Caught Up In Raine

by L. G. O'Connor

  I want to be a father, and have a family. I want to have everything that was only an illusion for me growing up. I don’t care that I’m young. In my bones I feel ancient.

  I roll off my bed and walk to the closet. I shove aside all the crap and take out my duffel. I root through all my precious items until I find what I’m looking for—a small, black velvet bag.

  Taking a deep breath, I bury my fingers inside and hook my pinky through the shank. I pull out the five-carat diamond and lay it in my palm. My mother’s engagement ring. The ring she gave me on her deathbed. Staring at it, I remember . . .

  She pulls the ring from her finger. Her weak hands crush it into my palm and close my fingers around it. “Take this, Raine. Hide it. Keep it safe. Don’t tell anyone you have it. When you find the woman you cannot live without for fear that your heart will cease, put it on her finger. Tell her how much you love her and spend every day of your life showing her how much. Do you understand?”

  Tears stream down my cheeks as I nod and answer her in Swedish. “Yes, I promise that I will.”

  She closes her eyes and winces in pain as her face grows paler. “Love is everything. Find it for yourself and treasure it always. You are my heart.” Her cool, dry hand brushes my cheek. “I love you. Be strong, and take care of yourself, since I cannot.”

  I draw her into my arms and rock her.

  “Mamma,” I say in Swedish, “I love you.”

  . . . And her last breath leaves her body.

  I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand, stare at the brilliant blue diamond, and think about the one point two million dollars stored in its value. Dad had serious wealth back then.

  It could have changed my life long ago and put me back on the path I originally intended to take. But that would have meant breaking my promise to my mother. I’d rather live an impoverished existence than one that’s morally corrupt like my father’s was.

  I drop the ring back into its pouch for safekeeping.

  Chapter 47

  Jillian

  “WHAT’S YOUR NAME?” I smile as I look up at the chubby young woman. I’m surprised at the incredible turnout so far on the book tour, and we haven’t even made it out of Manhattan yet. The bookstore is filled to capacity. Brigitte insisted we stay at a hotel the next two nights, since I have five book events across the city over the next three days. “Our last girls’ hoorah,” she’d said. She’s probably right. At almost seven months pregnant, I feel like a freaking elephant. Luckily, I don’t look as big as I feel, but still, I’m planning on sitting around with my feet up after this leg of the tour ends in two weeks.

  “Adrienne,” she says and giggles.

  To Adrienne,

  Good luck in life and love. May you get caught up in someone, and never look back.

  Best,

  Jillian Grant

  I hand her back the signed book, and she moves aside to let the next customer in the line move up. The place is packed. I have a feeling I may be here well beyond the store closing if they allow people to stay.

  Rachel kicks me in the abdomen, and I flinch. I’m wearing a floor-length, cranberry velvet maternity dress that Brigitte gave me yesterday as a gift. I rub my belly over the soft fabric to calm Rachel. It feels like she’s hosting a rugby tournament inside me tonight.

  “Keep it down in there, sweetheart,” I mumble, loving her so much already. Like her father, she’s impossible not to love.

  Brigitte comes over for the tenth time tonight, looking as nervous as a cat in a hen house. “B, what the heck is the matter with you tonight?” I whisper. “You’re making me crazy.”

  “Nothing,” she says, and looks at her cell phone. “How are you feeling? Do you need anything?”

  I glance at the water bottle on the table in front of me. “Nope, I’m fine.” Then I look at the crowd in front of me and sigh. “Who’s next?”

  I sign the next book for a young African American woman named Nia, and when I look up, the air rushes from my lungs. My mouth opens and then shuts without a word as I stare.

  He looks different: his tawny hair is short and spiky, and he’s wearing a suit. His blue eyes connect with mine as he clutches the book to his chest. Still gorgeous as ever, he looks different, older.

  My hands grasp the edge of the table, and my heart lurches a moment before Rachel kicks me again.

  “Raine?” I whisper. I think I say his name aloud, but I can’t be sure. I can’t even be sure that if I reach out to touch him he won’t just disappear. Melt away back into my dreams. “Is it really you?” I ask, and fight back my welling tears.

  His blond brows knit together with the same look of concentration he wore when I first opened my front door and found him on my doorstep the day of the photo shoot.

  He presses his lips together to stop them from quivering, and nods.

  The heavy mantle of anguish I’ve carried for months over whether I’d ever see him again falls away. I’ve ached for him, body and soul. After the book was published, I made a promise to myself that I’d find him after the baby was born . . . and I’d do what I couldn’t do the night we parted—I’d give him a choice.

  I rise to my feet, and my belly clears the table.

  Taking a step back, his eyes widen and focus on my abdomen. I step around the table and reach for his hand. A rush of electricity travels through me on contact, and I feel like I’ve found the other part of me that I’ve been missing.

  I place his hand on my belly. “Meet your daughter,” I say as my eyes overflow until I can no longer see him clearly.

  He pulls me into him, but my belly prevents me from getting as close as I used to. “God, I’ve missed you,” he says, and crushes me to his chest. “I’m sorry for what I said.”

  My heart leaps. “Come home, Raine,” I say, unable to hold back. My fingers dig into his back, and I release my well of love and pain. “I’m sorry, too . . . I love you. Please come home.”

  He squeezes me tighter, and his shoulders shake next to me as the crowd looks on. One person claps, and then another, until the bookstore erupts with thunderous applause and whistles.

  He tips my chin up with his finger, and our wet eyes connect. “I love you, Jillian. Marry me?” His gaze holds mine.

  “Yes,” I whisper, and our lips touch and remain there until the world recedes around us, and once again, I’m caught up in Raine.

  Epilogue

  Two years later . . .

  Jillian

  I SQUINT IN THE SUNLIGHT at Raine and Rachel playing at the water’s edge from where I sit on my beach chair under an umbrella. I clutch the first pages of my next book in my hands. Rather than bring my laptop, I printed a copy since it’s easier to spot editing errors. Brigitte will skewer me if I don’t have my changes back tomorrow. It’s the last book in my contract.

  Much to my current publisher’s chagrin, Caught Up in Raine was, by far, my best-selling novel. Going viral, the book spent a respectable number of weeks on the New York Times best-seller, and caught some attention in Hollywood. The movie comes out next spring. I stare at the pages in my hand. After this book is finished, I plan to take a year off to focus solely on my family, and to fill my inspirational well.

  My eyes shift to the large diamond on my ring finger. Even in the shade covered by the umbrella, light refracts off of my engagement ring in a Technicolor rainbow. I promised Raine the day he proposed that I’d never take it off.

  Raine leans over from where he’s sitting to place another bucket of sand onto the sandcastle he’s building with Rachel. His tanned chest glistens in the sun. I catch a glimpse of the tattoo he has over his heart. He designed it himself and had it done the day Rachel was born. Three intersecting rings, each containing one of our initials inside: R, R, and J. I was breast-feeding Rachel after the C-section when he came back and first showed it to me. He said he’d finally found something that meant enough to him to permanently engrave in his skin.

  I smile as I look at him, and my heart brims with love. Hi
s tawny hair finally touches his shoulders again. After he came home, I told him how much I loved it when he wore it long, but I let it be his decision what to do.

  “Rachie, help Daddy put sand in the bucket,” he coos, and then glances over at me and winks. Rachel’s silky brown hair is up in a high ponytail, and she stares back at him with the same big, blue, marble-like eyes. Her chubby legs carry nothing more than regular baby fat, but they are long. The pediatrician says she’s in the top percentile for height and thinks she’ll be tall when she grows up.

  “Dada, shubel,” she says and tries to dig next to him in the sand.

  “That’s it.” He loosens some sand where she’s digging and puts it on her plastic shovel. He holds the bucket, and she dumps it inside and squeals with delight.

  “More,” she says. He repeats the process. The sun reflects off of his wedding band as he gathers more sand.

  I drink in Raine and Rachel with my eyes. I consider myself the luckiest woman in the world. I’ve never been this happy in my entire life, and I’m committed to living the rest of my life without fear. I’m no longer afraid that Raine will leave me someday, or believe that I don’t deserve happiness. I’ve kept my promise to Drew, and I’m living my best life. Most of all, I think I’ve finally forgiven myself for his death.

  I glance at my newly acquired washboard abs. I couldn’t stop laughing when Raine actually did manage to bounce a quarter off of them. We’re training for our first triathlon together, and I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been. No more muffin top for me. Raine still does all the cooking—frankly, he can’t eat mine, and neither can I—and is my personal trainer. Still the best trade I’ve ever made for a room.

  Next month, Raine, Rachel, and I are going to Stockholm to see his mother’s family before we head to Paris to celebrate our second wedding anniversary. Neither of us has traveled much, and it’s something we’re committed to doing together.

  This fall, we’re moving into our new, custom-built house in Morris Township. In his spare time, Raine managed the project from start to finish, working with the architect and design firm to build the house of our dreams. He was hired full time at Conrad Designs when he graduated, and is now their client operations director. Even with all that is on his plate, he still manages to be my exclusive research partner for all the love scenes in my novels. His one stipulation is that I alter them enough so that I don’t set unrealistic expectations for women.

  Raine

  Rachel squeals with delight as we make our sand castle, and it fills my heart with joy. When I look at her, I see Jillian with my eyes, and shades of my mother. Together, they are the three people I love the most in my life.

  I glance at Jillian under the umbrella, and she smiles at me. It lights up her face, and I smile back. I once thought the happiest days of my life were when I first met Jillian, before our breakup. But now I realize I was wrong. The best days of my life have been since we got back together and every day since then. I’m living my best life now with my wife and my daughter—my family—and nothing could ever take me away from them again.

  I’ll even go out on a limb and safely say my dreams have come true . . . all because Jillian asked me to be her cover model.

  I found out that Drew is buried in the same cemetery as my mom. After Jillian and I were married, I stopped by to leave flowers on my mom’s grave for her birthday. But before I left, I swung by to see Drew for a mano a mano chat.

  I thanked him for coming before me and giving me this chance. I promised him that I would do what he had wanted to but couldn’t. I would take care of Jillian and give her the love she deserved and never leave her.

  I’m not sure if I reached him, but I left with a sense of peace.

  WANT MORE?

  Get Raine's take on his reunion with Jillian at the Bookstore, and find out what happens next!

  TURN THE PAGE TO LEARN MORE...

  Want more? If you enjoyed Caught Up in RAINE, get caught up again with Jillian and Raine in these two new digital novelettes coming soon:

  Rediscovering RAINE: Experience Jillian and Raine’s magical night after their kiss at the bookstore.

  Caught Up in RACHEL: Be there as Jillian and Raine welcome Rachel into the world.

  Sign up for book release news, special contests, and giveaways at www.caughtupinraine.com and www.lgoconnor.com

  Purchase Rediscovering Raine for $0.99, or sign up for the Caught Up in Love Newsletter and DOWNLOAD Rediscovering Raine for FREE HERE

  One more thing before you go: Don't forget to write an honest review for Caught Up in RAINE and leave it on your favorite retail and / or social media site of choice. If you really like CUIR, please help me spread the word! Recommend it to your friends, book clubs, libraries, and anyone else who will listen. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, times a thousand!

  CAUGHT UP IN LOVE

  the series (Available for Order / Pre-Order)

  CAUGHT UP IN RAINE (Book 1)

  REDISCOVERING RAINE (Book 1.1 - A Caught Up in RAINE novelette)

  CAUGHT UP IN RACHEL (Book 1.2 - A Caught Up in RAINE novelette)

  Coming Soon

  SHELTER MY HEART (Book 2) - Jenny's Story

  Purchase Rediscovering Raine for $0.99, or sign up for the Caught Up in Love Newsletter and DOWNLOAD Rediscovering Raine for FREE HERE

  About the Author

  LG O’Connor is a member of the Romance Writers of America. A corporate marketing and strategy executive for a Fortune 250 company, she writes adult paranormal and contemporary romance. Caught up in RAINE is her first romantic women’s fiction novel. She is also the author of the four-book urban fantasy/paranormal romance series, The Angelorum Twelve Chronicles, which is available where all fine books are sold. A native ‘Jersey Girl,’ she lives a life of adventure, navigating her way through dog toys and soccer balls in Morris County, New Jersey. When she’s feeling particularly brave—she enters the kitchen.

  CONTACT:

  Website / Blog: www.lgoconnor.com

  Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/lgoconnor1

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/lgoconnor1

  Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7690970.L_G_O_Connor

  Book Site: www.CaughtUpInRaine.com

  Email: lg@lgoconnor.com

  If you enjoyed this book, I would greatly appreciate it if you would spread the word. You can help in any of these ways:

  RECOMMEND it to family, friends, online forums, discussion groups, book clubs.

  REVIEW it on Amazon, Goodreads, or any other review site.

  LEND it to anyone who loves Paranormal Romantic Suspense or who is looking for a change of pace from Literary Fiction.

  TRINITY STONES, Book One in the Angelorum Twelve Chronicles series is available now where all fine books are sold.

  “O’Connor tackles important world building, while also kicking off the story with a bang.” ~Publisher’s Weekly

  On her 27th birthday, Cara Collins, a single New York investment banker with an anxiety disorder receives a stunning inheritance and is taken under the wing of angels. When Dr. Kai Solomon, Cara’s longtime friend and first love, is kidnapped by dark forces, Cara must choose: accept her place in a 2,000 prophecy foretold in the Trinity Stones as the First of the Holy Twelve who will lead the final battle between good and evil…or risk losing everything she holds dear.

  Genre: Paranormal: Angels / Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance

  Audience: Ages 18+ / adult language and content

  Publisher: She Writes Press

  ISBN-13: 978-1-938314-84-1 (Trade Paperback)

  ISBN-13: 978-1-938314-85-8 (eBook)

  The WANDERER'S CHILDREN, Book Two in the Angelorum Twelve Chronicles series is available now where all fine books are sold.

  “Combining a marvelous talent for emotional resonance with a naturally light, playful attitude towards sex and romance, L.G. O'Connor creates a rich, complex world that realistically explores joy, pain, fame, child abuse, and the insanely com
plex and frightening realities of pre-established hierarchies. Although set in a supernatural milieu, the emotions and situations these characters find themselves in ring with a clarity that is unforgettable. The WANDERER'S CHILDREN (4.5 stars) is a satisfying and nuanced read for fans of the series and newbies alike.” ~IndieReader

  Cara's second chance encounter with rock star Brett King is no coincidence. One of the Wanderer's Children, he and the blood of his secret siblings are the key to gathering the rest of the Twelve…if betrayal and Lucifer don't rip them apart first.

  Genre: Paranormal: Angels / Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance

  Audience: Ages 18+ / adult language and content

  Publisher: Collins-Young Publishing

  ISBN-13: 978-0-990738-10-7 (Trade Paperback)

  ISBN-13: 978-0-990738-14-5 (eBook)

  WANDERER’S CHILDREN, Book Two in the Angelorum Twelve Chronicles series is available where all fine books are sold.

  Cara’s second chance encounter with rock star Brett King is no coincidence. One of the Wanderer’s Children, he and the blood of his secret siblings are the key to gathering the rest of the Twelve…if betrayal and Lucifer don’t rip them apart first.

  Genre: Paranormal: Angels / Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance

  Audience: Ages 18+ / adult language and content

  Publisher: Collins-Young Publishing

  ISBN-13: 978-0-990738-10-7 (Trade Paperback)