“So the voice I heard when I called you this morning—”
“It was Zoey rummaging around in her kitchen,” he supplied, softly cupping her chin and lifting her face so their eyes locked. “I wasn’t with another woman, Diane. To be perfectly honest, the moment I slept with you, I lost interest in every other woman.”
“Oh, Sam,” she sighed. While she couldn’t say she completely believed that, it was still just the right thing for him to say.
Grinning, he pulled her into his body, wrapping his arms around her waist. “It’s true. I found it downright annoying, actually.”
She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Well, guess what, Sam Everly?”
“What?” he said in a teasing tone.
“I’m falling for you, too,” she confessed.
He sobered, staring down at her intently. “Then I guess we’ll just have to fall together.”
Diane’s heart gave a happy lurch as she rose to her toes to give Sam a long, passionate kiss. Whiskey breath aside, she had to say it was one of the best kisses of her life.
Finally pulling away, he murmured, “I can’t say we’ll have it easy, Diane. I don’t think your father likes me very much. I have a feeling he’s going to disapprove.”
A sharp laugh escaped her. That was the understatement of the century.
“Lucky for him, bad girls are all about parental disapproval,” she joked.
“Then I sure am glad you came over to the bad side.”
“Me, too.” Stepping back, she grabbed Sam’s hand and led him down the hall. “Come on.”
He followed along willingly. “Where are we going?”
“To my room.” She gave him a teasing backward glance. “I still have a few items to cross off my list.”
Sam took a shaky breath. “I love that list of yours.”
“So do I, Sam.” If it weren’t for that list, she would have missed out on the best thing that had ever happened to her. “Let’s see if we can think up a few things to add to it, hmm?”
“Amen to that.” Snatching her back into his arms, he pressed another wet, hot kiss to her lips. “Mm…in fact, I have a few ideas in mind already.”
Epilogue
The private party room of the upscale restaurant had been transformed into a vision of gilded table settings and shimmering candlelight. The elegance of the scene was only improved by the array of vases laid throughout the room, packed with a variety of wildflowers. It fit, considering they were celebrating Andrew and Hailey’s engagement.
Sam could hardly believe it. His big brother Andrew was going to be married soon.
But then, a lot had changed over the past few months.
“What are you thinking?” Diane asked from where she sat beside him.
Case in point.
Smiling down at her, he murmured, “How beautiful you look.”
“Stop,” she whispered, blushing a pretty shade of pink.
Yeah, maybe it was corny, but it was true. Over the six months he and Diane had been together, she’d only managed to get more and more beautiful. Blossoming, James’s girlfriend—no, now fiancé—Lyssa had said. She was right.
But Diane wasn’t the only one. He’d changed, too. Where once the thought of spending his life with one woman had seemed laughable, if not downright terrifying, now he knew the truth. When you found the one, a lifetime with them wasn’t nearly long enough.
Wrapping his hand around Diane’s, he allowed his gaze to stray to the couple sitting at the end of the long, rectangular table. Andrew and Hailey had never looked more in love. In fact, Andrew’s smile was so wide he looked downright giddy.
Sam’s chest tightened with warmth and love. He was so happy for Andrew. Happy for James and himself, as well. Somehow, despite everything they’d witnessed growing up, they’d managed to move past their parents’ mistakes. They’d opened themselves up to love, and become a hell of a lot better for it.
Now, with the global expansion of Everly Publications a success, and the new assistant CEO who’d been hired on to take some of the workload off Andrew, things were only going to get better.
Life was pretty damn good.
Following his gaze, Diane murmured, “I can’t say I ever imagined when I first saw Andrew propose to Hailey that I’d be sitting here helping him celebrate the event.”
Sam chuckled. “True enough. As I recall, you were pretty PO’d about the whole thing.”
She squeezed his hand. “Good thing for you I was. Otherwise, I would have never come up with my To-Do list.”
What a shame that would have been. After six months of dating, he was proud to say her To-Do list was now several pages long. And almost every item had been crossed off of it.
Turned out that the woman who he’d once thought boring and predictable could be pretty darn adventurous when she set her mind to it.
Yup, now that he knew the real Diane, he was all too aware of just how right she was for him. The perfect mix of good girl and bad.
Which was why he was going to ask her to marry him.
For a guy who’d once thought he would never get married, the topic wasn’t something he’d ever take lightly. He’d given it a great deal of thought, and every time he came to the same conclusion.
She was the one.
But it wasn’t going to happen tonight. No, this was Andrew and Hailey’s night. Diane deserved a night all of her own. The perfect night for the perfect woman.
As he snuck a glance at the gorgeous creature he’d been lucky enough to land, his chest ached with the desire to flat-out ask her. He hated keeping secrets from her, and he wasn’t exactly the patient type. But this was one secret he would keep. Because she deserved the best proposal he could possibly think of.
Diane deserved the world, and he would do everything in his power to give it to her.
She caught him peeking at her and smiled, leaning over to whisper, “You’re staring.”
“Sorry.” He gave her an unrepentant grin. “Can’t help it.”
Another pretty flush settled over her chest, drawing his attention to the cleavage he couldn’t get enough of.
“Sam,” she whispered. “You’re staring at my boobs again.”
He gave a soft groan and dragged his eyes back up to hers. “Sorry baby, you just look so hot in that dress.”
Short and sexy and clingy, it made him want to rip it off her.
As if she sensed what he was thinking, a devilish look came over her face. “You know,” she whispered, “One of the items on my list is to do it in the bathroom of a crowded restaurant while a party is going on.”
Her flirty words had the instant effect of making his dick go hard. Still, he couldn’t help but note, “I don’t remember seeing that on the list.”
She lifted her brows, then dug her phone out of her little purse and scrolled through. After punching in some letters, she handed it to him.
He read the very latest addition to the list and laughed. “Guess you’re right.”
“So?” she said.
“So, what?” he teased.
Her eyes lit with challenge. “Are you still the man to help me with my list, or not?”
Leaning forward, he pressed his forehead to hers. His lips touching hers, he murmured, “Baby, you know I always will be.”
Her breath hitched and she stayed there, mouth to mouth with him, for a long moment. Then she sat back and gave him a little wink. “In that case, I’ll see you soon.”
With those words, she stood and moved around the table, heading toward the restaurant’s restrooms.
Grinning, he watched her go.
His brother James, who sat directly beside him, leaned in. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
James’s amused, knowing tone might have been embarrassing if Sam had had any blood left in his brain to think about it with.
“What, indeed?”
With a stupid smile all but plastered to his face, he rose and inconspicuously excused himself.
Dear Reader:
Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed the Everly Brothers’ stories! For news on upcoming stories and special discount prices, click here to sign up for my Newsletter.
Reviews help other readers find books. If you liked this book, I’d truly appreciate it if you could take a moment to leave a review on Amazon.
Next up is Zoey Beringer’s story, and it’s going to be a fun one! Look for that book in the Spring of 2015.
Thank you.
Rosalie Lario
Books by Rosalie Lario
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
The Everly Brothers
Wild Girls Rule
Good Girls Don’t
Bad Girls Do
Stand Alone
The Boys Next Door
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Demons of Infernum
Blood of the Demon
Mark of the Sylph
Touch of the Angel
Heart of the Incubus
Call of the Siren
Fallen Warriors Series
For Love of an Angel
Angel’s Desire
For Want of an Angel
Angel’s Kiss
Heart of an Angel
Stand Alone
Spellbound in Sleepy Hollow: A Von Tassel Sisters Anthology
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rosalie Lario is the author of the contemporary romance series, THE EVERLY BROTHERS, as well as the paranormal romance series, DEMONS OF INFERNUM and THE FALLEN WARRIORS. Rosalie double majored in Anthropology and Classics as an undergraduate student, and briefly considered becoming an archaeologist before realizing they don’t actually live the life of Indiana Jones. So what was a classical geek armed with a lot of useless knowledge to do? Become a lawyer, of course!
After attending law school in Florida, she practiced real estate law for several years before finally admitting to herself that negotiating contracts wasn’t nearly as fun as dreaming up stories. When not writing, you can find her on a boat somewhere along South Florida’s waterways, chasing down a rainbow or pretending to be a pirate.
You can learn more about Rosalie Lario at her website, www.rosalielario.com. Sign up for her Newsletter and connect with her on Twitter or Facebook.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Epilogue
Books by Rosalie Lario
About the Author
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