Thrown Down (Made in Jersey #2)(54)

“We’re going to buy ourselves a house, Riv. For Marcy. For us.” He turned in her hold, sliding their mouths together. “It won’t be long.”

“I don’t care how long it takes, or how many hours we have to work.” The ends of her blonde hair tickled his shoulders. “We already have everything worth working for. The rest is extra.”

Needing more contact—always, always—Vaughn stooped down, wedging a forearm beneath River’s ass and lifting her against his body. He tilted his hips forward a little to remind her they would be meeting in the machine room on their mutual lunch break, and she nodded in unspoken agreement.

“We’re going to get caught someday.” Her laugh was shaky, even as her legs wrapped around his waist. “We can’t keep—”

“Can’t?” Vaughn lifted an eyebrow and emitted a low growl. “Don’t you know better by now than to tell me I can’t do something, doll?”

“Maybe I do.” River’s tongue slid across the fullness of her bottom lip, challenge lighting in the eyes he saw in his dreams, even with her sleeping right beside him. “Maybe telling my husband he can’t do something is how I guarantee the opposite.”

He took a few steps and propped River up against the wall, swallowing the moan she let loose. “Crafty woman.”

She tore away from the kiss, a teasing smile curling the edges of her mouth. “You can’t blow me a kiss at the end of your speech this morning. You can’t let me pack you a lunch with a cute note on the napkin…and show all your friends—”

Their warm chuckles were lost in the ensuing tongue kiss, but kicked back up when Vaughn tickled River’s ribs with his fingertips. “You’re abusing your power. It should be used for good, not evil.”

“Yeah?” River whispered, her sweet smile turning dreamy. “You can’t love me forever. You can’t sleep beside me every night for the rest of my life.”

Vaughn heaved a breath into his wife’s soft neck. “Aw, doll. Just try and stop me.”



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Acknowledgments

Thank you to so many people.

Patrick and Mackenzie, loves of my life. Like River, Vaughn and Marcy, we are also a really special work in progress and I treasure every minute we spend yelling, laughing and collapsed from exhaustion.

Heather Howland, my editor at Entangled. We’ve done so many books together and this rhythm of editing stories has become such a comforting process. We’ve come a long way from swapping POVs, removing the weird NA storylines and making my heroes sound less like stalkers (read: Protecting What’s His).

Christine, my aunt. For being the most badass single mother I know, putting yourself through night school while raising a child and holding down a full time job—you inspired this story.

Stephanie Lapensee, my publicist at Inkslinger. I appreciate your time and energy so much. What an unexpected bonus that you like the books!

Sara Eirew, photographer extraordinare. This cover is divine, because of your talent.

Eagle, beta reader, endangered bird. You say nice things. I like them.

Bailey’s Babes, my FB reader’s group. I love our fun, not-so-little club and its positivity. For a friendship founded on bulge pics, we are pretty damn mighty.