“That’s impossible.”
“No it’s not.” She leans down to kiss me, caresses my cheeks and neck with her fingertips and begins to circle her hips effortlessly. “I’m sorry I got scared.”
“Don’t leave me again.”
Ever.
She shakes her head and kisses me, licks my lower lip and kisses me again, deeper now. My cock pulses inside her. I want to grip onto her hips and drive inside her over and over, but I wait, knowing that she’s comforting us both.
Her hands glide to my arms and she holds on as she begins to ride me. Jesus, I’m not even moving and I’m not going to last.
“God, M,” I mutter. “Your body is amazing.” It’s true. Her firm, round breasts, tight stomach, full hips all make me weak in the knees. But it’s her heart that has had me in its grip for more than a decade.
“Love you,” she whispers and tucks her face in my neck as she picks up speed.
“Can I move now?”
“Yes, please.”
I roll her to her back without breaking our precious contact and cradle her shoulders and head in my hands, tip my forehead against hers as I move in slow, earnest strokes.
“Love you,” I say, my lips against hers. “Always.”
Epilogue
Three months later…
~Meredith~
“Why are you acting so weird?” I ask Jax and help one of the littlest girls tie her dance shoes.
“I’m not.” He won’t look me in the eye, which spells lie with a capital L.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Jax, something’s up. Is everything okay with Mr. Lovey Pants?”
Strong arms wrap around my shoulders from behind and Logan presses a kiss to my temple. “Mr. Lovey Pants is fine.”
“Hey, handsome.” I grin up at the man that’s quickly become a good friend of mine. He’s perfect for my Jax.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he replies flirtatiously.
“Get your hands off my man, potato chip,” Jax growls with a glare, making me laugh.
“He only has eyes for you,” I assure Jax and brush my fingertip over the ring on Logan’s left hand. “I love the rings you guys chose. Marriage looks good on both of you.”
They grin at each other, love and humor and understanding floating between them, making my heart catch. Their wedding was absolutely beautiful.
“I’m sorry that we scheduled this recital for the same weekend you’re moving the rest of your things.” I cringe and offer Logan a sympathetic smile.
“It’s fine. My dad is keeping an eye on the movers.”
“You didn’t have to come,” Jax says. “And you didn’t have to hire movers. I don’t have that much stuff.”
“Well, with movers you didn’t have to try to squeeze in time between choreography and dance recitals to pack your stuff, and I wouldn’t miss this recital for the world.” He smiles down at me. “How do you like your new kitchen?”
I smile widely as I think of my beautiful kitchen, complete with the insanely awesome and insanely expensive wine cooler I wanted. “I love it. You and Jax have to come for dinner soon. We’d love to have you.”
“Sounds great. Have you told him?” Logan asks with a low voice, his blue eyes shining behind his sexy glasses.
“Tonight,” I reply.
Logan kisses Jax’s cheek, then mine, and grins. “Good luck with that. I’ll be out in the audience with the others.”
“I can’t believe the
entire
Williams and Montgomery families came,” I mutter and count heads. The little girls are all abuzz with excitement, admiring each other’s pretty outfits and thrilled that they get to wear red lipstick.
“You know they love an excuse to get together, and they haven’t missed one of the twins and Sophie’s recitals yet.”
“Except Mark.” I scowl down at my quiet phone. “He never has to work on Saturdays, but he said something came up with work and he couldn’t get out of it.”
“Okay, it’s time,” Jax says and walks away, motioning for the girls to gather around him. I walk out onto the stage.
“Welcome, everyone, and thank you so much for being here today. I am Meredith Summers, the co-owner of Twinkle Toes, and on behalf of Jax and I, I’d like to say thank you so very much for all of your support. We love teaching your little ones and are honored that you’ve trusted this studio to bring them to dance. Your girls have been working very hard to prepare for today’s recital. So, without further ado, let’s get started.”
I smile as the families applaud and walk down the steps to my mark in the audience, where the girls can still see me and I can lead them through their dances. As always, we start with the youngest ones.
As they file out and begin to move their tiny bodies to the music, one little girl on the end decides to freestyle it, singing with the music, skipping and dancing around the stage, making the parents, and me, laugh.
That little girl is going places.
Parents happily snap photos and ooh and aah over the girls’ routines as each age group comes out on stage to perform two dances each. Finally, when all is said and done, I return to the stage.
“That concludes today’s recital. Thank you again…”
There’s a tug on my skirt. I glance down to see a tiny little red-haired girl holding up a red rose to me, which I take and smile down at her. She walks away, and suddenly, another girl appears with a rose.
I look up to survey the audience for Mark, thinking this might be his handy-work, but he’s not here. I shrug, thinking nothing of it. Sometimes the dance instructors receive flowers after a recital.
As I try to thank the audience for coming, I’m interrupted over and over again, until my arms are full of beautiful, fragrant red roses.
Suddenly, all of the Montgomerys, Williamses, and Logan, with Jax now standing next to him, all stand and applaud enthusiastically and I’m at a loss.
“What in the world is going on?”
“Turn around, Miss Mer,” Josie yells out from behind me. I turn and stop, stunned, at what I see before me.
All eight of the oldest girls are standing in a line holding signs that spell out
Will You Marry Me, M?
and Mark is on one knee, holding his hand out to me. I stumble to him, walking on numb feet and feel my eyes fill with tears.
“Are you kidding me?” I whisper. Mark laughs, his blue eyes dancing with happiness, and he flashes that naughty smile at me, making my knees go weak and my heart sing.
“Meredith,” he says and the whole room hushes. “We waited a long time for each other. I don’t think we even knew that’s what we were doing. I will never stop loving you, Meredith A—”
“Watch it,” I say, cutting him off from saying my middle name out loud. He laughs and kisses my hand.
“In a sea of people, my eyes will always search for you, my love. You are the best part of my life, and I can’t imagine ever being without you again. So, in front of everything and everyone we love most, I’m asking you to believe in us and become my wife. I promise, I’ll work every day making sure you never regret it.”
Tears are streaming down my cheeks as I step forward and cup his face in my hand. “Of course I’ll marry you, M.”
He kisses my palm, then slips a beautiful round solitaire diamond engagement ring on my finger before standing and wrapping his arms around me. He slants his lips over mine, then kisses my cheek.
“You said yes.”
“Damn right I did.” I laugh. Everyone in the audience continues to applaud as Mark nuzzles my nose. “Is this a good time to tell you you’re gonna be a daddy?”
“What?” He jerks back and gazes down in my eyes. “What did you just say?”
“I’m pregnant, babe.”
“Holy shit.” He kisses me again, harder this time and then lets out a loud, “Whoop!”
“What’s going on up there?” Will calls out from the audience.
“We’re getting married,” Mark calls back and raises a brow at me, silently asking for permission to announce the good news. I happily nod and he smiles wide, never looking away from me and calls out, “And we’re gonna have a baby!”
Applause erupts again, and I’m suddenly surrounded by people, being passed around from brother to brother, hugged and kissed. The girls are all crying and smiling and hugging each other until they can get to me.
“Congratulations,
bella
,” Dom says happily as he hugs me close and then passes me to Luke.
“I’m so happy for you,” Luke whispers in my ear. “If you need anything at all, you only have to call.”
I nod with tears in my eyes and then am scooped up into Neil’s strong arms.
“Welcome to our family at last, my sweet girl,” he says with a wide, handsome grin. “It’s about time. We’ve been waiting for you, you know.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“Your mother gave me her wedding dress to hold on to for you,” Lucy says as she pats my cheek softly.
“She did? But how did she—”
“A mother knows.” Lucy winks at me. “We’d better get you married before you can’t fit into the dress anymore.”
I glance over to where Jax and Logan are standing, hand-in-hand, laughing with Jules and Nate, who has a sleeping Stella on his shoulder. Will and Meg are congratulating Mark as Leo and Sam both enfold me in a group hug.
“Way to go, babe,” Sam says smugly. “I’ve always liked you.”
“Yeah, right.” I snort as I laugh and she laughs with me. “I think the term is
tolerate
.”
“I liked you. Now I love you. You’re good for us.”
Jesus, is everyone going to make me cry today?
“Proud of you,” Natalie whispers in my ear, then winks at me and gives my arm a squeeze. “We’ll talk later.”
I’m passed from person to person, until finally, I’m back in Mark’s arms and he’s kissing me silly.
“Are you ready to be a part of this crazy family?” he asks with that naughty grin.
“I can’t wait,” I reply and press my face to his neck. “I can’t wait.”
THE END
Don’t miss the final book in the WITH ME IN SEATTLE series, FOREVER WITH ME, releasing in the Fall of 2014!
WITH ME IN SEATTLE SERIES:
Come Away With Me
and on
audio
Under the Mistletoe With Me
and on audio
Fight With Me
and on
audio
Play With Me
and on
audio
Rock With Me
and on
audio
Safe With Me
and on
audio
LOVE UNDER THE BIG SKY SERIES, available through Pocket Books:
Seducing Lauren
, coming summer of 2014
Look what’s coming in 2015!
From the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Kristen Proby, comes an all new series for 2015!
Mia, Addison, Riley, Camilla and Katrina have been best friends since elementary school. Five women have never been so different, yet it’s their diverse personalities and their love for one another that have fused them together since childhood. Now they’re all back home in Portland, Oregon. At a crossroads in their lives, they decide to take the chance of a lifetime and open their restaurant, Succulent, in the heart of the City of Roses. Playing a key role in the success of the business, each woman is determined that, not only is Succulent going to do well, it’s going to knock Portland off it’s feet. Specializing in titillating the senses with delicious aphrodisiacs, amazing music, an impressive wine cellar and an atmosphere that is as inviting as it is thrilling, Succulent is an experience, and one you won’t soon forget.
Prepare to be seduced in early 2015 with book one in the Fusion Series, A TASTE OF DELICIOUS!
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