by Rhian Cahill
She might not be ready to move in and play happy family, but she was ready and willing to commit to their relationship. She’d stand beside him while he navigated these next few hours with Jake and do it without question or judgment.
Neither man deserved that from her. Especially Rylan.
She’d been doing him an injustice from the beginning by constantly comparing him to Stuart.
But Alyssa was right. She couldn’t—shouldn’t—put Rylan in the same basket as her ex. Rylan was by far the better man. She remembered what her boss had said to her yesterday. Rylan was one of the good ones.
And if she was lucky, she’d get to be the woman he built a life with.
38
Ry closed the door to his bedroom and rested his forehead against it.
“You okay?” Mazey asked behind him.
Was he? He’d just discovered that his best friend hadn’t betrayed him with his wife. He’d betrayed his best friend by sleeping with his girlfriend.
The other revelation that blew his mind was that Renee hadn’t been pregnant at all when they’d gotten married in Vegas. She’d used a girlfriend’s pregnancy test to get him to marry her.
He’d been so stupid.
He hadn’t even really liked her, couldn’t remember the details of their night together. They were drunk, and one thing had led to another and Bam! She’d showed him a positive stick and off to Vegas they went. All because she’d been pissed at Jake.
“Ry?”
He turned and leaned on the door. “Yeah. I think so.”
“What can I do?”
“Stay the night?” He pushed off the door and took a step toward her. “I know it’s asking a lot, but I need to hold you. And I’d like to sleep beside you. No sex. No pressure. Just two friends. One needing comfort, the other giving it.”
“Of course. I thought I already agreed to stay.” She smiled at him.
“I’ll get you something to change in to.”
“I’ve got stuff here.” She pointed to the basket in the corner. “It’s what I bought over to wash this morning.”
Rylan glanced at the basket and shook his head. “No. I want you in one of my shirts.” He didn’t wait for agreement. Striding over to his dresser, he pulled out one of his old army shirts and tossed it on the bed. “Do you want to shower before bed?”
“Will you wash my back?”
He spun around, the move and her words making him dizzy. “Maz?”
Her chest and shoulders rose with a deep breath. “I think we need to continue as we were. If we let today derail the steps we’ve taken so far, then it will always be there.” She moved closer to him. “But if we accept what happened and keep going forward, then we’re building on what we already have. I don’t want today to tear down what we’ve started.”
He didn’t know what to say. More than anything, he wanted what she was suggesting. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Plus, I really want to soak in that tub again.” She grinned and pressed against him, her chin resting on his chest, her face tipped up toward him. “What do you say? Want to take a bath with me?”
Rylan couldn’t give her a verbal answer. His throat was choked up with gratitude for this woman. He’d do whatever he could to make up for today. She’d been through so much, been hurt so deeply, and yet here she was, opening that generous heart of hers to offer him whatever comfort he needed. Slipping his arms around her waist, he picked her up and walked to the bathroom.
“I’m going to take that as a yes.” She grinned at him.
“It’s always yes when it comes to you,” he murmured before dropping a quick kiss on her mouth.
“In that case, can I add some bubbles to the bath?”
“Of course. I bought a bunch of different types online the other day, they’re on the counter.” He tipped his head in that direction. “Pick whichever one you want.”
Her eyes widened when she saw the twelve bottles next to the sink. “You bought all those?”
“I didn’t know which scent you would like, so I got one of each.” He shrugged. “I wanted you to have a choice.”
“Ry.” Her eyes filled. “You keep surprising me.”
He didn’t know what to say to that, so he put her down so she could pick which one she wanted to use while he filled the tub. Stripping out of his clothes, he stepped into the tub and sat. When Mazey walked over and tipped some liquid into the running water, the scent of vanilla burst in the air.
“That smells like you,” he said with a smile.
“Yeah, my favorite body wash is vanilla scented.”
“That explains why I always want to eat you up. My favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla.” He motioned to her. “Get undressed and get in here.”
While she undressed, he turned the water off and sat back. When she was naked, he reached out to offer his hand and helped her step into the bath in front of him. She settled between his outstretched legs—the position identical to the first time they were in the tub together.
“Is he okay?” she asked.
She didn’t need to say who, there was only one person she could be asking about. “Yeah, they’re settled in the in-law suite. Good thing that furniture turned up.” He laughed.
“Oh, when did it arrive? It hadn’t before . . .”
He gave her a gentle squeeze. “Just before the police arrived. It was actually a good distraction for keeping Renee unaware of what was going on.”
“What will happen now?”
“I don’t know. I guess she’ll go to jail. I don’t see how she’ll get out of that. She kidnapped Maddox.”
“Will you have to go to court?”
“I hope not, but I will if I have to. For Maddox. For Jake.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Thank you.” He buried his face in the side of her neck. “Maz, I know you said you don’t want today to destroy what we already have, but I can’t help fearing that it will.”
She turned around, wedged her knees on either side of his hips, bringing her pussy snug up against his dick. “I think it shook us, but we’re earthquake proof. We’re still standing. I can’t say where we’ll be in two weeks, two months, two years or two lifetimes from now, but I can say where I want to be. And that’s with you. I’m not ready to move in here. Not yet. But I can see it. I can see us living here with our baby.”
She grabbed his hands and placed them over her stomach.
“What can you see?” she asked.
“I can see our kids running around the backyard, you and me sitting on the deck. I’ve got a beer, and you’ve got a glass of wine. The sun is out, and we’re debating if they’re ready for a dog.”
Mazey grinned. “I like what you see. I want what you see.”
“Me too.”
“Then, we’ll do everything in our power to make it our reality.”
“We will,” he vowed. “No matter what it takes. We’ll make it happen.”
“We’re in this together.”
“Yes.” He leaned forward, rested his forehead on hers. “I promise you, Maz, everything will be okay.”
Epilogue
Rylan leaned back in his chair and brought the beer in his hand to his mouth. It might not be his son running around in the backyard, but it still brought a smile to his lips. Maddox took a tumble, and beside him, Mazey gasped.
“He’ll be fine,” Rylan murmured. “Give him a second.”
“I’m never going to survive doing this twenty-four-seven,” she said, a hand on top of her huge belly.
He reached over and put his hand on hers. “You’ll be fine. It’s because you don’t see this all the time that you panic.”
“He’s so little.”
Rylan laughed. “Maddox is anything but little.”
Mazey smiled. “Yeah, he is a chunky thing, isn’t he? What time did Jake say he’d be back?”
“About two.”
“Do you think he’ll do it? Take the job and move here?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. There isn’t anything keeping him in Monterey. And I think he wants to get away from bad memories. Give him and Maddox a new start.”
“Sunnyville is a fantastic place for new starts.” She turned her head, her gaze landing on his. “Maybe he’ll get lucky like us and get the best start of all.”
Rylan leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. “Luckiest day of my life was the day I mowed you down.”
“Ha! If that happened now, I’d be able to knock you off your feet.”
“Maz, I might have been standing, but the day you crashed into me, you knocked me clean off my feet, and I haven’t gotten up since.”
She flinched, then squirmed in her seat. “What time is it?”
“Just after one.”
“Hmmm.”
“Maz.” He sat up straight. He wasn’t sure what it was, but there was something in the way she moved. “Are you okay?”
“Should be. But if Jake doesn’t get here soon, we might need to call Alyssa to come to watch Maddox.”
“How far apart are they? I knew you were lying this morning.” He slipped out of his chair to kneel beside her. “Do they hurt a lot?”
“Twenty minutes apart, and it’s still mild discomfort, but they’re getting stronger.”
“Water hasn’t broken?”
“No. And even if it had, I should be okay for a while longer. I don’t want to go to the hospital just to labor in a room. I’d rather stay here as long as possible. Here I get to sit in this comfy chair and watch that sweet little boy find his feet in our backyard.” She smiled over at Maddox. “This time next year, it will be our son running around out there.”
Rylan wanted to get her to the hospital now. Wanted to be sure she and their son had every available medical support they might need. “Maz, I think—”
“Ry.” She squeezed his hand, a smile lighting up her beautiful face. “Relax, we’ve got time. And remember. Everything will be okay.”
It was better than okay. He had a wife he loved, who loved him, and in a few hours, he’d be able to hold their son.
Yeah, everything was far better than okay.
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Acknowledgments
When I signed up to write in K. Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes World I had no idea who I’d be writing about. As Rylan and Mazey started to take shape and Flashback developed I had even less of an idea that I’d want to write more books in the world by the time I typed THE END. But that’s exactly what happened. Flyboy and Fallout will make my trip to Sunnyville a little longer than expected but I’m thrilled to be heading back to write two more books.
I want to thank Kristy for opening up her world to other authors. I’ve been in love with Sunnyville since I turned the first page of Cuffed and met Grant Malone and his brothers. I have to admit, even then I had a soft spot for Grayson, which is probably why I chose to set Flashback more in his ‘world’ than Grant’s or Grady’s. If you haven’t read K. Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes do yourself a favor and grab them now!
I NEED to thank Amy. Not only is she one of my favorite readers but she’s also someone I’d call friend and without her allowing me to pepper her with ‘nurse’ questions I wouldn’t have been able to do Mazey or her job justice. Thank you Amy. You’re the best!
Another on my thank you list is Fedora. When it comes to support and cheering and editing and beta reading there isn’t anyone better than Fedora in my book (see what I did there?) and I’m glad she’s on my side. I think of her as one of my team and without her I couldn’t do what I love.
I also need to thank my editor, Missy, and my proofreader, Nicole. Both kept me in line and didn’t threaten to kill me over my comma skills (hint: I don’t have any!) as well as suggesting tweaks that made Flashback stronger. A writer can’t survive without a good editing team. Well, this writer can’t.
And thanks to you, reader. Thank you for taking a chance on Rylan and Mazey. I hope you love them as much as I do.
xoxo
Rhian
About the Author
Rhian Cahill is the alter ego of a former stay-at-home mother of four. With motherly duties rapidly dwindling Rhian is able to make use of the fertile imagination she used to keep herself sane for all those years of slavery. Having spent years living overseas and visiting tropical climates has helped inspire some steamy stories.
Multi-published in erotic, paranormal and contemporary romance, Rhian, with the help of Mr. Muse, spends her days and nights writing.
When not glued to the keyboard you’ll find her book or knitting in hand avoiding any and all housework as much as possible.
For more on Rhian –
Website – http://www.rhiancahill.com/
Newsletter signup – http://www.rhiancahill.com/contact/newsletter/
Reader group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/211469429208895/
Look for these titles by Rhian Cahill
Everyday Heroes World
Flashback
Flyboy
Fallout
Boys Of Summer
Bondi Beach Boys
Sand, Surf And Sunnie
Coyote Hunger Series
Coyote Home – Book 1
Coyote Wild – Book 2
Coyote Whispers – Book 3
Coyote Law – Book 3.5
Coyote Lies – Book 4
Party Games Series
Truth Or Dare
Spin The Bottle
Pass The Parcel – Novella
Are You Game Series
7 Minutes In Heaven – Book 1
Catch’n’Kiss – Book 2
Red Light, Green Light – Book 3
Hearts Are Wild Series
No More Talking (novella)
Dare You To (novella)
Mad Love
Winter Lake Series
Love Me Like You Do
Love The Way You Are
When You Love Someone
Let Me Love You
Wild Rush Of Love
For a full list of Rhian’s available books visit her website
http://www.rhiancahill.com/books/
Also Written By K. Bromberg
Driven
Fueled
Crashed
Raced
Aced
Slow Burn
Sweet Ache
Hard Beat
Down Shift
UnRaveled
Sweet Cheeks
Sweet Rivalry
The Player
The Catch
Cuffed
Combust
Cockpit
Control
Faking It
Resist
Reveal
Then You Happened
Hard to Handle
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