by Joss Wood
She was married. Alex looked down at the band of diamonds Dan had put on her ring finger earlier, a companion piece to her sapphire-and-diamond engagement ring, and took a moment to count her many blessings. Her partnership with Mike was smooth sailing, and while commuting was a pain, so far it was working. She was living in Dan’s house and they were deciding how to completely renovate Rose’s old house together. In Rose she found both a mentor, a friend and an ally. And in getting to know Sarah’s oldest friend, she felt like she had a piece of her grandmother back.
Best of all, she woke up with Dan and fell asleep with him, secure that her heart was safe in his hands.
“Have I told you how stunning you look?”
Alex turned at her husband’s voice and smiled. He didn’t look too shabby himself, looking almost as hot in a tuxedo as he did in worn jeans and a T-shirt. But Daniel naked? Couldn’t get sexier...
Daniel approached her, held the back of her head and tipped her chin up to brush her lips. “We haven’t had a moment to ourselves since we walked into that church.”
Their friends and family—including Daniel’s father, his wife and his three half sisters and their spouses and many children—all wanted some time with the new bridal couple. While Alex appreciated their well wishes, her cheeks were sore from smiling, her feet ached and she just wanted to step into Daniel’s arms for a cuddle.
“You doing okay?” Daniel asked, placing his hand on her round stomach.
“A little tired.” Alex looped one arm around his neck and rested her cheek on his chest. “I’m so thrilled that we are going back to Galloway Cove for our honeymoon, Dan. I just want you and the sun and the sea.”
“I just want you. Naked,” Daniel muttered. He gathered her to him and she felt his erection against her stomach, and felt his hand cupping her butt.
“I missed you last night,” Alex told him before pushing up onto her toes and placing her lips against his. Daniel immediately responded, his tongue sliding into her mouth and sending heat to her core.
Alex, as she always did, melted and wondered if anyone would notice if they sneaked away.
“My beautiful, sexy wife. How I love—”
The door behind them banged open and Daniel cursed at the interruption. Stifling her groan, she turned to see Rachel in the hallway, Matt Galloway a step behind her. Still leaning against Daniel, she lifted her hand at her matron of honor.
Rachel rubbed her arm. “Are you okay, Alex? You’re looking a bit flushed.”
That was because her husband still had his hand on her butt.
“Just taking a breather,” Alex told her, turning to look at Matt. “I was just telling Dan that I’m so excited to be going back to Galloway Cove for our honeymoon.”
Matt nodded. “I was surprised when Dan asked me. I thought that since you were basically kidnapped and tossed off the plane onto my island, it wouldn’t be your first choice for a honeymoon.”
Alex shook her head. “No, I loved it!” She loved making love to Daniel at the waterfall and by the pool and on the bench, in the outdoor shower...
Rachel lifted her eyebrows at her, Alex lifted hers back and they both burst out laughing. Yep, she was pretty sure that Rachel liked the island, too. And not only because it was a place of immense natural beauty.
The door opened again, and Tessa glided through, followed by Ryan. “Alex and Rachel, there you are! I’ve been looking for both of you.”
Alex put her back to Daniel’s chest, linking her hand with the one that now rested on her stomach. Her bridesmaid looked radiant and about to burst with news. Alex held up her hand as Caleb and Shelby joined their party, followed by James and Lydia. They were just missing Brooke and Austin, but Alex had barely finished that thought when they walked into the hallway from the main entrance, Austin carrying a frame covered in brown paper.
“The gang’s all here,” Ryan commented.
“Alex, I want to run something by you—” James started to speak, only to be interrupted by Tessa.
“Wait, hold on, I need to—”
“Austin, honey, we need Rose and Gus,” Brooke said a second later.
Alex laughed and tipped her head up to look at Daniel. He grinned down at her before lifting his fingers to his mouth to let out a shrill whistle. Their friends immediately quieted down. “We need to get back to our guests, so make it snappy.” Daniel pointed to Tessa. “Tess, you’re up.”
“Alex, would you and Rachel both be my matrons of honor?”
Alex jumped up and down and Rachel squealed with excitement. Alex wanted to hug Tessa but Daniel held her tight. “Fantastic,” he said. “Not meaning to be rude, but we need to hurry this along. I want to cut the cake, have a first dance with my bride and get to the fun part of the night.”
Daniel pointed his finger at Caleb. “Go.”
Shelby rested her temple on Caleb’s arm. “We’re having twins.”
Alex let out a whoop, tore away from Daniel’s hold to hug Shelby. As everyone else congratulated the happy pair, Alex took the chance to hug Tessa and then, because she was overflowing with happiness, to hug Rachel, as well.
Daniel gently hooked his finger into the back of her dress and tugged her back into her previous position. “We really do need to get back inside.”
Alex nodded. “I know. Rose is going to have a fit if she finds us hanging out in the hallway with our friends.”
Daniel grinned and jerked his head at James. “What’s up?”
“Nothing that can’t wait. I was just thinking that maybe Alex could do another fund-raising function next year.”
Alex nodded enthusiastically, her mischievous side surfacing. “Absolutely. I was thinking about a skin calendar, tentatively called ‘The Rogues of Royal.’ I’d need you all to model. I hope you are comfortable stripping down in front of a camera.”
The five male faces in front of her paled in unison. Alex looked up at her husband, who was laughing. “You know that I have no problem stripping down,” he murmured before looking back at the group. “To be discussed later. Much, much later. Brooke, what have you got there, honey?”
Yet again the door opened, and Alex winced when she saw Rose’s unamused face. “Ladies and gentlemen, the party is inside, not out here.” This time, twelve grown men and women shuffled their feet at the displeasure in Regal Rose’s voice.
Alex opened her mouth to apologize, but then her grandfather slipped past Rose, his eyes on the package in Brooke’s hand. “Rosie! It’s here!”
Rose clasped her hands in delight and joined Gus at Brooke’s side. Alex stepped away from Daniel and wondered what was going on. “What is it?” she asked.
Rose beckoned her to come closer. The group made a circle behind them and Daniel dropped to his haunches, his hand on the frame. Alex heard movement behind Ryan and glanced over to see Hector joining the group, his eyes not moving from Daniel’s face.
Gus nodded, and Daniel ripped the paper away. Alex took a moment to absorb the significance of Brooke’s painting. A wolf rested in the first of three circles—one each for her, Daniel and Jason—and beneath it, Brooke had carefully painted the words The Silver Wolf Ranch.
Daniel turned to look at her and she saw love and adoration in his eyes. He stood up and took her hand and raised her knuckles to his lips. “Equal partners, Slade?”
“Equal partners, Clayton,” she murmured.
Daniel kept her hand in his as he led her back to their wedding reception and their guests. “One dance, the cake cutting and then I’m hauling you out of here, Lex.”
Alex grinned at him. “As you already know, I’m always up for a good kidnapping, my darling.”
* * *
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Seduction on His Terms
by Sarah M. Anderson
One
“Good evening, Dr. Wyatt,” Jeannie Kaufman said as the man slid into his usual seat at the end of the bar. It was a busy Friday night, and he sat as far away as he could get from the other patrons at Trenton’s.
“Jeannie,” he said in his usual brusque tone.
But this time she heard something tight in his voice.
Dr. Robert Wyatt was an unusual man, to say the least. His family owned Wyatt Medical Industries, and Dr. Wyatt had been named to the “Top Five Chicago Billionaire Bachelors” list last year, which probably had just as much to do with his family fortune as it did with the fact that he was a solid six feet tall, broad chested and sporting a luxurious mane of inky black hair that made the ice-cold blue of his eyes more striking.
And as if being richer than sin and even better looking wasn’t tempting enough, the man had to be a pediatric surgeon, as well. He performed delicate heart surgeries on babies and kids. He single-handedly saved lives—and she’d read that for some families who couldn’t afford the astronomical costs, he’d quietly covered their bills.
Really, the man was too good to be true.
She kept waiting for a sign that, underneath all that perfection, he was a villain. She’d had plenty of rich, handsome and talented customers who were complete assholes.
Dr. Wyatt...wasn’t.
Yes, he was distant, precise and, as far as she could tell, completely fearless. All qualities that made him a great surgeon. But if he had an ego, she’d never seen it. He came into the bar five nights a week at precisely eight, sat in the same spot, ordered the same drink and left her the same tip—a hundred dollars on a twenty-dollar tab. In cash. He never made a pass at anyone, staff or guest, and bluntly rebuffed any flirtation from women or men.
He was her favorite customer.
Before he’d had the chance to straighten his cuffs—something he did almost obsessively—Jeannie set his Manhattan down in front of him.
She’d been making his drink for almost three years now. His Manhattan contained the second-most expensive rye bourbon on the market, because Dr. Wyatt preferred the taste over the most expensive one; a vermouth that she ordered from Italy exclusively for him; and bitters that cost over a hundred bucks a bottle. It was all precisely blended and aged in an American white oak cask for sixty days and served in a chilled martini glass with a lemon twist. It’d taken almost eight months of experimenting with brands and blends and aging to get the drink right.
But it’d been worth it.
Every time he lifted the glass to his lips, like he was doing now, Jeannie held her breath. Watching this man drink was practically an orgasmic experience. As he swallowed, she watched in fascination as the muscles in his throat moved. He didn’t show emotion, didn’t pretend to be nice. But when he lowered the glass back to the bar?
He smiled.
It barely qualified as one, and a casual observer would’ve missed it entirely. His mouth hardly even moved. But she knew him well enough to know that the slight curve of his lips and the warming of his icy gaze was the same as anyone else shouting for joy.
He held her gaze and murmured, “Perfect.”
It was the only compliment she’d ever heard him give.
Her body tightened as desire licked down her back and spread throughout her midsection. As a rule, Jeannie did not serve up sex along with drinks. But if she were ever going to break that rule, it’d be for him.
Sadly, he was only here for the drink.
Jeannie loved a good romance novel and for three years, she’d imagined Robert as some duke thrust into the role that didn’t fit him, nobility that hated the crush of ballrooms and cut directs and doing the pretty around the ton and all those dukely things when all he really wanted to do was practice medicine and tend to his estates and generally be left alone. In those stories, there was always a housekeeper or pickpocket or even a tavern wench who thawed his heart and taught him to love.
Jeannie shook off her fantasies. She topped off the scotch for the salesman at the other end of the bar and poured the wine for table eleven, but her attention was focused on Wyatt. She had to break the bad news to him—she’d be gone next week to help her sister, Nicole, with the baby girl that was due any minute.
This baby was the key to Jeannie and her sister being a family again. Any family Jeannie had ever had, she’d lost. She’d never met her father—he’d left before she’d been born. Mom had died when Jeannie had been ten and Nicole...
It didn’t matter what had gone wrong between the sisters in the past. What mattered was that they were going to grab this chance to be a family again now. Melissa—that was what they were going to call the baby—would be the tie that bound them together. Jeannie would do her part by being there for her sister, just like Nicole had been there for Jeannie when Mom had died and left the sisters all alone in the world.
In an attempt to demonstrate her commitment, Jeannie had even offered to move back into their childhood home with Nicole. It would’ve been a disaster but Jeannie had still offered because that was what family did—they made sacrifices and stuck together through the rough times. Only now that she was twenty-six was Jeannie aware how much Nicole had sacrificed for her. The least Jeannie could do was return the favor.
Nicole had told Jeannie that, while a thoughtful offer, it was absolutely not necessary for them to share a house again. Thank God, because living together probably would’ve destroyed their still-fragile peace. Instead, Jeannie would keep working nights at Trenton’s—and taking care of Dr. Wyatt—and then she’d get to the house around ten every morning to help Nicole with the cooking or cleaning or playing with the baby.
Jeannie might not be the best sister in the world but by God, she was going to be the best aunt.
That was the plan, anyway.
The only hiccup was sitting in front of her.
Wyatt didn’t do well with change, as she’d learned maybe six months into their partnership, as Jeannie thought of it. She’d gotten a cold and stayed home. He’d been more than a little upset that someone else had made him a subpar Manhattan that night. Julian, the owner of Trenton’s, said Tony, the bartender who’d subbed for her that night, had gotten a
job elsewhere right after that. Jeannie knew that wasn’t a coincidence.
Maybe half the time Dr. Wyatt sat at her bar, he didn’t say anything. Which was fine. But when he did talk? It wasn’t inane chitchat or stale pickup lines. When he spoke, every single word either made her fall further in love with him or broke her heart.
“So,” he started and Jeannie knew he was about to break her heart again.
She waited patiently, rearranging the stemware that hung below the bar in front of him. He’d talk when he wanted and not a moment before.
Had he lost a patient? That she knew of, he’d only had two or three kids die and those times had been...awful. All he’d ever said was that he’d failed. That was it. But the way he’d sipped his drink...
The last time it’d happened, she’d sobbed in the ladies’ room after he’d left. Below his icy surface, a sea of emotion churned. And when he lost a patient, that sea raged.
After three years of listening to Dr. Wyatt pour out his heart in cold, clipped tones, Jeannie knew all too well how things could go wrong with babies. That was what made Jeannie nervous about Nicole and Melissa.
“I heard something today,” he went on after long moments that had her on pins and needles.
She studied him as she finished the lemons and moved on to the limes. He straightened his cuffs and then took a drink.
She fought the urge to check her phone again. Nicole would text if anything happened and there’d been no buzzing at her hip. But tonight was the night. Jeannie could feel it.
Wyatt cleared his throat. “I was informed that my father is considering a run for governor.”
Jeannie froze, the knife buried inside a lime. Had she ever heard Dr. Wyatt talk about his parents? She might’ve assumed that they’d died and left the bulk of the Wyatt Medical fortune to their son.
And who the heck had informed him of this? What an odd way to phrase it. “Is that so?”