“Honey, I’m home!” He toed off his sopping-wet shoes and stripped off his jacket, hanging it on a peg by the door.
Strains of low jazz drifted from somewhere else in the house, and Zach smiled to himself, imagining her in the kitchen with a glass of wine as she fussed with dinner. Eager to show her his work, he grabbed the camera bag and padded barefoot into the living room.
He noticed the boxes first. A small stack of them labeled in Lexi’s bold scrawl were stacked along one wall. A black-and-white photo of a graffiti arrow was taped to the front, pointing toward the kitchen. Dropping the bag unceremoniously into a chair, he followed instructions. In the kitchen, candles flickered in a neat arrangement around a champagne bucket. A bottle of bubbly nested in the ice. Leaning against the front was another black-and-white shot, this one of Lexi, big, dark eyes full of secrets and mischief. One finger pointed toward the hall. Was that significant?
Turning in that direction, he saw that a wire had been strung along the formerly empty hall wall. It had been turned into a sort of gallery, with a whole string of black-and-white shots hung by clothes pins, exactly as they would be in a dark room. Grabbing up the champagne and the waiting glasses, he followed the instructions, making his slow way down the hall.
The first shot was Lexi walking away from the camera, one shoulder bared as her shirt slid toward the floor. His heart skipped a beat before picking up to a gallop as he recognized her signature boudoir style. The next image honed in on the smooth muscle of her bare back as she eased down the straps of her bra. Zach’s mouth went dry. She’d created a striptease in pictures. He moved on to the next picture and his toe bumped something on the floor. Looking down, he saw the black bra. In his hall floor. A little ways further up were jeans.
Holy. Shit.
A part of him wanted to rush straight into the bedroom, but she’d set up something special, and he was going to take his time appreciating her presentation. The sequence continued, each image firing his blood more than the last, until he ended at the closed bedroom door with a print of her looking over her bare shoulder with a come hither expression and a key hanging from a ring on one finger. From his bed.
Heart thundering, he hesitated outside the door, wrangling his own arousal until he thought he had some control. They hadn’t crossed this line yet. He’d waited, letting her set the pace, knowing she’d let him know when she was ready.
She’d picked a hell of a way to announce it.
Zach turned the knob, opening the door.
More candles flickered in the darkness beyond, illuminating the real-life version of the picture on the door. Lexi was stunning, her hair tumbled, her cheeks flushed as she waited in the center of the bed, her pose the only thing offering any modesty.
“A-plus for presentation.” His voice came out like gravel. “I want to know how you pulled this off. But later.”
Her lips quirked. “You’ve been so patient, I wanted to say yes with a little flair.”
“I’d say this is a lot of flair. Which question would this be a yes to?”
She snorted faintly. “That’s not obvious?”
He knew which yes he was thinking, but he’d messed up so many times with her, he didn’t want to risk it. “In my defense, all the blood left my brain somewhere around the beginning of the hallway. Maybe you should spell it out for me. In small words instead of just visual aids.”
“All the yeses. To crossing this line. To moving in. To everything. I love you, Zach. I think I always have.” She held out a hand to him, a real-life siren with acres of soft, golden skin. “Be with me.”
She was everything he’d ever wanted, and he knew that for the rest of their lives, this image would be burned into the gallery of his brain. Yet another first in an endless line of firsts, with the woman he knew would be his last.
“Did I mention I love you, too?”
Her eyes shimmered with emotion. “I don’t believe you did.”
“Maybe I’d just better show you.” Smile spreading slow, he set aside the champagne and shut the door.
Want More Wishful?
Have you blown through the entire series? Don’t worry. There’s more to come. In the meantime, have you checked out my spinoff series, Wishing For A Hero? This series is a slightly darker take on the Wishful you know and love, with a string of light romantic suspense stories that kicks off with Leo and Eli’s brother Judd and his best friend Autumn.
He has one mission
* * *
Since they were children, career cop Judd Hamilton has built his life around taking care of his best friend, Autumn Buchanan. While he might once have dreamed of a different future for them, everything changed the day her father tried to kill them both. Determined to keep her safe, Judd put his feelings aside and turned his focus to protecting her, always.
* * *
She leads a double life
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Nobody in their small town would ever dream that Autumn, Wishful's friendly librarian, is really successful erotic romantic suspense author, Rumor Fairchild. No one knows that the swoon-worthy hero of her series is based on her best friend, Judd. He's been fulfilling her rescue fantasies for years, and now she's ready to catapult them out of the friend zone to make her real life romance come true.
* * *
Their nightmare returns
* * *
But when the past comes full circle and Autumn's father returns to Wishful, even the power of Judd's badge isn't enough to keep her safe from the madman. If he wants the chance at a future with the one girl he's always loved, Judd may have to toss everything he's worked for aside to do the one job that matters.