Coming Clean (28 page)
Authors: C. L. Parker
Standing there with him, quite drunk on love, the rest of the world whizzed by in an attempt to catch up with us. Eventually, it did, but though my equilibrium had returned, Shaw still held me tight. Swaying back and forth to a slow dance despite the upbeat tempo, we looked into each other's eyes.
“Are you happy, husband?”
“Very happy and extremely anxious to get you back to our room and out of that dress. How about you, wife?”
I would've blushed and maybe even looked around to be sure my da or our son hadn't overheard him, but I'd stopped worrying about that sort of thing a year ago, thanks to the man before me and a naughty therapist, who wasn't a therapist at all, named Katya Minkov. “I don't ever want to be anywhere other than in your armsâ¦
naked,
” I tacked on.
“Let's go now.” He pulled away to drag me along behind him.
Luckily, I was able to stop him with a hard tug on his arm. “No! Ma would kill us!”
Shaw took me into his arms again, looking down at me with a mischievous grin. “Then I would die a happy, very
satisfied
man.” He did this sexy wink thing that made me go weak in the knees.
Canting my head to the side, I was serious when I asked, “If you die first, promise you'll come back to haunt me? Because if you don't, I know I won't be far behind you.”
“Sweetness⦔ He paused, seemingly not able to speak as he swallowed thickly and then shook his head. “Even if I'm not here in the flesh, my soul will forever be tethered to yours. Because that's where my home is.
You
are my home.”
I might have swooned a little bit with that, but Shaw was there to catch me. Just like he always would be because he was my hero.
The kiss that followed his declaration made me feel like Shaw had sprouted wings to whisk me away to a place that was high above the noise and commotion of the party. Behind my closed eyes, we were floating among a sea of stars where we were the moon, the Earth was our world, and the sun was the love we shared that kept it all moving in perfect synchronicity. When his lips pulled away, I opened my eyes to see our feet were firmly planted on the ground, but all those stars were still present in the deep blue galaxy staring back at me.
This was what happiness and contentment felt like, and Shaw felt it, too.
“Tell me,” I told him.
Shaw smiled down at me and my heart skipped a beat. He was such a beautiful man. “I am so in love with you,” he said, and I felt and saw the truth of his words.
I sighed, full of contentment. “And yet, it's still not as much as I'm in love with you.”
“Respectfully, Mrs. Matthews, I disagree. You forget you rescued me,” he countered.
“And you, Mr. Matthews, forget you rescued me from myself.”
“Draw?” he offered, and I accepted with a nod.
The whole world melted away again when he pulled me in closer. Resting my cheek on his chest, I let him guide me along with no thought as to my next move. His heartbeat was the music I danced to, his scent was my comfort, and his arms were the cocoon of my everything because, right here and right now, nothing else mattered.
We were where we needed to be. Our son was where he needed to be. Our friends and family were where they needed to be.
And so there was nothing left for us to do, but to live happily ever after.
This book is dedicated to a mighty man who made me see that the importance of winning is so I'm never beaten again. You are my soulmate, my peace of mind, my Kansas, my home. I love you.
I have never written a book as fast as I wrote
Coming Clean
. I believe that's because the inferno of this fictional tale began with a spark of reality. Every great love story must not only be forged in white-hot fire, it must somehow keep feeding oxygen to the flame, or else burn out completely. I had lots of inspiration to draw from while spinning this yarn, but the contributions from various people still had a huge impact. This is where I get to thank them.
First, to my person, Patricia Dechant. My best friend and yet she still hasn't read any of the books in this series. What gives? I'll tell ya. She hasn't read any of the books in this series because every single morning, as I sit on my front porch with my first cup of coffee of the day, she's on the phone with me, listening to me ramble on and on about what I wrote the day before, what I plan to write that day, and every twist and turn this story has taken and will take before all is said and done. There's no need to read a book when you've been force-fed all the details, and then some. Thank you, Trish, for enduring my crazy, for all the
mm-hmm
's and
uh-uh
's, and for blocking off that part of your day for all me, all the time. You're a real trouper, and I'd do it for you. You know, when we're finished with “all me, all the time.” *wink*
Huge thanks to Maureen Morgan, Melanie Edwards, and Janell Ramos! Each of you has things going on in your own world, yet you always take the time to be invested in not only my writing but also my personal life. You are my anchors, my sounding boards, my biggest cheerleaders, and my very best friends. Love you. Mean it.
I still can't believe how lucky I am to have scored my very remarkable agent, Alexandra Machinist, and my extraordinary editor, Shauna Summers. Though
agent
and
editor
seem like such blasé words to describe what you do because you truly make dreams come true. Thank you for believing in the Monkey Business Trio and me.
And last, but nowhere near least, I want to thank
you,
the reader. I've said it before, and I'll say it until the cows come homeâ¦your support makes all the difference in the world. A writer can put pen to paper, but without anyone to read the words, the tale does not truly exist. Thank you for giving my characters life, for granting them access to your imagination, and for indulging their need for their story to be told.
Million Dollar Duet
A Million Dirty Secrets
A Million Guilty Pleasures
Playing Dirty
Getting Rough
Coming Clean
C
.
L
.
P
ARKER
is a romance author who writes stories that sizzle. She's a small-town girl with big-city dreams and enough tenacity to see them come to fruition.Since she's been the outgoing sort all her lifeâwhich translates to “she just wouldn't shut the hell up”âit's no wonder Parker eventually turned to writing as a way to let her voice, and those of the people living inside her head, be heard. She loves hard, laughs until it hurts, and lives like there's no tomorrow. In her world, everything truly does happen for a reason.
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