STEAL (Right Men Series Book 2)

by Mayra Statham

  “He’s going to be beyond the moon excited, Val,” she gently shared, and my eyes widened.

  “What?” How does she know?

  “Honey, look at me.”

  “Nic—“

  “I know my age doesn’t show.” She winked. “But a girl that’s been around as long as I have, hell, I’ve been around the block a time or two.”

  “Nicola, I—“

  “You haven’t told him yet?” she guessed, and I swallowed.

  “I don’t know if there is anything to tell yet,” I answered honestly, letting go of any pretenses. What was the point of lying?

  “You know, Valerie, I’ve been a very lucky… blessed woman. Each of my grandkids, all of them are so different. Night and day different. I mean, look at Garrett and Marc. They look so much like each other, but they’re complete opposites. But as different as they are, the thing all my grandkids had in common, honey, was a sense of who they were. What they wanted to do with their lives and where they wanted to go.” I smiled thinking how great it must have been to have a woman like Nicola to help them figure out those things. “Bryan has always wanted to have a family.”

  “But—“

  “And when that conniving, little—“ Her tone died off and she shook her head, obviously sweeping all her thoughts of Courtney aside. “My point is, sweetheart, he’s going to be happy. Beyond happy, my child.“

  “What if he’s not?” I asked, not caring how exposed it left me.

  “Valerie. We both know you’re a smart girl. Why do you think he bought such a huge house?” I blinked slowly, looking away from Nicola and around the room, thinking about the size of the place, and I finally let my heart hope.

  “Are you bothering my girl, Grandma?” Bryan asked, making me jump and fake a smile.

  “I could never bother her. She loves me,” she scoffed playfully.

  “Right,” he mused as his mouth fought from smiling, and I nodded.

  “It’s true, I love your grandma.”

  “And she loves you,” Nicola shared. Warmth spread through me, her eyes reflecting her sincerity. With a wink, she turned to Bryan. “I was just telling Val how I think this room should be a dove grey,” she added, tilting her head, looking back and forth between him and me. “With navy blue and bright yellow accents.” Is she hinting at what I think she is? If Nicola was, she wasn’t going to give me anything else. With a squeeze to my hand and a pat on Bryan’s shoulder, she stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her.

  “I know I invited them, Val, but I want to be alone with you.” I smiled weakly and knew I had to talk to him.

  “Bryan—“ I started to say. He stepped in even closer. His hands slid around me, his fingers at the small of my back.

  “We need to talk,” we both said.

  At. The. Very. Same. Time.

  BRYAN

  Earlier, he hadn’t had the right words, and before he could find them, his family showed up and he had to wait.

  Again.

  No more. He needed to talk to his girl and ask her once and for all.

  “I know I invited them, Val, but I want to be alone with you,” he laid out, holding her in his arms, his fingers stroking her lower back as he tried to ignore the way his heart was pounding against his chest.

  “Bryan—“ He was done talking.

  “We need to talk,” he said, her voice echoing each of his words.

  “What?” they both asked, and he shook his head.

  “Me first.”

  “No. Bryan, what I need to say is really important…” But he was done waiting.

  “Please,” he said letting her go and taking a step back. He was grateful that she stayed quiet, her inquisitive eyes trying to figure him out. Slowly, his eyes never wavering from hers, he kneeled at her feet. With a deep breath, he took her left hand in his and licked his lips.

  “Valerie Duncan.” He swallowed and looked up at her. Her beautiful green eyes stared back at him in surprise, and the smile on his face grew.

  “Oh, my gosh,” she gasped so softly he almost missed it.

  “I love you. I love you in a way I never knew possible. I love you in a way that I know that no matter what life throws at us, as long as we’re holding hands, we weather any storm.”

  “Handsome—“

  “I want what we have. I love what we have. But I also want it to grow into more. Blondie, fuck me, I want the world to know you’re mine. I want my ring on your finger and yours on mine.” His voice was thick with emotion as he reached into the front pocket of his pants. Taking out the black box that had been burning a hole in his pocket.

  “Bryan.” Her wide eyes moved to the box and then back to him. “Oh, my—“ she started to say, tears running down her face, and he reached up to wipe them away.

  “From the first moment I saw you, hair all wet, wrapped up in that tiny towel,”—he shook his head and beamed at her—“I thought you were the most beautiful creature I had ever seen.” She laughed and sniffled. He kept talking, “Then you opened your mouth and called me on my shit, and I fell for that fire in you.”

  “Baby…”

  “I want a future with you. I want this house filled up with babies. However the hell we make that happen, whether we make them or adopt them, I don’t care. I wanna have a family with you. I want you to be the first thing I see every day and the last when I close my eyes at the end of one.”

  “Bryan.” She smiled, tears streaming down.

  “What do you think?” he asked, not letting her say anything. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my partner, my best friend, my wife?” She giggled, and he watched how she bit down on the right side of her lower lip.

  “How fast would you want to get started on that family thing?” she asked him, and he froze.

  “What?” he rasped and blinked. His heart felt like it had stopped mid-beat.

  “I’m not saying we are, but I’m not saying we aren’t.”

  “Val,” he warned, confused as to what she was trying to spit out.

  “Between all the stuff that was going on with Courtney, handsome, I never got to the pharmacy for my refill and—“

  “Baby.” He stood up, his hands on her face. “You saying you’re late?”

  “I’m a week late.” A week late. That was good. Unless she didn’t want this.

  “We need to get a test,” he spouted off thinking they shouldn’t get their hopes up or worry without knowing.

  “Bryan, you didn’t tell me what you thought about this.”

  “I’m fucking happy, baby… Jesus… I don’t think I have ever been happier!” he answered honestly, holding her close to him. “Are you?” he asked, and any worry that might have bubbled up faded away when her face softened and joy glittered through her eyes.

  “Thank fuck,” he groaned. Squeezing her tightly in his arms, he kissed the top of her head, enjoying her soft giggles.

  “Handsome?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Ask me again,” she sniffled and looked up at him. Ask me again.

  “Marry me? Be mine?” he repeated, holding her face with his hands, leaning in close. “Say you will be mine. Only mine and wear my ring?”

  “Yes!” She nodded. His lips fell to hers and it was a long while before they stopped and he slipped the band with a diamond solitaire over her finger. Then they went out to where his family was waiting for them.

  EPILOGUE

  EIGHT MONTHS LATER

  “Right there.”

  “You like that?” he asked roughly, both fighting from laughing out loud.

  “Yes! Please.” She giggled, then a thud sounded. “Ouch,” she whispered.

  “Shh,” he warned. “You’re going to wake them up.”

  “Move a little to the right, higher… right there! Yes!” she exclaimed in a hushed whisper, and he had to stifle a groan at her beautiful tits in front of him,

  They carefully stepped out of the pantry. He looked at her and shook his head. “I can’t beli
eve we are sneaking treats out of our own pantry.”

  “They eat everything!” she pointed out, and he knew she was right. “I mean, they can, it’s okay. It’s just food, but still.”

  “This is quite the spread,” he pointed at all the snacks she had wanted to munch on, his own hands filled with bags and snack boxes.

  “Shhh… if you wake them up, you are getting them back to sleep!”

  “We should be asleep,” he pointed out, but she simply rolled her eyes walking out to the backyard, or more correctly, waddled out there, and he closed the French doors behind him.

  Valerie and Bryan had thrown a Super Bowl party. His family and their friends had all shown up, and for the most part, everyone had looked like they’d enjoyed themselves.

  Though, they currently found themselves with two overgrown, drunk houseguests. Garrett surlier than he had been in a while had had one too many beers along with Tyler. The guy had finally sacked up and approached the barista at the coffee shop he stalked, but had already messed things up somehow. Both the guys had drank and eaten their weight in beer and food, then had unceremoniously passed out on the sectional in the family room right before the final score of the game. Hell, he had taken and hidden their keys before half time.

  Stepping out, he looked at her and pressed his lips together to stop a chuckle. “Baby, why don’t we sit in the swing?” he suggested, and her face snapped up to his. He could see the frustration in her eyes.

  His wife was eight months pregnant, trying to sit in the hammock, and there was no way she would get in there and be comfortable, much less the two of them.

  Looking at her under the moonlight, he thought about the simple wedding they’d had. She had told him she hadn’t wanted a big thing, but something about the way she’d been with him hadn’t settled right with Bryan.

  He didn’t want the two of them to say their vows in a courthouse with none of their loved ones to witness it, but he would do anything for her. Thankfully, a week later, Tania had approached him and he had found out the real reason his sweet little goddess hadn’t wanted to plan a wedding. She didn’t have her own family, people who would want to help her plan it, and the idea of planning something like their special day and dealing for the obstacles the first trimester of pregnancy came with overwhelmed her. Morning sickness and fatigue had hit her like a Mack truck.

  He’d sat on what Tania had shared with him for less than twenty-four hours before contacting his mom and grandmother with his plans. Bryan had surprised his girl with a house and a ring, and she had agreed to both. Two for two, he took another chance.

  With the help of his family and friends, he’d been able to pull off a surprise wedding. One she had no clue about until the very day.

  It had been an intimate affair. Vaughn had walked her down the aisle, and being the impatient son of a bitch Bryan was, he had met them halfway down and had carried her the other half to meet with the officiant.

  Now, standing with her in their backyard, taking in her swollen belly that held their son, her blond hair plaited loosely in a messy French braid, wearing faded jeans and a football jersey, she took his breath away more than the day they had said ‘I Do’.

  “I guess,” she muttered, waddling toward the swing he had bought and set up two months back. He had noticed how hard it was for her to get in and out of the hammock safely. As much as his girl liked them to cuddle, he couldn’t risk her getting hurt.

  “I promise as soon as Henry makes his appearance to the world, the three of us are going to lie and swing in the hammock,” he told her not for the first time, and she muttered her agreement.

  “Better?” he asked her as she sat down on the padded bench seat. She shrugged.

  “I guess. I just like cuddling with you,” she complained, and he kissed the top of her head.

  “Eating and lying down gives you heartburn. Plus, we’re still cuddling,” he pointed out. Sitting side by side, he handed her an Oreo. She gifted him with a smile.

  “Thank you.”

  “Anything for you, Blondie,” he answered, meaning it in the most profound way possible.

  She turned to look out at the backyard, settling her head on his shoulder as they sat and talked about their day.

  “Oh!” She popped up, grabbing his hand, moving it so it would rest on top of her round belly.

  “Is he moving?” he asked. He felt his son move and kick daily, but each time was like the first and felt like a gift.

  “I told you he likes Oreos.” She giggled after he felt a hard thump against his palm. He grinned at her.

  Life is pretty fucking great.

  THE END

  BOOKS BY MAYRA STATHAM

  RIGHT MEN SERIES

  LIE

  STEAL

  CHEAT (COMING LATE FALL 2017)

  SIX DEGREES SERIES

  CROWN’S CHANCE AT LOVE

  ETCHED IN STONE

  CARRIED AWAY, A HOPE FALLS KINDLE WORLD NOVELLA

  DAVENPORT HARBOR

  NEVER TOO LATE SERIES

  LONGING FOR YOU

  WISHING FOR YOU

  LUCKY FOR YOU