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The epic romance between an all-American beauty and her Aussie continues in this final installment of The Beauty Series.
Jack McLachlan is fulfilled by more than he dared to dream possible. He finds everything he never knew he wanted—or needed—in Laurelyn Prescott, his last and final companion. Life is beautiful with his beloved by his side but their post-wedded bliss is cut short when his dark past springs into their present happiness. He wants to shelter Laurelyn but keeping her untainted by his previous life proves impossible when yesterday’s sins insist on returning to haunt him. Will it be possible for them to find happiness in their forever with a past like his? Beauty From Love is an adult contemporary novel and is not intended for younger readers due to mature content.
Chapter One
Laurelyn McLachlan
This is an unprecedented moment. I’m awake before Jack Henry, studying his sleeping figure—it’s a fine one—but that’s not what makes this morning a new experience. I’m waking next to him as my husband.
Wow. I did it. I married a man who propositioned me a year ago, asking me to be his companion for three months. His idea of our pairing deciphered into something much different back then—an offer of noncommittal sex in exchange for the time of my life. Translation? I agreed to be his whore. There, I admit it, and it was the best decision I’ve ever made regardless of what kind of label we place upon it. Now he’s my husband—forever mine—and I couldn’t be happier.
No number fourteen for him. Ever.
We began as strangers—as most couples do—but our beginning was so much more complicated. That simple word makes me giggle each time I hear or say it now. There’s never a time I don’t recall the freakish control my husband displayed when he told me he was a man who didn’t do complicated. Damn, was he ever wrong. I turned his world on its head. To know I hold that power over him makes me feel invincible. And adored.
Some would consider our inception into this whirlwind a perverted one. Even I did in the beginning, but then we became so much more than either of us intended. Now we’re Mr. and Mrs. Jack Henry McLachlan and this is the beginning of the rest of our lives. We’re setting out into the world to write our own story—in stone, never sand.
Chapter Two
Jack Henry McLachlan
I once thought I didn’t want a wife and kids but it was because I hadn’t met the right person. Everything is different now—I’m married to the perfect woman and I can’t wait until she becomes the mother of my children.
I’m glad L asked me why I was anxious to begin our family. I’m not sure I would’ve ever been brave enough to volunteer that information. Fear. It’s not something a man likes to admit but that’s the beauty of my relationship with L. I can tell her anything.
She turns in my arms and kisses me between words. “You. Are. Amazing.”
“I’m glad you think so since it seems you’re stuck with me for the rest of our lives.”
“Happily stuck by choice. There’s a difference.”
I watch the sun dance on her face as the palm trees above move in the breeze. A shorter strand of hair at her temple has escaped her grasp and I tuck it behind her ear. “Are you truly happy?”
“It isn’t possible for me to be happier than I am in this moment.”
I grasp her face and look into her golden-brown eyes. I see her sincerity and know her words are true. She didn’t marry me for any reason other than her love for me, so Laurelyn Paige Prescott McLachlan is a woman to be treasured. “Nor could I.”
I lean down to scoop her from the ground and she squeals. “I think it’s time I carried my bride across the threshold. I want you to see the rest of the house.”
I turn the knob and gently push the door open with my foot. L is like a wide-eyed child. I return her to her feet and her head oscillates slowly as she takes it all in.
The floor plan is open so she’s able to see the living room along with the kitchen and dining room. She says nothing and I can’t tell if she likes it or not. “What are you thinking?”
“How much I love you,” she says, propelling herself into my arms for a kiss. “You take care of me,” she says against my mouth. “No one’s ever done that before.”
Georgia resides in rural Mississippi with her wonderful husband, Jeff, and their two beautiful daughters. She spent fourteen years as a labor and delivery nurse before she decided to pursue her dream of becoming an author and hasn’t looked back yet. When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about writing. When she’s being domestic, she’s listening to her iPod and visualizing scenes for her current work in progress. Every story coming from her always has a song to inspire it.
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