He paused and swallowed. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but being with you makes me happier than when I’ve hit the top of a half-day climb, and nothing else has ever topped that. I can only hope I make you that happy, too—but if I don’t, I’m sure you’ll let me know.” He smiled wide then, that broad, unrestricted, magnificent smile that took her breath away, and held out a ring. “Claire Harper, will you marry me?”
“Oh, my gosh,” she blurted. “Ruthie doesn’t really have a date tonight, does she?” She was in on it and set this whole thing up!
Graham cocked his head, a frown descending on his brow. “Uh. I—”
A laugh bubbled up, joy expanding in her chest as tears burned beneath her lids. “Never mind.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him to his feet. “I just—I can’t believe—I had no idea,” she babbled, incoherent thoughts of shock and amazement bouncing around in her brain. “How long have you been planning this?”
He sighed, indulgent amusement etched across his features. “Claire. Could you answer my question, please?”
She framed his face and kissed him hard. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
His arms came around her waist and he lifted her, smiling up at her grinning face. “Yeah?”
She kissed him again. And again. “Yeah.”
“You’ll be Claire, Graham’s fiancée?”
She wrapped her legs around him and buried her face in his neck.
“Finally, a nickname I can get on board with.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My goodness, Claire and Graham were fun to write. They began as side characters in Would You Rather and quickly took on a life of their own. I’m so happy I was given the opportunity to tell their story because I had a blast doing it.
Thank you to Margot Mallinson for believing the premise of this book was worth it and Dina Davis for ultimately working on it with me and making it shine. Thanks to the MIRA and Harlequin teams for everything you do behind the scenes to get these books on the shelves. I still can’t believe I can walk into a bookstore and see a book with my name on it sitting there. Which brings me to Kim Lionetti, my powerhouse agent—without you I’d have never known that reality. I appreciate your expertise, knowledge, and calm guidance as we navigate the publishing process.
While I’m in the medical field and have done a fair amount of rock climbing, I’m not a nurse or a trauma physician and I’m not a rock-climbing expert by any means. So thank you, Jessica Payne, for reading an early draft and being the first to tell me nurses aren’t supposed to do stitches (oops) and for cleaning up the climbing scenes. As a fellow author, you also gave me an early confidence boost that maybe this book didn’t completely suck. I’m sorry I’m too scared to read your thrillers (but everyone else should!).
Thanks to Scott Mackey, ER physician extraordinaire, for answering all my questions about intubation, trauma bays, and what injuries I could swing without being completely outside the realm of possibility. Yes, I named the surgeon after you. J.K. Feisal, I probably threw a couple of questions at you, too, so thank you for that and for being so supportive of my books (I’m still a little salty you didn’t stay after fellowship, though). Nicole Carroll, best neighbor, mom friend, and ortho PA, thanks for reading an early draft and helping me with the logistics of everything a broken leg entails. Your IPA (ew) is on me next time we’re out.
As always, thank you to my author friends who I couldn’t do this without, because we all need someone who understands this process and can vent/celebrate/trudge through it with us. Especially Denise Williams, I’ll always remember when you said this one was your favorite yet. Thank you to the readers out there who tell a friend when they love a book—I hope you never stop. Thank you to all the #bookstagrammers, bloggers, and reviewers who help share and promote my books, I’ll never be able to describe how important that part is for my survival as an author. I hope the books I write keep bringing you laughs, tears, and most of all, joy.