“Antiques.”
“Teachers would pay her to do interior design for them.”
“How the fuck do you remember all this?” He shakes his head.
“She set me up with Becky.”
“Yeah, well, don’t hold that against her. Becky had us all fooled.” He puts his hands on the sink and looks out the window at the elaborate yard around my equally elaborate house.
This big ole place is a century old, with five bedrooms and five baths. It’s on the historic register, and recently renovated. GA picked it out because she said I had to have a bigger house than my dad’s. She’s still pissed he hid our mother’s trust fund from Scout and me.
I only agreed to buy it because I wanted her to move in with us. Then she insisted on staying in her tiny little house.
“She lives in Oceanside… with her little girl, Melody. She’s three now.” The way he says it piques my interest.
“Is she the one you were telling Hope about? The one you hoped was still waiting for you?”
He steps away from the counter and seems to shake it off. “Yeah, I gotta go.”
“That’s it?” I holler after him, but he’s telling GA and Hope bye, heading for the door quick. “Scout?” I step after him, catching his shoulder. “What’s going on?”
He shakes his head. “I’ll tell you more when I know more.”
He seems frustrated, embarrassed, maybe a little angry—all strange emotions from my little brother. I want him to talk to me, but I’ll let him have his space.
For now, I lean against the doorjamb, watching my pretty wife chatting with my crazy grandmother, thinking what a twisted path led me to here.
Later that night, Hope is snuggled against my chest. We’re sweaty and satisfied, and she’s tracing her finger along the lines of the new tattoo on my chest. Hold onto hope…
It’s right under This Much is True…, inked at a time when I only believed in myself. Now I realize how wrong I was, this beautiful girl in my arms changed my hatred to love.
“They say it’s bad luck to get a tattoo of your significant other’s name.” She props her cute little chin on her hand, blinking up at me.
Tracing my finger along the line of her hair, I push a silky lock behind her ear. “You’re my wife, and it’s not your name, it’s a reminder. You’re my hope eternal.”
Her eyes mist, and I cup her cheeks, kissing her gently. “Don’t cry. I want you to be happy.”
“I’m crying because I am happy.” She blinks smiling, and a crystal tear falls to her cheek. “Hope Eternal Dunne. No more hills.”
I gather her close, rotating her naked body so her back is to my chest. Holding her in my arms, pressing my lips to her shoulder, inhaling her beautiful scent… It makes all the shit I went through worth it.
I’ll never get back the time I lost with my son, but Hope is so loving to him, I think it evens the scale. They’re my new family, my new life, and it’s so much better than the old.
Hope’s dad says a lot of things, but when I asked for Hope’s hand, he told me Love lights more fires than hate extinguishes. He said it was a quote by a female writer from a long time ago, but it feels right now. It feels right always.
The love we share is powerful enough to burn away the bad. It’s bright enough to guide us home through the darkest times, and it’s warmth melted the ice that had formed around my heart.
I found my hope eternal, and this much is true, I’ll never let her go.
Thank you so much for reading JR and Hope’s story! I hope you fell in love with this quirky, beautiful couple as much as I did!
TWIST OF FATE is Scout’s story, coming Feb. 22!
Scout goes away to pursue his dream of Hollywood stardom, and when he comes back home, his old friend (and former fake girlfriend) Daisy is holding a baby who looks just like him…
It’s friends to lovers, it’s second-chance, it’s small-town, sexy and fun and angsty…
Pre-Order TWIST OF FATE Today (link)!
What to read NOW?
Meet Daisy and the whole Oceanside gang in WHEN WE TOUCH (link) an angsty, single-parent, second-chance romance you’re going to love…
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Stephen Hastings is the hero of STAY (link), an enemies-to-lovers romance about a single mom living in Manhattan who marries her billionaire ex-crush to save her son…
It’s sexy and fun and FREE in Kindle Unlimited!
Also available as an Audiobook (link)!
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When We Touch
By Tia Louise
A USA Today bestseller.
Jackson Cane is red-hot cinnamon, salt water, and sin…
He’s the kind of trouble I don’t need.
He’s the kind of trouble that waltzes into my dreams
Every. Single. Night.
Emberly Warren is spicy-sweet seduction.
My biggest temptation.
My biggest regret.
I thought she’d always be waiting for me.
I was wrong.
Now I’m back in Oceanside searching for peace, hoping to escape what my life has become.
She isn’t supposed to be here,
Dark hair blowing in the ocean breeze,
Luscious curves barely hidden by thin cotton.
Memories so hot they burn my mind…
I didn’t come back for her.
But when we touch, I know I’ll do whatever it takes to make her mine…
Prologue
Ember
Where it begins…
Jackson Cane tastes like red-hot cinnamon, salt water, and sin.
When he concentrates, his long fingers twist in the back of his dark hair, right at the base of his neck, and he tugs.
Tugs…
Tugs…
I like to weave my fingers between his and pull.
Then ocean-blue eyes blink up to mine, sending electricity humming in my veins. He smiles. I smile, and it isn’t long before our lips touch. I straddle his lap as I open my mouth, and his delicious tongue finds mine, heating every part of my body.
Our kisses are languid and deep, chasing and tasting.