other.
He clears his throat and closes the door. A muscle twitches in his jaw. “Sorry, hot stuff. I’m meeting a contractor in a bit. Wasn’t expecting you.”
Relief washes through me. “No worries. Thought I’d stop by on my way to work. I have an hour.”
I waggle my eyebrows at him, and he nods, glancing at his watch again. “That should be enough time.”
For me to rock your world? Oh, yeah.
By the time my back hits his mattress, all thoughts of his birthday and the unopened present sitting in the living room fly right out the window. I don’t care that we’re skipping straight to the main course. I don’t even care that he hasn’t told me he missed me. It’s his birthday. He can do this any way he wants.
