Same Time Next Year Read Free

to reserve room 510 again a
year from now, please.”
    “Yes, Mr. Harrison.”
Elizabeth made
the reservation.
    And then he was gone too, out the
door and into the navy blue SUV waiting for him under the portico.
     
    Gina beat the school bus home, but
not her husband. His car was already parked in the driveway when she pulled up
in front of the house.
    She found him in the kitchen, his
head buried in the refrigerator. No doubt he was looking for a quick
pick-me-up. She wouldn’t mind a snack herself, after the night she’d had.
    “Hi, honey.” She parked the rolling
suitcase beside the kitchen table. “I’m home.”
    He straightened. Closed the
refrigerator door, with its kindergarten drawings and second grade progress
reports. “So I see.” His eyes wandered over her, taking in her prim suit, her
innocent eyes, her sweet smile. “Good trip?”
    “Wonderful. You?”
    “Couldn’t have been better.”
    “Glad to hear it.”
    His smile widened. “I think maybe the
new desk clerk got the wrong impression.”
    She grinned back. “She did look
disapproving, didn’t she?”
    He leaned back against the counter,
the collar of the white shirt unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up to the
elbows. “It’s the names. You should have taken mine when we got married.”
    “I had a business and a reputation up
and running in my own name. And I think it’s the wedding rings, anyway. She was
staring at mine. Or rather she wasn’t, because it wasn’t there.”
    “Probably thought we were cheating on
each other.” He chuckled.
    She laughed, too. “With each other.”
    His eyes were warm. “I love you, Gina.”
    She smiled. Walked over to kiss him.
Softly, sweetly. “I love you too, Ty. Always have, always will.”
    His arms came around her, pulled her
closer. “It was a good night, wasn’t it?”
    She snuggled in, put her head on his
shoulder. “It was fantastic. Just like every year.”
    “But it’s good to be home.”
    She nodded. “Yes, it is.”
    His hands wandered south. “Think we
have time for a quickie before the school bus gets here? Been a while since we
used the kitchen counter for anything but cooking.”
    Gina smiled against his shirt. “I
doubt it. I passed the bus on the next street coming home. In fact...”
    Outside, there was the squeal of
brakes. A moment later, running feet pounded up the stairs, and voices rose.
“Mommy? Daddy? Are you home?”
    “Here we go again,” Ty said, letting
his hands fall to the sides.
    Gina laughed and stepped away from
him. “You wouldn’t want it any other way.”
    And then the front door exploded in,
and the kitchen became a madhouse as two little boys greeted their parents as if
they’d been gone for weeks instead of just one night. 
     
    “And they just walked out,” Elizabeth said, “big as
life and twice as innocent. As if nothing at all happened. Can you believe
it?” 
    Her husband Jim shook his head. “Some
people, huh?”
    Elizabeth nodded. She turned on her side and
looked up at him. “That’ll never be us, right?”
    Jim smiled. “Of course not, Lizzie.
Some folks just don’t know how good they have it. But we do.”
    “We do.” She curled into his side and
closed her eyes. And as she drifted off to sleep, she couldn’t help but feel a
little bit sorry for Regina White and Tyler Harrison, who had to wait another
year before they could be together again. While she got to sleep next to the
man she loved every night for the rest of her life.
     
    Want more romance? Check out this new release from Jenna
Bennett & Entangled Publishing:

 

TALL, DARK and DIVINE –
Bagging a Greek God #1
- a paranormal romantic comedy -

 
    Eros, Greek god of love, has been
down-on-his-luck (and neglectful of his job) since ex-wife Psyche left him for
some Viking himbo . Drowning his sorrows in his buddy
Dionysus's wine isn't helping, nor is the nagging from the goddesses assisting
in his New York-based matchmaking firm.

 
    When his misguided