coming.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I bet I will.”
Jude slid down, placing sucking kisses along my neck, then the tops of my breasts. “No, you won’t. But it will be so fun to watch you try to figure it out.”
With a shove to his shoulders, I rolled us until he was on his back. My leg swung over his hips, and I held him down. His big hands slid up my thighs.
“I don’t think you’ll last another six months, mister.” I leaned down to kiss him deeply. He groaned into my mouth.
“I love you,” he said between kisses. “But I cannot wait to watch you squirm while you wait.”
“I love you too,” I returned, digging my hand down into his shorts, biting onto my bottom lip when his eyes rolled back in his head. “But I think you’re mistaken about who’s going to do the watching right now.”
He laughed, and it was perfect. Everything about the life we were building was. It was exhausting and busy and sweet and perfect. Just how I liked it.
Second Epilogue
Isabel
The gym was dark when I walked in, which suited me just fine. I’d memorized every inch of the place years earlier, so the weak light of the sunrise was more than enough for me to navigate back to my office. As it was my day off, I wasn’t actually supposed to be there, but my boss, Amy, was never too surprised when I came in. I took a sip of my coffee and stretched my free arm over my head with a wince. Went a little too hard in class the day before, and I groaned loudly when my muscles screamed in protest at the movement.
The groan is what had the door to Amy’s office opening, the light of her small corner lamp illuminating the space. The shades were drawn over the glass that looked out over the gym, which I hadn’t noticed earlier. Amy’s head popped out. “What are you doing here?”
I stopped. “Why do you look nervous about the fact that I am?”
I’d worked for her and known her for too long to tiptoe around anything.
Amy sighed, her face falling in a look that had my stomach falling too. This was it. As soon as she looked over her shoulder and spoke to someone in her office, I knew this was the thing I’d been dreading.
A new owner.
A new boss.
I hated change. It made me all twitchy and uncomfortable.
But that was nothing on how I felt when Amy turned back to me and gave me an apologetic smile.
“I was going to do this tomorrow a bit more formally, but I should’ve known your ass would show up before sunrise on your day off.”
“I needed to do inventory,” I murmured, watching as she moved aside, and he filled the doorway.
I almost dropped my friggin’ coffee, which would have been a shame for how little I slept the night before.
Before either of them said another word, I knew.
Honestly, I knew so much about him, it was ridiculous. I knew he was six-three and in his prime fighting days, he weighed in around two forty-five, tiptoeing him into the heavyweight class that he dominated for years.
I knew what it was like to watch him fight because I’d watched every one.
I knew his eyes were dark, and his mouth never, ever curved up into a smile.
I knew he’d retired a couple of years ago, after the death of his wife, in order to care for his daughter.
Amy cleared her throat, and it broke the connection between his gaze and mine.
“Iz, you might as well be the first to know.” She gestured toward me. “This is my gym manager, Isabel. She’s indispensable.”
He took a step toward me, mouth flat but not mean, eyes dark and curious, and when he held out his massive hand, I inhaled shakily before slipping my palm against his.
When our hands touched, his brow lowered and his gaze held on that single connection point. Slowly, I pulled my hand back, hoping he didn’t feel the tremor in my fingers.
“Aiden Hennessy,” he said.
Like I didn’t fucking know his name.
When he opened his mouth again, I almost slapped my hand over those lips because I didn’t want him to say it. But my hand stayed at my side, and he spoke the words anyway, all low and dark, and I felt a shiver of foreboding at how my life was about to change.
“I’m your new boss.”
Forbidden, the fourth book in the Ward Sisters series, is coming June 2021!
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Author’s Note
Oh, my goodness, my first foray into writing a character who lives/was raised in Europe! I fell completely in love with Great Britain when I visited in September of 2019, I couldn’t wait to bring Lia’s story to life. Even though I hired a British editor, I did make a conscious choice to use American English, other than Jude’s dialogue. Also… if I used ‘bloody’ too much for your taste, PLEASE forgive me. It’s just so fun that I couldn’t help myself. Any mistakes are mine and mine alone. I did my best! Thanks for reading.
Acknowledgments
Thanks so very much to the ‘usual suspects’- my husband and boys for putting up with me and a weird 2020 writing schedule, Fiona Cole for being my writing buddy in the year of virtual school (AKA THE SHITSHOW), Kathryn Andrews for her wonderful feedback and brainstorming.
To Najla Qamber and Regina Wamba for the beautiful cover.
To Kelly Allenby for being my “Brit Checker”.
To Michelle Clay for reading through to make sure I didn’t jack up the story in revisions.
To Jenny Sims and Janice Owen for edits and proofreading, and Pauline Cassie for doing one last read-through.
To my wonderful reader group and review team for all their support.
And a special shoutout to my husband’s friend Kenneth … he’ll never see this, but introducing Premier League into our lives (and turning me/my husband/boys into Liverpool fans) was what gave me the idea to do this book! THANK YOU!
Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1
Also by Karla Sorensen
Washington Wolves
The Bombshell Effect (Luke and Allie’s story)
The Ex Effect (Matthew and Ava’s story)
The Marriage Effect (Logan and Paige’s story)
The Ward Family Series
Focused
Faked
Floored
Forbidden
Published through Smartypants Romance
Baking Me Crazy
Batter of Wits
Steal my Magnolia (available February 9, 2021)
The Three Little Words Series
By Your Side
Light Me Up
Tell Them Lies
The Bachelors of the Ridge Series
Dylan
Garrett
Cole
Michael
Tristan
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About the Author
Karla Sorensen has been an avid reader her entire life, preferring stories with a happily-ever-after over just about any other kind. And considering she has an entire line item in her budget for books, she realized it might just be cheaper to write her own stories. She still keeps her toes in the world of health care marketing, where she made her living pre-babies. Now she stays home, writing and mommy-ing full time (this translates to almost every day being a ‘pajama day’ at the Sorensen household…don’t judge). She lives in West Michigan with her husband, two exceptionally adorable sons, and big, shaggy rescue dog.
Photo credit: Perrywinkle Photography