Free Alone Time: Visits to Petal, Book 1 by Lauren Dane Page A

being a mother, and she did, she missed the time when she could focus on her relationship with Shane.
    So when the Grange announced that they were going to have a barbecue and dance outside under the stars this year, Polly Chase had insisted she wanted all the Chase babies deposited on her doorstep and for each of her sons to squire their wives out for the evening.
    Some women had horrible mothers-in-law. Cassie had apparently suffered her fill of horrible people because her mother-in-law was incredible. Loving. Supportive. She was a great example and a fabulous grandmother.
    And she, together with her equally wonderful husband, Edward, had raised four of the finest men Cassie had ever known.
    As if he’d heard her thoughts, Shane showed up in the doorway, a dozen red roses in his hands, looking handsome and sexy and appropriately interested and fascinated by the work she’d put into her hair, clothes and makeup.
    He made her feel beautiful in a way no one else ever had.
    He held the roses out. “Well hello there, Mrs. Chase. You’re looking mighty delicious this evening.”
    She took the flowers, bending to press her face into them. It wasn’t that he never did thoughtful things for her. He did. All the time as it happened. And yet it caught in her throat sometimes, the depth of what this man had brought to her life.
    For years she’d lived in fear of her first husband. He’d hit at her, physically and emotionally, and he’d turned her into a person she couldn’t face. She’d been someone she didn’t respect. She’d escaped, running long and fast, and hadn’t been in town more than five minutes before she’d been rear-ended by her crazy, big-haired, big-hearted mother-in-law. And through that moment she’d found Shane, who had helped her bring back the woman she was supposed to be.
    He was big and bossy, grumpy at times, fussy when he didn’t get his way. And gentle, loyal, attentive, protective and totally, utterly supportive. Here she was, years later, a wife and a mother, and she never could have imagined just how happy her life was.
    “Hey.” Seeing the emotion on her features, he took the roses and pulled her close. “What’s wrong?”
    She shook her head, swallowing back the emotion that’d swamped her for long moments. “Not a thing. It’s all totally right. You make everything all right. Every day.”
    He rumbled deep in his chest, in that way he did sometimes when he struggled with his emotions. “I love you.”
    She hugged him tighter. “I love you too.”
    “We could skip the dance altogether.”
    She laughed. “Don’t make offers you don’t mean. You’d be into it at first and then start feeling guilty that people were expecting us.” He didn’t just take care of her and Ward, he took care of everyone, it was what he did. And why she loved him so much.
    “I think I can make an exception for sex.”
    She tipped her head back to look up at him. Into that face of his she loved so much. “Oh, there’ll be sex, mister. You can squire me around first. And then we can get to the sex part when we leave early.”
    He grinned. “All right then. Let’s get to getting so we can get to leaving.”

Chapter Two
    Nathan raised a fist to knock on Lily’s front door, but he wasn’t ready for the breathtaking sight that presented itself when she opened up.
    There she was, the first and only woman he’d ever given his heart to. Her smile kicked up a thousand watts when she saw it was him, and that filled him with joy enough to sweep her into his arms and kiss the hell out of her.
    She pressed against him, those curves of hers teasing his senses. He sank into her, enjoying the fact that she was so very his.
    When he broke away, he tipped his forehead to hers. “Good evening, Mizz Travis.”
    “Hi there. I certainly hope you don’t greet everyone you know this way.” She frowned and he laughed, kissing her one last time before stepping back.
    “Of course not. Only the women I’m going to