by Linda Kage
"Of course you're hired," a new voice answered from the doorway. Eva swept into the room, looking so amazing she damn near glowed. Going to Hart, she took both his hands and beamed up at him. "I think the idea is wonderful. We could do so much if we put up a stage and sound system. And with your enthusiasm, I already know exactly who to put in charge of that. Welcome to Forbidden."
When she went to hug him, I bristled and pushed to my feet. I wasn't upset because she was barging in here, making decisions. Aside from watching our kids, she doubled as my partner in running the business. In fact, she usually took care of filling out all the legal forms I hated, though I was still trying to learn how to deal with them, anyway.
No, I was upset because Asher Hart seemed a little bit too enthusiastic about hugging her back. His eyes looked glazed when she pulled away and grinned at him.
Taking her hand, I pulled her to my side and wrapped a propriety hand around her waist. "She's taken, by the way."
Hart glanced between the two of us. "I kind of figured that out when I spotted your name tattooed on her."
"What?" Startled by his declaration, I twisted back to Tink and caught her chin before turning her face until I could see behind her ear. When fresh, black ink stared back, spelling out my name, I sucked in a breath. "Shit, you really did it."
She winked up at me. "I didn't want any of your glimpses not to come true."
I grinned and kissed her hard and long.
Remembering we had company, I glanced up to find Hart watching us in amusement. "So, when can I start?" he asked.
"Tonight." I was starting to tell him every new bartender needed to get broken in on a ladies' night, when I suddenly realized where I'd seen him before. The tat behind Eva's ear brought the glimpse back into my mind. Hart was the deejay who was going to play at my wedding reception.
Realizing he would have a bigger role in my future than I'd first realized, I smiled at him. "Yeah, I think you're going to fit in just fine. Wear at tight, black T-shirt and jeans and show up before six when we open."
A grin spread across Hart's face. "Will do, boss."
After he disappeared from my office, the woman with her arms wrapped around my waist gazed up at me with absolute adoration. "So I'm guessing you're not pissed at me for hiring him on the spot. I just felt a good vibe from him."
I leaned down to rub my nose along hers. "Don't worry. I got the same vibe. We definitely have us a new Forbidden boy."
"And he's definitely hot enough to fit in," she answered, her unique blue eyes gleaming with mischief.
I narrowed mine. "Oh, you think he was hot, huh? That why you were so eager to hug him?"
She laughed, spilling out that sound I loved most in the world. "No, I hugged him so you'd turn all jealous and caveman and pull me away from him."
"You are one devious woman," I murmured. "Is that the only reason you came in today? To make me prove how crazy I am about you? I thought you were staying home with the babies."
"I was but . . . " She yanked open her purse and pulled out an official-looking envelope. "This came in the mail, so I dropped the kids off with Reese and came straight here."
My stomach roiled with instant unease. We'd gotten too many official letters lately. After her father's death, his will had stipulated Eva get a nice chunk of his inheritance that she was forced to share with her newly widowed mother. But her mother had been fighting for more of the money, so she'd hired a lawyer, to which we'd had to put our new lawyer to more work to fight back.
Eva had said she didn't want any of her father's money, but I thought he owed it to her, and more. For Skylar, Julian, and our future Chloe, she'd decided to keep it.
"It's from social services," she said, surprising me.
I hadn't thought we'd get word back about Julian quite so fast. A new worry gnawed at my gut as she stuck her finger in the slit and opened the letter. Tightening my arms around her, I held my breath as she quickly scanned the single page.
Her eyes lifted to mine, sober and unsmiling. I almost started sobbing right then. We hadn't been granted the adoption, had we? We were going to lose him.
Then tears prickled her eyes. "They said yes. Oh my God. They said yes. We can adopt him."
"What?"
"We can really keep him." Hugging me, laughing and crying at the same time, Eva began to jump up and down and screech her excitement.
"Oh, shit." In a split second, I was crying with her, tears of joy streaming down my face.
Hauling her up off the ground, I spun my woman in a circle as I sobbed into her neck. As we held onto each other tightly, I wondered why this moment hadn't been in any of my glimpses. I didn't know if I'd ever felt quite this happy and relieved before.
But I guess Madam LeFrey hadn't wanted me to see too much. Damn witch had made me sweat it out. Which only made me appreciate the moment more.
"I love you so much," I told Eva, kissing my way up her neck to her mouth.
She found my lips and kissed me back. "I love you too."
"Before we adopt him, though, you have to do me one favor."
"Anything," she promised, only to pause and give me a leery eye. "Wait. What do I have to do?"
I winked. "Marry me."
Eva's Epilogue
EVA
Eight Years After That
"Are you sure you're ready for this?"
I smiled over at my husband as he turned into the long lane of our driveway. Trees in the front yard cast a nice shady shadow before revealing our four-bedroom ranch-style home. "Why are you so worried? I don't see how this time is any different than the last."
He sent me a dry look. "The twins didn't exist the last time you came from the hospital after giving birth." He said twins as if he actually meant evil, demon spawn.
I laughed and shook my head. "I'm sure they didn't destroy the house that bad."
Pick snorted. "Reese is probably trying to peel them off the ceiling right now. I'm telling you, letting her and Mason watch our kids while you were at the hospital was a bad idea. Who knows what kind of habits their insane twins have already taught our perfect little angels."
"My God. You're getting dramatic in your old age, Patrick."
But he did have a point.
The two-year-old Lowe children could be quite a terror. They went full-speed all day long, curious about everything and always eager to play.
We heard the commotion from inside as soon as Pick killed the engine and opened the car door.
Glancing at me with gritted teeth, he muttered, "Still think I'm overreacting?"
I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure Reese will pay for anything they broke."
"Lovely." He slid from the car and pulled open the back door to carefully pull out our two-day-old sleeping son. Pausing to stare, his face immediately softened. "Damn, he's perfect."
I hurried around the car to trail my fingers up his back. "Because he looks just like his daddy."
Pick winked at me as he tugged the carrier free. "Be careful, Tink. Or I'll be ready to start making baby number five."
I moaned. "I think four's enough."
"Oh, come on. We don't even have a basketball team yet." When I shot him a glare, he laughed.
It still irked Pick that he'd never had a glimpse of baby number four. After Chloe had been born, he was so sure that was all the kids we'd have. But then I'd gotten pregnant again, and honestly, it tickled me pink that he'd been so stunned. The first few years of our marriage had been grossly unfair. He'd known every big thing that was ever going to happen. He'd known Chloe was going to be a girl, he'd known this would be our home from the moment we'd taken a tour and stepped into the backyard. But now he was just as clueless about the future as I was. And it felt good to finally know as much as he did.
The door to the house opened before we reached it.
"Hold the baby! Hold the baby!" hollered a small blur I knew to be Gracen, Thing One of the terrible Lowe duo. "Baby."
Pick caught Reese's son around th
e waist with one arm as he continued to carry the new baby in his carrier with the other.
"Not on your life, pal," he told Gracen.
When the toddler began to kick his feet, Pick thrust him at his mother when she too hurried outside, smiling wide. "Here. Control your child."
"Oh, did he get out?" Reese swept the boy up high into her arms and made him squeal with laughter.
"Hold baby," Gracen demanded.
Reese laughed and kissed his nose. "Me first, squirt."
Julian was the first to tackle us when we came through the door. "Mom! You're home. No one told us you were home already. Are you okay?"
"I'm wonderful." I hugged him to my waist and ruffled his dark curls. "Glad to be home with you again. How are things . . . here?"
Wow, there really was something unidentifiable and blue dripping from our ceiling.
He looked up at me and grinned, his dark eyes warm with adoration. "We were going to make you a special supper."
"And clean," Reese added ruefully.
I glanced around the front room, only for my jaw to fall open. Behind me, Pick murmured, "Oh dear God. Did a bomb go off in here?"
"Nope. Only three two-year-olds and two eight-year-olds," Reese answered.
"I did not make any of this mess," Skylar announced as she went to Pick to get a look at her newest little sibling. "Oh, my goodness," she murmured, her eyes wide with awe. "He's so small."
Pick ruffled her hair and pulled her against his side. "Trust me; you were a lot smaller than this when you were born."
"No way." Her eyes were wide and she leaned in to get a closer look.
Mason appeared in the doorway from the kitchen hall, his arms full of Chloe. My youngest daughter was a major uncle's girl and clung to poor Mason whenever he was around. Spotting me, she grinned and pointed. "Mama." But she seemed satisfied to stay right where she was.
"Where's Thing Two?" Pick asked, glancing around suspiciously for Miss Isabella, the second twin. She made Gracen seem mild when she was around.
"Asleep," Mason answered. Then he hitched his chin toward the carrier. "What do you have there, Pick?"
Pick glanced at me and grinned, and I felt so full of love, surrounded by my favorite people on earth. Lifting his son, Pick announced, "Everyone, meet Patrick Mason Ryan."
The End
Coming Next
MARCH 2015
With Every Heartbeat
Quinn's Story
Shy, sheltered Zoey Blakeland is free. Now that she’s graduated from high school and can finally escape her strict abusive father, she flees halfway across the country to attend ESU, where her best friend Cora is a student. Now is her time to start fresh.
But meeting Quinn Hamilton changes her dreams. He’s not what she expects, and he unconsciously teaches her what love is really about. She can’t help but fall for him on that sunny Tuesday afternoon when he asks her to help him pick out an engagement ring for Cora.
Betraying her best friend is the last thing she’d ever do, but when it becomes increasingly obvious Quinn is with the wrong girl, she finds it harder and harder to deny her feelings.
Acknowledgements
There are so many wonderful people to thank! Every day, Mr. Kurt and Miss Lydia put up with a lot of dirty dishes, messy rooms, sporadic meals, and a very distracted Linda so that I can follow my dreams. Without their patience, none of my stories would be possible.
And to the rest of my family, I love each and every one of you. Your support means so much. Thanks Shi Ann and Alaina for always being eager to read whatever piece of rough draft I have at the moment, and Katie for her love of proofreading!
A whole bunch of thank yous go to Mrs. Lindsay Brooks, who is eternally willing to let me bounce the craziest ideas off her and then telling me to go for it.
Thank you to my critique partner, the lovely author Ada Frost, who gave me wise advice on both story and book covers.
Next, I have a batch of the sweetest beta readers possible. My fellow Teen Wolf fanatic, Mrs. Stiles, AKA Chelcie Holguin: your honest opinion was awesome. Thanks a bunch to Patty Brehm as well. I loved your suggestions. And both Ana Kristina Rabacca and Mary Rose Bermundo: your enthusiasm completely made my day so many times. You are each like a fresh batch of warm sunshine.
A ton of thanks to editor Rosa Sophia and proofreader Shelley at 2 Book Lovers Reviews, who were both willing to take on a new client on short notice. Thank you.
And the best for last: Thanks to Jesus Christ who forgives every ugly sin I commit against Him and still loves me anyway!
About the Author
Linda grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now she lives in Kansas with her husband, daughter, and their nine cuckoo clocks. Her life's been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing's always been a major part her world, and she's so happy to finally share some of her stories with other romance lovers. Please visit her at her website
www.lindakage.com