Welcoming the Bad Boy: A Hero's Welcome Novel

by Annie Rains

  Charlie studied him. “I’ve watched you training pretty hard with him. Jaws has completed his advanced training, so why are you drilling him? Something we need to talk about?”

  Griffin hesitated. “He’s still a little trigger-happy.”

  Charlie’s brow dipped as he leaned back in his chair. “How bad?”

  Griffin shrugged a shoulder. It was the difference between reacting a few seconds too early and right on time.

  “I don’t want a loose cannon on my K-9 team,” Charlie said.

  “And neither do I. That’s why I’m working him.”

  Charlie rocked softly in his desk chair. “Is he improving?”

  Griffin wanted to say yes, but he wasn’t sure that was true. He was determined to make it the truth, though. “I’ve got this, Charlie. Trust me.”

  Charlie didn’t say anything for a long moment. “I want daily updates on his behavior. I want to know everything, and I mean everything.” He narrowed his eyes. “Do you read me?”

  Griffin’s jaw clenched. Not because he was angry, but because he knew what would happen if he didn’t have good news to report back to Charlie.

  “You heading out to see your mother?” Charlie asked then.

  “First stop on my list.” And then he planned on seeing Val.

  “All right, Griffin. See you tomorrow. And don’t forget. Daily reports.”

  Griffin nodded. “Yes, sir.” He collected his windbreaker from the back of his desk chair. There was a light sprinkle in the air right now and he didn’t want to get wet. He headed to his motorcycle in the parking lot and followed the strictly enforced base speed limit. When he was off the military base, he pressed the gas. He was still a rule breaker at heart; still liked to push the envelope sometimes, but not as much as he had in his younger days.

  And the sooner he got off this base, the sooner he saw Val.

  The rain was falling harder as he pulled into the nursing home’s parking lot and headed in.

  “Hey, Griffin,” Louise said, waving a hand. “She had another good day. Val came and had lunch with her and she ate almost all of her food.”

  “That’s good.” Griffin glanced down the hall toward his mother’s room.

  “The book club had to postpone their meeting earlier, so Val told them she’d read with them tonight. They’re all pretty upset about Alma’s passing.”

  Griffin nodded, a little ache thumping in his heart as well. “Of course.”

  Louise pointed down the hallway. “Val went that way. I don’t think they’ve started in the community room just yet.”

  Griffin’s heart revved like a Harley ready to tear up the highway. “Thank you. Maybe I’ll sit in with the group tonight. I’m a fan of that author myself.” He winked at Louise and kept walking, faster now. He couldn’t wait to see his two favorite women.

  —

  Val had been sitting in Alma’s empty room for the last fifteen minutes. Some of Alma’s things were still on the walls and the bedside dresser. Including her copy of the Sophie Evans book that the book club had been reading. They’d almost finished. There was only one more chapter to read, but Alma would never know how the story ended. The happily-ever-after was Val’s favorite part of any romance, and Alma had been robbed of that.

  Val blew a breath up toward her eyes. Alma wouldn’t want her to cry. She’d want Val to go to the book club and finish reading “the damn book.” Shaking her head, Val laughed softly to herself. So that’s what she was going to do, and hopefully Alma would be listening somewhere, wherever she was.

  Val stood on shaky legs and glanced around the room one last time. On the nightstand was a framed picture of Sweet Cheeks. There was a hairbrush with Alma’s silvery hair still attached. A notepad and a pen. All normal things that broke Val’s heart.

  Not going to cry. Not right now.

  “Bye, Alma. I hope you enjoy the ending,” she said. Then she walked out of the room and headed toward the community room. The group hadn’t been able to meet at their usual mid-day time. Some computer skills guy had been volunteering his time to teach them how to use the new computers that had been donated last week. So Val had promised to come back that night. The group had waited long enough to hear how the story ended, and after losing Alma this week, they needed to spend time together, laughing and enjoying themselves. Val had even packed some chocolates and sparkling grape juice.

  She could hear the room alive with voices as she approached. There seemed to be more noise than she was used to. She stopped in the doorway and looked around. The computers had attracted quite a lot of residents to the room tonight.

  “Val!” Marge from the group waved her over to their little corner. “Val! Over here!” Marge had a laptop balanced on her thighs.

  Val headed over. “Hey, guys!” Her feet slowed as she noticed Griffin sitting beside his mother. “Hey,” she said, lowering her voice. Her heart fluttered a little in her chest.

  In love with him. It was true. She was one hundred percent head over heels in love with him.

  “Hey,” he said, winking at her.

  “Hey.” She pulled her lower lip into her mouth as she sat in the empty chair left open for her. “Are you joining us tonight?” she asked Griffin.

  He lifted a shoulder. “I’m interested in hearing the book’s ending, too.”

  A little breath caught in her chest. Her heart beat a little more forcefully. Griffin had asked her what she would give up when school started again.

  Not him.

  Marge cleared her throat beside Val.

  Val glanced over. “So, Marge, what are you doing with that computer?”

  “Well, we all had lessons on navigating the Web today,” Marge said, beaming.

  “I know. I think that’s great. Did you learn a lot?”

  “Oh, my, yes.” Marge nodded. “I learned how to do a Google search. Do you know how to do a Google search? Because if you don’t, I can teach you, sweetie.”

  Val laughed, sharing a look with Griffin. “I think I can do one on my own. But thank you,” she said.

  Griffin grinned.

  There was a steady force of attraction between them, making Val wish there was no one else in the room. A few feet of separation didn’t feel natural anymore. She wanted to be where Griffin was, all the time.

  “So we all thought we’d surprise you, since you do so much for us,” Marge continued.

  Val tore her gaze from Griffin’s dark chocolate eyes. “Surprise me?”

  “Mm-hmm.” Marge tapped her fingers along the laptop’s keyboard. “Oh, our instructor made us do his searches. He didn’t want us doing any searches for explicit material,” she continued. “So we had to wait for him to leave to do a search on romance authors.”

  Val tried not to look at Griffin again as she waited. How should I tell him I love him? Does he feel the same? Should I wait for him to say so first?

  She was so consumed with her own thoughts that she barely heard a word that Marge was saying.

  “Aha! Here we go. I think I just found exactly what I’m looking for.”

  “What’s that?” Val asked, looking at the older woman again.

  Marge turned the laptop around for everyone in the group to see. She pressed the enter key. “This.”

  It took a second for Val to realize what was happening. Her face. Her voice.

  Her YouTube video.

  “Hi, I’m Sophie Evans,” she heard herself say on the computer screen. “I love interacting with readers, and today I thought I’d answer a few reader questions so we can get to know each other better.”

  Val swallowed and glanced around at all the confused faces in the group, ending with Griffin’s. His dark eyebrows were tilted as he watched the screen.

  “What is this, Val?” he asked, flicking his gaze to her and back to the computer.

  “I…I…” She stumbled over her words. She’d wanted to tell everyone. She was tired of keeping this part of her life hidden. Maybe this was a good thing, she thought, l
ooking at the computer again. This was the interview she’d done a few days ago, just before Griffin had walked in on her with a bouquet of roses.

  Roses that he’d sprinkled over the bed before making love to her later that night.

  She swallowed again.

  Everyone was silent, letting the computer do all the talking. The video she’d made had been brief. She’d only answered a handful of questions.

  “Have I ever been in love?” she read in the video. “Am I dating anyone seriously?”

  Val’s heart sped up. Oh, God. She’d forgotten about that question. She looked back at Griffin, who was looking at her. There was so much to read in his expression. Confusion. Hurt. Wonder.

  “No,” she said in the video. “I’ve never been in love. I am dating someone right now, but it’s just for fun. Nothing serious,” she said with a smile on her face.

  Val looked at Griffin again, but he was looking down now. She hadn’t realized she was in love then, though. She’d been in denial.

  Helen pointed at the computer screen. “That’s not you!” she shouted, holding her memory book in her hand. “Your name isn’t Sophie. That’s not you…! What’s going on?” She turned to Griffin, shaking her head. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s okay, Mom.” Griffin reached for Helen’s hand.

  She pulled back, growing more agitated. “I’m not your mom. Who are you?” she cried. “What’s going on?” she asked again. Her hands were shaking as she pulled them to her face.

  Val got up and moved toward her. “Helen, you’re okay. I promise.”

  “That’s not you!”

  Val was shaking, too. She’d upset Helen, and apparently Griffin, too, because he wouldn’t look at her anymore.

  “I’ll take her to her room,” he said, helping Helen stand.

  “I’ll help you.” Val tried to grab Helen’s other arm, but Griffin stopped her.

  “No. You stay. I got this.” There was a hardness in his voice.

  Was he mad at her?

  Val stood frozen in the middle of the group of women, watching Griffin escort his mother away, feeling like she was watching things unravel in slow motion.

  Marge cleared her throat behind Val.

  Turning, Val faced the rest of the group. “I’m sorry,” she said, not knowing what else to say.

  “No, I’m sorry,” Marge said. “We were just trying to surprise you with something fun. We didn’t know.”

  No one knew. Val had thought that was for the best, but now she wondered. Maybe she’d just been scared of opening herself up. Scared that people would judge her, or laugh.

  Or leave, she thought, thinking of Griffin. He’d just left and she suspected it had more to do with her than with his mother’s condition. Otherwise, he would come back.

  Her gaze flicked to the empty doorway. He wasn’t coming back. Was it because she’d said she wasn’t in love? Because there’d never been any profession of anything other than fun from him, either.

  “It’s okay, Marge. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Val said, going back to her chair. And neither had she. So why did she suddenly feel like a criminal?

  “So it’s true,” Gretchen Carter asked, smiling excitedly. “You’re the one who wrote this book?”

  Val nodded. “Yes. Sophie Evans is my pen name.”

  “So then do you mind signing our books for us?” Marge asked.

  Val looked at the doorway again. No Griffin. She forced a smile despite the break in her heart. “Of course I will.”

  —

  Griffin grabbed a beer from his fridge and sat down on his couch. He ran a hand over his hair, taking it all in. This was great for Val; she was a celebrity in her own right. But it didn’t keep him from feeling like he’d been lied to somehow. He’d been teaching her about living out her fantasies, and she wrote fantasies for thousands of women across the world. Had she been laughing at him behind his back this whole time? Had she been using him for more material?

  He suddenly felt like that kid, home on break from his freshman year of college, discovering that he’d been adopted. Reality was shifting, rearranging, and everything he thought he knew was wrong.

  He’d watched the video at least a dozen times since he’d gotten home, warring with himself over why he was so upset about it. He pushed play and drank his beer.

  Val, Sophie, whoever she was, read the next question: Have I ever been in love?

  He watched as she stared at the index card in her hand for a long moment, then looked up into the camera and shook her head. “No. I’ve never been in love. I am dating someone right now, but it’s just for fun. Nothing serious.”

  Well, damn. Because this wasn’t just fun to him. He was serious about how he felt about Val.

  He swallowed back his disappointment and beer. Val made this video a few days ago. He recognized the outfit. It was the same one she’d worn when he’d walked in on her the other day. The day he’d brought her roses and they’d made love for over an hour. The day he could have sworn he was falling in love with her, and that she was falling in love with him, too.

  Bullshit.

  He felt like a fool, just like he had when he’d discovered he was adopted.

  The doorbell rang across the room; he had a sinking feeling he knew exactly who it was. He walked over and opened the door, feeling his jaw and chest tighten.

  Val studied him as she stood on the other side of the threshold. “Griffin, I want to explain.”

  “Explain what? That you’re not who you said you were? That you’ve been lying to everyone around you, including me?”

  The whole scene felt like déjà vu. He’d told her things about himself that he’d never opened up about to anyone. And she had kept this secret.

  “Or do you want to explain that you don’t have feelings for me? We were just having fun this summer, right? Nothing serious. I got all that. Loud and clear, Sophie.”

  Her eyes widened as she stared back at him.

  Griffin’s jaw was so hard, it was giving him a headache that pulled from the back of his neck. He wasn’t angry. He was hurt. Disappointed. He shook his head, wondering if he knew the woman in front of him at all. Maybe that was the beer distorting his perception, but that’s how he felt.

  “Go home, Val.”

  “Griffin.” She looked up at him with dark eyes that shimmered with tears. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

  He wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her. Wipe away those tears and make amends.

  He also wanted to shut the door and shut her out.

  “You never said we were more than just fun. You’re the one who’s been coming up with all these fantasies for us to act out,” she said. “Is this more than just fun, Griffin?” She shook lightly as she stared at him.

  God, he loved her so much that it felt like someone had taken hold of his heart, thrown it on the ground, and stomped on it. He didn’t like being this vulnerable.

  “Apparently not. Go home, Val,” he said again.

  He pulled the handle of his door and shut it. Then, for good measure—to keep himself from yanking it right back open and pulling her in—he bolted it.

  Chapter 23

  Val shook on the other side of the door. Griffin’s actions read loud and clear. She’d given him a chance to tell her if things between them were serious and he’d told her.

  Swiping a hand over her cheek to smooth away her tears, she walked quickly back to her car. She couldn’t get away from Griffin’s townhouse fast enough. She pressed a hand over her heart. It hurt so much. This hurt so much. Her reader had asked her if she’d ever been in love and the answer had been no. Not before now. She would remember feeling like this.

  Val drove around Seaside, past her friends’ houses. Julie and Lawson’s lights were off. The light in Kat’s kitchen was on. She was awake, but Val didn’t want to intrude. Everyone had their own lives. She wanted to share a life with someone, too. She’d wanted to have that with Griffin.

  Sniffling,
she headed back to her apartment. Some part of her hoped Griffin would be sitting in her driveway as she pulled up, wanting to apologize for acting like a jerk. He wasn’t. Val slid her key in the door and went inside. She left her lights off and walked straight down the hall to her bed to cry herself to sleep.

  The next morning Val lay in bed, unable to force her body to get up. She felt like she had a hangover, except she hadn’t drunk a drop of alcohol last night. No, this was what it felt like after a breakup.

  Sweet Cheeks was in bed beside her, nuzzled close.

  “You really do have an awful name,” she told the puppy, laughing softly. A tear squeezed from her eye. “This is what I wanted anyway, you know,” she told Sweet Cheeks, who licked her hand. “I wanted to end things with Griffin when the summer was over. He wasn’t supposed to be my forever guy.” Her breaths bumped through her chest. “He’s all wrong for me. Right?”

  Except he wasn’t at all what she’d assumed him to be. He was everything she ever wanted rolled into one badass Marine with tattoos that told his life story on his body. She wanted to be immortalized on his skin, too. This couldn’t be the end for them.

  Val forced herself to sit up. Then, after a little coaxing from Sweet Cheeks, she walked to the back door to let her outside. The next stop was the coffeemaker. She had a mile-long list of things to do today—sad and depressed or not—but none of it was happening until she put her butt in the chair and finished editing her book. At least that would serve as a distraction from what had happened between her and Griffin last night.

  Six hours, five cups of coffee, and a mild amount of hair-pulling later, she sucked in a breath and hit send on her computer. Her manuscript was done and delivered. A huge part of that was thanks to Griffin. A little ache rumbled through her heart, like aftershocks from an earthquake. He’d ripped her heart to shreds last night. He wouldn’t even allow her to explain things to him. He’d been cold and distant after all they’d been through. A man like that didn’t deserve her attention.