Life Changer (Chicago First Responders Book 2)

by BJ Harvey

  “I can’t see any boxes with stuff on it. Maybe Dad is bringing it with him,” Harvs hollers.

  “I’ll come and help you find it, Harvs. Gimme a minute,” Jake offers. For an almost seventeen-year-old guy, he’s really taken to the little brother concept like a duck to water.”

  Out of interest, I check the label on the box I’m unpacking and giggle when I see ‘bedroom stuff’ written on the side.

  “They all have stuff written on them,” Rhodes replies, appearing in his—now our—bedroom doorway with two more boxes labeled ‘Dee stuff’ on the side.

  Looking up from where I’m sitting cross-legged on the floor, my lips twitching. “The word stuff has a lot of uses.”

  He pushes off and slowly stalks toward me—and it’s totally a stalk, there’s no other word to describe the long, measured strides and the hunger in his eyes. “It does, does it?” His voice is low and rough, and all kinds of hot.

  I lick my lips and crane my neck as he stops in front of me. It takes everything I have not to squirm as he gazes down at me. “How about ‘Honey, all the stuff you wanna do to me will have to wait till the kids are asleep?’”

  “Or . . .” He bends and hooks his arms under mine, hoisting me up so I’m plastered to the front of him. “Maybe you can give me a taste of the stuff you want me to do to you later . . . hmmm?” His arched brow and sly smirk are my undoing.

  I slide my arms around Rhodes’s neck, and standing there, in the middle of our bedroom, with our sons still yelling a conversation back and forth, I lift on my toes and press my lips to those of the man who says I changed his life. What I realized six weeks ago when Rhodes asked Harvey and I to move in with him, is that before Rhodes ran to my rescue, I’d been treading water—and had been for at least two years. It’s only since then I’ve felt myself moving forward and doing it while falling head over heels for the man who just makes everything feel so damn easy.

  “Do you think we could lock the door. I’m craving a taste of you?” I murmur against his lips.

  He groans and grips my ponytail, tilting my head to the side before spearing his tongue in my mouth and rendering me speechless. The hungry, carnal, desperate kiss drives all thoughts of stuff from my brain.

  It’s one of the ones where Rhodes is frustrated he can’t lay me out and take me like he wants to, and I’m right there with him, meeting his tongue stroke for stroke, my hands roaming wherever I can reach until we’re pretty much screwing with our clothes on.

  When he finally pulls back, his pupils are huge, his gaze still promising to devour me. “I promise to make it up to you later. Then we can both taste each other,” he mutters, his attention dropping to my mouth again.

  Brushing my lips against his jaw, I step away and try to cool my jets. “I’ll hold you to that.”

  “Fucking hope so. By the way, Flynn called, and they were about ten minutes away with the final load from the house.”

  “Okay,” I say quietly, my throat tightening.

  Rhodes’s eyes soften before he wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his chest, his chin resting against my temple. “Hey. It’s alright. This is a big day for everyone.”

  “It’s just . . .”

  “The end of an era?”

  “Yeah. Kind of. It’s not like we won’t see him ever again.”

  “Considering Harvey is gonna be there half the time, and then there are holidays, events, parties. . .”

  “I know. But it’s different.”

  Rhodes puts enough space between us to reach out and cup my face, his gaze locking with mine. There’s no jealousy or worry there—just understanding and so much love I can barely stand it.

  “You’ll never know how fucking happy I am that you’re taking this chance with me, Dee. This is a huge step—for all of us—but whatever you need, whenever you need it, I’m here. Okay?”

  “I love you.”

  “Thank fuck for that. Otherwise sharing a bed for the next fifty years could’ve been rather awkward,” he replies with a smirk.

  I tilt my head and scrunch my nose. “Fifty years?”

  “Yeah. I figure if I can keep you till I’m ninety, then I might deserve you.”

  “Fuck,” I whisper, placing my hands on his chest and leaning on him. “Now I really do want to lock that door. Stop turning me on when I can’t do something about it.”

  As we’re about to kiss again, the cross-house yelling match resumes, and Rhodes chuckles against my lips, which might just be right up there with my favorite kisses.

  “Flynn and Sophie are here,” Jake calls out.

  “Mommy, Dad’s here,” Harvey repeats.

  “Coming!”

  “You will be,” Rhodes says before giving me a hard and fast kiss.

  I giggle and step around him as I walk toward the bedroom door. “And that will have to tide you over until I do.”

  “I get you in my bed and in my life. Just knowing that is all I need.”

  I stop and look over my shoulder at him. “You say I changed your life, Rhodes Anderson, but while I was doing that, you restarted mine. And I’ll love you forever for that reason alone.” Then I move toward the front door to help my ex-husband and his girlfriend move the last of our stuff into the house my boyfriend and his son lived in with his late wife; the house that Rhodes and I are going to make our own.

  Once again I’m stuck with how the most complicated situations on paper can turn out as if they were destiny in reality.

  All I know is that I’m happy, my son is happy, and the man who caught my attention with ‘Are you okay?’ almost six months ago will never have a life without happiness again, because that’s what we both deserve.

  A few hours later, after Harvey’s new bed has been successfully constructed under the watchful eye of project manager Jake, Rhodes and I walk onto the porch with Flynn and Sophie to see them off. “Thanks for your help today. We really appreciate it,” I say to both of them.

  “You’re welcome. And we’re all set for dinner at Delish next week?” Sophie asks.

  I nod. “Yes ma’am. Table for six on Thursday, Rhodes’s night off.”

  “Awesome. Well, have a good first night together in your new home, and we’ll see you tomorrow.” She turns to Flynn and kisses his cheek. “I’ll just wait for you in the car, babe.”

  “I’ll walk you out.” Rhodes follows her and leaves Flynn and I standing on the porch alone.

  “So,” he says, facing me, his lips turned up on one side. “This is it, I guess.”

  “I don’t know how to feel. Is that weird?”

  Flynn chuckles and shakes his head. “Thank god. I was starting to get a complex that this was easy for you.”

  “It’s not. It’s . . . different. But it’s good.” I reach out and grab his hand. “It’s the next step.”

  “It is. And I’m happy too because I can finally move on and not worry anymore.”

  My entire body jerks. “What?”

  “Dee, all I’ve been waiting for is for you to find your happy. You’ve got a man who would move heaven and earth to see you smile, and that’s all I ever wanted for you. Knowing you’ve got that . . .” He looks to where Sophie is getting into his car. “. . . I can enjoy my happy too.”

  I wrap my arms around him and hug him tight as he does the same to me. “We had a good run, but it’s the right time.”

  “Yeah.” He shifts back and presses his lips to my forehead. “And don’t think you’re getting rid of me that easily. I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart, and neither are you. We’re still Dee and Flynn. You’re still my best friend. We’ve just expanded our circle. And Harvs is gonna be fine.”

  “I know. You might even lose him to Jake at this rate. He idolizes him.”

  Flynn grins. “Maybe. But then again, I get a week of non-Jake time in between to win him back.”

  I laugh and shake my head. “True. So you’re all set for tomorrow?” As part of our discussion about Harvey and I moving in with Rhodes, we
decided that Flynn and Sophie would live in our old house and Harvey would switch between the houses

  “Yep. We’ll swing by tomorrow night and pick him up.”

  “Awesome.”

  “Okay. Time to go. I’ll see you both tomorrow,” Flynn meets Rhodes’s eyes as he steps onto the porch, the two men sharing a look. Flynn holds out his hand to Rhodes. “Good luck with this one,” he says, shooting me a wink.

  “Thanks. Something tells me I’m gonna need it.”

  Oh my god. It’s like I’m not even here.

  Flynn laughs. “Have a good night.”

  Then he walks down the path to get into his car.

  Rhodes wraps his arm around my shoulders and turns me into his side, dipping his chin and brushing his lips against my temple in that way that makes me melt. “Guess you’re stuck with me now, sweet cheeks.”

  I tilt my face to his and smile. “Funny, I can’t imagine ever feeling stuck when I’m with you. Just lucky.”

  Rhodes quirks a brow. “You offering to help me get lucky tonight?”

  I snort and brush my lips against his. “Let’s go get the boys, and we can talk more about how lucky you’re gonna get once we’re home from dinner.”

  Rhodes’s eyes flash and suddenly my back is against the house and his body is pressed hard against mine. “Say it again.”

  “Lucky?” I whisper, earning a growl.

  “Not that.”

  “Home . . .”

  “Love hearing that from your lips. Home. Mine. Yours. The boys. Ours.”

  To stop him being so damn sweet I might jump him, I kiss him instead, which is exactly how the boys find us five minutes later.

  “Eww, gross,” Harvey says.

  “Don’t worry, Harvs. You’ll get used to it,” Jake replies.

  Rhodes and I stop kissing and start laughing.

  Be happy, I hear in my head. Except this time it’s not Flynn saying it.

  It’s what I imagine Lily Anderson would sound like.

  The End

  Gio and his new roommate will feature in Miracle Worker - Preorder HERE

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  Other Books by BJ Harvey

  Romantic Comedy

  Bliss Series

  Temporary Bliss (Bliss #1)—Mac and Daniel

  True Bliss (Bliss #2)—Kate and Zander

  Blissful Surrender (Bliss #3)—Sean and Sam

  Permanent Bliss (Bliss #4)—Mac & Daniel’s Wedding

  Finding Bliss (Bliss #5)—Noah and Zoe

  Game Series (Bliss series spin-off)

  Game Player (Game #1) —Matt and Mia

  Game Maker (Game #2)—Zack and Danika

  Game Saver (Game #3)—Cade and Abi

  Game Ender (Game #4)—Thomas and Amy

  Game Breaker (Game #5)—Cameron and Sarah

  Game Planner (Game #6)—Jase and Natalie

  Cook Brothers Series (Game series spin-off) - House Flipping Rom Coms

  Work in Progress — Jamie and April

  Work Violation — Jax and Ronnie

  Working Back — Bryant and Faith

  Hard Work — Cohen and Skye

  Working For It — Ezra and Gilly

  Chicago First Responders

  (Cook Brothers spin-off)

  Show Stopper — Marco and Renee

  Life Changer — Rhodes and Delilah

  Holiday Romance

  Stranded (Christmas novella with Bliss connection)

  Romance Suspense

  Lost Series

  Lost in Distraction (Lost #1)

  Lost For You (Lost #2)

  Lost Without You (Lost #3)

  Standalone

  Crave

  Contemporary Romance

  Chances Series

  One Shot (Chances #1)

  Second Chance (Chances #2)

  Third Strike (Chances #3)

  Sovereign Series

  Touch (Sovereign Part One)

  Taste (Sovereign Part Two)

  Feel (Sovereign Part Three)

  About BJ Harvey

  BJ Harvey is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the Bliss Series. She also regards herself as a smut peddler, suspense conjurer and a funny romance thinker upper. An avid music fan, you will always find her singing some hit song badly but loving every minute of it. She’s a wife, a mom to two beautiful girls, and hails from the best country in the world—New Zealand—but currently lives in Perth, Australia.

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