Authors: Kate Roth
Reckless Radiance (25 page)
“Hi,” he said sweetly.
“Hey.”
“Everything okay?” he asked, squeezing her fingers.
She let herself drink in the sight of his handsome face. She noticed how he’d changed since coming back. He was no longer perfect but somehow that made him that much better. Scars and all, he was still the one she’d curiously fallen so in love with. Everything was more than okay. Valerie let her hand slip to the back of his neck and coaxed him into a quick kiss. Russell’s eyes were wide when they separated and she grinned at him.
Gone was the angel who’d found her, saved her and changed her. Before her now stood a man. The man of her dreams and more than she could ever want.
Epilogue
“No peeking!” Valerie squealed as she struggled to keep her hands over his eyes while leading him into her darkened kitchenette. She was up on her tip-toes and her fingers barely covered his eyes as they stumbled through the tiny loft. “I don’t understand why I can’t look,” he said with a huff.
Valerie let him go and he opened his eyes carefully. The dim glow of a single candle lit the space around them. He stared at the blue and white spiraled wax poking out of the mound of white frosting on the cupcake and glanced at her.
She shrugged with a smirk and hooked her thumb over her shoulder pointing to the clock. “It’s twelve oh-one. Happy Birthday, Russell,” she said.
He pressed his lips together looking at the treat again but his smile cracked and went wide. Valerie saw the sweet innocence in his eyes she loved so much. He’d been human just seven months and he was still experiencing new things that brought a charming sparkle to his gaze.
“Now you have to make a wish and blow out the candle,” she instructed. They sat down across from one another at the small bistro table, the cupcake in between them.
“I wish,” he started.
“No, no, no! You can’t tell anyone or it won’t come true,” she laughed. He cocked his head to the side and gave her a look. Breathing a laugh, he shook his head and shut his eyes mocking deep concentration. His eyes slowly opened and she felt a jolt of nostalgia looking at his sapphire eyes in the amber light. It reminded her of his halo only it was more beautiful this way. He licked his lips while he stared at her then blew the lone candle out leaving them in darkness. She’d pulled him out of bed for the surprise and with the lights out around them and the look he was giving her before pursing his lips to make his wish, all she could think about was the fact he was shirtless and within arm’s reach.
“Now what?” he whispered.
She shook herself out of the semi-lucid fantasy and flicked on the kitchen light above them. “We eat cake,” she said with a grin, pushing the plate toward Russell.
He stood from the table and she felt weak at the sight of him. “You get the forks, I need to get something out of the bedroom,” he said. She hopped up and grabbed two forks from the drawer and poured two small glasses of milk. By the time she was done getting everything, Russell was back at the table staring at his driver’s license.
“Do I really look thirty?” he asked skeptically.
Valerie scoffed taking her seat again. “The man has one birthday and thinks he’s ancient,” she laughed, knowing full well he’d existed since the beginning of time.
Russell rolled his eyes and put the plastic card face down on table before digging into the sugary cupcake. A few bites each and it was gone, leaving only the silvery foil wrapper and the extinguished pastel candle.
Russell’s head was low and looking into his lap and Valerie could feel him shaking his foot under the table. She stood up to put their dishes in the sink. She had no idea the age he’d been given was bothering him but he seemed distressed, sitting there fidgeting.
“Want to know what I wished for?”
She was rinsing the milk from the glasses and she shook her head and smiled.
“You’ve got some things to learn about birthdays. You aren’t supposed…” she turned to finish her thought when he cut her off.
“I wished you would say yes,” he said.
He was down on one knee in his gray flannel pajama pants holding a ring out to her with a slightly timid look on his face. Valerie stood stunned in just as silly of clothes for a proposal, a pink cotton tank top and a pair of black boy-shorts. His mouth twisted up in a crooked smile and he looked down at himself.
“I heard this is how you’re supposed to do it,” he sighed. “I wish I remembered the way I fell in love with you the first time but I consider myself lucky for getting to fall in love with you more than once. You’re my second chance. Will you let me keep falling in love with you all over again … until we’re ancient?”
Her heart fluttered and she took a single breath before leaping into his arms. She found his lips with hers and melted against him. In her mind there was no doubt about the fact that they’d be together forever. After everything they’d been through, there would never be anyone who could compare to Russell. He was her protector, her savior, her friend and her lover. He could make her weak in the knees, make her laugh like a child and make her truly thankful for every breath she took. Though he was finally a man, he was more than that in her heart.
She pulled back, her hands clasped around his neck and her legs straddling him on the floor. He was waiting with anxious eyes. She brushed his dark hair away from his face and kissed him once more. There was so much she wanted to say to him in that moment but she realized she had a lifetime to tell him. So with a smile and more love in her heart than she thought possible, she granted his first birthday wish with a simple yes.
Acknowledgments
This past year has been such an amazing journey. With the release of my second novel I have to first thank everyone who read
The Low Notes
and made me truly feel like an author. Whether you are my family, my friend, my client, my acquaintance or a stranger from across the globe, you will always be in my heart as a reader! Keep reading. I can’t wait to show you what’s up my sleeve next.
Speaking of my family, friends and clients, thank you all for your continued support. You came to book signings, liked my Facebook page, told your friends about me and encouraged me every time I put my fingers to the keys for a little
typey typey
! I can’t thank you all enough for being there for me and supporting me the way you have.
To all of the bloggers, reviewers and Internet rulers I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with, your hard work and drive to help authors amazes me! Thank you!
Thank you to every fellow author who has cheered me on, let me complain, quelled my fears and assured me we are all nuts and that that’s okay.
To Britni Hill, thank you for EVERYTHING. Love you.
To Amanda Jarrett Neighbors, no one has championed this book more than you! From version 1.0 in the back room of Bliss Salon to this final book, your unfailing support of Russell and Valerie through all their incarnations pushed me to give them the story they deserved. Thank you for your interest, encouragement, enthusiasm and your friendship. This book is part yours and always will be.
To my amazing family: Mom, Dad, Sarah, Annie, Betty, Bobby, Matt, Mindy, Izzy, Claire, Nora, Jill, Greg, Lauren, Adam, Lillian, Maggie Mahurin and Sampson. Thank you for loving me.
And lastly, to my husband, Adam, thanks for listening to that idea I had one Valentine’s dinner so many years ago. I didn’t know this book was about you but it is. Bad things happen, we struggle in life, we lose things and people and faith and then if we’re lucky we get a second chance. My favorite love story is ours and yes, you can have the byline.
About The Author
Inspired by music, film, art and the wealth of stories she has heard through her career as a professional hair stylist, Kate Roth has been dreaming up love stories since junior high.
Reckless Radiance
is Kate’s second novel, originally published by Rebel Ink Press in 2013 and now in its second edition. Her other works include the New Adult Romance;
The Low Notes
, the Contemporary Adult Romances;
Natural Harmony
and
Sway
(both in
the Confession Records collection
), and Erotic Romances
Last Resort
and
Best Laid Plans
. She is currently working on more books in the
Confession Records
series as well as another new adult romance. She is a small business owner and lives in Indiana with her husband, Adam and their dog, Sampson.
You can stay up to date with all of Kate’s news by following her on Facebook
www.facebook.com/authorkateroth
. To find out more about her books go to
www.katerothwrites.com
.
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