“Hey.” Sawyer kissed her softly on the lips. “I ordered you a drink,” he told her, nodding to the glass Mack had delivered a few minutes earlier.
“Thanks.”
“Somethin’ wrong?” Sawyer looked around, searching the room in case he had missed something. Once he managed to peer around his brothers, he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, but then again, he couldn’t see everyone who’d arrived.
“I just talked to my father,” Kennedy explained, her eyes sliding over in Mack’s direction. “I tried to convince him to come down here tonight, but he refused.”
“They’ll figure it out, darlin’,” Sawyer told her, pressing his mouth to her cheek and keeping his voice low. “I’ve learned the hard way that sometimes you just have to let things work themselves out. And they will work it out.”
“You think?”
“Yeah,” Sawyer said truthfully, glancing over at Mack. “He’ll come around.”
“Who’ll come around?” Zane inquired, ever the one to stick his nose where it didn’t belong. Not that Sawyer minded all that much. They’d all learned to tolerate Zane’s nosiness, mainly because they still vividly remembered all those years ago and the shit that had gone down with Zane. After nearly losing his brother once, Sawyer had made a point not to take him for granted. Then again, he thought as he glanced at Ethan, that should’ve never been an issue in the first place. Sawyer had already lived through it once with Ethan and he should’ve learned his lesson at that point.
“No one,” Kennedy offered Zane with a grin. “Where’s your wife?”
Zane nodded toward the back and the rest of the women, who were sitting at a tall table, chatting away.
Kennedy nodded, but then moved closer to Sawyer once more. “I wish I could talk to Mack’s son,” Kennedy said. “I’d like to give him a piece of my mind. This has gone on far too long now.”
Sawyer pulled back and looked her in the eye, grinning. That was just one of the many things he loved about her. She was fiercely loyal and just as protective, much like he was. In the last few months, Sawyer had heard quite a few stories about Kennedy. Things he’d never heard before and Jeff had been more than happy to share the details with him. Considering that Sawyer had gone to Jeff to ask for Kennedy’s hand in marriage before he had proposed, the two of them had engaged in a lengthy conversation at that time, coming to terms with the fact that they both loved her and they both wanted what was best for her. To his relief, Jeff had given his blessing and now Kennedy was his fiancée.
As they did with his family every Sunday, they had worked out a plan to have dinner with Jeff at least once a week. So far, they’d followed through every time and Sawyer knew it meant everything to Kennedy that he and her father got along, so he made the extra effort.
“Well, I don’t think that’s gonna be necessary,” Sawyer told her.
Her eyes widened as she stared back at him. “Sawyer Walker. Did you do what I think you did?”
“Of course he did,” Kaleb offered, but Sawyer knew his brother had no idea what they were talking about.
However, Kaleb’s offhand remark did give him an out. He wasn’t ready to give up all his secrets and the conversation he’d had with Daniel was a private one. He was more than willing to share the details with Kennedy if she really wanted to know. Which she would, because that was the way she was wired. But now was not the time and this certainly was not the place.
“Shut the hell up,” Sawyer ribbed Kaleb. “You oughta go check on your ol’ lady. I heard she was pregnant.”
Kaleb’s face lit up like a kid on Christmas. The guy had been over the moon since the day he made the announcement that they were going to have a second child. Between him and Zane, Sawyer wasn’t sure which one of them was more annoying with their eagerness. And Zoey and V pregnant at the same time—the girls couldn’t be happier.
“Speaking of pregnant . . .” Gage began and all heads turned to him. “No, it ain’t us. I heard Luke, Sierra, and Cole are expecting another one as well.”
“You heard that because I told you that,” Travis stated firmly, bumping Gage with his shoulder.
“Good for them,” Kaleb inserted. “Which one’s the daddy this time?”
“No one knows, just like last time. They aren’t tellin’,” Travis answered.
“You two set a wedding date yet?” Beau asked, his question directed at Braydon.
“Not yet. We’re workin’ on it though.”
Sawyer hoped that was the case. He was almost positive those two would get hitched before him and Kennedy, but since Sawyer wasn’t getting any younger, he wasn’t interested in waiting long. He wanted to be the one to announce a baby in the near future, and in order to do that, he wanted to have a wedding ring on her finger first.
Luckily, no one asked him that question, probably because Kennedy was standing there.
“Are you gonna tell me what you did?” Kennedy questioned when the others started talking amongst themselves.
Rather than answer, because he really didn’t want to go into detail right now, Sawyer kissed her. A nonverbal assurance that things would work out. It might take time, it might take a little intervening, but in the end, things worked out because ultimately, when it came down to it, everyone was looking for the same thing. Acceptance, love, family. Those were the most important things as far as Sawyer was concerned.
The doors opened and Sawyer noticed Brendon walk in, his head down.
Speaking of acceptance and love . . . Sawyer knew that things were going to have to turn around soon for his brother. His downward spiral seemed to have leveled off when Cheyenne came back into the picture, although for the last few months, her presence had been intermittent while she finished taking care of some concerts that had been scheduled. With her moving back permanently in the next couple of weeks, there would be plenty of time for her and Brendon to get to know one another better. But Sawyer knew that the two of them weren’t in that place just yet. He hoped they figured it out soon.
“Have I told you how much I love you?” Kennedy whispered in his ear and Sawyer turned his attention back to her, a chill racing down his spine at the seductive tone of her voice.
“No, actually, I don’t think you have,” he teased, his thoughts drifting to the night before and their rendezvous in his Jacuzzi tub.
“Well, in that case . . .” Kennedy took his hand in hers and started for the back, making a path that bisected the group still standing around them. Of course, that garnered a catcall or two.
“Where’re we goin’?” he asked, feigning ignorance.
“I wanna show you somethin’,” she said sweetly, but there was that wicked gleam in her eyes again.
“What?” he asked as they headed down the narrow hallway that led to the restrooms.
“I’m gonna show you just how much I love you.”
When Kennedy pushed open the bathroom door, Sawyer took the reins and backed her into the empty one-person bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him.
“You can do that,” he mumbled against her mouth, “right after I show you how much I love you.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my family: As always, your support keeps me going. I couldn’t do this without you.
To my readers: I just want to say thank you. Thank you for supporting me, for reading my books, for sharing your thoughts. It means everything to me.
To my street team: Ladies, I am absolutely humbled by your continuous support. I wouldn’t know what to do without you.
To Nicole-Nation 2.0: Thank you for being there for me whenever I need you. I love every single one of you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nicole Edwards lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, their three kids, and four rambunctious dogs. When she’s not writing about sexy alpha males, Nicole can often be found with her Kindle in hand or making an attempt to keep the dogs happy. You can find her hanging out on Facebook and inte
racting with her readers—even when she’s supposed to be writing.
ALSO BY NICOLE EDWARDS
The Alluring Indulgence Series
Kaleb
Zane
Travis
Holidays with the Walker Brothers
Ethan
Braydon
The Club Destiny Series
Conviction
Temptation
Addicted
Seduction
Infatuation
Captivated
Devotion
Perception
Entrusted
The Devil’s Bend Series
Chasing Dreams
Vanishing Dreams
The Dead Heat Ranch Series
Boots Optional
Betting on Grace
We hope you enjoyed reading this Pocket Star Books eBook.
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Pocket Star Books
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Nicole Edwards
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First Pocket Star Books ebook edition March 2015
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Cover illustration by Craig White
ISBN 978-1-4767-9086-2
Contents
* * *
Prologue
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
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Table of Contents
Thank You
Sawyer
Dedication
PROLOGUE
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
chapter TWENTY-EIGHT
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ALSO BY NICOLE EDWARDS
We hope you enjoyed reading this Pocket Star Books eBook.
Copyright © 2015
Contents
Sawyer Page 31