Hot Buttered Yum (34 page)

He was
everything she’d ever wanted. Good. Kind. Caring.

And he loved her
more than the world.

It was a no-brainer.

“Forever.” She nodded.

“For always.”

As he scooped
her up, Gracie—and everything else—disappeared. All Roni knew existed was the
man who held her in his arms, whose mouth was on hers. This was where she
wanted to be for the rest of her life.

When he broke
the kiss, she smiled and nuzzled into his neck.

“I’m going to
want more babies, you know?” She’d been doing a lot of thinking about that the
last few days. “Gracie needs a sibling.”

Lucas’s grip
tightened on her. “Then I’m going to work extra hard to give them to you.”

They kissed
again until they heard Gracie gasp from the living room. Then they smiled secretly
at each other and broke apart.

“What is it, sweet
Gracie?” Lucas asked.

A tiny finger
pointed with great excitement toward the back door of Roni’s house. “Is that my
dog out there? Did Santa bring me a dog?”

Lucas opened the
door, and a small cocker spaniel with floppy ears and a precious face stuck his
nose in. He wore a red bow tied around his neck, and a large tag that said, To Gracie.

“Is he mine?”
the little girl asked.

Roni moved to
Lucas’s side and wrapped her arm around his waist.

“He has your
name on him,” Lucas said. “He must be yours.”

Wide blue eyes
looked up at her daddy as if he’d just roped her the
moon. Then Gracie dropped to her knees and the dog poured kisses over her face.

“This is the bestest Christmas ever,” the child whispered.

And Roni had to
agree. She met Lucas’s gaze and showed him her love through her smile.

The bestest. Christmas. Ever.

As a child, Kim Law cultivated a love for
chocolate, anything purple, baton twirling, and creative writing. She penned
her debut work, “The Giant Talking Raisin,” in the sixth grade and got hooked
on the delights of creating stories. Before settling into the writing life,
however, she earned a college degree in mathematics and then worked as a
computer programmer while also raising her son. Now she’s pursuing her lifelong
dream of writing romance novels; she has won the Romance Writers of America’s
Golden Heart Award, has been a finalist for the prestigious RWA RITA Award, and
currently serves as president for her local RWA chapter. Kim is the author of
Caught on Camera
,
Sugar Springs
,
and the
Turtle Island novels,
Ex
on the Beach
and
Hot Buttered Yum
. A native of Kentucky, she lives
with her husband in Middle Tennessee.

This book was originally released in Episodes as a Kindle Serial.
Kindle Serials launched in 2012 as a new way to experience serialized
books. Kindle Serials allow readers to enjoy the story as the
author creates it, purchasing once and receiving all existing Episodes
immediately, followed by future Episodes as they are published.
To find out more about Kindle Serials and to see the current
selection of Serials titles, visit
www.amazon.com/kindleserials
.