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  Every Kiss

  Book Two in The Every Life Series

  Copyright © 2013 by Tasha Ivey

  Cover Design by Letitia Hasser

  Interior Design by JT Formatting

  Amazon Edition

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  For other titles by Tasha Ivey, visit Amazon

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  “YOU KNOW YOU’D better rock Sawyer’s naughty little world tonight after all this. I’m impressed, Mak.” I squeeze her lean frame to mine as tightly as I can. “I’m so happy for you.”

  She playfully swats my arm. “Thanks, Callie, and believe me, I will. How long have you known he was going to propose?”

  “Just a couple of days, actually, and it’s been killing me to keep my big mouth shut. He played the song for me yesterday, and I swear I cried for an hour.”

  “You actually kept a secret?” She laughs musically, the highs and lows of it make the perfect song to match the look of absolute bliss on her face. I can’t remember the last time I heard her laugh like that. “That’s a pretty big deal.”

  “I wouldn’t do it for just anyone. But Sawyer? I think we all need him around. Even Wes is happier now that he’s in our lives. They act a lot like he and Shane did together, and it’s heartwarming to see someone filling that empty place in him. In you, too.”

  Before she can respond, Sawyer steps up behind her, circling his broad arms around her waist and pulling her against him. “What are you two pretty ladies talking about?”

  “Oh, just about how impossibly perfect you are,” I reply, batting my eyelashes at him dramatically.

  “Not even a little bit.” Sawyer snickers as a soft pink creeps into his cheeks. “But I’m glad I have you fooled.”

  Makenna spins around in his arms to face him. “Well, I think you are. Thank you for today.”

  “No, darlin’. Thank you for saying ‘yes.’” He lowers his mouth to hers in a smoldering kiss that almost makes me blush. Almost. I begin to step away quietly, but Sawyer mumbles something unintelligible into Makenna’s lips and grabs my elbow.

  “What did you just say?”

  Instead of stopping the kiss long enough to answer, he digs his cell phone out of his pocket and holds it out to me. I take it from his hands, unsure of what I’m supposed to do with it, but I unlock the screen anyway. There’s a message from my husband.

  Wes Baxter: ‘I’m ready for her. Can you send her to the backyard?’

  Ready for what? My husband is not a planner. At all. I can’t imagine what he’s up to, but I’m not going to stand here all day, trying to figure it out. I pass Dalton in the kitchen, and he doesn’t say a word, but the sly grin on his face is quite telling. He knows something. I’m going to have to keep an eye on these three guys from now on. They’re quite the little schemers. Sexy little schemers, nonetheless.

  The back door slams shut behind me, and I immediately pull my sweater tighter around me when the cool March wind filters through the thin knit of my shirt. My eyes scrutinize the backyard, scanning through the trees for any sign of Wes. The apprehension coursing through my veins has me on high-alert, so when I hear his voice, I nearly jump out of my own skin.

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  I spin on my heel so fast that I have a hard time stopping myself. “What are you doing out here?” I descend the steps hurriedly and meet him at the side of the house just under the old oak tree. The weathered rope swing gently sways in the breeze, creaking slightly as it lumbers at the mercy of the wind.

  He motions for me to sit on the wide plank of the swing, kneeling in front of me when I do. “I know things haven’t always been easy for us, Cal,” he begins. His crystal blue eyes bore into mine with an intensity that rivals anything I’ve ever felt. “Especially the last couple of years.”

  “Wesley Baxter, you’re scaring the shit out of me. What’s wrong?”

  The softest smile curls the corners of his mouth. “Nothing at all, love. Everything is perfect. Seeing what Makenna has gone through with Sawyer has made me appreciate every minute that I’ve had with you in my life. It reminds me of all the heartache we’ve been through and how we survived the storm. You stuck by me; you never left, even when I deserved it. I know I don’t tell you enough what you mean to me. You helped me through the darkest parts of my life, too. You made me a better man.”

  I shift forward in the swing and wrap my arms around his neck. “No, you’ve always been a good man. You just lost sight of it for a little while, and I helped you find your way back. But it’s always been there.”

  He begins to speak, but I lean forward and catch his bottom lip between the two of mine, knowing that he’ll argue with me all day over it. He groans softly and deepens the kiss, threading one hand into the hair at the nape of my neck and urging me closer. As soon as his tongue sweeps across my lip, warmth blooms just under my chilled skin, and I lose myself in him. Forgetting where I am, forgetting who I am, I plunge one hand down the back of his shirt, aching to feel his skin against mine. When my nails bite into the soft flesh at his spine, he hisses into my mouth, which encourages me to do it again.

  “Damn it, Cal,” he whispers before dropping his mouth to my neck, gently sucking just below my jaw. “The things you can do to me with just one kiss.”

  “You don’t do so bad yourself.”

  He presses a final kiss to the hollow of my neck and growls impatiently before sitting upright again. “You totally made me lose track of what I brought you out here for, and now all I can think about is dragging you out to a secluded place in the woods and finishing what you just started.”

  Well, hot damn. I’m game. “I like the way you think, cowboy.” I pause to trail my fingertip down his firm chest. “If we disappear for a bit, they’ll understand. Hell, I’m sure Makenna would be disappointed if I didn’t find the time to get you naked at some point today. She thinks I’m the sexual deviant. Never in a million years would she imagine that sweet Wesley Baxter is way worse than I am.”

  “Yeah, well, I like that it’s our little secret.” His hooded eyes look up at me, and he nods in the direction of the thick wooded area behind the house. “Do you seriously want to? Out there? We can wait until we get home, you know. I was only kidding.”

 
“No, you weren’t.”

  “Okay, maybe I wasn’t, but I wasn’t expecting you to take me up on it.”

  I shrug. “Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones invading my body, or maybe it’s all the sexual tension radiating from Makenna and Sawyer after that incredible proposal. But, yeah, I suddenly can’t think of anything other than getting my husband alone and making out with him in the middle of the woods.”

  He cups his hand on my behind and pulls me into the warm wall of his chest. “Just make out?”

  “Among other things.”

  A wicked smirk spreads his lips slightly, and he uses the ropes of the swing to raise himself to his feet. “Let’s go before they come looking for us.”

  He grasps my hand and pulls me along behind him, and I glance back at the house. I don’t expect to see Dalton staring back at me from the kitchen window, and I’m just about to tell Wes that we’ve been spotted already, but Dalton pretends to zip his smiling lips and steps out of sight. Something in his approving grin tells me he’s probably done this a time or two.

  Wes takes one determined step after another, weaving through the bare trees and gnarled vines and brush. He leads the way, searching carefully for the perfect spot as he walks, and when he stops suddenly, I crash into him and nearly fall.

  He whips around to catch me, and his strong hands grip my waist until I’m steady on my feet. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, just a little too preoccupied to be walking, I guess.”

  He takes a few slow steps, urging me backward until I feel rough bark pressing into my back, and he inches closer until there’s not even a millimeter of space between us from our chests to our thighs. “I love you, Callie Baxter.”

  “And I love you. More than anything in the world.” I look into his eyes and see so many emotions swirling around in them. Respect. Trust. Love. Lust. Which explains the hardness I feel pushing painfully against my belly. “Umm . . . you wanna ease up there a little, cowboy? Believe me, I get that what we’re about to do is a major turn-on, but you’re kinda killing me, jabbing into my stomach like that.”

  He scrunches his eyebrows together for a split second, but realization immediately follows, and he steps back. “As much as I’d like to take credit for it, that’s not me. Again, you made me forget why I wanted you to meet me in private in the first place.” He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a little blue box adorned with a silky white ribbon. “Mine isn’t the only package I want to give you right now,” he chuckles. “This is for you.”

  “Tiffany’s? Really?”

  “Really. Open it.”

  I tug on the ribbon and lift the lid to reveal a gleaming silver necklace. The pendant is a silver heart-shaped lock with “Tiffany’s” engraved on it, and a little skeleton key dangles beside it. “It’s gorgeous, Wes. I love it. But why did you get me a gift on your birthday?”

  He carefully extracts it from the box and makes a twirling motion with one of his fingers until I turn around. I feel the cool metal slink against my skin when he brings it around my neck to clasp it. I turn back around, and he places a hand on the tree behind me on each side of my head, caging me in. “I couldn’t let Sawyer get all the glory today. It’s a special day for us, too.”

  “Us? Like I said, it’s your birthday. You shouldn’t be getting gifts for me.”

  “No, no. It’s more than that. You don’t remember? What’s today?”

  “The only thing I know of is your birthday. There’s nothing else in March that I can think of.”

  “Yes, but what happened on my birthday besides the fact I was born?”

  The blank stare on my face is a dead giveaway that I have absolutely no clue. What’s more surprising is the fact that Wesley remembers something that I don’t.

  He laughs softly and shakes his head. “It’s the day we met.”

  “Oh my God, how did I forget that?”

  “Well, you won’t forget it now,” he says while taking his jacket off. “Let’s see if we can make it a little more memorable for you.” He lays it out on the ground and then reaches behind his back to tug his shirt over his head to lay it out, as well.

  I take the opportunity to drink in the sight of him. He’s no hulking man by any means, but he has a long, lean muscular build that reminds me of a surfer, which is further amplified by his naturally bronze skin and dark chocolate hair, which is now beautifully mussed from my greedy fingers. When he stretches out on his impromptu bed and looks up at me, full of expectation and promise, it’s all I can do to keep from pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. I still can’t believe this man is my husband.

  “Knowing Makenna, we have about five minutes before she starts looking for us,” I say, crawling over the top of him teasingly slow. “Are you up for the challenge?”

  He tugs my shirt loose from my jeans and caresses the soft skin at my sides. “I married you didn’t I?”

  “WHERE HAVE YOU been?” Makenna asks while eyeing Wes’ wrinkled shirt as he joins Sawyer across the room. “Oh jeez, Cal. You didn’t . . .”

  Oh, yes I did. “What?” I ask, feigning innocence.

  She raises her eyebrows at me and plucks a pine needle from my hair. “You and Wes never cease to amaze me. You’re like a couple of horny teenagers.”

  “Excuse me? Wasn’t it just last week that you were telling me about getting freaky in Sawyer’s car in an empty parking lot on the way to Mobile?”

  “Hush!” she admonishes. “My parents will hear you!”

  I wink at her. “Welcome to the club. It’s about time you joined.”

  “Well, no wonder you dragged him off into the woods.” Makenna inspects the pendant of my necklace. “It’s gorgeous. And Tiffany’s, too. Wow.”

  Something in her words jolts my memories awake, and I reach up to grasp the silver lock hanging around my neck, sudden realization forcing a slight gasp from my lips. I didn’t get it before, but there’s a reason why he bought this necklace to celebrate the day we first met. I can’t believe I didn’t realize it before.

  My phone chimes in my pocket, so I pull it out to check the screen.

  Wes: It’s about damn time you remember.

  My eyes dart across the room, and I find him staring back at me, smiling. It’s that same smile that slayed me from the first day. The smile that could make my heart ache and sing at the same time.

  Oh, yes. I definitely remember.

  “I STILL DON’T know why you think I need to go with you to Shane’s parents’ house.” I curl tighter into my pillow, trying to ignore Makenna’s far-too-cheerful attitude so early in the morning. “He’s your boyfriend, and you’ve been going over there for about a year by yourself. I’m pretty sure I won’t add anything useful to the equation.”

  “Come on, Cal. Please? There’s going to be a bunch of other people I don’t know there for this party, and his parents are gone until the end of the weekend. If Shane wants to hang out with his friends, I won’t have anyone to talk to. Please? We’ll come back home whenever you’re ready tomorrow. Just do this for me tonight.”

  “Ugh. Fine. But you owe me big. Don’t forget that.”

  She bounds into my bed, tackling me. “Thank you!” She squeezes me so close that I can smell the mint from her freshly brushed teeth. “Now, get your tiny little ass up and shower. We have to leave in an hour.”

  “Uh, Mak, it’s only eight o’clock. I thought the party was tonight.”

  “It is, but I promised Shane I’d come over first thing this morning to help make food and decorate. Everyone else won’t arrive until seven tonight.”

  I throw my arm over my face and groan. “I don’t cook or decorate, so why exactly am I going so early? I could always drive up later.”

  “Come on, Cal,” she whines, tugging on my arm. “I’ll make an extra bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough, just for you.”

  The girl does drive a hard bargain. I do so love her cookie dough. “Make it peanut butter chocolate chip, and you have yourself a deal.
”

  She tosses her long sheet of auburn hair over her shoulder and smirks, gloating in her win. “Consider it done.”

  After I get ready, we head to Shane’s off-campus dorm. He asked Makenna to make a stop by there to help haul everything out to his parents’ house for the party. Apparently this is going to be quite the bash, but I’m not sure what the purpose of it is. Then again, with college kids, who needs a reason to party? He’s just lucky to have parents that are cool enough to allow it to happen at their house. Mine would kill me. No questions asked.

  We pull into the lot, and Shane appears in his front door, leaning casually against the frame. I nagged Makenna for a few years about dating, and she was always hesitant, mostly because her parents kept her on such a tight leash. They are both educators, so they’ve always pushed her to excel in school, even at the cost of having a social life. The girl nearly missed her senior prom because she was studying for semester tests, and even then, she only stayed for an hour.

  In just over a year, Shane, in addition to the freedom that college brings, has changed all of that for her. And I certainly can’t fault her for letting him. He’s totally hot, and the most kind, genuine guy I’ve ever met. He’s so good for her. And to her. I’ve seriously contemplated asking if he has a brother. Especially after my latest dating fiasco.

  “Hey, baby girl.” Shane tugs Makenna through the door and into a kiss. “Hey, Callie. I see she convinced you to come, after all.”

  “She begged, pleaded, and made promises that she better keep, so yeah . . . I’m here to help.”

  “Well, I appreciate it. I tried to get a few more people to come early to help set up, but it looks like it will just be the three of us. One little problem, though . . .”

  I look around the living room in horror. “You lost a dead body in here?”

  “So it’s a little messy.” Shane rolls his eyes. “That’s how it is when you share the space with three other suitemates who are a bunch of gorillas. But that’s not the problem. I forgot to get my brother a birthday gift, and I didn’t get near enough cups.”