So That Happened (Donovan Family, #1)

by Katie Bailey

“I can’t stop thinking about you in that shirt.” My stomach clenches. “I can’t stop thinking about you in general,” I whisper back. It’s Liam’s turn to suck in a breath.

His arms tense against the wall and the next thing I feel is his stubble scraping my cheek, sending shockwaves through me. His lips follow, the contrasting softness spurring a thousand butterflies in my stomach. He gently kisses my cheekbone, then presses another achingly sharp and sweet stubbly kiss next to it. My hands reach up to fist in his t-shirt, pulling him closer. His lips move again, on a path to where I’m desperate for them, and I tilt my mouth hungrily to meet his, not caring where we are or what’s going on around us, just desperate for more of him. His lips skim mine, featherlight, and I begin to part mine….

“You got killed because of me,” I say. “You kill me,”

What happened in there was… hot. Like, crazy hot.

I’m a tangled mess of thoughts that involve full lips and shaky breath and soft skin. I need to get her alone. Like, now.

“I’ll take her,” I repeat, this time in my boss voice. The one that says “that’s final.”

“It’s hard to control myself around you,” I admit. She lifts a shoulder, and when she speaks, her voice is breathy. “Then don’t.” It feels like another dare. A challenge I won’t hesitate to take. “Fine. I won’t.”

“Do you want me to kiss you, Annie?” It’s a rhetorical question. I already know the answer.

The rules state that romantic connections in the workplace are not encouraged… but we wouldn’t be at work, would we?”

“It’s like a neighborhood competition,” I explain. “Whose offspring has mated the most successfully.” Liam’s lips curl up. “Mated?” My cheeks fill with heat. Wow. Great word choice, Annie. Way to jump the gun. “Dated! I said dated.” “No, you didn’t.”

“Oh my gosh, is nothing sacred? Stop giving me traumatic mental images of my mother ogling your oiled-up abs!” He snorts. “Why are my abs oiled up?” “I don’t know, they just are. They’re always oiled up in my head.”

“Annie, would you like to go on a horseback riding date with me while we’re at the ranch?” “Liam Donovan, are you asking me on a date within a date?” “I most definitely am. Our first official date.”

“So, our not-a-date at Petit Soleil didn’t count?” “No way, Jacobs. You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Having Annie in my life is the best change that’s occurred for me in years.

Because there, I was with Liam. And being in Liam’s arms beats out every other luxury I can imagine.

“I ran all the way here,” he explains with a grin. “I wanted to tell you that I was thinking about you. And I missed you. And to give you this.” He grabs my waist and tugs me toward him. He kisses me. Hard.

If Annie Jacobs was a sandwich, she’d be a PB&J. And don’t take that the wrong way—it’s most definitely a compliment. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are the best. Universally loved by everyone, from little kids to octogenarians. They’re satisfying and sweet, can be both a comfort food and a dietary staple. They can be fancy, with whole grain artisan loaf and fresh ground organic peanuts, or eaten as a Smuckers-and-Skippy-and-Wonderbread treat that reminds you of how the simplest pleasures in life can be the best ones. They also happen to be my favorite.

She is most definitely my favorite. And it’s so much more than just how gorgeous she is. Tonight, especially, in that long, breezy dress (“maxi dresses,” I believe they’re called) with her hair pinned up, leaving a few loose strands framing her face. Every little thing about her is attractive to me.

“Liam,” her voice is soft and crackly, like bonfire kindling. “All I want is what’s best for you. Always.” “I think you might be what’s best for me,” I reply, drawing her closer still. That frozen look rushes back onto her face, but she blinks it away in a heartbeat. “I hope so,” she says seriously. I know so.

I have more important things to think about. Like Liam Freaking Donovan.

volunteering as tribute.

Sure, he provided us with grand gifts of laptops and designer sneakers when birthdays and Christmases rolled around, but what we actually wanted for was a father who was present. Who loved us and cared for us, instead of showing up once in a while to berate and criticize us. Got an A on an exam? Why wasn’t it an A+. Won a silver medal at a sporting event? Why wasn’t it gold.

“Word of advice, dear,” he says coldly. “If Liam is, indeed, your employer, I suggest you think twice about sleeping with the boss to get ahead.”

GO TO HADES YOU NASTY LITTLE WARTHOG

“You can go after me and criticize my life choices all you want, but don't you dare talk to Annie like that. In fact, do her a favor and don’t talk to her at all. Stay the hell away from her altogether.”

Liam was probably exhausted from putting those incredible lips to such good use.

“I love you!” I practically shout. “I love you, Liam, and I don’t want to keep this quiet or keep things between us. I want to be with you, for real.” Liam’s dark eyes soften, melt like chocolate. “I love you, too, Annie Jacobs. More than my words could ever say.”

He hugs me tighter. I’ve never felt as safe as I do right here, right now, in his arms. “Do you want to stay here tonight, Annie?” he murmurs, holding onto me like he never wants to let go.

She loves me. And I love her.

Both deserve a proper chance at real happiness, real love… because that’s what I’m feeling right now. Nothing but love.

I’ve heard that love can make a man do crazy things. But what I want to do, it’s not so crazy, is it? What’s crazy about stopping at nothing to be with the woman you adore?

And if I have to choose between Annie and work, I choose her. I’ll always choose her. Every single time.

But love isn’t neat or orderly, is it?

Push a stray lock of hair out of Annie’s angelic, peacefully sleeping face and lean down to kiss her goodbye. “Screw HR policies,” I say softly. “I want to tell the world you’re mine, Annie Jacobs.”

Liam’s arms are now my official favorite place to sleep. Tried and tested not once, but twice.

Liam: Good morning, beautiful. Hope you slept okay. Getting ready with Luke and the guys now. I love you. Liam: FRICK it feels good to say that. I laugh out loud at this. Annie: Love you too, sexy tux man.

Oh, Bananie. It’s not blackmail. Blackmail’s personal. This is just business.

You have a special place in hell right next to liam's sperm provider (bc he ain't no REAL father)

I feel like firing my phone at the wall. Watching it smash into the plaster and shatter into a million little insidious, vitriol-coated pieces. But, as a pacifist with the throwing arm of an uncoordinated five-year-old, I settle for beating my fists on the duvet.

Annie is my happy. The love of my life.

Real love, love that makes you lose sleep, love that makes you say and do crazy things, love that makes you crave a person like a drug every time they’re not near, that type of love only comes around once in a lifetime.

I’ll be damned if I’m going to let that slip through my fingers. “Um, hey guys?” “Yes?” my siblings chorus. “Two things.” I clear my throat. “First of all, thank you. Secondly, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go. Like, now.”...

we’re not summaries of our mistakes. We’re merely shaped by them.

“Sorry I’m late.” The voice comes from somewhere above me. “I’d say it was because a squirrel broke into my car, but it’s actually because I was busy being the biggest idiot on the planet.”

“It was a mistake not leaving with you tonight, because being by each other’s side, through good and bad, is what comes first. It’s what you do when you love someone.”

“And sorry, forgive my ignorance, but how was going to the airport going to solve that? ” “I was going to fly to Boston so I could kick Justin in the nuts.” Liam nods in approval. “That’s my girl.”

“So, let me get this straight… It’s Sunday night, you are wearing a cocktail dress, and you left a wedding so you could catch a train to the airport. To fly to Boston to look for a random dude called Tim Wiseman so you could tell him you love me.”

“It could never be a mistake to love you, Annie. Loving you is a privilege. An honor I don’t take lightly. And I want to keep on loving you every single day, for the rest of my days.”

“We gonna head out too, Lukey?” She gives a little shimmy in his direction. “Ain’t too late for some you know what, dontcha think?” “I think I’d rather not hear you say anything of the sort again,” Liam responds at the same time as Luke says, “It’s never too late for that, babe” with some terrifying wiggly eyebrows to accompany the sentiment.

He’s a sensitive one underneath it all, my big old cinnamon roll.

“There’s the grumpy man I know and love.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He smirks. “I’m a delight.”

“No, it just got me thinking... Got me thinking about how much I love you. How, even though I hated every second of that damn concert, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. With you, if you wanted to go. But also with our future kids.”