Broken Ground: (Broken Series Book 1) (52 page)
The breath I'd been holding whooshed out of my lungs and I laughed with relief. "Shall I present it to you on one knee, Miss Walker?"
I started to sit up, but she put her hand on my arm, pulling me back down. "No. I've never been one for formality, you know that. Just lay here beside me under our beautiful tree, we can improvise the rest."
I settled back down beside her, pulling her left hand to the spot over my heart. "Alison Walker, I will never be able to properly articulate just how much you mean to me. The beating heart under your fingers now has a purpose because of you. Like the rest of me, it was going through the motions; filled with life but barely living. My entire existence was a reaction to the past, never living in the now or thinking of the future."
I slid the ring from the box and held it at the tip of her finger. "These last few months with you changed that, changed me. Now all I can think about is building a future; with you. I want to give you your dream house and fill it with pieces of us. My home is wherever you are, but I very much want to build us a place that will be ours, even if we can't be here all the time. For the first time in my life, I want to build something of my own. A home, a life, a future... And I want to build it all with you." I slipped the band around her finger. "Alison, will you marry me?"
She cupped my jaw raising herself onto her elbow once more, the gold band on her finger cool against my skin. Her soft lips grazed my own as she whispered, "Yes."
I pulled her into my arms, crushing her against my chest as I pulled her mouth to mine. I kissed her breathless, not able to control my desire. I pulled away long enough to roll her to her back and claimed her mouth once more.
After a few intense minutes, I was able to rein it in enough to take my time. It may have been weeks since I'd last felt her beneath me, but tonight was about more than making up for lost time. It was about savoring every single moment with her, from now until I drew my last breath.
I made love to my fiancé slowly, taking my time and pouring every ounce of my love for her into every caress, every taste, every thrust.
When we lay sated in each other's arms sometime later, I whispered. "I have another surprise for you."
I could actually hear her smile as she sighed. "Are you trying to spoil me, Mr. McGavran?"
"It would be my great honor to do so, Mrs. McGavran, but it's nothing as extravagant as the first gifts of the evening." She kissed my chest as I disentangled myself, pulling her to her feet beside me. I slipped on my jeans and pulled my t-shirt over her head to ward off the chill in the air that came with the Autumn. "Come on, it should be right over here."
I parted the hanging lights at the other side of our little nest and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the large box waiting for us. I pointed it out to Ali, urging her to go over and open it. She tiptoed through the cool grass, her bare backside peeking from beneath the hem of my shirt and looking gorgeous in the light.
She pulled the bow from the top of the box and opened the flaps, leaning in to see into the shadowy depths.
When she realized what lay inside, she looked over at me, eyes shining with quickly forming tears. I joined her beside her engagement present, smiling softly as I looked into the box, my future wife weeping happy tears at my side.
I never would have guessed so much joy could be brought by a length of rope and a shiny new tire.
The End
Acknowledgements
Like most authors, I have been lucky enough not to have to take this journey alone. In the 14+ months since I wrote the first word of Broken Ground, I have found encouragement and support from many places — some of those places completely unexpected. I often struggle to properly express my gratitude, finding that ‘thank you’ isn’t nearly enough. Just know that I appreciate, value, and am truly humbled by the support.
First and foremost, I would like to thank my husband, Shaun. For being my biggest supporter, my favorite sounding board, my safe place amid the chaos. Given that ‘thank you’ isn’t enough after all you’ve done to help me achieve this dream, you can bet that ‘I love you’ will never be enough to express the depth of my feelings for you. Even when words fail, you have my unwavering adoration. It’s you and me, babe. Always.
Valerie Lea — my person, my alpha/beta reader, my lifelong friend — Your encouragement and support made huge impact on this book, and on me. Long lunches, plotting over (too many) drinks, random messages at all hours of the day and night — you really are my ‘person’ and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Julie Jaret, without you this book would never have been finished, much less published. I was at a critical point in the writing process — the thin line between dogged pursuit of my dream and deleting every damn word; never to write again — you stepped in and made all the difference. You saved me from doubt and fear and frustration. You’re my hero.
Trenda London, my beta reader turned content editor, I will never be able to thank you enough for the countless hours you spent working with me on this book. I think you may be the only person on Earth who has read it as many times as me. Your feedback has been invaluable but it is your faith in me that made the biggest impact. From the bottom of my heart… thank you, my friend.
Beta readers Amanda Ward, Lisa Fay, Sally Johnson, Sandy Montemayor, Lesley Strausbaugh, Saleena Chamberlin, and Shasta Sonnabend — you ladies are fantastic. Every. Single. One. Of. You. Thank you all for taking the time to read and give me feedback. Your comments (all of them; good and bad) helped to transform my words into an actual story. More than one of you made me cry — you know who you are — and guess what? I still love you. I love you all.
My critique partners, Renee Kennedy and Lucy Lit, you ladies are amazing. Thank you so much for working with me. Whether we swapped a few chapters or entire manuscripts, your insights were honest and extremely helpful. Best wishes for bestsellers!
Kim Black, you amaze me. Between writing successful books and running your own business, you somehow found the time to gather and organize my beta group, design my cover (and teasers), and answer my endless string of questions about self-publishing. I was a stranger to you and you reached out to offer your help, time, and support. You are the type of person I aspire to be. You are a treasure and I am thankful for you every day.
Amy Donnelly, my editor, thank you for finding time to take on this 125k word beast. Not only have you done an awesome job, but — thanks to you — I now have a hilarious file filled with the comments you left throughout the process. I will refer to it whenever I need a reminder that at least one person out there thinks I’m funny.
Cassy Roop, your formatting skills are phenomenal. You took Broken Ground on short notice and made it absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much. I can't wait to see what you do with my next book.
Claire Allmendinger, thank you for helping me figure out how to get started, for supporting me through my doubts, and for being the type of friend who checks up on me just because. You’re the greatest.
Monique Tarver, the BookAddict Mom, thank you for all of your help spreading the word about this book and for your continued encouragement. You’re beautiful inside and out, and I’m happy to call you my friend. Book friends are the BEST friends!
Speaking of book friends...
Jennie Simpson, you went from stranger to book friend to one of my best friends in a matter of months. I never expected to find you when I agreed to do a book swap but your friendship and support have meant more to me than I can ever say. You’ve encouraged and supported me, had my back when things went wrong, and given me a swift kick in the ass when I desperately needed it. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I know you read through a lot of acknowledgements to find your name but that’s only because I saved the best for last, my friend.
About The Author
Anna lives in a rural town in North Carolina where the only activity is the rhythmic color change of the solitary stoplight and a very real threat of being carried away by mosquitoes. The only alternative to terminal boredom is writing, making life interesting if only on the page.
She is happily married, with one amazing son and a pair of hilarious pets. When she’s not writing, she’s trying to make a dent in her TBR pile. Given that she’s constantly adding new titles to the list, the chances of her ever finishing are slim.
And she’s completely fine with that.
You can find or follow Anna here:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6207863.Anna_Paige
https://www.pinterest.com/annapaigewrites/
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Here’s a Sneak Peek at book 2
Spencer
TWO WEEKS.
What the hell was I going to do with two solid weeks?
I sat behind my sleek, cherry desk, looking over the neatly-stacked files in my outbox. My inbox stood empty on the other side. Mocking me. How was it possible that only a few months ago I had more on my proverbial plate than I could handle, and now I had nothing? Absolutely nothing.
Brant—one of my business partners and a close friend for many years—strolled in with a smile on his face, not a care in the world. He took a handful of chocolates from the bowl on my desk before plopping himself into the soft leather chair across from me. “It’s just about quitting time isn’t it, Spence? You ready to start your vacation?”
I tapped a pen on my blotter and glanced at the clock, not feeling nearly as chipper as my friend. “I wouldn’t call it a vacation. A delay, yes. An inconvenience? Absolutely. This ‘vacation’ is throwing off the entire build schedule.”
He let out a soft chuckle and shook his head, crunching on the last of the candy-coated chocolates before leaning forward. “Come on, man. It’s not your fault the owner didn’t have his shit together in time. It’s only two weeks, Spence, and the build will still finish on time despite the delays. We’ve never missed a deadline.” His brows rose a bit as he nodded toward the pen in my hand. “You’re too wound up. You need to let loose for a while, enjoy the time away from the office. Go out and do something that would make Clay proud.”
Clay—my best friend since I was ten and our other partner—was away working on a solo project for the next couple of months. Well, not entirely solo. His fiancé, Ali, was working on the project with him. They had until the end of spring to get everything done, as the amusement park that had contracted their artistic skills would be opening at the beginning of June.
Before Clay’s transformation into a one-woman man, he was quite the party boy and manwhore. Now, he only had eyes for Ali. I was glad that he’d finally found some happiness. He deserved it after all he’d been through.
I shook my head at Brant, laughing for the first time all day. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to assume the recently-vacated role of manwhore. Look what happened to Clay. He had crazies coming out of the woodwork.”
“Yeah, but he had a lot of damn fun for a while there and still found Ali despite all that.”
“So, you think I’ll find the love of my life by first nailing anything in a four-inch heel? I don’t think it usually works that way.”
The leather creaked as Brant shifted in the chair, placing his elbows on his knees, hands clasped between them. “I’m not saying to sleep around. I’m saying go out and have some damn fun. Have a few drinks, dance with a beautiful stranger, whatever gets your heart pumping. You spend too much time behind this desk.” He slapped the desktop for emphasis. “It’s like you’re chained to it or something. There’s more to life than what goes on behind these walls.”
I narrowed my gaze, looking him in the eye. “Where the hell did that come from? You just said more in five minutes than you usually do in a week. I thought you were the quiet one around here, so what gives?” His sheepish look confirmed my suspicions. “Fucking Clay put you up to this, didn’t he?”
His silence was all the answer I needed.