by Regan Black
Trina pulled back enough to meet his gaze. “It’s our beginning.”
“Yes.” He’d never let her go again.
* * *
Three days later, Rob knocked on Trina’s front door. His heart pounded in his chest as if this were his first undercover op. He laughed nervously at his unintentional joke. This was indeed an uncover op—it was time to tell Jake who he was.
He heard the sound of Renegade’s barks followed by scampering feet, the sound he’d memorized that first night he’d met his son. The door flew open and revealed the boy who’d cemented a permanent place in Rob’s soul since the minute Trina had revealed he was a father.
“Rob!” Rob knelt down and the little boy launched himself at Rob, wrapping his arms around Rob’s neck in what was now a familiar gesture.
“Hey, Jake!” He hugged his son back, savoring how good it felt to be able to receive love as much as give it.
“Hi, handsome.” Trina was behind Jake and Rob stood, lifting Jake with him. He leaned over and gave her a warm, lingering kiss.
“Hi, yourself.”
“Ick.” Jake’s observation made all three laugh.
“Trina, do you mind if Jake and I have a man-to-man conversation? You can be there, but it’s just going to be us guys talking.” He watched his son as he spoke. He and Trina had already agreed that this was the time and place to tell Jake the truth.
“Sure thing. How about the backyard?”
“Yeah!” Jake wiggled out of his arms and raced through the house, heading for the back door. Renegade followed him, tail wagging.
Trina hugged him tight. “You’ve got this, Rob.”
“Thanks.” He wanted to stay in her arms forever, and he would, but first things first.
Trina stayed on the back porch, where she sat on the steps holding Renegade as Rob walked toward the huge oak tree where Jake swung on his tire.
“Do you want to try it, Rob?”
Rob shook his head. “Not now. I need to talk to you about something, first.” He knelt next to the swing.
“Okay.” Jake stopped swinging and stared intently at Rob.
Rob swallowed. “Jake, do you know how your mom told you your dad was in the Navy and did a lot of military missions?”
Jake nodded, never taking his wide eyes off of Rob. Rob didn’t think he’d ever get used to his son staring at him like this, as if everything he said was the Gospel.
“Mom said my dad wished he could be here.”
“Well, that’s just it, Jake. I am here. I’m your dad.”
Rob started to go on, to tell Jake all that he’d memorized to include how different circumstances had kept them apart. But his son had a different take on things.
“You mean you want to be my dad? I know that you love my mom.”
Rob laughed. “You do?”
Jake nodded.
“Yes, I want to be your dad, Jake, but in fact, I am your dad. I’m the Navy guy your mom told you about.”
“You’re the hero?” Jake’s eyes grew even wider.
“I’m not a hero, Jake.”
But Jake didn’t hear him as he slid through the tire to stand next to Rob. “You’re my hero, Rob.”
“You can call me Dad, if you’d like.”
“Is Daddy okay for now? And Dad, too?”
Rob couldn’t speak past the lump in his throat so he nodded and opened his arms to his son.
“Daddy or Dad, whichever you want, son.” As he hugged him he felt hands on his shoulders. Trina knelt next to him, joining their embrace. She kissed Jake on the cheek.
“Mommy, why are you crying?”
“I’m happy. These are tears of joy, Jake.”
When she sought his gaze he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. Rob still couldn’t find words, never having faced so much love in his lifetime. Trina smiled. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too.”
Jake patted both of their cheeks with his hands. “Guess what, guys? I mean, Mommy and Daddy.” He giggled. “This is our first family hug!”
“Yes, it is.” Trina’s voice was soft, her eyes luminous. Rob knew he must look the same. Besotted.
“So are you going to get married or what?”
Trina looked at him and Rob found his words. “If your mom will have me. But that’s an adult conversation that your mom and I will have later, Jake.”
“Fine. But Mom, please say yes.”
Renegade jumped up and started licking Rob’s face, as if showing his agreement to the plan. Rob fell backward, dragging his family and dog with him. Amidst the barks and laughter, Rob knew he’d finally found his forever family.
EPILOGUE
Three months later
“To the bride and groom!” Nolan Lopez held his glass of champagne high, and the wedding guests followed suit, echoing his toast.
Glasses clinked and people laughed. Rob could not care less. All he wanted, all he ever desired, sat with him at the head table of his wedding reception. Trina and Jake. To his utter delight, she’d accepted his proposal of marriage and they’d put together a ceremony that they’d all appreciate, Jake included.
His bride smiled over his son’s head. “How you holding up, Mr. Lopez?”
“Wonderfully, Mrs. Bristol.” They kissed over Jake’s head, laughing as they did so. Unable to decide whose name to take with the reality of Jake bearing Rob’s original name, they’d decided to legally keep their current names, Trina Lopez and Robert Bristol. It was a necessity, as Rob was going to continue his civilian job as a social worker, and Trina would continue with the Marshals in a desk job. They’d both take Trail Hiker assignments as offered, sometimes together as long as her mother was available to watch Jake. And many women kept their maiden names, so it wasn’t anything major. Still, it made for good teasing between them. And if it got him an extra kiss from Trina, Rob was all for it.
Rob was particularly pleased that they’d all agreed to change Jake’s name to Justin Lopez-Bristol. It was time for a new beginning for all of them. He watched his son charm Trina’s mother, who couldn’t resist adjusting the bow tie on Jake’s tux. He and Jake wore matching tuxedoes, and he felt it cemented their relationship so far. Today was a celebration of their father-son bond, which had grown leaps even as Rob stumbled over basic things like adhering to Jake’s set bedtime and not allowing him to have all the sweets he wanted, whenever he wanted. Trina helped him see that boundaries with his son were a good thing, and helped respect and love grow on both sides.
He saw his brother-in-law, Nolan, raise a glass of champagne, saluting him again for marrying his sister. Rob nodded and hoisted his glass, grateful for the family he’d gained in Nolan and Trina’s parents. He and Trina had told them both his true identity, and Jake would know when he was old enough to know what “classified” meant. Of course, by then, it would most likely be unclassified. Time had a way of making all secrets impotent.
“Dad, is it time yet?” Rob’s eyes filled with tears. Jake had started calling him “Dad” the minute he had told him he was his real father, by the tire swing. He called him “Daddy” when he was tired or especially needy. Rob was learning that a five-, almost six-year-old had a lot of needy times. Which made him more determined to make sure Jake felt a part of his and Trina’s wedding. Trina had agreed.
Today was Jake’s day, too.
“Daaaaad. Is. It. Time?” His son looked at him with exasperation. Not easy in his kid-size tuxedo, perfectly matching Rob’s.
“Time for what?” Trina sipped her champagne, and Rob couldn’t wait to share a bottle of bubbly in private with her. Later.
“Go ahead, son.” Rob nodded at Jake, who pulled out a box from his coat pocket. It looked big in such small hands.
“Here, Mommy. This is from me and Daddy. It’s a surprise wedding gift.”
“Rob, we said we weren’t doing this.” Her eyes glistened, turning their gray depths silver.
“Jake insisted.”
She opened the box, which Jake had carefully wrapped in racing car paper last night. When Trina lifted the lid, she gasped. “Rob. Jake. Oh my.”
Rob reached over and lifted the gold charm bracelet from her hands. “Here, let me.” He fastened it on her wrist and kissed her hand. “The charms are special.”
“Yeah! The dog is from Renegade.” That one had taken a while to find, as had the small race car with Jake’s birthdate engraved on it. Trina smiled and thanked them for each one.
“And I know what this one is.” She fingered the gold camel, from the necklace that had broken at Camp Serenity.
“Not quite. Look on its belly.” Trina turned the charm over, and tears spilled down her cheeks. “It’s today. Our wedding day.”
“Our new beginning.”
They met again over Jake’s head and kissed.
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781488093029
The Fugitive’s Secret Child
Copyright © 2018 by Geri Krotow
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either 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. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
Saved and seduced…
by Wingman Security’s sexiest agent
Stuck in a raging snowstorm, Laura Collins can’t refuse shelter in Rico Metez’s Colorado mountain cabin. She’s been on the run with a child and will do anything to save her. But as he puts everything on the line to protect Laura, Rico senses she’s got deeper secrets that involve the little girl. Can he learn the truth before his own past gets them killed?
“Suddenly, I feel like living dangerously.” He deliberately stared at her mouth.
“Really?”
She sounded breathless. Was it from walking up the hill? Or the idea of what his living dangerously might mean for her?
“Yeah,” he said. “What do you think about that?”
She stared at him. Her cheeks were red and her hair was flying around her face, full of static electricity from her cap. “Living dangerously. I’ve spent a lifetime doing just the opposite, being very careful to do just the right thing.”
“And now?”
“And now, I think I might be done with that.”
What was she saying? There could be no room for misinterpretation here. He leaned close, whispered in her ear so the little girls could not hear. “I want you in my bed, Laura.”
“I’m not in a place where I can make any commitments, Rico.”
“I’m not asking for any. Or expecting any,” he added. Hoping, yeah, but he didn’t need to say that.
“Then I say yes.”
* * *
Don’t miss the next romance in Beverly Long’s exciting miniseries, Wingman Security!
* * *
If you’re on Twitter, tell us what you think of Harlequin Romantic Suspense! #harlequinromsuspense
Dear Reader,
Thank you for the opportunity to share Laura and Rico’s story. I’m super excited that it’s set in Colorado. My grandparents homesteaded on the western slope of Colorado in the early 1930s. My mother, who claimed she could ride a horse before she could walk, had wonderful stories about her childhood on the mountain ranch. She left Colorado to marry my dad and they settled in Illinois. My grandparents, however, continued to live in Colorado until their deaths many years later.
In the summers, my parents would load up the Buick LeSabre with their five children (yes, those cars really were big enough for seven) and we would drive from Illinois to Colorado and spend two weeks with my grandparents. The excitement of seeing the mountains and knowing that we were close is a feeling that I will never forget. By then, my grandparents had left the ranch and were living in town. Aunts and uncles and cousins, who all still lived in Colorado, would arrive. We’d play canasta, catch frogs in the drainage ditch and pick tomatoes out of the garden that were delicious with just a little salt.
For me, Colorado is about family and that’s the theme that resonates in Snowbound Security. The importance of family, the risks one will take to keep family safe, the sacrifices one will make. The love that binds a family together.
I hope you enjoy!
All my best,
Beverly
SNOWBOUND SECURITY
Beverly Long
Beverly Long enjoys the opportunity to write her own stories. She has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business and more than twenty years of experience as a human resources director. She considers her books to be a great success if they compel the reader to stay up way past their bedtime. Beverly loves to hear from readers. Visit beverlylong.com, or like her author fan page at Facebook.com/beverlylong.romance.
Books by Beverly Long
Harlequin Romantic Suspense
Wingman Security
Power Play
Bodyguard Reunion
Snowbound Security
Harlequin Intrigue
Return to Ravesville
Hidden Witness
Agent Bride
Urgent Pursuit
Deep Secrets
The Men from Crow Hollow
Hunted
Stalked
Trapped
The Detectives
Deadly Force
Secure Location
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OOBPBPA201602010002
To Lydia, who has helped me to know how very much my grandparents must have loved me.
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
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
CHAPTER 1
Laura Collins awoke when a small hand poked her in the nose. She opened one eye, then the other. Hannah stood at the side of the bed, her head at an angle, her long curly blond hair in even more disarray than usual. Likely from having it wadded up and stuffed underneath her small baseball cap for too many hours the day before.
“Wake up,” said the four-year-old.
Laura smiled. She felt as if she could sleep for weeks. But Hannah was likely not having any of that. She’d gotten regular naps snug in her car seat in the back of the white Mustang while Laura had driven for seventeen hours, her tense fingers clenching the steering wheel.
“Are you hungry, sweetheart?” They had some food left but Laura knew that she’d need to make a trip to the grocery store soon. There had to be one somewhere.
Hannah nodded, her big blue eyes solemn.
She was too serious. Maybe she understood more than Laura thought she did. She hoped not. One day she’d tell her the truth. But not now. She was too young. There was too much at risk. “Peanut butter toast and an orange?” she asked.
“Pancakes,” Hannah said.
