His San Diego Sweetheart

by Yahrah St. John

“Answer me, woman,” Sasha said, spinning her around.

  Miranda looked up at her best friend with tears in her eyes. And without her having to say a word, Sasha enveloped her in a hug. “Shh. Shh.” She tried to quiet Miranda’s sobs, but now that the dam had been broken, there was no place for Miranda to hide. She would have to face her fears head-on. She fell to her knees in the sand and Sasha joined her.

  When she could finally find her voice, she said, “You’ve no idea how hard it was for me when Jake left me. It hurt so bad I physically ached inside.” Vaughn was the one man who could take her back to that horribly lonely place where she’d been on the brink of devastation. Before, she’d barely had the strength to build her world from ground zero. Miranda wasn’t sure she could do it all over again. “I don’t want to go back there, Sasha. I refuse to. I’m a much stronger woman than I was back then.”

  “And I don’t want you to. You are strong and it’s because I’ve seen this change in you, this quiet strength that I’m asking you to take a risk again.”

  “That’s easy for you to say, Sasha. You haven’t been where I’ve been.”

  “True, but when I see you hurting like this and knowing there might be a solution if only you’re willing to be brave. Well, it kind of makes me sad, Miranda. You see, you and Vaughn were making me believe in love at first sight.”

  “Aaaw.” Fresh tears sprang to Miranda’s eyes and Sasha leaned across the sand to hug her. “It’s going to be okay, Miranda. I believe that with all my heart.”

  “How?” Miranda asked. “How can you say that? Look at where I am now.”

  Sasha smiled broadly and Miranda couldn’t on earth think of why. Then she turned to follow the direction of Sasha’s gaze and saw why.

  Vaughn.

  He was walking straight toward them in the sand, wearing a business suit. It looked like he’d come directly from work. Instead of his usual beach getup of shorts and a tank underneath his wet suit. What felt like joy began to bubble inside her, but Miranda pushed it down. She couldn’t get her hopes up, only to have them dashed. What was he doing here? And how did he know where they were going to be?

  Miranda turned to Sasha and saw the smug smile on her face.

  That little matchmaker!

  “You did this, didn’t you?” Miranda pointed a finger in her best friend’s direction.

  Sasha shrugged her shoulders and then rose to her feet, brushing off the sand. “You needed a little shove in the right direction, so I thought I might help you along. Vaughn.” She nodded to Miranda’s husband when he stopped several feet away from them.

  Miranda peered up at him with her hand shielding the sun. “What do you want?”

  “We need to talk.”

  “And that’s my cue to make my exit, but I’m not going far,” Sasha said, pointing her finger at Vaughn. “Don’t make me regret tossing you a bone,” Miranda heard her whisper. Then her friend was stepping several yards away.

  * * *

  When Vaughn saw Miranda’s figure next to Sasha’s, the pain in his chest eased somewhat. They may be estranged, but he hadn’t lost her yet. She was still here in San Diego and he could still reach her, get through to her, if he was willing to be vulnerable and tell Miranda his true feelings. Feelings he had only just discovered once she’d left and he’d thought she was gone forever.

  “Can I sit beside you?” he asked, staring down into her angelic face. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot red. He could see that she’d been crying and he hated that he was the cause, but he never would be again. At least not intentionally. He didn’t wait for her response. Instead, he sat beside Miranda. His body hummed with awareness of having her near. He glanced in her direction.

  His wife. His love.

  It staggered him that he’d just come to the realization that he loved her, was in love with Miranda.

  “Your suit.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t care about the darn suit. I came here for you, Miranda.”

  “Don’t say things you don’t mean, Vaughn, because you think that’s what I want to hear. We don’t want the same things. Love. Marriage. A partnership. Children. Can you honestly tell me you want those things?” Tears glistened in her eyes as she spoke.

  He stared back at her. “Yes, yes I do. Very much so.”

  Miranda shook her head as if she didn’t believe him. “Then you’re fooling yourself,” she said, rising to her feet. “You were only looking for a temporary wife, not the whole lot.”

  “Well, I’m telling you I’ve changed my mind.” He followed behind her as she trudged through the sand, uncaring of the designer shoes on his feet.

  “Why?”

  “Because of you.”

  “Me?” A perplexed expression came across her face and she stopped walking. “I don’t understand. I thought you weren’t looking for a deeper relationship?”

  “I wasn’t,” Vaughn responded. “Not until I came home today and saw that you’d left me for good. I thought we’d had just an argument, a bad one, but an argument nonetheless. And I came home, expecting to find you there to share the news about my day and the break-in, but you weren’t there. And when I went to your room and saw your empty closet, I thought you’d gone and were never coming back.”

  “I had gone,” Miranda said. “Or at least I thought I was.”

  Hope filled Vaughn at her words. “Was? Does that mean you’ve had a change of heart?”

  Miranda sighed. “I admit that I was going to come back and talk to you.”

  “So I haven’t lost you?”

  “Do you want to?” Her beautiful brown eyes peered up at him and he knew he’d made the right choice coming here today.

  “No, I don’t want to lose you, Miranda. You were right last night. When you called me out on my fears. Because I was scared. Am scared. You see, I’m deathly afraid of loving you and being loved by you. Men in my family were always taught that emotion was a sign of weakness. So I’ve never truly seen what love looks like, feels like and so when I felt these strange emotions, I chalked it up to lust and the undeniable chemistry between us. But that wasn’t all.”

  “There’s more? Cause you’re off to a really good start and I wouldn’t want you to ruin it with too much talk.”

  Vaughn chuckled. That was his Miranda, constantly surprisingly him and keeping him off-kilter. “I’m sorry, truly sorry for everything I said last night. I was running scared and I hurt you and for that I’m sorry. Since you’ve come into my life, you’ve made me feel more alive than I have ever felt. I’d been surfing through my life from one endless wave and business deal and from one temporary relationship to another, instead of living it. But I don’t want to do that anymore. I don’t want to be like my father, I want to feel things. I want to be loved.”

  She laughed and tears spilled down her cheek. “Oh, Vaughn.” She leaned over and stroked his cheek.

  “I can’t believe I’ve lived my entire life without experiencing what true love really is. I’m so thankful I saw you sitting on this very beach a month ago.”

  “Does that mean...?”

  “Yes. It means I love you, Miranda. I think I’ve loved you from the very start.”

  “He did,” Sasha piped in from several yards away where she had been surprisingly quiet. “I could see it in his eyes. Once I met him and talked to him, I just knew it.”

  “Thanks for the assist, Sasha,” Vaughn said, “but I’ve got it from here.” He took Miranda’s hands in his. “Being with you has taught me what love means and I never want to live a day without you. Last night, not having you beside me was hell on earth. I want to wake up every morning and see your smiling face beside mine.”

  “You do?”

  A hoarse chuckle escaped his lips. “Oh yes, I love you, Miranda.” He hauled her into his arms. “Can you still love me too even after I hurt you?”

  �
��If you ever hurt me again...”

  “I won’t. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I promise to love and cherish you and to never hurt you again.” Vaughn pulled away long enough to lower himself to the ground and on one knee asked, “Will you marry me?”

  “We’re already married,” she said, laughing.

  “I know we’re already married, but I’d like us to renew our vows, because this time we mean them.” He gathered her in his arms into a whirlpool of a kiss that sent her heart soaring and made her blood race. His lips both demanded and caressed hers with equal intensity.

  “Ahem, ahem.” There was coughing behind him and Vaughn realized Sasha was still standing nearby. Slowly, he lifted his head. Glancing down at Miranda he saw she was just as dazed as he was by that kiss. They needed to move this to a more private location where it was just the two of them. Because one thing was for certain: he didn’t want to go another night like the last one without her taste on his lips before he went to sleep.

  “Sasha, I can’t thank you enough for telling me where to find Miranda. We just might have to name our firstborn after you.”

  “Ha, ha, ha.” Sasha chuckled. “But it was my pleasure. I knew you two were meant to be after our talk before your marriage ceremony. Now if you’ll excuse me, my work here is done.” With a squeeze of Miranda’s shoulders, Sasha was walking through the sand back to her car.

  “About that firstborn comment,” Miranda said, and raised an eyebrow. “Are you thinking about babies already?”

  “Only if you want them,” Vaughn responded.

  Miranda smiled right back at him. “And only if they’re yours.”

  Epilogue

  “I didn’t think it was possible to be this happy,” Vaughn said a few days later.

  After they’d professed their love to each on the beach, they’d returned to their home in La Jolla and had made up for lost time. They hadn’t left their house in days and instead had been enjoying each other and having a very private honeymoon. Vaughn wrapped his arm around his wife because moments ago, she had come out on the balcony wearing the sexy peignoir he’d bought for her. When she’d first walked out in the moonlight wearing the divine, sheer concoction of silk that left little to the imagination, he’d openly stared at her. He could see her long legs underneath. See the dusky hue of her nipples across the top of the lace which showed him plenty of cleavage. He licked his lips in anticipation of another evening of lovemaking.

  “Neither did I,” Miranda said. “I thought I was always going to be unlucky in love.”

  “Not anymore,” Vaughn said. “I will always be by your side. No matter where we are. Speaking of, we haven’t yet discussed where our home base is going to be.”

  Miranda turned around to stare at him. “I guess I just assumed it would always be here. This is Elite’s headquarters.”

  “True.” Vaughn nodded. “But it’s not a foregone conclusion. I don’t expect you to uproot yourself permanently. You have family, you have friends in the Windy City. If you really want to go back home, I could learn to put up with the Chicago winters.”

  “You would do that for me?”

  “I would do anything for you, Miranda. You’re the love of my life.”

  * * *

  Miranda had waited her entire life to hear those words and they had never sounded as sweet as they did coming from her husband. The man she’d come to crave, adore and love in every way imaginable. If anyone had told her when she’d come to San Diego a month ago on a husband hunt that she would find the man she was meant to spend the rest of her days with, she would have told them they were a fool.

  But it happened.

  It happened to her.

  And she was no longer embarrassed by the pure admiration and lust lurking in those dark depths when he looked at her. Instead it made her hot with longing and ratcheted up the sexual tension sizzling between them whenever they were within a few feet of each other.

  “I kind of like California,” Miranda said. “And with Elite’s headquarters here and my luxury bed-and-breakfast by the ocean in Malibu, it’s the perfect fit. Plus, I wouldn’t dream of making a California boy like you brave the Midwest winters. So the worst you’ll have to contend with is I-5 traffic.”

  “I-5 traffic?” Vaughn chuckled. “Why drive when I can take a private jet?”

  Miranda laughed as she locked her arms around his neck and brushed her lips against his. “That’s why I love you, Vaughn, because with you I’ll never get bored. With you, I’ve found my forever home.”

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from EXCLUSIVELY YOURS by Nadine Gonzalez.

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  Exclusively Yours

  by Nadine Gonzalez

  Prologue

  Leila was ready for a night at home, fuzzy socks and Chardonnay, when a friend called with an irresistible offer. “I can get you into the Vizcaya event. Raul Reyes is hosting. Interested?”

  Reyes was a local real estate mogul. He owned everything. In Leila’s line of work, he was king. Getting on the list was a coup, even for her friend Sofia, an event planner with seemingly endless contacts. Still, Leila hesitated. “I don’t know. Are you going?”

  “Can’t,” Sofia said. “But I’m pretty sure you can.”

  “And what? Go by myself?”

  “Sí, amiguita. You’re old enough. Put your big-girl panties on and go network like a boss.”

  Leila sat on the edge of her bed. She fought the urge to crawl under her sheets.

  Sofia was relentless. “Do I have to remind you how terrible your last quarter was?”

  “No, you don’t.”

  Since opening her agency nine months ago, Leila was stuck in the low-rent market, helping college grads find one-bedroom condos and getting newlyweds into starter homes. After a dismal holiday season, during which she’d had to take a cash advance from her AmEx card to give her one employee a bonus, she was at the end of her rope.

  “You should be thanking me. What else do you have going on this weekend?”

  “What weekend? It’s Thursday.”

  “It’s Miami. The weekend started eight hours ago.”

  Later, as she stepped from the shower, Leila strategized. She’d get in, canvas the place with business cards and get out. Hit and run. She brushed her coffee-colored hair and swept on lipstick with a sure hand. Her bedroom window let in very little sunlight, b
ut tonight it framed a perfect full moon, the first of the new year. It called for more daring. She stood naked in front of her open closet and wondered when she, a third-runner-up Miss Naples USA, had become the girl who’d rather stay home with cheap wine than go to a party alone. I mean, come on!

  She reached past her collection of standard little black dresses for a red lace dress so delicate it bordered on lingerie. It was tucked into the back of her closet, part of a forgotten wardrobe from a time when she’d dressed to look sexy instead of smart—a habit that had only landed her in trouble. Funny enough, the red dress was one of the most conservative of the lot. It was time to get her mojo back. Time to get noticed.

  * * *

  Things were well under way by the time Leila made it to Vizcaya. She entered the villa through an arched doorway and fell in awe. Despite living her entire life in Florida, this was her first visit to the private residence turned museum. She’d expected tasteful elegance, not this riot of gold leaf, tile and mosaics. But she loved it and suspected Marie Antoinette would’ve felt right at home.

  She ventured out to the grand terrace and camped near a cigar-rolling station. A band was setting up. The guests came together, mingled and broke apart in a well-choreographed dance. Waiters in fedoras and white guayaberas paid homage with their uniforms to Cuba, Reyes’s birth country. And, surprise! All the extravagance was to celebrate the publication of the mogul’s first book, A New City: 7 Strategies for Urban Development. The cover featured a photo of Reyes dating back to when he’d had a full head of black hair. Copies were piled on bar height tables everywhere. Some served as makeshift coasters.

  Leila spied a white-haired Reyes holding court in a remote corner, his young, pretty, third wife at his side. She knew better than try to approach him.

  A familiar-looking brunette peeled away from his entourage. Leila looked to the sky, trying to remember. Paige... Paige Conner. They’d met at a charity fundraiser Sofia had forced her to attend. Was Paige in marketing or accounting? It didn’t matter. The king was inaccessible. A royal subject would have to do.