Liza curled strands of her hair behind her ear, her eyes glistening as she smiled. “On one condition. You move out here.”
Riley choked. Boston was her home. She had Ross and Mom. She had several friends as well, but none as close as Liza. She also had her own business to run. She couldn’t just give that up.
“Josh wants you here. I do too. I hear Josh’s dad adores you. Plus, you’re the one with the business acumen. I draw and sketch. You plan and organize and make things happen.”
That was the first time Riley had seen Liza so happy. Even when she’d left Boston, Liza hadn’t been that happy. Granted, they’d been saying goodbye to each other at the time.
The door squeaked open, and Charlie came out, wagging his tail. A second later, Josh swaggered out wearing jeans low on his hips and a Navy SEAL T-shirt stretched across his toned chest. His green gaze zeroed in on Riley.
Her heart went haywire. Maybe that was a sign that she should say yes to Liza and move out to California.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Charlie immediately went over to Riley. Josh was afraid his heart would break the minute she got on that plane the next day. He leaned against the porch rail and swung his gaze from Riley to Liza and back to Riley. It gutted him to see her beautiful face marred with black eyes. After their epic kiss, she’d told Josh that the bald man, Bart, had pushed her out of the elevator. It was all Josh could do to restrain himself from hunting the man down. But Bart would get what was due to him in prison.
The soothing sound of the waves ebbing and flowing behind him did nothing to calm the butterflies in Josh’s stomach. Despite her black eyes, Riley was still gorgeous. Her hair was up in a messy bun, and her long, smooth neck was on display. Josh puffed out his cheeks for no other reason than to calm his body down, but that was impossible.
He swept his gaze down to her cute painted toes that were peeking through a pair of sandals. He itched to rub her feet. Some people weren’t into feet, but Josh was. That was the one physical attribute he noticed first if a woman was wearing sandals like Riley.
But before he got Riley alone, which was on his list considering she was leaving tomorrow, Josh had to get in all the kisses and make-out sessions he could.
First though, he had questions for his cousin, who appeared tired with dark circles beneath her eyes. On one hand, Josh wanted to yell at her, and on the other, he knew she’d done what she thought was right. If he were being honest, he would’ve done the same as her and hid until he could come up with a plan.
Liza sighed. “I’ll start since I know, cousin, your curiosity is killing you.”
She knew Josh well.
He crossed his arms over his chest and settled in. Charlie lay at Riley’s feet, and Riley held one of her nails hostage between her teeth.
“Shortly before the raid on Moretti’s company last year, I found several photos and documents on the company’s server,” Liza began. “I’d been searching for a folder with some old fashion designs and just happened to click on a folder that was titled ‘Milan.’ My predecessor had organized a fashion show in Milan, so I thought I could get ideas from old designs and turn them into current trends. Only the folder had photos of—”
“Bart killing someone,” Josh said.
Both Riley’s and Liza’s noses scrunched.
He ground his teeth together. “I saw everything on that drive.”
Liza shuddered. “Don’t say that too loud. Anyway, the folder had a ton of incriminating evidence, and it bothered me for weeks. I thought of quitting well before the raid. I thought of sending all the information to the police, but I didn’t want to end up dead. Then, three days before the raid, I overheard Stefano talking to one of his men about the feds and how they might be paying them a visit. Stefano ordered his man to wipe the computers clean. I should’ve just left and not looked back. Instead, I copied that folder onto a thumb drive.”
She glanced out at the ocean. “I considered giving the drive to Agent Wallace the day of the raid when he questioned me. But I wasn’t ready to deal with running for the rest of my life. Then Stefano was arrested recently. I thought maybe it was time I hand over the evidence to Agent Wallace. That way, Stefano would go to prison for a very long time. I called Agent Wallace, but I never heard back. Then out of the blue, Haley called me. She’d been working late one night and saw Bart killing a man in the warehouse. She knew she couldn’t go to the cops. She knew they would kill her, and she didn’t know who to turn to.”
“So she came out here. Why?” Josh asked. “I get that she’s your friend, but you couldn’t protect her.” But he understood Haley wanting to get out of town.
“I told her to track down Agent Wallace, which was another reason I called him. But then she showed up in my office the day Riley flew in, the same day Bart and Leo stopped by too. I had to help her. At that point, I didn’t have time to do much else. I even forgot to grab the thumb drive from my office. I did plan on meeting Riley that day, but then Bart and Leo were following me. I called Taylor and without going into detail asked if I could lay low at one of her family’s abandoned wineries. I told her to keep her phone handy, and I shut mine off since Leo kept calling me.”
“How did they know you had it?” Josh asked.
“Mr. Gansett,” Riley said. “He told me he overheard Liza talking about it on the phone.”
Liza picked at a nail. “I’m still miffed that I missed the connection between Mr. Gansett and the Moretti family. He was always kind to me. He was a good boss. But thinking back to when I interviewed with him, he was the only one not to care about my former employer. I guess that should’ve been a neon sign.”
“They wanted to keep an eye on you,” Riley mumbled.
“Need I say you should’ve gotten me involved?” Josh said more than asked.
“I tried to keep everyone out of danger. That didn’t work, of course.” She frowned at Riley then looked at Josh. “I definitely didn’t want the mafia to storm into Redwood Cove Inn. Neither you nor your dad needed that kind of trouble. Besides”—she smiled—“you would’ve gone all Navy SEAL on them.”
Josh smirked. “That would’ve been okay. I miss the heck out of my days as a SEAL.”
Liza came over to him and pressed a hand to his chest. “Josh, I love you to death. You’ve been through enough.” She gave him a hug. “Now it’s time you get the girl,” she whispered in his ear. Then she pulled away. “Riley is talking about buying that bridal shop down the street. Maybe you can convince her to move out here.” She and Riley exchanged an unspoken message. Then she went over to the door. “Charlie, come on. Let’s go see Drake.”
Charlie popped up and disappeared with Liza inside the inn.
Josh’s tongue was tied, or maybe Riley had him under one of her spells with the way she was looking at him as though he were her world. Man, he wanted to be her everything. “Is that true?”
She shied away. “Maybe.”
“You do owe me a date.”
“And you owe me another heart-stopping kiss. I think that might convince me,” she teased.
Whether she was teasing or not, Josh didn’t think; he only reacted.
He helped her to her feet and peppered kisses along her neck until their lips were fused together. Then he kissed her like a man possessed.
Dad had predicted Josh and Riley would be married within two years, and whether or not they would, Josh knew he would marry Riley Lewis one day.
Epilogue
“Ouch,” Liza cried. “I will never get used to being a human pincushion.”
Riley giggled as she watched Liza fit a wedding dress she’d designed on a beautiful young bride with golden locks who was glowing with happiness. That was the part of the wedding industry that Riley loved the most, seeing brides glow and cry with joy.
Taylor rushed out of the backroom, bubbly and full of energy. “I can’t find the lace you were talking about, Liza.” When she spotted Riley, she waved. “Riley, so good to see you.”
&n
bsp; Riley hadn’t had a chance to see Taylor since arriving in town three days ago. Taylor seemed to have gained some weight, and she’d cut her long blond tresses. The bob-style cut suited her.
Six long months had passed since Riley had been kidnapped, and three months had gone by since Liza and Haley had testified at Stefano’s trial. He had been convicted and was spending many years behind bars. Bart had been sent to prison with no chance of parole. He’d gotten a worse sentence than Stefano since he’d committed murder. As for Leo, he had been slapped with a short sentence for kidnapping Riley, as had Mr. Gansett.
Haley had gone into hiding. Riley had never gotten a chance to meet her and probably never would. Liza had said that Haley had left the country and no one would ever find her.
“Take a break,” Liza said to the bride.
The shop was set up with refreshments for client’s waiting guests. The bride-to-be pulled out her phone as Taylor poured her a glass of water.
Liza came over to Riley, her hair up in a ponytail. “Hey, bestie.” She kissed Riley on the cheek. “Where have you been?”
“On the phone with my former assistant all morning.” Riley had recently sold her wedding business in Boston to one of her assistants. “I was also trying to find an apartment in town, and I had to sign more papers for this place.” She’d bought the bridal shop four months ago, and one week ago, Riley had packed up and moved from Boston to California.
Liza crossed her arms over her chest, angling her head. “You’ll stay with me. I told you that.”
“You mean stay with Josh and his dad.” Riley would’ve loved to do that, but with Liza living with them, Riley was afraid the house might be too crowded.
Liza huffed. “They want you to stay there.”
Riley knew that, but if Josh and she were going to build their relationship, which they kind of had been via phone for six months, she wanted a little space to breathe sometimes.
Rather than hash it out with Liza, Riley changed the subject. “So the sign people will be here today.”
Liza’s attitude shifted instantly. “I can’t wait to see it.”
Riley wasn’t surprised. Liza had been dying to get the name on the outside of the building. They’d decided on the name Hidden Gem. Liza had suggested it because she thought every bride was a hidden gem. Riley couldn’t have agreed more. Brides were special to her and, with her care, bloomed into beautiful flowers on their wedding days.
The bell on the door dinged.
Riley turned to find the man who made her insides all giddy walking in with an ear-to-ear grin and eyes only for her. Her chest rose and fell the closer he came, and when his arms went around her waist, Riley melted into a puddle of mush.
“It’s time for our dinner date,” he said in a husky tone.
Riley reached up on her toes and whispered in his right ear. “Let’s skip dinner and take a walk on the beach.” She wasn’t hungry anyway.
“Anywhere you are, I’m there. The beach sounds perfect.” His hot breath on her neck gave Riley goose bumps.
They said goodbye to Liza and Taylor and made their way down to the beach through a public entrance not far from the Hidden Gem.
By the time they dug their toes in the sand, the bright-orange sun was sliding down below the horizon.
Josh interlaced his fingers with Riley’s as they walked along the edge of the frigid water. The breeze was in their faces, and the sounds of the ocean played a soft tune.
They were close to the cliffs behind his house, when Josh came to abrupt halt.
“What’s wrong?” Riley asked.
His hard gaze roamed over her. Normally, Riley would blush and shy away at the way he was looking at her, but if she were reading him correctly, he had something to tell her.
“Is your dad okay?” she asked. Please say yes. In one of their many conversations, he’d told her that his dad’s ALS hadn’t gotten worse. But maybe something had changed in the last month, although Riley didn’t think so since she’d seen Mr. Bandon only yesterday. He had seemed as happy as he’d been the morning she’d met him.
Josh nodded, his eyes shifting back and forth. “I need to tell you something.”
Riley brought her finger up to her mouth and bit her nail.
He grinned. “It’s not that bad.”
Riley slapped a hand to her heart in an attempt to slow it down. “Josh Bandon, if you don’t tell me right now, I will throw you in the ocean.”
He let out a belly laugh. “Baby doll, you couldn’t if you tried.”
Riley raised an eyebrow. “Is that a challenge?” She was up for a challenge but maybe not at that moment. The Pacific was cold even on a warm day.
His fingers danced in her hair. “The last time I was in love with a girl was in high school. Since then, I haven’t gotten serious with anyone, mainly because of my SEAL days. And the past six months have been excruciatingly painful with you in Boston and me here. We’ve talked a lot on the phone, and during those phone calls, I’ve always been dying to tell you one thing, but I didn’t want to over the phone. What I have to say can only be said face to face.”
“That you love me?” she asked, her heart galloping a mile a minute.
He lost his smile. “No.”
Riley’s heart fell to the sand, and if she weren’t mistaken, the retreating wave took her heart with it. One of the reasons she’d chosen to move over three thousand miles was Josh. If she’d read him wrong, then boy, she needed some serious help.
His slow grin parted into the most belly-tingling smile. “I’m in love with you. There’s a difference.”
Riley punched him playfully on one of his tattooed and muscled arms. “Semantics. And for that, I should dunk you in the ocean.”
As if the ocean had heard her, a wave crashed to shore, knocking her over, and before she could do anything, the undertow was taking Riley with it. Water filled her mouth as she took in a breath. She could swim, but the undertow was strong. She bobbed to the surface, choking, when a hand grabbed her foot.
The wave receded, allowing Josh to get a better grip on her before he lifted her in his arms. “I got you, baby doll.”
Riley locked her hands around his neck as the ice-cold water seeped into her pores.
Josh carried her a good distance from the ocean’s edge then set her down on dry sand. He rubbed her arms, her head, and her legs. “Are you okay?”
Riley laughed. “You saved me once again.”
“I’ll always save you, Riley. I’m so darn in love with you, I can’t eat. I can’t sleep, and if you don’t marry me, I might die.”
She spit sandy water out of her mouth. “Wait. What?”
“I’m asking you to marry me.” He locked eyes with her as water dripped from his hair onto Riley’s face.
If she were still cold, Riley didn’t feel a thing. She had planned to tell Josh how she felt, but she’d never expected a marriage proposal.
She lifted her head and pressed her lips to his. She wanted a future with him. Actually, she wanted forever with him. “Yes, I will marry you. I’m hopelessly in love with you.”
They rolled around in the sand, laughing, kissing, and laughing some more. It wasn’t the way she’d expected to be proposed to, after falling into the ocean, but she would never forget that day.
Acknowledgments
Writing and publishing a book takes a village. But I couldn’t be more thankful to the one person who gives me the inspiration to do what I love—my husband. He’s been such a guiding light as he battles ALS, one of the worst diseases with no cure. He fills my heart with so much joy. He always has a smile on his face, he’s always laughing, and he’s always making sure I’m taken care of. He’s my angel. I couldn’t do this without him.
I’m also grateful to the team behind me who helps me every step of the way from my editor, Red Adept Editing, my beta readers, my ARC team, my assistant, Alexandra Amor, and everyone in Maxwell Mania. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
A big hug and mad
love for Heather Carver for keeping me focused and motivating me every day to write, and to Kylie Sharp for always being a phone call away. Love you gals.
A huge thank you to Sweet Promise Press and Melissa Storm for taking a chance on me. I’m over the moon that I was given the opportunity to write for The Gold Coast Retrievers Series.
Finally, to all the readers and bloggers around the world, thank you for picking up my books and spreading the word. I’m humble, grateful, and have nothing but love in my heart for each and every one of you.
Read the first chapter of GUARDING GRACE, book 3 of the Gold Coast Retrievers…
Grace Wilson knew it would probably be smart to deny the request of the precious freckle-faced little girl gazing adoringly up at her, but a big part of her wanted to grant the child’s wish. Her sweet daughter, Clover, rarely asked for anything, so when she did, Grace usually did her best to make it happen.
Clover sensed her mother’s hesitation and went even deeper into adorable cherub mode. “Pleeeease, Mommy. I’ve always wanted a Golden Wetweevah puppy.”
Grace smiled down at her pint-sized mini-me. Clover’s teacher would not approve of Grace’s failure to correct Clover’s “R” pronunciation, but it was so ridiculously cute, she opted to let it slide. Grace savored having her little girl be little. Besides, Clover only slipped back into that particular habit when she was super excited about something.
Clover turned up the charm even further and gave her mother the full-court press. Her huge cornflower blue eyes pleaded up at Grace. When she smiled, the gap from her missing front tooth reminded Grace just how fast the child was changing.
“I promise to take super-great care of her. I’ll feed her, and walk her, and brush her…” Clover paused, obviously deep in thought, trying to figure out what else a puppy needed. Excitement lit up her eyes right before she added, “I’ll play ball with her.”
Rescuing Riley: The Gold Coast Retrievers, Book 2 Page 15
