by C. J. Miller
“What will your family say about us?” he asked.
“Who cares? It took me meeting you to realize I don’t care about their approval. I know what I want.”
“And what do you want?” Cash asked.
“You. Just you.”
She pressed a kiss to his lips and Cash kissed her back fiercely.
The dozen special agents around them and the unit chief let out catcalls and whoops of delight.
* * *
A man in a cowboy costume was leading a horse across her parents’ lawn.
“Mom, please, you need to tone it down,” Lucia said. “This is not necessary. You promised you would make Adrian feel comfortable.”
Her mother sniffed. “Helen and I agreed this was best. Adrian is my first grandchild and I have already missed too many birthdays. He’s having this birthday party, it will be fabulous and he will know we adore him.”
Adrian already knew that. Her family, even Bradley, had gone out of their way to include and welcome Adrian and Helen. Lucia hugged her mother. “Thank you, Mom.”
“For what?” her mother asked.
She knew what Lucia meant, but Lucia would tell her again. “For accepting Cash, his son and Helen. For accepting me as I am.”
Her mother turned her, arm still around her. “You picked a good man. Look at them.”
Cash, Wyatt, her father and Adrian were running around her parents’ basketball court, playing some variation of the game that made them laugh.
Wyatt had been given community service for the theft of the documents from Holmes and White. Because he had saved an FBI agent’s life by lying to Boots at the abandoned covered bridge, the judge had gone easy on him. He was part of their lives, and with Adrian living in DC and without Anderson blackmailing him, he’d quit his criminal lifestyle.
Leonard Young and a host of other Holmes and White employees had been arrested as part of the embezzlement scandal. Boots and Kinsley Adams joined him in prison for their parts in the scheme.
Anderson was given no leniency. He was serving a triple life sentence in prison.
With the list of accounts that Anderson had given to Cash, ninety percent of the stolen money had been returned to its rightful owners.
Much to Elizabeth Romano’s relief, the original Copley was rehung in the art museum. Audrey was allowed to return to her home with a stern warning to be careful with whom she made associations.
Elizabeth and Lucia returned the fake Copley to Franco, and Franco had immediately asked Elizabeth on a date to discuss art. Lucia had warned Elizabeth about Franco, but she swore her interest in him was purely professional curiosity.
And Cash. Cash had been given a position on another team in the white-collar unit. They wouldn’t be working together day-to-day, but they spent every night together in their home.
When they noticed Lucia watching, Adrian and Cash waved.
Lucia and her mother approached them.
“Don’t let her in here. I don’t want the baby to get hit,” Adrian said.
Lucia touched her stomach. She was only two months pregnant. They had told Adrian and Helen, but not her parents yet.
Her mom’s and dad’s faces had matching looks of joy and surprise.
Cash circled the court enclosure and took Lucia in his arms.
“Guess the secret’s out,” he said.
A smile played on her lips. “We’re not a keeping-secrets kind of family. The truth tends to find its way out.”
Cash laughed. “And I couldn’t be happier to be part of it.”
* * * * *
If you loved this novel,
don’t miss these other sexy,
suspenseful stories from C.J. Miller:
UNDER THE SHEIK’S PROTECTION
TRAITOROUS ATTRACTION
PROTECTING HIS PRINCESS
SHIELDING THE SUSPECT
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SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
When a masked intruder appears in her son’s window, Nicolette Kendall needs help from guarded cowboy Lucas Taylor. But even as his guarded heart begins to crack, they must unravel secrets to save her child...
Read on for a sneak peek of A REAL COWBOY, the first book in the COWBOYS OF HOLIDAY RANCH series by New York Times bestselling author Carla Cassidy, coming March 2015 from Harlequin Romantic Suspense.
He stepped outside and looked around. “What are you doing out here all by yourself in the dark?”
“You told my son that cowboys only bathe once a week, and now Sammy won’t get into the bathtub.”
By the light of the room spilling out where they stood, she saw his amusement curve his lips upward. “Is that a fact?” he replied. “Sounds like a personal problem to me.”
“It’s all your fault,” she said, at the same time trying not to notice the wonder of his broad shoulders, the slim hips that wore his jeans so well.
He raised a dark eyebrow. “The way I see it, you started it.”
This time the heat that filled her cheeks was a new wave of pure embarrassment. “Look, I’m sorry. When I told my son those things, I’d never really met a cowboy before. The only cowboy I’ve ever even seen in my entire life is the naked singing cowboy in Times Square. I now have a little boy who refuses to take a bath. Can you please come back to the house with me and tell him differently?”
Amusement once again danced in his eyes as he gave her a smile that made her feel just a little bit breathless. “Basically you’ve come to say you’re sorry about your preconceived notions about cowboys, because I think it would be nice if you apologized before asking for my help about anything.”
“You’re right. I am sorry,” she replied, wondering if he wanted her to get down on her knees before him and grovel, as well.
“Okay then, let’s go.” He pulled the door of his unit closed behind him and fell into step next to her.
“A naked singing cowboy…and you New Yorkers think we’re strange.” He laughed, a low, deep rumble that she found far too pleasant.
She realized at that moment that she wasn’t afraid of cows or horses, that she wasn’t worried about falling into the mud or getting her hands dirty.
The real danger came from the attraction she felt for the man who walked next to her, a man whose laughter warmed her and who smelled like spring wind and leather.
Don’t miss A REAL COWBOY by Carla Cassidy,
available March 2015 from Harlequin Romantic Suspense.
www.Harlequin.com
Copyright © 2015 by Carla Bracale
ISBN-13: 9781460375853
Taken by the Con
Copyright © 2015 by C.J. Miller
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