Love a Little Sideways (21 page)

And she wasn’t? But she knew Mallory hiding her true feelings from him was something he’d probably never get over. “I’ve never lied to you, Drew. I never will.”

“Not deliberately. But what if you finally figure out what you want to do with your life and it’s not here? Or it’s not with me?” The ragged emotional fear in his voice tore at her heart.

“I know now that figuring out what I want to do with my life was just a way of saying I’m looking for the thing that will make me happy. Or I
was
looking.” She reached out for his hand. “I was happy with you. I’m not happy without you. It’s that simple.”

“I want you to marry me, Liz. I want
us
to be a family and, when the time comes that we’re ready to have kids, then our family will get bigger. Until then, I don’t want to spend another minute without you.”

“Yes,” she whispered, looping her arms around his neck. “I want to marry you and have children of doom to kick your ass in water ball. I want a loud and messy and crazy life with you.”

He pulled her close and kissed her until the hurt drained away and all that was left was love and hope for their future. Then he kissed her some more.

“You should tell Rose as soon as possible,” he said once he decided to let her breathe. “My dad’s checked on me about twenty times and I think it’s Rosie’s doing.”

She smiled up at him. “I saw the curtains across the street move and what I think was a camera. I think we just had our engagement portrait taken and it’ll be up on Facebook before you can come inside and shut the door.”

“Good. I want everybody to know,” he said. But he stepped inside and nudged the door closed with his foot. “I love you and I don’t intend to ever hide that.”

“I love you, too.”

When he lowered his mouth to hers again, she sighed happily against his lips. Sure enough, within a few seconds, her cell phone started to ring, and then his right after that.

“Ignore them.” He laughed, and then took her hand to lead her inside. “Let’s go get loud and messy and crazy.”

* * * * *

Can’t get enough of the Kowalski family? Don’t miss the first three titles in the Kowalskis series, available now!

Exclusively Yours

When Keri Daniels’s editor finds out she has previous carnal knowledge of reclusive bestselling author Joe Kowalski, she gives Keri a choice: get an interview or get a new job. Joe’s never forgotten the first girl to break his heart, so he’s intrigued to hear Keri’s back in town. Despite his intense privacy, he’ll grant Keri an interview if it means a chance to finish what they started in high school. He proposes an outrageous plan—for every day she survives with his family on their annual camping trip, Keri can ask one question. Keri agrees—but the chemistry between them is as potent as the bug spray...

Undeniably Yours

Bar owner Kevin Kowalski is used to women throwing their phone numbers at him. But lately he’s more interested in finding a woman to settle down with. A woman like Beth Hansen. Beth’s tending bar at a wedding when she comes face-to-face with a tuxedo-clad man she never thought she’d see again. She keeps her distance but, by last call, she can’t say no to the invitation back to Kevin’s room. She slips out without leaving a note and, despite their precautions, pregnant. Kevin warms to the idea of being a dad. But Beth’s not ready for a relationship and, given his reputation, it’s going to take a lot to convince her to go on a date with the father of her child...

Yours to Keep

Emma Shaw needs a husband, and fast! Not because she’s interested in romance—after all, she’s too busy with her landscaping company—but because Grandma Shaw is coming to town, and she will have nonstop questions about Emma’s (stagnant) love life.

Sean Kowalski no sooner leaves the army than he’s recruited by Emma to be her fake fiancé. Sean doesn’t like the deception, but he can’t help his attraction to the feisty brunette. A little pretend kissing won’t hurt anyone—especially when there’s no chance he’ll fall for a woman with deep roots in a town he’s not planning to call home. But when fake, innocent kisses lead to very real, explosive sparks, Emma and Sean discover that their big ruse might just lead to happily-ever-after...

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About the Author

New York Times
and
USA TODAY
bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her two favorite activities are writing stories of happily-ever-after and riding her four-wheeler. From May to November, the Stacey family spends their weekends on their ATVs, making loads of muddy laundry to keep Shannon busy when she’s not at her computer. She prefers writing to laundry, however, and considers herself lucky she got to be an author when she grew up.

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ISBN-13: 9781426896286

LOVE A LITTLE SIDEWAYS

Copyright © 2013 by Shannon Stacey

Edited by Angela James

All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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