by Layla Hagen
I found a rat hole outside the city where I can live until I’m back on my feet without burning through my savings. Let’s hope I won’t get shot until that happens. I went to visit the place yesterday and it creeped me out. Then I came home and packed my stuff the entire night. I collapsed on the couch this morning, and now I can’t get up again. All my muscles are as sore as hell. The movers will be here in a few hours, which gives me plenty of time to wallow and obsessively check my e-mails. Dirk made me return my phone yesterday, since it was the company’s. I do have my laptop, and I didn’t get an e-mail from Sebastian. I bought a new phone, but he doesn’t have my new number, and I’m too much of a coward to call him.
When the reality show gets too mindless, I switch off the TV and focus my attention on my laptop, namely on the list with jobs I want to apply to. I have a game plan. It’s not perfect, but I’ll make it work. Dirk refuses to acknowledge my efforts—but the clients I’ve worked with won’t. They’ve all been thrilled with me.
I will call all of my clients, including Sebastian, and sweet talk them into letting me list them as references.
I let out a sigh at the thought of Sebastian. Dirk told me terrible things in his office. The old me would’ve been horrified at my actions, drowning in guilt over throwing my career away over a man—Dirk’s words. As I sat across from him, watching him, I couldn’t bring myself to feel one ounce of guilt about my relationship with Sebastian.
I felt more alive and happy with him than I’ve been in my entire life. My only regret is that it ended. Tears spring to my eyes, and I wipe them away quickly. I suppose that by leaving the way I did, I gave him an easy way out; and he took it, ripping my heart to shreds. I know I should call him using my new number, or write another email explaining everything, but I can’t bring myself to do it just yet. Biting the inside of my cheek, I resolve not to think about that right now. I still have things to do and organize, and I know thinking about Sebastian will be my undoing.
***
I’m about to open the second carton of ice cream when the bell rings. Frowning, I drag my feet to the door. Are the movers here early? I open the door without looking through the peephole. I really must break that habit; it might get me killed, or at the very least mugged, in the hellhole I’m moving to.
“Sebastian.”
“You look terrible,” he says.
For a few seconds, neither of us says anything, and then I burst out laughing. “I really need you to shower me with compliments today.”
I eye him, drinking him in as usual. Is it possible that it’s been just two days since I last saw him? It feels like an entire year has passed.
“Did you take any other shower?” He smiles lazily.
I gulp, eyeing the floor. I didn’t shower after I packed everything.
“Why are you here?” I ask him.
“Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
He walks in, sizing up the boxes. “I’m sorry for exposing us to your boss. I wasn’t—”
“You didn’t know it was him.” I lean against a stack of boxes. “Someone from work had seen us together in San Francisco earlier too. He was looking for a way to throw me out anyway. I chatted with some of the girls there, and apparently, I was getting too senior in the company—he wanted to hire someone younger and cheaper.”
“He’s an idiot. You’re brilliant.”
“Ah, now we’re talking.” Grinning, I wink at him. “Keep the compliments coming. I wasn’t joking when I said I really need them.” God, having him here makes everything brighter, better. He fills the space with his smile and twinkling eyes. Realization hits me hard, wiping my breath away. Right here in this moment, I realize I’ve never wanted anything more than this: him. It’s not just that I want it. I need him.
“What’s with all the boxes?”
“I’m moving to a cheaper neighborhood until I find a job.” My words come out robotic, as if someone else utters them.
“Impressive. You managed to arrange all this in two days,” he says. Peeling his eyes away from the boxes, he fixes them on me, unleashing the full power of his gaze. My knees weaken.
“Why haven’t you answered my calls?”
“Dirk took my phone. It was the company’s.”
His face falls. “I didn’t think of that.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I got a new one, but didn’t have the courage to call or write.”
“Come here, you silly girl.” He pulls me into a hug, and I lose myself in his arms. God, this is so much better than Ben and Jerry’s and making lists and plans. For the first time in days, I feel safe, and oddly—empowered. “You have nothing to feel sorry for. You should’ve told me.”
“I was so busy with everything. Packing, finding a rat hole to move into. You didn’t e-mail me, so I thought you wanted to end everything. I’m so tired.”
“Shh.” He picks me up in his arms, and then sits on the couch, keeping me in his lap. His arms are tight around me. “I’m here for you, Ava. You run into trouble, you let me know.”
“I’m used to doing things on my own. I went on autopilot, into problem-solving mode.”
“Well, I know you don’t need someone to save you. That’s partly why I love you so much. You’re fierce and strong.” He caresses my cheek, filling me with warmth. “I’ll never let you go.” Tilting my chin up, he feathers his lips on mine, and then claims my mouth with a deep kiss, full of longing and tenderness. This man. . . God, he’s so perfect. I want to kiss the living daylights out of him for the rest of the day. Sadly, we must also breathe. Gasping for air, we pull apart. “I was going to ask you to stay with me in San Francisco during the trip.”
“You were?” I ask in amazement.
“Yeah. I love you.”
I fist his shirt. “I love you, too. So much. ”
“I was still rounding up arguments to convince you to leave your job, but Dirk the Dick made it that much easier.”
I grin against his lips. “Dirk the Dick? You’re a fast learner.”
“Always. I have a proposition for you.” He cups my face, making me look at him.
“Sounds dangerous.”
“It’ll be irresistible. We’ve established already I’m the irresistible brother.”
“Of course you are. Let’s hear that proposition.” I’m curious.
“As you know, the marketing manager ditched us.” His tone is serious and businesslike, which cracks me up right now. “Luckily, we had that very efficient and talented consultant working for us, or the launch would’ve gone to the dogs. Now she’s gone, and the manager position is still free.”
“Sebastian Bennett, are you asking me to work for you?” I pull myself straighter in his lap. Amazing. A few minutes ago, I had the distinct impression I was carrying a rock weighing a ton on my shoulders. Now? I could fly.
“Yes, I am. The team likes you, and you’re very good at what you do. Are you interested?”
“I don’t know.” Scrunching my nose, I massage my temples, pretending I’m thinking hard. “I have some requirements that must be fulfilled first.”
“Like what?”
“Like having my office far away from the CEO so I can actually get work done.”
“Absolutely not.”
“That was the easiest request.” I pinch his chest playfully.
“Why do I get the feeling I’ll say no to all of them?” He lowers his hands to my hips and then my thighs.
“You’ll jeopardize my work ethic.”
“Not at all. I’ll reward your efforts.” The hint of a smile plays on his lips. It’s my favorite one: sexy, with a dash of mischief.
“You’re quite good with rewards.”
“Am I?” He runs his thumb over my lower lip. “Say yes.” To my astonishment, there is a shadow of doubt in his eyes, like there’s a real chance I’ll say no. As if.
“Yes. Of course. I’ll—”
He drowns the rest of the words with a kiss that is as sweet as it is passionate. Tangling his
fingers in my hair, he pulls me to him with thinly disguised desperation. We both laugh after we break apart.
“Out of respect to my future employer, I must tell you I am not as brilliant as you think. I thought through one hundred scenarios, but working for you wasn’t one of them.”
“Thank God you agreed. If you didn’t come back with me to California, my family might have killed me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Pippa all but kicked me today. Logan joined Pippa in kicking me. Mom called to berate me. You’re not alone, you know. My family cares about you. Once you become a Bennett, you’re always a Bennett.”
“An adopted Bennett?” I ask hopefully.
“A real Bennett.”
He puts me down on the couch. Then he drops on one knee, pulling a jewelry box out of his pocket. When he opens the lid, my heart leaps in my chest.
“My ruby,” I whisper.
“Pippa turned the necklace into a ring today. Ava Lindt, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
“Yes.”
He slides the ring on my finger, and I can barely take my eyes off it. “It’s beautiful, Sebastian.”
We both rise to our feet, and he hooks an arm around my waist. Cupping my cheek in one hand, he laughs wholeheartedly, and I join him. “You complete me, Ava. Right from the beginning, something in you was beckoning to me. I can’t imagine going on without you.”
Too emotional for words, I rise on my tiptoes and plant a kiss right on the tip of his nose.
“I can’t believe you proposed to me when I haven’t showered, surrounded by a pile of boxes.”
“Oh, we’ll have to do a do-over in front of my family, don’t worry.”
“What?” My chest tightens as I imagine doing this in front of all the Bennetts, but then I visualize Pippa’s dreamy expression and Logan telling us we still can’t have sex at the office, and I relax. The thought of seeing all of them again fills me with joy.
“They’d never forgive me if they don’t get to see the proposal. It’s almost as bad as a runaway wedding for them.”
Looking at the ring on my finger, I have to fight the tears threatening to spill on my cheeks.
“I’m a lucky man, Ava. There are a few things I’d like to say.”
“Mmm, don’t you want to wait until the vows?” I’m dying to hear him out, but there’ll be no stopping the tears if he’s his usual sweet, charming self.
“Nah, there’ll be too many people. I want to make you a few promises while we’re here, just the two of us.”
Cupping my cheeks in his hands, he pulls me to him, pressing his forehead to mine. “I promise I’ll cherish every moment with you—”
“I’m sure you’ll love having your pillow hijacked every night—”
“I will,” he assures me. “I’ll spoil you and take care of you, and our family.” With a smile, he adds, “That’ll include our many, many kids.”
Pulling back a notch, I ask suspiciously. “How many?”
He answers with a grin. “We’ll talk about that later.” Caressing my face with the back of his hand, his eyes linger on mine, full of warmth. “You’ll never feel alone again, Ava. I promise.”
A lump settles in my throat, emotions overcoming me.
“You’re going to make me fall in love with you more every day, aren’t you?”
“I’m certainly going to try. You deserve to be loved, and you have so much love to give. I’m happiest when you look at me like I’m your whole world, so I’ll make sure to work hard to earn that look.”
A knock at the door startles us both.
“Oh, it must be the movers.” Before I can utter another word, Sebastian marches to the door. Pulling it open, he tells the guys their service is no longer necessary and returns to me after they leave.
“I need to call the landlord of the other place to let him know I won’t be moving in. He’ll probably still keep my deposit. Then I’ll—”
“Shh. I forbid you to go on your autopilot, problem-solving mode.” His commanding voice spurts tendrils of heat through my body. Sebastian takes my breath away. He pushes a strand of hair out of my eyes, tilting my head up.
“Bossy fiancé,” I say.
“We’ll deal with everything later. Right now, I want to make love to my beautiful fiancée.”
He leans in to kiss me. I smile against his lips, lacing my fingers behind his neck. He’s right, we’ll figure everything out later. Together.
Epilogue
Ava
“We will not call any child of ours Seamus.” I stomp my foot, but all that does is make Sebastian grin and everyone else laugh out loud. We’re at his parents’ house, as are all his siblings. Pouting, I sit in Sebastian’s lap. “Let’s not talk about kid names anymore. I’m not even pregnant.”
Right after our engagement party a few months ago, Sebastian informed me that he’s planning to have as many kids as it takes to have a soccer team. I wasn’t sure how many players there were on a team, so I googled it. Eleven. I still hope he was kidding, but I don’t think so. He’s already talking about names. Alex, Seamus, and William are what he came up with so far. I’d have the Bennett family vote on names, but some of them look far too thrilled about Seamus, so I’m not too sure they’re to be trusted.
“I’m with Ava on this one,” Logan says. “Seamus is a no-go.”
I narrow my eyes at him. Logan’s trying hard to get in my good graces. We’ve butted heads at the office all week over some budget plans—again. The marketing department accepted me almost at once. They’d already warmed up to me, so they didn’t consider me an outsider anymore. A funny thing happened in New York after I left. The agency’s board fired Dirk. Sebastian claims he had nothing to do with it, but he averts his gaze when I ask him about it. Simone carried out her threat. She sued Sebastian for harassment. The result was stellar. Sebastian won, and Simone’s reputation was tarnished. One by one, she lost all her major contracts. Pippa bet Simone would be posing for Playboy instead of Vogue within six months. I gave her a year. Pippa won the bet after only three months.
“Why don’t we talk about the wedding?” their mother asks in a gentle tone.
“There are still a bazillion months left,” Blake says. “Besides, picking out names is more fun.”
Sebastian holds his hands up in defense. “I keep myself out of wedding preparations. Last time I offered my opinion, it was shot down before I finished speaking.”
I grin, still not believing my luck in finding this man and his hilarious family. There was a time when I thought the only way to be strong was not to count on anyone but myself; but I’ve never felt stronger than now, surrounded by a bunch of Bennetts who can’t keep their noses out of anything—including shady names for future babies. I love them all to pieces.
“That’s because you have atrocious taste, brother,” Pippa says. With that, she whisks me away from the group, undoubtedly to talk more about our matchmaking plan. Last month, Nadine told me she’s looking to relocate. I’ve been trying to sell her on San Francisco ever since.
“Did Nadine say anything new?”
“I’ve almost convinced her.” Pulling out my phone, I show her the last e-mail I sent to Nadine.
From: Ava
To: Nadine
I still stand by what I wrote. I have my hands full trying to organize my wedding, and I could use your help. Also, there are three other sexy, single Bennett men running around San Francisco. They all have good references (actually the party brothers are still working on those references). Logan Bennett is driving me CRAZY at the office. That man needs to have his ego taken down a notch. You’re up for the challenge. Fly down here for a few weeks and see if you like the city. If you don’t like it, you can move somewhere else.
I look up from my phone and find Pippa grinning.
“You really think Logan and Nadine will make a good match?”
Her grin turns into a mischievous smile. “You just wait for her to fly here.
We’ll make it happen.”
***
THE END
***
Dear Reader,
If you want to read Logan and Nadine’s story,
Your Captivating Love, you can pre-order it here:
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Description:
Logan Bennett knows his priorities. He is loyal to his family and his company. He has no time for love, and no desire for it. Not after a disastrous engagement that left him broken-hearted. When Nadine enters his life, she turns everything upside down. She’s sexy, funny, and utterly captivating. She’s also more stubborn than anyone he’s met. . .including himself.
Nadine Hawthorne is finally pursuing her dream: opening her own clothing shop. After working so hard to get here, she needs to concentrate on her new business, and can’t afford distractions. Not even if they come in the form of Logan Bennett. He’s handsome, charming, and doesn’t take no for an answer. After bitter disappointments, Nadine doesn’t believe in love. But being around Logan is addicting. It doesn’t help that Logan’s family is scheming to bring them together at every turn.
Their attraction is sizzling, and their connection—undeniable. Slowly, Logan wins her over. What starts out as a fling soon spirals into much more than they are prepared for.
When a mistake threatens to tear them apart, will they have the strength to hold on to each other?
Pre-order it here:
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All retailers and countries
It will be delivered to your e-reader on April 19th.
***
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