“
Danny, I love you
,” Kat whispered, the tears now leaking out the corners of her eyes.
His half-grin reappeared. “Oh, sweetheart, not nearly as much I as fucking love you. And I can’t wait to spent every minute of every day of every month of every-”
“Okay, okay, I get it!” Kat threw her arm and leg around him, laughing when Danny rolled until she was beneath him.
He propped himself up on his elbows and knees on top of her body and stared into her eyes, that sexy half-grin still lingering. “I love you, Mrs. MacDonough. Thank you for calling me after your apartment got broken into, for falling in love with me despite all my fuckedupness and bullshit, for forgiving me for being a blind, stupid bastard, and mostly for showing up and marrying me today.”
Kat wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, and grinned right back at him. “You’re welcome. And I love you, Mr. MacDonough. Thank you for being a kind, honest man I knew I could trust after my apartment got broken into, for falling in love with me despite all of my fuckedupness and bullshit, for forgiving me for being a stubborn, emotionally-closed off know-it-all, and mostly for showing up and marrying me today.”
Danny grinned. “You’re welcome. The pleasure was all mine, sweetheart, believe me. The pleasure was all mine.”
He buried his face in Kat’s neck and started kissing and nuzzling, his five o’clock shadowed jaw tickling her sensitive skin.
Kat laughed out loud, happier in that moment than she’d ever been in her life – totally naked, caged in beneath the body of a man she loved more than life itself, and suddenly almost unbearably excited about every moment their futures together held.
It was the first time in Kat’s life she could remember not being afraid of what might be coming next…
And it was all because of this beautiful, amazing, crazy man, whose unexpected love and unconditional acceptance had healed her, saved her, and set her free.
Geez…okay…let’s see if I can keep this to a reasonable length (NOPE):
To YOU, the readers – honestly, you guys frickin’ rock. Thanks for reading my book(s), leaving reviews (but only if they’re nice – ha!), and “getting” me. It makes me feel like a million bucks and breaks my heart in the best possible way when the characters and their stories resonate with you. Thank you!
To Donna at Soluri Public Relations – thank you for using your vast wisdom and experience to guide me through the strange, oftentimes confusing maze of marketing a book. To be frank: thank you for expertly handling stuff that I don’t understand, don’t have the patience to understand, and would NEVER have the patience to understand. You’re good at what you do and I’m glad I have you on my side. Thanks for everything.
Lola Famure, graphic designer extraordinaire – thank you for all of your work on the book covers, promotional materials, and for being a nice, funny person to interact with in general. Thank you for all of your support!
Margreet Asselbergs, blogger at Ripe for Reader – you wrote a beautiful review for All of Me I’ll never forget and have continued to be helpful, supportive, kind, and lovely to me ever since. For a new indie author, that kind of acceptance and encouragement means the world. Thank you!
To all the ladies at Scandalicious Book Reviews – Nikki liked my book, forced the other four of you to read it, and the rest is history. :) Nikki, Scandal, Teena, Lola, and Tania: thank you for all of your selfless help, feedback, encouragement, and praise. You didn’t have to be so nice to me, but you were and I’ll never forget it.
To The Teenas (Firth & Johnson) – thank you for reading All of You and providing such incredibly thoughtful, reassuring, insightful feedback. Both of you calmed my nerves, picked up on stuff I hadn’t, and helped me see things more clearly. Thank you.
To Nicole Jacquelyn – your enthusiasm for All of Me and excitement to read All of You truly meant a lot to me. Thank you for reading All of You and taking the time to offer much-needed feedback (and for being patient with a neurotic gal such as myself). I wish you nothing but continued happiness and success!
To all of my faithful blog and Twitter followers – thanks for caring about anything I have to say. Seriously. Especially those of you who started following my blog (and leaving nice comments) when I was knee-deep in anxiety and self-doubt right after publishing All of Me. You made a difference and I truly appreciate it.
To all of my incredible Facebook friends – I’ll never forget when I got my first notification that someone wanted to be my friend on Facebook. I might have actually looked around and said, “Who, me?” Since then, FB has become a place I can share, interact, vent, act silly, and occasionally even get a little serious. You guys encourage me when I’m discouraged, make me smile when I’m crabby, and are so much fun to have in my life. Thank you for all of the support and I look forward to many more years of chit-chatting with you!
Last, but actually #1 in my book – here is a novella (she said I was way too long-winded to ever write) dedicated to my editor and friend, Nikki Rushbrook:
You read my book, liked it, messaged me on Facebook, and all-of-a-sudden I was under your wing (you couldn’t very well leave such a goofy, clueless bird flapping aimlessly around out there, could you?). You answered every question I had and gently “suggested” what I should be doing (your favorite part, I’m sure…and can we please go back to “gently” again, or is it too far gone now?). You went out of your way to be nice, helpful, and supportive of me – with no benefit to you at all – and it changed the course of my writing and my life, in general.
You love my characters as much as I do (well, not Nathan, but no one could love Nathan as much as I do) and are willing to spend ridiculous amounts of time discussing them, their lives, and talking me down from ledges when they don’t behave (which is 99.9% of the time). You are patient with my nonsense, encouraging when I need it, administer tough love when it’s called for, and are always honest (which is a rare quality these days and something I appreciate more than I could ever say). This book wouldn’t have come close to what it is without your guidance, expertise, and suggestions and I cannot thank you enough for everything.
I could go on and on and on (and on), but I won’t. I’ll just say – thank you for being a beautiful human being, an amazing friend, a talented editor, and someone who has enriched my life in so many ways.
As if this wasn’t already touchy-feely enough to make you uncomfortable for the next fifty years or so, I’ll say, “I love you,” and leave it at that.
Thank you!!!