This excerpt is from UNEXPECTED, book 3 in the Masonville small town romance series. Ben Grayson faces losing custody of his stepdaughters to their grandparents. Sophie and Bella mean everything to him, and he can't imagine life without them. In his desperation, he begins making plans to run away with them. But when he meets his new neighbor, Jamie Garven, her kindness to the girls and to him make him hope he has an alternative to running.
“Is there anything I can say to make you change your mind about running away?”
“Say you’ll marry me.”
The words were out of his mouth before he knew he was going to say them. Jamie stared at him, eyes wide.
“What?”
“Marry me. You’re the only woman I’d trust with my girls.”
It suddenly made sense. If Jamie married him he could keep his kids.
She jumped to her feet, waking one of the dogs who’d been sleeping on the couch next to her. “What kind of marriage do you want, Ben? Are you proposing something for show?”
“No! I don’t know!” He stood and grasped her arms. “If you’re asking me if we’ll sleep together as man and wife, I don’t know.”
Her mouth twisted as if she was holding back tears. “You know I love the girls, but please don’t ask me to pretend. The last few months of my marriage, all I did was pretend. I pretended I had a husband who loved me. I swore I’d never do that again.”
Ben wanted to take her in his arms and hold her. He hated doing this to her, hated making her relive unhappy memories. He was asking too much of her and he didn’t blame her for saying no.
“Please, forget I said anything.”
He’d stick to his original plan. He and the girls would disappear. He’d change their names, go someplace where no one knew them. A life on the run wasn’t what he wanted for his children, but he’d do whatever he needed to do to keep them.
“Ben—”
“I’m sorry, Jamie.”
Ben was out the door before he could hear anymore of her objections.
Buy Links:
Wild Rose Press ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon CA ~ Amazon UK ~ Amazon de ~ Amazon fr ~ B & N ~ iBooks ~ Google Play ~ Kobo US ~ Kobo CA ~ BookBub ~ Goodreads
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/Unexpected-by-Jana-Richards
Wonderful snippet!
Oooh, love the snippet and the characters.