Ryan was working hard on the development, and of course without Miranda’s money, the project was going to be completed in a longer time frame. I still felt guilty about that, but Ryan assured me it was better this way, even from a business perspective.
One perfect spring morning, Ryan had already left for work, and I was sitting on our veranda off the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee he’d made me before he left. My phone rang beside me. I grinned. It was Ryan.
“Amy, you’ll never believe this. But one of Congressman Richards’ friends, who is also a developer and really into eco-design, heard from the Congressman about how we’re building this center with the environment as our top priority and he wants to invest.” He was almost whooping with excitement. It’s even more money than what I would have gotten from Miranda, with someone who has the same goals.”
He paused. I felt a smile creeping onto my face. I knew how important this was to him.
“And it’s all because of you,” Ryan went on. “If you hadn’t impressed upon me the importance of the natural environment, if you hadn’t talked to the Congressman at that dinner about ecologically friendly building standards, this never would have happened.”
I beamed.
“You’ve been my lucky charm,” he said. “Ever since you’ve entered my life, all my problems have been solved.”
I brushed my hair behind my ear. “I wouldn’t go that far. We still have to deal with the Hunter issue and the money he stole.” I still couldn’t figure out why he would do that. His parents were so wealthy—why did he need to embezzle money from their company?
“I know,” he agreed, “but since I own the company, I can handle it my way. I’ll offer to do it the old fashioned way. Man to man. If he doesn’t pay up, then I’ll go the police. That bastard is going to pay.” I wanted to see that conversation. Ryan was so much tougher than Hunter.
“But why are you waiting?” I didn’t understand. I’d want to deal with it right away.
“With the new infusion of cash, I can’t risk any bad publicity. I want to keep my employee’s jobs safe. But Hunter knows I’m onto him. It won’t be long now.”
I looked over the sun climbing high in the sky, shining its light on the town below and warming my skin, and breathed a sigh of total contentment.
I heard the front door open. Still on the phone, I heard Ryan speaking to me, his voice coming from two places now, totally surrounding me. I surrendered myself to it as he said, “My meeting got canceled, and I had to come back and see you.”
My heart still sped up whenever I was near him. I turned around, and there he was, standing before me, my forever.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to my incredible friends and beta-readers, Emily Snow, Melody Grace, Raven Miller, and Jasinda Wilder for your brilliance, support, thoughtfulness, and skill. I couldn’t have done this without you.
Thank you also to Giselle at Xpresso Tours. And to Taryn at My Secret Romance Book Reviews who is an incredible person and so generous with her time.
And also for their encouragement, Austen, Abby S, Sam, Julia and Elizabeth!
For their know-how and support, thank you to Steve, Sarah, and Alex.
Thank you to my family; my sister, Rachel Elizabeth, for her advice, design skills, and for my gorgeous cover! My mom for her inspiration now and always and my dad for his humor and goodness. He better not read this book!
Thank you to my husband for letting me read scenes out loud, encouraging me, and helping me figure out how to make my men real.
And finally thank you to my readers. I hope you know how much you mean to me. You rock!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paige Edward is the author of Dare Me Forever. She loves sweet, steamy, happy endings! And complicated men. For more book news, teasers, and giveaways, find her on Facebook, twitter or visit her blog.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author