The Bad Boy Next Door (Kendrick Place) Read online

  “You have me. Which you’ve apparently informed people of,” she said.

  His face scrunched, wrinkles forming between his brows. “What?”

  “You told Brady I was spoken for?”

  Wyatt scowled. God, she’d missed his scowl. “You are. I wasn’t giving up without a fight.”

  “There’s nothing to fight over. I’m yours. I have been since the minute we met.”

  He kissed her forehead. “I forgot a few things on my list,” he said.

  Shay laughed, feeling like she’d lifted a boulder off her chest. “Oh yeah? What did you forget?”

  He winked at her, pulled her against him so she could wrap her legs around him. “Make-up sex. Pampering you. More make-up sex. Our second date. Our third.”

  He walked back to the couch and sat down with her straddling his lap. She hugged him as close as she could while still letting him breathe. “Let’s start with the first item, and then we’ll take a look at the calendar so we can schedule in all of the others.”

  He brushed his lips across hers and pushed her hair back from her face. “I love you, Shay. You make me see the good in the world, instead of just the bad.”

  Leaning in, she nipped at his bottom lip. “I love you, Wyatt. There’s plenty of both, but whatever comes our way, we’ll face it. Together.”

  Before she could kiss him, he leaned sideways and grabbed his jacket, patted the pocket, and pulled out a small, gray box. He held it between them.

  “I didn’t get to give this to you the other night.”

  “What is it?”

  His smile finally touched his eyes when he looked at her. “It’s what you are to me.”

  Opening the lid, he revealed a gorgeous, thin silver bracelet with three tiny charms. The sun, the moon, and the stars.

  He pulled it from the snug packaging and undid the clasp. Her hand shook as she held out her wrist. The three strands hung delicately on her wrist. He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “Without these things, the world has no light. It’s the same for me, without you.”

  She stopped him from saying anything else by covering his mouth with her own. Everything else they needed to say could wait. They had plenty of time to talk, since she knew she wasn’t going anywhere. And neither was he.

  “Baby. We should go up to your place.”

  She pulled back, feeling dazed, and remembered they were at Brady’s. “Right.”

  Wyatt scooped her up, and she laughed. They weren’t going anywhere, except home. Together.

  Epilogue

  One month later

  Shay pulled the cookies out of the oven as the door to her—their—apartment opened and closed. Setting the pans on top of the stove, she turned in time to see Wyatt stride into the kitchen. She hoped that her heart would always do that somersault when she looked at him. His smile was wider than usual.

  “You tell Brady your place is all cleared out?”

  Wyatt tugged on the front of her apron and brought her up against him, his arms winding around her waist. “Yup. He said we should have moved in there because cleaning up this place for a new tenant would be easier. Then he said it didn’t matter because it was no longer his problem.”

  Shay winced. She hadn’t seen much of Brady lately. Even when she wasn’t busy building her client list or snuggling up on the couch, or in bed, with Wyatt, Brady had been splitting his time between work and avoiding Mia Kendrick, who’d recently moved in.

  “You shouldn’t take quite so much joy in his misery,” she said, going up on tiptoe to kiss him.

  “Maybe not. But it’s kind of fun. Those cookies smell awesome,” he said. He leaned down and nuzzled her neck, sending a shiver through her body. She knew exactly where that would lead if she didn’t stop him now.

  Pushing back, she patted his chest. “You can have one, but that’s it. My family will be here soon.”

  When she started to go around him, he took her arm and pulled her back. “You nervous about me meeting them?”

  She laughed. “I probably should have told them we were living together, but I think it’ll be easier face-to-face.”

  “With me by your side?”

  Lifting her hand to his cheek, she let the overwhelming feelings of joy and love swamp her. “Always.”

  Without warning, he scooped her up in his arms. “You should change since we have company coming.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You don’t have to carry me, you know.”

  But she couldn’t help loving it when he did.

  He strode to their bedroom. Their bedroom. Just thinking it made her feel giddy. “I like having you as close as possible.”

  He followed her down onto the bed. Shay wound her fingers into his hair, loving the feel of his weight on her, surrounding her. “I like that, too. A lot. But you should stop. We don’t have time for this.”

  “We could make time,” he said, nuzzling the spot under her ear.

  “I have to tell my family I’ve not only met someone, but am in a serious relationship and living with a man. I am not getting caught in the middle of anything.”

  Wyatt levered up and grinned down at her. “If they say anything, you could always tell them I ask once a day to make it forever.”

  Her heartstrings tightened. He did ask every day. Sometimes in the morning, while they were eating breakfast. Sometimes after they’d made love. And other times, when they were just cuddled together on the couch. She knew the answer and so did he, but they hadn’t made it official. She was trying to be logical, to not let her heart rule her head, but every time he looked at her like he was now, she wondered why she was waiting.

  She reached up and pulled his face down to hers and whispered against his lips, “Ask me again.”

  He pulled back but only a little. Her heart beat in quick bursts. Wyatt framed her face with his hands. “Marry me.”

  “Yes.”

  When he kissed her, she felt the subtle shaking of his body and the heavy beat of his heart against her own. She’d come to Boston for a fresh start and instead, she’d found her future.

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  Acknowledgments

  This book became so much more than I imagined it could. That’s because Stacy and Alexa pushed me to make it that way and I’m so happy with the result. Thank you to both of you. To everyone at Entangled who worked with me on this one (and the last). I feel so lucky to be part of this family. To my own family who never stops supporting me. I love you guys. I may have mentioned that once or twice. To the Romance Chicks—2017 is going to be a great year for all of us. Every book deserves a shout out to my constants—the people that talk me down, talk me up, remind me I can do this, or just make me laugh and tell me it’ll be okay: Matt, Bren, Tara, Kara. Every time. Thank you. To Christy for being a non-stop sounding board. To the fantastic five. You guys are insanely awesome. Stacey S., you’re going to have to share Wyatt for a bit. To Fran, for helping me get where I wanted to go. It’s a really good place to be. Thank you, readers, for wanting to know Wyatt’s story. I hope you enjoy it.

  About the Author

  Jody Holford lives in British Columbia with her family. She’s unintentionally funny and rarely on time for anything. She writes multiple genres but her favorite is romance.

  www.jodyholford.weebly.com

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