by Nia Arthurs
“I didn’t stay.” He slants me a cocky smirk. “I figured you’d run.”
I roll my eyes.
Brett focuses on the road. “T?”
“Mm?” I shove a pastry into my mouth.
It melts on my tongue.
Oh, so good.
“Hear me out before you shoot me down.” His fingers tighten on the wheel.
I glance up, taken aback by how… hesitant he sounds.
“Would you like me to set up a company for you?”
I almost spill my coffee. “What?”
“I can buy a building today. We can register the company tomorrow.” He shakes his head. “I can hire the best sales marketers. Experts in customer acquisition. We can turn this thing into an empire—”
“Brett. Stop.” I smirk. “Take a breath.”
He glances at me. “I know what you’re going to do today.”
“It’s only right.”
“You don’t have to. I want to help.”
“Yes, but matchmaking isn’t a product. It takes a genuine touch. It takes trust. That can’t be built overnight.”
He takes my hand. Brings it up to kiss my knuckles. “I want to take care of you.”
“Trust me. I like being taken care of.”
He grins. “That’s why we’re a good match.”
“True.” I laugh. “But I want to do this on my own. I’ll rebuild if I have to. I’ll make it happen.”
“I believe you.” His silver eyes soften as they look at me.
“I love you.” I reach over and kiss his cheek.
“Don't distract me while I’m driving.”
“Oh? You mean like this?” I put my hand on his thigh and draw a slow, intimate circle.
“Tierra…”
“I missed you last night.” My hand moves up his thigh.
His jaw clenches. Those silver eyes turn more black than silver. “Woman… I’ll throw you in the backseat. Keep that up.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” I pull my hand away. “Later. I don’t want to mess up my makeup.”
Brett parks in front of Make It Marriage and walks with me to the front door.
He gives me another hug and a kiss. “You got this.”
“I got this.” I smirk. “I feel like a kid getting dropped off for her first day of kindergarten.”
He smirks. “Call me.”
“Yes, sir.”
His eyes darken. “I mean it.”
I give him a kiss. “Later.” Turning, I stroll into the building.
As soon as I step inside, nerves assault me.
With shaking legs, I move to Kayla’s office and knock on the door.
“Come in!”
I ease it open.
Notice Venus and Amina sitting there too.
They’re all wearing serious expressions. I know, instinctively, that they were talking about me.
Nerves chew at my stomach.
I hold my hands in front of me and step forward. “I have something I need to say to you.”
Kayla tilts her head.
“I…” My voice cracks. “I’m resigning from Make It Marriage.”
Venus makes a tsk sound. “Tierra—”
“I fell in love with a client,” I blurt.
The room goes still.
“I know that’s against policy. I know that I’m giving up an amazing place here with you,” I give each of them a look, “amazing people. I’m sorry I let you down, but please know that it was an honor—”
“Tierra, stop,” Amina says.
Kayla’s lips inch up. “We know.”
“You… know?”
“Yup.” Venus grins. “Brett called us early this morning and told us everything—that he pursued you when you tried to keep things professional. That he fell in love with you.”
“What?”
“Brett also threatened to create a rival company to take Make It Marriage down,” Kayla added.
I smack my forehead. That man.
“The determination in his voice when he called,” Kayla shudders, “he would have done it too. I’m sure of it.”
Venus grins. “Lucky for you—and us—we have a one-client policy.”
“A… one-client policy? You mean…”
“Look,” Venus stands, “once upon a time, I tried to match my brother’s best friend with someone else. Only problem was that I was in love with him. Like… desperately. Since as long as I can remember.”
My eyebrows hike.
“Now we’re happily engaged.” Venus wiggles her finger. “And I wouldn’t have given that up for anything. Not even this job.”
“It’s going to be a PR nightmare.” Amina shrugs. "But then again, we’re in the business of helping others find true love and if you and Brett found it…”
“So you’re not firing me?”
Kayla shakes her head and then her eyes sharpen. “But this is a one-client policy. If it happens again, then I won’t be fooled into thinking it’s true love. And I won’t go easy on you either.”
“Trust me, Brett is more than enough to handle.”
Venus wiggles her eyebrows. “I can imagine.”
“Venus…” Kayla warns.
“I didn’t say anything that time.” She rolls her eyes. “The kid isn’t even here yet and you’re already censoring me.”
“The kid?”
Amina grins. “Kayla made an announcement yesterday.”
“Yes.” She reddens prettily. “I’m pregnant.”
“What? That’s fantastic!” I shriek.
The ladies pull me into the fold and we excitedly chat about the baby until our appointments force us to leave the room and tend to business.
I float to my office and call Brett.
He answers on the first ring. “What did they say?”
“I'm fired. And I’m never working in this industry again.”
He curses. “Don’t worry, babe. We’re gonna crush them—”
“I’m kidding.”
He lets out a breath of relief. “Good.”
“Did you actually threaten my boss?”
“It was more of a bluff than a threat.”
“What am I going to do with you?” I murmur, smiling.
“I can stop by your office and we can answer that question together.”
I grin. “Sorry. Too many valuable things are on this desk.”
“You got a couch?”
I laugh.
Brett’s smile rings in his voice. “I love you, Tierra.”
The words settle right in my gut.
Warm.
Affirming.
I close my eyes and picture Brett’s silver eyes. “I love you too.”
And I always will.
Thirty-Four
Brett
“Baby, you have to…” Tierra pants. Moans low in her throat. “You have to open it.”
“The fact that you’re still talking about that letter right now,” I press kisses down her flat stomach, “is a very bad sign.”
She digs her fingers into my hair. Nails lightly scrape my scalp.
The sensation sends shivers of electricity straight to my toes.
She moans again. “You always do this.”
“I do not.” My head lifts.
She pushes her hips up even as her words clash with her actions. “You said today’s the day.”
“It is.”
“Then why did you throw me on the bed as soon as I walked in?”
“It’s your fault that you're so,” I kiss her inner thigh, “distracting. Every time I’m around you, I can’t think straight.”
Tierra groans my name. “Brett…”
The words fade as I jerk her pants down to her ankles.
She reaches for me. Wraps her hands around my neck, all protests disappearing.
I attack her with kisses.
Wickedly tease her.
Make her scream.
Make her moan.
She shudders in pleasure and drop
s all conversations about my mother’s letter.
I think I’ve succeeded in driving the thought from her mind.
But I’m wrong.
Tierra brings the topic up again when we’re wrapped in each other’s arms a while later.
“You can’t keep avoiding it,” she says, her voice hoarse from screaming.
I smooth her thick, black curls away from her face. “T…”
“It’s time, Brett.” She pushes herself up on her elbow and looks down at me.
My chest rises and falls on a heavy sigh.
It’s true. I’ve been stalling on opening my mother’s letter.
It’s been a while since she died.
I should have done it a long time ago.
But I can’t.
“What’s the problem?” Tierra asks, setting her dark hands on my chest. She plays with the thick hair on my torso.
I shift toward her, my eyes on her plump lips.
They’re swollen from my kisses.
She eases back. “Eventually, you’ll have to face her.”
I groan.
Nothing’s a bigger mood-killer than talking about a dead parent.
But I guess that’s her point.
Tierra keeps swirling her fingers on my abs. Her soft brown eyes shine with patient understanding.
I’ve given her everything.
Every part of me.
So it’s easy to share my most vulnerable thoughts now. “That letter is all I have left of her.” I pull Tierra into me and hug her close. “Whatever she says is final. I can’t go to her and ask for an explanation or give an answer or get an answer. Once I read that, it’s done. She’s really…” My voice cracks. “She's really gone.”
“Baby, I understand, but you can't keep running away.” Tierra lifts her chin to meet my eyes. “You’re always encouraging me to face my problems head on and to be strong.” She kisses my chest. Pulls back. “Now I’m doing the same for you.”
My heart pangs.
With fear.
With love.
She’s my entire world.
And I’m her rock.
Every day, I fall a little bit more in love with her.
We spend every moment we can together and I genuinely enjoy her company above all else. She’s my best friend as well as my lover and the fact that she can match me on an emotional level only fortifies our connection.
I’m obsessed with her.
Even when she’s pushing me towards something I dread.
“I’ll make dinner,” she says, patting my chest.
As Tierra moves to swing out of the bed, I grab her by the waist and pull her on top of me for one more heated kiss.
Her eyes flutter closed.
She makes a little purring sound deep in her throat.
Damn.
I wait until she opens her eyes to say, “I love you.”
“I love you.” Her palms flatten against my shoulders and she pushes herself up. “Now get to that letter.”
I smack her behind, grinning as she gives a girlish squeal.
Rolling off the bed, I grab the matching robe that Kayla gifted us a few weeks ago and tie the belt around my waist.
Nerves make my hands shake.
I have the letter in my bottom drawer. All the way at the back.
I walk over.
Open the drawer.
Grab it.
The letter in my grip, I sit on the edge of the bed.
There’s my address, written in Mom’s crab-like scrawl.
I turn it over. Peel the lid. Pull out a small sheet of paper.
My eyes skim the message.
Emotions clog my throat.
I read it again. And again.
A few minutes later, Tierra knocks on the door. “You okay?”
I glance up.
She pulls her lips in and rushes to my side. “What did she say?”
“What she needed to,” I whisper. “What I needed to hear.”
Tierra sits in my lap and accepts the letter from me. I tuck my head into the curve of her shoulder and neck, holding her body tightly to my chest, trying to absorb her even more into me than she already is.
After a few minutes, Tierra sighs and lets the letter fall to the edge of the bed. Turning so she can face me, she smiles through her tears. I swipe them away with my thumb.
Our eyes lock.
We exchange a conversation that needs no words.
Finally, Tierra rests her forehead against mine. “I’m so happy. Like really really happy.” Her hands rest against my cheek. “I’m going to make you as happy as you make me, Brett McQueen.”
“And I’m going to care for and protect you until I die.” I kiss her gently.
And when I’m old and grey, when the house is filled with our children and the legacy we’ve left behind on the earth that we’ve made a better place, I’m going to sit on our porch in our rocking chair and hold her hand and say, Love made me do this.
Because it did.
Epilogue
Dear, son
Dear, Brett
I’m not brazen enough to call you son. Not after everything I’ve done to you and to Sharon. It’s taken me a really long time to forgive myself for the mistakes I’ve made. Sometimes, I can’t even look myself in the mirror. The guilt is crippling.
But I’m here anyway. Writing this.
Even if I don’t think I’ll have the courage to send it.
Sharon suggested I try. Your sister’s been sending me letters. A lot of them. I don’t want to see her. She doesn’t deserve a mother like me, but she’s relentless. And confident.
I’m going to assume she got that from you.
Lord knows I wasn’t there to parent her. Or you.
And for that, I’m sorry.
So very, very sorry.
That day plays like a nightmare over and over in my head. But do you know what shakes me more than the horror of pulling that trigger? It was seeing your face. Your beautiful eyes were so frightened. You were scared. Of me. What had I become?
So I panicked. And I blamed someone else. Something else.
But I was wrong.
What your father and I had wasn’t love. It was… damaging. It was unhealthy. We didn’t make each other better people. We kept each other in the muck. In the shadows. And that’s not anyone’s fault but ours.
That wasn’t love.
Love, real love—the kind you deserve—is caring, compassionate and selfless. You’ll know it when you see it. And when you find her, it’ll be a good thing.
Or maybe when she finds you.
Sharon says she’s been looking at a matchmaking agency. I wish her luck. If you’re as stubborn as I remember, then she’s got to find an amazing matchmaker to get you to do anything.
Remember that sometimes relationships can be tricky.
But love isn’t.
It’s really very simple.
Because it’s an action word.
And most people can tell.
I never got to love you the way you deserve, but know that if I could do it all again, I’d choose differently. You, my son, mean the world to me.
I won’t ask for your forgiveness, but I will ask that you remember me from time to time as the mother I could have been and not the one I was. I’ll pray Sharon succeeds and that you find a love you never even dreamed of.
Be well, my son.
Mom
***
Keep reading to find out how you can get an exclusive bonus scene featuring Tierra, Brett and the rest of the Make It Marriage family!
I loved to see all the Make It Marriage matchmakers interact with a totally new member of the crew—Tierra. And it was so fun to follow along the journey of a couple that seemed opposite at first and slowly fell in love with each other. Tierra and Brett will forever have a soft spot in my heart. I hope you feel the same! If you liked this book please leave a review now.
Read on for an excerpt of Hansley’s crazy accidental Vegas weddi
ng! Coming soon!
Author’s Note
The idea for Be My Hope stemmed from that one crazy email header that popped into my head.
Dear Make It Marriage, by the time you read this, I’ll be dead…
After that line, ideas just started rolling.
I knew I wanted to play on that theme of death and life as well as the theme of love and family in this novel.
Both Tierra and Brett had people in their lives who did some really messed up stuff—Brett’s mother murdered his father and Tierra’s sister stole her boyfriend.
Both of these acts are vile, and both of these characters responded in different ways.
Tierra took some time to herself to lick her wounds and then she forgave her sister and continued to withstand the disrespect because of her own deep-seated fear that she ‘deserved’ to be cheated on.
Brett, on the other hand, threw himself into making a better life for his sister and treated love like a disease that he wanted no part of. He pushed people away and only used women to pass the time without allowing any to get close to his heart.
I want to point out that both these methods weren’t the best route to take, but they were the only course each character saw at the time.
What’s so beautiful about Brett and Tierra is that, through the course of the story, they teach each other how to be better human beings.
Brett gave Tierra the courage to understand that, yes she deserves better. She is enough.
And Tierra gave Brett the courage to open his heart to love and understand that vulnerability is not a destructive force. Love in its true essence is laying one’s life for a friend. It’s selflessness, commitment and honor.
I hope you loved Tierra and Brett as much as I did. Stay tuned for Hansley’s love story because, girl! That one is a doozy!
For access to Brett and Tierra’s exclusive scene (and future sneak peeks, cover reveals and book deals from me), sign up to my newsletter here.
Until the next whirlwind BWWM Romance.
~ Nia
Be My Bride
SNEAK PEEK
