“Will you please shut up?” Cassidy whisper-yelled. “It’s almost over.”

I shot a look at my brother, hoping to melt the skin off his face before looking back at Rowan and giving him a thumbs-up just as the last person in line placed their book on the table for him to sign.

I couldn’t have been prouder of him. His latest book, Love Hate Relationship, released to astounding numbers, still sitting at the number one spot on the New York Times, as well as every other bestseller list, for the fourth week in a row. To say he was more than a little shocked would have been putting it lightly. The book was a step outside of the box for him. He’d never written anything but murder mysteries his entire career, so releasing a book that was eerily similar to our own personal story opened him up to a whole new audience… one that included me.

While he vehemently denied that his book fell into the genre, I got off on giving him shit for writing his first ever romance novel, telling him how excited I was that he’d finally written something interesting. That had led to many fights. Not that I cared really; the only thing better than sex with Rowan was makeup sex with Rowan.

In celebration of his success, we’d flown my entire family up from Texas so they could spend the holidays in New York, as well as see Rowan in his element. I thought it would be good fun for Carson and Cassidy to join me, Rowan’s mom and brother, along with Griffin and Pepper, at one of Rowan’s readings while Kal and Milly took Willow and Kallum to Central Park. The only thing I hadn’t realized was that our little hodge-podge group should have never been allowed out in public. If it wasn’t Carson showing his ass, it was Griffin intentionally setting Pepper off on a tangent. The whole day had been one drama after another. I really could have used Harlow there to keep me sane, but she’d gone back home to Jackson Hole a week ago for a family emergency.

“Thank God,” he grunted loudly.

Ignoring the weird looks from the people who had crammed into The Strand for Rowan’s latest book signing, I turned to Carson and issued my fifth threat of the day. “I swear to God, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to murder you in your sleep,” I hissed as quietly as possible. “Then I’m going to raise Kallum to be a Yankee Democrat!”

“You wouldn’t,” he gasped.

“Watch me.”

Carson leaned against the wall, arms crossed angrily across his chest as he pouted. “This is so stupid. Why do I have to be here?”

“Because you’re supporting the man I love,” I countered.

“I’m never even gonna read the damn book,” he shot back. “Real men don’t read that girly, chick shit.”

“Amen,” Richard added in solidarity, raising his hand to high-five Carson. I was surrounded by toddlers.

“Hey!” I pointed at Richard. “You’re supposed to be the supportive brother.”

He grinned at me. It was still somewhat disconcerting to see the same characteristics Rowan had in someone else, but I was slowly getting used to it. Richard and Rowan were working on rebuilding their relationship, so I was bound to see him often. “Just because I’m not willing to read the book doesn’t mean I’m not supportive.”

“It’s not girly, chick shit,” Cassidy interjected. “It’s a beautiful story he wrote based on his relationship with Navie.”

“Wait… is there sex in this book?”

Uh-oh.

“Oh, dear,” Rowan’s mother, Marie, mumbled from behind her hand, clearly trying to stifle her laughter at the same time everyone else—well, except for Carson—broke into loud, raucous laughter.

“Everything okay over here?” Rowan asked as he joined our group of misfits, having finished with the last reader. He leaned in to give his mother a quick kiss before wrapping his arm around my shoulder and holding me against him.

“You mean besides the fact you’re a pervert?” Carson snipped.

“Why me?” I lamented, staring up at the heavens as Marie lost the battle against her giggles and joined in along with everyone else.

“Oh, sweet girl,” she offered, patting my arm. “You knew what you were getting into when you picked this one, here,” she told me, throwing her thumb in Rowan’s direction.

“What am I missing?” Rowan whispered in my ear.

I reached up and patted his cheek. “I love you. Let’s run away to Bermuda for the holidays.”

His lips turned up in a knowing smirk. “Getting the families together for the holidays was your idea, baby.”

“For the very first time in my life, I was wrong.”

I felt Rowan chuckle against my body as his lips touched the skin at my neck. “Besides, it’ll make proposing so much easier with everyone here. Get it all out of the way in one fell swoop.”

I pulled my head back on a sharp inhale, excitement coursing through my veins. “Wait… are you… really… right now?”

“No, not right now. But soon.”

Just as I stood on my tip-toes to press my lips against Rowan’s, my cell phone rang from inside of my purse. Pulling it out, I looked down at the screen, my brows furrowing in worry.

“Who is it?” Rowan asked.

“It’s Harlow.” At the sound of her name, everyone in our circle grew quiet. They all knew about Harlow’s unexpected trip back to the town she grew up in. She and her brother had been raised by their grandparents. Their grandfather had passed years back, and with her grandmother’s health suddenly taking a turn for the worse, she needed to go take care of her little brother. We were all concerned, but it was the lack of communication between Harlow and me that was bothering me the most. Every time I tried calling, she either didn’t answer or kept the conversations short. It was evident in her voice that she wasn’t doing well.

I feared the worst. She never really talked about her past, and I never felt right pushing her, but from what I gathered, she’d left something behind in Jackson Hole that had changed her.

“You think everything’s okay?” he asked, rubbing his thumb along my jaw and holding me tighter, offering me comfort when I needed it most.

“God, I hope so.”

Be on the lookout for Harlow’s story,

Wildflower

coming January 2016

As always, first and foremost, my never ending thanks and love goes to my husband for always being my rock. I have no doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t be able to do this without you.

To Jennifer Wolfel, Jenn Van Wyk, and Aly Martinez ~ Your help has been instrumental in bringing Navie and Rowan’s story to life and making it the best it could possibly be. Aly, your “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” probably saved me from being attacked by countless readers. LOL.

To the lovely ladies of F*ck That Noise ~ Seriously, when a group of women menstruate together, you know they’re close! I love you bitches!!

And as always, to my readers ~ This is for YOU!

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Scattered Colors

The use of the phrase life is hard has become so diluted, so overstated through the years that when someone hears it the words go in one ear and out the other. The impact is no longer there. The meaning, the importance of that phrase no longer holds any water with those it's spoken to.