Here And Now (American Valor 2) (27 page)
Read Here And Now (American Valor 2) Online
Authors: Cheryl Etchison
Tags: #Contemporary, #Romance, #Fiction, #Forever Love, #Adult, #Bachelor, #Single Woman, #Sensual, #Hearts Desire, #Military, #American Valor, #Series, #Army Rangers, #Hospital ER, #Military Training, #Army Medic, #Nurse, #College Classes, #Blackmail, #Friendship
“Have you given any thought to baby names?”
Her smile was sweet and a little shy. “I have.”
“And?” He prompted her with a squeeze of her hand.
“I only have one name so far.”
“Ethan?”
“Am I that predictable?”
“Not really.” After all, it was pretty easy for him to guess what the one name would be. If they had a boy, it would be the perfect way to honor her brother. Plus it only seemed right that when she finally let go of one Ethan that she’d gain another.
But as much as he’d love a little boy, he really wanted a little girl. One with fiery red hair and bright blue eyes just like her mother. “Maybe we should buy a baby name book to help with the girl names.”
“Do you really think we need one? It shouldn’t be that hard to come up with one.”
So they continued walking hand in hand, listing girls’ names off the top of their heads. Anna. Emma. Laura. Elizabeth. Many of the names were quickly scratched off the list because they either reminded them of a girl they once knew and didn’t like or someone in their families already had it.
Rachel dropped his hand and stopped in her tracks. “I’ve got it!” She flung her hands in the air like a cheerleader. “Brittany!”
“No. Absolutely not.”
Rachel laughed hysterically. To the point of tears even. She only stopped once he pointed out the likelihood of her peeing her pants.
“By the way . . . your little Brittany joke?” He wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his side. “Still not funny.” With the brainstorming of names effectively finished for the day, they walked in silence the rest of the way, the only sound that of the waves crashing on the shore.
“What’s your schedule next week?” she asked.
“Nothing special. At HAAF all week. Three-day weekend.”
“Well, then, if you aren’t busy next Friday, I thought we could elope.”
Lucky rounded in front of her, needing to see her face. “I thought you wanted your brothers to be there. You said they wanted to come to the wedding.”
“I changed my mind.” She shrugged one shoulder. “On the drive here I was getting information on marriage licenses. There’s no waiting. No witnesses required.”
A breeze kicked up off the ocean, sending those red strands in every direction. Using both of his hands, he smoothed them back from her face, burying his fingers in her hair. “You want it to be just the two of us.”
She wrapped her hands around his wrists and smiled up at him. “I want it to be just like this. Here. At sunrise. With no one else around. Is that okay?”
“It’s perfect.” Lucky sealed their wedding plans with a gentle kiss to her lips, and another to her belly. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her as close as their baby would allow. “And afterward, I’ll take the two of you to breakfast.”
I
N THE PAST
few months, I have definitely learned it takes a village to produce a book and I have the best village out there. Thank you to my editor, Rebecca Lucash, and her figurative mighty red pen. Many thanks to the art department for making my fiery redheaded heroine look simply amazing on the front. I cannot show off this cover enough. Thank you to my agent, Stephany Evans, for her cheerleading, her feedback, and her well-timed emails.
Thank you to Edith Lalonde for reading an early version and not pulling any punches when I knew something was wrong and desperately needed brutal honesty. Many thanks to Liz Kerrick for labeling Lucky a unicorn as well as listening to me go on and on and on about this series and not once telling me to shut up. Special thanks to Eric Leisering for providing a wealth of one-liners and insight into the single man’s mind. I find myself appreciative and scared all at the same time. Once again, many thanks to George Kohrman, MD, who doesn’t run screaming from my messages and tells me all I need to know about hospital protocol and medical procedures. Any medical mistakes in this book are the fault of the student, not the teacher. And a special shout out to the crew at Red Horn Coffee House and Brewing for keeping me fed and caffeinated.
Last but certainly not least, thank you to my husband and three girls. I love you all more than you will ever know.
Don’t miss the first fantastic romance in Cheryl Etchison’s American Valor series,
Rule #1: Military and matrimony don’t mix.
But if there’s one person Staff Sergeant Danny MacGregor would break all his rules for, it’s Bree—his first friend, first love, first everything. Maybe he likes playing the hero. Maybe he’s trying to ease ten years of guilt. Either way, he’ll do whatever he can to help her.
Wish #1: A little bit of normal.
Bree Dunbar has battled cancer, twice. What she wants most is a fresh start in a place where she can find a new job, and where people aren’t constantly treating her like she’s sick. By some miracle her wish is granted, but it comes with one major string attached— the man who broke her heart ten years before.
The rules for this marriage of convenience are simple: when she’s ready to stand on her own two feet, she’ll walk away and he’ll let her go. Only, as they both know all too well, things don’t always go according to plan . . .
CHERYL ETCHISON graduated from the University of Oklahoma’s School of Journalism and began her career as an oil and gas reporter. Bored to tears and broke as hell, it wasn’t long before she headed for the promised land of public relations. But that was nearly a lifetime ago and she’s since traded in reporting the facts for making it all up. Currently, she lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and three daughters.
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.
Give in to your Impulses . . .
Continue reading for excerpts from
our newest Avon Impulse books.
Available now wherever ebooks are sold.
T
HE
M
EN IN
U
NIFORM
S
ERIES
by Codi Gary
A S
ECOND
S
HOT
N
OVEL
by Sara Jane Stone
by Laura Brown
T
HE
W
ILDWOOD
S
ERIES
by Karen Erickson
An Excerpt from
The Men in Uniform Series
By Codi Gary
Violet Douglas wants one night where she can be normal. Where she can do something for herself and not be just her siblings’ guardian. So when she spies a tall, dark, and sexy stranger, she’s ready to let her wild side roar. The last thing she expects is to see her one night stand one week later, when she drags her delinquent kid brother to the Alpha Dog Training Program.
“Y
ou done throwing a tantrum?” he asked.
As his hard body moved into hers, tension hummed around them. “I was not—”
“Yeah, you’re revved up into a full-on hissy fit, but I’m going to overlook that while I . . . clarify a few things.”
The way his voice softened on those last four words made her body tighten, especially when she realized one of his legs was pressed between hers. His wide shoulders blocked her view of who might be watching them, and his hands were braced flat just above her shoulders. If she moved a fraction higher, he could graze her bare skin with his thumb, and just the thought of it made her nipples perk up against the sheer lace of her bra.
“First of all, yes, I was rude to you, but not because I wasn’t attracted to you.”
Violet held her breath at this, her eyes riveted to his lips.
“I was trying to save you.”
Huh? Save her?
She could hardly concentrate on what he was talking about, his proximity casting a spell of confusion over her. Maybe she’d been binge watching too much
Charmed
, but she was too caught up in the obsidian flecks in his brown eyes to fully process.
“From what?” Was that her voice? It was soft, dreamy, and not at all normal.
And good God, but were his lips inching closer? “From me.”
“Are you dangerous?” Silly question.
If he was really dangerous, you wouldn’t be putty in his hands
.
His right hand moved, and he began trailing one of his fingers along her temple and cheek, until the very tip smoothed over her bottom lip. “I would never mean to hurt you, but I’m not looking for anything serious.”
That woke her up a little, and she frowned. “Neither am I.”
His finger dropped, and he stared down at her grimly. “You say that now, but—”
“Okay, you know what, that’s enough.” The balls on him, getting her all revved up and then acting like she was just a soft piece of feminine fluff who didn’t know her own mind. Putting her hands up against the wall of his chest, she pushed hard, but he wouldn’t budge, so she settled for pointing her finger up between them, wagging it in his face. “Don’t act like you know me or what I want. Don’t just assume that I’m looking for a relationship because I have ovaries. I have too much going on in my life to handle anyone else’s wants and needs, so the last thing I’m looking for is a boyfriend. And you might have learned that if you had bothered to spend more than ten minutes at a time talking to me tonight, instead of running away like a big wimpy asshat.”
He leaned back but still didn’t let her escape. “Big wimpy asshat, huh?”
Lifting her chin up, she didn’t back down. “Yeah, that’s right.”
For several moments, he did nothing but stare at her, and the intensity in his eyes made her twitch. Finally, he nodded, as if coming to terms with his new title. “Fine, I made an assumption. I’m an asshat.”
“Happy we agree on something,” she said.
“But I didn’t come here today looking to hook up. I planned to drink some beer, chill with my friend, and eventually head home to bed—alone.”
Violet flushed. “Well, it’s not like I was trolling for just anybody. If that were the case, I would be dragging Robert off to have my way with him in the parking lot.”
“Are you saying I’m special?” he asked.
It was a loaded question, and her answer could be taken a hundred wrong ways. Why was it that the first guy she’d actually actively pursued had to be so complicated?
“Nope, you’re absolutely right. Nothing special about you. There are still a few hours left for me to meet someone who doesn’t make snap judgments and would love to make out with an attractive single woman who hasn’t been kissed in six months, so if you’ll—”
Dean’s mouth closed over hers, stopping her tirade with the sheer heat of his soft, deep kiss. Violet melted on impact, her eyes rolling back as her lids closed. She opened her lips to the thrust of his tongue and felt a pool of joy bubbling up in her lower abdomen.
Holy shit. And you thought the sunshine was hot
.
An Excerpt from
A Second Shot Novel
By Sara Jane Stone
When Dominic Fairmore left Oregon to be all he could be as an Army Ranger, he always knew he’d come back to claim Lily Greene. But after six years away and three career-ending bullets, Dominic is battered, broken, and nobody’s hero—so he stays away. Until he learns Lily has been the victim of a seemingly random attack.
Lily is starting to find a life without Dominic when suddenly her wounded warrior is home and playing bodyguard—though all she really wants is for him to take her. But she refuses to play the part of a damsel in distress, no matter how much she misses his tempting touch.
T
he door swung open and a large figure filled the doorway. The light from the parking lot made it difficult to identify his features. But she knew him. She’d know him anywhere.
“Now?” she cried as fury rose up partly driven by the pinot noir. But after all this time, how could Dominic Fairmore walk in holding a freaking key in the middle of the night?
Beside her, the dishwasher moved as if Lily’s one-word cry had been a directive. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Caroline reach for the pie dish. And then it was hurling through the empty bar. The pie collided with the target, covering Lily’s ex with a mixture of berries, sugar, and homemade crust. The tin dish dropped to the floor.
“What the hell?” the man roared, whipping the pie from his face.
A year ago, Lily would have laughed at the sight of Dominic covered in dessert. She would have smiled and offered to help clean him up. She would have been happy he’d returned home. And she would have set aside all of the lingering heartache from their last and supposedly final breakup.
But too much time had slipped past. Too much had changed. And for him to show up now? In the middle of the night when her fear rose to fever pitch? For him to waltz in here without even knocking?
She felt Caroline’s hand close around her arm and pull as if trying to drag her away. Lily grabbed her wine glass and hurled it at the door. She missed and the glass fell to the ground three feet in front of her and shattered.
“Turn around and leave, Dominic,” she snapped as she allowed Caroline to pull her behind the bar, into relative safety. Only she’d never be safe from the man she’d loved for so long, because he didn’t aim for her face or her arms.
He went for the heart.
“You had your chance to come back,” she added as Caroline released her.
“Lily, please calm down,” Dominic called.
From their position behind the bar, she heard the door close. Caroline glanced at her. “You know him.”
She nodded. Caroline pushed off the ground without a word. And Lily followed her, turning to face the former love of her life, who had stepped just inside the door.
“Ryan dragged me back,” he said. “At Noah and Josie’s request. How do you think I got the key? Or does your friend here throw food at everyone who walks into the bar?”
“It was the only thing I had,” Caroline said simply. “Noah locked up my gun.”
“Remind me to thank Noah in the morning,” Dominic said dryly.
His hands dropped to his side, abandoning the attempts to wipe away the pie that had hit its target with near-perfect aim. Lily glanced at Caroline. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see the dishwasher with a firearm.
Then she glanced back at Dominic. Marionberries clung to his beard. He’d always been clean-shaven. But now, his dark hair was long and it looked like he’d lost his razor around the same time he’d kissed the rangers goodbye. She’d loved the hard lines of his jaw and the feel of his skin against her when they kissed. But this look . . .
She ached to touch and explore. He looked wild and unrestrained, as if he didn’t give a damn, as if he didn’t hold anything back. Her gaze headed south to the muscles she’d wanted to memorize before he left. He appeared bigger, more powerful.
Impossible
.
He’d always been strong, able to lift her up and press her against the wall. He’d held her with ease while she fell apart . . .
And with that memory, her fury and her fear opened the door to another entirely unwelcome emotion—desire. It was as if they were forming a club determined to barricade her heart, mind, and soul against the feelings that might help her return to her calm, steady life. But no, her unruly emotions took one look at the bearded, buff man in the bar and thought:
touch him!
