The noise around us quieted and I knew all eyes were on me. But I didn’t worry so much about that anymore. She was what mattered.
“Leah Mae Larkin, will you do the honor of being my wife?”
Her face glowed in the firelight, the flames reflecting off her smooth skin. “Yes, Jameson Bodine. I will.”
I took out the ring and slipped it on her finger. Everyone around us exploded with cheers. Whoops and hollers. Her smile was like the sun. I stood and picked her up, lifting her feet from the ground. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders as I twirled her in a circle, then set her down.
Keeping my arms around her, I kissed her again. Tasted her sweet lips. Those lips I was going to keep kissing, until the two of us were old and gray.
I held her close and kept right on kissin’ her. Because damn it, I loved this woman with everything I had. Maybe I wouldn’t always know what I was doing, but I knew one thing: I was going to spend the rest of my life loving her and letting her love me right back.
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AFTERWORD
Dear Reader,
Can we all just pack up and live in Bootleg Springs? Who’s with me?
I can’t even tell you how much I’ve loved working on this series with Lucy. Okay, I can, and I’m going to try. We’ve had so much fun planning this out, creating these characters, and plotting (maniacally? never) the mystery.
Jameson had a special place in my heart from the beginning. I knew he was quiet and unassuming, but there was a world inside of him. He’s a little damaged, but he feels things very deeply. He just needed the right woman to bring it out in him, and make him believe opening up to someone was worth the risk to his heart.
Leah Mae thought she was living her dream. We don’t see a lot of her life before she comes home to Bootleg, but it was full of jet-setting around the world. Walking in fashion shows. Starring in photo shoots. It was what she’d always wanted. But sometimes childhood dreams don’t turn out to be so great once you’re living them.
Bootleg Springs has a special magic, and it brought these two childhood friends back together. And they realized there was a whole lot more.
I enjoyed writing Jameson and Leah Mae’s story so much. Since I was following Lucy’s book, Whiskey Chaser, I felt like I had to really up my game. Lucy is an amazing writer, and her world building, dialogue, and comedy are so fantastic. I had to stretch myself as a writer to hopefully meet the very high standards she set in book one. But it was a good challenge, and one that’s helped me grow as a writer.
I hope you enjoyed this second installment in the Bootleg Springs series! There’s definitely more to come. This will be a six book series, and the mystery of Callie Kendall will span all six books. Yes, you’ll find out the truth, and yes, there will be more clues along the way.
But no, I won’t tell you the secrets now.
If you want to keep in touch, join my newsletter, or come hang out in my Facebook reader group, Alpha Ever After.
Thanks for reading!
CK
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To Lucy, for joining me on this crazy moonshiney adventure. Cheers, my friend! *clinks glasses from across the country
To Cassy Roop, for giving our series such beautiful covers.
To Elayne, for cleaning up my words.
To Nikki and Jodi, for taking time out of your busy schedules to beta read this crazy book and make sure I didn’t do anything stupid.
To David, for not making fun of me too much when I started saying y’all. And for always making me coffee and giving me chocolate.
To all our readers, you lovely people are the absolute best and I hope we can both continue to share the crazy, fun, sexy, and sometimes wild musings of our brains with you.