“Well, now’s a good time.” Because she did need to hear it.
He sat up straighter and kissed her first, his mouth sliding over hers in a dizzying, intense kiss. Heat seared through her and she clutched at his shoulders as his arms tightened around her waist, pulling her in snug against him. And still he kissed her, drowning them until they were both breathless. “I love you, Evelyn Jones. Since I don’t even know when. I want you in my life and I’ll wait forever if you need me to.”
She pressed her forehead to his and closed her eyes. “No more waiting. I’m done waiting for my choices to feel like mine.”
His arms tightened around her in a fierce hug, then loosened enough to relax again. “So what’s next, Miss Jones?”
His teasing tone made her smile wider. Wow, had she ever been this happy? It bubbled up inside her and she barely knew what to do with it all. “Well, we’ve got some administrative stuff to work through here with wrapping up the contract paperwork and submitting any reports they’ll need.”
He nodded, running his hands up and down her thighs. There was a naughty gleam in his eyes and she narrowed hers as she put in the extra effort to remember what she was saying.
“And you were right about my having other clients. I’ve got people who need me to work with them and their dogs.”
Atlas barked.
She glanced over at him, sitting close, his tail sweeping the floor in a happy wag. Reaching over, she gave him an affectionate scratch behind one ear.
“I think he’s going to have to accept it’s a part of your job.” David chuckled. “He’s got to learn to share you.”
“Mmm.” She looked back to David. “I’ll still be traveling some and next time I leave, there should be texts. Texts from you, pictures of Atlas, maybe we should create accounts on a couple of social media apps. Whatever it takes to feel connected.”
“But you could use this as a home base.” He made the offer quietly.
Her words caught in her throat for a moment and she bit her lip as she nodded. It seemed impossible in such a short time, but this cabin and Hope’s Crossing Kennels had come to feel like a home in ways her actual apartment way back on the West Coast never did.
He grinned. “I’m on board with that. Maybe we’ll travel together, too, go to a few training conferences together and learn some new techniques.”
Or he could kiss her some more and remind her of a few of his techniques. She lost time in his kisses, enjoying the taste of him and teasing him back in turn with nips at his lower lip.
Happy. She was so happy with him.
She opened her eyes, met his gaze. He wasn’t her stepfather. Hell, her stepfather wasn’t even who she’d thought he was. David was everything she hadn’t even known she needed and now that she was back in his arms, she didn’t intend to give him up.
Lyn took a deep breath. This was it. And if she could let go of everything she believed she knew, quit comparing, she wouldn’t mess this up. “No matter where my job takes me, I think I could find my way back here. This is home.” She met David’s gaze, steady, loving. “You are home.”
David folded her in close against his chest. “I’ll be here for you. Count on it.”
About the Author
Piper began her writing career as “PJ Schnyder,” writing sci-fi and paranormal romance and steampunk, for which she won the FF&P PRISM award as well as the NJRW Golden Leaf award and Parsec award.
Play Find the Piper around the Internet for insight into her frequent travels and inspiration for her stories.
PiperJDrake.com
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Please see the next page
for a preview of
ULTIMATE
COURAGE,
the second book
in the True Heroes series.
Chapter One
You’ve got to be insane.”
Elisa Hall took a prudent step or two back as the tall man in front of her clenched his fists and glared at the woman in scrubs behind the reception desk.
“I’m sorry, sir, but ambulances take precedence over walk-ins.” The nurse held firm. A braver woman than Elisa would’ve been in the face of rage on a level with the man at the counter.
He was dressed in loose fitness shorts and a close-fitting black tee. His hands were wrapped in some cross between tape and fabric.
Fighter might as well have been printed across his very broad, muscular shoulders.
Actually, now that she was looking, his tee said REVOLUTION MIXED MARTIAL ARTS ACADEMY.
Well then, maybe she could take more ibuprofen and forget about seeing a doctor after all. Getting her own injury examined wasn’t worth staying anywhere near this guy.
The nurse glanced quickly at Elisa then returned her attention to the man, her expression softening with sympathy. “As soon as an examination room opens up, we’ll get you in to see the doctor. Please, wait right here and fill out these forms while I help this young lady.”