All I Need (4 page)
Authors: Karen Stivali
The thought still made his stomach flutter.
Wife.
He’d promised his mum that he’d find someone and he had. His throat tightened as once again he wished she could know that even though he was thousands of miles away from his childhood home, he was living his life as she’d hoped. That he was happy. That even if everything was completely different from what he’d grown up with, even if he didn’t entirely fit into the so called American dream, he had found a new home and he’d no longer be alone.
“Repeat after me. I, Daniel, take thee Justine.”
He recited the vows, just as they’d rehearsed, scarcely able to hear his own voice over the incessant pounding of his heart.
The minister asked the final question. “Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?” Arnold’s words drifted into his mind.
“Do you love her?”
A slow, expectant smile spread across Justine’s face and in that moment Daniel felt as if he could see their future. The wedding night. The honeymoon. A house. Children. Grandchildren. The family he’d always longed to have. “I do,” Daniel said, answering both questions.
And that’s all I need.
***
Daniel and Justine’s story continues in
Meant To Be
,
available now from Turquoise Morning Press
!
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies and fictional British men. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking extravagant meals and serving them to family and friends, who never seem to mind the excessive quantities she tends to prepare. She attributes her ability to multitask to the fact that she rarely sleeps, which gives her more hours every day. Prior to deciding to write full time Karen worked as a hand drawn animator, a clinical therapist, and held various food-related jobs ranging from waitress to specialty cake maker. Planning elaborate parties and fundraisers takes up what's left of her time and sanity.
Karen has always been fascinated by the way people relate to one another so she favors books and movies that feature richly detailed characters and their relationships. In her own writing she likes to explore the dynamics between characters and has a tendency to craft romantic tales filled with sarcasm and sexy details. Although she writes in three genres (erotic romance, contemporary romance and women's fiction) all of her stories are love stories with happily ever after endings.
Karen has published several erotic romance novels with El
lora's Cave including two award-winning stories:
Always You
(published September 2011, First Place Winner of the RWA Passionate Plume Award - 2012) and
Marry Me
(published June 2012, First Place Winner in the NEC-RWA Bean Pot Reader's Choice Award - 2013).
Her works of women's fiction,
Meant To Be
, and its sequel,
Holding On
, (published by Turquoise Morning Press in August and November 2012, respectively) both made the Best of 2012 list at Literati Literature Lovers.
To learn more about Karen you can visit her website
karenstivali.com
where she blogs original recipes, sassy commentary on
The Bachelor
, and tidbits about her journey in the writing world. Karen can also be found attempting witty banter
on Twitter @karenstivali
.
***
THE
MEANT TO BE
SERIES
“White Wedding” in
The Wedding Day Collection
Just In Time
(2014)
ALSO BY KAREN STIVALI
“Hard at Work” in
Felt Tips: Office-Supply Erotica
***
ALL I NEED. C
opyright © 2013 Karen Stivali. All rights reserved.
Published worldwide by Karen Stivali. Previously published in the
Foreign Affairs
anthology. First standalone ebook edition published September 2013.
Cover design and layout by Andrew Shaffer. Cover photo by Pete Saloutos, licensed from photos.com.