True North (North Brothers Book 1)

by Amy Knupp

  “None of that matters to me, Cole,” she said, running her finger along his jawline. “I love every part of you.” She eased him closer with her hand and kissed him, slowly, thoroughly, with every drop of love running through her veins for this man.

  As the kiss heated up, she trailed her hands down to his waist, needing to feel his flesh under her fingers. She had to untuck his shirt from his pants, and that reminded her… “You never said why you’re dressed more like Gabe than you.”

  He let out a lazy growl, as if he’d rather kiss than talk now. “It seemed appropriate for my visit to Nancy Callahan, one of the company lawyers and a family friend. We discussed setting up a baseball scholarship program in memory of my dad. It’ll go toward things like private baseball coaching for kids who can’t afford it, all ages, all skill levels. Because that’s what my dad loved and what he was good at. He loved the sport, loved teaching us boys the fundamentals, loved going to our games. Baseball is the reason he opened the business in the first place. There’s a lot of kids out there who might want to play baseball but don’t have a dad like that, maybe don’t have a dad at all.”

  “This was your idea?” she asked, impressed, excited for Cole, and even more in love with him than she’d been five minutes ago.

  “About six a.m.,” he said, “after a night on the ball diamond where he taught me to pitch.”

  “And you’re planning to fund it?”

  “With a part of my share from the company,” Cole said.

  “You accepted it from your brothers? Signed the papers?”

  “Right before my appointment with Nancy.”

  She pulled him in for a tight hug. “That’s wonderful, Cole. I’m so happy for you. Not because you’re now loaded enough to buy the Eldridge Mansion if you wanted to—”

  “I don’t, unless you really wanted to work on that specific building that badly…”

  Smiling, she shook her head. “You deserve what your dad intended for you to have. It’s part of the North legacy he left for your family, which you’re just as much a part of as any of your brothers.” His acceptance said a lot about how far Cole had come, mentally, emotionally, toward making peace with himself, accepting himself.

  Cole nodded. “You know what? This isn’t supposed to be about my dad or money or my family. It’s about me and you and how I’m going to be the kind of guy you deserve. You make me want to be a better person. You make me believe I can be.”

  “You’re just right exactly as you are.” She pulled him in for another kiss, taking care to show him how just right he was.

  Cole lifted her up by her thighs and pulled her onto him in a straddle, his long legs stretched out from the table, her legs curling around him, feet crossing behind his back. The friction between their lower bodies was like a switch, turning on a physical ache deep in her abdomen and between her legs. He stood, forcing her to cling to him harder.

  Laughing, she said, “What are you doing?”

  With her wrapped around him, he walked around the desk she rarely used and set her butt down on the edge of it. “I’m going to do something I’ve dreamed about doing for years, right here on this desk.” With all of his attention homed in on her and his erection pressing into her, he left no question about what that consisted of.

  “Years?” she asked as he kissed a spot beneath her ear, sending shivers of pleasure through her.

  He paused what he was doing and met her gaze. “Since the first day I worked for you,” he confessed.

  “Time for that dream to come true then,” she whispered, peering into brown eyes that were so full of love it took her breath away.

  “That and so many more.” He sealed his lips to hers in a promise.

  Epilogue

  Four months later

  Cole leaned against the newly painted living room wall of the Eldridge mansion, watching his girl shine on camera, doing what she was born to do.

  The Eldridge project—and the TV show—were hers now, as they should’ve been all along. A couple of weeks after the “winner” was originally announced, it was discovered that the guy had a previous business relationship with the producer of the show, or more accurately, the former producer, Robert Crum. Neither had disclosed the relationship, and since that went against the rules, Eldridge had gotten rid of both of them and awarded Dunn & Lowell the opportunity. Sierra was embracing the hell out of it, showing Eldridge and the world that she should’ve been first choice anyway.

  They were filming a segment on the fireplace in the living room, and Cole was there with his family—his mom, Drake, Gabe, and Mason—to watch the filming process…or so Sierra thought. Andy, Sierra’s new foreman, who was thankfully too old and too ugly for Cole to be jealous of, was assisting as she measured and installed the supports for the mantel—a thick, heavy slab of oak whose beauty came from the wood itself instead of any carving or decoration. The piece was at the center of Cole’s plan.

  “How much longer do you think?” Drake said in a low voice to him at a moment when the cameras weren’t on.

  Cole looked at his Timex and realized they’d been there for over an hour already. He’d gotten so wrapped up in watching Sierra that time had flown by. “Why? You got a date or something?” It was a Wednesday, and filming was supposed to go till six, but it was after that now. It didn’t matter the time or day though. Drake usually had a date, and it was usually with a different woman each time.

  “Not tonight,” Drake said. “I have to pick up Ezra’s little sister, Mackenzie, at the airport. She’s moving back to town.”

  Ezra was Drake’s best friend, had been for years, though the guy had some kind of jet-setting career now where he was usually doing business somewhere in the world besides the States.

  “Knowing you, you’ll turn it into a date before the night’s over,” Cole said, smacking his brother on the back.

  “Nope. No chance. Ezra would bust my balls if I so much as looked at his sister. I’m just hoping I can recognize her. I haven’t seen her since she was fifteen and a pain in the ass.”

  The camera guys signaled they were ready to roll again, shutting Cole and his brother up. As Sierra rechecked that the supports were level one last time, Cole’s heart sped up and his hands started sweating as he stuck them in his front pockets. He watched Andy, who stood off to the side now, for a nod. Seconds later, he got it, and Cole hurried out of the room to the hallway through one of the two arched doorways, and Andy met him outside of the other.

  “You ready for this?” the foreman asked quietly.

  “So damn ready,” Cole said with a smile, hoping his nerves didn’t show.

  Together the two men lifted the mantel, Andy closest to the living room, just feet away from Sierra, who was talking away to the camera, explaining every bit of what she was doing. They slid the long chunk of wood onto Cole’s shoulder just as Sierra said they were ready for it.

  Cole swallowed down his fear of being on camera, focusing only on the woman he loved as he entered the living room, slab on his shoulder, and waited for Sierra to notice him.

  “So we’ve already stained the mantel and done everything that needs to be done to it,” she said, facing the camera, “and now we’re just going to— Oh.” Her eyes went big as she realized Cole was the one standing there. “Camera’s rolling,” she said to him in a whisper.

  Cole nodded, his heart racing, only distantly aware of anything but her and the heavy-ass piece of wood. “I know. Andy asked me to step in. Let’s set this down.” He lowered the wood to the floor, set it on end, resting it against the bricks as Sierra ad-libbed to the cameras.

  “A surprise,” she said. “This is Cole, my former foreman, and he’s—”

  To save her from having to sputter too much other nonsense, Cole got straight to business, reaching into his right front pocket as he went down to one knee.

  Sierra sucked in her breath and her hands flew to her face as she gazed down at him. “Oh, my god,” she said from behind her hands. “Cole, wh
at are you doing?”

  His goddamn hands were shaking, and he hoped that didn’t show on camera, but what the hell. He sucked in a breath and took one of her hands in his, the ring in his other one. “I once told you I would support you in this project in any way possible, as long as I didn’t have to be on camera. Do you remember that?”

  She nodded, and he could see tears forming in her eyes, which made his emotions clutch up even tighter in his throat. He fought through them, though, because he’d never wanted anything as much as he wanted her.

  “And here I am,” he said with a shaky laugh. “I’ll do just about anything in the world for you, because I love you more than I ever knew was possible.” He swallowed again and held up the ring, looked into her gorgeous brown eyes, and asked, “Will you marry me, Sierra?”

  With his words, her tears overflowed and streamed down her face, and it felt like eternity ticked by before she nodded silently as she tugged at his arm to pull him up off the floor. He stood, staring into her eyes, which peered back up at him with so much love that he could barely believe his luck.

  “Yes,” she said on a gusty exhale. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Cole.”

  Grinning like an idiot, he slid the ring onto her finger, his hand still shaking like crazy. He pulled her into his arms and spun her around as everyone in the room—his family, the production crew, even Eldridge himself, all of whom were in on his scheme—cheered and clapped.

  He had no idea whether the cameras were still rolling and didn’t really care. Before he knew it, his family was surrounding them, congratulating them, hugging them, laughing and celebrating with them. When everyone had hugged everyone else, and his mother had held on an extra-long time to Sierra, whispering things into her ear, Cole pulled Sierra back into his side and faced everyone.

  “The segment might not be over,” he said. “Mr. Eldridge said you’ll be starting tomorrow where you left off, but for me, that’s a wrap. The wrap of a lifetime.”

  Thanks for reading True North! I hope you loved Cole and Sierra.

  You can order Drake and Mackenzie’s book now! See how eternal bachelor Drake handles it when his best friend’s little sister moves back to Nashville, grown up, independent, and irresistible. (To read chapter one of True Colors, keep scrolling/flipping.)

  Order True Colors

  You can read Kennedy and Hunter’s story right now! Find out what happens when bartender Kennedy’s new boss, Hunter, has her shaken and stirred.

  “I loved this story—from beginning to end, it had me!” —Reader review

  One click Sweet Spot now!

  You might also enjoy the first book in my Island Fire series, which is currently available as a free download. Find out whether Macey’s longtime secret love for Derek, her childhood friend, can help him heal from a personal tragedy.

  “Seldom do I start a new series with an author I haven’t read before and get blown away. That’s what happened when I read Playing with Fire. I couldn’t put it down!” —Reader review

  Download Playing with Fire now!

  If you liked True North, I hope you’ll consider leaving a review for it. Reviews help other readers find books and can be as short (or long) as you feel comfortable with. Just a couple sentences is all it takes. I appreciate all honest reviews.

  Review True North

  True North is part of the North Brothers series, which includes these stand-alone stories:

  True North

  True Colors (March 2020)

  True Blue (late 2020)

  North Brothers is a spin-off of the Hale Street series, which includes these stand-alone stories by me:

  Sweet Spot

  Sweet Dreams

  Soft Spot

  One and Only

  Last First Kiss

  Heartstrings

  You might also enjoy my Island Fire series, which includes these books (all stand-alone as well):

  Playing with Fire

  Heat of the Night

  Fully Involved

  Firestorm

  Afterburn

  Up in Flames

  Flash Point

  Fire Within

  Impulse

  Slow Burn

  True Colors—Excerpt

  You better not be late picking up my sister.

  Drake North grinned at the hint of a threat in the text message from his best friend as he walked—okay, damn near jogged—out of the short-term lot toward the Nashville airport terminal. Late, of course.

  Got it under control, he typed as he entered the building.

  The plane landed three minutes ago, Ezra texted.

  Drake was fully aware of the time. He might have a rep for being fashionably late to everything—maybe a well-deserved rep—but he wasn’t going to let Ezra down.

  Yep, Drake replied. You can quit stalking the airline app now. It doesn’t really ease your guilty conscience anyway, does it? He couldn’t resist the jab, even though he fully understood the loyalty and love between Ezra and his little sister, Mackenzie.

  As Drake made his way toward the security cutoff, keeping an eye on the scattering of arriving passengers who passed him, his phone vibrated with a phone call. He laughed when he saw it was Ez.

  “Kinda busy here,” Drake answered facetiously.

  “Are you even to the airport yet?” his friend demanded from the other side of the globe.

  “Relax. I’m in the terminal, watching for her. Her plane hasn’t unloaded yet.” This part of the airport was relatively calm at the moment, probably because it was nearing ten p.m. on a Wednesday.

  Ez released a breath over the line, as if finally relaxing. “Thanks for doing this. I’m sorry to drag you away from whatever you had going on. I’m sure there was a woman involved somehow.”

  “There was,” Drake said, “but not the way you think. Here’s a question for you. Who’s the North brother least likely to get hitched?”

  “You,” Ez said without hesitation, and Drake grinned because that was tough to argue with.

  “Besides me. Try Cole. He proposed tonight. Popped the question on camera while Sierra was recording an episode of the remodeling show. The whole family was there watching. We went to celebrate afterward. I had to show my face for that.”

  “I guess you did.” Ezra’s surprise was evident. “Damn. One of the eternal-bachelor North brothers goes down.”

  “He’s happy. Like I’ve never seen him. Cole and happy are two words you don’t often hear in the same sentence. Anyway, I dragged myself away just for you.”

  “For Mackenzie,” Ez corrected.

  “You do know she’s a grown woman who’s been on her own in LA for years?” Drake asked. He did the math in his head to figure she must be twenty-five now, four years younger than the two of them.

  “She could handle it on her own, no question, but it’d be nice if she didn’t have to. And moving sucks no matter how old you are.”

  “That it does, but tonight’ll be easy. It hardly counts as moving.”

  From what Drake understood, Mackenzie’s move back to Nashville, where she’d grown up, was because of her job. She’d apparently sold her car, packed her bags, and had already signed a lease on an apartment here in town.

  “Still, I appreciate it,” Ezra said, his tone going serious. “Big-brother fail on my part. And not the first one.”

  Not surprising considering Ezra’s demanding career. As a consultant in technology, he often had to put the job first, drop everything, and jet-set to some other part of the world with little or no notice. Ezra was still beating himself up because he’d promised Mackenzie he’d be here to help her settle in and then his schedule had changed unavoidably, taking him from Europe to Australia instead of back to the States.

  “I’ve got you covered, bro. I’ll get her to her apartment, make sure it looks okay, see that she has what she needs until her stuff shows up. I’ll take care of her for you. You go back to doing your technology-whisperer thing.”

  It really was no big d
eal, just a couple of hours of Drake’s time, and he’d do anything for his best friend. Ez had helped him through some of the toughest times of his life.

  “Gotta go,” Drake said as passengers started appearing from the direction of Mackenzie’s gate. “They’re deplaning. I assume I’ll recognize her.”

  “I emailed you a photo from the last time I visited her,” Ez said.

  “I must’ve missed it.”

  “Check your email. Dinner’s on me next time I’m in town.”

  “Get your ass here soon. It’s been a while.”

  They said goodbye as Drake scanned the people exiting the secured part of the airport. Not seeing her, he went to his inbox and scanned the senders until he found Ezra’s name. He opened it to see Ezra and Mackenzie in a selfie on the beach. As he zoomed in on her face, it struck him as it hadn’t before that she was all grown up. She looked happy and confident and attractive. As a kid, she’d always had indistinctive medium-brown hair, but there were some reddish highlights now. Her brown eyes sparkled with an indescribable something, and he could see how a guy could be drawn in by them.

  Confident he could recognize her, he shoved his phone into his pocket and skimmed his gaze over the cluster of people who approached. Then he spotted a head of tousled hair about the right color a few steps behind the pack, pointed downward so he couldn’t see the face. As they got closer, the group in front of her dispersed, allowing him to see that, yes, this was Mackenzie. He was fairly sure of it even with her head down, focused on stuffing something in an oversized bag as she rolled a carry-on behind her, and then her step stuttered as the bag rolled into her ankle, and that sealed it. Mackenzie had always been the clumsiest human he knew.

  Drake stepped closer, waiting impatiently for her to look up and notice him. She was tall—she’d always been tall, maybe five seven or eight and skinny—but the womanly curves on her were new to him. She wore jeans, a simple V-neck T-shirt, and a light-blue-and-white-plaid flannel shirt tied around her waist that highlighted the dip inward from feminine hips. On her feet were flat-soled sandals with copper beadwork that showed off a toe ring and wine-colored toenails. With her face still pointed down, his gaze was drawn to her collarbone, partially revealed by the wide vee of her shirt, and something about it got his attention as a man instead of as her brother’s friend.