Merry Ever After
by Tessa Bailey
Published by Amazon Original Stories
Book 2 in the Under the Mistletoe Collection
A single mother working in a thrift store. A gentle giant farmer who can’t find jeans that fit.
When opposites attract, they find themselves making alterations in more ways than one in this smoking-hot short story by #1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey.
Evie Crowe is starting over in a strange town with her newborn, and men are the furthest thing from her mind. If only the quiet, hulking farmer, Luke Ward, would stop coming into the thrift shop and piquing her reluctant interest. Evie wants to stay single all the way—she can’t trust anything more than friends-with-holiday-benefits. But Luke is in it for the long haul. He’s fixed on making this a Christmas Evie will remember forever. If she gives him a chance.
Genre
I swear if any other author wrote this short story I would have rolled my eyes so hard that they would have gotten stuck - but for Tessa Bailey, it works.
A ginormous, handsome cowboy who can't find jeans that fit, and the single mom who loves to design clothes.
The perfect match.
Theoretically.
Merry Ever After is more spice than romance, but with a happily ever after regardless. It's not heavily centered around Christmas, which I appreciate. The story is cute and definitely spicy.
I honestly don't know what else to say.
I will definitely say it's original.
I actually did enjoy it, even if it was too rushed. That's the problem with short stories, though. They only really work if the characters already have an established relationship or friendship beforehand, like Ali Hazelwood's Cruel Winter With You. When it's two strangers, even two strangers who have briefly interacted in the past, its just hard to make a romance believable.
But if you are centering on lust, than it definitely works.
If you enjoy Tessa Bailey, you will enjoy this little short story. Sweet, spicy, and all Tessa.
Lord, I’ve been lonely for so long, I’d settle for him scratching behind my ears. I’d probably thump my leg like a cocker spaniel.
Luke: “Friends with benefits is for boys,”
he says, backing me against his refrigerator. Planting his erection right there and grinding lightly, then harder. Harder.
Luke: “I ain’t no boy.”
Luke: “I won’t be easy, Evie. You understand what I’m telling you?”
I understood it five minutes ago.
Evie: “You’re big all over.”
Luke: “Yes.”
He drops his face into my neck, nuzzling it there with a drawn-out groan.
Luke: “They don’t make jeans that fit me, and they don’t make many women that fit me, either.”
Luke: “You’ll decide what this is and how fast it moves, but I’m going to do everything I can to help you decide in my favor. You, Evie, are in my goddamn favor. In whatever capacity you allow me.”
He holds eye contact long enough to make my pulse feel fizzy.
Luke: “But I’m going to say something for the record one time, just so it’s clear: you’re a package deal with your boy. I’m not scared of that.”
Evie: “How many grilled cheeses should I make you?”
Evie asks me then, totally nonchalant.
Evie: “Three or four?”
That seals it. I’m marrying her, come hell or high water.
Luke: “I’d rather die than scare you or push you for more than you’re ready to give. But I’ve made my position clear. If you want to be mine, if you want me to be yours, you know where to find me.”
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