I looked up at my man, the love of my life. “And I love you, too, big guy.” Reaching down, I gave his ass a smack and grinned. “Now get off me. I need to shower and get ready for work.”
With a deep chuckle, he rolled to his back, and I climbed out of the bed, moving across the room before stopping at the bathroom doorway to shoot him a heated look over my shoulder. “Well?” I asked when he continued to lay there and stare at my naked body. “You coming or what?”
That was all the invitation he needed. Jumping out of the bed, he booked it to me, lifted me off the ground, and seconds later, the two of us were in his big shower together.
* * *
“Hey, look who’s finally back!” Bryce called as Xander and I walked into Alpha Omega.
The guys were milling around Roxanne’s desk like they’d been waiting for me to arrive.
Linc came up and pulled me into a hug, muttering, “Welcome, back, sweetheart.”
I got more hugs from the other guys, but it was Bryce who scooped me up—carefully at Xander’s warning glare—and spun me in a circle.
“Good to have you back, gorgeous. None of these other bastards are fun to look at, and since Rox’s hooked up with your old man, she’s gotten boring as hell.”
“I heard that,” she grumbled as she rounded her desk and came up to hug me. “And just because you’re a pain in my ass, no staff meeting birthday cake when your week rolls around.”
Bryce lowered me back to the ground, and the moment my feet touched, Xander was there to tag my hand and pull me back into him while giving Bryce the evil eye.
He held his hands up in surrender. “Relax, brother. It’s all good. We know who she—”
His words came to an abrupt stop, and his whole body locked tight when something outside the front windows caught his eye.
We all turned in the direction he was staring to see a stunning woman with light brown hair walking by the building, her eyes to her phone, her face pinched in concentration. A moment later she came to a stop and looked up and around like she was lost.
“Fuck me,” Bryce said on an exhale.
“Bry?” I called, but he didn’t remove his stunned gaze from the window. “Do you know her?”
Instead of answering, he shoved through the guys at a fast clip and bolted out the doors. We all watched, frozen in place, as Bryce ran after the woman. The second he could reach it, he grabbed her arm, pulling her around fast enough to send her hair flying. The instant her eyes landed on him they went wide with shock.
“Uh, Xander? Did I miss something pretty freaking huge while I was out?”
I glanced up to my man’s face to see he looked as confused as I felt. “Not that I know of.”
I went back to the window. Bryce moved in close, very close, and I saw his lips move as he spoke. The woman stood motionless, the expression on her face like she’d just seen a ghost. A moment later, she wrenched her arm from his grasp and her mouth began to move at a rapid clip. But where his words seemed as if they were spoken soft and sweet, hers did not.
Then, as quickly as she appeared, she was gone, leaving a stricken looking Bryce standing along on the sidewalk.
“Damn. You got any clue who that was, Shortcake?”
My mind flashed back to the conversation I’d had with Bryce when he informed me it took a special woman to love men like him.
“I think . . .” I turned away from the window, wanting to give my friend some privacy. “Honey, I think that might just be his past.”
And I had a sneaking suspicion that things in Hope Valley were about to get very interesting.
Epilogue
Sage
Four months later
I moved through the office building wearing the outfit I’d just purchased the night before. I wasn’t a fan of the black skirt suit and white button-down blouse, but I did dig my new black patent leather pumps with a four-inch, pencil-thin heel.
The suit was going back, but I was keeping the shoes.
My hair was pulled into a bun at the nape of my neck, and I’d even gotten a pair of black framed glasses to do up the look.
I pushed the mail cart past the station of cubicles toward the big office in the back, smiling and greeting people I passed like I belonged there.
“You know,” I said in a barely there whisper, bending my head down so I could speak into the mic hidden in my bra, “I’m really digging this PI gig. Think maybe I’ll get licensed and do it full time. Work cases with you guys. I bet we could find another assistant, easy.”
“For fuck’s sake, Shortcake,” I heard grunted through my earpiece. “Told you once already, quit talkin’ into your tits before someone sees you and your cover’s blown.”
My face scrunched into a frown as I continued pushing the mail cart while still talking into my cleavage. “You keep being a dick and you aren’t gonna get the full benefit of these awesome shoes later tonight.”
“Fucking hell.” That came from Dalton. “Hunter warned me workin’ with you two would be a pain in the ass. Didn’t believe him. Should’ve believed him.”
“Stop bitching, Dalt, or I won’t let you be my partner on my next super-spy gig.”
“Closin’ in on the office in ten feet,” Xander said. “Quit your yappin’, get this shit done, and get the hell outta there.”
I lifted my head, but did it while mumbling, “Pain in my ass.”
He grunted something in return, but I was too busy giving the assistant at the desk a friendly smile. “Hi,” I greeted cheerfully. “I have a package to drop off for Mr. Gray.”
She looked at me curiously, and asked, “Are you new here?”
Lucky for the rest of my team, I’d decided to come up with a cover story. “Just for today. Teresa called in with the flu again, so I’m covering her floors.” I rolled my eyes and gave her a look that said, isn’t that just like Teresa? since most all women spoke the same language. That language being Catty. “I usually work down on ten.”
The assistant returned my sentiment with a scoff that said, Teresa’s so gonna get her ass canned one day. “All right, hon. Mr. Gray isn’t here, but you can go on in. Just leave the package on his desk.”
“You got it. Thanks, doll.”
Then I grabbed the box of air I’d placed on top of the cart and moved into Mr. Gray’s—the cheating bastard CEO of Houser Investments—office.
I closed the door behind me, tossed the box on the desk, and kicked into higher gear.
“What the fuck was that?” Xander clipped into my ear. “How’d you even know there was a Teresa out with the flu?”
“I didn’t,” I whispered as I hit my hands and knees and moved under the big desk so I could set up the little gizmo Xander had given to me to install on the guy’s computer so he could hack it. “Teresa’s a common name, people are out with the flu all the time, and bitchy women love to gossip. I took a shot.”
“You took a shot?” he barked incredulously. “Jesus, Sage. Have you lost your mind?”
I got the doohickey into place and stood on my knees so I could shuffle over to the phone and install the tap while I hissed, “I told you I needed a back story. You said I didn’t. Pretty sure this proves I was right and you were wrong.”
“Never again,” Dalton complained. “Never workin’ a case with you two again.”
Phone tap in place, I stood to my feet and patted down my skirt. “All right, we’re all set.”
Silence hit my ear for three seconds before Xander’s voice returned, “We’re good to go. Now get your ass outta there.”
I did just that, shooting the assistant a smile before grabbing the mail cart and bailing out.
I was riding one hell of an adrenaline rush as I took the elevator down to the lobby, skip-walked my way through, and hurried out of the building. I looked both ways before crossing the street and shuffling toward the van Dalton and Xander were in.
That’s right. For this case, our command room was in the back of a van. Sweet!
&nb
sp; I knocked on the side door, and it slid open a second later to reveal a scowling Xander.
Planting my hands on his hips, I returned his look with one of my own and announced, “I keep telling you we need a password. I could’ve been anybody—”
My sentence was cut off on a yelp when my man’s arm shot out, hooked me around the waist, and yanked me into the van before slamming the door closed.
“Fuck me, but you’re a pain in my ass,” he grunted.
I wasn’t even insulted. Instead, I looked up at him with a big grin, still on cloud nine from rocking my latest stint as a PI. “Yeah, but you love me anyway.”
The scowl fell and he smiled full-on, nothing but love shining in those black eyes. “My curse, baby, but I really do.”
I reached up and patted his bearded cheek, loving the way the whiskers felt on my palm. “Lucky for you, I kinda love you back.”
He let out a chuckle—my man wasn’t a big laugher. Not because he didn’t have reason, but just because it wasn’t him—and leaned in to kiss me.
What started soft and sweet turned hot and hungry, and by the time we broke apart we were clinging to each other and breathing heavily.
“Jesus Christ, this is my hell.” Taking my eyes from Xander, I moved them through the van to Dalton who was staring at us with a look of disgust on his face. “Never again.”
I gave him a sassy shrug and snuggled into Xander’s big, warm chest.
I didn’t care if none of the other guys wanted to partner with us. As far as I was concerned, Xander and I made a perfect team.
And as long as we had each other, we didn’t need anything else.
* * *
Xander
Three months later
I pushed through the door of the cabin, instantly hit with the subtle smell of lilies that floated permanently in the air since Sage had moved in a little over six months ago.
The place had been transformed in that time. And not in a bad way. Sage’s stuff now mingled with mine, giving the place a homey, lived-in feel that hadn’t been there when it was just me.
There was art on the walls, a soft blanket folded over the sofa, and another on the recliner. She’d placed candles around and added toss pillows for a bit of color.
But the most important things she’d added to the place sat on the mantel above the fire place.
She’d had the picture of me and my old team framed and placed it at one end. On the other sat a shadow box, in it were my brothers’ dog tags. The first time I came home and saw the items sitting out for all to see, I’d been frozen to the spot.
“They don’t belong in a box tucked back on a shelf,” she’d told me in a soft, delicate voice, her expression nervous yet determined. “They were your family. Hold onto all the good memories you have of them and let them out into the light.”
I’d kissed the hell out of her after that, and from that moment on, my brothers had a place, front and center in mine and Sage’s home.
Bear lifted his head off the couch and gave me a lazy look.
Leaning down, I gave his head a pat. “Hey, bud. How you doin’?”
His response was to let out a low chuff and drop his head back onto the cushion. Lazy dog.
Sage’s voice came from the kitchen, and I followed after it. No doubt, she was on the phone with one of the many women she had in what she called her tribe.
But I had other plans, and they needed to happen now.
I stopped and crossed my arms over my chest, bracing a shoulder against the wall so I could watch her as she sat at the kitchen table, filing her nails while gabbing away.
As if feeling my presence, her head came up and she hit me with that smile that warmed me from the inside out.
She paused in her conversation to greet me. “Hey, honey.”
“Off the phone, Shortcake,” I ordered gently.
Her smile fell and a look of worry slipped across her gorgeous features. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, just need you off the phone.”
Her brows pulled in to a frown. “But Rox and I are going over the flowers for her and Dad’s wedding next weekend.”
Standing tall, I moved toward her, bracing one hand on the table and the other on the back of her chair. “You can call her back later.”
She turned her attention back to Roxanne to end the call, looking up at me the whole time. “All right, you effectively ended some pretty important wedding planning, which Rox is not happy about. So what’s going on?”
“Get your boots on. Let’s go for a ride.”
Her chin jerked back and her eyes went big. “What? Now?”
“Yeah now. Boots on.”
Five minutes later, we were on my bike, heading out to that spot overlooking the whole valley.
Everything I needed had been stowed in my saddlebag, so when I brought us to a stop and put down the kickstand, I climbed off to grab it.
The sky was painted in the pinks and purples of twilight . . . the absolute perfect moment.
Moving a few yards back, I unfolded the tripod, hooked the camera up, and set the timer. When I moved back to the bike, I adjusted Sage, lifting her up and spinning her around to put her at the front, facing me as I straddled it again. She remained silent as I adjusted her legs, throwing her thighs over mine and pulling her even closer. It was only once I had us both in position that she spoke.
“What’s going on?”
Reaching in to my pocket, I pulled out the ring I’d been carrying around with me for weeks, waiting for the perfect moment.
“Xander,” she whispered, sucking in a gasp. her mouth dropped open as she stared at the ring.
“Last year, you stormed into my life, ranting about stolen scones and line cutting.” Her eyes returned to mine, glistening with tears. “I didn’t realize it then, but that was the moment you pulled me out of the darkness and into the light, baby. You gave me something I never thought I’d have again. You saved me. You healed me. And I can’t think of anything I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you as my wife, Shortcake.”
“Oh my god,” she breathed as the tears began to fall.
“Say yes, Sage. Make me whole by sayin’ you’ll be my wife.”
“Yes!” she shouted, throwing her arms out and wrapping them around my neck. “Yes, of course! Oh my god!”
The kiss she gave me made my dick stir, but I wasn’t quite finished yet. Time was ticking, and I needed to get this done.
Pulling back, I took her left hand and slid the diamond down on to her ring finger just as the camera began clicking, taking picture after picture. “The moment that ring hit the base of your finger, you became mine. Now there’s no going back.”
“I can absolutely handle that,” she said on a sniffle and a watery smile.
“I love you, Shortcake. With all I am.”
She leaned in for another kiss and said, “I love you too, big guy. More than you could know. But . . . what’s the deal with the camera?”
That was when I gave her a full-blown smile. “Bet you money one of those pictures is gonna look fuckin’ awesome hangin’ next to the one you got me for my birthday.”
With that, she smiled again, lighting my whole world.
The End.
Thank you so much for reading, and don’t forget to leave a review.
Keep a lookout for Bryce and Tessa’s story,
The Second Time Around
Coming March, 2020
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After years apart, Tempie and Hayes are finally starting over and looking toward the future. But when their sleepy little town is rocked to its core, Hayes will be forced into a battle he never saw coming. Now he’s not only fighting for the future he always dreamed of, but also trying to protect the only woman he’s ever loved.
It wasn’t hard for Nona Fanning to fall for Trick. He was strong, kind-hearted, loyal, and unbelievably handsome. He was the man of her dreams, and all it took was one night to give her a taste of the beauty he had to offer. But while she’d been opening her heart to him, he’d kept his under lock and key.
Out of the Darkness: a Hope Valley novel Page 27
