by Luna Doerr
“I love you, Alaric, I do. But I live here in Virginia and—”
“And so do I. This was my mother’s house. I bought it back. I’m fixing it up and I plan to live here from now on. I’m not going back to Maine.”
“You’re not?”
He shakes his head. “I’ll sell the Maine property, or maybe just give it to Sim. I was never happy in that house, except for last summer when you were there. It was like my own personal brothel, and then this good sweet woman showed up and she didn’t belong there. And it made me realize that I don’t want to belong there either.”
“Well, it would be easier to see each other if you were living here …”
A dark look shadows his face, then he swears under his breath. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back.”
I sit up and cross my legs on the bed while Alaric’s retreating footsteps echo through the empty house. The front door opens and closes, then a minute later opens and closes again.
Then he’s back in the room, breathless and holding a tiny grey box in his hand. He climbs onto the narrow bed with me, pulls me close to him.
“It would be easier to see each other if I were living here,” he began. “And if you were living here, too.”
My breath catches in my throat. He’s asking me to live with him? And that box he’s holding …
“I fell head over heels in love with you the minute I saw you in that coffee shop,” he goes on.
“You told that guy to shoot you.”
“I was ready to take a bullet for you, and I didn’t even know your name. All I knew was that a blonde-haired, green-eyed angel had been haunting my dreams for a year and suddenly you were there, sitting right in front of me, and I had to figure out how not to lose you.” He leans his forehead against mine. “And then I proceeded to fuck everything up.” He opens the tiny box. “But I’m done fucking things up.”
A diamond sparkles and winks at me from the box.
“This was my maternal grandmother’s engagement ring.” He lifts the ring out. “Marry me, Caterine.” He drops the box onto the bed and holds my left hand. “Live with me, love me, have kids with me, write books with me … spank me when I need it.” He grins hopefully at me. “Say yes, Caterine.”
“Yes.”
Thank you for reading ONCE UPON A TIME! Will there be a book for Sim and Zoe? Yes! It’s in progress—and boy, is it a doozy! It’s taking twists and turns even I didn’t see coming.
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COMING IN 2020 …
A brand new series you won’t want to miss—MARRIED TO A BILLIONAIRE!
This series of standalone, no cliffhanger stories features the hot billionaires we love … and the women who tame them!
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About the Author
Luna Doerr used to sneak past the kids’ section in the library to get to the romance shelves. Today, she proudly writes contemporary romance novels where the sex is great and everyone gets healed by love. She is still looking for the love of her life after a few wrong turns, detours, missed exits, and cul de sacs (he doesn't have to be a billionaire, though they are always welcome to apply). In the meantime, she is a single mom living in the middle of nowhere, practically.
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Copyright © 2019 by Luna Doerr
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
ISBN: 978-1-7343832-0-1
