AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s been crazy.” More so for him than for me, but we’ve both worked long hours, the vast majority of them away from each other.
“It’s no excuse. I should have noticed how far off the rails you and I have gotten. I’m sorry. I should have made—”
I hold up my hand, borrowing my sister’s move. “There are things we both could and maybe should have done differently. I could have confronted you. Asked you about the pictures. Made an effort to fix this.”
“There’s nothing to fix. I love you, Fiona Anderson. Always have, always will.”
“Of course there ...” It takes a moment for the words to penetrate my mind. “What did you say?”
“I love you.” He takes a long step to close the distance between us and pulls me into his arms. “I love you. Always have. And I am sorry. Will you give me a second—make that a third chance?”
“I will.” It’s all I get out before his lips crush against mine. The kiss is full of passion, making up for the time we lost. It carries both our regrets and our promises to do better going forward. And it expresses those three words I never thought to hear from him again.
“I love you, too,” I mumble against his lips when we break long enough to breathe before kissing him back.
“Did you get everything worked out?” my grandmother asks when we walk back inside. Gwen’s eyes are on us, a small smile playing around her lips.
“We did,” I say and take Joe’s hand in mine. I’m done hiding. Dave will have to deal with us going public with our relationship.
“Good. I would have hated to lose my maid of honor the day before the wedding,” my sister says. I’d love to pretend she’s joking, but I know her too well. She can be ruthless.
“And me, my best man,” Greg adds.
“We’ll be there,” Joe assures them, walking me back to my seat and pulling the chair out for me. He brushes a quick kiss on my cheek before returning to his own.
“In that case, I propose a toast. To the entire wedding party. To a spectacular day tomorrow when I’ll gain another son.” My father raises his glass.
“Hear, Hear. And I’ll get a daughter. And from the look of it, we’ll be doing this again in the near future.” Joe’s father raises his glass first to my sister, then to me, and the entire room breaks out into cheers.
Thanks for reading Fighting For Fiona. I hope you’ve enjoyed this fun romance as much as I enjoyed reading it. If you’re not quite ready to say goodbye to Fiona and Joe yet, I invite you to grab the bonus epilogue I’ve written for you here:
https://www.susanneash.com/fionabonus
It takes place during Gwen and Greg’s wedding and you’ll get a chance to see them dance, laugh, kiss, and talk about their future together.
Last but not least, I invite you to check out the first in this southern romcom series, Tables Turned. It’s Aimee and Leo’s story. It’s also the book where Fiona makes her first appearance. I knew she needed a story of her own the moment I wrote the bagel shop scene in Tables Turned.
https://www.susanneash.com/tablesturned
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
JESS MASTORAKOS
1
LANEY
“I don’t want to go.” It was a simple statement, yet I worked very hard to keep a petulant pout off my lips as I looked at my manager in the mirror’s reflection.
I didn’t miss the little smirk that cropped up on my stylist’s lips as she curled my hair for today’s album cover shoot, and judging by Paisley’s quirked brow, neither did she. “You have to go,” she said as she crossed her arms.
“I don’t have to do anythin’, actually. Perks of being a superstar.”
Jeanie snorted, but Paisley wasn’t amused in the slightest. It was petty, no doubt about it. I didn’t play the superstar card often, but in this case, it felt necessary. I’d say whatever needed saying to get out of going back to my hometown for some utterly ridiculous ten-year high school reunion. I’d do whatever I had to—act like a bratty celebrity, pretend I was too busy even though we both knew next weekend’s calendar was uncommonly clear, even chain myself to Jeanie’s chair and subject myself to weeks of hair spray and glitter torture. An-y-thing.
“Look, Laney.” My manager slash best friend slipped between me and the vanity, putting her all-business face on. “The people of Charlotte Oaks are hoping you’ll be there. They’ve been calling to confirm for months, and we’ve kept pushing them off. But honestly, we should give them a heads-up so we can coordinate security.”
I lifted a shoulder. “You won’t need to coordinate security if I don’t go.”
