by Dani Dundee
I ran a hand over her head. “Beautiful girl, you aren’t getting rid of me that easily.”
She sat up and stared at me. “Then why’d you sleep on the couch?”
I sat up with her, a little embarrassed, but I wasn’t going to lie to her. “Because I couldn’t keep my hands off you, and you were exhausted. At least this way you got some sleep without me mauling you.”
Laughing, she put her forehead against mine. “Maul away, Luke. I’d gladly lose sleep to have you in my arms.”
Grinning, I buried my hands into her hair. “You’re going to regret that.”
She touched my face, and my heart beat slowly, as if for the first time I didn’t have to race into danger. I didn’t have to be anything but who I was.
Her lips brushed against mine. “You are the one thing I will never regret, Luke.”
“Then we’re agreed?”
“Agreed?” She tipped her head to one side and I brushed her hair behind her ear.
I swallowed what was left of my fear that she would reject me. “I’m not going anywhere, and you will never regret that you decided to take a chance on me.”
She kissed me, her mouth both sweet and demanding at the same time.
I kissed her back. I’d take that for a yes.
***
HIGH RISK LOVE
(The Risk Series Book 1)
See HIGH RISK LOVE at:
Amazon
About S.J. Mayer
S.J. Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author of both contemporary romance, urban fantasy and paranormal romance. She has sold over 750,000 copies of her titles.
The SECOND book in her Risk Series FREE FALL LOVE will be released August 2015 and features Hugh as the leading man!
Website | Mailing list | Facebook | Twitter
Table of Contents
Red Hot Candy
Table of Contents
The Things I Never Said by Jo Raven
Perfectly Equipped by Lacey Silks
Billionaires in Disguise: Rae, Kidnapped by Blair Babylon
A Fan-TAB-Ulous Night by Olivia Rigal
Take it Easy by Daisy Prescott
Before Flesh by Sky Corgan
Scorched into Submission by Daizie Draper
Pandora's Box by Sarah M. Cradit
Braving Love by SJ Mayer
Always Enough by Molly McLain
Mine In Dreams by Olivia Hardin
Like Home by Mira Bailee
Unshakeable by JC Valentine
Yearning to Yield by Pavarti K Tyler
First-Class Scoundrel by Liv Morris
Mated in Bearfield by Jacqueline Sweet
Le Moulin by JC Andrijeski
Jesse's Girl by Alison Foster
Dude by Gillian Cherry
Biker Billionaire's Bitch by Layla Wilcox
Swaying Fate by Irma Geddon
Gender Studies 101 by Dani Dundee
Disclaimers and Copyright Notices
ALWAYS ENOUGH
by Molly McLain
ALWAYS ENOUGH
by Molly McLain
ALWAYS ENOUGH © Molly McLain 2015
Tony and Nicole fell in love, hard and fast. Just as quickly, life and responsibility turned their whirlwind relationship into more of a routine than a romance. Now, they’re stealing kisses in the hallway and begging for quickies because there isn’t time for anything else.
It’s time for this River Bend couple to take a moment just for themselves—and reaffirm just how deep their connection truly is.
CHAPTER ONE
“Hate to do this to you, but Jenn called in sick. I can’t let you leave.” Suzy, the third-shift charge nurse, frowned from the doorway of the hospital’s second-floor break room. The smiling cats and dogs on her scrubs were a cute sight at the beginning of the shift eight hours ago, but right now, Nicole wanted to shred their furry little faces with her bare hands.
“But I have plans for the weekend.” She flicked a glance at her watch, ignoring the sudden pounding of her heart and the sweat breaking out across her brow. “Tony’s packing the truck as we speak. As soon as I get home, we’re heading out.” Chicago-bound. A quick weekend away. Alone time they hadn’t had in far too long.
“I’m sorry.” Suzy scrunched up her face and her nose did that adorable little thing where it turned up at the end. All sweet and innocent, despite her shitty news. “You know I wouldn’t mandate you to stay if we weren’t already short-staffed. If it makes you feel any better, I’m stuck here, too. Stupid weekends.”
Stupid indeed.
“Not to sound like a bitch, but it does make me feel better. I feel like I’ve worked every weekend since the beginning of the year. And it’s July.” Nicole pushed away from the table and shuffled to the coffee pot for a refill. Maybe another jolt of caffeine would make this more tolerable. “Do you mind if I take a couple minutes to walk outside and call Tony? Let him know we have to push back our departure time?”
“Not at all. In fact, take fifteen. I’ll give report to the new crew and we can regroup when you come back.”
Coffee in hand, Nicole took the employee elevator to the back parking lot of Cameron County Memorial. A few late-coming day-shifters rushed by, nodding cheery greetings as they hustled inside.
Bah. There was nothing good about this morning. Not coming off an all-nighter spent cleaning up after a set of four-year-old twins with gastrointestinal allergic reactions to seafood.
“Gonna be a beautiful day, isn’t it?” Penny from Radiology waved as she trotted past in her neon green scrubs, appropriately adorned with little skeletons.
Nicole pasted on her best smile as the early morning breeze flipped her ponytail across her cheeks. “Sure looks that way, doesn’t it?” Too bad she wouldn’t get to enjoy it. Or her long awaited getaway with the sexiest man she’d ever met, either. At least not for the full duration they’d planned.
“Hey, handsome,” she breathed into the phone when she was finally alone. “I’ve got bad news—I’ve been mandated to a double shift.”
In the distance, Brianna, Tony’s one-year-old daughter, squealed before he came on the line. “Aw, babe, that sucks. I was wondering why you weren’t home yet. Shannon had some shit come up all of the sudden, too. She can’t take Bri until this afternoon.”
Ugh. “We can still make it out of town later though, right?” Please say yes.
Tony said something soft and sweet to his daughter, then huffed out a breath at Nicole. Crap. Co-parenting was hard. Even though she hated when he got cranky about it, she’d much rather he take his frustrations out on her than Bri.
“I don’t know, Nic,” Tony sighed. “We were crunched for time to begin with. Maybe we should just reschedule.”
And put them off once again. No way.
“Listen, there’s no guarantee when we’ll both be able to do this again. I’d rather have a few hours away with you than none at all.”
“Don’t I fucking know it. If we don’t have sex soon, my balls are going to explode. I’m not even playin’, babe.”
Nicole smiled. At least he still wanted her. Clenching her tired eyes, she conjured up the mental image of Tony spread out across the pristine white sheets of their hotel room, his big, sexy body hard in the all right places. All mine, too.
Maybe it didn’t matter if they went out of town. Heck, if they stayed home, they’d have more naked time together.
“Okay, fine. I was looking forward to ravaging you in a fancy bathroom, but the shower at home will work, too. Just promise me this—no matter what else goes wrong this weekend, we will make love. I don’t even care if it’s fast and hard. I just need to feel you again.” She lowered her voice when two nurses from the OB department came bouncing out of the building. Lucky bitches.
“Night, Nic.” Kristi waved and Nancy waggled her eyebrows.
“This is the big weekend, right?” the brunette asked.
Nicole gave a thumbs-up and waved them on their way. They didn’t need to know he
r life was going to hell. And who knew? Maybe this weekend wouldn’t turn out so bad after all.
“I promise to make it up to you,” Tony murmured through the line. “In fact, I’ll make it up tenfold.”
He’d try, at least. He always did. But what did it mean for their relationship if they were starting to feel this tension already, a meager seven months in?
“I love you, handsome. Kiss Bri for me before she leaves, okay?” Nicole ignored the prickle of tears in her eyes. She adored the little family Tony and Bri had welcomed her into. Life without them…it wasn’t an option.
“I love you, too, babe. And I’ll see you soon enough, I promise.” Tony disconnected the call and Nicole sighed.
This was their life now. Would it be enough to carry them through?
***
CHAPTER TWO
“Thanks for keeping her longer this weekend.” Tony handed Brianna to Shannon on her doorstep. The little girl squirmed in her mother’s arms, eager to get her feet on the ground and tear shit up. He loved seeing his daughter in action, but right now, there was another woman who needed his attention more.
“Why do you say that like I’m doing you a favor? She’s my kid too. I always want more time with her.” Shannon stuck her tongue out at Bri, who giggled and mimicked the silly face.
He smiled and squashed the urge to snap back at his ex. Parting like this was always hard, but Shannon and her now-husband, Wes, were good to Bri. His gut knew she’d be fine, even if his heart told him to snatch her back into his arms.
He rubbed at the tense muscles in his neck and blew out a breath. “Call if something comes up, okay? And if you can’t reach me, call my mom.”
Shannon nodded, still making faces at Bri. “If your dad knew what was good for him, he’d get out of here, wouldn’t he, little lady? Nicole’s going to be mad if he’s late and he’ll probably try to blame it on me.”
Too late for that. In fact, he’d used a lot of excuses and little white lies over the past few days in order to pull off his plan. The look on Nicole’s face would be worth it though, and the sooner he got to her, the better.
He drove home like a bat out of hell and took a quick inventory of the shit he’d crammed into the truck. Nicole had worked hard to keep her stuff in one suitcase for Chicago, but he’d gone and rucked that all up when he’d repacked after she left for work last night. Now she had two bags and a carry-on. She’d forgive him though.
Finally, at ten o’clock in the morning, two hours into her mandated overtime, he cranked his truck into the hospital’s parking lot and grabbed the gift bag from the front seat.
He’d go to any length to make his woman happy. This weekend was only the start.
*
“I’m going to die and it’s not even lunchtime.” Nicole stepped out of the twins’ room and covered a yawn with the back of her hand.
Suzy laughed from the nurses’ station across the hall. “Aw, you just need more coffee.”
“I need my bed. No, I take that back…I need my man driving me to Illinois.” Dropping into a chair beside her coworker, she sighed and reached for a chart. “At this rate, I’ll be too damn exhausted to do anything more than sleep the weekend away. Tony will be pissed.”
The charge nurse chuckled. “I’ve still got my money on this being the best weekend you’ve had in a long time.”
Until two hours ago, Nicole would have raised that bet without a second thought. Heck, she would’ve gone all in. But now…
“Morning, chickies.” Jenn, who’d called in sick, breezed down the hall with her purse on one shoulder and her lunch bag on the other. “Sorry I’m late.”
Nicole frowned. “I thought you were on death’s doorstep.”
Jenn just shrugged and ducked into the break room to stow away her belongings.
“What the heck is that about?” Nicole shot Suzy a glance.
“Beats me. I’m sure as heck not going to complain though, are you?” She went to the medicine cart and lifted a shoulder, too.
Okay, this was weird. Or maybe it just seemed weird because she was so damn tired. “But we’re still short-staffed, with Deb down in Emergency.”
“Yep, and unfortunately that means we’re not going anywhere just yet.”
Story of her life, apparently. “In that case, I’d better do little Kristin’s follow-up blood sugar.”
Suzy waved and Nicole slogged down the hall to the next pediatric patient room. Fifteen minutes and a lecture to Kristin’s grandpa for giving his diabetic grandchild candy later, she returned to the nurses’ desk to enter the patient update.
A bright pink gift bag sat on the table beside to her computer.
*
Tony waited just inside the break room, a blatant violation of hospital rules, but no one seemed to care. Hell, they were all in on his secret.
“What’s this?” Nicole’s voice rose a little higher than usual and he grinned to himself. She was going to love this.
“I have no idea. Someone dropped it off about five minutes ago. Said it was for you.” Suzy, who’d orchestrated things on this end, deserved a big fat kiss before he and Nicole left today.
“Someone like who?” Nic must’ve walked closer, because his dick perked up, something that happened every time she was near.
“A man. Tall guy. Kinda scruffy. Maybe a little mysterious.”
Tony bit his cheeks to keep from laughing. Suzy had this shit down pat.
The bag crinkled and the rustle of tissue paper followed. Careful not to be heard, he moved to the doorway and, with Nicole’s back to him, he watched in silence.
“What the…” She pulled out the bottle of sunscreen first. Then the jumbo box of condoms. “Oh my God.”
Her friend Jenn snorted. “You probably shouldn’t tell Tony about this little present.”
Nicole shot Suzy a glare and, in her profile, her brow bunched in that cute way he liked so much. “Tell me more about this guy.”
Suzy laughed. “Maybe you should tell us, huh?”
Eyes narrowed, Nic reached in the bag and pulled out the new bikini he’d picked out with her curves in mind. Raspberry and tiny and, if the stain in her cheeks meant anything, the bathing suit embarrassed her even more than the rubbers.
“You can go without that if you want,” he said, stepping forward and finally making his presence known. “If I have it my way, we won’t spend a lot of time on the beach anyway.”
Nicole spun around, the sexy suit clutched to her chest. “What…how…you’re here?”
He nodded and closed the distance between them, taking her free hand in his. Strands of wavy blonde hair hung loose around her heart-shaped face and her eyes, so big and bright blue-green, glistened with fast tears. “I heard your relief finally showed up, so I thought maybe you’d be free.”
She bit her bottom lip between her teeth and blinked up at him. “But we’ve got a full house and Deb—”
“Deb’s all done in the ER.” The bubbly RN popped around the corner and Tony grinned. Give these ladies an Academy Award.
A smile—slow and knowing—tugged at Nicole’s lips and, giving a little shriek, she threw herself into his arms.
“You set me up!” Slapping at his chest, she laughed. “And you had them all in on it, didn’t you?”
He pressed a kiss to her lips and held her close. “Sure did. Now are you ready to blow this pop stand? We’ve got a plane to catch.”
“A plane?” Her eyes widened and her hands wound in his t-shirt.
“Can’t get to Hawaii in my truck, now can we?”
***
CHAPTER THREE
“This is so much better than Chicago.” Standing on the lanai of their beach-front hotel room in Kauai, Nicole closed her eyes against the sun, shining bright overhead. It heated her cheeks and warmed the rest of her body, but not nearly as much as the prospect of spending the next four days wrapped up in Tony. Yes, four glorious days, thanks to even more secret conniving on his part. God, she loved this man
.
“I figured you wouldn’t mind.” He folded his arms around her from behind, pressing his big, solid body against hers. Like every time he touched her, shivers raced down her spine. She might’ve only met him last fall, but their connection had been immediate. She’d fallen for this man hook, line, and sinker and, though their time together hadn’t been perfect, nothing worth holding onto ever was.
She reached up, slipped her hand around the back of his neck, and pulled him down for a kiss. “You’ve got great taste. This place is gorgeous.”
He smiled against her mouth, brushing his lips lazily along hers. Like he had no doubt in his mind that they’d have lots of time for kissing in their future. A future that extended well beyond these four days.
Hope flamed in her belly. Maybe he didn’t mind the groove they’d settled into, after all.
“We had a long day traveling yesterday, and you barely slept last night. Why don’t we grab brunch and come back here for a nap?” He teased the tip of his tongue along the line of her jaw and down to the soft spot above the pulse in her neck.
“Or we could skip brunch and get right to that so-called nap.” Turning in his arms, she gripped his shorts by the waist and jerked him forward. Why’d this man always have to wear a belt?
He stopped her work with long, gentle fingers around her wrists. “Not yet, babe. I won’t rob you of sleep and food. Besides, there’s no rush getting to the good stuff. We’ve got all weekend.”
Yes, but they hadn’t had sex in…who knew how long and they’d crashed as soon as they hit the hotel room late last night. They needed this.
“I don’t mind a quickie. Really.” She tugged on his belt again, but he shook his head and wrapped her arms behind her back, holding her at bay.
