“Here’s to miracles happening, then,” he said, leaning close so that she inhaled his delicious scent. He kissed her, his mouth coaxing and firm. Bold. Sweet. Her eyelids fluttered closed. She’d never get tired of his kisses. They melted her every time.
He lifted his mouth a moment later, but she kept her eyes closed, still pleasantly warm and dizzy from his kiss. Something cool and hard pressed against her mouth. She lifted heavy eyelids.
Her heart jumped in disbelief. The hair on her forearms stood on end. He was stroking her lower lip softly with a diamond ring. His eyes gleamed with heat as he looked down at her.
“You’re the only woman who could turn me into a romantic, Eleanor. I was a hopeless case before you came along. I can’t ever let you go. It’d be the ruin of me, romantically speaking. Well, pretty much all around, come to think of it.”
Her mouth trembled beneath the large, caressing diamond. Her eyes stung.
“Do you know that every day when I wake up since you’ve come into my life, I feel like I’m the luckiest woman alive?” she asked softly. “When I first saw you, you were this unbelievable, unobtainable fantasy.”
“And now the fantasy is wearing thin?” he asked dryly.
“No. It’s gotten even more wonderful. You really are my fantasy man. It’s just that the fantasy is exponentially better in reality. I love you, Trey.”
“I love you too. So much. I still can’t believe it, but it keeps growing stronger. Deeper.”
“I know,” she agreed.
“Does this mean you’ll marry me?” he asked her gruffly.
“Well I can’t have you ruined. Romantically speaking or otherwise. Can I?” she asked him quietly.
She saw his quick, flashing smile. She felt the cool metal slip against her finger, and then Trey was kissing her. The water taxi’s horn pealed and it echoed off the tunnel of the skyscrapers. To Eleanor, it sounded like the joyful shout of her heart.
KEEP READING FOR AN EXCERPT FROM
MAKE ME
BY BETH KERY
NOW AVAILABLE IN SERIAL FORMAT
FROM INTERMIX
There was something about the Tahoe air that made everything clear and luminous. Not just physical things either, Harper McFadden thought as she jogged down a stretch of beach, the cerulean lake glittering to the left of her. Her perception felt sharper in her new home. She felt a little lighter. The brilliant sun and pure air seemed to penetrate even the murkiest, saddest places of her spirit.
Alive.
That was it. She felt more alive here than she had since her parents’ tragic death last year. Hopefully she was slowly—finally—leaving the shadows of grief behind.
She tensed and pulled up short in her run when a large, dark red dog with white markings began to charge her. She staggered back, dreading the imminent crash. The slashing teeth. “Stay calm around them. Keep your fear boxed up tight. It’ll only make them more aggressive if they sense it.”
The big dog pulled up at the last minute. He started to spin in excited, dopey circles in front of her.
She gave a startled laugh.
“You’re not so scary, are you?” she murmured, reaching down cautiously to pet behind floppy ears. The dog immediately stopped dancing around and lifted his head, eyelids drooping and tongue lolling. Harper laughed and rubbed harder. “No, you’re just a big pushover, aren’t you?”
The dog whimpered blissfully.
Clearly, this particular dog was a cuddly pup with the appearance of a bear. Even so, her limbs still felt a little tingly from anxiety. This was one of the few things she wasn’t so fond of in her new town. People adored their dogs here, to the point that they brought them inside the local stores and even the post office, and no one complained. She’d also noticed Tahoe Shores canines tended to be of the enormous variety. Unlike her former home in the Nob Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, leash laws were largely ignored here.
A figure cast a shadow over her and the dog.
“Sorry about that. He’s like a two-year-old kid with the body of an ox. He doesn’t know his own weight.”
Harper didn’t glance up immediately when the man approached. The thought struck her fleetingly that while his dog was a hyper, quivering beast, his owner’s voice sounded mellow and smooth. Unhurried.