With Me in Seattle Bundle One

by Kristen Proby

  I place my order and saunter over to my friend.

  “Jules?” I ask, my hand on her shoulder.

  “Meg!” She immediately jumps up and pulls me into a warm hug. “Oh my gosh, I haven’t seen you in years! How are you?”

  I glance nervously at Will. “I’m doing very well, thanks. It’s great to see you.” She looks great, as always, but her eyes look a little sad. I wonder what’s going on…

  “Will, this is Megan McBride, a friend from college. Meg, this is my brother Will.”

  Will stands, his tall frame towering over me, and offers me his hand. Crap, I have to touch him? Digging deep, I find the manners instilled in me and shake his hand politely. “I know who you are.”

  He just nods and takes his seat again.

  “What have you been up to?” she asks me.

  “I’m a charge nurse in the cancer unit at Seattle Children’s Hospital.” I grin at her, keenly aware of Will’s eyes on me, running up and down my body, over my loose-fitting white blouse, which is belted over black leggings, and my red cowboy boots. He makes me nervous.

  “That’s awesome! Good for you, girl. Are you still singing?” she asks with a smile.

  “Uh, no.” I shake my head and gaze down at the table. “Not since college.”

  “You sing?” Will asks, his eyebrows raised.

  “She has a fantastic voice,” Jules replies proudly. She always was so sweet and supportive.

  “Thanks, but you know how it is,” I respond with a shrug. “Life takes over and things get busy.” And best friends leave you behind to start a band of their own.

  Will and Jules exchange a look, and suddenly she hits me with, “Are you married?”

  I let out a loud laugh. Not hardly. “Hell no.”

  “Can I get your number?” Will asks bluntly.

  Arrogant ass. I’ll bet women fall all over him everywhere he goes.

  I narrow my eyes, unable to hide my contempt. “Hell no.”

  Will’s jaw drops, and he smirks, then shakes his head. “Excuse me?”

  “I don’t think I stuttered,” I respond, then lay my hand on Jules’ shoulder and force a smile for my friend. “It was great to see you. Take care, girl.”

  “You too, Meg.”

  As I turn and walk away, I hear Will murmur, “What the hell was that all about?”

  Jerk.

  I collect my brown-bagged burger and fries and head back out of the restaurant to go home and enjoy my only night off this week. I pray I don’t get called into work.

  Chapter One

  “To Nate and Jules.” Luke Williams raises his champagne flute and keeps one arm around his beautiful wife, Natalie. Everyone follows suit, toasting the happy couple. “May your love continue to grow. We wish you nothing but all the happiness in the world.”

  “To Nate and Jules!” the guests echo and sip their drinks in celebration.

  Nate McKenna, tall and dark and not just a little intense, folds his stunning blond fiancée into his arms and kisses her senseless in front of all of us, amid whistles and applause and Jules’ brother Will yelling, “Get a room!”

  I sip my sweet pink champagne and glance around the extravagant Olympic room of the Edgewater Hotel. For the hundredth time, I ask myself what I’m doing here. I was shocked to receive the invitation to Jules Montgomery’s engagement party. Jules and Natalie and I hung out quite a bit in college, and it was great to reconnect with them a few months ago, but I certainly wasn’t expecting an invitation to mingle with their family and close friends.

  I’m in a room with Luke Williams, for fuck sake. The movie star.

  The room is decorated in Tiffany blue and white with simple white flower bouquets on the tables, white table linens and Tiffany blue napkins and touches here and there. It’s incredibly classy.

  It’s completely Jules.

  It’s a late-summer evening, and not quite dark out yet, so we have an amazing view of the Puget Sound, the sky just beginning to change to pink and orange, reflecting on the water. The glass doors are open so guests can come in and out at their leisure, enjoy the veranda and the view, or come inside and dance.

  “Meg, I’m so happy you could come.” Natalie taps my shoulder and pulls me into a big hug. “I’ve missed you, girl.”

  “Me, too,” I respond, holding her close and then pulling back to admire the lovely woman before me. “You look fantastic. Marriage and motherhood agree with you, my friend.”

  And it’s true. Natalie’s green eyes shine with happiness and contentment. Her dark chestnut hair is pulled back from her face in waves, and she is wearing a fantastic black sleeveless gown.

  “Thank you. I love that dress. Your style hasn’t changed a bit,” she responds with a grin. I look down at my pale silver strapless dress with handkerchief hemline and strappy silver sandals.

  “Not much of anything has changed,” I respond with a shrug.

  “Except your hair, as usual,” Natalie laughs, pointing at my auburn hair streaked with chunky blond highlights, and I chuckle with her.

  “My hair always changes, and this is pretty tame for me. The kids enjoy it, and well, you know…once a rocker chick, always a rocker chick.”

  “You know”—Natalie grins smugly—“I still have those photos we did of you with your guitar, and nothing else.”

  “Oh God.” I giggle at the memory of playing around in Natalie’s small college studio all those years ago. “You might want to burn those.”

  “No, I’m just thinking we should shoot them over again. You didn’t have that back then.” She points, and I follow her gaze to the tattoo on my inner upper arm.

  “Maybe someday.”

  “So…” she begins but is interrupted by her husband. “Oh, Meg, this is my husband, Luke. Luke, I’d like you to meet an old friend of mine and Jules, Megan McBride.”

  “Hello, Megan, nice to meet you.” He offers me his right hand, and I feel my cheeks flush slightly before I respond, placing my hand in his to shake. But, instead, he raises it to his lips and kisses my knuckles.

  “Um, it’s nice to meet you, too, Luke.”

  He flashes me his movie-star grin, the one that used to grace every magazine cover in the country, and then excuses himself when Caleb, another of Jules’ brothers, calls to him.

  “Um, Nat?”

  “Yeah?” she replies with a satisfied sigh.

  “You’re married to Luke Williams.”

  She chuckles and nods her head. “I am.”

  “How the fuck did that happen?”

  “Long story. I’ll fill you in over wine one night.”

  “It’s a date.”

  “There you are!” Jules exclaims and wraps her arms around us in a group hug. “Meg, I’m so glad you made it!”

  “I wouldn’t miss it. Although, I was surprised to get the invite.”

  “You’re my friend. I wanted you here.” Jules grins and searches the room until her eyes find her man’s.

  “He’s very handsome, Jules. And completely gone over you,” I murmur and follow her gaze.

  “Yeah, he is. It’s mutual.”

  “I’m happy for you.” I sip more champagne.

  “Thanks.” Her smile is wide and happy, and it’s true, I am so happy that she found her guy. They are great together.

  “When do we eat?” Will asks from a table not far from us.

  I’ve been doing my best to ignore Will Montgomery, aka Seattle quarterback, aka arrogant ass. I’ve managed to stay out of his way and avoid another introduction, but I’ve felt his eyes on me all night, which I don’t get. I’m surely not his type, and it’s no secret that I’m not interested.

  “The buffet is ready to go, Miss Montgomery.” A pretty, curvy blonde walks up to Jules with a wide smile. “Dinner is ready when you are.”

  “Perfect, thank you, Alecia. Be sure you and your assistant eat, too.”

  “Oh, we will.” Alecia laughs and walks away, consulting her iPad.

  “God, I love that
woman.” Jules exhales and smooths her hands down her floaty red chiffon strapless dress.

  “She’s amazing,” Nat agrees.

  “Who is she?” I ask.

  “Party planner,” Jules replies. “I found her when I hosted Nat’s baby shower a few months ago. She’s also doing the wedding. She’s a genius.”

  “She’s my fucking hero,” Will grumbles and follows Alecia. “I’m starving.”

  “You’re always starving!” Jules yells after him and laughs.

  ***

  How I ended up at Will’s table is a mystery to me. In fact, I’m sitting with all of Jules’ impossibly handsome brothers, a sweet woman named Brynna, and Jules’ sister-in-law, Stacy, who is lovely and very pregnant. Like, pop-any-day pregnant.

  Everyone is laughing, joking with each other, and they all look incredible.

  Why the hell didn’t I bring a date? Most likely because the last time I went on a date, a tsunami hit Japan.

  Pathetic.

  “So, Megan, what do you do?” Jules’ brother Matt asks me.

  “I’m a charge nurse at Seattle Children’s Hospital.”

  “What department?” he asks and cuts into his steak.

  “I work with teens on the cancer-care floor.” I take a bite of roasted potato and a sip of champagne. I’m going to need more of this.

  “How long have you done that?” Matt asks, and I notice Will scowl. What the hell is his problem?

  “I’ve been a nurse for about six years, in this position for two.”

  Matt fills my wine glass and offers me a kind smile, and I find myself returning it.

  “You’re young to have such an important job,” Will comments kindly, but I roll my eyes and ignore him, earning another glare from him.

  “So, if Stacy goes into labor, you can save the day,” Caleb suggests, and we all laugh.

  “No, I’m not an OB nurse. But I can call an ambulance,” I respond.

  Stacy rubs her belly and grins. “It’s okay, guys, we still have about a month to go.”

  Isaac leans down and kisses his wife’s cheek and whispers something in her ear, making her grin.

  These men are all seriously charming. Jules and her family’s gene pool is impressive.

  Matt pours me another glass of wine, and I immediately sip it, pushing my plate aside. I’m too nervous to eat anyway.

  In the middle of a conversation with Stacy, I realize I’m beginning to feel a bit lightheaded, so I excuse myself and head to the bathroom to press a cold cloth on my forehead and refresh my lip gloss.

  “Meg, wait up.”

  Shit.

  I try to make it into the ladies’ room ahead of him, but Will just follows me in and locks the door.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I ask him with an eyebrow raised.

  “You don’t like me very much, do you?” He leans his tall, six-foot-four frame against the door and crosses his arms over his chest. He took his suit jacket off long ago, leaving him in a pink—pink—dress shirt that looks surprisingly hot on him, with no tie and black slacks. The sleeves are rolled up, showing off muscular forearms. His dark blond hair is overlong and messy, and his blue eyes run up and down my body before landing on mine.

  “I don’t know you well enough to like or dislike you.”

  “I call bullshit,” he says calmly.

  “It doesn’t matter.” I shrug and turn to the sink to wash my hands and apply my lip gloss, while Will’s eyes never leave me.

  “What?” I ask and turn around.

  “Why don’t you just tell me what I did to piss you off so I can go ahead and hit on you?”

  I burst out laughing, making him scowl, which makes me laugh even harder.

  “You really are an arrogant asshole, aren’t you?”

  “No, I’m not.” He’s dead serious, not finding this situation funny at all.

  “Yeah, you are. I don’t want you to hit on me.”

  He shrugs as if what I want is of no consequence. “I’m not an asshole, Meg. What did I do to offend you so much?”

  I stop laughing and clear my throat, and take a moment to just really look at him. He looks sincere. But I will never get the disappointment in my patients’ eyes out of my head.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I repeat.

  Will pushes himself off the door and crosses to me, pinning me against the bathroom counter, his hands resting on the granite on either side of me at my hips. He doesn’t touch me, but leans in so his nose is just about twelve inches from mine.

  “It does matter,” he murmurs.

  “Why?” My heartbeat has just gone into overdrive and, oh God, he smells so good. I’m blaming my fuzzy head on the overabundance of wine I’ve consumed with very little food.

  “I need you to tell me what I did to piss you off so I can apologize.” He leans back, just a few inches, and his eyes travel down my body leisurely. I can feel the heat from his gaze, and I feel my skin warm. His eyes travel back up to my face, and he pins me with his hot, blue gaze. “You look amazing in this little dress with your heels and your auburn hair all curly and messy around your sweet face.”

  “Um…” What was the question?

  “Tell me,” he insists.

  “Tell you what?” I whisper.

  He grins and whispers back, “What I did to piss you off, Meg.”

  “I’ve repeatedly sent messages to your PR people for the past two years asking for you and your team to come up and see my kids. Every request has been shot down, saying that you’re not interested.”

  He frowns and slightly shakes his head. “I’ve never received anything from PR about going to Children’s.”

  “Right,” I respond sarcastically and try to pull back so I can’t smell his musky scent. It’s doing things to me.

  I want to lick his neck.

  “I’m not lying. They field a lot of requests for me. It was never passed on to me.”

  Oh.

  Well, crap.

  “Why didn’t you just have Jules talk to me about it? Or get my number from her?”

  “Right.” I snort. “First, she’s my friend, and I’m not going to use her for stuff like that, and second, why would I call you? I don’t know you.”

  Will smiles softly and raises a hand to my face and tips my chin up with his forefinger, making me look him in the eye. He’s so tall, he towers over me, but he’s leaning down. His bright blue eyes watch me lick my lips, and when I bite my lower lip, he inhales sharply and pins my dark eyes with his gaze.

  His hand lightly cups my jaw, and he raises his other hand to lightly brush my hair back off my shoulder, and I am just lost in his eyes. I can’t move. I should push him away. I don’t do this. I don’t let strange men touch me in public restrooms while their entire family sits outside chatting and laughing and eating.

  But I can’t look away.

  He lowers his face to mine, brushes my lips ever so gently, smiles down at me in that cocky way that he’s known for, and sinks into me, burying his hands in my hair, holding my face so he can move his mouth against mine.

  Holy shit, he’s good at this kissing stuff. His lips are soft yet firm, and that somehow makes perfect sense to me. They move with precision and purpose, across my lips and back again. I moan and wrap my arms around his waist, lean into him, and Will groans against me, and suddenly this kiss has turned into not just want, but need. His tongue invades my mouth, twirling and dancing with my own. I reach up, wrap my arms around his neck and twist my fingers into his gloriously soft hair and practically climb up him, trying to get closer.

  Finally, he cups my ass in his large hands and lifts me. My legs wrap around his waist, and before I know it, my back is braced against the door. Will is leaning on me, keeping me firmly in place, and is still kissing the shit out of me.

  Holy fuck, this man can kiss.

  “God, you’re sweet,” he murmurs and nibbles and kisses his way across my jawline to my ear and down my neck. “We could have a lot of fun together, bab
y.”

  Baby? And just as if I’ve been doused with a bucket of cold water, I come to my senses. I’m about to get it on in a public restroom—ew!—with Will Montgomery.

  No!

  “Stop,” I demand, my voice firm.

  Chapter Two

  “You don’t want me to stop.”

  He pushes his pelvis against my center, and I bite my lip to stop the moan that wants to come from my throat.

  “I said stop, Will.”

  He pulls back and looks me in the eye, panting, his eyes narrowed. He shakes his head as if he’s clearing it and gently lowers me to the floor. My knees almost buckle beneath me, and he steadies me, his hands on my shoulders.

  “What’s wrong?” he asks.

  “I’m not doing this with you. Ever.”

  He steps back, runs those fantastic hands through his hair, takes a deep breath and clenches his eyes shut. “Okay.” He swallows hard. “I’m sorry. I thought you were interested.”

  “Let’s get something straight right now. I’m not some stupid sports groupie who’s dying to get into your pants, and I’m not your baby.” God, I hate being called that.

  “I apologize again, for the misunderstanding regarding my PR people, and for this.” His voice is steady now, his breathing under control, and he shoves his hands into his pockets.

  Wow, he’s handsome.

  I lick my lips, still tasting him.

  “If you’ll step aside, I’ll leave you alone.”

  I suddenly hate this polite coldness I’m getting from him. I wish he’d take me in his arms again and kiss me, and I hate myself just a little for it.

  Maybe he’s not as bad as I thought, but he’s not for me.

  I quickly move out of his way, and he unlocks the restroom door. Before he opens it, he looks back at me and offers me a half grin, winks, and leaves me alone.

  My eyes find my own in the mirror. They’re a bit glassy from too much wine and lust. My hair is just a bit messy, but I styled it that way to begin with, so no biggie. Aside from my lip gloss having been kissed off, I look the same as I did when I walked in here.

  So why does it feel like everything is about to change?

  ***

  “Okay, what are we drinking to this time?” I ask and look around the table at my friends and their men. All of the parents left the party a few hours ago, and all that’s left are Jules and Nate, Natalie and Luke, Stacy and Isaac, Brynna, Matt, Caleb and Will. All of the other guests have gone home, leaving the eleven of us to drink shots and laugh and catch up.