Why You Should Never Kiss Your Ex-Husband

WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER KISS YOUR EX-HUSBAND WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER… ERIN NICHOLAS Why You Should Never Kiss Your Ex-Husband Copyright 2023 by Erin Nicholas Text previously published as Just A Kiss, by Erin Nicholas Copyright 2012 All Rights Reserved. No part of this book, with the exception of brief quotations for book reviews or critical articles, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. ISBN: 978-1-952280-68-9 Editors: Lindsey Faber Cover artist: Najla Qamber, Qamber Designs Cover Photo: Wander Aguiar THE SERIES Why You Should Never… Kiss Your Boss (Ben & Jessica) Kiss Your Blind Date (Sam & Dani) Kiss A Grump (Mac & Sara) Kiss Your Fake Boyfriend (Dooley & Morgan) Kiss Your Ex-Husband (Kevin & Eve) Kiss Your Brother’s Best Friend (Ryan & Amanda) Kiss Your Ex (Shane & Isabelle) Kiss Your Enemy (Nate & Emma) Kiss Your Best Friend (Cody & Olivia) Kiss Your Roommate (Conner & Gabby) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS And a very special thank you to Angela Gebhardt, Sarah Caldwell, Molly Dougherty and Wendy Kahland for answering all of my questions about child custody issues, guardianships, social work and everything else. Your patience, time and expertise were greatly appreciated! ABOUT THE BOOK… He may now kiss his bride…again… Kevin Campbell just found out that he’s been designated the guardian for a half-brother he never knew existed. And that’s not even the craziest thing about this night. The annulment he thought he got twelve years ago? Yeah, that never went through. Eve is shocked to see him again, but not surprised they’re still married. After all, she was the one who refused to sign the annulment papers. When she offers to help with his younger brother, a sweet preacher’s daughter seems like an answered prayer. But he soon realizes that she wants a second chance. At everything. And he has a hell of a time resisting her… which is exactly what got him into trouble last time. CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Extended Epilogue Why You Should Never… the series More from Erin About Erin Nicholas CHAPTER ONE * * * Kevin Campbell had the best reason ever for wanting to fall madly in love and get married—to shut his friends up. If he was happily, completely committed to a woman, his friends would stop talking about his love—and sex—life. Or lack thereof. “I just personally think you can swear off one-night stands and meaningless hook-ups but still get blow jobs.” Doug Miller, affectionately known as Dooley, looked around at the other three men who made up their ambulance crew. “That would at least take the edge off.” Kevin Campbell closed his eyes and groaned. They used to talk about their sex lives. All the time. In gory detail. He missed those days. Ever since all of his friends had committed themselves to monogamous relationships and family life, these kinds of conversations seemed to focus on Kevin. Apparently, his playboy friends had moral standards after all, and one of them was not talking publicly about having sex with their wives and fiancées. “It’s like somebody made chocolate chip cookies and you can see and smell them but you can’t even lick the batter,” Dooley went on. “It’s cruel.” “Women are like chocolate chip cookies?” Sam Bradford asked. “Or blow jobs are like chocolate chip cookies?” “The blow jobs are like chocolate chip cookie batter,” Dooley said. “Just a taste of the real thing. Sex is the cookies.” “That’s a little on the nose, even for you,” Mac said. Dooley grinned. “Besides, sex isn’t like chocolate chip cookies,” Mac said, with clear appreciation of the topic. “Sex is like chocolate fudge brownies.” It was clear from the emphasis put on the words that Mac was a huge fan of chocolate fudge brownies. “The not being able to have sex when there are gorgeous women around is like having the temptation of sweet treats around all the time and not being able to even taste them,” Dooley insisted. “And I still say blow jobs aren’t really sex. I don’t see why Kevin can’t at least mess around but not break this only-when-I’m-serious-with-someone rule he’s got now.” “It’s not like he’s never had it before. Maybe…licking spoons isn’t his thing,” Sam said with a smirk, before he tipped his head back and tossed five M&Ms into the air one right after the other, catching all but one in his mouth. “Four,” he said, grinning at Mac as the fifth candy bounced and rolled across the floor. Mac tipped his head back and tossed five more M&M’s into the air, catching all five. “I’m up by one.” Kevin rolled his eyes. This could go on all night. “Then he has not licked the right spoons. Or licked them right.” Dooley stirred his coffee then tossed the plastic spoon in the garbage before taking his seat on the end of the dilapidated couch in the ER break room. “That’s always your thing if you’re doing it right.” He had a point. And Kevin didn’t want to talk about it. Not that it was stopping his friends from talking about it—and him, with him sitting right there—anyway. “Hey, Campbell.” Dan Morris strolled into the break room and headed for the coffee pot. “We just responded to a domestic disturbance call.” “Yeah?” Kevin wasn’t sure why Dan felt the urge to tell him that. Kevin and the crew did domestic disturbance calls all the time. But Dan was interrupting a conversation Kevin definitely wanted interrupted—giving up ‘licking spoons’ had