“She sure does, bud. Do you know what that means?”
“Mama likes cookies!”
“That’s one way of putting it,” Esme mutters under her breath, to which everyone chuckles.
“No. It means you’re going to be a big brother.”
He looks between us for a beat, seemingly deep in thought. Then his expression brightens. “Okay. Can we open presents now?”
I blow out a laugh, marveling at how easy-going he is. “Of course.”
As I gaze around the living room at a scene I could have never imagined a few years ago, my heart expands, much like the Grinch’s did when he discovered the true meaning of Christmas.
When Nora forgave me after learning the truth of the role I played in the car accident that took her fiancé and unborn child from her, I thought I knew what true love was. When she agreed to move her world for me and acclimate to a life no one can adequately prepare for, I fell even more in love with her. Then even more when we stood in front of God and all our friends and family, promising to cherish each other the rest of our lives. But those are the big moments.
Love is also found in the small moments. In my opinion, those are infinitely more important. I find pieces of our love sprinkled throughout our history. In the memory of her smile as I pulled her hair free of her ponytail as we drove along Route 66 together as two strangers. In the memory of spending a lazy Sunday at Central Park, lounging in the grass as we talked about everything and nothing at the same time. And now as she looks up at me with more admiration than I think I deserve.
I remember what Esme told me when I first grappled with my feelings for Nora. “‘Maybe it won’t work out. But maybe seeing if it does will be the exact adventure you need to remind you what it’s like to fly.’”
There’s no doubt in my mind that my time with Nora so far has been the adventure of a lifetime.
I have a feeling the adventure is just beginning.
Thank you so much for reading Tangled Games! I hope you enjoyed the final book in the Dating Games Series!
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Even though this series is over, it’s just the beginning of a new series, starting with Creed and Esme’s story - ROYAL CREED. Reserve your copy today!
Rule number one of being a bodyguard: Don’t fall in love with the person you’re protecting.
That rule’s even more important when you’re a member of the Royal Guard. And the person you’re protecting is the Princess Royal…
Who also happens to be your best friend’s sister.
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Playlist
Royals - Lorde
Have I Told You - Matthew Mole
Your Lips Are Mine - Connor Duermit
Leaving Home - Cody Fry
Dreaming - Emily James
Grand Canyon - Matt Kearney
Ghost in the Wind - Birdy
Lonely - Violet Skies
Quite Miss Home - James Arthur
If You Love Her - Forest Blakk
Only Everything - Jake Etheridge
Sailboat Bed - The Devil Music Company
Rush - Lewis Capaldi featuring Jessie Reyez
Take it One Day at a Time - Jennifer Chung
Let It All Go - RHODES, featuring Birdy
Up in Fire - McKenna Breinholdt
The Good in Goodbye - Alexander Wran
Closure - Hayley Warner
So Beautiful - Ed Prosek
Memories Crash - Maisy Stella
Here’s to You - Sara Phillips
You Have My Heart - Emily Sage featuring Stephen Day
Lucky to Know You - SayWeCanFly
The Good Parts - Andy Grammar
Free Book!
A sexy, emotional age gap romance about two strangers who meet on a plane and the secrets that could unravel everything.
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I met him on the worst day of my life.
After ditching my wedding and hopping on a flight to Rome, all I wanted was to forget about the burdens that had been placed on my shoulders since birth.
I never expected to meet him.
Dante Luciano.
Mysterious. Rugged. Alluring.
And possessing an Italian accent so toe-curling it should be illegal.
He's everything my cheating ex-fiancé isn't.
Which is precisely why I make a proposition I never would have in my former life.
It was just supposed to be one night.
It wasn’t supposed to make me question my entire existence.
Maybe I should have dug deeper into who he was.
Maybe I should have asked more questions.
Maybe I should have realized the truth that was staring at me through his familiar eyes.
They say you can never escape your past.
They were right…
Possession
In the mood for another gripping romance between two star-crossed lovers? Check out this sneak peek of Possession, an interracial romance with all the feels. Download your copy here.
Londyn
The butterfly effect in chaos theory states that sometimes insignificant events bring about extensive change, either good or bad. It’s the notion that a butterfly can flap its wings, triggering a chain of events that will lead to a massive tsunami, forever altering the face of the earth and the lives of those affected.
I’ve always been intrigued by the concept that a seemingly innocuous and everyday event could have major consequences.
What would have happened if Archduke Ferdinand had taken a different route through Sarajevo, thwarting a young nationalist’s assassination attempt, which eventually led to the start of World War I? Would some other event have been the catalyst for it, the world just a ticking time bomb? Or would society have continued living in peace?
What would have happened had the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna not rejected Adolf Hitler’s application to attend…twice? Would he have taken a different path, saving the world from his tyranny and hate?
And what would have happened if I hadn’t fallen in that crosswalk on a rainy day in Atlanta? Would I have carried on with my life, content with my relatively solitary existence? Or would our paths have crossed anyway, starting a series of events I never could have predicted in my wildest imagination?
I’ll never know. Because I did fall in that crosswalk.
Our paths did cross.
Our lives did intersect.
One seemingly insignificant event.
One meeting most people wouldn’t think twice about.
But one event that eventually altered my entire world.