by Webb, Rene
“Finn.” Lily tightens her hold on my arm.
“Don’t worry, princess. We aren’t going to let anything happen to you,” I say, attempting to reassure her.
“We won’t,” Trevor states calmly. “Peter and Kitty entered through the back and are grabbing our belongings and will meet up with us at the airport.”
“I told you he’d find us there,” Lily mutters.
I hate to admit it, but she’s right. Mayer knows too much about Peter and his family. If Lily decides to go with him, she will need to stay with Kitty. Her husband is more than capable of keeping her safe.
Time is running out on Lily giving me her decision. This is one thing I would never want to rush her on, especially if she’s not leaning my way, but it’s time for her to choose.
“Lily,” I say, untangling her hold on my arm and turning in my seat so I can face her.
“What?” Her voice trembles slightly, and I can tell she’s repressing her body’s shivers of fear.
“Look at me and take a deep breath,” I tell her calmly, doing the same. “It’s time.”
“Time for what?”
“I’m sorry, Lily, but you need to decide. Do you want to stay with me or go with Kitty to Vermont, where she and Mark will keep you safe?”
“Stay with you?”
“Yes. Just like we talked about. You’d be mine.”
Scrunching up her nose adorably, she asks, “Would that make me your girlfriend?”
“No, you’d be much more than that.” I growl, unable to control myself from pressing my lips roughly to hers.
“You’d let me go, wouldn’t you?”
“For now,” I tell her honestly. “Make no mistake, when this is all over, I’m coming for you. You’re mine, princess.”
“Why?”
“Why would I let you go?”
“Yes,” she whispers in a pained voice.
“Because I want you to be happy.” I brush a stray piece of hair off her face and tuck it behind her ear. “For fuck’s sake, Lily, because I love you.”
“You-I…” Her eyes are wide with surprise and twinkling with pleasure.
“Shh…” I tell her, gripping her hands tightly.
I lean in for another kiss, and this time Lily fists the front of my shirt and pours herself into it.
Breaking out of the kiss, Lily pants and whispers, “Yes. I’ll stay with you.”
I wrap my arms around Lily, pull my woman in as close as possible, and seal her choice with a kiss. Her soft moan gives me the opportunity to plunder her mouth, tasting her on my tongue.
“We’re here,” Trevor states, bringing us back to the present as the cab comes to a stop.
Despite the situation, Lily giggles, biting and licking her lips.
“Where are we meeting them?” I ask Trevor as I help Lily out of the cab, holding onto her hand tightly.
“At the ticket counter, over there.” Trevor leads the way as we walk across the vast airport among the throng of tourists pulling suitcases and rushing around in tight groups. Watching them, for some reason I can’t help but think of schools of fish.
Once we get to the airline’s counter, I lead Lily toward a row of plastic chairs and sit. She hooks her arm with mine and rests her head on my shoulder.
“I’m going to see about changing my ticket to an earlier flight,” Trevor says anxiously, rubbing his hands on his head and then shoving them in his pocket.
“Good idea. I’ll text Riley and tell her tell her what’s going on.” I shift in my seat to pull out my cellphone. “Hopefully she will turn her phone back on and check her messages before she heads home.”
Not for the first time, I wish she worked in an office where she could have her cellphone.
“I’ll get in line and call Pride Security while I wait, and tell them what is happening,” Trevor says before joining the queue of passengers as I quickly send a brief text to my sister.
“What are we going to do?” Lily’s voice is a barely a whisper.
I see the fear and uncertainty that has taken hold in her eyes. Holding her hand tightly in my own, I attempt to reassure her. “You’re going to come home with me, and we’re going to help the FBI take down Mayer once and for all.”
“Okay, and afterward?”
“I love you,” I say, getting a smile in return. “Make no mistake, princess, you are mine. And you’ll continue to be mine.”
I fist the back of her hair and pull her into a fervent kiss, letting her know the truth of what I’m saying. She’s not getting rid of me.
Gripping the front of my shirt, she says, “And you’re mine.”
I can’t help, despite what is going on, the grin that forms on my face. My woman may not have said she loves me yet, but she is starting to understand what is between us now.
Resting her head on my shoulder, Lily and I sit and watch people rushing by, all anxious and on alert. We both sit in silence waiting.
“There they are.” Lily disentangles herself from me and stands.
Standing, I watch as Peter and Kitty come walking swiftly toward us. Peter is pushing a trolley piled high with luggage. He stops suddenly and takes his phone from his pocket.
Kitty wraps her arms around Lily protectively. “I’m going to take you home to Vermont with me, sweetie, and Mark and I will keep you safe until we deal with that asshole.”
“Thank you, Auntie.” Lily plays with the strap on her purse and bites her lip. “But I’m going to go with Finn.”
“Oh,” Kitty says, looking at me with a bright smile. “I see how it is. I completely approve. But remember, you are always welcome to come stay with me.”
“Thank you. I wish we could have spent more time together.” Lily smiles. “You came all the way here to see me.”
“Next time, sweetie,” Kitty says, letting go of Lily.
Peter finally makes his way to us.
“What’s going on?” I ask, put on edge by the scowl on his face.
“That was my FBI contact calling,” Peter answers. “She wanted to check on Lily and to give me an update on their investigation.”
I am stopped from asking him any further questions by Trevor joining the group.
“I was able to get on an earlier flight to Newark and then onto a connecting flight to DC. I should be there at least an hour ahead of schedule,” Trevor tells us, grabbing his duffle off the cart. He quickly transfers several of my items from his messenger bag to my suitcase and hands my E-reader to Lily, who tucks it into her new purse with a smile.
“Unless you need something, I should probably get through security and head to my gate.”
“No, go take care of my sister,” I tell him, offering my hand.
“I will.” He takes my hand in a firm shake, and I slap his shoulder, entrusting he’ll look after one of the most important people in my life. He turns to Lily with a smile. “Despite the circumstances, it was a pleasure to finally meet you, Lily.”
“You too, cuz.” Lily pulls away from me and gives a surprised Trevor a quick hug.
“Be careful, sweetie, and be sure to call your dad and me if you need anything,” Kitty tells him next, giving him an affectionate embrace. “Love you.”
“You too.”
“I packed a few extra goodies for you and Riley in your bag.”
“Thank you,” He says, his voice lit with amusement.
Peter grabs his hand and pulls him roughly into a quick hug before slapping his shoulder. I didn’t realize until that moment how close the two men became in the three short years they’d been stepbrothers.
“Later, bro,” Trevor says as he turns to leave, giving us a final wave before he’s enveloped into the throng of tourists.
“Lily is going to come with me,” I inform Peter, anticipating an argument. “Mayer doesn’t know about all of my holdings and will have a harder time tracking her, especially with a majority of his assets frozen.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Peter agrees, far too quickly
.
Something isn't right.
“What aren’t you telling us?”
“The FBI has been monitoring his personal finances as well as the company’s. They discovered yesterday that he made a payment, a deposit, to a secure psychiatric clinic two days ago,” Peter growls angrily.
“What?” We all ask, confused.
“Yes. They also found a payment made into the personal investment account of some doctor.” Peter exhales audibly. “Thankfully, the fucker isn’t very good at covering his tracks.”
“It makes sense,” Kitty says, making us all turn toward her. “He has to silence Lily somehow and take control of her inheritance, and he can’t if she’s dead. But if she’s alive, locked up in some looney bin, he could get durable power of attorney. Not to mention discredit her tale of kidnapping and imprisonment.”
“Fucking bastard,” Peter grumbles to himself. “Marriage. Lily could get married.”
Kitty scoffs. “Sweetie, that’s ludicrous. This isn’t some ninety-nine-cent romance novel.”
“It’s the only logical plan.”
“You or I could just as easily get durable power of attorney before the asshole could.”
“Yes, but Mayer could be prepared for that,” Peter says, running his hands through his hair. “Marriage, he wouldn’t see coming.”
“Wait, how is marriage a plan?” Lily asks, looking at Peter like he’s gone insane. I know I have the same look on my face because this is a complete 180 from his stance on our relationship only an hour ago.
“If you married Finn, he would be your family, and Mayer and your mother would lose all control over you and your inheritance,” Peter explains.
“My mother is not involved,” Lily snaps at him, crossing her arms against her chest.
I reach out and run my hand along her back.
“We don’t know that,” Peter argues back. “I am just trying to protect you.”
“I’m an adult. They have no control over me anyways.”
“Don’t be naïve. All Mayer has to do is bribe the right judge and you’d be completely under his control,” Peter says.
I stand there speechless. My heart is pounding so loudly in my chest that I can hear it ringing in my ears. I planned on keeping Lily forever, on marrying her when she was ready. She just agreed to be mine, and I can’t help but fear this will be too much for her, that I might lose her altogether.
Lily turns and looks at me, her eyes wide and her breathing labored.
“What do say, princess?” I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her in close, and run my hands nervously along her back. “Will you marry me?”
* * *
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Excerpt from Finding Sunshine (A Pinetree Romance, #1)
~ Aaron ~
Mid February – Boston
“Next!”
The booming voice of the harried Starbucks employee shakes me out of my zombie-like stupor. My body is protesting being awake this early, but I have a shift at the animal shelter in thirty minutes. We’re beginning our six-week puppy obedience training workshop, and I oversee all of the shelter’s training programs.
All I really want to do is collapse in a warm bed with something soft and cuddly—preferably a woman and not Russell, my three-year old chocolate brown English Labrador.
God, I hate Mondays.
Sadly, the reason I’m dead on my feet has nothing to do with being up all night enjoying myself. I wasn’t exhausting myself hitting some hot piece, or getting into any other kind of trouble. I don’t even want to think about how long it’s been since I’ve gotten laid, it’s just too fucking depressing. My sex life—my social life—has been pretty pathetic lately. As in, I don’t have much of either.
I haven’t sought out any sort of relationship for nine months. Nine long months of self-imposed abstinence. I’d grown bored of meaningless relationships with woman who I only mildly tolerated. The truth is, I probably don’t deserve any woman who I would want to form a long-term and meaningful relationship with.
The real reason I’m a Walking Dead extra this morning is because I covered someone else's shift last night at The Pint, where I bartend. It has a pretty rough clientele. Pimps, drug dealers, and local bosses are all frequent patrons.
Why am I working there? I have a degree in Business Management from BC, for fuck’s sake!
In this economy, a man with a past as rough as mine can’t be too proud when looking for a job. I’m lucky enough to be able to do what I love and work with the animals at the shelter. I usually spend my mornings there, and then I bring Russell back home to our studio apartment above The Pint for his afternoon nap.
Dealing with the more rowdy, disgusting animals at the bar in the afternoon and evening seems like a fair tradeoff. Not to mention, I make pretty decent tips—mainly because the patrons know I keep my fucking trap shut. They reward me in a roundabout way for my discretion.
I was hired by Troy, the manager, under the bar’s legitimate business heading, and every two weeks, I’m given a paycheck, where I see my taxes and social security have eaten up all my hard work. I do my best to ignore the disreputable clientele, though. I keep my head down and do my job. Pouring drinks, filling bowls with pretzels, wiping down the bar, and decontaminating the johns.
Fuck, I hate my job!
Life never seems to go the way you imagine it will.
“Hi, how are you today?” asks the sweetest voice in front of me, pulling me from my depressing thoughts and waking me to my surroundings.
I’m standing in line at a small-overcrowded Starbucks with a dozen other Bostonians, waiting for my morning fix of caffeine. I usually go to the Dunkin Donuts across the street from my apartment, but this morning, for some reason, I felt like trying one of those ridiculously expensive, specially brewed coffees that my younger sister, Sarah, is always going on about.
“What’s ya’ orda’?” is the curt response from the haggard and clearly overworked employee.
“Could I please have a grande, no-whip mocha, with an extra pump of mocha? Thank you,” the voice says pleasantly, undeterred by the cashier’s borderline rudeness.
I smile. I love a woman who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to ask for it. Flighty, air-headed, and indecisive woman drive me bat-shit crazy. I may like control—mostly during sex—but it’s sexy as hell when a woman knows what she wants, and that I’m the only one that can give it to her.
Especially, when it comes in such a sweet, polite package as the woman standing in front of me seemingly is. She’s young, probably early twenties, and has a mass of light brown ringlets falling haphazardly down her back. My hand itches to reach out and touch one of her glossy curls. To see if they are as soft and springy as they look.
Quickly scanning her body from the back, I can’t make out much of her figure. Most of it is hiding underneath a long, black down jacket, and the wildly bright purple bag hanging off her shoulder. The sight of her black, slightly heeled boots peeking out from the bottom of her coat make me grin.
Sexy. Classy. Fucking hot.
The boots give her a little more height. My guess is that in bare feet, she’d come up slightly above my chin. She’d fit perfectly in my arms. I shake my head, attempting to clear my daydream.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
Here’s hoping this mystery woman has a double-bagger face, or else I’m fucked. Which would honestly make for a nice change.
“Name?”
“Nina,” answers the sweet, friendly voice.
“That’ll be three sixty-nine.”
After Nina pays, by scanning the app on her phone, she says cheerfully, “Have a great day.”
“Next!” The barista says lo
udly, ignoring her friendliness once again.
As she moves off, I step forward and go through the motions of ordering. My thoughts, however, are on the woman standing by the counter across the room, currently waiting for her drink.
What is it about her?
After spending a small fortune for a grande specially brewed Clover coffee, I make my way through the crowd toward the counter to wait for my order. I soon find myself standing next to the mystery woman, Nina.
“Good mornin’,” she says, turning and flashing me the brightest, most beautiful smile I have ever seen.
Fuck! There goes the hope of her being fugly.
It’s not that her perfectly shaped mouth turns up, showing just the right amount of teeth, or that her green eyes sparkle and crinkle warmly. It’s the fact that her whole being seems to shine, like I’m staring at the sun, and it’s momentarily stunning me. It’s like I’ve suddenly come out of some bizarre sexual hibernation. I can breathe again.
Fu-uck!
“Hello,” I answer brightly, maybe a little bit too brightly. I’ve probably come off sounding like an overeager puppy.
Midway through what I’ve been told is a nervous habit of mine, I realize I’m tucking my long hair behind my ears. I know I’m staring. Grinning like a manic, and probably frightening her, I’m looking at her like I’m suddenly—awake.
Maybe for the first time in years.
Read the rest of FINDING SUNSHINE now.
Acknowledgments
First of all, this book would not have been possible without all the love and support of my readers, friends, and family. Thank you!
I would also like to thank my two amazing beta reads, Sarah and Jasymn, and my two editors, Cassie and Angie. Their suggestions and guidance was invaluable!
Also By Rene Webb