The Final Temptation
Men Of Honor Series
K.C. LYNN
The Final Temptation
Copyright © 2015 K.C. LYNN
EPUB Edition
Published by: K.C. LYNN
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form without written permission except for use of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Dear Reader,
Well, here we are, the last book in the
Men Of Honor
series—Kayla and Cooper’s story. I must thank all of you who asked me for their story. I never intended to write one for them, but shortly after
Fighting Temptation
released, and I saw how many of you loved Kayla and Cooper, I knew I would write one. And I am so happy I did. Their story is so different from all the others, but I love it just as fiercely. My other books are filled with suspense and all sorts of heart-wrenching emotions, but I intended for this one to be a light, fun, sexy read. It was a nice change of pace, and I fell even more in love with both Cooper and Kayla.
I have so many feelings as I write this letter to you—excitement, nervousness and a little sadness—because this was the series that started it all for me. It’s the one that brought me such amazing, loyal readers and friends that I know will last a lifetime.
For those of you who have been following me closely you know that even though this is the last book in the
Men Of Honor series
, it is not the last we will be seeing these characters. (Thank goodness, because I’m not ready to let go just yet.)
Acts Of Honor
will be a spin-off series that will consist of five books, Anna and Logan being the first. Feel free to check out my website:
www.authorkclynn.com
Under
Upcoming Books
you will find out more about this series and what is to come. For teasers and sneak peeks make sure to follow my Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/pages/Author-KC-LYNN/575868539173061
I hope you all love Kayla and Cooper’s story as much as me and feel that I did them justice. Thank you for all your love and support. I hope I continue to live up to this pedestal that you have so graciously put me on.
Much Love,
Author K.C. Lynn XO!
This book is dedicated to the star herself, my girl Kayla. Kayla, you have been there for me from the beginning and cheered me on to my success. Who knew that when I wrote you into
Fighting Temptation
, and gave you one hot cop boyfriend, that my readers would fall in love with you and request for you to have your own story? Though I am not surprised, you are easy to love. Thank you for always being there for me. The best thing that ever came out of working at Helius was meeting you.
So without further ado, this is for you.
Love you forever.
Kayla
T
here are certain moments in life that we will remember forever. Some may be a memorable birthday from our childhood, one that stood out a little more than the rest of them; that awkward moment with the first boy you ever kissed; or times with your best friend where you laughed so hard that you cried. Or, in Julia’s and my case, times where I got us into deep shit thanks to my dumb ideas and hot temper. And then there are moments that altered the course of your life. They touched you so deeply that every time you think about them you can still feel what you felt in that moment just as strongly as you did all those years ago.
I’m lucky enough to have a few of those moments, and one of them was the night of my senior prom. Though, not because of my success of getting through twelve years of school—nope. It’s because it was that night when I found out the one guy, who I had been in love with since I was fourteen-years-old, returned my feelings. The same one who lived next door to me and tempted my teenage hormones on a regular basis. He’s a guy that was born with natural good looks, like insane good looks, like so damn sexy that it should be illegal to look that good. He could charm the panties off any girl who came within reach of him…
Don’t think about that part, Kayla.
He was a natural at sports, good in school, and was loved by everyone—still is. You know that term,
the
All-American boy next door?
Well that was Cooper McKay. But the attributes I just listed are only a very small part of why I fell in love with him. The one thing I love most about Cooper—other than his delectable body of course—is his heart. He is the most honorable and courageous man I’ve ever known. A man who puts his life on the line every day, and damn does he look good doing it too, uniform and all…
Head out of the gutter, Kayla.
Okay, in all seriousness, it’s his integrity that made me fall madly in love with him. The way he takes care of me and protects me, my friends and all the other citizens of Sunset Bay. The guy will go to Grams’ senior home every time Gladys thinks someone is stealing her panties for crying out loud. Now how many guys do you know that would do that? None, zero, zip, nada—but my Coop will. We all know the real reason why Gladys calls the good sheriff time and time again, and it ain’t because she thinks anyone is stealing her panties. She just wants to get a look at the goods, and can you really blame her? I most certainly don’t. Though, if she were about forty years younger and looked like Megan Fox, the bitch and I would be having words.
“You look so darn beautiful, Kayla,” Grace says softly, breaking into my thoughts.
I smile at her reflection in the mirror as she stands behind me. “Thanks, Grace.”
Today I will be adding to those memorable moments in my life, because I am finally going to marry the man I’m madly in love with. Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed about this day, and I have to admit, as I look at my reflection, what I see staring back at me is exactly how I pictured myself. With my white, strapless, poufy dress, high veil and classy shoes I feel like a modern-day Cinderella. Add along the plantation we chose, which has a beautiful outdoor garden, and of course my very own prince charming, it’s my dream wedding come true. Although, Cooper is a little more on the rugged side for a prince, but I’ll bet good ol’ prince charming can’t do half of the things Coop can with his mouth…
“Miss Gwace is wight. You wook boutiful,” Ruthie chimes in, cutting off my perverted thoughts.
With a smile I turn around and hunch down to her level. “And you look so beautiful too, Ruthie. Thank you for agreeing to be my flower girl, and thank you for parting with your beanie. I know that must have been difficult. But I promise that as soon as the ceremony and pictures are finished you can put it right back on.”
She gives me a big, gap-toothed grin. “No pwobwem. Da big guy and me talked about it and decided it was a small sacwifice to make fwor just one day.” All of us bite back a chuckle, knowing how serious her and Cade’s beanie obsession is. It’s adorable how much she tries to be just like him.
I look around at the beautiful ladies who surround me in this room, and feel so blessed. Grace, Katelyn and Faith all agreed to be my bridesmaids, while Ruthie and Annabelle are my flower girls. And, of course, Julia is my matron of honor. They all look stunning in their pink, silk, strapless dresses and I know the guys with their pink ties are going to compliment them nicely. I feel my lips tilt with a smirk at the thought. I bet the guys have been grumbling all morning about that, but Coop put up and shut up because it made me happy. One of the other things I love about him so much.
I’m brought out of my thoughts when the bathroom door swings open to reveal a smiling Julia. My heart immediately thrums in anticipation for what she’s about to tell me. “So? What does it say?” I ask, but by her expression I already know the answer.
“It’s positive,” she responds softly.
Silence fills the room as I stare at her. Everyone awaits my reaction, not knowing what to expect. “Positive?” I repeat, making sure I heard her right. She nods. I blow out a heavy breath and feel tears blur my eyes but I hold them back, not wanting to ruin my makeup. Walking over, I snatch the pregnancy test from her and stare at the blue plus sign. “Oh my god. Coop and I are going to have a baby,” I whisper.
The girls remain quiet, trying to gauge my reaction. Katelyn is finally the one to break the silence. “So how do you feel about it?”
I think about it for a moment. “I’m really surprised. I didn’t think it would happen so soon. I just went off the pill last month and I heard it usually takes a while for it to leave your system.” I pause then look up at them all with a smile. “But I’m really happy.”
Everyone rushes over and wraps me in their arms. “Congratulations, Kayla, I’m so happy for both you and Cooper,” Faith says, her voice soft and sincere, as always.
A chorus of agreements follow before Grace breaks in. “I can’t believe we’re gonna have babies together. This is so darn excitin’, Kayla.” Grace and Sawyer just found out last month that not only are they expecting, but they are also having twins.
“I’m so excited that Annabelle is going to have more play buddies,” Julia adds.
“Me too.” I walk over and sit at the end of the bed then stare down at the test, still feeling in utter shock. Although, I guess I shouldn’t. I have suspected this the last few days.
“What do you think Cooper will say?” Katelyn asks as she takes the seat next to me.
I feel bad everyone here knows before him, but when I voiced my suspicion to Grace and Julia early this morning they suggested I take a pregnancy test. The need to know one way or another became so overwhelming that I couldn’t wait. I didn’t want the question on my mind all day.
“I think he will be happy. We talked about not waiting too long, which is why I went off the pill last month, but we also didn’t think it would happen this fast.” I shrug. “I guess it’s meant to be.”
“Coop is going to be ecstatic, I know it,” Julia says with confidence. “Let’s just hope that when you go into labor he and Jaxson aren’t together. Lord knows what would happen after last time.”
We both burst out laughing from the memory of the guys being complete lunatics when Julia went into labor with Annabelle. Everyone looks at us in confusion so we fill them in on what happened. I tell them how they both almost drove off without us because they were in such a mad rush, thinking the baby was just going to fall out of Julia at any given second. It isn’t long before everyone is laughing just as hard as Julia and me.
“How did you and Mistwer Shewiff meet?” Ruthie asks.
I smile at the memory. “He moved in next door to me when I was fourteen-years-old. Then it was hook, line and sinker for that guy.”
“Yeah, about three years later, and with a little push, or should I say shove, from this girl,” Julia says, pointing at me with a giggle.
I shrug but can’t suppress my own chuckle. “What can I say, I’m a persistent one when I want something, and that guy didn’t stand a chance. Little did I know though, he felt the same way.”
“Oh, this sounds like a good story that you must share,” Faith says, taking a seat on the other side of the bed, then lifts Ruthie up to sit on her lap.
“Sure, I’d love to share it with you guys.”
“It’s definitely an entertaining one,” Julia adds as she takes her own seat. Grace follows suit and gets comfortable, then everyone waits for me to begin.
“Okay, as I said, Coop moved in next door to me when I was only fourteen. He was seventeen, and let me tell you, he was as sexy then as he is now. The first day I laid eyes on him—it was a sweltering, hot summer day. He was carrying boxes in from the moving truck, with no shirt on, his bronzed skin and toned muscles were flexing with every…” I trail off and look at Ruthie who watches me with a big smile. Yeah, I’m going to have to be careful how I word this story. “Anyway…” I cut my hand through the air and move on. “As I watched him that day, I told myself I was going to marry him. I didn’t care what it took, I was going to make it happen.” I think about that for a second. “Okay, it sounds kinda creepy right now, but remember, I was fourteen at the time.”