Sweet Life [Sugar Rush]

by Nina Lane

  “His buddies stopped by yesterday to talk to him about the climb.”

  Julia pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart started to race. “But he… Warren said he wasn’t going to do it.”

  “He changed his mind.”

  “What?”

  “He’s leaving for Switzerland tonight.”

  Chapter

  TWENTY-FOUR

  Don’t go.

  The text popped up just as Warren was packing the last of his things from his desk at Sugar Rush. He’d been trying to get ahold of Julia for most of the day, but for whatever reason—meetings, bad connections, or she didn’t want to talk to him—he hadn’t been able to reach her.

  But this…

  He picked up his phone. His heart hammered.

  Don’t go.

  She hadn’t asked him not to climb the Matterhorn when he’d first told her of his plans. She hadn’t liked it, but she hadn’t asked him not to. So why was she asking him now?

  “Hey, Dad.” Luke stopped in the doorway, his keys in his hand. “We should leave now to make sure we get to the airport on time.”

  “Give me a second.” Warren turned back to his phone. He called Julia’s number, but the phone went to voicemail. What the…?

  Frustrated, he put the phone in his pocket, grabbed his duffle, and headed for the door. All of his gear was already packed in his SUV, but he didn’t want to board the plane without talking to Julia first.

  He left his office, vaguely noticing that the entire building was almost deserted. Post-Christmas lull. He took the stairs to the first floor and stepped outside. Applause and cheers burst like fireworks in front of him. Warren stopped in his tracks.

  Dozens of Sugar Rush employees—his assistant, the VPs, the secretaries, the accountants, the managers—all stood on the winding paths of the garden, filling the air with noise. Handmade signs waved like flags: Good luck, boss! We’ll miss you! Enjoy the view! Keep climbing!

  His throat tightened. All seven of his children stood on the steps, clapping and smiling along with everyone else.

  Carson approached to take his duffle. “Ready, Dad?”

  Since he couldn’t speak, Warren just nodded. Onward.

  He started down the steps. The crowd continued cheering and applauding until a group near the parking lot quieted. Like a wave, a rustle suddenly passed through the throng of people, and the noise slowly stopped. Through the growing quiet, a woman’s voice rang out.

  “Warren!”

  His heart slammed against his chest. He turned to the parking lot. The crowd parted. Julia was racing toward him, her hair flying behind her in a messy ponytail, her gorgeous figure clad in black pants and a T-shirt.

  Everyone stared at her. Warren’s hand tightened on the phone in his pocket.

  Don’t go.

  “Warren.” Julia ran up the pathway, seemingly heedless of the fact that almost the entire company was crowded around them. Panting, she came to a halt and bent double, resting her hands on her thighs as she struggled to catch her breath. “Shit. Don’t… don’t go.”

  Warren prided himself on knowing what the hell to do in most situations. He knew how to handle a business meeting, negotiate, deal with employees, socialize. He usually had it down.

  But now? He had no idea what to do. He knew he wanted to haul Julia against him and kiss her senseless, but…

  “Jesus, I gotta get back to the gym.” She straightened and held up a hand, her chest heaving. Her gaze collided with his. Her eyes burned with a thousand emotions—fear, worry, panic, hope.

  Hope.

  “I have to show you something,” she gasped.

  “Okay.”

  “I added something else to my Before Fifty list.”

  She fumbled in her pocket. Everyone was silent, people glancing at each other in bemusement. She pulled the crumpled list out and handed it to Warren. He unfolded it, his gaze going to the bottom where she’d written:

  #51: Tell Warren Stone I love him

  He looked at her. Bright, brilliant colors sparked right in the middle of his soul.

  “I love you, Warren.” Julia approached him, appearing finally to have caught her breath. “I… I had to tell you. I think I even fell a little bit in love with you when you came after me that night and told that guy you were my husband, then bought me breadsticks. And I know I’ve spent the last thirteen years falling slowly in love with you because you’ve proven to be every inch the man I thought you were. I love your heart, your character, your sense of honor, your dedication to your family’s company and your children. I love the way you make me feel. I love you.”

  He was already moving closer before she’d finished her little speech, his hands closing around her shoulders. He hauled her against him and brought his mouth down on hers, drinking in the taste and feel of her, the knowledge that she was his. He was vaguely aware of a renewed burst of applause, but all he cared about was the woman in his arms.

  He lifted his head, stroking the side of her face. “I love you. I was trying to reach you, but you must have been on the plane. I got your text, though.”

  His wariness flickered back to life. Don’t go.

  “I won’t go,” he said hastily. “I don’t need the mountain, not if I have you.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  “But your text…”

  “I was talking about the airport. I didn’t want you to leave before I got here.” She smiled, her eyes warming to the color of bluebells. “You do need the mountain, Warren. And you need to finish what you started. If you don’t, you’ll regret it forever. Go climb the freaking Matterhorn, my love. When you come back down, I’ll be waiting for you.”

  The colors intensified, spilling into his blood. “Wait. What about your meeting with Evermore?”

  “I’m not taking the deal.”

  He frowned. “Why not?”

  “Because I can launch Queen Bee on my own.” Julia curled her hands into his lapels, her face glowing with expectation. “I thought about it the whole way home. I don’t need a board of directors telling me what to do and limiting my options. I know exactly what I want for this line, for my business, and I’m the one who’s going to do it. It’s like my Matterhorn. Only less snowy.”

  Everyone had their own mountain to climb. He had no doubt Julia would reach the summit of hers. He kissed her again, everything inside him flooding with gratitude for her, for himself, for this universe that had given him so much.

  Seven children who illuminated his world. The legacy of his family, a rich history to guide his path.

  A love lost. A love found. The rest of his life to live.

  Epilogue

  Two weeks later

  “Apparently you lost a toe to frostbite.” Tyler peered at the screen of his laptop. “But you still managed to carry your buddy down the mountain when he was struck with altitude sickness.”

  “This one says you saved another climber who’d lost his way in a sudden blizzard,” Carson remarked, scrolling on his phone. “You unfastened your safety line to reach him.”

  Julia met Warren’s gaze from across the room, both of them amused by the enhancement of his legendary status. Social media had been awash in rumors of his alleged heroism since his return to Indigo Bay—the former president of the Sugar Rush Candy Company tackles the Matterhorn and wins.

  But though Julia was aware that tragedies often took place on mountain climbs, there had been no frostbite or rescues this time. Warren and his friends had started the relentless climb in the dark of dawn, picking their way up the rocky, path-less route. They’d balanced on precarious ledges to put on their spiked crampons, then ascended to the icy, almost vertical slopes leading to the summit.

  They’d battled frigid wind, blinding snow, thousand-meter drop-offs. They’d roped themselves together and picked each other up when they fell. They’d climbed the last hundred yards to the highest point, where the edge of a cliff dropped off to Switzerland on one side and Italy on the other. Surrounded by maj
estic snowy peaks, they’d stood in awe on the summit, toasted Theo with protein bars, and began the precarious descent.

  And when they’d entered the lodge, exhausted and battle-weary, Julia had been waiting for Warren. He’d been aching, wind-burned, freezing, and exhilarated. The light in his eyes would never die. They’d returned home a day later, ready to start the new year together.

  Warren had fortunately not been plagued by vertigo during the climb, but upon their return another ENT specialist had concluded that the attacks were the symptom of an inner ear disorder that could be managed with treatments. Since he didn’t plan to climb another mountain of the Matterhorn’s magnitude, Warren had taken the news in stride—another life change like so many that had preceded it and the many that would follow.

  “Man, this was the best idea ever.” Tyler bit into a hot cinnamon roll, his gaze on the televised football game. “We should totally celebrate Christmas on January fifth every year.”

  Carson scoffed.

  “What?” Tyler asked. “The lead-in is so much easier, right? No traffic, no crowded stores, no trouble finding groceries, no pressure. It’s all good, man.”

  Julia smiled when Warren winked at her. It was all good. The Christmas tree, still fresh thanks to their late trimming, sparkled near the fireplace, and all of Julia’s decorations were in place. Spencer and Adam were throwing a football in the backyard, the smell of baking ham drifted from the kitchen, and a stack of board games sat on the kitchen counter, awaiting post-dinner challenges.

  It was more than all good, Julia thought. It was all perfect.

  “Julia, what time is your show tomorrow night?” Carson was still on his phone. “Are we getting dinner beforehand?”

  “It starts at eight, so yes, there’s plenty of time.” Julia was singing with the Jingle Belles the following night at the Indigo Bay Theater—to her surprised pleasure, her friends had asked her to join them for several upcoming performances.

  “What about this?” Hailey turned a sketchpad toward her. “I don’t think it should be too cutesy, but bees like buttercups and they can be rendered well for a logo.”

  Julia studied the sketch—a simple yet realistic illustration of a bee hovering over an open buttercup, laced with the words Queen Bee in a cursive font.

  “I love it,” Julia said. “It’s very elegant.”

  “It might need to be even simpler.” Hailey chewed on the end of her pencil with a frown. “Maybe a pollen-bearing sunflower would work better. I’ll give you a few more options.”

  She turned back to her drawing. Julia patted her niece’s knee and rose to head into the kitchen. She checked the ham, ensured that Tyler hadn’t already dug into the apple pie and chocolate cake, and set various platters on the central island.

  Two strong male arms came around her from behind. Julia relaxed back against Warren’s chest, her heart and soul filling with warmth.

  “I love you,” she said.

  “Excuse me? I didn’t quite catch that.”

  She nudged him with her elbow. “I love you. How many times do I have to say it?”

  “Countless.” He turned her in his arms, his eyes crinkling at the corners with a smile. “Because I’ll never get tired of hearing it.”

  He lowered his head at the same instant that she rose on her tiptoes. Their lips met in a kiss that contained a thousand promises and hopes. Whatever regrets or guilt they’d both carried had floated away like balloons, leaving only the knowledge that they had to make the most of the time they had together. Because at the end of the day, what was more of a gift than love and family?

  “Hey, I had another idea for the list.” Warren lifted his head, detaching himself from her to take a piece of paper out of his pocket. “I wrote it down.”

  He handed the paper to her. Julia unfolded it and scanned the items labelled #1 to #38. For #38, Warren had written: Get married.

  Her heart stuttered. She lifted her gaze to his. “Really?”

  “Really.” He slid his arms around her waist, pulling their lower bodies together. “Be mine in every way there is. Let’s have adventures, live on the edge, do things we’ve never done before. Let’s do it all together. Marry me, Julia.”

  “Of course I’ll marry you.” She put her hand against his cheek, feeling as if she could burst into song. “But let’s wait a little bit, okay? Maybe after we’ve crossed a few more things off our list.”

  “Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here. We have all the time in the world.”

  Their lips met again in a kiss that felt like a homecoming. Julia had never before been so excited for the future, for all the years to come in which she and Warren could live, love, and check the action items off their new list:

  Things To Do Before We Turn Eighty

  Thank you for reading SWEET LIFE! I hope you enjoyed Julia and Warren’s story. Please consider leaving a review, which is always so much appreciated.

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  Did you miss SWEET DREAMS, Luke and Polly’s story?

  Or Hannah and Evan in SWEET ESCAPE?

  Not to mention super-sexy Tyler and Kate in SWEET SURRENDER?

  And Mia and Gavin’s very hot romance in SWEET TIME?

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Nina Lane writes hot, sexy romances about professors, bad boys, candy makers, and protective alpha males who find themselves consumed with love for one woman alone. Originally from California, Nina holds a PhD in Art History and an MA in Library and Information Studies, which means she loves both research and organization. She also enjoys traveling and thinks St. Petersburg, Russia is a city everyone should visit at least once. Although Nina would go back to college for another degree because she’s that much of a bookworm and a perpetual student, she now lives the happy life of a full-time writer.

  www.ninalane.com

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  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Thank you to all of the following people for helping me bring Julia and Warren’s story to life: Stacy Jerger, Lori Devoti, Jessa Slade, Lea Ann Schafer, Kelley Heckart.

  Thank you so much, Danielle Sanchez of InkSlinger PR, for your advice and efforts on my behalf.

  Thank you, Sommer Stein of Perfect Pear Creative Covers, for the beautiful cover; Paul Salvette of BB eBooks for the rock-solid formatting, Christine Borgford of Perfectly Publishable for the gorgeous paperback; and Wander Aguiar for the cover photo.

  Special thanks to my amazing friend MJ Fryer for being such a rock of support and encouragement. You are legit the GOAT.

  As always, thank you to my very loyal readers for your ever-present love and support.