“Happy birthday!” the whole room shouted again.
These people who’d only known her for a month. These people who had no reason to care.
“I love you,” Merry whispered into her ear.
Grace shook her head just as she always did. But something was different now. Something wasn’t so scary, and she somehow found the courage to say it back. “I love you, too,” she said quietly. Joy filled her up as she spoke the words, so she said them again, into Merry’s ear, but this time…this time she was looking into Cole’s eyes.
His gaze fell. His cheeks flushed. And he smiled. And Grace knew it was the truth. She loved him. And she was finally home.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt of Real Men Will by Victoria Dahl!
For more fun and steamy contemporary romance, don’t miss the Donovan Family series from USA TODAY bestselling author Victoria Dahl. Available now in ebook format!
Good Girls Don’t
Bad Boys Do
Real Men Will
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CHAPTER ONE
BETH CANTRELL HADN’T thought about him in almost six months.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true.
Beth cleared her throat and shifted, glancing around as if everyone in the brewery could feel the lie she was
telling herself.
The truth was that she’d thought about Jamie Donovan plenty of times. She’d remembered the hour or two they’d shared, she’d fantasized about what might’ve happened if she’d stayed the whole night in that hotel room.
But in the past six months, she’d never once let herself think about seeing him again. She hadn’t considered calling him or making contact in any way. That had been their agreement, after all. One night. One time. No strings attached and no expectations. She’d had to abide by that, because she would never have let herself meet him in that hotel room otherwise.
He wasn’t her type. He wasn’t part of her social circle. And she definitely wasn’t part of his. Beth Cantrell managed the White Orchid, the premiere erotic boutique in Boulder. Her friends were her employees: women she loved like sisters. They were bold and powerful and sexually progressive. And they dated people like themselves: tattooed, pierced, educated and cool. Absolutely cool, even when they’d only reached the pinnacle of cool by being so incredibly nerdy that they actually circled around to cool again.
Beth, on the other hand, wasn’t cool. She was just…Beth. But that was okay, because she was their manager and they loved her, and they did their best to pull her into their sphere. They fixed her up with guys. Friends of theirs. Men they knew and liked. Men who were cool and hip and progressive. And not one of those guys had ever pushed her buttons the way Jamie had.
She still flushed when she thought about him in his tidy polo shirt and khaki pants. His wide white smile and broad shoulders. He’d looked even better in a business suit. The perfect vision of middle-class preppy beauty. And Beth had wanted him so much it hurt.
They’d been strangers, despite this small town. But in that hotel room, with the promise that it would happen only once…the isolation of the act had made it safe. Yet she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
And right in the middle of the first good date she’d had in years.
“Hey,” her date said as he waved a hand in front of her face. “You okay?” He smiled, taking any sting from the words.
“Sorry.” Before she’d started thinking about Jamie, her date had been talking about…something. She racked her brain. Something artsy and important about Robert Mapplethorpe’s early career.