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  “Xander came by after your surgery and he knew everything. He’d figured it out and said you confirmed his guesses. First he told me what an idiot I was for getting back together with Brandi and then for keeping everything from him. Not to mention for hurting you so badly. It was only then that I realized what you’d thought all week.”

  I scoffed at him, shocked that it took Xander pointing it out for him to realize I’d assumed he was with Brandi.

  “Yeah, I know. I’m an idiot. It all hit me. I had to see you, to explain everything. To tell you how much I loved you. Riley said you called her last night because I wasn’t around and it broke my heart. I want to be around for you forever.”

  He shifted on the bed to face me. “I went to the hospital last night. Your sister was sleeping in a chair so I snuck in and sat next to you. I held your hand and, fuck, I cried. Seeing you hooked up to the machines and your cheeks were so pale… I fucking lost it.” His eyes glistened with more unshed tears and mine followed.

  “I held your hand and told you how sorry I was. I explained everything to you and told you I loved you over and over again, but you never woke up. About an hour after I got there a nurse came in and asked who I was and how I got in there. Your sister woke up and heard me say I was the baby’s daddy and she fucking lost it. I know you two aren’t close, but she was scary as hell protecting you. She threatened legal action and wasn’t afraid to tell me how deep her pockets were if I didn’t leave immediately.”

  Drew, sensing my softening, took my hand in his. “It gutted me to leave you, but I didn’t want to wake you up with our argument. I drove home and waited until daylight to call Xander and find out everything I could. I knew getting past anyone but him would be impossible but I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see you. I should have been more prepared earlier, but just seeing you about killed me. Jesus, baby, I love you so much. I fucked up, but I will do anything to never see the same look on your face you gave me earlier. It tore me up to know I’d hurt you that much.”

  “How do I know you’re telling the truth?” I asked. He sounded sincere, but what proof did he have?

  He emptied his pockets slowly. The first thing he handed me was a piece of paper. I unfolded it and read the police record of the restraining order against Brandi. The second thing he handed me was his cell phone showing 43 missed calls from his mother in six days.

  The third thing he handed me was a receipt. It was dated ten days earlier and was for a jewelry store. I looked up to ask him what it was for and found myself face to face with an enormous princess cut diamond ring.

  “That receipt shows you I bought this before Brandi came back. I chose you before she was around, before the baby was a factor, before anything else that I fucked up this week. I bought this ring because I love you. I was going to propose to you the night she showed up, but she screwed that up. My heart hasn’t changed in a week. I want to spend the rest of my life making you smile instead of frown, making you laugh instead of cry, and making love to you instead of missing you. You are the woman I’ve been waiting for my whole life, and if you’ll have me, I’ll never let you down again.”

  I looked at him, then at the ring, then at the receipt. Something in my heart thawed. I trusted Drew. For the first time in my life, I knew without a doubt that things were going to work out.

  Through my tears I watched him as I nodded slowly. A grin spread over his face and he asked, “Yes? Are you saying yes?”

  “Yes, I’m saying yes. I believe you. But I’m pretty sure we’ll need to tell people about our relationship now.”

  Drew kissed me then pulled back, a serious look on his face. “I never wanted to hide you. I worried Drew would fire you if he found out about us. Or that he wouldn’t give you a chance to prove how good you were. I was never ashamed of us, or of you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Now it seems nuts for me to have worried about Xander, but I promise you I was only worried about you.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “You really fucked this all up, you know that?”

  Drew growled at me. “God, I love that dirty mouth. Now put this ring on your finger. Oh, and I’m not waiting long to marry you. I’m thinking a week or two ought to be long enough.”

  “A week?” I laughed. “I don’t know about that. How about six weeks? I’m on restriction from the doctor until then.”

  “Fine. Six weeks. But not a second longer. Besides all I need is you.”

  “I love you, Drew.”

  He closed his eyes and leaned into me until our foreheads met. “I’ll never get sick of hearing that. Will you say it again?”

  I laughed. “I love you, Drew.”

  “I love you, Carrie. Always, baby, always.”

  He tucked me under his chin and held me, blocking out the heartache I’d been smothered in for a week, and filling me with love. Only love.

  Epilogue

  Charlie

  If I had as many loyal customers as I had loyal friends, I’d be swimming in cash. I was lucky though. I had great friends. After my seventh wedding in two years, not counting the parties and special events, Bite Me! was doing well. I had no complaints.

  Well, except that I was starting to get burned out.

  Everyone told me how exhausting it was to run a business, but no one told you how to deal with it. I secretly thought there should be a support group for people crazy enough to open any restaurant type of business, but I knew none of us would have the time to attend meetings.

  I’d been up since before dawn and was ready to crash. I couldn’t though. Carrie and Drew needed me there to make sure their cupcakes were served to all their guests.

  Okay, that wasn’t exactly true. I mean, really, how hard was it to pick up a cupcake and eat it? No, they didn’t need me, but I didn’t feel like I could leave.

  I’d been there for everyone else, I was going to be there for Carrie and Drew.

  I still couldn’t believe Carrie was sleeping with her boss for months before she told any of us. When she mentioned at girls’ night that she’d hooked up with someone at a party something tickled my brain, but she said they’d gone back to the guy’s office and I couldn’t place it. I didn’t put it together until after it came out that Drew was the father of the baby she’d lost.

  Then my heart broke for her.

  Carrie desperately wanted to be a mom, we all knew that. I’d never had the desire for a family like she did, but I respected the hell out of her for it. The rest of us were so focused on our careers that kids were a second thought. With Carrie it was the only thought.

  But in the six weeks since she’d lost her baby she and Drew grew closer than I’d ever seen two people. Drew refused to let her resign from XD Home Restoration and Carrie accepted the job back. They liked working together. He’d also moved in with her, putting the condo his ex had forced him into buying up for sale. Carrie hated losing the amazing kitchen, but she didn’t want Drew’s ex even a memory in their life together.

  Looking across the room at them as they held each other close and swayed gently to the music playing I knew nothing would split them apart again.

  “She looks so happy, doesn’t she?” Riley asked from beside me. Riley and I were kindred spirits in a way. Both quiet and unassuming women who’d often been overlooked because of our appearance but also because we weren’t loud enough to force attention our way.

  But Riley had found Connor who noticed her in the silence.

  “She does. I’m glad things worked out for them. How do you think tonight is going to go?”

  Riley grinned a saucy smile and watched her best friend for a quiet minute. Carrie and Drew decided to make their wedding night the first night Carrie was allowed to have sex again. She’d received clearance from the doctor just the day before and sent a group text to all of us with her news. To say Carrie was excited to be with Drew again was an understatement.

  “She’s going to have fun. Drew absolutely worships her and I’ve never seen her happier. I
’m just glad I let him in that night.”

  I smiled. “I think we all are. They deserve each other.”

  “Yeah,” Riley said, her voice drifting away. I turned and saw her looking over her shoulder at Connor, her husband of five months. “She’s going to try to get pregnant right away.”

  “I hope she does. I don’t know if I could come back from what she went through. She’s tough.”

  Riley nodded. “Yeah, she is.”

  We stood side by side watching Drew and Carrie for a few minutes before Connor came over and invited Riley to dance. I smiled at them. My friends were happy. I couldn’t ask for anything more than that.

  My time would come eventually. I wasn’t in a rush since I had enough going on with keeping Bite Me! afloat. It was a great business, but it took a lot out of me. I’d been thinking of hiring another baker to lighten the load on me a bit, but I hadn’t made up my mind. Before Carrie took the job at XD Home Restoration I was considering hiring her. I knew that’s where my hesitation came from. I didn’t know if I could pay her enough to make it worth her while, and I didn’t want my friend to sink because I needed help.

  Instead I was sinking.

  I fell into one of the soft chairs at the edge of the open space. Drew and Carrie decided to get married at XD Home Restoration, where they’d met and fallen in love. I loved the chairs they had in the lobby for waiting guests and took advantage of the coziness for just a minute.

  “Are you hiding?” Carrie said, sitting in the chair next to me.

  I smiled at the beautiful bride. Carrie was wearing a strapless cream dress that just barely brushed the floor. The lace overlay was stunning and matched the veil she wore perfectly. Her eyes popped beneath light make-up, but my favorite part was her shoes. Spiked heels with lace over her foot peeked out from beneath her dress. When she sat I saw the ribbon wrapped around her ankles and drifting up to her calf. “No. Just resting,” I finally said.

  “How early were you up baking cupcakes today?”

  “Two am.”

  Carrie sighed. “I don’t know how you do it.”

  “Some days I don’t know either.”

  “Not that I don’t want you here, but why don’t you go home and get some sleep?”

  I sighed. “I don’t want to miss this.”

  Carrie smiled kindly at me. “Thank you. You have tomorrow off, right?”

  “Yeah. I couldn’t survive if I worked Sundays, too. I need that sleep.”

  “I think I’ll be sleeping in tomorrow, too.” Carrie winked at me.

  “That’s just because you’re going to be up all night making up for the last six weeks.”

  “Seven,” Carrie corrected. “We had that week when we weren’t together. Not that I like thinking about it.”

  I smiled sympathetically. We all remembered that week. It was a hard week for all of us once we realized how alone Carrie had been. She never should have gone through what she went through by herself.

  “Anyway, that’s behind me. Tonight is going to be a great night.”

  “Yes, it is. I’m so happy for you.”

  I meant it. I loved seeing my friends smile. It was why I helped Connor when he was trying to win Riley over, why I gave them free cupcakes whenever I could, and why I baked a hundred cupcakes at two o’clock in the morning. I’d do anything for my friends.

  Drew claimed Carrie before too long. Within an hour they were heading out the door into the night, ready to start their married life in their home, without witnesses.

  Outlasting the newlyweds, I said my goodbyes and headed home. I was ready for bed and needed to check how the day had gone before I could get there.

  I let myself into the back door of Bite Me! but kept the lights off. I locked the door behind me and padded through the kitchen to the front. Kendall left me a detailed report when she closed the shop for me including the total sales for the day, the cash she’d put in the safe, and the remaining cash in the register. I scanned her report and smiled. It had been a good day. My income was growing but I wasn’t ready to move yet.

  I loved my little shop. Having a bigger space would require even more income to make it profitable. Yeah, the place was tight, especially on girls’ night, but one night a week wasn’t enough to demand I move.

  The mail was on the counter when I went back to the kitchen. I flipped through, ready to leave it all for the next day, until I saw a letter from a lawyer.

  I ripped the envelope open and scanned the letter in my hand.

  The building I worked and lived in had been sold. None of the existing leases were being carried over to the new owner.

  Which meant I had three months to find a new storefront for Bite Me! And a new place to live.

  Fluffy & Fabulous, Charlie’s full story, is available April 26, 2016! Preorder now!

  Thank You!

  Thank you so much for reading Husky & Hot. Choosing a favorite book is like choosing a favorite kid, but Husky & Hot was my favorite book to write. Carrie really connected with me and when I got to know Drew I knew they were perfect for each other. It broke my heart to tear them apart, but nothing could keep them apart for long.

  Reviews are huge for writers, especially new ones like me. I’d love for you to leave a review of Husky & Hot wherever you buy books. And please check out my other titles!

  Big & Beautiful series

  Chubby & Charming (free everywhere)

  Lush & Lovely

  Shapely & Stunning

  Bulky & Beauteous

  Fat & Fine

  Plump & Pretty

  Husky & Hot

  Fluffy & Fabulous (preorder now)

  Paradise Park series

  Playing By The Rules (free everywhere)

  Back In The Game

  Stuck On The Sidelines

  Better In Bed series

  Wait For It

  Work For It

  Fight For It

  Love On Deck series

  In Front Of Me

  Breathing For The First Time

  Learning To Love

  Standalone Novels

  Finding Home

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  About the Author

  Mary E. Thompson grew up loving to read, like a good little girl. Many nights she would fall asleep with the flashlight still turned on as she hid under the covers trying to finish the last few pages of a book. As an adult, the light from her ereader means she doesn't need a flashlight, but she still stays up way too late to finish a book.

  When Mary's not reading, she's playing with her two kids or living out her own real life romance novel with her hubby. She has a weakness for chocolate, especially when it's paired with peanut butter, and has been known to have a bad day just because there's no chocolate in the house.

  Mary grew up in Buffalo, New York and swears she's the only local to never ski or snowboard. Soccer was always her sport, with a couple adventures white water rafting and skydiving to keep things interesting. Mary moved to South Carolina for college but missed Buffalo every day. Yeah she thinks she's crazy, too. She somehow convinced her South Carolina born and bred hubby to return to Buffalo to raise their kids and live out their lives. He’s still not sure what he was thinking.

 

 

 
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