Stay With Me
a Hope Valley novel
Jessica Prince
Copyright © 2019 by Jessica Prince
www.authorjessicaprince.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
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Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Epilogue
Sneak Peek of Out of the Darkness
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HOPE VALLEY SERIES:
Out of My League
Come Back Home Again
The Best of Me
Wrong Side of the Tracks
Stay With Me
CIVIL CORRUPTION SERIES
Corrupt
Defile
Consume
Ravage
THE PICKING UP THE PIECES SERIES:
Picking up the Pieces
Rising from the Ashes
Pushing the Boundaries
Worth the Wait
THE COLORS NOVELS:
Scattered Colors
Shrinking Violet
Love Hate Relationship
Wildflower
THE LOCKLAINE BOYS (a LOVE HATE RELATIONSHIP spinoff):
Fire & Ice
Opposites Attract
Almost Perfect
The Locklaine Boys: The Complete Series Boxset
THE PEMBROOKE SERIES (a WILDFLOWER spinoff):
Sweet Sunshine
Coming Full Circle
A Broken Soul
GIRL TALK SERIES:
Seducing Lola
Tempting Sophia
Enticing Daphne
Charming Fiona
STANDALONE TITLES:
One Knight Stand
Chance Encounters
Nightmares from Within
DEADLY LOVE SERIES:
Destructive
Addictive
Prologue
Rory
My body ached from spending hours upon hours curled up in that uncomfortable chair, either sleeping or watching the steady rise and fall of Cord’s chest the whole time. The arid hospital room had dried out my sinuses, making it difficult to breathe, but still I refused to budge. Not until he woke up and I could see for myself that he was going to be okay.
As I sat in that cold, sterile room, memories of the past bombarded me.
I could still remember the exact moment I first met Cord Paulson with perfect clarity.
I could recall exactly what he was wearing the first time he walked into The Tap Room as if it were just yesterday. The jeans, the faded black tee with a picture of a Harley Fat Boy on the front, the unbuttoned flannel he wore over it. There was nothing special about what he wore, but how he was wearing it made my belly heat and my skin grow tight and tingly.
I remembered how I’d watched with rapt fascination as he moved through the thick crowd with the kind of confidence that couldn’t be learned or faked. He walked with a self-assuredness that had to be ingrained in a person from birth. I hadn’t met many people with that brand of confidence, but this man had it in spades.
The first words he’d spoken to me were still stuck in my head. “Dig the shirt, dollface,” he’d teased, eyeing my cherry-red T-shirt with the words “Tap It Real Good” stretched along the front in big white bubble letters.
That endearment hit my belly and took bloom like a field of wildflowers. “What can I say, stud?” I grinned playfully. “It’s excellent marketing.”
He’d turned to take in the bar. It was only a Wednesday evening, but we were still hopping. “Don’t doubt that for a second.”
I even remembered the very first beer he ordered and how his gaze felt like a physical touch as he watched me pour his Guinness.
But the most potent memory I carried with me, the one I went back to every night when I curled up in bed alone, was the very first thought I had when he stepped into my life.
Dear Lord, I want this one. Please, please let me have him.
He was it.
I didn’t know how or why I knew that.
I just did.
My life changed in that moment. It was the start of something unexplainable, something that felt important and all-consuming, and I knew I’d never be the same.
I didn’t have a single doubt that I’d just met the man of my dreams, the one meant just for me, the guy I’d been waiting on for most of my life.
Those were the memories that had plagued me for the past three days as I waited for him to wake up, fear clutching my heart in a vise grip the entire time.
All the bad had been drowned out when I received the call days ago telling me he’d been shot while trying to save my friend Eden from some very bad men.
“We’re not sure he’s gonna make it, sweetheart,” Lincoln had said through the line. I wanted to collapse to the floor, but if he was truly dying, there wasn’t time. I had to get to him.
It was amazing how the mind worked. In times of tragedy or stress, it was only the good we held on to. I didn’t care that he’d broken my heart. I didn’t care that he’d been my best friend until the day he cast me aside. None of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was that he pulled through this, because I needed him to come back. I could live in a world where he wasn’t a part of my life as long as he was happy and healthy. But a world where he didn’t exist at all was unimaginable.
“You should go home, get some real sleep,” my friend Nona said, rounding Cord’s hospital bed and resting her hand on my shoulder. “You look wrecked, doll.”
“I...” My gaze slid back to the bed and my throat grew uncomfortably tight. Cord’s naturally olive-toned skin was frighteningly pale. The man who’d once been so imposing looked frail. I hadn’t thought it possible for a man with his size and personality to look so weak. It was terrifying. “I can’t,” I managed to whisper. “I just… I don’t want him to wake up and be all alone.”
“She
should be here,” Nona bit out, her voice as hard and jagged as stone.
My fear gave way to anger, just as it had every time I thought about her. Laurie Dutton. The woman who held Cord’s heart and the reason he’d thrown everything we were to each other away. In the three days I’d been sitting vigil, she hadn’t shown her face once.
“Don’t bring her up,” I clipped. “Not here. Not now when he’s…”
Her voice softened immediately. “All right, honey. I’m sorry.” She gave me a moment to pull in a calming breath before speaking again. “I’m not gonna be able to convince you to take a break, am I?”
I didn’t bother replying to a question she already knew the answer to.
When I didn’t say anything, she let out a heavy sigh and squeezed my shoulder. “Okay, Ror. But if you need me, you just call, okay? Any time. I’m here. All your friends are.”
She left a minute later, and I resumed my task of counting each of Cord’s inhales. Bone-deep exhaustion from constant worry and lack of sleep tugged at my senses and weighed my eyelids down. My vision began to blur and that weariness started to seep deep into me and pull me under when a sudden noise gave me a jolt.
My gaze shot up to Cord’s face just as his eyes fluttered and his lips parted on a craggy, pained groan.
Uncurling my legs, I shot to the very edge of the chair and leaned over to gently take his hand. “Cord?”
His eyelids continued to flutter for a second more before they finally opened all the way. Those dark forest green eyes were glassy from the medication, but that didn’t make them any less beautiful. The sense of relief I felt when his gaze landed on mine was so strong it brought tears to my eyes.
“Hey sweetie,” I whispered, smiling so big my cheeks ached. “Welcome back.”
“You’re here.”
“Of course I’m here, Cord. I’ve been waiting for you.” A watery laugh slid up my throat as my tears broke free. “You scared the life out of me.”
“You’re here,” he repeated, pulling his hand from mine and lifting it to caress my cheek, brushing the wetness away with his thumb.
Leaning into his touch, I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and pulled in a shaky breath, silently thanking God for bringing him back to me. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” I whispered. “So, so glad.”
Cord’s hand traveled up and into my hair, coming to stop at the base of my neck. His fingers put pressure on the back of my head, forcing me to bend lower as he lifted off his pillow.
His lips pressed against mine, and time suddenly stopped. The world stopped turning as the air froze in my lungs. When my lips parted on a surprised gasp, Cord’s tongue slid inside, and I was lost. Completely and happily lost in all that was him.
With that one kiss, all the dreams I’d started having the moment Cord Paulson came into my life, all the dreams I’d locked inside a box and tucked into the back of my mind for the past year and a half, came spilling out.
As gentle and slow as it was, that kiss was the best kiss of my life. Melting into him, I caressed his cheek as I took it deeper, brushing my tongue against his.
His fingers in my hair tightened as he pulled me even closer. A ragged moan rumbled from his chest, and I swallowed it down greedily, desperate for more.
It felt like an eternity passed before we broke apart, both panting and desperate for oxygen.
I rested my forehead against his, feeling his featherlight breaths whisper across my face as his eyes drifted shut again. His grip on my hair loosened as his arm went slack and his head dropped down onto the pillow in exhaustion.
Then he spoke. One word spoken with a reverence that shattered the illusions I’d let creep back in and give me hope.
On a heavy sigh, just before he slipped back into sleep, he whispered, “Laurie,” effectively breaking my heart beyond repair.
Chapter One
Rory
Seven months later
Leaning against the bar, I unlocked my phone and pulled up the dating app I’d spent the better part of a week trying to convince myself to finish setting up.
Every time I told myself today was going to be the day I’d open the app, stare at the tiny boxes asking for my information, and chicken out.
I always thought that when I met my man, it would happen naturally, here in the bar or maybe while grabbing a coffee at Muffin Top or in the produce section of the grocery store.
I never thought I’d end up on a dating app. But things had changed.
In the past several months, two of my closest friends had gotten engaged, another had gotten married, and the fourth was in a relationship where a ring was sure to come in the very near future.
I loved my girls with all my heart, and I was thrilled beyond belief that they’d all landed the men of their dreams, men who worshipped the ground they walked on and treated them like queens. But there was no denying I was envious. I wanted that for myself.
I was a forty-year-old woman with no man or kids, all because of some insane delusion I’d had all my life that there was one absolutely perfect man out there just for me. I’d spent far too many years waiting for the day when The One would come walking into my life. And when he finally did, he’d already belonged to someone else, and it took far too many years to recover from that crushing blow.
After that first night, Cord came into The Tap Room pretty regularly, and every time he walked through the doors, my body reacted to his presence. My skin tingled and grew tight, and when those dark eyes hit me, I found it hard to breathe.
It took me a month of joking and teasing, a month of playful flirting before I finally found the courage to make my move.
I could remember that night with perfect clarity as well. The sympathy that spread across his gorgeous face. I could still hear the velvety-smooth cadence of his husky voice as he said, “I’m flattered, dollface, really. And if I could go there with anyone, it would be you. But there’s a past I haven’t quite been able to let go of yet.”
I’d been crushed, but as painful as it was, I pasted on a smile and assured him I understood.
I can wait, I’d told myself. For the man of my dreams, I could definitely wait.
And that was exactly what I did.
For two years I held on to the hope that one day, he’d let go of that past completely, and I’d be there when that happened.
In the meantime, Cord and I developed a relationship stronger than I could ever have imagined. He wasn’t only my best friend, he’d become one of the most important people in my world.
He was kind and thoughtful, fiercely loyal and absolutely hilarious. It was as if he had a sixth sense when it came to my emotions. If I was having a bad day, it never failed that he’d show up to make me laugh. When I was sad, he was the shoulder I leaned on. He was the first one I sought out to share my good news with, and I could always count on him to take part in my excitement. He had a gift for making me feel like the most special woman in the world. When he smiled, my whole world lit up.
The more I got to know him, the stronger my feelings for him grew until they had formed into something so much more.
Cord Paulson wasn’t only the man of my dreams.
He was the love of my life. All I had to do was bide my time.
Then his past showed up in my picture-perfect mountain town, and everything changed.
Laurie Dutton came to Hope Valley to seek Cord out, and the instant he laid eyes on her, it became evident that I’d been waiting in vain. There was no way he was letting go of that past. Not now. Not when she’d come here for him.
I didn’t know their story, but whatever they’d had before was rekindled in a heartbeat.
The pain of watching the man I’d fallen for with someone else was something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. There was an ache that came with unrequited love that nothing else could compare to.
Time passed, and I started to convince myself that I was fine with just being his friend, that as long as I had him in my life in some way, everythin
g would be all right. Then I lost that as well.
I hadn’t realized it at the time, but I hadn’t completely let go of the hope that I’d still have my chance one day. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that Cord was the man I’d been waiting all these years for.
Then he kissed me and called me by her name.
I made a decision right then and there in that hospital room. I was done waiting. I was finished with hope and fantasies of Cord one day waking up and realizing he was in love with me. I’d given up on Cord Paulson being my dream man, and I was moving on.
So while I was happy for my friends, watching them settle down with the loves of their lives poked at a wound that had only just started to heal.
“That must be one hell of a dick pic.”
At the unexpected voice, I let out a little squeak and clutched the phone to my chest as I jerked around to face Tammy, a young woman who waitressed at The Tap Room. “Shit. I didn’t hear you walk up.”
“That’s because you’ve been staring at your phone like you’ve got nudes of Henry Cavill on it. So I’ll say again, must be one hell of a dick pic. Don’t know what else would hold my attention like that.”
Stay With Me (Hope Valley Book 5) Page 1