“No,” he says, finally taking a bite of his food. “Stalking is a crime that creeps do when they’re obsessed with a woman who doesn’t want them. I just. . . kept an eye on you from afar, waiting to make my move until the right moment.”
This is all news to me. “I don’t know if that’s the scariest thing I’ve ever heard or the most romantic.”
“I’ll let you make that decision,” he says. “Not for me to say, but it is the truth you asked for.” Scary or sexy? He’s the only man who I’ve never been able to separate those two emotions. Maybe I don’t need to. “And here we are.”
“Here we are, indeed.”
We finish our food and head out. His driver takes us to the landing pad just outside of town. And thats when he does what I never expected him to do.
He drops to one knee and I freak the hell out inside.
What is he doing? Is this really happening?
“Lyric,” he begins. “I’ve known you a long time.” Oh. My. God. “And now that we’ve been out on three dates, would make me the happiest guy on the planet and finally accept my fucking offer to come work for me?”
The laughter that comes out of me is so loud I start crying. I pull him up off the ground. “Are you serious?”
“That was the deal, wasn’t it? What? You thought I was going to ask you to marry me? We’ve only been out on three dates, what kind of guy do you think I am?”
My beautiful rebel. My punk rock brawler. My everything. The one I want to tell everything to—My Preacher. That’s the guy you are.
“Yes, I’ll come work for you. A thousand times yes.”
“Good,” he says. “Now get your sweet little ass back on the helicopter. I have some plans for it when we get home.”
“Oh really?” I ask. “Like what?”
“I’m less of a talker—more of a doer. You’ll see. But first, here.”
He reaches out and hands me a piece of paper. He’s smiling, which he rarely does in a sweet way. “What’s this?”
“Open it.”
I do. And as soon as I do my heart melts. I can’t believe what I’m looking at. I can’t believe what I’m reading.
I hate writing.
I express myself better with my body than with my words, but I’ll give it a shot.
You are...the only girl here worth noticing, the only one that means anything to me. You’re the only one who gets who I am. I know we just met, but it’s how I feel. You’re the only one who matters to me.
You don’t know it yet, but one day I’ll be more than everyone you’ve ever met—more than everyone in this small, shitty little town. And when that happens, you’ll be mine forever.
“Is this what I think it is?” He nods. “You still have this?”
“Apparently I do, because you’re holding the original copy. You can’t tell? It’s still all messed up and probably smells like high school.”
He’s usually the one who makes the first move—he’s the hunter and I’m the prey—but that doesn’t mean we can’t flip the script from time to time. I grab him by the face, pull him down, and kiss him harder than I’ve ever kissed anyone.
“I am yours forever, Lucien.”
“And don’t you ever forget it.”
Epilogue—Lyric
One Year Later
I end my afternoon session with the now recovering sex addict.
Sara with no H doesn’t look anything like she did when we started.
She looks healthy. She looks happy. She looks like she’s healing.
She isn’t alone.
“It’s been six months totally clean. I really never thought I’d say those words.”
“That’s incredible,” I tell her. If it wasn’t so unprofessional I’d wrap my arms around her and give her a hug. “I knew you had it in you, you just had to do the work.”
“And find the right therapist. Really, you’ve been like my savior.”
I guess we all have saviors, don’t we? People who change our lives for the better—take us down unsuspecting roads where we may never have traveled on our own. I’m happy to be Sara’s savior. My savior is a Preacher.
“Thank you, but it’s all you. You did the work. I could have given you all the advice in the world and it wouldn’t have mattered unless you put in the time to look at yourself in the mirror and make some real changes. And I’m not supposed to say things like this, but I’m really happy that you did.”
When she smiles at me now it isn’t forced. Her face lights up and I see something that I never saw from her before—hope. She seems unburdened by the mistakes of her past, unchained to all the patterns of behavior that held her back from the person she wanted to be.
Like I said, she’s just like me.
When her session’s over, I head over to my second job. Sophie catches me on the way out.
“You off to save the children?”
I laugh. “You make it sound like I’m running one of those telethons.”
“I can totally see you doing that by the way. For only one dollar, you can get therapy for little Sally, who’s mom is neglectful at home.”
“You’re terrible, you know that?”
“For many years now, yes. But it’s part of my charm.”
“I’m nervous,” I tell her. “I always get anxiety before new events in my life.”
Sophie stands up, comes from around her desk, and does what I wanted to do with Sara—gives me a big old hug. She’s strong for such a tiny person. “Two things,” I say. “One, you give amazing hugs. And two, you’re way stronger than you look.”
“I get that a lot.”
Sophie’s just like Lucien—she’s full of surprises.
Speaking of which, I look down at my watch and see that I need to haul my butt if I’m going to make it in time. “Gotta run.”
“Good luck. You totally don’t need it.”
“Thanks.”
I get to the building in time. I should run inside, but I take a second to admire what Lucien was able to do with this place. He had to fight a war to get this done—a war no one will ever know even happened, but he did it all so kids like he was won’t have to experience what he did. And the name on the outside says it all.
The Olivia Carter Youth Center
His mom’s name. I know she’s looking down and smiling.
She would have been so proud of her boys.
Inside, Lucien’s waiting. He traded the suit for a casual look and he has a wrapped box in his hand. “I feel over dressed now.”
“Fucked up kids won’t trust me if I’m wearing a monkey suit. It screams institutional authority.”
“I see. And let’s start by not calling them fucked up. How about ‘troubled’ or ‘wayward’.”
He laughs uncharacteristically. “Did you say wayward? Lyric, I’ve read up on these kids, they’re fucked up. The good news is that’s a curable disease—in most cases anyhow. I wanted the most troubled ones I could find. But that’s okay, you’re here to unfuck them.”
“Have I ever told you that you have a very unique way of seeing the world?”
He smiles and leans into me, bending down to put his mouth next to my ear. “And have I ever told you that I love you.”
I pull back, shocked and excited. I’ve loved Lucien for as long as I’ve known what love is—even when I hated him for all that time—but we’ve never said those words to one another.
“I love you too. You have no idea how long. . .”
“Eh eh, doc. We can have our romance novel moments later. Kids are waiting. Group session. One tried to stab his teacher, so if he reaches into his pocket just yell and I’ll come hold him down until the cops come.”
And Preacher is back. My nerves are gone. I’m happy. “I’ll be on the look out for stabby kids. Thanks.”
“No problem. And here, you may need to use this to bribe them.”
He hands me the wrapped present. I never thought that what I saw in his hand might be for me—Lucien’s not the gift-gi
ving type—but I gladly take it. “What’s this?”
“We’re going to have to work on your present opening skills—they kind of suck.”
I tear open the paper, and as soon as it’s gone I can’t get the smile of my face. “You didn’t?”
He smiles. “A year late, but better late than never, right?”
It’s a giant box of Jacques Torres chocolate truffles—dark chocolate, milk chocolate, everything I could ever want in an overpriced box of candy. “This is amazing.”
“No.” he says, grabbing me by the face and kissing me right on the spot. “You are. Now go heal the youth of America.”
“No biggie, right?”
“Not at all.”
I walk down the hallway towards my new job, and for the first time since Preacher came back into my life I remember something Jess told me a long time ago. She said, “There are a lot of guys who can make you feel good, but only a precious few who can make you feel good about yourself.”
A year ago, I never thought that Preacher would be that guy—but now I know, he’s the only guy.
Epilogue—Pope
I don’t even know this girl’s name.
Why did I go back out after all that drama, meet some chick, take her back to my place and fuck her into the coma she’s currently in?
Because that’s my life. I am who I am, take it or leave it. And what’s her face next to me chose to take it—three times.
I envy her sleep. I’m still wired from everything that happened earlier. And even though I’d never say something like this to his face, I’m happy for my brother. I’m happy he found that one girl.
I’ve never met a chick I’d give up the rest for, but you never know what life has in store for you, right?
My cell phone vibrates. Who the hell is calling me this late? And from a 213 area code.
“Hello?”
I don’t expect the voice on the other line. I don’t expect this call at all.
Five minutes later it’s over, and I start packing.
I guess I’m loud because my blonde friend wakes up.
“Hey,” she says. “Guess I passed out.”
“I didn’t mean to wake you, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” she says. “What’s going on? You going somewhere?”
“Apparently I am. Gotta get my shit together quickly.”
“Where are you going?”
I smile. “You remember what LL Cool J said, don’t you? I’m going back to Cali.”
Also by Christopher Harlan
Secret Keeper: A Hero Club Novel
#1 on Goodreads Most Anticipated romances of May 2020!
A sexy, exciting, edge of your seat HEA contemporary romance with over 115 reviews, SECRET KEEPER is a standalone story inspired by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s STUCK UP SUIT, published as part of the Cocky Hero Club, a series of original works, written by various authors, inspired by Keeland and Ward's New York Times bestselling series.
Synopsis
“She was the fruit of a forbidden tree, but nothing in this world was going to stop me from tasting her.
My name is Dylan Murphy, and I work for the rich and powerful of an exclusive Manhattan building. Graham Morgan was my first boss, but soon after I was working with some of the most famous entrepreneurs, business moguls, and movie stars in the city. They trusted me because I always followed the cardinal rules:
Never betray secrets. And never, under any circumstance, get personally involved.
I’d never dreamed of violating my professional mantra. Not until she walked past me.
The look we exchanged that night set my body on fire, and I knew right then and there that no matter the consequences, she was going to be mine. But she was one of them—off limits and out of my league, but she was the kind of woman who I was willing to risk everything for.
I keep other people’s secrets for a living, but the biggest secret of all might be my own.”
Where can you keep up with my new releases, deals, discounts, and other cool news? Just make sure you click ‘follow’ on all these links below!
My Newsletter Sign up—> http://eepurl.com/cg0vav
BookBub—> https://www.bookbub.com/authors/christopher-harlan
Goodreads—> https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15894914.Christopher_Harlan
Amazon—> https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01M1KU74Y
Instagram—>www.instagram.com/authorchristopherharlan
Preacher: The East End Boys Page 26