Excerpt!
“I’m not really cooking,” she grumbled and scratched her nose.
“You know what I mean.” Reaching across the counter, he selected a few pieces of onion and tossed them in his mouth.
A scowl consumed her face. “You did not just eat raw onions.”
Cole chomped on the veggies and grinned. “What’s it to you if I did?”
Rose feigned a gag and shuddered.
The potential of the moment spoke to him. Like a child, Cole seized the opportunity to play and circled the island. He leaned into her and pressed a kiss on her cheek.
She recoiled and swatted him away. “Ew, Cole! Stop it!” With a giggle, she pinched her nose.
“What?” He grinned and popped another piece in his mouth. “Are you saying you don’t like my kisses?” Cole leaned in and again she darted away with laughter on her lips. “Ring around the rosie?” He chased her around the counter. Her sweet snickers settled in his heart, beat for beat, seeping into his soul.
“Ugh, your breath!” she whined as he caught her around the middle and squeezed, holding her prisoner in her own kitchen. “And you’re all sweaty!”
He pressed another exaggerated kiss on her cheek and gripped her arms, pinning her in place.
“Cole!” she roared through laughter.
“I’ll make a deal with you,” he offered and guided her body back to where she stood peeling potatoes. “I’ll shower and brush my teeth if we can have sex right here.” He tapped the granite and pinched her bottom.
Sometimes when the right man finds the right woman, things still aren’t quite right. Can a piece of paper fix it, or ruin it?
When Cole Johnson was eight-years-old, he married Rose Prescott. Never mind that the aisle was made of holiday table runners, she wore an old lace curtain, and her brother performed the ceremony in a musty basement.
Twenty-four years later, Cole is more in love than ever and ready to wed Rose for real. This time, it’ll be at an exquisite wedding venue and the minister will know how to read. But that’s not all. He wants to give Rose the life he’s always dreamed of: a big house with a picket fence, twin boys, a family dog, and a rock-solid 401K.
But Rose doesn’t seem to want any of it—not even a little. Because it’s not at all the future she covets. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. The thought of a hefty mortgage payment and a minivan full of children isn’t just suffocating… it’s insufferable.
As the wedding approaches, Cole grows uneasy and can’t help but feel like Rose is hiding something. Despite his suspicions, the day of their wedding arrives without a hitch. The question is, how will the day end?
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Author bio:
Julie Navickas is a best-selling and award-winning, nationally recognized contemporary romance novelist, known for her keen ability to tell heart-wrenching, second-chance love stories through relatable characters with humility, humor, and heroism. She is also an award-winning university instructor in the School of Communication at Illinois State University. Julie earned master’s degrees in both organizational communication and English studies with an emphasis in book history, as well as a bachelor’s degree in public relations, graduating cum laude from Illinois State University. She is a mom of three and has been happily married to her high school sweetheart for twelve years.
This looks like a great read. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a book I would enjoy reading. Thanks for sharing.
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