Synopsis:
When the one you've always wanted . . .
At sixteen, Annabelle Morgan hoped her crush on Jake Wilder was just a passing phase. Now she's twenty-nine and nothing has changed—except Jake. The once-carefree Marine has come home with a giant chip on his shoulder. He insists a single mom like Annie deserves more than he can offer. Yet no matter how gruff his gorgeous exterior may be, Jake's toe-curling kisses convince her that this attraction is definitely mutual.
Becomes the one who wants you back . . .
Butting heads with feisty Annie was always a thrill. Add other body parts to the mix, and Jake is in serious trouble. He can't be a forever-and-family guy—and Annie's not a friends-with-benefits kind of woman. But love has a way of changing the best-laid plans, and surrender has never been so tempting . . .
The outcome is truly sweet.
Excerpt
Blue eyes focused, Annie Morgan stood there, weight balanced on one
hip while she tapped the eraser of her pencil against the order pad.
In the past couple of years, the Wilder family had expanded with
three of his brothers having said the I do’s. Thanks to his
brother, Jackson, and her sister, Abby, he and Annie were now related
by marriage. Before that, they’d been adversaries for as long as
Jake could remember. Always outspoken and not a stranger to butting
in where she didn’t belong, they’d gone head-to- head on many
outlandish subjects. If he said the sky was blue, she’d argue it
was turquoise. If he said a steak would take seven minutes to grill,
she’d say five. If he said the Rangers would win by a home run,
she’d bet they’d lose with a strikeout. It seemed like the girl
just liked to argue. More often than not, he’d rise to the bait.
Just as he always did with his brothers. One of these days, he’d
learn to just sit back and smile.
Today probably wasn’t that day.
“Forget something?” Her eyes narrowed just slightly, and the
silky blond ponytail hanging down her back swung to the side as she
tilted her head in a way that suggested she was primed for a
challenge.
“Not that I’m aware.”
“Uh-huh.” She tucked the stub of a standard yellow pencil behind
her ear. “Guess you’ve been away too long to remember that most
folks walk in here wearing a smile. Looks like you left yours at
home.”
“Guess I’m just not much in the mood.”
“Seriously?” Her eyes narrowed a bit more, yet somehow a shower
of silver sparks still managed to flash. “Why?”
He hated to use the word Duh, but it seemed so apropos.
“So . . .” Her shoulders lifted and dropped.
“What? You’re going to let that walking cane snuff out the
eternally grinning smart-ass that lives inside you?”
Her comment hit its mark with stinging success.
Jake clenched his teeth and lowered his gaze to the laminated menu
he’d been able to recite by heart since he’d been twelve.
“Annabelle, how about you go away and give me a minute to look over
the menu?”
“Because that
would be a total waste of time, Jacob.”
His gaze jerked up again just as she shifted her weight to a position
she probably intended as a show of obstinacy. Yet all it really
managed to do was push her full breasts against that snug white Bud’s
Diner T-shirt. Instinctively, his gaze dropped lower to the
little black skirt hugging nicely rounded hips and the pair of
tanned, shapely legs that ended with the sparkly blue sneakers on her
feet. Liking what he saw, his gaze took that same slow ride back up
her body.
When the hell had little Annie Morgan grown up and gotten so curvy?
“You can stare at that menu all day long,” she said through lips
that were pink, plump, and glossy. Lips that looked like they needed
to be kissed.
The unexpected and unwanted thought was like a splash of ice water in
his face. Annie had been a pain in his backside for as long as he
could remember. The last thing he should be doing was thinking about
her damned mouth. Or her curvy body. To his dismay and against his
commands, awareness tightened his body below the belt.
“In the end,” Annie continued, “you’re going to choose a
double Diablo burger with extra peppers, a side of sweet-potato
fries—extra crispy, and a chocolate-banana shake.”
Challenged, he leaned forward and met her glare. “How do you know
what I want?”
“Because.” She planted her palm down on the table and leaned in
till they were nearly nose to nose. “While you and your football
buddies parked your cocky behinds in the booth by the door so all
your minions could see you and come in to fawn all over you, some of
us were slinging hash and cleaning up your mess after you left.” He
leaned back. “I don’t remember your working here.”
“Why would you?” She shifted her weight
again, and he’d
have to be dead not to notice that somewhere between his last visit
home and now, Annie had become quite a knockout. “In those days,
you could barely see beyond Jessica Holt’s big brown eyes and
bodacious ta-tas. I, Annie of the flat-as-a- surfboard chest and
metal mouth, deterred your hormonal-teenage-boy scrutiny.”
She certainly wasn’t flat-chested anymore.
He could argue about the hormonal part, but why bother. In high
school, he’d been interested in three things; having fun, getting
laid, and getting laid.
Some things were important enough to be counted twice.
“You make me sound like such a jackass.”
One corner of her luscious pink lips kicked upward. “You were.”
Yeah. He probably had been. And he wasn’t really sure he
appreciated the reminder.
“So why are you working here now?” he asked, deftly changing the
subject. “Didn’t you get enough slinging hash the first time
around?”
“A girl’s got to earn a living somehow. Slinging hash is all I’ve
ever really done. My hand-dipped chocolates haven’t exactly taken
off like wildfire. And since Sweet’s street corners are already
occupied with whiskey barrels and petunias, there isn’t any room
for me to hang around waiting for customers.”
“Always the smart-ass,” he said.
“Takes one to know one.”
Before he could protest, she lifted her hand off the table and
stepped back with a serious look.
“When you’re a single mom with a baby, you have to earn a living
somewhere that will understand your child is your first priority. And
that if they’re sick, you might not be able to make it to work that
day. Bud’s a dad and a grandfather, so he understands. He also
knows I’d never take his generosity for granted.”
Shit. How could he have gotten so tangled up in his own troubles that
he’d forgotten Annie was a single mom now after having been
abandoned by her baby’s slimeball father?
“How’s Max doing?”
“Growing like the cutest weed in the garden of life.” Pride burst
across her pretty face. “He’s walking now. Gets into everything.
Izzy’s trying to teach him to talk in sentences. But his favorite
word is still Mamamamamama.”
He chuckled, and the sensation that pushed through his chest felt as
warm as sunshine. Then just as quick, regret that he’d missed so
much kicked in. “It seems like I was gone for an eternity. I can’t
believe Max is walking. Reno and Charli have a baby. Jackson and Abby
have one on the way. And Izzy’s already started kindergarten.”
“Your brother can’t believe it either. I think it’s hard for
Jackson not seeing Izzy all the time because of the shared custody
with Fiona. Even though Fiona’s an amazing mom and they have such a
wonderful relationship. Mostly he complains that Izzy’s growing up
so fast makes him feel old.”
Jake got that. He felt ancient, and he’d just barely turned
thirty-one. “So I guess you’ll be at this get-together my mom is
planning?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“I don’t suppose you could talk her out of it.”
Eyes wide, she exhaled a little puff of exasperation. “Are you
kidding me?”
“Nope.”
“Pardon me for being blunt, but why would you want to take that
away from her?” She sighed, then glanced away when a customer
called her name. With a nod in their direction, she brought her eyes
back around to him, sharp and focused. “I know I can’t imagine
what you went through over there. And I know when you guys come back
you don’t always like to talk about it. But I was here with your
mom when she got the call about what happened. I saw the absolute
devastation and the fear on her face when she realized that not only
had she lost her firstborn son and the husband she loved with all her
heart, but that she’d also come very close to losing her baby boy.
She’s so damned happy you made it home, there’s no way I’d try
to talk her out of celebrating the fact that you’re alive.”
Rendered speechless for maybe the first time in his life, Jake lifted
the glass of water to his mouth and sipped.
“You should be happy too, Jake.”
With a thud, he set his glass down on the table. For a long, awkward,
silent moment, he watched the condensation slide down the side of the
glass pitted by many trips through the dishwasher. When he composed
himself, he looked up and pushed the menu in her direction.
He wasn’t happy. And the constant ache in his chest made him
realize he might never be happy again.
“So . . .” Annie tossed him a know-it-all glare. “Double Diablo
burger with extra peppers, a side of sweet-potato fries—extra
crispy, and a chocolate-banana shake?”
“Sure.” Dammit. He hated to let her win.
One purple-polished fingernail dragged the menu across the table.
Jake held his breath and willed her to leave. But, of course, this
was Annie, and God knew the girl did things in her own damned way and
in her own damned time.
“Well, even if you aren’t happy . . .” She snatched up
the menu. “I’m really glad you made it back.”
Giveaway
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