by Jen Talty
“Hey,” he said as she sat down beside him. He’d planned on renting a car and leaving Barefoot Bay without saying goodbye. Then he walked passed the bar and decided getting drunk was a better. By the time he made it to the beach, all he could think about was Ashley. She’d wormed her way into his heart, and she wasn’t letting go.
And he didn’t need twelve texts to tell him that.
“You’ve had me worried.” She tucked her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs.
“I know. I’m sorry. I need a little time to think.”
She touched the bottle of whiskey with her big toe. “Think or drink?”
He let out a little laugh. “I wanted to numb everything I was feeling, only after the first sip, I realized that meant I’d be dulling everything I felt for you and even if I was going to walk away, I wanted to hold on to that.”
“You were going to leave?” she asked, her voice filled with hurt.
“I was worried my mother would put a bounty on my head and I’d never be free of her, and I’d be putting you in constant danger.”
“She’s dead,” Ashley said with a harsh tone. “While I never wish anyone dead, that woman—”
He pressed his fingers to her lips. “She wasn’t human. She was pure evil. Trust me.”
She curled her fingers around his wrist, her soft skin sending heat across his body.
“My father told me part of what happened when you were seventeen.”
Mitch’s breath hitched, still humbled by her father’s reaction to his identity when they’d first met, and again this weekend.
Joshua Riggs was truly a great man.
“I remember when he came home. His face all bandaged, and he’d broken his arm. Watching him rehab was why I wanted to become a physical therapist in the first place.” She stretched out her legs and palmed his cheek. “It’s as if fate said we are destined to be together.”
A single tear fell from the corner of his eye. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried. His mother had told him only weak men cried. When he’d been seven, he’d fallen and cut his leg, needing stitches. His mother, in order to teach him a lesson, stitched him up herself, and every time he cried, she’d slap him, telling him this would make him a real man.
There was so much of his past he’d tucked neatly away in a box inside his mind. He thought locking it up meant he could forget.
But he’d never forget, and maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.
“For years I hid in the Navy. I never got close to people for fear that one day my mother would show up at my doorstep. I took mission after mission, and volunteered for everything, making sure I never had anyone that would miss me too much if I were gone.”
“That’s no way to live,” she whispered.
“I know that now.” He fanned this thumb over her cheekbone. “But I scared myself today. I worry that if you hadn’t been there, I might have killed her myself.”
The way her mouth tipped upward stole his breath and stopped his beating heart.
“She would have killed us both, given the chance. But you’re nothing like her, not even close.” Ashley pressed her hand on his chest. “I know you better than I thought I did and in unexpected ways. You’re the kind of man young boys aspire to be like.”
“Are you trying to make a grown man cry, because you’re coming awfully close.” While the tears that threatened to break free were of the happy variety, he didn’t want to shed them. All he wanted to do was take this woman into his arms and love her forever. He draped his arm over her shoulder, pressing her back to the sand, his lips only centimeters from touching the most decadent mouth known to man.
Her legs wrapped around his body as the water rose up the sand and kissed their toes.
“I love you, Mitchell Harrison.”
“I love you more.” Beneath all the lies, he’d found true love.
Epilogue
One year later…
MITCH TOOK THE screaming baby from the doctor’s hands and placed him on Ashley’s chest.
“Want to cut the cord?”
An hour ago, Mitch wanted to run screaming from the room. His lovely wife almost never swore and in the course of twenty minutes, she’d dropped the f-bomb easily a dozen times, and every single one had been directed at him.
“Will it hurt the baby?”
“You should be more concerned if it will hurt the mommy,” Ashley said with a smile, holding their son against her body, kissing his forehead.
“Here.” The doctor handed Mitch a pair of scissors, and Mitch snipped the cord, tears rolling down his cheeks.
He had a son.
“Does this baby have a name?” the nurse asked as she took the child over to a bassinet and started to clean him up and check his vitals.
“His name is Joshua Mitchell Harrison,” Mitch said proudly. “Named after his grandfather, and a man I’m proud to call Dad.”
Books by Jen Talty
NY State Trooper Series
IN TWO WEEKS
DARK WATER
DEADLY SECRETS
MURDER IN PARADISE BAY
TO PROTECT HIS OWN
DEADLY SEDUCTION
WHEN A STRANGER CALLS
Other novels
REKINDLED
JANE DOE’S RETURN
THE BUTTERFLY MURDERS
Dare to Love Kindle World by Carli Philips
DON’T DARE ME
The Omega Team Kindle World
THE LIGHTHOUSE
HER LAST CHANCE
THE LAST FLIGHT
THE RETURN HOME
The Phoenix Agency Kindle World
THE LOST SISTER
THE LOST SOLDIER
THE LOST SOUL
THE LOST CONNECTION
Dallas Fire and Rescue Kindle World
STEALING HIS FIRE
IGNITING HIS FLAME
Special Forces Operation Alpha
BURNING DESIRE
BURNING KISS
BURNING SKIES
Coming soon!
BURNING LIES
BURNING HEART
Brotherhood Protectors Kindle World
ROUGH JUSTICE
Coming Soon!
ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES
ROUGH RIDE
About the Author
Jen Talty is an award-winning author of Romantic Suspense. Dark Water hit #10 in Barnes and Noble and her books have been in the top 50 on Amazon. Jen grew up in Rochester, New York. She recently retired from being a full-time hockey mom as her children hung up their skates. She and her husband still live in Rochester while her children travel globe. Jen is the co-founder of Cool Gus Publishing with NY Times Bestselling Author Bob Mayer. To learn more about Jen Talty please visit her website: jentalty.com
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