Hello All,

I am currently working on Robert and Deborah Townsend’s novel. The manuscript is in the revision/editing stages, which means, I think it’s time to give you all a sneak peek of what’s to come! This couple was too dynamic and intriguing to just let their story bypass. Also, the Townsend’s have all types of secrets, many of which will be revealed in this book. I say that to say, don’t think this is the last you’ll see of them 😉

Now, without further ado, the sneak peek!

****Unedited. Subject to changes****

“You know, I hated you at first.”

            I grinned as my eyes fluttered shut when Robert leaned down, the small hairs of the short beard he’d recently let grow out, brushing against the sensitive skin of my neck, as he pressed a kiss there. I sighed, again, becoming enveloped by the smell of lavender and nutmeg from his L’occitan Eau De Toilette cologne. The only fragrance he’d worn since I first bought it for him as a Christmas present years ago.

“You didn’t hate me.” He pressed another kiss to my neck, causing me to shiver. Even after all these years he still had that effect on me. He braced my shoulders with his large hands, turning me to face him.

I stared up into his dark eyes.

“You couldn’t stand how I made you feel.”

And because, naturally, he was correct, I angled my head, lifting my chin. He lowered his head, our lips meeting in the middle. I was expecting a short, sweet kiss, but nothing was short or simple with Robert Townsend. His lips parted as he used his tongue to separate my lips, deepening the kiss. Luckily, before we got too carried away, I pulled back.

“You thought you knew me,” I stated, going back to our original dialogue.

His pink lips parted on a smirk. The same cocky grin he’d given me after that world mythologies class, decades earlier.

“I did know you, maybe not every detail, but from the first moment you parted those sleek thighs and let me slip inside you, you’ve been mine. Every. Single. Part. Of. You.”

“Aw, c’mon! We don’t need to hear that shit!”

I laughed as Robert’s eyes narrowed and he spun around to face our third youngest son, Joshua. I giggled even harder seeing the disgusted look on Joshua’s face as his green eyes shifted between his father and I.

“Leave them alone, Josh. It’s so adorable how in love they still are after all these years.”

That was my third daughter-in-law, Kayla, Joshua’s wife.

I watched as Joshua shifted his gaze from us, down to his wife, at his side and his eyes softened. My heart shifted in my chest. Just like his father, Joshua wore his love for his wife on his sleeve. All of my boys did.

“Destiny’s on the phone finding out the delivery time for the computers,” Carter, our oldest son, chimed in, pushing his way past Joshua, as he entered the conference room we’d been standing in.

The room was mostly empty, save for a few office chairs and lots of empty cardboard boxes.

My stomach grumbled as soon as the scent of the pizzas Carter carried hit my nose.

“Lunch is served,” he stated, setting the three boxes of pizza on the one desk in the room.

One by one, the rest of our children began piling in.

“What was Josh so pissed about?” Carter asks at the same time, handing his wife, Michelle a paper plate with a slice of pizza on it, before holding out a chair for her to sit.

I smiled at how chivalrous all my boys were.

“Your brother was upset because I was about to remind him of how sexy your father still is.”

In unison all four of our sons, Carter, Aaron, Joshua and Tyler, groaned in horror. Each of their faces a display of disgust, as their wives giggled.

Tyler, our youngest, who happened to be holding one of his own children, covered his daughter, Annalise’s ears. “There are children around!” He stated, with narrowed eyes looking between Robert and I.

“You nor your child would be here if it weren’t for us, so can it,” I admonished, just before Robert moved past me to pluck our granddaughter out of Tyler’s arms. Anna, as I called her, giggled as Robert tickled her little belly.

A second later, Tyler’s wife, Destiny, entered the conference room, hanging up the phone. “Computers will be delivered in an hour and cable and internet company will be out first thing tomorrow morning to get us all connected,” she stated, excitedly.

“Good news,” I responded, handing Destiny, who reminded me of a younger version of the actress, Nia Long, a slice of pizza.

“Thank you,” she gushed. “I haven’t eaten all day.”

At that, Tyler frowned. “Why the hell not?” His voice darkening from the lighthearted tone he’d expressed just a minute earlier.

Destiny rolled her eyes, before looking up at her football player husband. “Because we have three children under the age of one, I run my own company, and my sisters and mother-in-law have been working our butts off to open this new women’s shelter. In other words, I’ve been a little busy.”

“We have a damn chef just to make sure this doesn’t happen.”

“Lay off her, Ty,” I interjected, knowing how possessive and controlling my sons could be. They learned it from their father. 

“He’s right, princess.”

I roll my own eyes at Robert’s words. I knew he’d take Tyler’s side.

“All of you ladies have been busy working your asses off to get this project off the ground, but you need to take care of yourselves first.”

“Thank you, Father,” Tyler agreed.

“Robert-”

“Don’t Robert me. Did you have breakfast this morning before you left the house?”

I looked to Tyler. “See what you started?”

“See?” Destiny chimed in. “Now you’re causing a rift between your parents. Happy with yourself now?”

“He’s right,” Our second oldest son, Aaron chimed in, causing, his wife, Patience to roll her eyes.

“Let it go, Destiny, you’re not going to win this argument with these four. Aaron practically force feeds me if it’s past ten in the morning and I haven’t eaten.”

Aaron with his ever present scowl, simply looked down at his wife and shrugged because what else could he say? Everyone in the room new Patience was telling the truth.

A frowning Destiny finally decided to drop is and continue eating.

“Deb, did you know Robert was the one when you first met?” Michelle, asked once we were about halfway through eating our lunch.

Robert turned to me, giving me the same smoldering look he’d been giving me for forty years and nodded.

“Of course.”

“Psh, don’t believe him,” I responded, looking between our children and two of our now ten grandchildren. The rest were back at our home with three nannies and two babysitters between the eight of them.

“No, princess didn’t realize I was the one. But I knew early on.”

“Oh, we all know the story,” Carter added, causing us all to glance his way. “You both met in college, fell in love, and the rest is history.”

Robert and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

“History, hunh?” Robert questioned.

“You’ve told us the story, Father,” Aaron added.

“You got the abridged version, son. Maybe it’s time we tell them the full story,” Robert stated, staring at me.

I lifted my eyebrows and shrugged. I looked at our children whose faces had shifted to ones of curiosity instead of impatience.

“I don’t see why not.”