by Tamie Dearen
“How?”
“Well, after I’ve kissed you enough to make up for the months we lost... No, that would take all night. After I’ve kissed you enough to make up for one of the weeks we lost together, I’ll take you for dessert at Ellen’s Stardust Diner.”
“Can I get a burger and a chocolate shake?”
She felt his laugh rumble in his back. “Sure. But I don’t know how you stay so little with that appetite.”
She laid her head against him, relishing the feel of his warm muscles flexing, until he stopped at a secluded park bench.
“I thought we’d pretty much covered all the topics. What else are you going to make me talk about?” She knew she sounded petulant, but she couldn’t help it.
“I want to know the inside rules.”
“What inside rules?”
“The ones that if I break them, you’ll ditch me. For instance, now I know I’m not supposed to mention marriage unless I’m talking about someone else’s marriage, like Spencer and Emily. What else?”
“There aren’t any rules.”
“Sure there are—you and your sisters know them. I bet I could guess one or two of them. Like, I bet if I ever hit you, you’d ditch me, and your brother would kill me.”
“Well, that’s obvious.”
“Right, so I want to know the less obvious ones, like the one about the M-word. What about the L-word? Am I still supposed to avoid that one?”
“I don’t know. I’ve told everyone else that I... that I... you know... I live you, but I’m scared to say it to you.”
“Then you don’t have to say it until you’re ready.”
The tight feeling in her chest eased a bit. Maybe talking wasn’t so bad.
“And just so we’re totally clear, do you really want to move out of New York City or not?”
“I only wanted you to move because I thought you were working yourself to death. I still think we might need to move some day, and I’d be perfectly willing to go.”
He shook his head. “I can’t tell you everything that’s going on, but suffice it to say I’m happy where I am. But explain this to me. How is it you can worry about our future together and where we might live, but you can’t talk about the possibility we might have a future together?”
“Because those are two totally different things, of course. And by the way, I can see you rolling your eyes around, even though it’s dark. Didn’t your mother ever tell you they might get stuck up there?”
“But you’d be willing to move away from your family so we could be together if it was best for me and my career?”
She firmed her lips and nodded once. “I absolutely would.”
“And if we moved away from here together, would we be... uhmm... the M-word?”
Grace felt a rock drop into her stomach. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Brad stared at her with his mouth open. “Really? So we can talk about moving away together, but we can’t talk about getting hitched?”
“Maybe we could say hitched, if we were talking about some theoretical occurrence in the far, far future.”
“You know you’re crazy, right?”
“It’s possible. After all, you’re crazy, and I live you.”
Before she realized what was happening she was high up in the air, squealing, as he held her by the waist, twirling in circles. He began to yell. “I’m crazy! And I’m in love with you! Grace Marshall! I love you! Hey everybody! I love this girl!” His shouts attracted the attention of a nearby group of young people who began to whistle, whoop, and applaud. He stopped spinning and wrapped his arms around her, allowing her to slide down against him until their faces were level.
“Grace Marshall—you crazy girl. I love you. And I’m going to kiss you over and over again. And I’m not going to stop until you tell me you love me back.”
When his lips met hers, the world exploded in her head. She was aware of nothing but the man who held her in his arms... the man who held her heart in his hands.
And he kept his word.
From the Author:
Hope you had a lot of fun.
Thanks so much. You’re almost done.
One more thing before you’re through,
Won’t you leave a short review?
***
I love to hear from my readers. I hope you’ll contact me on the website. I always try to respond personally. If you’d like to know about the next books and special offers, I hope you will sign up for news about new releases, free books, and sales.
About the Author
Tamie Dearen lives with her very romantic husband of thirty-three years. She has two beautiful daughters, two amazing son-in-loves, and one awesome grandson. She plays piano, flute, harmonica, keyboards, and guitar and loves composing and art. And she hates housework. She has been a dentist in private practice for thirty years. Tamie stays busy playing keyboards on her church’s praise team and teaching graduate students each week. In her spare time, she writes books. Contact Tamie on her website (TamieDearen.com) for news of the latest releases and monthly prize drawings.
Books by Tamie Dearen
*
Sweet Romance
*
The Best Girls Series:
The Best is Yet to Come (Free Prequel)
Her Best Match
Best Dating Rules
Best Laid Plans
Best Foot Forward
*
Sweet Romance
*
A Rose in Bloom
*
Christian Romance
*
Noelle’s Golden Christmas
Haley’s Hangdog Holiday
*
The Alora Series
YA/Fantasy
*
Alora: The Wander-Jewel
Alora: The Portal
Alora: The Maladorn Scroll
*
Sign up for News on New Releases and Special Offers
*
Follow on Facebook: Tamie Dearen Author
Follow on Twitter: @TamieDearen
Don't miss out!
Click the button below and you can sign up to receive emails whenever Tamie Dearen publishes a new book. There's no charge and no obligation.
https://books2read.com/r/B-A-NEW-NBGD
Connecting independent readers to independent writers.
