The Strong Family Romance Collection

by Cami Checketts

  “Hi.” She smiled up at him sweetly.

  Gavin took her suitcases from her hands, feeling a surge of energy as their hands brushed. “We’ll walk you out,” he said quietly.

  “Thanks.”

  He waited for her to fall into step with him. Austin sort of danced by her side.

  “What time’s school, big man?” Kari asked.

  “It starts at nine but we leave at eight-thirty cause I like to be early and hang with my bros,” Austin explained.

  Gavin pushed the door open with his shoulder, letting Kari and Austin walk past. Kari gave him a look that was so seductive yet innocent, he was lucky he was standing still so he didn’t trip on his own feet. She glanced up at him from beneath her dark lashes, and her lips were all pouty and beautiful as she said, “Thanks.”

  Gavin couldn’t even stutter out a reply. He followed them down the stairs. They reached her silver Camry rental, and she pushed a button on a key fob that opened the trunk. Gavin easily lifted the suitcases into it, and then he walked to where she and Austin were standing by the driver’s side door.

  When Austin asked innocently, “So you coming back for the weddings?” Gavin felt like he had a mouth full of peanut butter.

  Kari glanced at Gavin, and he shrugged stupidly. She focused back on Austin, clinging to her purse and the coat she hadn’t put on. She must be freezing, but maybe she didn’t want to have a reason to linger. “I don’t want to impose.”

  Austin wrinkled his nose. “I don’t even know what that means, but you gotta come. Everybody would love you, and Gavin wants you there. Please.”

  She looked at Gavin again. He said a quick prayer for the right words and heard himself admit, “We’d love to have you as our guest.”

  Her beautiful smile lit her face, and the early-morning air was suddenly warm and crisp at the same time. “I’d love to be your guest.”

  Gavin smiled sappily at her for a second until Austin said, “You look funny, bro.”

  Gavin wiped the smile off and pulled his phone out. “Can you give me the name on your passport, and your birth date?”

  “Why?” Her smooth brow wrinkled.

  “So I can set up your flight. You’re our guest. I don’t want you paying for anything.”

  Kari put a hand to her heart. “That’s too much. You hardly know me.”

  “We like what we know,” Austin said loudly, doing his adorable blink/wink.

  Gavin cracked a small smile. “Definitely.” Having his son around was almost always a bonus. Yet it meant Gavin wouldn’t be stealing another kiss from Kari before she left. Two weeks would be a long time. He imagined this might be how an alcoholic felt when he had to dry up. Gavin had only tasted Kari’s sweet lips last night, and already he was addicted.

  She granted them that beautiful smile of hers and said, “Kari Lynn Love, with two n’s. April 26, 1992.”

  He tapped it into his phone.

  “Don’t you need my number?”

  “It’s on file.”

  “Okay.” She sounded disappointed with his answer, but he wasn’t sure why.

  He tried to think how one of her heroes in the books he’d been reading late at night would’ve responded to that, but she moved to open her door. Gavin hurried to beat her to it. She drew back with a cute little, “Oh,” and a flutter of her eyelashes.

  Gavin wanted to pin her against the car and kiss her until Austin had to go to school. Austin. Only sheer willpower and his son grinning at the two of them gave him the strength to step back and murmur, “We’ll see you soon.”

  He could see the disappointment in her blue gaze. It made him feel bad, but it also made him happy. At least she was disappointed that he couldn’t kiss her. He hoped she understood why.

  “Bye, Kari,” Austin called.

  Gavin waited with Austin as Kari climbed into her car. Gavin shut the door, giving her as big of a smile as he could under the circumstances. She started the car, waved once, and then she was driving away from them.

  Austin looked up at him. “Why do I feel all … empty inside?”

  “I feel the exact same, bud.”

  “But she’s coming back.”

  That was a light at the end of the tunnel, but suddenly the next two weeks seemed very, very long.

  “You know what we need?” Austin asked.

  “No.”

  “A Mama hug and some Mama rolly cakes.”

  “Good plan.” Gavin wanted to hug Austin tight to him. That surprised him; he loved to hug the little guy, but Austin usually initiated it. “How about a bro hug first?”

  “Yeah!” Austin rammed into him, and they hugged.

  Gavin picked him up and held him on his hip like he was two again.

  “I’m too big for you to carry.”

  “You are big, but not too big to dump in the snow.”

  Austin shrieked and giggled as Gavin ran to the nearest snowbank, flipped him upside down, and let his hair and forehead touch the snow. Gavin flipped him back up and set him on his feet.

  “I love you, Gav,” Austin said. “Thanks for being my best bro.”

  Gavin ruffled his hair. “I love you too, bud.” After the weddings, he was going to tell Mama that he was ready and beg for some advice on how to proceed. It was time to tell his son the truth.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kari spent the next two weeks as busy as she’d ever been, though she had an ache in her gut missing Austin and Gavin. She was all kinds of inspired as she wrote and her fingers flew over the keys, but she didn’t use any of the details from her and Gavin’s interactions or kisses. They had their own story, and it wasn’t one that she would share. Luckily, the characters in her head were fighting to share their stories after her brief vacation from work. She started into a series of books with a large family—complete, of course, with the hilarious little brother. Austin inspired that one. She loved that kid.

  She and Gavin texted. It wasn’t brilliant or full of flirtatious love notes, but it was fun to text him and look forward to his texts. She teased him and he responded, sometimes serious, sometimes more light-hearted, depending on the time of day. The serious texts were usually when he was at work; the light-hearted ones were when Austin was with him. She grew to know him better through his texts, though she could tell he was still guarded. Hopefully, when she arrived in Colorado, they’d have more time to get to the bottom of his secrets and pain from the past, whatever that was.

  They arranged for her to fly in on Thursday and out again on Monday morning, similar to her last trip. The double weddings were on Saturday. His entire family would be there the Sunday before the weddings, but she claimed she needed to catch up on writing from her last trip to Colorado.

  She didn’t want to admit it, but she was nervous. Gavin and Austin had both made her feel alive and almost normal. She knew she wasn’t. A roommate in college had explained that not many people walked around with voices in their head. That was called schizophrenia, and she needed a doctor, not a laptop with a great backup system for all the stories she created. Kari didn’t care what her old roommate thought—she’d had the last laugh, as she worked hard and became a prolific and successful indie author—but the girl was probably right in a sense. Kari was socially off and might not mesh well with Gavin’s family. His parents had been kind, so she hoped the rest of the family was like that, but who knew?

  Time passed quickly, except for late at night as she lay awake thinking of Gavin’s kiss and wishing she was already with him again. Finally, Thursday came and she was on a plane, typing as fast and furious as she could during the flight as she had a book to get to an editor tomorrow. She had almost reached the climax, so she could probably finish it late tonight after she said goodnight to Gavin. Would that goodnight include another earth-shattering kiss? She prayed so. Maybe that wasn’t a proper thing to pray about, but Gavin’s kisses had been full of light and joy, not lust.

  She walked off the airplane, and as she approached baggage claim, she saw
a sight that made her heart race in her chest: Gavin and Austin, waiting for her. Gavin had a half smile on his face and a warm look in his dark eyes. Austin was jumping up and down, holding a sign that said “Kari Love.”

  “She’s here, she’s here!” Austin yelled. He shoved the sign into Gavin’s hands and ran at her. Plowing into her, he almost knocked her off her feet.

  Kari hugged him back, enjoying the connection. She caught Gavin staring at her over Austin’s head. Would she ever get enough of seeing those dark eyes, that dark facial hair framing those perfect lips?

  “I missed you,” Austin said.

  Kari focused on the little man. “I missed you too.” It was true. This little guy lit up everyone around him. “How’s hockey?”

  “I’m brilliant at it.” He grinned impishly. “At least that’s what Hot—I mean, Hazel said Tuesday after she watched me score three goals. Everybody was there, except Papa and … you.” His happy grin vanished. “You and Gav planned this really crappy.”

  “Austin.” Gavin’s voice was a soft warning.

  “Sorry. You suck at planning, though.”

  Kari hid a smile. “Why’s that, bud?”

  “I don’t have a game until next Wednesday. So you can’t even watch me play while you’re here.”

  “Dang.” Kari really did feel disappointed. “I should’ve flown in Tuesday.”

  Gavin met her gaze. They both knew he would’ve brought her in any day she wanted. It was her fault she’d missed Austin’s game.

  “Yeah, but I forgive you.” Austin took her hand and started toward the entrance. He stopped abruptly. “Oh, wait. Gav, get her suitcases, please.”

  Kari laughed at Gavin’s look. He was frustrated that he didn’t get to give her a proper greeting yet couldn’t tell the little man no to save his life. Kari was still wishing she’d gotten a hug from Gavin like she had from Austin. She respected that he wouldn’t kiss her in front of his little brother, but a hug wouldn’t be out of line, would it?

  She pointed out her suitcase, and Gavin retrieved it. They walked to the indoor short-term parking with Austin between them; he was prattling about school and hockey and girlfriends and snow-skiing. Kari snuck in a few glances that Gavin met, her heart giving a little flutter each time, but this definitely wasn’t their time to be alone. That was okay. She’d never begrudge time with Austin.

  When they reached Gavin’s black Lexus and it beeped at them, the little boy said, “Gav and I had, like, a huge, bottomless hole in us when you left. I’m so glad you’re back.” He hugged her fiercely and then slid into the car. Joy rushed through Kari. She loved this little man.

  Gavin loaded her suitcase in the back. She clung to her purse and waited by the passenger door. He approached, and the look in his dark eyes said he wanted to kiss her as badly as she wanted to kiss him.

  “A hole in you?” she murmured, going for teasing but probably failing.

  “A huge hole,” he corrected.

  She thought he’d reach to open her door, but instead he bent and gave her a soft, lingering kiss. Kari melted against him, and he held her tight.

  “Bottomless,” he said in a gravelly voice before capturing her lips again.

  The kiss ended sooner than she would’ve liked, and he got her door, ushering her into her seat with almost his full grin. Kari melted, trying to catch her breath and so happy she’d come back.

  “I could see that kissing,” Austin said from the back seat.

  Her face flooded with heat. “Sorry, bud.”

  “Don’t be sorry. I want you to marry my best bro.” He gave an exaggerated wink with his right eye, his left closing partially.

  Gavin opened the door, and Kari’s face was so hot she fanned it. “You okay?” he asked.

  Kari shot a look at Austin, hoping he wouldn’t repeat what he’d said and embarrass them both. She liked Gavin, a lot, but marriage was a long ways off.

  Austin pressed his lips together and lifted his eyebrows.

  Kari laughed. “Yes,” she said, “I’m better than I’ve been in almost two weeks.”

  Gavin started the car, put his sunglasses on, and took her hand. She flushed with pleasure as he drove with his left hand and caressed her hand with his right thumb. “Me too,” he murmured.

  Austin chattered as they drove about all the family, the fun things they’d been doing this week, and all the “crazy big people” wedding preparations. The drive was almost an hour and a half, and the entire time, Gavin held her hand and Kari basked in being with the two of them. She’d missed them horribly over the past two weeks, and being with them again made her feel complete, as if she’d been missing a piece of herself.

  They drove into Gavin’s valley, and she sighed.

  Gavin glanced sharply at her. “You okay?”

  “No, I’m crazy.”

  Gavin gave her half of a smile. “I don’t think so, but why do you say that?”

  “I left seventy degrees and sunshine, chose to come here to snow and probably below-freezing temps, and it feels like … home.”

  Gavin’s eyes widened, and his grip on her hand tightened.

  Austin piped up from the back. “That’s ’cause this place is heaven. At least, that’s what Papa says.”

  “It is,” she agreed. “Even if it’s a cold heaven.”

  Gavin looked back at the road, but his face looked softer somehow.

  “We can keep you warm, Kari,” Austin promised.

  Kari flushed as Gavin sucked in a breath. She’d love warm hugs from Austin, but she knew Gavin could keep her warm simply by looking at her. She fanned her face with her free hand.

  “See?” Austin laughed. “You’re already warm.”

  “Yes, I am.” Kari squeezed Gavin’s hand and settled back against the seat. They drove through the valley and up to Gavin’s lodge and ski resort.

  Gavin bypassed the lodge and drove to his family’s smaller valley. She’d stewed about meeting his siblings and should have felt more nervous about it, but with Gavin holding her hand and Austin’s happy voice and support from the back seat, she could only concentrate on how she was meant to be with these two. Was that insane?

  Gavin parked next to his parents’ house and put his sport utility in park, pushing the button to stop the engine.

  “Beat you there.” Austin jumped out, slammed the door behind him, and raced for the house.

  Gavin didn’t move, still holding her hand. He turned toward her, and she smiled. He wanted to be alone with her. “I got you a suite at the lodge, but Mama asked that I bring you straight here for dinner with the family.”

  Kari felt an unexpected pang that she wouldn’t be right here with all the family the entire time. She didn’t want to miss a moment of being with Gavin or Austin, but she appreciated his thoughtfulness in getting her a suite. Was he worried she wouldn’t be comfortable staying here, not wanting to cross boundaries, or did he want to keep some distance between them? She frowned.

  “Is that okay? You and I can go to dinner at the lodge, or down to Vail if you’d rather not meet my crazy family.”

  She smiled and nodded. “It’s great. I’m excited to meet your ‘crazy family.’ The crazier the better in my opinion.”

  He gave her half of a smile. “You say that now …”

  “No, I mean it. I’ve got this insane Aunt Doris. She’s given me more book fodder than even the voices shouting in my head.”

  Gavin softly chuckled. “Did I give you any ‘book fodder’?”

  Kari’s stomach tightened and her pulse picked up. “Our kisses were too special for me to share with anyone.”

  His eyes widened and his chest rose and fell quickly.

  “But you and Austin have both inspired me and I wrote like the wind the past two weeks.”

  His gaze traveled over her face. “I missed seeing how … alive you are.”

  Kari flushed but tilted her head in what hoped was a sassy manner. “Is that all you missed?”

  Gavin’s true,
full smile came then, and all the oxygen fled from her lungs. “No.” His voice dropped deep and gravelly. “I missed the happiness you bring to me and Austin, I missed the—” He swallowed and muttered, “Cute way you talk. I missed the way you smell. And I missed the way your lips changed everything for me.”

  Kari was breathless and speechless. His dark eyes had some definite vulnerability in them, and she imagined he didn’t talk like that to many people, maybe to no one. She put a hand over her heart and managed to say, “That was more beautiful than any flowery speech I’ve ever forced a hero to make.”

  Gavin’s dark eyes softened, and he admitted, “It wasn’t easy for me to make … but it’s all true.”

  “It means even more because I know you’re not the showy type of guy.”

  He simply nodded and leaned across the console toward her. Kari moved toward him. Their lips met in a simple, sweet kiss of promise and new beginnings. She loved his kiss, his words, his scent, and his commitment and love of his family. She could list his good characteristics and savor his lips all day.

  Kari’s door swung open, and she gasped and pulled back.

  “I wanted to meet the miracle worker,” a deep voice said from behind her.

  “Rotten timing, Nick,” Gavin grunted out.

  “Hopefully you can return the favor someday.”

  Kari focused on the man holding her door. He was almost a carbon copy of Gavin, broad and muscular. There were only a couple of differences: the brother’s happy go-lucky smile reminded her more of Austin, and he had a vicious red scar that fanned along his neck and up his cheek to his hairline. The damage looked recent, as if it was still healing.

  “Hi, Nick.” She climbed out of the car and offered her hand. “I’m Kari Love.”

  Nick’s grin broadened, and now he reminded her of her own brother. She was going to get teased. “Isn’t that perfect? My big brother needed some ‘love’ in his life.”

  Gavin’s door slammed and he hurried around the car and to her side. He didn’t reach for her hand like he had in the car, and he didn’t put an arm around her. That was disappointing, but she knew he was stoic and closed off, and she had been pleasantly surprised with the hand-holding the past hour and a half. More than pleasantly surprised by his beautiful words and tender kiss.