Erik

by Sawyer Bennett

  Someone should let the press know.

  Chapter 29

  Erik

  “This garden is pretty pathetic,” I mutter as Blue and I walk hand in hand. We’re following along behind Billy as he maneuvers his motorized chair around what is loosely termed a “garden” behind the Cresson. It’s pretty much a large round, concrete path that’s crumbling with haphazard plantings on the inside and out. It’s as depressing as the building itself.

  “I know,” Blue agrees, and then moves in closer to me. “But he won’t have to suffer it much longer.”

  This is because Blue just received the insurance payout on her father’s policy. Whatever Dominik’s lawyers did to make it happen so fast, I’ll never be able to guess, but I’m grateful for it.

  As is Blue.

  She immediately started making arrangements to have Billy transferred. The home that he was in at the time of their parents’ death did not have an opening but she found an even nicer place for him. We’re set to make the move next week.

  I suddenly stop, pulling Blue to a stop with me. Turning to face her, I take both of her hands in mine. She looks exceptionally gorgeous in nothing more than a pair of faded jeans and a Vengeance T-shirt. Her hair is in a ponytail and her face is free of makeup.

  “I love you,” I tell her simply.

  Her smile is tender in return. “I love you too.”

  She shoots a quick glance at Billy who is happily motoring along, then back to me.

  “No.” I give her hands a squeeze as if to reiterate a very important point. “I mean, I really love you. I’m not just overly fond of you, succumbing to all these new and amazing feelings and spectacular sex. I mean I love you like nothing I’ve ever loved. Not even hockey. I love you and will only ever love you until the day I die.”

  Blue’s expression morphs into one of horror as she exclaims, “Oh God. You’re not dying, are you?”

  “Fuck, no,” I hasten to reassure her with equal horror in my tone. “Why would you think that?”

  “Because you’re talking about love and dying and I thought you were trying to tell me something—”

  “Blue,” I say with a laugh, cutting her off. “I just want you to know that this is deep for me. Deeper than anything I could have imagined.”

  She lets out a long breath of relief and shakes her head. After a quavering laugh, she tells me, “Erik…I really love you too. This isn’t a passing fancy. It’s deep in my bones. I knew it at Dave & Busters, watching you play games with Billy. I knew that you cared for him because of the way you cared for me.”

  “I do care for him,” I reply to her. “And since you brought that up, I want to talk to you about Billy and his living arrangements.”

  “The place we’re moving him to is top-of-the-line—”

  “Not what I’m talking about.” My head turns, looking at Billy slowly moving along the path. I tug at Blue and we start following him again. “I want to remodel the second master suite upstairs. Make it handicap accessible. Add an elevator for his chair.”

  A glance at Blue and I see her eyebrows drawing inward. She admits to me, “That’s an awful lot of expense just for him to stay a few nights with us at your house.”

  I shake my head. “Not just a few nights. Permanently.”

  We almost catch up to Billy but Blue stops dead in her tracks to face me. “Permanently?”

  “Yeah…permanently.”

  Her brow furrows deeply as her head tilts. “You want Billy to move into your home permanently?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s weird,” she says bluntly.

  There’s no hiding the offense in my words. “It’s not weird. How is that weird?”

  “Well,” she drawls out with a mischievous smile. “I thought you might ask me to move in before my brother, but hey…I guess nothing weird about that.”

  “Shit,” I reply with a bark of a laugh. “That didn’t come out in the correct order. Yes, I want you to move in with me permanently. Like right now. And where you go, so too goes your brother. So we’ll remodel for Billy.”

  Blue doesn’t respond with words but actions.

  Really awesome actions by throwing her arms around my shoulders and kissing the shit out of me. For a moment the garden and Billy disappear and it’s just us.

  When she pulls back, she grins at me. “Yes, I’ll gladly move in with you. That’s a no-brainer, but it might not be what’s best for Billy.”

  We both turn to look at him, and I ask, “How so?”

  “There’s a huge social element to living in a group home environment. He’ll have friends and activities that are geared toward his limitations. If he lives with us, he’ll be alone when we travel with just an aide. It’s something to consider.”

  “Never thought of it that way,” I admit.

  “Let’s discuss it with Billy,” she suggests. “Let’s get him moved to the new place and give him some time to get settled. He’s excited about it. And after a few weeks, we’ll talk to him about how he’s liking it and if he’d like something different like the possibility of living with us.”

  My hand goes around her neck and I pull her into me. Tipping my face down, I brush my lips against hers. “It’s a plan. Although I still say we remodel so he can come spend nights with us when we’re in town.”

  Blue’s smile takes my breath away, which makes it semi-painful when she goes to her tiptoes and kisses me in a way that sucks the remaining air out of me. When her heels hit the ground, she tells me, “You’re amazing, Erik. You’re the best second chance I’ve ever had.”

  “Feeling’s mutual,” I agree, and then add on, “Oh…and I’m trading my truck in for a van with a motorized lift so we can transport him rather than rent a vehicle each time.”

  “I don’t think—”

  “And I’m also buying you a new car,” I roll right over her. “Yours is a death trap and I don’t like riding in it.”

  “You never ride in my car—”

  I shut her up by kissing her. Hand behind her neck holding her tight and for extra measure, my other arm goes around her waist. Everything disappears again when our tongues touch.

  Just me and Blue.

  Until something bumps against my leg. I pull back and see Billy, gently bumping the edge of his chair against my leg. He’s mastered control of the joystick which operates the chair, and he pulls back and pushes it forward slowly so that his touching me is gentle.

  There’s a broad grin on his face and I can see it in his eyes that he’s chiding me for kissing his sister in public. He waves his other hand toward us in admonishment.

  “No public displays of affection with your sister?” I guess.

  Billy’s head tips back and he laughs. “No,” he drawls and shakes his head slowly.

  “Does it gross you out when I kiss your sister?” I tease him.

  Didn’t think it was possible, but his grin gets bigger and he nods.

  Releasing Blue, I crouch to get near Billy’s ear. I whisper to him, “How about you just close your eyes when we kiss?”

  “Okay,” he says slowly and flashes teeth and sparkling eyes.

  I straighten and Billy and I engage in a staring contest for a moment.

  “Well,” I say with a nod of my head. “Close your eyes.”

  Billy’s face scrunches up and he squeezes his eyes shut. I take the opportunity to pull Blue back to me for a kiss. I don’t make it long and I keep my tongue to myself, because I’m betting Billy won’t keep his eyes shut for long.

  But it’s enough for me right in this moment.

  BY SAWYER BENNETT

  Arizona Vengeance Series

  Bishop

  Erik

  Legend

  Cold Fury Hockey Series

  Alex

  Garrett

&nb
sp; Zack

  Ryker

  Hawke

  Max

  Roman

  Lucas

  Van

  Reed

  Marek

  Sugar Bowl Series

  Sugar Daddy

  Sugar Rush

  Sugar Free

  Love Hurts Series

  Sex in the Sticks

  Jilted

  Wicked Horse Series

  Wicked Fall

  Wicked Lust

  Wicked Need

  Wicked Ride

  Wicked Bond

  Off Series

  Off Sides

  Off Limits

  Off the Record

  Off Course

  Off Chance

  Off Season

  Off Duty

  Last Call Series

  On the Rocks

  Make It a Double

  Sugar on the Edge

  With a Twist

  Shaken Not Stirred

  Legal Affairs Series

  Legal Affairs

  Confessions of a Litigation God

  Friction

  Clash

  Grind

  Yield

  Sexy Lies and Rock & Roll

  The Pecker Briefs

  Wicked Horse Vegas Series

  Wicked Favor

  Wicked Wish

  Wicked Envy

  Wicked Choice

  Wicked Wedding

  Wicked Knight

  Standalone Books

  The Hard Truth About Sunshine

  If I Return

  Uncivilized

  Love: Uncivilized

  Finding Kyle

  Atticus

  PHOTO: MARIE KILLEN

  Since the release of her debut contemporary romance novel, Off Sides, in January 2013, SAWYER BENNETT has released multiple books, many of which have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.

  A reformed trial lawyer from North Carolina, Sawyer uses real-life experience to create relatable, sexy stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From new adult to contemporary romance, she writes something for just about everyone.

  Sawyer likes her Bloody Marys strong, her martinis dirty, and her heroes a combination of the two. When not bringing fictional romance to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to a very active daughter, as well as a full-time servant to her adorably naughty dogs. She believes in the good of others and that a bad day can be cured with a great workout, cake, or even better, both.

  Sawyer also writes general and women’s fiction under the pen name S. Bennett and sweet romance under the name Juliette Poe.

  sawyerbennett.com

  Facebook.com/​bennettbooks

  Twitter: @BennettBooks

  Instagram: @sawyerbennett123

  Read on for an excerpt from

  Legend

  Arizona Vengeance

  by Sawyer Bennett

  Available from Loveswept

  Chapter 1

  Legend

  The glow of Pepper’s house comes into view as soon as I turn onto our street. I wasn’t surprised when the day after Thanksgiving, her house was miraculously transformed into a psychedelic Christmas wonderland complete with multicolored lights over every line and angle of her house, a huge plastic Santa with reindeer on the roof, and speakers mounted in the trees that played Christmas carols. There’s even a massive spinning mechanical display of Frosty the Snowman that blows fake snow up into the air every few minutes.

  The pièce de résistance, though, is a life-size biblical manger in the middle of her front yard, complete with Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, a donkey, two sheep, a cow, and three camels with Wise Men riding them. The whole scene is lit up by floodlights planted into the ground in front of it.

  I grit my teeth as I pull into my driveway. I can’t say anything about it because Pepper beat my ass in pool on Thanksgiving. It means I had to put my complaint into the homeowners’ association on hold as well, and so this holiday I’m relegated to keeping all my blinds drawn so as not to be blinded by the lights from her house.

  I note that she has three cars in her driveway which isn’t unusual. Pepper seems to have a myriad of people over at her house all the time. She’s quite the social butterfly. She’s even invited me over for her intimate little soirees but I’ve declined every time.

  The only other thing I’ve noticed of late is that Pepper and Dax haven’t been hanging out together. At least from what I can tell and I’m not really sure how that makes me feel. There’s no way I’ll ever admit to slight stabs of jealousy when he was seeing her, because that would be ludicrous. I can’t stand the woman.

  Giving one last, disgusted look at the Griswold house next door, I bring my Tahoe to a stop in the driveway and jab at the button to open the garage. As it slowly rises, I glance over at my porch to my left.

  There’s what looks to be a package there, although it’s hard to tell as I don’t have the porch light on. It’s something I’m bad about doing when I’m gone for the day and won’t be returning until evening, and I make a mental note to add to my unending list of projects to install some automated security lights.

  But wait…that doesn’t look like a package. I peer through the gloom that the lights from Pepper’s house don’t quite permeate, all the way over to my porch.

  It looks like maybe a pile of clothes.

  My brows knitting in consternation and I put my vehicle in park and climb out. I walk up to the porch hesitantly because the closer I get to it, the more my gut rolls with some internal sense of danger.

  When my foot hits the bottom of the three steps that lead up, my entire body tightens as I see it’s a blanket. Something small wrapped in a blanket.

  My neck twists and I look over to Pepper’s house. Maybe it’s some type of prank she’s pulling on me.

  I take the last steps to reach the porch and squat down by the blanketed bundle. Reaching out, I slowly peel back a corner of the fleece material and a baby starts crying.

  A tiny, pink baby with eyes scrunched shut and little mouth pursed in pathetic whimpers.

  I’m so stunned I straighten up and take a step back, catching the top step with my booted heel and stumbling the rest of the way back down into my front yard where I land on my ass.

  What the fuck?

  With my feet spread wide and my palms planted in the grass at my butt, I stare in horror up at my porch as if I’d just found a bloody body.

  The baby continues to cry and it causes me to move. I scramble up from the ground, stare at the bundle for a moment before taking off toward Pepper’s house. I clear a low row of shrubs between our two yards and leap onto her porch in one single bound. My fist is at her door banging so hard, that the huge tin multicolored gecko nailed there rattles and threatens to fall off.

  The front door swings open quickly and I almost stumble across the threshold. Pepper stands there with a smile on her face that slides right off as she takes me in. If my expression mirrors the confusion and panic rolling through me right now, she had good reason not to smile.

  I point a shaky finger back toward my house. “Baby. Front porch.”

  Pepper’s face morphs into confusion and someone behind her says, “Hey, Pepp…is that the hot hockey player that lives next door? Have him come in and play some Scrabble with us.”

  She ignores the person as do I. Instead, I merely lunge at her to grab her hand and I’m pulling her physically through her doorway. I turn and run down the porch, and Pepper follows me without question or complaint.

  I drag her right up onto the porch where my hand is shaking even more violently as I point down at the baby wrapped in the blanket. It’s still whimpering so
ftly.

  “Oh my God,” Pepper exclaims as she jerks her hand out of mine and stoops to pick up the baby. She peels the blanket back further to stare at the little creature. She finds its hand and pushes her finger into is and I’m amazed as the baby grasps on tightly.

  Her head turns to me. “You just found this on your porch?”

  I can’t even speak so I just nod effusively.

  “Where did it come from?”

  I shake my head and shrug.

  Pepper takes a step back and looks down at where the baby was lying. We both see a note there which must have been underneath the bundle.

  I pick it up. My hands are still shaking as I open it, and immediately realize it’s too dark to see. I walk woodenly down my porch steps, the feeling of dread that’s lodged deep in the pit of my stomach making me want to puke.

  Moving to the front of my Tahoe where the headlights sufficiently illuminate the area, I open the note again. I’m vaguely aware that Pepper’s at my side, leaning in to read alongside me.

  Legend,

  I hate to spring this on you, but I find myself unable to care for our baby. She’s fourteen days old and I haven’t named her yet. I know this is coming as a surprise, but you’re in a better position to care for her than I am.

  Lida

  “You had a baby?” Pepper asks softly.

  “No,” I mutter. “I mean…if this is true, yes. But I had no clue. I saw this woman briefly while I was with the Spartans down in Florida. I had no idea she was pregnant.”

  “Wow,” Pepper murmurs as I twist my neck to look at her. Her eyes are soft and wondrous. “Talk about a surprise, huh?”

  My gaze cuts to what I now know is a little baby girl with no name cradled so naturally in Pepper’s arms. “Yeah…it’s a surprise, all right.”