The Enemy: A Romantic Comedy (It happened in Charleston Book 2)

I have the greatest urge to hold our clasped hands in the air like I just won a boxing match and yell, “I’M HOLDING RYAN’S HAND!!!” at the top of my lungs for all of Chicago to hear.

And I act on that urge.

“Shhh, you loon,” Ryan says, yanking our hands back down.

He makes me promise I’ll behave when we go into the restaurant, and I agree, but only because I have one hand behind my back, fingers crossed. I’ll do as I see fit once we get in there.

I feel like I have a wild fox in my apartment. It’s sleeping now. She’ll probably eat if I carefully set out a nice breakfast and back away with my hands held up in surrender, but if she senses any sudden movement, she’ll bolt.

She slipped under my covers and burrowed into my side like a little bunny making a new home

how many figurines I could set on his ab shelves.

I refuse to let a man break me again. No matter

Sorry, oops, wrong wish. You thought I said please make Ryan want me? What I said was, Ryan GOSLING. Honest mistake, it’s fine. I’ll wait while you beam him down for me.

I raise up onto my tiptoes to brush my lips over Ryan’s as I whisper, “I win.”

Okay, here it is, then, June Bug. I’m going to lay it all out so there’s no room for confusion. I love you. I always have. Pretty certain I always will.”

When I told her the other day that I’ve been having dreams that would make her blush, I’m willing to bet she had no idea they were the PG kind about our life as a family.

But I’m thirty-one years old. I’m ready for all of it. A family. Diaper changes. Late-night runs to get whatever insane thing June is craving from the store. The whole nine yards. I can see it perfectly. And although I know that even IF June and I make this work, we won’t actually be in a place to get married for a while, I can still easily picture it.

I’ve made sure that tonight—the night I come face to face again with my archnemesis—I look the best I’ve looked in my adult life. Because mark the words coming out of my red lips: Tonight, I will crush Ryan Henderson under my black stilettoed feet.