THE JUNIOR BRIDESMAID (33 page)

He lowered his
lips to mine and started kissing me into oblivion. But my restless mind was so
preoccupied I couldn’t focus on Hugh. “I’m sorry,” I tore my lips from his,
“I’m just worried about the whole thing,” I whined. “Are Darcy and Ryan still
going away for some alone time?”

Hugh gave up and
rolled off of me throwing one arm over his eyes in a huff. Clearly he was a
little frustrated with my inability to focus on our intimate moment. I hated
when he was upset so I rolled over and threw my leg over him to straddle him.

“Just tell me what
is happening while Dolly is here,” I pleaded. I pulled his arm off of his eyes
so he would look at me. Lacing my fingers with his, I brought our joined hands
to rest on his firm belly where I mindlessly stroked my fingers over his hands.

He sighed heavily
before he began. “Ryan’s mom is taking Dustin and Damian to Florida while Darcy
and Ryan go away for a few days to…reconnect.” he stammered. “Dolly asked if
she could come see us instead,” he shrugged into the pillows. “We’ll see what
happens. Hopefully they can work out their problems.”

I processed what
Hugh said. He was right. Hopefully they could get past all that had transpired
and find their way back to each other. They had both cheated on one another
over the course of their marriage. But once Julia started her relationship with
Mason which was still going strong, Ryan had no choice but to face Darcy.

It was a wild
fight. They fought like two grizzlies battling for the same salmon. We know
because Dolly called us crying. There were a few weeks of silence between them
and then the mention of divorce. But then one of them suggested counseling
which, now, seemed to be helping.

As I came into the
moment I looked down into Hugh’s face and saw what lay before me. A beautiful,
intelligent, thoughtful, generous, caring man who was all mine. I leaned over
him plastering my body to his and kissed him square on the lips.

“I love you,
Hugh,” I breathed against him.

“I love you, too,
Junior,” Hugh replied.

“Now,” I danced my
eyes back and forth on his. “Where were we?” I asked him coyly.

“You tell me,” he answered
with hope in his tone.

A smile graced my
lips before I kissed my man. Over the past nine months Hugh had taught me how
to stop rushing and take my sweet ass time. Which was precisely what I planned
to do that very moment.

~Acknowledgements~

So much
time goes into writing a book. Months and months involving research, creative
writing, editing, formatting…and that’s just the beginning. I have to thank my
husband and children for being so patient and supportive. I also have to thank
my mom for being my never-ending cheerleader. She’s always in my corner. I have
a wonderful group who beta read and give me amazing feedback and guidance. And
I appreciate every single one involved. In the end, writing is a labor of love
and I appreciate the readers who find my work. Enjoy! And, thank you!

From the author…

I hope you enjoyed reading The
Junior Bridesmaid. Feedback is so important and always appreciated. Please feel
free to share your thoughts about this book and write a review. If you enjoyed
this story you might also like one of my other novels. Finding Catalina, The
Dream Weaver and The Beginning of January are all available for download. Thank
you!

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