Falling in Love All Over Again
Bella Andre
FALLING IN LOVE ALL OVER AGAIN
The Sullivans
Babymoon Novella
Lori and Grayson
Bella Andre
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
About the Book
A note from Bella
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Books by Bella Andre
About the Author
FALLING IN LOVE ALL OVER AGAIN
The Sullivans
Babymoon Novella
Lori and Grayson
© 2018 Bella Andre
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Lori “Naughty” Sullivan has always been a force of nature—and marriage to Grayson Tyler, her sexy cowboy, hasn’t mellowed her out one bit. She’s still dancing in stilettos, laughing too loud, and lovingly plotting new ways to drive her husband crazy. It’s almost time for their most exciting adventure yet, and Lori can’t wait for the next phase of their lives to begin—as parents. Especially when she’s certain that Grayson is going to be the best father ever. But has he truly made peace with his tragic past? Or will it come back to haunt him just when their future together should have never looked brighter?
A note from Bella
The question I’m asked most often is: Do you have a favorite Sullivan?
Honestly, I don’t. Mostly because I fall head over heels in love with every single Sullivan while I’m writing his or her story.
But if I had to choose a favorite Sullivan, Lori would certainly be in the running for a spot at the top of the list.
I absolutely adored writing her love story in Always On My Mind. Years later, I’m thrilled to have the chance to check back in with Lori and Grayson in Falling In Love All Over Again as they embark on the next exciting stage of their lives.
I hope you enjoy reading this novella as much I did writing it!
If this is your first time reading about the Sullivans, you can easily read each book as a stand-alone—and there is a Sullivan family tree available on my website (www.bellaandre.com/sullivan-family-tree) so you can see how the books are connected!
Happy reading,
Bella Andre
P.S. Many more Sullivan love stories are coming soon! Please be sure to sign up for my newsletter (bellaandre.com/newsletter) so that you don’t miss out on any new book announcements.
CHAPTER ONE
Lori Sullivan-Tyler wasn’t looking for trouble.
Actually, that wasn’t true. She was trouble in high heels—a master at causing the maximum amount of havoc in the minimum amount of time. Even at eight months pregnant, as she and her husband, Grayson, walked up the path to her mother’s front door for their baby shower, she was itching to be naughty.
Naughty was her nickname, after all.
When she was a little girl, her brother, Chase, had nicknamed Lori Naughty and her twin sister, Sophie, Nice. The names fit them perfectly…at least until you dived beneath the surface.
Sophie was a textbook librarian—quiet, neat as a pin, and soft-spoken. But she was a tiger underneath.
As for Lori? Well, she certainly was naughty. But she had plenty of nice in her too.
Especially when it came to her husband.
Mmmm, Grayson.
Everything about him made her smile—and heat up all over. He could be grumpy, bossy, domineering…and also crazy, wicked hot. There were few things she loved more than her husband growling at her in bed, while his big, strong hands touched her in all the right places.
They were halfway up the front walk when she stumbled over a crack. Of course Grayson was right there when she needed him, sliding his arm around her waist to steady her and the baby.
“Are you okay?”
She smiled up into his beautiful brown eyes, so full of concern. It never ceased to amaze her that he was hers—that a man so honorable, so trustworthy, so caring and strong loved her as much as she loved him. “I’m perfect.”
Her response erased the worried look on his face. He bent to kiss her at the same moment that she went onto her tippy-toes to press her lips to his. She would have been happy to keep kissing him forever had her mother not opened the front door a few breathless kisses later.
“Lori, Grayson! I’m so happy to see you both.”
Mary Sullivan’s hugs were legendary for their warmth and comfort. Her smile was huge as she kissed them each on the cheek, then ushered them inside.
Mary had raised eight children single-handedly after Lori’s dad passed away unexpectedly at forty-two. Thinking back on her behavior as a teenager, Lori didn’t know how her mother hadn’t chucked her out of the house on those days when she’d been mouthing off and acting like a know-it-all jerk. More than a decade later, Lori marveled at just how amazing her mom was. Putting a hand over her baby bump, she couldn’t wait to be as good a mother to her own daughter.
From the delicious-looking spread set out across every flat surface, Lori figured her mother must have been cooking and baking for days. Lori and Grayson had offered to hire catering and servers for the party, but Mary had insisted that she was more than happy to take care of the food and drinks, just as she always did.
No question about it, Lori’s mom knew better than anyone how to feed a huge family. Not only would Lori’s siblings and their fiancés and wives and children all be here today, but plenty of her cousins had also decided the baby shower was the perfect opportunity to take a California vacation. Though there had already been several Sullivan weddings, birthdays, and her Uncle William’s gallery unveiling in Alexandria Bay, New York, this year, Lori couldn’t wait to see everyone again.
The house and backyard were beautifully decorated, the party setting both elegant and festive with pink, magenta, and purple accents. Knowing mass chaos would descend once the kids arrived and started running around, Lori pulled out her phone to take some pictures while everything was still pristine and perfect.
“You’re looking great, honey,” Mary said to Lori. “How are you feeling?”
“I feel incredible.” Lori wasn’t just saying it to keep her mother from worrying. She had buckets of energy. Especially when it came to seducing her husband. For the past handful of months, her libido had been brimming over. “My biggest problem is how impatient I am to meet the baby. I wish we didn’t have to wait three and a half more weeks. Maybe even up to five weeks, if I go past my due date like you did when you had Marcus.”
“In my experience,” her mother replied as she stroked Lori’s hair just as she always had, “babies come exactly when they’re supposed to. Although I have a feeling it won’t be too long until this little one makes an appearance.” Mary’s eyes were warm as she turned to Grayson. “And how are you feeling?”
“As long as Lori feels good, I’m good.”
He drew Lori to him, and she snuggled against his broad chest. Grayson had never been a man of many words. He’d always spoken more with actions, with a touch and a smile.
“He’s been the best husband ever. Lots of foot rubs, grilling us feasts for dinner, and he’s been feeding the chickens so I can take more time with the pigs. Which is the only place I’ve had to draw the line—they seem so sad when I don’t personally muck out their stalls and feed them.”
“You agreed that you’d stop going into the pigpen if
your balance started to go.” A frown line appeared between his brows.
“My balance is great. In fact, I could still do a pirouette on a tightrope.” She moved into the center of the kitchen to demonstrate and was halfway through her spin when Summer’s poodle darted past and knocked into her. Mary had been watching the dog this past week while Lori’s brother Gabe, his wife, Megan, and their children, Summer and Logan, were on vacation.
Grayson caught Lori before she could so much as stumble. “My hero,” Lori said, putting her hand on his cheek.
Though she was obviously unharmed, his frown had gone even deeper. And she knew why—her husband was innately protective, and as soon as they’d found out that she was pregnant, his need to keep her safe had gone into overdrive.
Though fiercely independent, Lori loved her husband for exactly who he was. Lord knew he could be difficult sometimes—an immovable boulder of a man, in fact. Had she been a woman who had trouble speaking up for herself, their relationship would surely never have worked.
Fortunately, she had no problem whatsoever pushing back if she ever felt constrained or misunderstood. Granted, sometimes that pushback took the form of sassy comments or stormy behavior. At the same time, Lori’s mother had raised her well, teaching her not only to apologize when she was wrong, but also to ask for forgiveness when she took things a step—or a dozen steps—too far.
Good thing Lori knew exactly how to put her husband at ease. Their guests wouldn’t be arriving for at least fifteen minutes. It wasn’t a ton of time to put Operation Relax Grayson into action, but she was positive that the time she had to take his mind off his worries would definitely be worth it.
Before she could whisk him out of the kitchen, however, he asked her mother, “What can we help you with, Mary?”
Her mother waved away his offer. “You know me—I had everything ready by seven o’clock this morning. Why don’t the two of you get a drink and relax for a bit before everyone arrives?”
“Thanks, Mom, will do,” Lori said. “First, though, there’s something I need to show Grayson in my old bedroom.”
“Take as much time as you need together before you come out to greet the masses.” As Mary picked up two bottles of white wine and headed into the backyard to chill them in a bucket of ice, Lori wondered if her mother had guessed her plan. Though her mom obviously wasn’t a virgin—not with eight kids—the thought of her having sexy-times with her father still made Lori blush.
“Are you sure there isn’t something we could help your mother with?” Grayson looked out the window to the backyard, where Mary was tying down a corner of a tablecloth that had blown free in the breeze.
“My mom could throw a brilliant party for one hundred people with five minutes’ notice and both hands tied behind her back—and she truly does like taking care of the details herself. Besides, before the party starts, you really need to see what’s in my old bedroom.”
Grayson looked adorably suspicious. “What could you possibly have to show me that you haven’t shown me before?”
“You’ll see.” She took his hand and led him through the dining and living rooms, toward the bedrooms.
Apart from a remodeled kitchen and bathrooms, and some new upholstery on the couch, the house was the same as it had been when Lori and her siblings were growing up. As the youngest of the group alongside her twin, Lori had only ever known a home that was loud and crazy and full of love. LoudCrazyLove was her default setting, she thought with a grin. Whereas Grayson had grown up as the only child in a perfectly pristine New York City brownstone, where polite and well-mannered was the order of the day.
Were it not for a twist of fate, Lori and Grayson might never have met. Several years ago, when she had learned that her then boyfriend was a lying, cheating scum, she had fled Chicago, where she had been choreographing a show, and ended up in Pescadero, a wild and remote farm town on the Northern California coast. She’d stopped in at the local general store for a sandwich and found a FARMHAND NEEDED sign. Though she made her living as a dancer and choreographer, she was so hell-bent on leaving her past behind that she hadn’t thought twice before applying for the job. After all, what could be more different and strange and divergent from the life she’d always lived than working on a thousand-acre farm? There, she had planned to kick all men to the curb forever.
But she hadn’t counted on meeting her tall, gorgeous, reserved, and extremely loving cowboy.
Though she and Grayson had been oil and water at first—every word out of his mouth had been a challenge she couldn’t back away from—he was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Not to mention the most shockingly sexy. Two hundred pounds of tanned muscle, his square jaw dusted with dark stubble—every time she looked into his eyes, butterflies flew inside her belly.
It wasn’t long before she’d learned about his tragic past and the grief and guilt that he carried inside himself. She had been determined to help him find the joy in life again the only way she knew how—with laughter, fun, adventure, and love.
Plus lots and lots of hot, sticky, sweaty, breath-stealing sex, of course.
She had been so happy when he’d finally started to climb out of the darkness. What she hadn’t realized was that she would rise up too, when his love and support had helped her rediscover her love of dancing.
As soon as they were inside her old bedroom, Lori reached around Grayson to lock the door, then immediately started unbuckling his belt.
He gave her one of his dark looks as he covered her hands with his much bigger ones, his callused skin giving her the best kind of shivers. His voice was gruff as he said, “You’re not planning what I think you’re planning, are you?”
She laughed. How could she not when he was everything she’d ever dreamed of, and then some? “How about you tell me what you think I’m planning—or better yet, show me—and then I’ll tell you if you’re right.”
Though she could tell that he wanted nothing more than to do just that, he reminded her, “Your uncles, aunts, sister, cousins—and brothers who will surely want to beat me to a pulp if they suspect I’m so much as looking at you sideways—will be arriving any minute. And your mother is just down the hall.”
“First of all, my mom has eight kids. So I’m pretty sure she was down for plenty of hijinks when my dad was still around. And my brothers won’t want to beat you up. They think you’re great.”
“Only when they can fool themselves into believing that I’ve left you as pure as the driven snow.”
She looked down at her very rounded stomach, showcased by the soft red fabric of her dress. “It’s pretty clear that horse is out of the barn.”
“You’d be surprised at how many lies a guy can tell himself. Especially when it comes to wanting to take care of someone he loves.”
She had to kiss him then, this wonderful man who would protect her with his dying breath. “I’ll be quiet.” She could barely get out such a fib. Certainly couldn’t keep her eyes from twinkling as she spoke.
“You’re never quiet.”
“You have only yourself to blame for that.” She pressed her breasts—which had increased by two cup sizes during her pregnancy, much to Grayson’s delight—against his chest. “If you weren’t such an incredible lover, I would be able to stay quiet as a mouse.”
At last, he gave in and pulled her closer, putting his hands on her hips and groaning into her hair. “You drive me crazy.”
She wound her arms around his neck. “I love you too.”
CHAPTER TWO
Grayson Tyler couldn’t get enough of his wife as his mouth claimed hers, and his hands roamed her luscious curves. From the first moment he’d set eyes on her, he’d been utterly spellbound, growing more and more enthralled every day they were together.
After he’d moved far outside of the city to Pescadero on the self-imposed isolation of a thousand acres of rolling farmland, and before Lori had come into his life, he had shut himself off from the world. He’d blamed himself for n
ot recognizing his late wife’s problem with alcohol until it was too late—and for not being able to rewind time and undo the car accident that had taken her life. He had planned on being alone forever…until the day a car he didn’t recognize had driven up his long gravel driveway, swerved to avoid a chicken, and crashed into a fencepost.
When Lori emerged from the car, Grayson had been beyond stunned. Never in his life had he seen such a beautiful woman. Nor had he expected her to try to catch the runaway chicken while wearing sequins and spike heels.
He had been rude—worse than that, he had been downright mean—as he’d tried to send her on her way. But she had been irritatingly stubborn and refused to leave.
The farther away he’d tried to push her, the closer she’d come.
Thank God.
Lori Sullivan had blown into his life without the slightest hint of warning. Her beauty had aroused him, her big mouth had irritated him—but it was her laughter that had changed everything for him.
She was not only the person he loved most in the world, she was also a partner who stood her ground like no other. Utterly determined, she was the most fun, loving person on the planet.
All along, he had thought he wanted a quiet, simple life. He grinned as he thought how boring that would be compared to the joyful roller-coaster ride Lori had taken him on from the very first day.
Feeling his grin against her lips, she drew back. “You’re not thinking about something from the farm, are you? Like how silly the pigs were being this morning before we left?”
Loving to tease her, he replied, “You know how much I appreciate farm animals and their antics.”
“I’ll show you antics.” Laughter and arousal lit her eyes as she stepped back and did a little shimmy.
A scrap of red lace fell to her feet, and his heart rate went up at least fifty beats per minute. They’d made love that morning, and the night before, for that matter, but it wasn’t enough.
