you a deal, Donny. If Gibson comes on tour, babysits Fen, and sings a song or two on stage, then I’ll make it happen.”
Silence.
“Yeah, you owe me one,” he mutters.
Crawling over to him, I press a kiss between his shoulder blades, then dig my fingers into his tight muscles. His head rolls forward as he fights off a groan of appreciation and says, “One more thing, Donny. I want you to extend the invitation to Gibson’s friend.” He looks over his shoulder at me. “What was her name again?”
“Dove Walker,” I answer, kneading his muscles with all my strength.
“That’s right. Dove Walker.” He melts into me and closes his eyes, trying to focus on the conversation, though I have a feeling I’m making it difficult for him. “I want you to make sure she’s invited to tour with them. I think she’d do well.”
Silence.
“Yeah, I know she might be a nobody, but she’s got talent, Donny. Trust me. I saw it firsthand.”
Silence.
“Alright. Let me know how it goes,” Hawthorne replies. “We’ll talk soon.”
He hangs up the phone, turns around, and gives me his full attention. “Sorry about that––”
“You gave them another shot,” I interrupt.
Squeezing the back of his neck, a sheepish Boris shrugs one shoulder. “I guess I did.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because I like you.”
My heart stalls in my chest before making up the lost beat in double time. Pushing the feelings aside, I challenge, “And you decided that was enough to put your reputation on the line?”
“Maybe.”
I press a soft kiss to his lips and peek up at him, committing the moment to memory. It might not seem like a big deal for this strong man to bend like this and give Broken Vows another chance, but I think it is. And he did it for me.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He cups the side of my face, dragging his calloused thumb along my cheekbone as his icy blue gaze scans my face. “I want to stay, Princess.”
With a subtle flinch, I blink slowly. “W-what?”
“I said…I want to stay. With you. Here.”
“But…” I shake my head.
He’s toying with me.
That has to be what he’s doing.
“What about work?” I ask. “What about your job? Your life? Why would you want to give all that up? Because I’ve what? Intrigued you?”
His soft smile melts a bit of my reservations as his warm hand squeezes my bare thigh. In my bedroom. After we just spent the perfect night together.
“Sam, you’ve done more than intrigue me. You’ve made me feel alive for the first time in years. As for my job, I travel for work. Who’s to say I can’t keep doing that as long as I come home to you?”
Home. To me.
This can’t be happening. It’s too good to be true. He’s too good to be true.
“You want that?” I whisper. “To come home here? In this little town?”
“If it’s where you are, then yes. I like you, Sammie Norris. I like you a lot.”
There are those damn words again.
My chest tightens, and I rub at the site, desperate to let myself fall while terrified of what will happen if I do.
“Tell me you don’t feel the same way,” he challenges, misinterpreting my hesitancy for indecision when I’ve never felt more sure of anything in my entire life.
And that’s what’s alarming.
“Tell me you aren’t curious about what this could turn into if we gave it a real shot, and I’ll leave. You’ll never have to see me again, and Broken Vows will still get their spot on tour. We’ll chalk last night up to a fun, romantic hook-up, and that’ll be it. But I felt something with you. Something I want to explore more. Like I said, Sammie, I like you. I like you a lot,” he repeats.
“I like you too,” I admit, terrified of how real the truth feels as it claws its way up my throat. “But…” My voice trails off as the same stupid what-if’s cloud my thoughts.
“But what, Sam?”
Chewing on my thumbnail, I peek up at him again. “What if I don’t keep you interested? What if you get bored––”
“With you?” He laughs. “Not possible. I told you, Sammie. My entire career is based on finding the diamond in the rough. And you’re a diamond. A princess. My princess, if you’ll have me.”
“Boris…”
“Tell me I’m crazy. Tell me you don’t feel the same way I do.”
“It’s been one night––”
“Yeah? Well, it’s been a decade of me searching for this feeling, and I’m not going to let you go without telling you how I feel. And before you get all freaked out by this conversation, I’m not saying I love you. I’m just saying that if we got to know each other better, I could. And I’m not going to let that go easily. What do you say, Sammie?”
The hope in his eyes––the vulnerability––almost knocks me on my ass before I press my forehead to his and breathe in deep, savoring his already familiar scent like it’s a fine wine.
How can I already miss someone when they’re right in front of me?
“I’m not going anywhere,” I promise, my voice nothing but a whisper.
“Neither am I.”
Then he kisses me, sealing our fate with a kiss that’s so sweet, so addictive, that I can almost see our future together. My days spent at SeaBird. My nights filled with Hawthorne. Traveling with him throughout the year. Listening to music. Loving life. And him. Loving him. With every fiber of my being. My Boris Hawthorne. And who knows? Maybe I’ll even convince him to take my last name.
A light laugh escapes me.
“Something funny?” he asks.
I shake my head, my heart close to bursting. “Nope. Nothing at all, Boris. Nothing at all.”
Interested in reading more about Dove, Gibson, and Fender?
Order Forbidden Lyrics today!
About Kelsie Rae
Kelsie is a sucker for a love story with all the feels. When she's not chasing words for her next book, you will probably find her reading or, more likely, hanging out with her husband and playing with her three kiddos who love to drive her crazy.
She adores photography, baking, her two pups, and her cat who thinks she’s a dog. Now that she's actively pursuing her writing dreams, she's set her sights on someday finding the self-discipline to not binge-watch an entire series on Netflix in one sitting.
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Also by Kelsie Rae
Kelsie Rae tries to keep her books formatted with an updated list of her releases, but every once in a while she falls behind.
If you'd like to check out a complete list of her up-to-date published books, visit her website at www.authorkelsierae.com/books
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Signature Sweethearts Series
(Sweet Contemporary Romance Stand-Alone Series)
Liv
Luke
Breezy
Jude
Rhett
Sophie
Marcus
Anthony
Skye
Saylor
Wrecked Roommates Series
(Steamy Contemporary Romance Stand-Alone Series)
Model Behavior
Forbidden Lyrics
Messy Strokes
Off the Books
Advantage Play Series
(Steamy Romantic Suspense/Mafia Series)
Wild Card
Little Bird
Bitter Queen
Black Jack
Royal Flush
Stand Alones
Fifty-Fifty
Drowning in Love
Hired Hottie (A Steamy Signature Sweethearts Spin-Off)
Crush (A Steamy Signature Sweethearts Spin-Off)
Single Parent Collection
Bartered Souls Duet
(Urban Fantasy Series)
Gambled Soul
Wager Won