Now And Forever: Novella (Canyon Creek, Co. Book 5.5) Read online

  “God help her for either,” Sally said with a groan.

  Devlin laughed, holding out her hand to the older woman. Sally grabbed it and squeezed. They shared a look that Devlin hoped spoke to Sally’s heart.

  “Cut,” Sally said, dropping her hand.

  “You ready?” Max asked, his hand holding the knife.

  Devlin swallowed, a bit nervous but nodded. She wrapped her own hand around the knife and pressed the blade into the cake.

  Devlin held her breath. “You ready, Daddy?”

  “Ready, Mommy.” Max winked.

  Together they slid the piece out. Devlin squeezed her eyes shut.

  “What the hell?” Lily said.

  Devlin heard everyone move forward. Slowly she opened one eye, looking down at the cake. The center was white, not blue or pink. She stared up at Max, her brows furrowed before she turned and stared at Sally.

  Sally shrugged and pointed at Max.

  “What…what happened?” Devlin asked.

  Max smiled. “You said you really didn’t want to know so I told Aunt Sally not to reveal it.”

  “Are you serious?” Her voice squeaked.

  “What?” Max’s face contorted. “That’s what you said.”

  “Well, maybe I changed my mind.” She smacked at his chest. “I’m pregnant, damnit. I say things all the time and then change my mind ten minutes later.”

  Oh, God, this was their first fight as husband and wife, and it was happening right in front of their guests.

  “Sorry,” he said, having the good sense to look chastened.

  Devlin whirled on Sally. “What did the envelope from the doctor say?”

  “Your big lug of a husband threatened me with bodily harm if I told.”

  “I did not,” Max said.

  “You threatened to take down all my Journey posters if I told.”

  Max nodded. “That I did do.”

  Devlin’s head turned back and forth between the two, making her dizzy. “But…but…”

  “It will be a surprise, just like you wanted,” Max said, smiling.

  She stood, dumbfounded, and a little disappointed if she were honest.

  “Well, eat the cake,” Lily said. “Abbie, come close and get some pictures.” She cut the piece in half and held the plate up to Devlin. She took one half and Max took the other.

  “I love you, Minx.” Max smiled.

  “Love you, too.”

  “Oh, don’t be disappointed. We’ll find out soon enough. Open your mouth.”

  Devlin opened her jaw wide and Max shoved in a huge piece of cake.

  “Max,” she tried to protest but he didn’t relent. Instead he bent low, whispering in her ear.

  “I’m going to have to buy a lot of bats and keep them around the house to beat off all the boys who come after our girls. Especially if they look like their mother.”

  Devlin stepped back. “Girls,” she said through her mouthful of cake.

  “Girls,” Max nodded, smiling wide. “Heaven help me, we’re having girls.”

  About the Authors

  Hi! it's Lori here. We could do the boring old bio stuff here—and we will—but, first, I want to tell you about the two of us.

  Me and Kay, Kay and me, we're besties and buddies and soulmates and the mostest of everything. We occasionally have to do some serious marriage-counseling-type negotiations when we get into creative differences, but most of the time, writing with Kay is a BLAST! I love, love, love what we create when we get together. When we first started talking about writing books together, I didn't imagine it would be this great.

  I'm so dang proud of the books and series we've put together. The heroes are steamy and sexy, the heroines strong and powerful...and, maybe, a little goofy, like me and Kay. We hope you love the people of Canyon Creek as much as we do. We hope you love coming back to the town and visiting again and again. We hope you want to stay there forever. We do.

  Now, here's the regular bio stuff I promised, along with links to each of our websites where you can find the stuff we write separately, in case you can't get enough of us!

  Lori Ryan is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense. She lives with an extremely understanding husband, three wonderful children, and two mostly-behaved dogs in Austin, Texas. It’s a bit of a zoo, but she wouldn’t change a thing.

  Lori published her first romance novel in April of 2013 and has loved every bit of the crazy adventure this career has taken her on since then. She is a hybrid author, publishing both independently and through SilverHart Publishing.

  To see what Lori writes on her own, visit her website at www.loriryanromance.com.

  In addition to being an author, Kay Manis is also a wife and mom. She lives with her husband and daughter in the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin, Texas. In January of 2012, after listening to Kay blather on and on about the millions of book ideas floating around in her head, her daughter finally reached her limit and said, “Just write it Mom!” They were the four most important words to Kay's new career and a catalyst for everything she's done since. In other words, she owes it all to her daughter! If you ask Kay, she'll tell you she can’t thank her daughter enough for her motivating words and belief that Kay could do more with her talents.

  To see what Kay writes on her own, visit her website at www.kaymanis.com.