Lauren whispered, “Don’t look.”
He kissed her cheek and rolled off her. “I won’t pass out.”
Kaden ran into the room, skidding to a stop beside Rémi. He took one look around, then grabbed Rémi’s arm. “Let’s go call the cops.”
Climbing to his feet, Nic helped Lauren up and into his arms where he held her, his face buried in her hair. “I was so scared to lose you.”
Her arms tightened around him. After a moment, she pulled his head up and peered at him, her eyes round with concern. “Are you okay?”
Nic shook his head. “I have to see her.”
Lauren nodded and stepped out of his arms. He didn’t like letting go of her so soon, but he had to do this. He had to say goodbye. As he approached Vivian’s body, Jake went to stand at Lauren’s side.
Nic knelt beside Vivian and brushed a lock of hair off her cheek. His chest constricted painfully as he studied her face. The face of the woman who’d nurtured him, listened to him, helped him become the man he was today. The woman who’d loved him as a mother. Until something had gone terribly wrong.
Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed her fingers and vowed to remember her as the strong, loving, professional woman she’d been before all this happened. His eyes burned as he placed her hand on her stomach. Tears rolled down his face and splashed onto hers when he leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “Goodbye, Vivian,” he whispered. After one last caress, he stood up, turned away, and stepped into Lauren’s open arms.
For several minutes, she just held him, rubbing soothing circles on his back. “I’m so sorry you had to lose her this way, Nic,” she murmured next to his ear.
He straightened his back and wiped away her tears even as she wiped his. When she offered him a tremulous smile, he inclined his head and brushed his lips against hers. “I couldn’t let her kill you.”
“I should have listened to you. I only made things worse.”
Nic stared into her eyes, this woman who was his whole world. This woman he’d almost lost. “No,” he said, his voice rough. “I couldn’t have done it without you.” Tenderly, he pressed his lips to hers, letting her feel every emotion that was in his heart. Admiration for her bravery. Relief that she was safe. But most of all love.
When their lips parted, she touched her nose to his. “We’re quite a team.”
He kissed the tip of it and smiled. “Always.”
CHAPTER 26
Lauren dried her hands on a dish towel, then ran upstairs to get Nic’s surprise. With trembling hands, she grabbed the package. Because Anderson had come through for her, she could present Nic with her last secret.
Determined, nervous, happy, she made her way downstairs and, after stopping to retrieve the tray of lemonade she’d prepared, joined Nic on the veranda.
“Hey, gorgeous. A penny for your thoughts.” Nic patted the spot next to him on the swing. “Or are these thoughts worth more?” he teased.
Lauren placed the tray on a low table and sat beside Nic, relaxing against his chest. “I was thinking how happy I am.”
Nic’s arm tightened around her shoulders and he kissed her head. “We never discussed where you want to live. Seattle? Chicago? Wherever it is, just say the word.”
Surprised, she looked up at him. “I assumed you’d want to live in L.A., or here.”
“L.A. is great for adults, but I’d think the ranch would be a better environment for Jason to grow up in.” He hesitated, arching a brow. “Would Jason want to live here?”
“He’d be happy anywhere you are.”
“You know I’m going to have to travel to film on location. But whenever I’m not working, I’ll be here with both of you.”
Her mom had been right. Nic would spend time with them because he wanted to, not because he had to. And she’d meet him halfway. “And we can join you whenever Jason isn’t in school. We’ll make this work.”
“You and Jason come first in my life, and if making movies gets in the way of our being a family, I’ll make changes.”
“Really?” Her heart contracted as a warm feeling grew in her chest. He was nothing like Jason’s father. Whereas Todd had chosen to give up his family, Nic was putting them first.
“Yes, really.” Nic grinned at her. “I’ll only take work based in New York City.”
Her lip quivered. To cover it up, she kissed his cheek. “I don’t think it’ll come to that.”
He shifted uncomfortably on the swing.
“Am I hurting you? I shouldn’t be leaning on you until your wound is completely healed.”
“No, no.” Was it the light or was her fiancé blushing like a school boy caught spying on the girls’ locker room?
“What is it then?”
“I have something to tell you. It’s about Chicago.” He looked away from her.
Concerned, she twisted around to face him. “After everything we’ve been through, I can’t imagine there’s anything you can say that will shock me.”
“This isn’t bad, just embarrassing… for me.” She raised her brows but didn’t dare say anything to delay the confession.
“One night, me and some guys were at a friend’s house drinking and watching some R-rated movies. We got to talking about girls. I told them about you, and how no matter what I did, I couldn’t get you to notice me. That’s when one of the guys had an idea guaranteed to catch your attention.”
“Oh my.” She laughed. “A bunch of drunk teenage boys. It must have been truly brilliant.”
He nodded. “This was definitely one of the most brilliant things I did as a kid. And it’s the reason I never have more than two drinks. Anyways, we all pooled our money and called a taxi because we’d need a getaway car.”
A getaway car? Lauren pressed her fingers to her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
“The taxi driver drove us to your house.”
“You came to my house?”
“Yeah. While my friends sang Elton John’s Can You Feel the Love Tonight, I threw rocks at your bedroom window. My aim was a little off though, and I hit your parents’ window instead. Within moments of the window breaking, I saw your father and mother looking out at us on the front lawn. Your father started yelling. We must have woken you up because your window opened. For once, I had your undivided attention. I had to do what I’d gone there to do. So, I…” He glanced at her before continuing. “Pulled down my pants and mooned you and your parents.”
Lauren convulsed with laughter. “I had no idea that was you.”
“The next thing I knew, your father was waving around a rifle and yelling at me to get the hell off his property or he’d put a bullet in my ass. We dove into the taxi and hauled it out of there.”
Tears streamed down her face as she recalled the incident. “You know, for years I wondered if the whole thing had been an insult or a compliment.”
Nic’s eyes widened. “Believe me, chérie. It was meant as the highest of compliments.”
Try as she might, she simply couldn’t keep a straight face. “This will definitely be one of those how-we-met stories we tell our kids.”
He groaned and covered his face. “Please don’t say that.”
Lauren laughed. After a quick glance to make sure they were alone, she picked up the box she’d brought out. “I got you something.” She licked her dry lips. Would Nic be upset? Should she be this honest with him? Yes. If there was one lesson she’d learned from her marriage to Todd, it was begin as you mean to go.
Nic slowly untied the big red bow that held the box closed, his face glowing with anticipation like a child at Christmas. When he lifted the lid, his brow creased. “What’s this?”
She took the cover away but didn’t say anything.
Nic pulled out the four silk scarves, revealing a long feather, a can of whipped cream and a bottle of chocolate sauce. His brows tipped into a frown as he pulled out the letter she’d written. “You wrote me a letter?”
“A fantasy actually.”
Nic pushe
d everything back in the box, and slammed the cover on. He grabbed her hand and began pulling her inside.
“Where are we going?”
He stopped abruptly, enclosing her in his arms. “We’re going upstairs so you can tell me, in detail, about this fantasy of yours.”
Lowering his head, his lips met hers in a passionate kiss. When he grabbed her hips and yanked her against his groin, there was no doubt. He meant business. Her heart filled to bursting for this man who accepted her as she was, and who wanted to make her happy, whatever it took. “I love you, Nicolas Lamoureux.”
“And I love you Lauren James, soon to be Lauren Lamoureux.” Her legs grew weak. Nic’s accent was so sexy when he said her new name in French. “But right now? You’d better start running.”
She gaped at him. He hadn’t had time to read it yet. He couldn’t possibly know. “Why?”
“It’s time to begin your fantasy.”
Suddenly, she understood. “You knew about my fan letter? All along you knew?”
“Lauren, ma bien aimée, I personally read all the letters from my fans.” He grinned, adding, “Yours was very edu… uh… entertaining.” Turning her around, he slapped her butt. “Now go.”
She squeaked and took off, running up the stairs to their attic bedroom with Nic right on her heels. And when he caught her, Lauren knew she was the luckiest woman in the world.
Because the reality of Nic Lamoureux was a million times more exciting than any fantasy.
THE END
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Continue reading for a special preview of
Kristine Cayne’s second Deadly Vices novel
Deadly Addiction
Available March 2012
A proud people. A nation divided.
Rémi Whitedeer, police officer turned substance-abuse counselor, dreams of restoring order to his tribe. Violence and crime are rampant throughout the unpoliced Iroquois reserve, and a civil war is brewing between the Guardians, a militant traditionalist group, and other tribal factions. As the mixed-race cousin of the Guardians’ leader, Rémi is caught in a no-man’s land—several groups lay claim to him, but all want him to deny his white blood.
A maverick cop on an anti-drug crusade.
When she infiltrated the Vipers to take down the leader of the outlaw biker gang responsible for her brother’s death, police sergeant Alyssa Morgan got her man. But her superiors think she went too far. Her disregard for protocol and her ends-justify-the-means ethics have branded her an unreliable maverick. To salvage her career, she accepts an assignment to set up a squad of native provincial officers on a reserve.
A radical sovereigntist bent on freeing a nation.
Decades of government oppression threaten the existence of the Iroquois Nation. But one man, Chaz Whitedeer, is determined to save his people no matter what the price, even if it means delving into the shadowy world of organized crime.
When Rémi and Alyssa uncover the Guardians’ drug-fueled scheme to fund their fight for true autonomy—a scheme involving the Vipers—Rémi must choose between loyalty to family and tribe or his growing love for Alyssa.
Can Rémi and Alyssa leave everything behind—even their very identities—for a future together?
An excerpt from Deadly Addiction
Eyes closed, Alyssa pressed the glass of water to her neck. “I can do the talking if that makes you feel any better.”
Although Rémi heard the words, it would have taken an act of Parliament to get him to respond.
The heat of her skin caused the condensation on the glass to liquefy. Like a tractor-beam, his eyes followed a drop of water as it slid down the long pale column of her neck, followed the curve of her right breast and slipped under the collar of her blue cotton T-shirt into the V of her cleavage. Oh fuck. He wanted to be that drop of water. He wanted to be snuggled between her warm ripe breasts. His cock swelled and lengthened, letting him know that it wanted to be there too.
He squeezed his eyes shut and willed his hard-on away. This wasn’t the time and certainly not the place for Mr. Happy to make an appearance. But the more he tried not to think about where the drop had gone, the more he did. He’d thought he was a leg man, but he knew the truth now. It had slapped him in the face. He was a breast man. An “Alyssa’s breasts” man, and he fucking wanted to see them, to feel them, to taste them. Right now.
Print and E-book
Available March 2012 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers
www.kristinecayne.com
Continue reading for a special preview of
Dana Delamar’s first Blood and Honor novel
Revenge
Available January 2012
A woman on the run
Kate Andretti is married to the Mob—but doesn’t know it. When her husband uproots them to Italy, Kate leaves everything she knows behind. Alone in a foreign land, she finds herself locked in a battle for her life against a husband and a family that will “silence” her if she will not do as they wish. When her husband tries to kill her, she accepts the protection offered by a wealthy businessman with Mafia ties. He’s not a mobster, he claims. Or is he?
A damaged Mafia don
Enrico Lucchesi never wanted to be a Mafia don, and now he’s caught in the middle of a blood feud with the Andretti family. His decision to help Kate brings the feud between the families to a boil. When Enrico is betrayed by someone in his own family, the two of them must sort out enemies from friends—and rely on each other or die alone. The only problem? Enrico cannot reveal his identity to Kate, or she’ll bolt from his protection, and he’ll be duty-bound to kill her to safeguard his family’s secret.
A rival bent on revenge…
Attacks from without and within push them both to the breaking point, and soon Enrico is forced to choose between protecting the only world he knows and saving the woman he loves.
An excerpt from Revenge
Enrico raised a hand in greeting to Kate, and she returned his wave and started descending the steps.
She headed straight for him, her auburn hair gleaming in the sun, a few strands of it blowing across her pale cheek and into her green eyes. With a delicate hand, she brushed the hair out of her face. Enrico’s fingers twitched with the desire to touch her cheek like that, to feel the slide of her silky hair. A small, almost secretive smile crossed her features, and he swallowed hard. Dio mio. He felt that smile down to his toes.
She stopped a couple feet from him. “Signor Lucchesi, it’s good to see you, as always.”
He bowed his head slightly. “And you, Signora Andretti.” He paused, a grin spreading across his face. “Since when did we get so formal, Kate?”
She half-turned and motioned to the doorway behind her. And that was when he noticed it—a bruise on her right cheek. Merda! Had someone hit her? Tearing his eyes off the mark, he followed her gesture. A tall, sandy-haired man, well-muscled and handsome, leaned in the doorway, his arms crossed. “My husband, Vincenzo, is here.”
Enrico’s smile receded. He
looked back to Kate. “I’d like to meet him.” And if he did this to her, he’s going to pay.
Print and E-book
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers
www.danadelamar.com
DEADLY OBSESSION Page 38
