Since He Really Feels (He Feels) Read online

  “We are gathered here today…” the priest begins, but I’ve tuned him out because I’m staring at Nick, unable to fathom that someone that gorgeous is pledging his love to me for the rest of eternity.

  I hear my dad say, “Her mother and I do,” but I don’t even know what the question was because my eyes are glued to Nick’s. Everything about this moment is exactly right, exactly how it should be, and exactly how I dreamed it would be.

  And I can’t wait for our future together to begin.

  EPILOGUE

  JULIANNE – FIVE YEARS LATER

  He’s the first person I see when I walk into the restaurant.

  “Hey, Jules,” he smiles, and I smile back and take my seat next to him. He drapes his arm casually across the back of my chair as I pick up a menu and glance through it.

  “Hey, Trav.”

  He leans in and kisses my cheek.

  “Where is everyone?” I ask.

  “On their way, I assume.”

  “How was your day?”

  “Fine.” He pauses, and I sense that it wasn’t really fine at all. I glance over at him, and I see the man I know so well. I raise an eyebrow at him. “It’s tough being the one in charge sometimes.” His voice is soft.

  I nod and place my hand on his arm. “I know it is. But you’re so good at it.”

  His eyes meet mine, and I can see the sadness in his. “I had to fire someone today.”

  “Oh, Trav. I’m so sorry.”

  “Thanks. It was awful. She cried.”

  “She?”

  “Jasmine from Events.”

  I nod in understanding. I met her a few times, and I immediately know why he had to fire her. If she wasn’t wearing inappropriately short skirts, she was messing something up, and that just wasn’t okay when Miller Designs was planning events of the kind of caliber that we now cater to.

  “Auntie Julie!” I hear, and then a small child is racing into my lap.

  With her blonde hair and blue eyes, Hadley is my sister’s little mini-me, and I love her to pieces. “Hadders!” I smile as I squeeze her to me.

  “When is baby Auntie Julie coming out?” she asks, rubbing my stomach.

  “Soon, I hope,” I smile.

  Travis looks over at me. “We all hope soon,” he smiles.

  I roll my eyes. He – among others – has had to listen to me bitch about swollen ankles for the past eight months, and I’m sure he’s ready for it to end.

  “Hey, Jules,” Jamie says, holding hands with Brady as Brandon pulls out some chairs for their adorable family of four. She winks at Travis. “Hey, you.”

  I feel hands over my eyes, and then I hear a voice next to me. “Guess who!”

  “Lex?” I guess from the sound of her voice.

  “You always know,” she pouts, and she takes a seat across from me.

  More people pile into the restaurant: Holly and Andrew, still dating. Lucy and Jake, married with one baby and another on the way.

  Soon our table is full except for three vacant seats.

  “Did I beat them here?” I hear a voice behind me.

  I turn and grin at the girl who I once mistakenly misjudged, the girl whose ultimate forgiveness allowed all of us to move on, the girl who was married to my best friend and who had become one of my own best friends, too.

  “Hey, Lindsay,” I smile. She’s holding the beautiful six-month-old Travis Junior – better known as TJ, a nickname given to him by his mother – in her arms, and Travis stands and kisses Lindsay and then his baby. I can physically see the love he has for his family as he gazes first at his wife and then at his child, and it warms my heart to know how everything has a way of working out the way it’s supposed to.

  I think about how differently this all could have turned out. Travis and I could have ended up together, which would have been a complete and utter mistake. Instead, Travis found Lindsay and fell in love with her, the same kind of forever love that I share with my husband of nearly five years. The man of the hour.

  I look around at the faces glowing around the table and can’t help but feel the love. Everyone has gathered here to celebrate Nick’s birthday, and I know that he will love this surprise party much more than the little family get together I had planned several years before.

  I spot Josh first, my brother-in-law who is like a brother to me. I know that Nick is behind him, and my heart skips a beat just knowing that he’s in the same room as me even after all of these years.

  Our love has grown exponentially in the five years we have been together, and the baby boy growing inside of me is living proof of that.

  “Surprise!” We all yell when we spot him, and a grin spreads across his handsome face. Five years older, and maybe five years sexier. I realize every single day how blessed I am. I have a job that I love where I get to work side by side with my husband and our best friends, Travis and Lindsay. I have a loving husband and a baby on the way. I have a tight circle of friends and family who would do anything for me.

  Nick winks at me, and I melt, transported back to the day I first met him in the conference room at McMillan Marketing and marveling at all that has changed for us through the years.

  Through the pain and the secrets and the misunderstandings, life always seems to align just as it should, and it is no different with us.

  I am where I am meant to be, with the man who was made for me, and I know that this is just exactly as it should be.

  The End

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  When I published the first book in this trilogy, I had no idea what was in store over the next year of my life. I didn’t know any bloggers. I didn’t know any authors. I was just a girl who liked to write and dreamed of publishing. My network has grown leaps and bounds over the past

  year, and I have met a lot of people who I now call friends.

  My husband always gets the first THANK YOU because of his support and encouragement. He’s the one who has to deal with me talking about these people in my head, forgetting to do the laundry, making something quick for dinner, and the constant dinging of my phone. That goes for Sadie, the world’s best dog, too.

  I also want to thank my family and friends outside of my writing world. I finally broke down and gave copies of my book to my mom, and I am pleased to announce that after reading How He Really Feels, she is totally Team Nick, but now that she has started What He Really Feels, she’s falling for Travis, too.

  Thank you to my awesome street team, Team LSD. The eye candy pics are always motivational, but I love that we have a group of ladies who can count on each other. It was Sheri who called the ladies on the team her “sisters,” and that really made me pause and realize that this group of women has become family both to me and each other. Thanks for the hardcore pimping, ladies!

  Karen Marks, my PA who has also become a good friend, I appreciate all you do to help make my life easier when I know how busy you are. Jennifer Dotson, you are always there for me when I need you, and I appreciate you so much.

  To the countless blogs and author friends who have promoted my books: THANK YOU! There are literally hundreds and too many to name here, but just know that I appreciate all that you do for indie authors like me. I need to give a special thank you to Jen and Karen from Just One More Page for putting together the cover reveal for this book, to Christine Stanley at The Hype PR for the release day blitz, and to Lydia from HEA Bookshelf for the Separation Anxiety blitz right before the release of this book.

  To my readers… without you, this would all still just be a dream. Instead, I’m living my dream every day. Thank you for purchasing my books, for supporting me, and for dropping me messages. And thank you especially for leaving reviews. Authors depend on your reviews to get their names out, so please leave a review when you’re finished reading! XOXOXO

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lisa Suzanne started handwriting her books on yellow legal pads after she took a creative writing class in high school. She still has those legal pads full of sto
ries, but now one of them is published under the title How He Really Feels. She currently works as a full time high school English teacher, and her favorite part of the year is summer. She has been blessed with the world’s best dog, a supportive family, and a husband who encouraged her to publish after reading one of her novels. She likes the advice of Ernest Hemingway’s famous quote, “Write drunk. Edit sober.”

  Web: http://www.authorlisasuzanne.com

  Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/AuthorLisaSuzanne

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  Twitter: https://twitter.com/LisaSuzanne24

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  ALSO BY LISA SUZANNE

  HOW HE REALLY FEELS (HE FEELS, BOOK 1)

  Julianne Becker is desperately in love with her boss, Nick Matthews. She has daydreamed about him since the day she first met him a year earlier, but she is firmly stuck in the friend-zone until New Year’s Eve, when the game completely changes and she finds out how Nick really feels about her. They embark on a sexy affair that’s everything Julianne ever dreamed of… except she can’t tell anyone about it. What will happen if anyone finds out about their secret relationship? And how will her lifelong best friend, Travis Miller, react when Julianne begins a relationship with someone who isn’t him?

  How He Really Feels is a novel that explores relationships and love between coworkers and friends. It contains some adult situations and is intended for mature readers.

  Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00CVEMV1E

  WHAT HE REALLY FEELS (HE FEELS, BOOK 2)

  He told her How He Really Feels and had his heart broken. Now Travis Miller is trying to move on from the greatest heartbreak of his life by getting out of town. But two nights before his big move to California, Travis meets a mystery woman who grabs hold of his broken heart and gives him hope that he can piece it back together.

  Will Travis ever figure out What He Really Feels, or will he be stuck on his first love forever? Will he find his happily ever after?

  Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00FKP37FA

  SEPARATION ANXIETY

  Separation.

  We all get one true love in our lives, and it’s up to us to find it. Fate will act and try to push us together, but ultimately it’s up to us to recognize who that one person is when he’s standing in front of us.

  It turns out that I recognized who my one person was when I was separated from my husband.

  Anxiety.

  On the same day I determined that I was finally going to file for divorce, I confessed my secret to Jesse Drake, my swoon-worthy colleague known for his womanizing ways. Jesse invited me to crash with him, and with each new piece of the enigmatic Jesse puzzle that I started to fit into place, I found myself wondering if Fate had pushed us together for a reason.

  If only my husband would stop getting in the way of the man with whom I was meant to be.

  Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00I6JQ5RO