“It’s done,” Leon murmurs. “He’s going into prison for a long, long time.”
I close my eyes and inhale the smell of fresh mountain air from his shirt, trying to scour my lungs free of the stench of John’s body odor. “You smell amazing.”
He gives a short laugh, stroking my hair. His other arm is tight around my waist. “I’m so sorry this happened,” he says. “I let you out of my sight for one minute and someone kidnaps you.”
“I’m okay, Leon.”
“I don’t care. It’s not happening again.” He rests his lips on the top of my head. “I don’t want you to leave the Ark. I want you to stay working with me, and I don’t care who knows that we’re dating.”
Joy fills me. “Really?”
“I’m not going to make the mistake of letting you go again. I love you, Nicola, and I want you by my side day and night. If that’s what you want too.”
I push back and look up at him. “It is,” I whisper. “I love you too. I don’t want to leave the Ark. I want to stay working with you.”
“Then it’s settled.” He tightens his arms around me again.
“Hey.” Hal comes over and rests a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” I turn my head to smile at him. “Thank you. How did you find me?”
“Remy saw you drive off in your car and she realized something was wrong. She tracked your phone on Find My Friends,” Albie states, appearing behind him with Remy, who’s crying.
“Thank you,” I tell her, reaching out a hand, because Leon’s not letting me go anytime soon.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she says, wiping her face.
Albie puts his arm around her, and she turns toward him, resting her forehead on his shoulder as he rubs her back. I lift my gaze to Hal, who’s watching them, and he looks at me and smiles.
“You’re going to need to go to the police station,” Leon says. “They want you to give a statement.”
“Will you come with me?”
“Try and stop me.” His voice is firm, and I know then that he spoke the truth. He wants me by his side. I don’t have to leave the Ark—I can stay in the job I love and be with my friends.
It’s been a helluva day, but it looks as if I might get my happily-ever-after in the end.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Leon
Noah opens the door and welcomes us in with a smile. “Hey, you two.”
“Hey, Noah.” Nicola goes up to him and kisses him on the cheek, and I shake his hand.
“Come in,” he says. “Mind Spike, he’s got the wind up his tail and he’s a bit over enthusiastic this morning.” Sure enough, the German Shepherd comes tearing around the corner, the edges of the wheelchair that supports his back legs bumping into the woodwork and our shins as it goes past. The dog touches noses with Wishbone, who has accompanied us to the house while my other three have an afternoon snooze, and the two of them go racing off to the garden.
“Sorry,” Noah says. “Coffee?”
“Please,” I say, and Nicola nods too. Noah goes into his kitchen and starts the machine heating up, and begins steaming the milk. “So,” he says, glancing over at Nicola. “How are you doing?”
“I’m good, thank you.” She smiles. It’s been a week since John kidnapped her. That day, we spent several hours down the police station, going over everything. I stayed by her side the whole time, and since then I’ve hardly let her out of my sight.
She’s clearly not going to reveal to Noah the fact that she’s having nightmares. She’s spent the last seven nights in my bed, and several times she’s tossed and turned, then awoken with a cry. I’ve comforted her and held her in the dark, but I know it’s going to be some time before she fully gets over the event.
“I’m glad.” Noah glances at me—he knows she’s lying because he’s emailed me to ask me how she’s doing and I haven’t held anything back, but he won’t say so in front of her.
He pours the espresso into three cups, adds the milk, and then we take our cups down into the living room that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. It’s a beautiful autumn day, and small clouds scud across the bright blue sky. The sea is choppy, and despite the sunshine, winter doesn’t feel far away.
I’m looking forward to the colder months, to snuggling up with Nicola in front of the fire with blankets and a whisky at night. Since her abduction, we’ve both craved normality, content to spend our evenings watching TV, talking, and making love. What I once saw as constricting I now see as comforting and pleasurable. I don’t ever want it to stop.
“So,” Noah says, sitting forward with his elbows on his knees as he cradles his cup, “what can I do for you?”
I glance at Nicola, and she nods. “We’ve come to officially declare our relationship,” I tell him.
Noah’s lips curve up. “I’m supposed to be surprised by the fact that the two of you are dating? Bro, I could have told you that you were in love with her two years ago.”
Nicola blushes, and I give him a wry look. “You know how I feel about relationships at work. I’m uncomfortable not practicing what I preach, but what happened last week proved to me that I don’t want Nicola to have to leave the Ark because of me. I’m confident we can be a couple without it interfering with our working relationship, but I wanted it all to be above board.”
“That’s fine,” Noah says. “I’ll make a note on my office relationships flowchart.” I give him the finger, and he laughs. “Thanks,” he says, “for being upfront. It is appreciated. But I’ve never had a problem with people getting together at work. When you’re as dedicated as most of our crew, there’s not much time for socializing. It’s always been you who’s been the wary one.”
“Nicola knows about Angela,” I tell him softly. “She understands why I’ve been cautious. But it’s not going to be an issue for us because we’re going to be together until we’re both old and gray and have no teeth.”
She chuckles, and Noah smiles.
“Did you meet Lisa at work?” Nicola asks him.
I tense a little, because Lisa’s death ten years ago hit him hard, and he rarely talks about his late wife. But he just nods and smiles. “Sort of. I was becoming well known for painting murals in the Northland, and Lisa worked at the local council. She’d been involved in the building of a new library in the bay, and decided it needed some bright murals, especially in the children’s area. She hired me, and she’d come down daily to see how I was doing. She finished working at three p.m., and she’d often stay a few hours afterward. We used to talk about everything under the sun.”
He looks away, out of the window to the sea.
Nicola glances at me, her eyes filled with sorrow and a little guilt at reminding him of the wife and baby he lost. I squeeze her hand, used to Noah’s wistfulness, and guessing it was nice for him to talk about Lisa for a change.
His gaze comes back to us, and he smiles. “So, you’re officially dating.” He raises his eyebrows at Nicola. “You sure you want to take on this grumpy, OCD, bossy maniac?”
“He is grumpy,” she agrees, “but I’m used to it. I know how to handle him.”
“I’m sitting right here,” I remind them.
They laugh. I ask Noah how the new Ark over at Hawke’s Bay is going, and we talk about that for a while as we finish our coffees, watching Wishbone, Spike, and Willow—another German Shepherd—playing on the deck.
“Well, we’d better go,” I say eventually. “I’ve a meeting with some local investors at three.”
“Typical Leon,” Noah teases, “always working.”
“Hey, someone’s gotta look after the money.”
He grins, and we rise and head over to the door. Wishbone comes bounding through to join us, and I clip on his extendable lead. I no longer let him have free run when Nicola’s around.
“Hey, we’re thinking of having a dinner party at the weekend,” Nicola says. “Just Hal, Izzy, Albie, Remy, and one or two others from the Ark. I don’t suppos
e you’d join us?”
“Thanks,” Noah says, “but it’s not my sort of thing.” He stops on the doorstep as we go out, and I turn back and meet his eyes.
“I wish you’d come,” I tell him. My throat tightens. It hurts to know he had what I have with Nicola, and he lost it in such a tragic way. I want to help him find happiness again.
But he slides his hands into the pockets of his jeans and looks at the ground.
“Thanks, Noah,” Nicola says softly. “We’ll see you soon.” She takes my hand and leads me away from the house, and Noah closes the door.
We walk in silence along the path between the fields for a while, holding hands, Wishbone trotting at my heels. She lifts our hands and kisses my fingers, and I give her a smile.
“I’m sorry,” she murmurs. “It’s tough to see him so unhappy.”
“I don’t know that he’s unhappy,” I reply. “He loves the Ark, and he’s always relatively cheerful whenever I go over there. He’s lonely, that’s all, and he’s not going to meet anyone holed up in the house.”
“Fate has a strange way of sorting things out,” she says. “You never know.”
I stop by the gate, under the shade of the oak tree, and pull her into my arms. “Careful,” she scolds, looking over her shoulder, “someone will see us.”
“Don’t give a fuck.” I cup the back of her head and lower my lips to hers as she laughs.
I give her a long, slow kiss that’s finally interrupted when Wishbone barks, and we break with a laugh.
“Jealous dog,” she says fondly, ruffling his ears.
“I’m crazy about you, Ms. Dixon,” I tell her, holding her face and brushing my thumbs across her cheeks.
“Likewise.” She smiles.
“I want to ask you something,” I say. I slide my hand into my pocket, pull out the small velvet box, take a deep breath, and drop to one knee. Wishbone sits next to me, looking at the box with interest. Nicola presses her fingers to her mouth. “Will you marry me?” I ask.
She stares at the large diamond glittering in the box. “Are you serious? We’ve only been dating for a week!”
“I’ve known you for two years. I think that’s long enough to judge whether we’re suited. I’ve nearly lost you twice now, and I don’t care what’s right or acceptable anymore. I want to share the rest of my life with you, and I’m not going to wait some arbitrary amount of time to make that clear.”
She lifts her gaze to mine. “You really mean it?”
“It’s a real ring,” I say softly.
A tear runs down her cheek, and she nods. “Yes, Leon, I’ll marry you.”
I push back up to my feet, take the ring out of the box, and slide it on her third finger. Then I take her in my arms and kiss her again.
We’re going to be married. She’s going to be my wife. I’ll put a gold band on her finger with this ring, and that’ll tell every man she meets that if they touch her, they’ll have me to answer to.
“I love you,” I say fiercely. “I don’t care who knows it—I want to tell the whole world.”
“Let’s start with everyone at the Ark,” she says, turning her hand so the diamond catches the sun, “and we’ll move on to everyone else.”
I laugh. “Fine by me.” I put my arms around her shoulders, and we walk slowly back to the buildings as Wishbone bounds through the long grass.
In the hotel garden, dogs and cats recovering from operations are soaking up the sun, while over to our left Poppy King is leading a small group of children out to feed the goats in the pen. Through the window in the veterinary center I can see Stefan wrestling with an Irish Setter who obviously doesn’t want his feet looked at, while in the garden behind the break room Hal and Izzy are snatching five minutes together, having a sneaky kiss and cuddle when they think nobody’s watching.
Winter’s on its way, but something tells me it’ll always feel like summer at the Ark.
I smile and kiss Nicola’s hair, and pull her more tightly against me as we head for the office block. I’m not going to change completely and start giving PDAs around the office every five minutes. I meant what I said to Noah—I intend to ensure my relationship with Nicola doesn’t affect the Ark.
But for once I’ll make an exception. I asked her to marry me, and she said yes, and I want everyone to know.
I think I’m the happiest man in the world.
*
The Billionaire Kings
My Roommate, the Billionaire (Book 3 – Albie and Remy) will be out in May. If you’d like to be informed when the book is available, why not join my Kiwi Birds mailing list and I’ll let you know?
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Three Wise Men
If you haven’t read them yet, maybe you’d like to catch up with Hal’s father and uncles, the Three Wise Men—Brock, Charlie, and Matt?
The Perfect Gift (Three Wise Men Book 1)
Consultant pediatrician Brock King lost his wife to cancer two years ago, and he’s convinced the love he felt for her only comes around once in a lifetime. Then, while visiting the children’s ward, he meets single mom Erin, and suddenly his future doesn’t seem so bleak. Brock offers to take Erin away for her birthday, no strings attached, to give her the perfect gift every single mom would kill for—a night in an exclusive hotel. Will she take him up on his offer, which might (if she’s very lucky) end up with hot sex with a billionaire? Or should she take the moral high ground and say no?
The Perfect Gift (Book 1)
Or buy the Three Wise Men Box Set!
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If you’ve already read the Three Wise Men…
Have you read the Bay of Islands Brides?
Bride in Trouble (Book 1)
She’s getting married in ten days, but she doesn’t remember the groom…
Phoebe Goldsmith wakes up in hospital after suffering a head injury to find that all her memories of the last eight years have vanished.
She doesn’t remember her father passing away. She doesn’t remember opening the Bay of Islands Brides shop with her mother and sisters.
And she definitely doesn’t remember Rafe Masters, the gorgeous firefighter who tells her that they’re due to be married on Valentine’s Day in ten days’ time.
Rafe insists they’re madly in love, but the thought of saying ‘I do’ to a complete stranger makes Phoebe want to run for the hills. Her family suggests she postpone the wedding until her memory returns. But Rafe’s determined not to give up on their marriage before it’s even started. He has ten days to convince Phoebe that he’s still her Mr. Right, and he’s determined to win her all over again, no matter what it takes.
*
Join the Kiwi Birds!
Join my Kiwi Birds community and you’ll be able to download my free starter library!
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Other Series by Serenity Woods
For an up-to-date list of available books, please visit the Books page on my website.
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Bay of Islands Brides
Between the Sheets
Blue Penguin Bay
Christmas Wishes
Dartmoor Big Cat Brides
Heartfelt
Like a Boss
Love Comes Later
Sensual Healing
Serenity’s Standalones
The Billionaire Kings
The Four Seasons
Three Wise Men
Treats to Tempt You
Collections
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About the Author
Serenity Woods lives in the sub-tropical Northland of New Zealand with her wonderful husband and gorgeous teenage son. She writes hot and sultry contemporary romances with a happy ever after, and would much rather immerse herself in reading or writing romance than do the dusting and ironing, which is why it’s not a great idea to pop round if you have any allergies.
Website: http://www.serenitywoodsromance.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/serenitywoodsromance
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sere
nity_Woods
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
My Boss, the Billionaire (The Billionaire Kings Book 2) Page 20