Together Forever Read online

  Together Forever

  (Forever Series #2)

  By

  Vicki Green

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Vicki Green Copyright 2013©

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13:

  No part of this book may not be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without authorization of the Author.

  Cover design by Cover It Designs

  Editor: Kathy Krick.

  *Due to a graphic rape scene, strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.

  Together Forever

  (Forever Series #2)

  ‘Together Forever,

  Never apart, maybe in distance,

  Never in Heart’

  After escaping her ordinary life and following her dream of writing a romance novel, Allie Richard’s finds herself falling in love with her sexy best friend Shane Barton. But all too soon, her past catches up to her, trying to tear their budding romance apart.

  Finally finding the amazing girl of his dreams, Shane Barton races to protect what’s his and will do anything to protect her. This loving, and sexy man is tender to the touch but will fight to keep them together.

  Will Allie and Shane be able to withstand what her past throws at them to put an end to their happiness? Will they ever be able to be Together Forever?

  Dedication

  My Dedication has to be and will always be to my loving Husband, Dean, who have had to put up with my constant writing, my moods of frustration, my frustrations of trying to balance full time work, writing and family, but most of all his confidence and support of my dream to write. He’s always there for me and even though we may, like most families, have our moments but we have always stuck together through them. For that, I am truly the lucky one. ♥

  My boys, Charles (C.J.) and Cole, even though you are teenagers and care more about your games and T.V. than my writing, I am ok with that. ☺ I have always wanted you to have the best time only being a teenager and grow up in total happiness. One day you will look back and be proud of me and what I have accomplished. I know that. Most of all, I know you love me and that’s what matters to me. ♥

  My Sister, Teresa and my nieces, Jennifer and Missy (yeah, still can’t call you Melissa), you are my family and who I love. I know you stand behind my dream and are proud of me as I have always been proud of everything you do. Love you! ♥

  Acknowledgements

  I have so many people to Thank. Heather and Annie, from Morning after a Good Book blog. We are The Three Sexy Bitches! You’ve always encouragement me since I began my writing journey and have never given up on me, believed in me, laughed with me, cried with me and OH, the sexy male models pictures, let’s not forget those. ☺ Seriously, I wouldn’t be anywhere without you!

  A Special Thank You, to Annie for being my pretend Assistant that I will gladly begin paying if and when I ever make it big. You’ve already got that! I am writing this before we’ve headed out on our fantastic trip to my first signing, as an Author, in Springdale, Arkansas but I know, without a doubt, we will have an awesome time! How can we not?

  Kathy, my most awesome Editor. Not only did I get the best Editor but I got a new friend as well. I love our talks on Facebook and am so hoping to meet you one day.

  To all my new Author Friends, you all know who you are. Fuck, you all are the best friends to laugh with to help relieve any and all stress. I am proud to be in your group, the way we pull together to help each other, encourage each other and be there for each other is a-mazing. I ♥ you all and now can’t live without you. Madeline, I owe you for the ‘cunt punt’ saying. See book 3 of the series. ☺ I wish I could name all of you but that would take up the entire book.

  Katrina!!!! After my first book, you helped me get through my first tattoo!! I owe you. I am so glad we are friends and can’t wait for St. Louis!!!!

  Indie Mashup! Can’t wait to get there and meet all of the awesome Author’s attending as well as Tiffany and everyone helping out with the Event. We’re gonna rock that house!

  I think writing acknowledgements is harder than writing the book. There are so many people to thank and I’m always afraid I will leave someone out. But truly, I am the most Thankful for all of you who have helped me and been there for me along the way. Words cannot express my love and gratitude for you!

  My readers, past, present and future, I ♥ you all! I hope you enjoy my book. I wrote it for you!

  Prologue

  My parents divorced when I was 6 and when dad remarried, I got a stepbrother. I was ok with that. Jesse and I became just like real siblings pretty quick. His mom was so loving, sweet and kind. Unlike my mother who wouldn’t let me call her Mom. She is the meanest, most snooty, and pretentious person I have ever known. She really never showed me any affection, just orders. Sit up straight, quit slouching, go to college, eat right, you’re embarrassing me, blah, blah, blah. No I love you’s, no hugging or kissing, just no affection at all. I guess I could have had it worse though and not had parents at all. I do love her. She’s my mother. I feel fortunate to have had parents, to have had a roof over my head and to have had food to eat.

  I am just your average 5’4” short woman, with an average build. My below the shoulder length brown hair, with natural blonde highlights, and dark green eyes aren’t anything to make the guys heads turn. However, Jesse has always told me, “Allie, guys think you’re a gorgeous knockout.” He’s my brother, what does he know? He’s supposed to say that. He knows me all too well and how unlucky I’ve been with relationships. Over the years, I’ve lost count of how many guys he has beaten up who tried to take advantage of me. But, I’m no saint. I’ve had my fair share of smutty nights. I just can’t seem to find a guy who wants me for me. Who wants to take care of me and wants me the way a man should want a woman. I’ve only had that in my dreams, my fantasy world.

  I live that fantasy, though, through all the romance novels I read. I live for them. I love the idea of the knight in shining armor who saves the girl. I love the HOT guy, with muscles and tattoos, who sweeps the girl off her feet and carries her away to live happily ever after. That’s why I am writing a romance novel. I have named it ‘My Heart’s Desire’. It is my dream to become a self-published author of romance. I just have to finish writing it.

  My day job is running my dad’s orthopedic office. He’s a surgeon for the rich and famous in Los Angeles, so his office is always busy and packed with patients. The problem is, it’s not what I want to do with my life, but I’ve been too scared to leave and follow my dream. Like most dads, he thinks my writing is not a good career choice, so there’s been no encouragement there. So I stayed put, and I hate every minute of it.

  Strange events have happened that helped me make my decision to take the chance and leave my boring life behind. Jesse saved a kidnapped girl, Cassie. I admired her after all she’d been through. They fell in love and moved to a small town in Kansas, where Cassie lived before. I packed up my things, drained my savings account and drove straight through until I got to their house. I lived with them for a couple of months until I could find my own place. They are having twins and just got married. I found this great condo across town that I could afford without having to get a job, for a while.

  I met my best friends in that town. Lana is Cassie’s coworker. She’s a waitress at The Sweet Café by day and a blogger on Facebook by night. She happens to promote romance authors and their books. She has read the draft of my romance novel and has been pus
hing me to finish it. With her help, I will get the encouragement needed to get it done and publish it.

  My other best friend is Shane Barton. He’s a tattoo artist and he did my first tattoo of an everlasting love emblem on the back of my shoulder. He has muscles in all the right places. Tattoos adorn one of his arms and he has his own everlasting love tattoo over his heart. His sandy brown hair falls to his shoulders. He has dark brown eyes that almost look black at times, and a body that makes me (and any girl around him) drool. He’s a year older than me but has a smooth baby face that makes him look younger. But alas, we are best buds.

  About 8 months after I got settled in my condo, Shane and I got a lot closer. No, I wouldn’t call it a relationship, just friends with benefits. Although, the benefits haven’t included any lovemaking or fucking or whatever you want to call it. He’s so sweet and good to me and hasn’t pushed me to go any further. I’m almost scared because I’ve never had that before, someone who actually treats me right and cares for me. I’m just waiting for the proverbial floor to drop out from under me.

  We have so much fun when we are together, and he spends most evenings at my place. We lazy around and either talk or watch TV. Sometimes we’ll go out bowling or go to the movies, but we do most things together. We’ve talked a lot but really he has never opened up to me much about his past. I only know that he bought Barton’s Bar from his dad and made it into one of the best places to go in town. Tucker Williams, his best friend and fellow tattoo artist, plays in a band at the bar.

  Tuck, as we all call him, is your sexy, hot rocker with tattoos. With dark curly hair that sweeps past his face and muscles in all the right places that make the young girls swoon. He’s the typical ‘bad ass’ kind of guy due to his young age of 22 and with a horrible childhood stemming from his druggy parents. But Tuck is overall a great guy, just a bit cocky is all.

  I love how my life has turned around with my new friends who I call family now. This is my life now, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m a lucky girl!

  Chapter One

  Three months after Cassie and Jesse’s wedding, I am sitting outside the hospital with a cup of horrible cafeteria coffee (they don’t even have mocha), waiting for the delivery of my new niece and nephew. She ended up carrying them full term, which is somewhat rare for a pregnancy with twins. She did end up going into labor eight days early. Today is December 17th. Her due date was the 25th. I’m glad because I would have hated them being born on Christmas.

  Cassie is doing great, but she’s exhausted from hours of labor. She barely let me go to have a much needed break. Jesse is such a great man, staying by her side every minute, waiting on her hand and foot and loving on her. I am a bit jealous. Sigh. I’m not sure there will ever be that ‘Mr. Right’ for me.

  My thoughts move to Shane. Ok, so I think about him just about every waking minute. Sue me. We’ve gotten somewhat serious, at least for me. We fool around a lot but have never made love, if that’s what we would call it. I know he cares for me deeply. Do I love him? I feel so much for him, and I think I do, but I’m so afraid of his rejection, so I try not to go there. At least not right now.

  I awake from my daydream when someone sits next to me on a bench outside, nudging my shoulder. “Hey, there, chickie! Why so glum?” Lana asks.

  I sigh and give her my best smile. “Oh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking about how awesome of an aunt I’m gonna be.” I smirk, while winking. She starts laughing and I mean knee bending, hold your sides, laughing. “Ok! It’s not that funny, geez.” Now I am the one nudging her shoulder.

  Lana snorts, “Sorry! Sorry! Oh my god that was so fucking funny. I couldn’t help myself.” She calms down and gives me her sweet smile, putting her arm around my shoulder. “No, seriously. You will make the most awesome aunt in the world. Because you are awesome.” With her arm still around me, she begins to rub my arm, giving me a concerned look. “Now, what’s up? When I came out here you looked really sad.”

  I lay my head on her shoulder and sigh. “It’s just— I’m so happy for Jesse and Cassie and I can’t wait to meet my niece and nephew, but— I dunno. I guess I’m just a little jealous. I would love to have a lasting relationship, love, romance, all that. It just never works out for me.” I sit up straight and shake my head trying to clear out the self-pity feeling. I look over at her and nod. “Ok, enough of this! Let’s go upstairs and push Cassie into having those twins!” She nods back as we both stand and head inside, arm in arm.

  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

  “OMG! Get them OUT!” Cassie screamed. She had been pushing for what seems like hours. Actually, it had been. She lies back in the bed, panting, while Jesse wipes her brow and tells her how great she is doing. I, on the other hand, am standing next to the bed with my hand squeezed to death like it was in a vice. Why did I say I would be here with her while she delivered? Oh, yeah. Because I’m a great aunt and sister-in-law. UGH!

  Cassie begins pushing again and finally, a baby emerges. “It’s a boy!” Dr. Zellar announces. The nurse wraps him in a blanket and hands him to Jesse. He bends down by Cassie to show her their son.

  “UNGH!” Cassie sits up quickly and is pushing again. After Jesse hands his son to the nurse, he’s back by Cassie’s side wiping her brow again and holding her hand. A few minutes pass, and their baby girl is wailing as the doctor helps her out of the womb. Cassie lays back down, smiling and softly whispering her ‘I love you’s’ to Jesse. He is kissing her head and giving her his love back. So sweet!

  I am tugging on my hand to get it out of Cassie’s grip when she turns her head my way and releases my hand. “Oh, sorry, Allie. I guess you were my lifeline.” She smiles apologetically to me. I put my other hand on her arm and smile. “It’s ok. It’s been an honor to be your lifeline. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

  I am flexing my hand trying to get the blood to flow back to my fingers when the nurse rolls two bassinets over to the other side of Cassie’s bed. Jesse reaches in, picks up his daughter, who they named Hannah and hands her to Cassie. He looks at her, pride clearly on his face. I walk over to them bending over to look at my nephew Harley. This is making me want a baby so bad. Someone to love and cherish, who would love me back unconditionally. I wish I had enough guts to tell Shane how I feel about him, to take our friendship to the next level.

  “Go on, Aunt Allie. Pick up your nephew,” Jesse grins, bringing me out of my thoughts. My smile couldn’t be any bigger as I pick him up and cradle him. “Hi, little guy. I’m your Aunt Allie.” I take his little hand with my fingers. He proceeds to grab a hold of one. I turn to Cassie and smirk. “Hmmm, I see he has his mother’s grip.”

  She laughs at me. “Ha! Very funny. Just wait until the day YOU go through this. You’ll be glad that I am there for you to squeeze the life out of MY hand.”

  I laugh, “Oh, don’t worry, IF I ever go through this, you will definitely be right there next to me and your hand will need an ice pack afterwards.”

  Once I hand my nephew back to Jesse I watch them coo and cuddle with their babies. Jesse is sitting on the bed next to Cassie as she kisses on Hannah. I sigh. Maybe someday. Oh, who am I kidding? I don’t think that’s in the cards for me. Maybe Shane doesn’t want me that way. Maybe I’m just fooling myself into thinking he does. Why would he? I certainly don’t have the best track record. Anytime I’ve ever gotten serious with a guy, they dump me immediately and run away as fast as they can. There must be something wrong with me.

  It wasn’t too long after the birth’s that Stella and the whole crew from the Café came to visit. The room seems too small with everyone there. “I’m just going to go take a walk to get some fresh air. I’ll be right back.” I announce and turn to leave.

  “Allie! It’s freezing outside! It is December you know.” Cassie yells as I put my coat on. I turn to her and laugh. “Uh, duh! I know that, silly. I won’t be long.” And with that I leave the room to head outside.

  I walk out the front entrance of the
hospital and literally run smack into a strong and hard chest. “Oomph,” my yell muffled. His arms around me, steadying me as I teeter to stay upright. I automatically wrap my arms around his waist.

  “Sorry, love. I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Shane says breathing into my hair. He seems to be sniffing me. I’d like to sniff and touch all over his body right now. He makes me want to do things I’ve never done before. He makes me want him so badly.

  Shane and I haven’t really talked about our friendship or whatever this is. We do hold hands, a lot, and we love to sit on my couch and neck while pretending to watch TV. I know we have deep feelings for each other. I’m just not sure how deep they go, yet. Well, I know how deep mine go, it’s his I’m unsure of.

  He finally lets me go and I step back. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?” He asks.

  “I was just getting some much needed fresh air. The gangs all in Cassie’s room and it was getting stuffy,” I smirk. “I’ve been here all day without many breaks so I’m entitled,” I say as I cross my arms. And I needed a smoke after all the long hours and anticipation. I know I need to quit but with all the stress in my life, I just can’t do it now.

  He mimics my stance and laughs. “You’re coming out here to sneak a durry. Aren’t you?” He says, shaking his head at me.

  “Shane, didn’t you say a durry was a rolled cigarette?” He nods. “I don’t roll them. I buy them. I just smoke one occasionally and now is a great occasion. Hannah and Harley were just born.” I look at him sternly. “You’re a fine one to talk. You smoke all the time.”

  Looking down, he kicks the ground with his foot and clears his throat. “Well, yes, I know I smoke too much, and I’m gonna try to cut down— I mean, quit. Soon, I swear!” He looks back up and gazes into my eyes. Grinning like a Cheshire cat, the dimple in his cheek grows deeper the wider his smile gets. Ugh! I can’t even stay mad at him when he looks at me like that. He’s just too gorgeous and takes my breath away! I want to embed my tongue in that dimple while I am doing other things to his body. Is it wrong of me to want to push him down right here and ravage his body? Ok, maybe a public showing isn’t such a good idea. But, I can dream!