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  Harrison took a step back. “I’ve been…busy.”

  “Doing what?” Alicia questioned, a challenge in her voice. Alicia had grown up in more ways than one.

  “Getting my life back together.” Harrison nodded, looking for a way out. Here in front of his daughter’s gaze, he must see how he looked. Pathetic.

  “And how is that going for you?” Alicia pressed for an answer, Harrison stepped toward the back door.

  “Really good.” He nodded. “Really, really good.”

  “Does that mean we can see you?” Alicia asked, and Haley’s heart hammered in her chest at the thought of her daughters with this man. But he’d never hurt them.

  “Do you want to see me?” Harrison asked, genuinely surprised.

  “You’re our dad,” Alicia said, as if it was obvious.

  Harrison’s face went white. Despite everything, here was his daughter holding out a hand to him, offering him a relationship that he must have thought he’d burned to ashes. “I’ll figure something out.”

  “Friday?” Alicia asked.

  “Yes. Friday.” He nodded, his head bobbing up and down as if he didn’t know how to stop it.

  “Don’t let us down.” Alicia walked toward him, hugged him briefly and then turned on her heel and walked back toward Haley. “Love you, Mom.” Haley hugged her mom and then left the room.

  Haley let out a long breath, her knees weak. This wasn’t how she imagined the evening to end.

  “You never turned them against me.” Harrison’s voice wavered.

  “Why would I?” She put her hand over her mouth, swallowing down her tears. “They saw what you did. They lived through it. But they have choices and you are their father.”

  He looked down at his feet and shuffled on the spot. “I thought they would hate me. And now you have this new man in your life…”

  Haley burst out laughing. “You were jealous.”

  “You’re my wife. They are my children.”

  She walked toward him. “I was your wife. Now I’m not. Get over it.” She drew in a deep breath. “Now get out of my house. And if you ever let yourself in again, I will see you in court.” Squeezing past him, she yanked the door open. “I’m not in the mood for second chances.”

  Harrison left. She didn’t meet his eye. She wanted to believe that he could change. And if he didn’t? Well, she wasn’t afraid of him anymore. She would not give him that power.

  Chapter Sixteen – Buck

  “He came here?” Buck asked when he returned from the sheriff’s station an hour later.

  “Yes.”

  “Harrison came here?” Buck looked incredulous and then his face clouded with anger. “Wait until I get my hands on him.”

  “It’s okay. He won’t come here again. At least not through the back door.” Haley wrapped her arms around Buck’s neck.

  “No, he won’t, because I’m going to change the lock. Or board it up.” He glanced at the back door as if it was his sworn enemy.

  Haley shook her head. “Let it go. Harrison and Krella are in the past.”

  “Except he’s going to be in Alicia and Marie’s future.” Not that he begrudged them seeing their father.

  “I’ll take them to meet him away from here,” Haley promised.

  Buck looked down at her and shook his head. “No, it’s okay.” He gave her a small smile. “Perhaps if he meets me close up, he’ll realize what he’s dealing with if he thinks he can come into our home unannounced.”

  “Our home,” Haley repeated. “I like the sound of that.” She stood on tiptoes and kissed his neck. “How about we go and lie on our bed?”

  “I like the sound of that.” Buck slid his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “I like the sound of that a lot.”

  She kissed him, her tongue entwining with his, her body pressed close, making him absolutely certain that they were going to do more than lie on the bed. He hated that Harrison had come here again and he hadn’t been here to protect Haley and the girls. But she’d handled it, and he was proud of her.

  Haley pulled back and took his hand, leading him upstairs. As they tumbled onto her bed, they pulled off each other’s clothes, wanting to be naked, skin to skin. The events of the day, both good and bad, were stripped away along with their clothes as he pulled the covers over them.

  Buck cupped her breast in his large hand and rubbed his thumb over her nipple. Haley writhed beneath him, and he ached to enter her and make love to her slowly. She stroked his back, her fingernails digging into his flesh as she spurred him on.

  He kissed her, his body slipping between her thighs as she reached between their bodies and stroked his hard length. To hell with making love slowly, he wanted her, he needed to claim her as his own.

  Shifting his weight onto his elbow, he angled his body and Haley guided him into her. A moment of bliss consumed him as he slid into her. Haley’s inner walls sheathed him as he thrust forward, and she gasped as he pulled back and thrust forward again, filling her completely. Buck closed his eyes, taking a moment to revel in the feel of his mate.

  “You are an incredible woman.” He kissed her lips.

  “No, I’m your incredible woman,” she whispered in his ear. “Just like you are my incredible man.”

  As he made love to her, it was as if the whole world was incredible. Everything falling into place around them. The past was gone, and they were about to embark on a new life together. They would build it one brick at a time, until they were so strong nothing could ever knock them down.

  With each thrust, he took them closer to their climax. Haley whimpered with need, her mouth on his as his hands explored her body. Stroking her soft skin, he ignited the flames of desire inside her until she came around him, her body tensing before her orgasm hit her.

  Buck didn’t stop, he took them both to new heights, from where they would never come down. They belonged together. In this moment and every other that followed.

  Epilogue

  “Can you manage?” Haley asked as Sorcha stretched to hang up the drapes.

  “I’m pregnant, not an invalid,” Sorcha answered, but accepted Haley’s help all the same.

  “It looks good,” Tiana said entering the room with a tray full of cups. “Coffee?”

  “Yes, please.” Haley took a cup and stood back admiring their work. After Tiana had her baby the three friends had set up their own business renovating houses in the local area. By working together they could juggle motherhood and work and still remain sane.

  And, more importantly, still be independent women.

  “This looks great,” Buck said, coming into the room.

  “Not as good as you look,” Haley said walking over to her husband and kissing the baby boy asleep in his arms. Haley had gotten pregnant almost immediately and their baby boy, Freddy, was six months old and as handsome as his father. A little bear shifter waiting to take on the world.

  “I remember when those words would have been for me,” Buck said in mock seriousness.

  “You know I love you,” Haley told him. “But this little man is so cute.”

  “Is this what I have to look forward to?” Sorcha asked. “I’ll be usurped by my child when it comes to Karl’s love and devotion.”

  “Not a chance, Karl loves you so much.” Tiana hugged Sorcha. “And a child will just make that love stronger.”

  Haley looked around at the beautiful room they had created, and at the wonderful people she shared her life with. “There’s always enough love in the world. For moms and dads, husbands and wives and good friends. The more you love, the more love you have to give.”

  It was a lesson Haley had learned. And one she would live by for the rest of her life. Her long, and happy life surrounded by the people who mattered the most.

  Other books in the Silverbacks and Second Chances Series

  Cursed Bear

  Lucky Bear

  Fated Bear

  Song Bear

  Blind Date Bear

 
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  Hero Mine

  Bear my Fate (Hero Mine Prequel Book 0)

  Hero Mine - Kurt

  Bear Bait (Hero Mine Book 1)

  READING ORDER FOR

  Bear Creek Clan and Bear Bluff Clan

  Complete Box Set

  Or available individually

  suggested reading order

  (each can be read as a standalone

  but why not start at the beginning and get to know all of the characters?)

  Rescued by the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book One)

  Finding Her Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Two)

  Tamed by the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Three)

  Snowbound With The Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Four)

  Biker Bear Billionaire (Bear Creek Clan Book Five)

  Bound To Her Bear (Bear Bluff Clan Book One)

  Doctor Bear (Bear Bluff Clan Book Two)

  Stranded With Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book Three)

  A Bride for the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Six)

  Home Or Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book Four)

  Fated To Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book Five)

  Lonely Bear (Bear Bluff Book Six)

  Wolf Valley Raiders

  Complete Box Set Out Now!

  Or available individually

  suggested reading order

  Redeem the Wolf

  To Catch A Wolf

  Reclaim the Wolf

  Awakening the Alpha

  Biker Bears

  Forbidden Bear

  Secret Bear

  Christmas Bear Brothers

  Complete Box Set Now Available

  Or available individually

  suggested reading order

  Santa Paws

  Christmas Catastrophe

  Bear Humbug

  Fated and Mated

  Love at First Site

  Her Scars To Bear

  Her Choice To Bear

  Her Russian Bear

  Who’s the Daddy?

  Complete Box Set Available

  Or available individually

  suggested reading order

  One Bear and a Baby

  Her Bear and a Baby

  Second Chance Bear and a Baby

  Baby Protector Bear

  Return to Bear Bluff

  Complete Box Set Available

  Or available individually

  suggested reading order

  The Bear is Back in Town

  His Bear’s Necessity

  Black Bear Down

  Who Bears Wins

  When Bears Collide

  Wish Upon A Bear

  Cowboy Brother Bears

  Complete Box Set Available

  Cowboy Bear Blues

  Cowboy Bear’s Mate

  Cowboy Bear’s Fate

  Return to Bear Creek

  Daddy Bear

  Mountain Bear

  Honey Bear

  Forever Bear

  Storm Bear

  Silverback Dragon

  P.I. Bear

  Doctor Daddy Bear

  Bad Boy Bear

  Silverback Bear

  Ranger Bear

  Christmas Bear

  Hero Bear

  Undercover Eagle

  Single Daddy Dragon

  Secret Baby Bear

  Silverback Wolf

  Awakened Dragon

  Treasure Bear

  Silverback History Bear

  River Run Wolf

  Silverbacks and Second Chances

  Cursed Bear

  Lucky Bear

  Fated Bear

  Song Bear

  Blind Date Bear

  Christmas Bears

  Sleighed

  Claused

  Wrapped

  Shifters Prime Sleeping Lions

  Complete Box Set Now Available

  Living a Lion

  Freeing a Lion

  Fighting a Lion

  Chosen by the Karal

  Complete Box Set

  Or available individually

  Deceit

  Love

  Power

  Hunger

  Devotion

  Warriors of Karal

  Stranded

  Found

  Taken

  Hunted

  Allies

  Sci-Fi Romance

  The Princess and her Alien Rogue

  The Princess and her Bounty Hunter

  Her Dragon's Bane Serial

  Soul Of The Dragon

  Blood Of The Dragon

  Heart Of The Dragon

  Love Of The Dragon

  Fate Of The Minotaur

  Mate Of The Dragon

  Bound To The Flame - A Virgin For The Dragon

  When the dragon egg hatches for Trinity she becomes the Dragon Princess and must remain pure until the dragon comes back to claim her as his mate on her twenty first birthday.

  An Heir For The Flame (Dragon Fantasy Romance)

  The elder dragons have predicted that Trinity will conceive the new dragon child tonight. So she mates with ShanRohit under the full moon.

  ***

  For The Love Of The Wolf (Erotic Romance Fairy Tales)

  Marianne : Unmarked (His) (Paranormal Shifter Romance)

  Bred By The Unicorn (Virgin Paranormal Erotic Romance)

  The Escort Box Set

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  The Escort Series

  The Escort (The Escort Series Part One)(Free in some regions)

  The Escort (The Escort Series Part Two)

  The Escort (The Escort Series Part Three)

  A Curvy Christmas: Robin's Romance (BBW Romance)

  Helen’s story:

  His Secretary (Her Second Chance Book One)

  His Secretary (Her Second Chance Book Two)

  His Secretary (Her Second Chance Book Three)

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  Saved By The Pack

  Alice

  Sarah

  The Dualis

  (Mate of the Cave Bear)

  Found (Book One)

  Lost (Book Two)

  Return (Book Three)

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