When best friends Jamie Eckert and Derek Duran realized they were in love, they took their relationship to the next level. But then Derek's budding music career took off, and so did Derek. Twenty years later, Jamie still lives in the small town of Ashbury, Virginia, where he grew up. He's grown up and moved on -- now he owns the family funeral home business and is raising Riley, his precocious six-year-old adopted daughter. But emotions Jamie thought long buried are stirred up again when he gets an early morning removal call. The deceased is Derek's mother and Riley's babysitter, Mrs. Duran. Now Derek's back in town for the funeral, and he turns to Jamie for support ... in more ways than one. Angry at Derek for not keeping in touch, and angrier at himself for still loving the man who left him behind, Jamie is torn between his professional duty and his feelings for Derek. Will he be able to put aside his past with Derek to carry out Mrs. Duran's final wishes? Or is Derek interested in rekindling their relationship after all this time?

Not Another One Hit Wonder

His eyes widened in surprise. As I pulled him closer, he tried to pull away. Two for flinching,I thought, tugging him closer. I kept my eyes open, my jaw set, my fist gripped in the fabric of his shirt.


To my surprise, he didn’t even struggle. His arms unfolded and he caught me around the waist. For a moment I thought he’d shove me away, then his mouth opened beneath mine and his tongue forced its way between my teeth. Suddenly hewas kissing me, and I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t even think. This was what I’d wanted all along, what I’d always wanted, what we’d been building to since the moment we met back in the sixth grade.


And it was everything I’d always thought it would be.


When we finally broke apart, Derek tightened his arms around me to keep me near. In the dark interior of the hearse we stared at each other, hearts hammering, blood pounding, afraid to speak, afraid to hope—or, at least, I was. Did he really like me back?


Chapter 17