Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“Maybe. But I’ll take my chances.” She plants a sweet kiss on my cheek. “Gotta be a bad girl some of the time, right?”
Good enough for me. Because I’ll take her any way I can.
Forever.
EPILOGUE
GENEVIEVE
I’ve got my head in the twins’ linen closet looking for an outdoor tablecloth when I’m jolted by a pair of arms coming around me from behind. Evan’s lips brush my neck. His hands travel up my ribs, under my shirt, to sneak their way past my bra and cup my breasts. I feel his erection pressing against my ass.
“I want you,” he breathes.
“So you keep saying.” This is the fourth time this afternoon he’s cornered me somewhere around the house to make his intentions clear. “Dinner will be ready soon.”
One hand slides down my stomach and into my shorts. “I want to eat now.”
A hot shiver rolls through me. He isn’t playing fair. Since we made the engagement official, we can’t keep our hands off each other. Evan’s new favorite game—which I’ve been less than sincere about deterring—is seeing how close he can get to outright seducing me in public before I call a time-out.
So far, pretty damn close.
“Have I mentioned I love you?” he whispers, his fingers slipping between my thighs. “Especially this part.”
“Especially?” I yank his hand free and turn to face him, eyebrow raised.
“Equally. I meant equally. As I love all the …” His eyes drag over my body. “Parts of you.”
“Just for that”—I reach under my shirt and unclasp my strapless bra, letting it drop to the floor—“I’m not wearing a bra to dinner.”
“Whoops.” Mac appears around the corner of the hallway. She pauses, then spins on her heel. “Carry on. Not even here.”
With a devilish grin, Evan bends down and picks up my bra. He shoves it in his back pocket. “I’m keeping this.”
Among the stranger things he’s done, this is up there. “Why?”
“You’ll find out.”
Far too happy with himself, he saunters off.
Once I’ve found the tablecloth, I head back to the kitchen where Mac is placing trays of food on a larger serving tray to carry outside. I toss the cloth at Evan and order him to go set the table on the deck.
“So what’s the score?” Mac asks me.
“Honestly, I’ve lost count.” I spoon the potato salad into a big bowl then pull the roasted carrots out of the oven.
We’re having an al fresco buffet-style dinner tonight. Several of our friends, along with Riley and his aunt, are already outside milling about. Steph keeps joking that it’s our engagement dinner, but it’s really not. More of a spur-of-the-moment suggestion on the part of Evan, whose impulsive tendencies haven’t completely abated.
He bumps into me while pulling utensils out of a drawer. “I’m winning.”
“I’m gonna say this again—” Cooper announces, coming to stand in the middle of the kitchen.
“Coop, stop.” Mac rolls her eyes as she picks up a tray laden with various salads.
“No, I’d like to reiterate. If I find out anyone but me is having sex on my bed, I’m setting theirs on fire in the backyard.”
“Dude.” Evan laughs at him. “Seriously, what makes you think I’d want to blow a load in your room? I’ve heard what you get up to in there.”
For that, he gets a swift smack to the arm from Mac.
“Just so you know,” Cooper shoots back as Evan is picking a cucumber spear off the cutting board to pop in his mouth. “I’ve had sex with her on that counter. So enjoy.”
“Jesus.” Evan shudders. “I know you confuse me with a mirror, but we don’t actually share a dick, man. Keep it to yourself.”
Lately, most of the ribbing has come at our expense. Just a little good-natured teasing about our newly engaged bliss. That we’re too young to get married and, before we know it, we’ll both be bored with each other and drowning in baby diapers. Still, it doesn’t faze us. Like Evan told Cooper when we announced it, we know we’re forever. We’ve always known.
As Mac and Evan drift onto the back deck, I set my oven mitts on the counter and give Cooper a sidelong glance. He cocks a brow when he notices. “What?” he says defensively.
My answering smile is saccharine. “Still haven’t gotten my apology for the day.”
“Fuck’s sake. Are you seriously going to hold me to that?”
“Sure am.”
A few days ago, Cooper and I took a walk on the beach and had a long overdue chat. And it didn’t even take any urging from Evan or Mackenzie. My future brother-in-law and I were mature enough to know we needed to squash the beef. So I apologized for being a bad influence on Evan in the past, while Cooper apologized for confronting me outside my place of business and telling me what a horrible person I was. He then offered me the privilege of his friendship again, to which I’d laughed and informed him if he wanted the privilege of my friendship, he would need to apologize to me every day until the wedding. Whenever that’ll be. We’re on Day Four now, and I’m having a blast.