Bluebell came up beside him, rubbing her head against his legs. “Hello, there,” he said, bending down to pet her. “Have you had a nice day bossing around the dogs?”
He looked up to see Violet walking his way. He quickly turned the lock and waited for the fallout. She jiggled the doorknob. When it didn’t open, she glared at him, putting her hands on her hips. “Did you lock me out?” she asked through the glass.
“Why would I do that?”
“How should I know? I still can’t figure out why your clothes never make it to the hamper.” She jiggled the doorknob again. “Will you please open the door?”
“What’s the password?”
Her lips twitched. “How would you like to move back into your old bedroom?”
“That’s not it, but I’m thinking I should open the door anyway.” He leaned over to unlock the door.
“Good choice,” she said, coming inside. “We’ve got about an hour before we have to leave for the play.”
“I’d forgotten about the play,” he said, bending down to give her a lingering kiss.
“Me, too, until Summer reminded me.” She walked over to the sink.
Jackson moved behind her and lifted up her hair. He felt her instinctive movement toward him and smiled as he kissed the creamy skin of her neck. “I think we should stay home,” he whispered in her ear.
Violet turned in his arms, her fingers playing with the buttons on his shirt. “We can’t do that.”
“How firm are you on that decision?” he asked, tipping up her chin and kissing her deeply. She melted against him, her hands rising from his chest to his shoulders and then to his hair. He knew he only had to ask again, and she would cancel their plans. This willingness to put him first made it impossible for him to deny her anything. Which meant they’d be going to the play. With one last kiss, he let her go.
“Not as firm as I was a few minutes ago,” she said with a grin.
He laughed as he walked over to the refrigerator. “I’m going to eat something, and then I’m going upstairs to change into something more suitable for The Springer.”
“That was a rapid change of position.”
“You’re very persuasive, too.” Jackson removed a plain white take-out box. “Is this what I think it is?” he asked hopefully.
“It could be. What do you think it is?”
“A rack of ribs with sweet slaw and garlic bread.” He opened the lid and grinned. “I know my take-out boxes. There must be something other than the play going on here. What other thing have you committed us to?”
“Nothing. That’s a ‘thank-you’ for coming with me tonight.”
He put down the box and reached for her. “I had something else in mind for that, but this is a great start.”
Later when he sat beside her in the darkened auditorium, Jackson felt her hand reach for his. He moved closer until he could feel her thigh pressed against his and smell the floral scent that clung to her. A lump formed in his throat as he thought about how much he loved her and how blessed he was to have someone who showed him with every breath, every word, and every touch that she loved him.
The words he’d said to his sister all those long months ago floated through his head. We’re the smart ones, Willow. We’ve opted for a peaceful existence apart from the highs and lows of being in love. It may not be as exciting, but it’s a lot less dramatic. A smile touched his lips as he turned to look at Violet. He’d still be spouting off such ridiculous statements if it hadn’t been for her. Only a fool would prefer to live without love. It was what made life worth living.
The End
I hope you enjoyed reading Violet and Jackson’s story. If you liked it, please consider telling a friend or leaving a review. Thank you!
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Coming Late Fall 2017: A New Year’s Kiss (Finding Love, Book 9)
Also by Delaney Cameron:
Team Mom (Finding Love, Book 1)
Julie’s calm life is thrown a curve ball when her brother arrives the night before his seven-month deployment asking her to take care of his son. As a preschool teacher, she’s used to dealing with toddlers, not nine-year-olds. Noting her nephew’s interest in baseball, Julie signs him up for little league. She’s anything but thrilled to find out that his coach is a celebrity.
Eric returned to St Marys to lick his wounds and start over. But even in his hometown, he’s known more for his unfortunate appearance on a reality dating show than for his seven years in the major leagues. All he has to show for that poor decision is an ex-wife and a broken heart.
Julie’s obvious disapproval makes her the perfect choice for his team mom. If she doesn’t like him, she won’t cause any problems. But will that be enough to keep his growing interest in her in check? And as Julie’s preconceived notions about sports figures slowly unravel, will she be able to resist the man behind the public persona?
Stealing His Heart (Finding Love, Book 2)
Just days after her return to St. Marys, Darcy runs into her childhood crush. Given that she was twelve and he was nineteen at the time, it’s not surprising that he doesn’t remember her. And she’s just as happy to keep it that way. Her dreams of him coming back to find her grown up and so beautiful that he can’t help but fall instantly in love with her should have been long forgotten. All he can ever be is a reminder of how much she lost when she veered off the road to avoid an oncoming car.
Matt has spent the last five months trying to put a painful breakup behind him. When he meets Darcy, he can’t escape the feeling that he knows her. As circumstances bring them together, he finds himself drawn to this lovely woman who’s as disinterested in dating as he is. His suggestion that they hang out as friends seems like a sensible alternative, giving them the benefit of companionship without the pressure or commitment of a more serious relationship.
But does the heart truly forget? Or does it lock away those memories until the person comes along who has the key?
Love of a Lifetime (Finding Love, Book 3)
Faith's boyfriend has started mentioning the "M" word. Her family and friends are thrilled that she’s finally found someone, pointing out that Ian (the husband she lost in Iraq four years earlier) wouldn’t expect her to mourn him forever. It’s time to move on with her life. There’s just one problem: Faith isn’t in love with Connor. Feeling pressure from all sides, she jumps at the chance to get away from St. Marys for a few days. Her escape to the Georgia Mountains isn’t supposed to include waking up to find a stranger in her room. A stranger who will turn all her theories and plans upside down.
Between being a single dad and managing his career, Landris doesn’t have time for anything or anyone else. Which is just as well since he’s not about to risk putting his happiness into a woman’s hands again. His long absence from the dating scene is the only acceptable explanation for why he’s so affected by Faith. The uncomfortable and unwanted feelings she awakens don’t mean anything and won’t last. Once she leaves the cabin, he’ll never see her again. In a few weeks, he probably won’t even remember her name. Or at least that’s the way it should be.
Life sometimes takes what we think we can’t live without. If we’re fortunate, it gives us a second chance for a love of a lifetime.
Dare to Love (Finding Love, Book 4)
When Sabrina arrives for a job interview, she never expects to run into the man who broke her heart six years ago. Trent is a painful souvenir of a first love that went terribly wrong. Four months of being unemployed is the only reason she agrees to work for him. A stack of unpaid bills outweighs injured feelings, shattered dignity and past humiliations. For the present, she can’t escape the cruel trick fate has dealt her. There will be no running away from Trent this time.
Trent isn’t the serial heartbreaker ever
yone believes him to be, and his seemingly idyllic bachelor existence is anything but satisfying. The plans he made for his life have always included marriage and a family, but for those things one has to fall in love. It bothers him that he can’t do something everyone else seems to do so effortlessly. Meeting Sabrina again is a reminder of an incident that still makes him uncomfortable. In his more irrational moments, he’s even wondered if what he did to her is the reason love continues to elude him. Maybe he’s getting what he deserves for playing around with someone’s feelings.
Is falling out of love as easy as falling into it? Or is love a moment that lasts forever?
Yours, With Love (Finding Love, Book 5)
An unexpected inheritance brings Ellen back to her hometown of St. Marys. After an absence of ten years, she never expects to run into Quinn, one of her sister’s old boyfriends and her teenage obsession. If it's true that it's a small world, it's also true that it can be a cruel one. The good-looking eighteen-year-old who touched her young heart is no more. In his place is a man whose life has been torn apart by tragedy and loss.
There was a time when Quinn believed love could conquer all; that there was nothing it couldn’t overcome. Losing Avery changed all that. Her rejection was a painful lesson in the limitations of human love. Ellen’s sudden reappearance in his life is a complication he didn't anticipate. She epitomizes everything he wants and everything he can’t have. Her touch awakens not a sleeping giant bent on destruction, but a tormented soul desperate for affection and acceptance.
Is love a shallow emotion that flees at the first sign of adversity or will it wait forever for the one whose heart it seeks?
Love at Last (Finding Love, Book 6)
Working on her grandmother’s house gives Rosemary a reason to escape the media attention of a very public broken engagement. In St. Marys, she hopes to rekindle the music that used to flow easily from her mind to paper and rediscover the girl who’s somehow lost her way. Instead she finds someone who challenges her beliefs about love and tests her resolve to guard her heart.
Fresh from a writer’s convention in New York, Jase is excited to return home and start putting into practice all the things he’s learned. He has no idea that his gesture of kindness to a mysterious woman on a plane will turn his life upside down and give him his first tantalizing glimpse of true love. But unlike the fiction he spends his days writing, he can’t simply remove all the hurdles in his path to happiness. Love comes in its own time and on its own terms.
One Woman's Heart (Finding Love, Book 7)
Everybody knows the path to true love doesn’t always run smooth, but Holly and her boyfriend Scott seem to be going in opposite directions. When their relationship takes a turn for the worst, she finds comfort in the company of her next door neighbor. Holly accepts Devon’s friendship with no expectations of where it might lead. After all, she’s not looking to fall in love again, and you can’t find what you’re not looking for.
In spite of his mother’s warnings about the sand running out in his hourglass, Devon isn’t interested in being anything other than a single dad. He’s already proven he’s not very good at marriage. When he meets Holly, he isn’t prepared for how his heart will respond. Since he doesn’t want to act on these very much unwanted feelings, his course of action is clear. There’s just one problem. How is he supposed to retreat when he’s surrounded?
Dream of Me
Still reeling from the loss of her parents, Aubrey agrees to take a job on an island off the coast of Georgia. The setting couldn’t be more idyllic; getting along with her new boss couldn’t be more problematic. Her warm, impulsive nature doesn’t mix well with his cool, detached disposition. Corbin just wants peace. He’s already been burned by love and has no intention of being so again. The secret is not letting anyone get close. What happens when a woman who listens to her heart meets a man who’s trying to forget he has one?
Finding Allie: A Sweet Regency Romance Novella
Desperation leads Allie Simon to do something she wouldn’t otherwise have done. A gently-bred female doesn’t offer herself to a stranger. If she does, she must be willing to accept the consequences. But what if among those consequences is one she hadn’t expected?
Nicholas Ashton knows all too well what awaits him at Waverton: marriage and the inevitable heir. He is only too happy to delay his arrival by accepting an invitation from an old friend to spend a few weeks at Groome Hall. When he is thrown (literally) into Allie’s path, he begins to suspect his hitherto calm, orderly life may never be the same.
Allie and Nicholas might be determined to forget their very unorthodox first meeting, but fate has other ideas. And when has fighting fate ever been easy?
Mine for a Day (Finding Love Book 8) Page 19
