Kissing Kendall (19 page)

“I
do
understand,” she said, holding back a smile. “Because I can’t go back to being just friends with you either.”

His gaze slid away from her. “Well, we agree on that much at least.”

“I hope we agree on more than that,” she said, carefully taking his still-bandaged hand between her own. “Maybe this isn’t the time or place, but I don’t know when I’ll ever have the courage to tell you that I love you. That I’m
in
love with you. I think I have been for a much longer time than I was willing to admit to myself. You were right. I was afraid of my feelings for you. Afraid to risk my heart. I used your accident as an excuse to break things off, only it was too late. You already had my heart.”

“Kendall—”

“Will you marry me?” she blurted.

Elinore gasped behind her, and the nurse let out a contented sigh, crossing her arms and leaning into the doorway.

Brad stiffened. “Wait. You’re asking
me
to marry
you
?”

She took a deep breath but could only nod.

He dipped his head, but not before she caught the dazed look in his eyes. “You have to forgive me while I let this soak in a minute,” he murmured, scratching his head. “It’s not every day a man gets a marriage proposal from his ex-girlfriend while his sister’s in labor.”

Oh, God! He was right. Her timing couldn’t be worse. Tears pricked her eyes, and her chest suddenly grew heavy. “Is that a no?” she asked.

He looked up at her question then reached out to smooth her hair. Her flesh prickled at his touch, and she felt a ripple of excitement as he shifted closer and kissed her forehead, kissed the tip of her nose, then slowly brought his lips to hers. She lost herself in his mouth, savoring every glorious moment. Their kiss went deeper, and deeper still, until her head was swimming. When he finally pulled back, he smiled into her eyes. “That’s a
yes
,” he answered.

Elinore snorted. “I’ll say.”

Brad cocked his head over Kendall’s shoulder. “Don’t you have a grandbaby to see?”

“Oh, right!” The woman popped up from her seat, but before she walked away, she leaned into them and grinned. “I’m so happy for you two. I hope you have a long and prosperous marriage.”

“Thank you,” Brad said. He turned and looked directly into Kendall’s eyes, his face right above hers. “That’s the plan.” Then he sealed that vow with another kiss.

Happiness filled her and she couldn’t hold back a grin. For so long she’d been afraid to move forward with her life, afraid to take another chance on love. She didn’t know what the future had in store for them, but she was willing to take whatever they were handed. It felt so good to finally let go and accept, to enjoy and revel in the wave of pure joy that coursed through to her soul.

“Yes,” she said, smiling into his eyes, “that’s exactly the plan. But we’ll take however long we get.”

Epilogue

One year later

Kendall took a tentative taste of her newest Bavarian cream recipe and frowned.
Hmm…definitely needs more vanilla bean
. She’d have to remember that when she remade the custard in the bakery next week.

She was about to untie her apron when two warm, masculine arms snaked around her waist. “He’s finally asleep,” Brad whispered in her ear.

Kendall grinned. “See? I knew all John needed was some quality time with his uncle before he could go to sleep.”

She and Brad were left in charge of their little nephew, John, while Georgie and Walt were on a weekend getaway. Apparently, John had already gotten into the bedtime routine of having Brad read
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
three times in a row every night. And Brad was too much of a softie to disappoint him.

Brad spun her around. With a wicked gleam in his eyes, he linked his fingers around her back. “Must run in the family, because now I need some quality time with my wife before
I
can go to sleep.” He leaned in and began pressing light kisses along her jaw.

She and Brad hadn’t waited to get married. They’d made a pact not to waste any time that they could be together, and with Grammy’s approval, they had a small ceremony at city hall. Brad had still gone to Quantico for classes soon after. It had been hard to be separated from him during that time, but with Grammy helping out in the bakery, Kendall managed to visit him a lot and make it work for them.

“That sounds good,” she said with a sigh. “Be careful you don’t wake the baby.”

“I won’t make a peep,” he said, nuzzling her neck.

She chuckled and swatted his arm. “Let me wrap up this pudding first.”

Brad’s head popped up. “Pudding?”

Her lips twitched. “My, how easily distracted you are.”

“I can’t help it,” he said with a sigh. “I think it’s all the time I’m spending with a toddler. Must be rubbing off.”

“Well, now you can understand why Georgie and Walt needed this couple’s time alone together. It’ll be good for them.” She hesitated, placing both her hands on her flat abdomen, and smiled slowly. “Besides, I’m sure after our baby is born, they’ll be happy to reciprocate.”

Brad stuck his finger in the bowl and scraped up some pudding. “Yeah, but—” He froze, and pudding plopped to the floor as his finger hung in midair. “Wait. What?” He grabbed a napkin and wiped his hand, never allowing his gaze to leave her. “Kendall, did you say after
our
baby is born?”

She nodded, excitement wiping away her ability to speak. A baby. She and Brad were going to have a baby. For so long she’d wanted to have a family of her own, and now they were finally going to be blessed with one.

“That’s fantastic!” Before she registered what was happening, Brad swept her up in his arms and spun her around. He set her back on her feet and pressed his mouth to hers. “Is it a boy or girl?” he murmured against her lips.

“Well, I hope so.” She laughed. “That’s all I know at this point.”

“That’s okay. That’s enough for now.” He grinned and added, “Every time I think I can’t love you more, you go and surprise me. I’m forever thankful you didn’t play it safe when it came to giving us a chance.”

She grinned up at him. “Well, a wise man once told me that if a person plays it safe all the time, that person could miss out on something truly wonderful.”

“Ah, yes. And was I—er, that wise man right?”

She shifted so she could cup his face between her palms. “You tell me.” Then she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a heartfelt kiss.

Kendall’s Doughnut Muffins Recipe

Muffin:

1 ¾ cup flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup oil

¾ cup sugar

1 egg

¾ cup milk 

Topping:

½ cup melted butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate larger bowl, combine oil, vanilla, sugar, egg, and milk.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix just until all combined.

Spoon the batter into prepared muffins—either a lightly greased muffin tin or line with paper or silicone muffin cups.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. While muffins are baking, prepare your topping. Melt butter in one bowl and mix cinnamon and sugar in another.

Remove muffins from pan while still hot.

Dip muffins in melted butter. Then roll muffins in sugar mixture.

Serve warm or cool on rack.

Store for a day or so at room temperature. (If they last that long!)

Makes about 8 to 12 muffins

Acknowledgments

I want to thank my hubby, Jeff, who is a
complete
saint about me spending more time with my hero than I spend with him while I’m on deadline.

To the gals over at Passionate Critters, especially Robin, Bethanne, Joyce, Debora, Cyn, and Sutton: thanks for reading, critiquing, and actually liking my story. And thank you to Melissa McClone for all your help and expert opinions.

Thanks to my brother, Frank, and my neighbor Chad for answering all those pesky police questions, and to my friend Jane who answered all my bakery questions (and for all the free doughnuts you’ve given me over the years too!).

Special thanks to my editor Stacy Abrams and her assistant editor Alycia Tornetta. Both of you helped to make my book a
thousand
times better than it would have been otherwise.

And lastly, to everyone over at Entangled Publishing: I love the camaraderie and support. It’s been a pleasure to be a part of the team!

About the Author

Jennifer Shirk has a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy—which has in
no way
at all helped her with her writing career. But she likes to point it out, since it shows that romantic-at-hearts come in all shapes, sizes, and
mind-numbing
educations.

She writes sweet (and sometimes even funny) romances for Samhain Publishing, Avalon Books/Montlake Romance, and now Entangled Publishing. She won third place in the 2006 RWA/NYC’s Kathryn Hayes Love and Laughter Contest with her first book,
The Role of a Lifetime.

Lately she’s been on a serious exercise kick. But don’t hold that against her.
http://www.jennifershirk.com/

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