Dearest Series Boxed Set (84 page)

“I think it’s awesome that Daren’s mom wants to babysit.”

“She’s the biggest sweetheart. I love that little Mason will be close to her.”

“Is Daren really planning to take over his dad’s hotel? When he told me, I wasn’t sure if he was bullshitting me.”

I laugh. “That’s the plan. He wants to play for the Rebels for another two or three years and then retire. He knows he’s been lucky because he’s never been seriously injured. With the baby coming, he doesn’t want to take any chances. So he’s learning everything he can about the hotel and will help manage it in the off season. The board members are tickled pink because he’s so well known and respected in this city.”

Daren never told Clem what happened between him and his father. Well, his step-father. Daren thought it opened too many cans of worms when everyone had moved on. But he and Mason have worked through their baggage, and with the little one coming, it’s been easy to move forward. Especially since Daren is proud to pass on the hotel to his children some day.

“I'm so happy for you guys.” Clem reaches over and hugs me, and heat stings my eyes. I sniffle, and Clem shakes her head.

“Oh shit. I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you emotional.” She laughs, but then I notice she’s wiping her eyes too.

Jax tosses an empty box into the corner of the room, and he rubs his hands together in a dramatic display. “Let the assembling begin!”

“This should be good,” Clem whispers to me.

Her brother holds up the directions and then, a moment later, flips them upside down and squints at them.

Gavin nudges Daren. “Dude, you might want to take those from Jax. I don’t want the baby to roll out the bottom.”

We snicker, and I’m about to burst from happiness.

There’s something so wonderful about having all of my friends in the same place. I love how close the guys have gotten. Jax and Daren have always been tight, but now Gavin is in with the boys too. He and Daren hang out all the time. Now that us three couples are married, I feel like I have two sisters in Clem and Dani. I’m a little sad Jenna and Ryan can’t be here, but they’re in New York for one of his concerts. They’ll be back in town in a few days, though, so I know we’ll catch up soon.

I look up to catch Gavin mouthing that he loves Clem, and when I turn to look at her, she’s rubbing her tummy. She’s wearing a loose fitting flannel, but from this angle, I could swear…

Holy shit. Is she…

My eyes bug out, and I gasp.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Daren is in front of me in two seconds.

“Nothing. Why?”

He frowns and tilts his head like he doesn’t believe me. “You gasped. Are you having Braxton Hicks contractions?” He lowers his voice. “Because maybe we were too rough last night.”

I laugh, and my friends watch with rapt attention as I pat my husband on the shoulder. “Honey, I’m fine.” I raise my eyebrow and turn to Clem. “I was just thinking how fun it’s going to be when we all have kids and they can play together.” How did I not notice this when she hugged me?

Her face flushes, and I can’t help but giggle. So I try to let her off the hook. “Dani, are you and Jax thinking of starting a family at all?”

Dani looks up thoughtfully. “We’re going to wait a little longer. Our business is going really well, and we want to save up a good nest egg first.”

Jax stands by his adorable wife and wraps his arms around her. “I don’t know, babe. I think we could maybe do this.” He looks around the baby room, and I see his wheels turning. “I’d love to have a little Dandelion as cute as you.”

She leans forward with a sigh. “Really?” Her eyes are so hopeful, I can’t help but squeal on the inside.

Jax leans over and kisses her. “Really.” Then he lowers his voice. “And maybe we can start trying, like tonight.”

Dani snuggles closer, a lovesick look on her face, and Clementine groans. “Brother, you need to learn what the word ‘whisper’ means.” She shakes her head before walking up to Gavin. He hugs her, and their hands meet on her stomach.

Clem takes a deep breath. “We didn’t want to announce this now because today should be about your baby, but since we’re all talking about children, Gavin and I have some news.”

“Dude, you knocked up my sister?” Jax asks, looking a little grossed out.

“Asshole, they’re married,” Daren says. “You were just talking about sexing up your wife when you got home.”

Jax presses his palms into his eyes. “It’s just a lot to take in.” He inhales deeply. “Holy shit. My sister is gonna have a baby.” A goofy grin spreads on his face before he hugs her, practically lifting her off her feet.

When the hug fest is over and we’ve all had a chance to congratulate Clem and Gavin, I ask how far along she is.

“Four months.” She threads her fingers through her husband’s. “It’s a girl.” She shrugs, grinning. “And a boy.”

“Twins! Holy shit!” Jax looks like he’s about to pass out.

Everyone erupts again, and after a round of hugs and congratulations, I shush them.

Turning to Clem and Gavin, I ask, “Do you have names yet? It’s still early so there’s still plenty of time if you don’t.”

Clementine grins. “We were thinking Paisley and Ryder.”

If I could jump up and down, I would, but my boy might kick me in the kidneys and I’d hate to pee in front of my friends, so I opt for another hug.

When our friends have left, my mischievous husband wraps his arms around me. Giving him a stern look, I ask, “What happened to waiting until after Mason arrived to have the shower?” With Daren’s season being so hectic, we thought we needed to minimize our stress.

He kisses my nose. “This one is just for our close friends. The one my parents are throwing is still on the calendar in a few weeks. I just thought you needed to see how special you are and how much you mean to me.”

My eyes well with tears. “Stop. You’re going to make you cry.”

“I don’t care. Let the tears fall. As long as you know that you’re the best damn thing that’s ever happened to me.”

At that, big wet droplets slide down my cheeks. “Love you, Clutch. So much.”

He leans down, and when his lips touch mine, he whispers, “Love you too, sweet thing. Thanks for being in my life.”

I close my eyes as we kiss, knowing that this is just the beginning of our life together. And right now, I feel like one of the girls in Sheri’s books, so lucky to have my very own happily ever after.

T
hank
you so much for reading my series! I would love to hear what you thought and hope you’ll consider leaving a review on Amazon and Goodreads. Keep an eye out for Jenna and Ryan’s story later this year. (Yes, you’ll see Harper again!)

Keep flipping for
Dearest Series
bonus scenes
and a
sneak peak of
Shameless
(Brady’s book), which releases on April 26.
Shameless
can be read as a complete standalone.

To celebrate my upcoming release, I’m giving away
gift cards and other prizes
on my
Facebook author page
, so check it out for more details!

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M
y deepest gratitude
goes to my husband, who puts up with pizza and takeout so I can write. Matt, thanks for the encouragement to go after a life-long dream. Hugs to my daughters, who make me want to try harder and be better every day. Love you.

I never would've gone to BU and written these stories without my amazing parents who sacrificed so much to get me there. Mom and Dad, thanks for always being my biggest fans.

Kimberly Brower, you're the best agent a girl could ever have. I'm so grateful for your friendship and advice.

RJ Locksley, thanks for your amazing editing skills.

Jade Eby, you’re a doll to squeeze in my formatting.

Krista and Becca Ritchie, you taught me everything I needed to know about publishing my first book. Krista, thank you for my beautiful covers. *tackle hugs*

To the authors who encouraged me throughout this series…Whitney Barbetti, KL Grayson, Jules Barnard, and M. Pierce. I'm so grateful for your friendships.

Lauren Perry, thanks for the beautiful Kissing Madeline cover photo. I'm so excited to continue working with you on
Shameless
!

Doris Gray and Jullie Anne Caparas, thank you for starting the Wildcats group for me! Best gift ever.

Wildcats, I love you with reckless abandon. *ass smacks*

Alexis Durbin, Candi Kane, Serena McDonald, and Cristiane Karamanolis, thanks for your enthusiasm and support. I owe you girls a few drinks.

Of course, huge thanks to the bloggers who have supported me in one way or another, especially Aestas Book Blog, The Dirty Laundry, The Literary Gossip, Three Girls and a Book Obsession, Love Between the Sheets, Give Me Books, One Click Addicts, Smut Muffins, Schmexy Girl Book Blog, The Bookaholic Fairies, The Book Bellas, Smokin’ Hot Book Blog, Rumpled Sheets, Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews, The Romance Vault, I Bookin’ Love To Read, Smut Fanatics, Book Baristas, Literary Misfit, Owl Always Be Reading, and Teacups & Book Love. There are so many more who shared my books and reviewed. I wish I could tackle hug you all.

Lastly, to my readers... I hope you enjoyed this series! I can't wait for you to read
Shameless
. (Keep flipping for a little peek of Brady’s book.) And I’m trying to get Jenna and Ryan’s story out in late 2016, so pencil me in. Thanks for coming on this ride with me!

xoxo,

Lex

D
aren’s fingers
drift lazily over my collarbone, and he leans down to kiss that spot behind my ear before he pulls me closer.

Sighing, I reach back and grab him, threading my fingers through his thick hair.

“You should stay tonight,” he whispers.

His room is dark, his bed a mountain of linen that’s been kicked to the side, but I’m warm, wrapped in a sheet and Daren’s warm body.

“Mm.” I lick my lips, not sure what I should say. “I have to get up early.”

“So get up early here.”

Does he actually want me to stay or is he just being polite? “I’m really okay going home. It’s five feet on the other side of your front door.”

His body reverberates against me as he laughs.

“What?” I sit up halfway so I can look back at him.

He shrugs. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but usually girls don’t want to leave my bed. And yet I can’t ever get you to stay.”

I roll my eyes, wanting to give him a hard time. “Maybe it wasn’t that good. Did this ever cross your mind?”

He snorts and yanks me back down to him. “You came twice. If it weren’t
that
good, I don’t think your thighs would be aching right now.”

Jesus
. It’s true. I ache from the apex of my thighs all the way down my quads. And if I’m being
really
honest, my clit is still throbbing and altogether enchanted with that thing he did with his tongue.

Giggling, I let my body meld to his. “Fine. Maybe it was good.” He tickles me, and I squeal. “Very good.” He keeps tickling. “Goddamn it, Daren. Stop.” I find myself flat on my back with a full-on tickle assault going on. “Okay, it was awesome! The best fuck of my life! Stop!”

He pauses and raises his eyebrow. “The best, huh?” I swat at him, and his grin widens. “I was just going for panty-melting, but if we’re talking
the best
? Do I get a trophy or something? I could put it next to my Heisman.”

It’s my turn to snort. “God, you’re cocky.”

“What about my cock?”

How can men make any conversation about their dong?

He grabs himself and taps my thigh. My mouth drops open as I laugh. “Did you just thwack me with your dick?”

“Yup.”

He shifts until his huge, naked body hovers over me, and I shake my head. “Don’t get too excited there, tiger. My pussy is closed for service.”

“Babe. Say that again.” He grips my hips, settling between my thighs, a devilish look in his eyes.

“Don’t get too excited?”

“Not that part. The pussy part. Forget the ‘closed for service.’ Just say ‘pussy’ again. Maybe like, ‘Daren, lick my little pussy. Pretty please.’”

Snorting, I pull him to me, still laughing. “You’re incorrigible.”

“Part of my charm, Wildcat. Part of my charm.”

W
ant
to know the worst thing that could ever happen in your life? Here it is.

Step one. Marry the girl of your dreams. For me, there was always only one person who met this criteria. Clementine Avery. The sweetest, most amazing, beautiful smart ass I’ve ever met.

Step two. Get your drop-dead gorgeous wife pregnant with twins. Twins! This has you thinking you’re a superhero and have sperm with Titan-like strength that charged up her body to create two human beings. So far so good, right? You tell yourself you’re the boss. A bad ass. A god among men.

Step three.
This is the part that kicks you in the balls.
You’re skipping along, thinking you can do no wrong… until you come home from work and find that lovely creature hunched over the toilet, sweaty and pale while she wretches because the pregnancy makes her so sick, she can’t even make toast. Toast!

“Oh shit. Baby.” I gently scoop her off the cold tile floor and hold her to my chest where her fingers dig into my shirt.

“I smell like puke,” she whimpers.

I brush her golden hair from her sweaty forehead. “I don’t care.”

Sitting on the edge of the tub, I place her on my lap and reach over for a washcloth and wipe her face.

Puffy blue eyes stare up at me. Her lower lip quivers.

“It’ll be okay,” I whisper. “You’re doing great. The doctor said the morning sickness should let up soon.”

“This isn’t morning sickness. It’s fucking six o’clock in the evening. I could deal if it were morning sickness.”

I kiss her before I remember I shouldn’t. But no way can I wipe my mouth because Clementine will freak out more.

Her eyes pop up to mine because she knows I hate puke. She studies my face, and after a moment, her lips turn up into a smile.

“You love me, don’t you?” she asks, almost shyly.

We’ve been married for two and a half years, and she still blushes.

“Of course I love you. You’re my wife. You’re carrying my children.”
I’d sacrifice life and limb for you.
I kiss her forehead. “You’re my golden girl.”

It’s possible I’m not a fair judge, but I happen to think I have
the
most amazing wife. In fact, my friend Daren and I have a bet to see who has the perfect wife, Clem or his wife Maddie. The girls think it’s hysterical. And secretly, I know they’re both vying to win.

As luck would have it, Maddie is also pregnant. But I get extra points because we’re having twins. A boy
and
a girl.
See, super sperm.

The girls don’t know this yet, but the goal is to see which of our families can have a basketball team. Two down, three more to go. If you’re counting, we’re ahead here.

Clem’s arms wrap around my neck, and she sniffles.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, I kiss her temple. “Think you could eat a little Cream of Wheat? I can make it next door.”

“I hate that you have to go to the neighbor’s house to microwave something.”

“I was going to make it on the stove. Not the microwave.”

Her arms tighten around my neck. “Really?”

“Yes, really. No lumps for you.”

She hates lumps in her hot cereal, and if you microwave it, you end up with lumps.
No bueno.

Before you go thinking I’m a dick for offering her Cream of Wheat, you should know it’s one of the few foods she can stomach. That and sourdough bread for some reason. She just can’t deal with the smell—of anything. We had to buy scent-free soap and shampoo. Scent-free detergent and fabric softener. I even have to run down to Starbucks to grab coffee because the smell of my favorite beverage percolating turns her into the
Exorcist
.

I hate torturing the girl because I know she misses coffee, so I’ve cut way back and only drink it at work.

And let me just say nothing—no convenience, no snack or beverage—
nothing
is worth making her sick.

Clem kisses my neck, and my dick goes to full mast, which she can probably feel on her thigh. But with all of the nausea, I can’t exactly break out my sexy-time moves on my wife.

“I miss you,” she mouths against my skin.

My eyes clench shut.

Here’s the Catch 22. She’s sick
all the time
. Like every five minutes. But the hormones also turn her into a sex kitten. Yes, my wife—my sweet, lovely, incredibly hot wife—is a total nympho.

Now that she’s pregnant, what had been a gorgeous body is now downright sinful. Because there’s a little more of her to love. Those slender hips? Just a bit curvier. That hot-as-hell ass? A little rounder. Those beautiful breasts? A
lot
bigger. This is where I thank Jesus, the Easter Bunny, Santa, that rock climbing wall at BU—whoever or whatever is responsible for her body. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

However—and here’s the kicker—we can
never
act on those urges because one minute, we’re ripping each other’s clothes off and the next, she’s hurling into the trash can.

She curls up closer and giggles. “Did I give you a boner?”

Clem thinks dicks are funny. Until mine is pounding away and she’s screaming my name. Then it’s not so funny.

“You know you did,” I growl.

A listless sigh escapes her. “I wish I could give you a blow job at least.”

My cock is all for it. Until I think of the projectile vomit that’s likely to ensue. “Hmm. Me too, babe.”
God, me too.

Her soft hand runs through my hair. “Maybe we could try having sex later?” she whispers. “The nausea usually goes away around nine or ten at night.”

By then, she’s usually crashed in bed with one arm hanging off the bed and a little drool coming out of her mouth. Yeah, she’s adorable.

I’m about to talk some sense into her, but one look at her hopeful expression, and I can’t do it. I’ll suffer the worst case of blue balls known to man to make this girl happy.

“Your place or mine, hot stuff?” I kiss her nose.

“Really?”

Yes, it’s crazy. My wife is begging me to have sex.

“Whatever you want.” Just…
please don’t vomit.

By the time we crawl into bed, the prayer is etched in my brain.
Please. Don’t. Vomit.

Two months is a long time to go without sex when you’re married to someone this amazing. But I’ve found I really miss sex, not when we’re in bed, but when we’re talking about literature. She starts talking about figurative language, and I’m a goner. Shut up. Don’t laugh.

Tonight, she’s wearing this thin little t-shirt that’s snug around her breasts. The kind that’s soft and nearly see-through, so I have a great view of her rosy nipples. Her legs are bare, and she’s sporting white lace bikini underwear. When we first got married, she told me if I ever wanted to get laid, I could never call them panties. Not sure why that grosses her out, but I don’t need to be told twice.

I collapse in bed and pretend to snore, and she smacks my ass.

“No fucking way. We are doing this,” she barks.

Laughing, I roll over and grab her, and she squeals. I start to tug her down to me when I remember I need to be gentle. The girl is four and a half months pregnant, and although she has a little tummy, if you didn’t know her the way I do, you probably couldn’t tell. It’s easy to forget.

Slow down. You can hurt her or the babies.
Fuck.

She stops mid-laugh and frowns. “What’s wrong?” Those blue eyes study my face, and before I can answer, her lower lip juts out. “It’s because I’m a whale already, isn’t it? You don’t think I’m attractive anymore.”

“What?” Seriously, what is she talking about? “Darlin’, nothing could be further from the truth.”

And then the tears start. “I can’t fit in any of my jeans anymore.”

“C’mere.” I tuck her to me and smooth down her mass of golden hair. “You look fucking perfect to me. Do you hear me? Perfect. I’ve had a massive erection for you since I got home. Would I be sporting this kind of wood if you weren’t the most beautiful, sexy creature I’ve ever seen?” I grab her hand and place it between my legs. “Exhibit A.”

Clem sniffles and blinks back a few more tears. “Really?”

“Yes, really. This is all for you.”

She strokes me, and I grit my teeth. It’s been
way
too long.

“Hey, I’m not feeling nauseous.”

“Oh.”
Wow. We might really do this.

“I’m just feeling emotional. Because I want to have sex with my husband and I’m afraid I can’t.”

The tears start up again.

No no no no no no
.

“Hey.” I nibble on her ear. “How about I kiss it and make it feel better?”

Her chest stills, and I dip down to her neck and open my mouth and suck lightly until her pulse kicks up.

She gasps. “That… that might work.” She sniffles again, and I will myself to go slowly. Even if I die, even if my balls explode in the morning because we couldn’t get there, I will make my wife feel better.

But before I kiss my way down her body, I get up and kick the bedroom door shut.

What? Did you think I was going to share all the details about how I have sex with my hot wife? Fuck, no. She’s
my
sex kitten. Go find your own.