"Pregnant."
Jake stared at her with a blank expression.
Emily cocked her head to the side and smiled. "Surprise."
Jake blinked. "Tomorrow. We're getting married tomorrow. Tomorrow morning. Early. Very early. At eight."
"Oh no, you don't," Emily said, giving his shoulders a small shake. "We made a deal and you're not gonna back out of it. You wanted a big wedding and
that
is what you're gonna get."
"But—"
"No buts. We're having a big wedding and that is final. Now, get over here, oh arrogant man o' mine, and kiss me." Emily tugged his mouth down to hers and murmured against his lips, "And make it good. We've got an audience to please."
Jake groaned and, still holding her, sank down to his knees. "Emily, my love, do you have any… idea what you being… pregnant does to me," he asked in between kisses.
Emily was beyond speech. Well-beyond. Her body had liquefied into a pool of molten lava. She… needed. Badly.
Now. Here. In the middle of the backyard.
Jake hauled her closer. "Kiss me and find out."
Emily sifted her fingers through his silky soft hair and did as he bid. Her legs clutched at him around his waist and she moved against him.
Jake shuddered and gripped her tighter.
Emily shivered and, wallowing in wave after wave of bone tingling pleasure, slumped against him.
Minutes passed while they both panted for their next breath.
"Jake?"
"Yeah, babe."
"Did you just…?"
"Damn straight I did."
Emily pushed herself up to look into his face.
Jake grinned and shrugged. "Why not? I have to go home and change my shorts anyway."
Emily stared at him for a whole minute, then laughed and threw her arms around his neck. This was what she'd dreamed of her entire life. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Jake squeezed her close and kissed her, then pulled back. "Let's get this show on the road. These jeans are starting to shrink. Again."
"Oh, poor baby." Emily smirked. "You know, there's a mighty fine tool shed right over there. We could, uh, slip on in there for a few minutes and, uh, fix your jeans."
"Woman, you are evil."
"Yeah, but you love it."
"When I get you in that tool shed, I'll show you just how much," Jake said. "Sweetheart, this is all your fault. You turned me on and left me to find the off button all by myself."
"Honey," Emily drawled, "you can forget about ever findin' that off button, 'cause as long as you're with me, you're not gonna need it. And you're gonna be with me for a long, long time."
Jake winked at her. "You know it. And I'll love every minute of it."
"You better or else I'll sic Booker on you."
* * *
Dear Reader
, I hope you enjoyed reading
Emily's Affair
! This story has been near and dear to my heart for years. The reason is simple: it was the first manuscript that I ever completely
completed
wholly on my own, submitted to a contest (called the Lover's Knot), and (
surprise
!) placed second in my first ever contest entry!
As I was putting together this next incarnation (second edition) of
Emily's Affair
, I decided that I would take a moment to share with you the story behind this particular book. It all started back in the late 1990s after I had finished reading some exciting article on the craft of writing. The article was waxing philosophical on the impact of opening a story with dialogue. I don't recall who wrote the article or even the title of it, but I do remember,
very clearly
, sitting myself down at the keyboard, opening up a blank document, and writing a slew of first lines. Some of them were wordy and some… well, weren't so much. Here are a few examples of the gems I came up with on that dark and not-so-stormy night…
First on the list is: (
spoken by a female
) "I don't like you."
(
a man responds
) "But you want me."
Oh-my-word
, I don't know about you, but when I retyped that one in this note my imagination raced into a dozen potential scenarios. Much like it did back in the day.
Second, we have: (
spoken by a female
)"This carpet is ruined."
(
to which I heard a man respond—in my head, of course
) "A man's been shot and all you can say is
this carpet is ruined
?"
For some reason those two lines
still
crack me up to this day. Okay, maybe that has to do with me knowing there's a draft of an amusing action/adventure romance story that evolved from this snippet. And, yes, I will be revising that story and publishing it soon.
Third is the one that makes me do that secret smile thing: (
spoken by a man
) "Yes."
And that's all he said. For a full minute. But the visual I got right after he said it… oh-my-freaking-word. That was my first introduction to Jake Grayden and his mental seduction of Emily when he accidentally meets up with her in the mailroom that first time. And, you better believe that he told me in explicit detail exactly what his over active imagination was going to do to her.
And
that
, my dear reader, is the story behind
Emily's Affair
.
In case you're curious, I can tell you that some of the characters in Emily and Jake's story will get their own. Honestly, I'm not sure when exactly that will happen (
because the muse dictates what story I work on at any given moment and she's hell bent on getting me to finish a few older ones done before I get to working on writing new material
), but I can tell you that Marilyn will get her own book. Oddly enough, Marilyn informed me what she wanted the title to her story to be (
Marilyn's Trace
) and exactly how she wanted it to go down… too bad for her that Trace (
her long lost hero
) has his own idea on how the story will happen. And considering that Trace has a few surprises up his sleeve that will drag Marilyn (
along with Emily
) into a whole new world and a brand spanking new 4 book series (
called, The Chronicles of P.S.S.T.
), I'm thinking that Trace is gonna win this battle. With Marilyn (
secretly
) loving every minute of it.
And on that note, I've got to run. But before I dash back to working on revisions for my next books, I've got a present for you. For your reading entertainment (
and because I'm all about making things as convenient as possible
), after this note you'll find two contemporary romance excerpts that I have that are available now (
The Next Logical Step
) and coming soon (
Manipulating the Masters Series—Book One: Lucien
). I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did writing them!
Until next time,
my dear reader
, take care and happy reading!
~Elijana
"Marriage is the next logical step."
"For whom?" Ben asked.
"For us."
"No, it isn't."
"Pardon me?" Lexi stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and dragged Ben to a halt next to her.
Ben glanced down at Lexi and nearly groaned out loud. She had
that
look on her face. It was the same look that had put a kink in his plans with her last Saturday. Damn. He knew he should have objected when she'd suggested they walk to the restaurant rather than drive. There was no doubt in his mind that he'd regret this decision later, but he was starving. "No it isn't." He squeezed her hand and
tugged her into resuming their trek towards the restaurant. "Moving in together is the next logical step."
"For whom?"
"For us."
She let out a harrumph, but kept up with him.
Ben maneuvered them around a passing couple and tried to pick up the pace. "Honey, marriage isn't all it's cracked up to be."
"Oh, you've been married before?"
He almost smiled at the sarcasm in her voice.
"You know I haven't."
"Then how do you know it isn't all it's cracked up to be?"
"Because it isn't. Hell, just look at the couples we know who took
your
next logical step." Ben ticked off names on his left hand. "John and Denise. They dated for a while, got married, then divorced six months later. If they'd followed my advice, then they'd have figured it out sooner, rather than later, that it wouldn't work."
Lexi gave him a look that suggested he had no idea what he was talking about. "Ben, the reason Denise married John was stupid." She shook her head. "For goodness' sake, everyone knows that you don't get married for the tax benefits and
only
the tax benefits."
"Maybe, but what about Tim and Sara?"
"Oh, puhleeze. They got married because Sara was pregnant. Another
bad
reason."
Ben sent her a questioning look. "Bad reason?"
"Yes. The sole reason they got married was for the sake of the baby. And look at them now. They're miserable and the poor child has two parents who can't stand to be in the same room with each other."
"Lexi, what were they supposed to do? Sara was pregnant."
She sighed and gave him one of those looks that implied he was clueless. "Look, I understand why they got married, but I don't agree with it. It's just my opinion that if two people can't tolerate each other outside of the bedroom, then they shouldn't get married."
"But what about the kid?"
"What's the difference between not getting married because of pregnancy and divorcing a year after the baby is born?"
"Tim and Sara are getting a divorce?"
Lexi nodded. "Sara called me yesterday and invited me to her 'Separation Party'. She said that it was either divorce Tim or kill him."
Ben shook his head. "Poor kid. It sucks growing up with divorced parents. You don't know how lucky you had it, honey."
"I know," she said softly. "But my parents married for the right reasons. I wasn't born until exactly nine months after the wedding."
"Like I said, you were lucky."
They came to a crosswalk and waited in silence for the light to change.
As soon as they crossed the street, Ben said, "Jim and Tina."
"What?"
"Jim and Tina. What about their marriage?"
Lexi snorted, but kept pace with him.
"They were drunk, in lust, and in Vegas. A recipe for disaster from the start. When the sex started to wane, Tina found another source."
"She did?"
Lexi nodded. "She did."
"So did Jim." Ben shook his head. "What about Vince and Helen?"
Lexi shrugged. "Helen's mother didn't like Vince."
Ben slowed them down as an elderly couple passed in front of them. "What kind of reason is that?"