Her Secret Life

by Tara Taylor Quinn

  The boxes popped up immediately that time. Yes. No.

  And he got the full picture. Willie had faced his fears that day, because love mattered more. He’d faced jail to prove that Michael’s love for him was not misplaced. And Kacey...she was fighting her own demons with Willie to show him that what had happened on that beach was not going to come between them. That Willie was not going to come between them.

  And there he sat...hiding away in work. As he’d always done.

  Kacey wearing that dress was no mistake. She wanted to know if he was willing to take on Beverly Hills for her. As she was willing to take on Willie for him. She knew the celebrity lifestyle wouldn’t be easy for him. That there would be stares. And whispers.

  She was offering him his life back. And doing it his way—through the computer, the only thing that made him really comfortable, because he could communicate without being seen. Undoubtedly something else she’d figured out.

  He clicked Yes.

  * * *

  KACEY TURNED TO WILLIE, who was on the other side of Michael’s family room from her in case she needed assistance with the program he’d set up before she’d arrived.

  She nodded. He nodded back and picked up the keys to her car and was gone. It had all been arranged before she’d ever walked in the door.

  He’d do just as she asked. She had no doubt of that. She had a feeling that she had a bodyguard/willing slave for life.

  She didn’t want that. She just hoped that someday she could be around him, look at his face and see only the man Michael saw when he looked at his youngest brother.

  For now...she had another job to do.

  She walked toward Michael’s office, meeting him in the hallway as he came to find her, pushing him gently back into his office, over to his desk, down into his chair. Holding out a box, she sat on his lap and handed it to him.

  This was the smallest box she’d ever brought him. He couldn’t miss the significance.

  “Kacey?” He was staring at her. “You were live in the other room?”

  “Yes.” She kind of chuckled, but her palms were sweating and she really just wanted this part to be over.

  He held up the box. “You want me to ask you to marry me?”

  “Dork,” she said, trying for another laugh that failed miserably. “Open it.”

  He did. Saw the plain gold wedding band there, clearly a man’s ring, and looked back at her.

  “I’m asking you to marry me, Michael,” she said. “And could you please say yes fast so that you can hold me for real and I can lose this day in your arms? That’s the only thing that’ll make it all okay.”

  He blinked. And blinked again. He looked uncomfortable as hell. Afraid of rejection—before he did the unthinkable, Kacey sat on his lap. Scooting her bottom closer to his fly, she wiggled and planted a kiss on his lips that she hoped would blow any sane man away.

  He kissed her back. Thoroughly. “Yes, I’ll marry you,” he said. “I’ll stay with you in Beverly Hills and commute to work, I’ll do whatever you need, Kacey. I just have one request.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Don’t ever let your light go out, Kace. Don’t ever think you shine too bright or overshadow anything. You were meant to be who you are, and you light the way for the rest of us. Without you, we’d be in darkness.”

  She wanted to say something pithy and smart. To follow it with a chuckle like Doria might do. Instead, she started to cry. She wrapped her arms around Michael’s neck, buried her face against his so special jaw and begged him to never stop loving her.

  “Never,” he said, standing with her in his arms.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To bed,” he told her, pointing to his computer screen. “My brother just flashed his message up.”

  Home safe and sound, Miss Hamilton. My father has your keys. And Mom wants to know if she can start planning the wedding.

  Two boxes popped up.

  Kacey clicked Yes.

  * * * * *

  Be sure to check out the other recent

  stories in Tara Taylor Quinn’s

  WHERE SECRETS ARE SAFE miniseries:

  LOVE BY ASSOCIATION

  HIS FIRST CHOICE

  THE PROMISE HE MADE HER

  All available now, along with the rest

  of WHERE SECRETS ARE SAFE, from

  Harlequin Superromance.

  And look for the next

  WHERE SECRETS ARE SAFE book

  from Tara Taylor Quinn,

  coming in May 2017!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from PICKET FENCE SURPRISE by Kris Fletcher.

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  Picket Fence Surprise

  by Kris Fletcher

  CHAPTER ONE

  “MOMMY, I’VE DECIDED what I want for my birthday.”

  Heather Jacobs paused in her conversation to focus on her daughter. Not that she had much choice: Millie had wrapped herself around Heather’s waist much like an octopus would wrap itself around lunch.

  “Millie, I’m talking. You’re supposed to say ‘Excuse me,’ and wait.”

  “I’m sorry. But it’s so perfect, and I’ve been thinking about it forever and I just have to tell you about it now!”

  Heather glanced across the top of Millie’s head and shared a look of empathy with her friend Xander Sorenson, a fellow single parent and her main link to sanity at these extended family gatherings.

  “Who else needs an apology from you?”

  Millie wriggled with impatience, but offered a sincere, “Sorry, Mr. Sorenson.”

  “Accepted.” He tugged on the end of Millie’s ponytail, narrowly missing the bright blue ribbon that Heather had woven into the curls to mark the festive occasion—the birthday party of Xander’s daughter, Cady. “So what’s such a perfect present that you figured it out already? Isn’t your birthday in the fall?”

  “October 29. Almost Halloween. And, Mommy, what I want is...” Millie clasped her hands in front of her, twisting them together. “What I really want more than anything is for you and Daddy to share me more. Like Mr. Sorenson and Aunt Darcy share Cady.”

  So much for Heather’s lifelong certainty that it was impossible for a jaw to actually drop.

  It wasn’t that the question was unwelcome. On the contrary, it probably ranked right up there with Millie’s just-b
irthed howl, or the first time she’d said Mama. Heather had been yearning to hear those words, or a variation thereof, for almost nine long and lonely years.

  But why had Millie chosen to make her request in the middle of a birthday party that was almost entirely populated by members of her ex’s very large, very nosy family?

  Parenting Truth Number 614: Kids will always find the worst possible time to ask you anything.

  And Heather had thought it was rough explaining tampon dispensers in public bathrooms.

  “Mommy? Did you hear me?”

  Thankfully, most of the adults in attendance were busy blowing bubbles for the pint-size guests. The back lawn of the North family home, usually an expanse of green reaching from the house to the bank of the St. Lawrence River, was today dotted with clumps of toddlers, their parents and enough balloons to decimate the world’s helium supply. No one was within hearing distance.

  No one, that was, except Xander, her fellow North family outlier. Who, being no dummy, immediately shoved his hands in his pockets and began backing away.

  “You know, I’m pretty sure I should be flipping burgers or something.”

  Heather did a mental eye roll. Not five minutes ago, he had joined her beneath a towering maple, brushing glitter from his hair and shoulders—he’d been under the piñata when it had surrendered—and making jokes about getting out of the sun before he turned into a disco ball.

  The truth, Heather suspected, was that he—like she—had needed a moment away from the crowd. The Norths were a large and loving family, one that didn’t hesitate to fold newcomers and outliers—and even exes such as herself—into their midst. It was one of their better characteristics. But for those not accustomed to the family, the effect could be most charitably described as overwhelming.

  She waved him away, expecting him to escape as fast as his long legs could take him. But after two steps, he stopped and turned back.

  “You know,” he said, “I heard there’s a turtle that’s been making an appearance near the dock these days. You guys might have time to catch it before lunch.”

  “A turtle? Cool! Come on, Mom!”

  Millie grabbed Heather’s hand and half dragged her across the lawn. The parts of Heather’s brain not occupied with making sure she didn’t trip over a clump of weeds sent a mental message of thanks toward Xander. He’d bought her both time and distance, and did it in a way that was guaranteed to ensure that Millie the junior scientist would be too excited to see how she’d been played.

  Thankfully, the wild flight halted as they approached the shore, where Millie cautioned Heather to move slowly and quietly. They crept to the spot Millie decreed was the perfect place for a turtle to approach. Moments later, Heather found herself sprawled on the dock, her belly warmed by the sun-kissed boards and the back of her neck already tingling in a way that made her wish she’d applied more sun block. But early June was too soon for her summer instincts to have kicked in.

  “We can’t stay too long,” she cautioned. “We’ll get burned.”

  “I know.” Millie spoke absently, inching forward to peer into the water. “I don’t see anything. I wonder if it’s here?”

  “Mills...” Heather hesitated, unsure how to begin.

  Parenting Truth Number 471: Let the kid set the pace.

  “Mills, when you said you want me and Daddy to share you—what do you mean?”

  “Well, you know, Jason in my class, he spends a week with his mom and then a week with his dad. He’s always forgetting his homework at the wrong house, but he still has to do it.”

  “Of course.”

  “So I wondered how come he got to do it that way, but I only get to be with you a little. And then at Easter, we were hunting for eggs and Cady was here and I remembered that she gets to do something like that with her mom and dad, so I—Whoa! Did you see that?”

  Millie pointed toward a series of circles rippling through the water from a spot a couple of arm’s lengths off the deck. She pushed herself forward enough that Heather grabbed her shirt.

  “Back, kiddo.”

  “But Mom—”

  “Scooch back. Now.”

  “Fine.” Millie complied with a sigh. “Jeez, Mom. I’m ten and a half. I know how to be safe.”

  The part of Heather that would never be comfortable seeing Millie around water urged her to grab the child and march her off the dock. The part that had spent years learning to listen to her head instead of her gut reminded her to take a chill pill.

  “Humor me.” With a deep breath, she did a fast mental recap of the conversation before the interruption. Jason... Cady...sharing.

  Easter had been over two months ago. Which meant that this wasn’t a spur of the moment request.

  “Honey, about me and Daddy sharing you. I—You know, sometimes things seem like they should be simple, but they’re actually complicated.”

  Millie shielded her eyes, but Heather suspected it wasn’t against the sun, especially when her shoulders sagged. “Daddy said something like that, too.”

  Wait. “Mills. Do you mean—did you already talk to Daddy about this?”

  Millie’s shrug had nothing to do with indifference.

  “Kind of.”

  Oh God. Millie’s father was a good man, truly, fair and forgiving, but he didn’t do well when caught by surprise. If Millie had broached the topic with him the same way she had with Heather, it probably had not gone the way Millie had wished.

  Which would also explain the long gap between a conversation with one parent at Easter and another conversation now.

  “You don’t need to tell me things that are between you and Daddy,” she said, hoping she could find the right approach. “That’s private. But I have a feeling he maybe wasn’t as excited about the idea as you were.”

  Millie shook her head and shifted her gaze to the water.

  “Mills... I would love to have more time with you, more than anything, but it’s not something you can just wish for and make it happen, like getting your ears pierced. This as a two-parent decision. Daddy and I have to talk about this together and make sure we’re doing what’s best for you.”

  “Why wouldn’t it be good for me? It’s good for Jason. It’s good for Cady.”

  Heather had no idea what had happened between Jason’s parents, but she was almost positive that there was a lot less history—and hurt—between Xander and Darcy than there was between her and Hank. Negotiating joint custody was probably a lot easier when one party hadn’t inflicted the kind of wounds that Heather had. She had been amazed when Hank had been able to remarry. Amazed, and truly glad for him. He was a good guy. He deserved the happiness he had found with Brynn and their new son.

  Heather would never have the guts to try marriage again.

  “I know that it looks like it would be good, Mills, but there are things that adults have to discuss. Like schedules, and is this a good time to make this change, and how would we make it happen. And let’s face it. You and Daddy have something pretty special. He might need time to get used to the idea.”

  Time, and maybe a large dose of a really strong sedative.

  Because Heather knew what had gone through Hank’s head when Millie brought her request. He would have focused on their past. He would have relived—justifiably—the night when Heather had walked out on him and Millie. Walked out and hopped on a plane and put three-quarters of a continent between them.

  How was Heather supposed to encourage Millie when every objection Hank could raise was true?

  Millie turned away from the water, hands shoved in her pockets, and shuffled down the dock. “I don’t think the turtle is coming back today,” she said in a tiny voice.

  Oh hell.

  “Millie... Listen. I can’t make any promises, but we...well, we can try. But we have to take it
slow. Give Daddy time. You do some more thinking about what you would like. I’ll figure out grown-up details and prepare my pitch, just like I would at work. And then when the time is right—” God give me strength “—I’ll talk to Daddy.”

  “Okay.”

  “And maybe for now, we can keep an eye open for extra days. You know, like, we could have an extra outing on a weekend when there’s some special girl thing happening.”

  “Like when I need to do stuff for a badge?”

  Heather was already a big fan of the Girl Guides of Canada for the experiences they provided Millie. But as she thought of the many opportunities for mother-daughter bonding that came with the group’s activities, she was triply glad that Millie had joined.

  “Absolutely for a badge. Or to get your hair cut, or do some shopping for school or whatever. Daddy and Brynn are still getting used to life with baby Noah, so it will be good for you and me, and it will help them at the same time.” Inspiration hit like a flash of sunlight on the water. “And you know what else? We talked about painting your room at my place, but the time kind of slipped away. How about we start on that, now that the weather is nice?”

  “That would be awesome, Mom! Can it be purple, maybe? Or do they make glow-in-the-dark paint for stars?”

  “I bet we can find some stickers for that.”

  “Okay. Is it time to eat yet? I’m hungry.”

  Ah, that was far more like the optimistic girlie that Heather knew. She pushed to her feet, grabbed Millie’s hands to pull her up and tugged the child close for a fast hug and a kiss on the top of her head.

  “Do you know how much I love you, kiddo?”

  “To the moon and back.”

  “You got it.”

  Hand in hand, they followed their noses back to the gathering. Millie chattered and jumped and raced ahead and back like the friskiest of puppies, and Heather reveled in every minute of it.

  Did she want more time with Millie? God yes. The problem—no, the challenge—would be in finding the way to make it happen without disturbing the peace.