Anyone But Rich (Anyone But..., #1)(78)

“Nothing. I just don’t want it to be weird anymore.”

“You’re sure some part of you isn’t trying to play matchmaker? Do you realize what kind of chaos we’d be dealing with if my brothers were dating Iris and Miranda? Can you imagine holidays?”

I felt my eyes widen a little. “You’re right. What the hell am I doing?”

He kissed my forehead. “You’re being you. Being adorable and thoughtful. And a little reckless. You’re being the girl I couldn’t resist marrying.”

It didn’t matter how many times he kissed me or how many displays of affection he showed. I always melted inside. There was something inherently sexy and heartwarming about a man as big and imposing as Rich could be showing tenderness.

“Speaking of adorable and thoughtful,” I said. “I was lying when I said I just brought you up here to be a driving buddy. I actually wanted to do something kind of sappy.”

Rich grinned. “I like you when you get sappy.”

“Well, since this was where I promised I’d never date you again, I thought this would be an appropriate place to promise I’ll always love you.” I felt sort of silly as soon as I said it, and it didn’t help that Rich looked like he was holding back laughter. “What?” I demanded. I swatted at his chest in annoyance that he’d laugh at me when I was putting myself out there like that, but of course, he caught my hand.

“It’s just that your last promise up here didn’t go so well. How about we start a new tradition and say fuck all the promises. We don’t need them. We’ve got each other, and we’ve got the way we feel. We’ll always have that.”

“Damn it,” I said under my breath. “That was way better than my sappy thing.”

Rich laughed. “It was a competition?”

“No. But I wanted to win.”

“Too bad. And as the honorary winner, I’m ready to claim my prize.”

Rich took me by the waist and lifted me. I squealed in surprise as he carried me to the hood of the car and set me down on my ass. “There. You’re mine now. All mine.”





AUTHOR’S NOTE

Thank you so much for reading Anyone but Rich! This was the first book I’ve ever worked on with Montlake Romance or any traditional publisher, and I absolutely loved the experience. So I want to extend a sincere thank-you to everyone at Montlake who helped with editing and marketing and who also let me stretch my deadlines once or twice to make Anyone but Rich happen. I also want to thank them for believing in my writing enough to trust me to write not just one book with them, but three.

Please don’t forget to review on Amazon, whether you loved the book or not. Also, keep an eye out for Anyone but Cade and Anyone but Nick, which will be coming up next!

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It has been an absolutely crazy, up-and-down journey that has left me thinking I’d made a terrible mistake more than once. Whether my books do well or not, I always try to learn something from the last book and improve on it in the next. Every book is an opportunity to get better and grow as an author, and I’ll never waste that chance.

I’ll never stop being grateful to every single person who has read my books and helped me turn this crazy dream of mine into a reality. I’ll always appreciate that when my daughters are old enough to understand, I’ll be able to show them what happens when you set aside your fears and go after what you want. I stop almost every day just to look around and let it sink in: I’m an author. My “job” is to write books, entertain people, and take my imagination for a spin. I get to wear socks all day—pants optional—and I get to spend more time with my family than I could in any other career.

When you read my book, you played a part in making that happen, and I hope I was able to return the favor by telling you a great story. Thank you so much!

—Penelope Bloom