Somebody to Love

by Ann Christopher

  Sean stared at Mike, too stunned for words and afraid that if he attempted any at this juncture, the most triumphant moment of his life, he’d produce a sob instead. But when Mike pulled him in for the best bear hug of the night, he had no problems unsticking his limbs and hugging him back.

  “I’m proud of you, man.” Mike gave him a hard kiss on the cheek. “Mama and Dara are proud of you. Dad would’ve been proud of you.”

  Sean hastily pulled back and nodded, ducking his head and swiping away his tears in a valiant effort to control his emotions before someone whipped out his phone and posted this teary moment all over social media before morning.

  “Thanks,” he said gruffly. “Appreciate it.”

  With that, his mother and Dara swooped in for their hugs. Whereupon Nigel concluded his remarks with, “Eat! Drink! Be merry!” and the crowd resumed its dull roar as everyone helped themselves to more food as the servers made another round with their trays.

  “I know Bobsy would have been sick about missing a fancy shindig like this,” Raymond said when he caught up to Sean a few minutes later, tapping the button on his lapel. “Not that you’re going to be earning your Michelin stars if you’ve got a dog sneaking roast carrots under the tables. But I wanted him to be here in spirit.”

  “Appreciate that,” Sean said, grinning as he shook his hand and eyeballed the dog’s image grinning back at him. “Nothing’s quite the same without Bobsy’s dynamic presence.”

  “I’ll be sure to tell him you said that.”

  “And where’s Fisher?” Sean asked, referring to Raymond’s husband.

  “Someone had to stay home with the kids and the unruly dog. Wasn’t going to be me—oh, are those fried green tomatoes? With aioli and caviar?” Raymond said.

  He hurried after a passing server just as a new woman appeared in front of Sean and offered her hand. He squinted his mind’s eye, knowing he should know her, but couldn’t quite place her pretty face.

  “What a lovely restaurant, Chef,” she said. “Gabrielle Drew. We met a few months ago. At Pub 221B.”

  “That’s right,” Sean said, snapping his fingers. “You’re the general counsel for the medical center. Sorry. How are you? Did you get some food?”

  “The Dracul only consume blood. No regular food,” Jerry said, appearing beside her and giving her a scathing look. “I’m surprised you don’t know that, Sean.”

  “What the hell is going on with you, Jerry?” Sean said, trying to stifle a horrified laugh.

  “Ignore him,” Gabrielle said silkily, pulling out a gold compact and patting her nose while studying her face in the mirror. “My guess? Jerry’s reached the end of his rope when it comes to online dating.” She snapped the compact shut, returned it to her purse and leaned closer to Sean, adopting a conspiratorial whisper. “Tonight’s date walked out on him. Didn’t even stay for the first round of food. I saw the whole thing. She looked bored to tears. Jerry had a, ah, moment.”

  She pointed to something Sean had missed thus far, which was the crumpled bouquet of spring flowers dangling from Jerry’s right hand. If Sean had to guess, he’d say that Jerry had whacked the flowers against something in a fit of anger.

  “I did not have a moment,” Jerry said, his expression turning murderous.

  “Sure you did,” she said with a condescending little pat on his shoulder. “You’re certainly entitled to it after the way your date practically ran out of here. I just object to the way you treated the flowers. It’s not their fault.”

  With that parting shot, she gave them a mocking wave and glided off in an impressive display of ass and legs in her black skirt and heels. True, Sean was happily in love, but he’d have to be dead and cremated before he failed to notice when a woman had a great ass.

  Jerry also seemed to notice, judging by the way he stared after her, a muscle pulsing in his jaw.

  “You two really bring out the best in each other, don’t you?” Sean asked him, trying not to laugh.

  But Jerry was evidently in no mood for humor.

  “Excuse me,” he said, taking off after her, pausing only to toss the ruined flowers onto a nearby tray of dirty dishes as he went.

  Sean only had a moment to chuckle to himself before someone new arrived:

  A grinning Baptiste, who had evidently unglued himself from Samira and her baby bump over by the dessert table long enough to bestow an exuberant hug and kisses to both of Sean’s cheeks.

  “Let’s not lose our heads,” Sean said, startled, as he pulled back.

  “C’est magnifique!” Baptiste cried. “As the resident Frenchman, I know good food. I am a connoisseur of macaroni and cheese. You are an artist. I am almost tempted to feel bad about my long history of giving you shit.”

  “Strong praise, indeed,” Sean said, laughing.

  “And you have worked things out with the lovely Amber? Honestly, your life will be as perfect as mine is soon.”

  “I can only hope.”

  “Don’t ruin it,” Baptiste said with a stern look and a wagging finger as he took off to rejoin Samira, having evidently exhausted his limited ability to be separated from her.

  “This is a wonderful restaurant!” Sean’s mother said, edging into the space Baptiste had just vacated and beaming with maternal pride. Mike and Dara trailed her. “I’m so glad we came out for this!”

  “Me too, Mama,” Sean told her with another kiss on the cheek as he scanned the crowd for Amber, who was over by the dessert table, watching him with shining eyes. “Me too. I’m just going to go find Amber—”

  “You want a part of this?” said Edward, materializing out of the crowd to loom in front of Sean, blocking his way. He had a frazzled, vaguely wild-eyed look that was the perfect parental counterpoint to Ella’s tear-streaked and pouty expression as she perched on his hip and glared at her father. “You think you’re ready? Well, here you go. Now you’re living the dream like the rest of us. You’re welcome.”

  Without further ado, he thrust Ella at him.

  Surprised, Sean swallowed a flare of alarm—the look on Ella’s face scared him a bit, to be honest; this wasn’t the precious angel he was used to seeing—and took her.

  “I want cake, Sean,” Ella announced in a steely voice, a clear attempt to test the saying that a fool was born every minute. “Cake, please.”

  “Good luck,” Edward said with grim satisfaction as he clapped Sean on the shoulder and beat a hasty retreat. “And congrats on the restaurant. Great job.”

  “Cake please, Sean,” Ella said again, this time hitting Sean with a dose of welling tears and a wobbly little chin.

  Sean exchanged raised brow looks with his mother, Mike and Dara, during which they clearly wished him a silent good luck and Godspeed. And probably hoped that he got Ella out of their vicinity before she erupted again.

  “Let’s go ask your mother, Munchkin,” he said, setting off to find Amber.

  Amber was just trying to decide whether she wanted to run to the ladies room before she grabbed dessert when she inadvertently caught the eye of Reeve, who was sampling one of the sweet potato cake pops and holding a glass of champagne in her free hand. Amber stiffened in a purely reflexive move, her body evidently having not received Edward’s message that he would appreciate it if she made an attempt with Reeve. Reeve, meanwhile, flashed Amber a smile of such quiet hope and encouragement that Amber felt the last of her resistance crumble.

  Oh, for God’s sake.

  Why was she putting so much time and energy into giving Reeve the cold shoulder when Reeve was an innocent party and Amber had moved on with Sean and made peace with Edward? Trying to keep Reeve at arm’s length was stupid and, more to the point, futile. Like trying to resist the sweet and beautiful cocker spaniel Lady from Lady and The Tramp when she offered to share one of her meatballs or the other end of her spaghetti with you. What the hell was the point?

  And Reeve had laughed at Amber’s joke about Ella’s tantrum a few minutes ago.

  Stifling a sigh
and the last remnant of her hard feelings, Amber hitched a smile on her face (the process felt surprisingly like using a jackhammer to chisel her mouth free from a block of concrete) and started walking. Poor Reeve froze and did a whole deer in headlights thing with her eyes that made Amber feel even worse. She probably feared that Amber would flip the nearest table over on her or something.

  “Hey,” Amber said.

  “Hey, Amber,” Reeve said warily as she swallowed the rest of her cake pop, apparently still in the midst of deciding whether she wanted to run off and spend the rest of the evening in hiding or not. “The restaurant is phenomenal. Sean’s done a great job.”

  “I agree,” Amber said, deciding to just cut to the chase before old Reeve here sent herself into cardiac arrest. “Look. I really wanted to hate you for all eternity. I did my best. Really put my heart into it.”

  “Amber—”

  “But I’m tired of being immature and you make it way too hard anyway. You’ve got that sweet face. You’re a doctor. You clearly love Edward and my daughter. You’ve got that whole”—she swirled a hand up and down the length of Reeve’s body—“bombshell thing going on. I can see why he fell for you so quickly. I can’t blame you for that.”

  Reeve gaped at her, evidently beyond speech for several long seconds. “Says the former model and mother of Edward’s child.”

  “What?” Amber said, startled.

  “Don’t look so surprised,” Reeve said with a self-deprecating snort. “You’re smart and gorgeous. You had the courage to go out there and start your own small business, which I’m sure will be a huge success. You’re the mother of Edward’s beloved daughter. You think I’m happy to compete with all that?”

  Amber watched in stunned disbelief as Reeve shook her head and downed the rest of her champagne in a single loud gulp.

  “Well, don’t worry,” Amber said when she’d recovered a bit. “We’re not competing for anything. You’ll be happy to know that I’m much happier with Sean. The best thing Edward ever did for me was scrapping our relationship. So he’s all yours.”

  “Wait a minute,” Reeve deadpanned, narrowing her eyes. “What’s wrong with him? I don’t want some substandard guy.”

  They cracked up, the ice broken. And then—why not?—Amber pulled Reeve in for a hug that Reeve eagerly returned. They were still laughing and swaying together when a wry male voice intruded.

  “What’s all this?”

  They let each other go and looked around to discover Edward holding two champagne flutes and watching them with saucer-sized eyes while an incredulous smile spread across his face.

  “Has peace broken out in the kingdom?” he continued.

  “Scram,” Amber told him, helping herself to one of his flutes. “I’m having a moment with Reeve. I was just about to fill her in on everything that’s wrong with you so she knows what she’s getting before the wedding.”

  “Jesus Christ,” Edward muttered darkly, making short work of his remaining champagne as he turned and headed off again. “I regret the day I ever told you two to get together.”

  “As well you should,” Reeve called after him, taking the words right out of Amber’s mouth.

  “So…” Amber said once he was gone. It was all well and good to make nice with Reeve, but what the hell was she supposed to say to her now?

  Luckily, Reeve was way ahead of her.

  “So listen, maybe we could have lunch. Maybe…One day next week? Or would that be too much?”

  Amber thought it over. Decided she didn’t hate the idea.

  “That could work. Text me?”

  “Will do,” Reeve said, her grin so wide and ecstatic that Amber truly felt ashamed of herself for the way she’d cold-shouldered her. “Now I’m going to take off before I say something stupid and ruin our new peace accord.”

  “Good idea,” Amber said, laughing. “I like how you think.”

  Reeve headed off in Edward’s direction with a spring in her step. Amber might have been mistaken, but she’d swear she saw Reeve skip a step or two as well. But a new distraction arrived just then in the form of Sean, who had Ella parked on his hip.

  Amber’s heart swelled beyond all imagination.

  “Well, hello there, Miss Ella,” she said, taking her daughter and kissing her chubby little cheek. “How are you doing? And how are you, Chef? Now that you’ve slayed the entire town with your superlative cooking skills?”

  “I’m doing surprisingly well, Sweetness,” he said, leaning in to kiss her behind Ella’s back. “Did I just see you make nice?”

  “You did.”

  “And how did that feel?”

  Amber thought that over. “Surprisingly good.”

  They beamed at each other.

  “I want cake, Mommy,” Ella said, palming Amber’s face and staring deep into her eyes to make sure Amber understood the situation’s gravity.

  “I have heard zero nice words from you,” Amber said.

  “Please,” Ella said, adding prayer hands for good measure.

  Amber frowned. “And how many cake pops have you already had tonight when I wasn’t looking?”

  Ella, who couldn’t count yet, held up both tiny hands and spread her fingers wide. “This many.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of,” Amber said, rolling her eyes. “I’m going to give you one more cake pop—”

  “Yay!”

  “—and then we’re going home because it’s way past your bedtime and I can see how tired you are.”

  “No, Mommy! It’s okay!” cried Ella, who clenched her fists and started looking teary again. “I don’t want to—”

  “Little girls who throw temper tantrums about going home and going to bed will not get cake pops,” Amber quickly interjected. “And they will still have to go home and go to bed.”

  Ella froze mid-rant, a spasm going through her body as she made her decision, canceled her pending tantrum and came to terms with her fate.

  “Okay,” she said, rubbing her eyes with her fists before dropping her head onto Amber’s shoulder to snuggle closer.

  Sean pulled them both in for a hug and pressed a lingering kiss to Amber’s forehead. “Nice technique. Very smooth.”

  “It worked this time,” she said, savoring his touch the way she always did. “Who knows if it’ll work next time?”

  Sean grinned and held her tighter, kissing her on the lips this time.

  They were both smiling when they pulled apart.

  “Careful,” Amber said, her voice throaty now. “I’m going to start thinking you’re crazy in love with me.”

  “I am crazy in love with you. About time you noticed.”

  Their additional grinning, which conveyed all sorts of messages about the X-rated things they wished they could do to each other that very moment, was interrupted when Ella’s head popped up again.

  “You come, Sean,” she said, anointing him with a tap on the arm.

  “Come where?” Sean asked, bemused.

  “With me!” Ella said, now tapping her own chest.

  Amber’s heart stopped. In a good way. So did Sean’s, judging by the audible sound of his breath hitching.

  “You want me to come home with you?” Sean asked Ella, his voice cracking at the end.

  “Yes!”

  “We both do,” Amber added quietly, knowing full well that Sean was in the middle of his dinner service and unable to leave until it was over. But she didn’t care. As long as he came home to her. To them.

  Sean’s gaze flicked to hers, his face aglow with all the love in his big heart.

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he said.

  “We’ll be waiting for you,” Amber said, rubbing her sleepy daughter on the back as she dropped her head onto Amber’s shoulder again. “We’ll both be waiting for you.”

  Thank you for picking up SOMEBODY TO LOVE! I hope you enjoyed visiting Journey’s End and reading Sean and Amber’s meet-cute story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

  QUESTI
ON: Which previous books do Sean and Amber appear in as secondary characters? I don’t want to miss any of them!

  ANSWER: As I mentioned in the Dear Reader Letter, Sean first appears in TROUBLE. Which is FREE in ebook format if you’d like to read it! Amber first appears as a secondary character in LET’S DO IT, where Edward dumps her. And they both appear in most of the other previous Journey’s End stories. Honestly, it’s better if you start from the beginning and read all the Journey’s End books. Then you’ll be all caught up! ;)

  Here they are, in order:

  A JOURNEY’S END Novella

  LET’S DO IT

  ON FIRE

  LET’S STAY TOGETHER Novella

  UNFORGETTABLE

  ALL OF ME

  Read NO ORDINARY LOVE Now!

  QUESTION: I love Journey’s End! Do you have any other books set in my favorite small town?

  ANSWER: Yes! You just met (and hopefully liked!) Sean’s friend Baptiste. He also has a great love affair, so you won’t want to miss my spin-off series, Journey’s End Billionaires. These sagas are two-parters because sometimes you can’t fit an epic love story into one book. ;)

  Here’s a teaser for NO ORDINARY LOVE:

  Opposites attract. But for how long?

  Sexy French billionaire Jean-Baptiste Mercier avoids emotional attachments by giving his model or actress girlfriends his credit card—but never his heart.

  Down-to-earth career woman Samira Palmer avoids dating anyone right now—especially bad boys. Until a handsome man with a thrilling accent and piercing green eyes literally bumps into her one unprecedented night.

  Sparks fly when opposites attract. As for happily ever after between star-crossed lovers? Anything’s possible in small-town Journey’s End…

  I’m so excited to introduce readers to this new series that I’ve made NO ORDINARY LOVE FREE! Grab it today!