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Eight Months Later
I had forgotten how cold it was in New Jersey during the winter as I curled up in the oversized cuddler chair by the window that looked out to the ocean. It was hard to believe that I was currently unemployed and living next door to my best friend’s parents.
Shortly after John had declared his love for me, I found myself quitting my demanding job at BayView Advertising and packing up the studio apartment to move in with him and Lily. It was one of the wildest things that I had ever done—aside from our epic road trip, and I didn’t regret a single second of it.
Lily was the happiest that I had seen her in a long time and was thriving at school. She had made four new friends, and the five of them were inseparable. When she wasn’t sleeping over at their houses, they were all piled upstairs in her bedroom, eating junk food and gossiping about the cute boys in their class.
John hated that Lily was starting to see boys as something other than gross creatures with cooties. I had to remind him that it was only going to get worse and pulled him back when he wanted to go to the store to buy plenty of protection for her. It turns out that there isn’t enough ammunition in the world for an over-protective father, and I had to reign him in.
I curled my feet underneath me, enjoying the warm fuzzy socks that Lily had bought me for Christmas last year. While John was at work in Manhattan and Lily spent her days at school, I had secretly been writing a novel about the journey of a beautiful woman named Charlotte.
It was filled with memories of her and stories of how she touched other’s lives without even knowing it. It gave me a sense of pride to be able to bring her story to life, knowing that her legacy would live on and that the world would get to see what a wonderful person she really was.
“Honey, I’m home,” he called out playfully from the front door as he walked in. The frigid cold air blew in behind him, sending a chill right through me.
I closed the journal that I was writing in and slid it into my regular hiding place before I got up to greet him.
“Hey, you’re home early,” I said, reaching up to place a kiss on his lips.
“I decided to take a few days off for Christmas,” he said, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“So, you’re done being the Grinch?” I teased, earning a quick slap on my butt. He had been overly stressed about a project at work and had been grumpier than usual.
“That depends,” he murmured against my lips. “Is Lily home?”
“She’s staying the night at Alice’s tonight. They’re working on some top-secret Christmas gifts and have been at it since ten this morning.”
“Well, in that case, I’m the Grinch,” he chuckled. “But it’s not my heart that’s about to grow.”
I laughed at the poor attempt at a joke and swatted at his chest.
“You’ve gotta get better at the jokes,” I teased, feeling his hand wrap around my wrist to pull me back to him.
“Does the little Who girl think the big, bad, Grinch is funny?” His voice was low and gravely as he pulled me tighter against him. I could feel his length thickening between us.
“Maybe I need to be punished,” I flirted, pulling my lower lip in between my teeth. I had him just where I wanted him. Without warning, I turned and ran down the hallway, thankful for the carpet, so I didn’t slip and fall, as I rushed into the bedroom and jumped on the bed.
He followed behind me with a hungry look in his eyes. Then, slowly, he stood at the foot of the bed, undoing the knot in his tie as he slowly pulled the silky fabric through to undo it.
I watched him take his sweet time undressing, the ache already starting between my thighs.
“If you don’t hurry up and get over here, I’m going to turn into the Grinch,” I warned, desperate to touch him.
He tugged his shirt off and tossed it to the floor behind him as he crawled across the bed, hovering over me.
“You’re so beautiful, Emma,” he whispered, gently pushing a strand of hair away from my face. “I’ll never get tired of making love to this beautiful woman who stole my heart.”
I closed my eyes and relaxed into his kiss as his tongue teased my mouth and his hands skillfully explored my body.
And just like that, my heart felt whole again.
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Thank you so much for reading One Last Wish! I hope you loved this story as much as I enjoyed writing it!
If you’re looking for something new to read and want something fun and spicy, check out my flirty romantic comedy novella, Finding Love In Apartment 2C.
https://books2read.com/u/bze9aZ
If you’re looking for another sweet love story that has some steam in it, check out my Stone Creek novella series.
https://books2read.com/u/3LRk9N
If you’re looking for something more thrilling, be sure to check out my romantic suspense series, Haven Brook.