Protecting Her: A Romance Bundle

by Mia Ford

  We grunted like animals as we came.

  We screamed each other’s names.

  We held onto each other for dear life.

  And when the orgasms were over, we lay in each other’s arms and didn’t say a word. We didn’t have to say anything. Our hearts were just fine doing the talking for us.

  EPILOGUE: Shane

  Who am I?

  My name is Shane Andrew Mavic. I just turned thirty-years-old and as of two weeks ago, I am a retired Navy SEAL. I live in the tiny town of Gulf Breeze, Texas, population who the fuck cares. The old folks liked to say Gulf Breeze was located smackdab in the middle of nowhere, but had one hell of an ocean view. I reckon I couldn’t disagree. It sure beat the hell out of waking up in Afghanistan.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to sell the place?” Juju asked for the tenth time as I walked her to her car with her ReMax sign under my arm. She opened the trunk and I slid the sign inside for her. “I mean, these people are serious buyers. I might get them to go as high as fifty-five.”

  “No, I think I’ll hang on to the place for now,” I said, dusting off my hands. “I appreciate your efforts and if I need to reimburse you for anything just let me know. And if I change my mind I’ll give you a call.”

  “Well, okay then.” She glanced at the house for a moment, then gave me a quick hug and got into her car and drove away. I stood on the curb, waving like a Beverly Hillbilly until she was out of sight.

  “She sounded really disappointed,” Annabel said as I came back into the house and sat down at the kitchen table. Annabel was at the stove cooking burgers in my mom’s old iron skillet. I had been cutting up tomatoes at the table when Juju showed up to announce that she finally had a potential buyer.

  “Yeah, well, she should have sold the place while I was away,” I said with a smile. “It sat on the market for three months.”

  Annabel flipped the burgers and watched me out of the corner of her eye. “Are you glad that it didn’t sell?”

  “I guess so,” I said. I picked up another tomato and cut it into slices. “I mean, it’s just an old house, but I have to live somewhere.”

  “You could be living in a tiny apartment above a vet practice,” she said with a grin. Was that a hint, I wondered? Was she hoping that I would ask her to move in now that I was home and settled. We had spent every night together since I got home. Why shouldn’t we make it official?

  I just said, “True.”

  “What about the memories of growing up here?” she asked. “Are they going to bother you?”

  I frowned at her and kept slicing. “Memories?”

  “Your parents? Kenny? The fights?”

  “Do you mean memories or ghosts?”

  She turned the burgers over and put a lid on the pan to let them simmer in the grease for a minute. She picked up the bottle of Mountain Dew from the counter and brought it to the table to refill my glass. “Aren’t they one and the same?”

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I guess so, maybe. But I don’t believe in ghosts, and I don’t think memories can hurt you, unless you let them.”

  “That’s good,” she said, brushing her fingertips down my cheek. She leaned down and kissed me on the tip of my nose. “I’m glad you’re home, Captain Mavic.”

  “Me, too, Dr. Lee,” I said. I was glad she went back to her maiden name. I hated Bradley Bates with a passion in high school. It irked me to no end that he had married and abused Annabel like he did. If I ever ran into him in town maybe I’d bring up that fact and see what he had to say for himself.

  “You know, maybe we can make a few memories of our own here,” I said with a casual shrug.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Like you said, it’s not much, but it’s better than living in an apartment above a veterinarian’s office.”

  “Are you asking me to move in with you?” she asked, her eyebrows arched.

  “I reckon I am,” I said. I set the knife on the table and wiped my hands on my shirt, then reached for her. I pulled her into my lap and nuzzled her neck as the burgers started smoking on the stove.

  “The burgers are burning,” she said with a sigh.

  “So am I,” I said as my hand went under her t-shirt to find her bare breasts. Her nipples hardened at my touch and she moaned in my ear. “Why don’t you turn them off and we’ll eat after.”

  “After?”

  “Yes,” I said, pressing my lips to hers. “After.”

  EXTENDED EPILOGUE: Annabel

  Shane and I got married six months after he left the SEALS. His Uncle Seth was the best man and Wendy was my maid of honor. We got married in the same little church my parents did, which thrilled them to death. Shane even asked my dad if it was all right with him if he married his daughter. My big, overprotective father cried like a baby and welcomed Shane with open arms.

  We lived in the little house on Dilbeck Street and were as happy as newlyweds could be. Shane got a job working on an oil rig in the Gulf and my practice thrived. We were making a good living together and socking back money with the hopes of one day buying a ranch of our own outside of town. Shane was a cowboy at heart and loved to ride horses and tend cattle with his Uncle Seth. It was his dream to have his own spread, but land was expensive in south Texas, especially on the Gulf coast side.

  The only downside was that we were so busy sometimes that we barely got to see each other. We’d pass each other coming and going and that was it. Shane was working double shifts and as the only vet in town, I was at the office twelve hours a day six days a week. Our marriage had its ups and downs, like most marriages I guess, but we were so head over heels we didn’t care. We were together and that was all that mattered.

  “Rough day?” I asked as I came out onto the back porch and sat down next to Shane on the steps. He had showered and scrubbed after getting home from work, but I could still smell the oil on his skin and in his hair. It saturated the body and was impossible to wash away. My daddy said only time and distance got the smell of crude out of man’s skin.

  “No rougher than most,” Shane said as I looped my arm through his and rested my head on his shoulder. “How about yours?”

  “Same old same old,” I said with a sigh. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Just sitting and thinking,” he said. It was nearing dusk and fall was in the air. I shivered a little and Shane put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “Well, I was talking to Uncle Seth today.”

  I glanced up at him. “And?”

  “And he is thinking about retiring.”

  “Really? To do what?”

  “He says him and Aunt Wilma have been talking about moving to the mountains. Colorado or Montana maybe.”

  “Wow. Why?”

  Shane shrugged with his eyes. “He says he’s had his fill of Texas dust and the stink of cow shit on his boots. He thinks he’d like a change of pace.”

  “How about that. What about their place?” I turned to gaze into his eyes. He was smiling. I knew at that moment something was up.

  “Well, he would like for us to take it over.”

  My mouth fell open. Seth had always bragged that the only way he’d leave Texas was in a pine box. “You mean take over his ranch? His cattle? Just buy him out lock, stock, and barrel?”

  “Everything,” Seth said with a nod. “He’s showed me the books. It’s a working ranch, makes a nice profit every year. He’s willing to give us a good price if we want to buy it.”

  “Wow,” I said again. “Can we afford it.”

  “I’ve crunched the numbers and with what we’ve saved and my GI bill, yes, I think we can.”

  “Is that what you want?” I asked. “Will you be happy being a small-time cattle rancher for the rest of your days?”

  “If you’re with me,” Shane said. “I think that sounds…”

  “Amazing?”

  “Yeah. Amazing.”


  I put my arms around his waist and leaned into him. “Can I ask you one question?”

  He rested his cheek on the top of my head. “Just one?”

  “Yes, just one.”

  “Shoot.”

  “How would you feel about having a little cowhand to help out on the ranch in about eight months?” I gazed up into his eyes. There were tears in his eyes. He gave a little chuckle and smiled.

  “I think that would be…”

  “Amazing,” I said.

  “Yes. Simply amazing.”

  Book 4

  Rescue Me

  Blurb

  I love my life the way it is.

  No commitments, no heartbreaks!

  That’s until Josie enters my life.

  One look at those perfectly structured curves and legs that could go on forever,

  And I’m hooked.

  But things are not as simple as they seem.

  Josie and Blaine – they say we’re made for each other.

  Until death, mayhem, trickery, and suspense follows us down what appears to be a dead-end road.

  But guess what…

  I found a new purpose to my life – Protecting Josie.

  And this time, I am not letting her go…

  1

  Blaine

  I was posted up at the bar, having some drinks and scoping out chicks, like any other night for me. However, this Friday, I’d decided on a bar in West Palm Beach, an area a bit rowdier than the bars in Palm Beach that I normally frequented. I came here because I needed a change of pace, and I didn’t feel like dealing with stuck-up bitches who were only looking for one thing, deep pockets.

  This bar, the Restless Wind, was a cool place to hang out in a relaxed atmosphere. It was a little dirty, a little shady, and full of normal, everyday people. West Palm Beach was a working town with lower to middle-class surroundings, people that worked hard for their money, and who liked to play just as hard. Palm Beach was for the rich people, the ones who owned companies, worked directly for the owner, or were trust fund babies.

  I was a little of both. I’d taken over my parents’ law firm, and I had a trust fund, but that life bored me. It was the same thing, day in and day out. Coming out to the Restless Wind was exactly what I needed to break the monotony.

  It was likely that I would see a fight while I was here, and wading through the chicks for a good one was definitely an interesting affair, but I didn’t have to worry about the silicone honeys only talking to me once I told them about the firm. I hated the damn business, anyway. I only worked their out of guilt and a sense of obligation. It had turned into a hassle and a headache.

  I hated going home alone and that was precisely why I was here, to pick up my next honey to keep my bed loud and my loneliness at bay. Every night, I had a new chick. It had been a really long time since I’d picked up a woman that I kept around for more than a night. Finding a girl out here took some time, but getting them in my bed was easy, especially when I told them where I lived.

  These chicks were the same as the Palm Beach ones, looking for their ticket to a more lucrative future. Only they didn’t have the fake tits and expensive makeup to get them there faster. Man, they had spirit, though. I loved a girl that was sassy and ready to give me some shit before I got her back to the bedroom. The girls out here were way more assertive as well, not just lying there with their tits bouncing up and down and their feet over their head. These girls liked to take control and get on top, riding me until the sun came up.

  Tonight, I was determined not to let the loneliness get ahold of me. I would definitely take some beautiful broad back to Palm Beach with me. Hell, I might just take a girl across the street to the beach and bend them over the rocks out by the water. It would keep me from having to get them out of my place in the morning, something I didn’t feel like dealing with.

  One thing all these chicks had in common was the fact that they were looking for their next husband. But not me. I wasn’t looking to find love and settle down. I had seen the family thing in motion, and I was not interested in becoming part of it in the least.

  I had much better things to do with my time than raising some snot-nosed kid while my wife bitched at me for going to the bar. Besides, no commitment meant no stress and no heartbreak, which to me, sounded like the perfect kind of lifestyle.

  These days, I had a hard enough time getting up and getting out of the house in one piece. I was surprised some days that I remembered to eat, much less take care of anyone else. I liked my freedom, I liked my quiet, and I liked to be able to combat any lack of companionship with a good amount of alcohol and a girl with her panties around her ankles, bent over a box in the back of the club. It was easy, clean, and simple, and I never had to worry about the drama and emotions of it all.

  I learned very quickly, when you let your emotions, good or bad, rule your existence, you were easily fooled into thinking life was long and good. I knew all too well that it was total bullshit, and no one really got to live the dream with the people they loved. It was a fairy tale, and I hadn’t seen the least bit of proof to show me otherwise.

  I was perfectly happy living off my inheritance, regardless of how dwindling it was, and not ever seeing the damn law firm again. My parents had been lawyers, and I had gone to school to become one because that was just what our family did. I could still remember the day so clearly in my mind.

  I was off for spring break, and I decided to go home to Palm Beach instead of joining my friends in the islands. I hadn’t seen my parents since New Year’s, and I thought it would be nice to surprise them and see how their firm was holding up. I also wanted to get some rest before starting to gear up for finals.

  My parents decided we should all go out on the sailboat, something my father had been dying to do all winter, but the storms had been so bad, he didn’t take the boat out of dry dock. We had spent hours getting the thing ready. When it was all set, we boarded her, and the three of us spent the day on the water.

  That night, though, as we headed back to shore, a group of kids were partying too hard and hauling ass through the waves without their lights on. Before my father could react, we were on them and both boats capsized. I was the only one still breathing when they pulled me out of the water. I didn’t remember anything after the crash, but I did know that I was lying in the hospital, an orphan and the inheritor of my parents’ estate, including B & B Law Firm.

  I picked up my whiskey and took a sip. My thoughts were drowned out by the shrieks and yells from across the bar. I turned around on my stool and looked over, realizing that those noises were coming from a very drunk bachelorette party. I loved these damn things. They were full of drunken women, hopeful for the future because their girlfriend was getting married, and ready to get laid by random guys, just like me. I turned back around and smiled, thankful that these chicks pulled me from my thoughts. I nodded to the bartender, and he walked over.

  “Do me a favor,” I whispered. “Send that bachelorette party a bottle of your best champagne on me.”

  “Absolutely,” the guy said, though I wasn’t even sure this bar carried champagne.

  I waited until the bartender delivered the bottle before standing up and straightening my shirt and pants. I dressed down as much as I could when I came out to places like this, but my closet only got so casual. I chose to wear my Dior button-down, jeans, and my Sperry’s. As always, my blonde hair was perfectly coiffed, and my blue eyes glimmered and reflected the hopes of hundreds of wasted girls.

  The girls cheered as the cork popped out of the bottle, and fizzy liquid flowed into their glasses. The bride-to-be raised the bottle to me, and I nodded my head, watching the other girls’ eyes flow over me hungrily. I stopped momentarily, looking past the horde to several women from the bachelorette party dancing to the music in the background. I knew I had found my prey for the night.

  She swayed her hips to the music, dressed in a tight black dress and heels, with dark hair and beautiful matching eyes. S
he was a goddess of West Palm Beach bars. She did not fit in at all, but she probably wouldn’t have fit in over in Palm Beach, either. She was absolutely stunning in every way, and her curves were structured perfectly, aligning with her long sexy legs. Her tits were bouncy and real, and immediately, I pictured myself sucking her nipple right into my mouth.

  I watched as she drank her bubbly and giggled with the other girls, her feet not quite firmly planted, but good enough to keep control of herself. Instantly, I knew this was my girl of the night, hands down, no questions asked. I had to have her. I scanned her hand for a ring but was pleasantly surprised to find that she wasn’t legally attached. Her friends looked up at me and giggled, catching her attention. She looked at them with a confused face and then turned back toward me, running her eyes from my feet to my head. She squinted her eyes and put her hands on her waist, challenging me almost. I wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but I knew where my mind was.

  I moved in for the kill.

  “Hi,” I said, leaning in close to her and smelling her sweet perfume. “Do you want to dance?”

  She looked at me for a moment, biting her lip, obviously unsure of whether she wanted to take the plunge. That, or she was playing hard to get and already knew she was going to take the invitation. Either way, I didn’t care. I just wanted my hands on her body. She nodded, and I smiled charmingly, winking at her friends as I took her by the hand and walked her out to the dancefloor. I could hear the girls giggling behind us. Once out there, I wasted no time getting my hands on those curves, and I pulled her close, brushing my mouth across her cheek and pursing my lips at her ear. I could feel the goosebumps popping up on her skin, and I smiled, knowing I had won already.