THE LONG RIDE TO THE airport wasn’t nearly enough time for Stephanie, who sat in the back of the limo cuddling her precious grandson and trying not to be the one crying like a baby.
Daniel Alexander St. John. She sighed heavily and held back the tears. He was so beautiful it made her heart ache just looking at him. Pfft, she thought. Fuck all those others—here was the one true love of her life.
When he looked at her as he was now, with an adorably Drae-like smirk that was just on the edge of a smile, she knew that they were going to be co-conspirators in quite a bit of mischief in the years to come.
In the periphery of her vision—she remained totally focused on the baby angel in her arms—was the shadowy image of a stoic Draegyn sitting with his arm around Victoria, who was next to him but with her head on his shoulder.
Seeing them like that gave her a rush of ease and peace that soothed. They were an unusual couple but somehow it worked. Things are as they should be, she thought. Except for…
She heard the distinctive, barely audible click made when a picture was taken and finally looked away from Daniel’s wonderful face to see Tori with her phone. “That’s gonna be a keeper, Mom Mom,” she quipped gleefully.
She tapped on the phone then turned the screen in her direction and said, “Look! Isn’t that just too sweet?”
Stephanie glanced at the phone and her heart seized ‘cause there, in a wonderful moment in time captured on a cell phone, was her sitting in a luxury limousine, cradling her grandson who was comfortably wrapped in a luxurious squishy blanket. The look on her face—frozen in time—was one of absolute love as she gazed at the armful of wonder.
Unfortunately, this loving interlude ended all too soon. Once they arrived at the hangar, Drae tactfully excused himself from the car and left her, Tori, and the baby alone for a private farewell.
How was she going to survive without seeing this little treasure every day? She felt surrounded by love and care and had from the moment her journey began more than two months ago when she stepped aboard the private jet that was waiting today to complete the journey and take her home.
Everyone had welcomed her in Arizona. She was a part of an extended family full of decent, caring people. And then Calder happened and she knew a different kind of loving and caring. Daniel was the icing on the cake. Why was she leaving?
Tori came and slid into the seat beside her and rubbed her hand up and down Stephanie’s back. Her daughter was trying hard to accept this separation, but she knew, like her mother, that she wasn’t happy about it. Not one bit. No matter how much of a happy face she slapped on.
“He’s going to miss his Mom Mom.”
She pressed her face into the blanket and inhaled, wanting to imprint on her senses everything about her grandson. Was there anything sweeter than the way a baby smelled? She didn’t think so.
He looked at her with his amazing pale blue eyes and smiled. They were already bonded. Part of her resolve started to slip.
Tori sniffed then started chirping happily, “Okay you two. One last kiss then it’s time for you to fly, Mom.”
She kissed him on the forehead, gave him a watery smile then quickly handed him into the waiting arms of his mother who she also quickly kissed on the forehead.
Grabbing her bag, she croaked, “I love you both.” Then bolted from the car before she broke down.
Drae was waiting right outside the door, which was a good thing because she couldn’t see a thing through the heavy glaze of tears clouding her eyes. He immediately took her arm as she slipped on a pair of sunglasses and struggled to hold it together. Shit. She was going to need a damn tissue.
Leading her to the plane’s stairway, he kept a strong arm about her but didn’t say anything. She sensed he was also struggling.
He waved to the co-pilot nearby but kept on walking and didn’t release her till they reached the stairs.
“Do you want me to see you aboard, Mom?”
She heard the tiniest quiver in his voice. Be brave Stephanie, she heard in her mind. Oh God.
“No, I’m good, shugah,” she drawled.
Maybe she was laying it on a bit thick, but that was exactly what this situation called for.
She grasped Draegyn’s arm and smiled warmly. “You just take care of that beautiful family. Enjoy every minute. I’m awfully proud of you, Son,” she husked as emotion began closing in on her composure.
He pulled her into a fierce bear hug, kissed her on the cheek, murmured, “Love you, Mom,” then turned quickly on his heel and walked briskly back toward the limo.
Stephanie climbed the stairway with leaden feet. Thank God she was going to have a couple of hours by herself before she had to slip the mask on and face the world again.
WHEN DRAE GOT BACK TO the car, he basically found a sobbing female weeping all over a bemused-looking baby. She’d moved to a seat that blocked her view of the plane. Probably so she didn’t have to watch her mom leave.
He lifted Big D from his mommy’s arms and dropped him into the car safety seat, strapped him securely, kissed him on the nose, then turned his attention to Victoria. She was a fucking mess.
He went to her and pulled that little body he loved so well onto his lap. Where she belonged.
“Okay sweetie,” he soothed in a gentle tone as he stroked her back slowly. “No more tears.”
She hiccupped to a stop, sniffed loudly then sat up. Swiping a hand across her face, whether for the snot or the tears he couldn’t tell, she nodded.
“I know. Sorry. I’ll be okay in a minute.”
Drae was letting Victoria call all the shots on this one. She was definitely lead agent in charge, he snickered silently. He was taking his cues from her.
“You sure you know what you’re doing, right? I mean, I can stop that plane from taking off you know. Just say the word.”
She pushed some unruly hair off her tear-stained face and looked at Daniel. “No. This is what has to happen. I don’t think she’ll budge. Not yet.”
He wished he could read her mind and follow the thought process on this one. She seemed so sure, but he still didn’t get it.
“What exactly are we waiting for?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Well, I think I know, but for now—this is what we’re doing.”
“You want to wait for take-off or leave now?”
“Is there any reason to stay?”
“Nope. I checked in with Sawyer. Everything’s good to go. Flight plan filed. Shit like that. She’ll be home in time to make dinner reservations.”
He sensed her hesitation, but she gave in with a bit of a biting lip tug and said, “Okay, let’s go. Chubs over there,” she nodded, “will be looking for his second lunch soon.”
Drae picked up the car phone and told Ben to head for home. As the car backed up, he saw a familiar sight and chuckled.
“Care to share?” Victoria asked.
“Oh definitely, my clairvoyant wife. Seems that a vehicle belonging to one, Calder Dane—is parked behind the terminal. Betcha he’s on that plane right now pleading his case.”
“Oh, my God, really? Are you sure it’s his car?”
“Victoria St. John! Really?” he sneered with mock indignation. “Your husband does surveillance for a living. Care to ask that question again?”
She giggled and sighed happily.
“Does he have authority over the plane?”
“You mean can he prevent it from taking off? Absolutely. Alex made him a junior partner along with Brody. It’s not just the three of us anymore.”
“Well. In that case, let’s go home. See what happens.”
Drae thought about that for a moment then asked, “Do you think he’ll stop her?”
She snorted, amused. “I think he’ll try.”
“Will it work?”
“Nope. He’s not there yet. He’ll bring something today, he has to or the trip out here will be wasted but he won’t come fully loaded.”
Drae had to laugh. “I like
the way you think, woman. Especially about the come fully loaded part.”
Victoria torched him with a searing look that practically singed his eyelashes it was so hot.
Purring like a sex kitten, she rubbed her nose on his chin, squeezed his thigh with one of her delicate hands, and murmured huskily, “You’ve been locked and loaded long enough husband. I think tonight we’ll release the safety.”
He pretended to consult his watch and said, “So what exactly constitutes tonight?”
His delicious vixen of a wife laughed and slapped his thigh. “Settle down, Beavis,” she laughed.
STEPHANIE LET HERSELF INTO HER upscale condo in an acceptable Atlanta neighborhood and dropped her keys into a bowl. Except for the sound of the metal hitting the wood, the place was silent. Why did that bother her so much? It never had before.
Dragging herself into the living room, she collapsed on the sofa as if she’d just endured a hellacious ten-hour flight that was overcrowded, uncomfortable, and had a dozen screaming kids.
The reality was that she flew private, first class, pampered and cosseted the whole trip. She was met by a local limo company she did tons of business with and never had so much as a hair out of place.
Her energy drain was because of the scene on the plane. The one with Calder pleading with her to quit her job, stay in Arizona, and investigate a future there. Ostensibly with him.
She’d wanted to smack him. Men. They are just too damn thick sometimes. He went off on a tangent about giving up her business or hiring a full-time consultant and simply managing from afar. Shake up her life completely. Move a thousand plus miles away, with no job and no plan for the future as if that was how life went.
And as for investigating a future? She’d been insulted. The statement was as repulsive as the see if it’s got legs comment. Not only that, he never once spoke of his feelings. As far as she knew, he didn’t have any. Unless they were in bed, of course. Then, then he had tons of feelings.
As he was talking and basically turning her into stone, she realized that she’d wanted him to come after her. But not like this. Not based on some convoluted investigative theory. Be careful what you wish for.
It had gone rapidly downhill from there. They both said a lot of dumb things. She knew Captain Sawyer was hovering nearby waiting for the go ahead to taxi to the end of the runway. In short—the encounter was a perfect shit storm where everything went wrong.
Stephanie groaned out loud knowing it was going to take her a long time to erase the sight of Calder’s enormous shoulders as he turned and walked away.
But that was then and this was now. She didn’t know what tomorrow held but for now at least, she was home and it was time she looked around her life and made some hard decisions about the future.
Yeah. That’s what I’d do. Right after she video chatted with Tori and got to say goodnight to Daniel.
“MMMMMMMM. THAT FEELS HEAVENLY,” MEGHAN murmured. Warm hands stroked her back in long, luxurious caresses that eased some of the tension from her body.
“I know this is more your thing than mine, but your shoulders really are tight, babe. Try and relax, okay?”
She was trying, but nothing was working. Not even Alex’s solid presence and the soothing feel of his hands on her skin. It was nice, but she was distracted.
Her big, cathedral wedding was happening in two months’ time, and she was beginning to feel the weight of the preparations weighing her down.
Angie was coming in a week. It would be great to finally meet Alex’s sister in person, and she was certainly glad for the woman’s help with the wedding. After all, she did PR, Marketing, and Event Coordination for the vineyard so she was actually going to be bringing some welcome mad skills to Meghan’s bridal world.
But even though Alex wasn’t saying anything she’d been picking up on some subtle clues that Angelina coming to Arizona for a long visit was going to bring with it some complications. Seems as though there was some kind of connection between Alex’s sister and his oldest friend, Parker, that could make life interesting.
Big things were also happening for the agency. It was a lot to take on board. So many changes all at once.
She missed Brody’s energy, too. It seemed damn weird when he had packed and left. The good thing about that, though, was that when he came back in the spring, he’d be staying for good. Of course, she’d see him at the wedding, but Meghan already considered Brody Jensen a member of the family. Not having him around was like driving a car with only three wheels.
But by far, her biggest and most troubling distraction was coming from the man Alex relied on to take over so he could have some downtime. Truth was, Calder was such a fucking mess that he wasn’t much help these days.
It had been two weeks since Stephanie left, and he’d been slowly falling apart that whole time. He looked like shit. Definitely wasn’t eating or sleeping and was about as much help to Alex as a group of second graders on a field trip. He was asking more questions than the answers he provided.
Not only that, but Tori was not much better. She constantly whined about missing her mother and seemed to needle Calder about it at every opportunity.
Something had to give. And soon. She just didn’t know what it would be.
STEPHANIE LOOKED AROUND, TAKING IN every detail of the room. It looked good. Clean. Beautifully decorated. Simple.
There wasn’t a thing out of place. It was like walking through a photo shoot for House Beautiful.
A sense of pride washed over her. She’d done well with this place. The sophisticated contemporary feel of her home wasn’t an accident. Every piece of furniture, every accent, each accessory was chosen to reflect a sense of the woman who chose them. She loved the décor. It was so her.
The sound of her heels tapping on the beautiful hardwood flooring helped drown out some of the voices in her head. She was doing the right thing—had made some hard decisions along the way—but she was sure in her heart that she was on the right track. For her.
Other might not agree. Hell, a bunch of them didn’t. But she had to stay true to herself and do what was best for her.
It had been a month since she left Arizona and she’d not wasted a single minute worrying about what could have been or trying too hard to pin down a picture perfect future. Life didn’t work that way.
But she’d put a bunch of things in motion that were kind of scary because they meant change was coming to her life, but she was okay with that. Finally.
The doorbell rang and her stomach did a summersault at the sound. Showtime, she thought with a wry grin. Who woulda thought?
Pausing at the mirror by the door, she checked out her make-up, ran her fingers on the corner of her mouth to fix some lipstick migration, and tried on a bright and cheery smile. She could do this. She really could.
Going to the door, she swung it open with a display of high spirits and stopped dead.
“Calder ?”
“Hello, Duchess.” He looked her up and down, noted her outfit and drawled, “Going somewhere?”
She started and shook her head vigorously. “No, no. Business. A meeting,” she burbled. “Um, wanna come in?”
When the corner of his mouth tilted up in an easy smile, she felt a warmth around her heart. Oh my.
It was then she noted the two large bags sitting on the floor by his feet. Oh, and the tremendous rolling case with the Justice Agency logo on the side. What was going on?
“What’s all that?” she asked.
He hauled the bags in and went back for the case, depositing all of it in her modest foyer. She had to bite back a comment because he had so much stuff it looked like he was moving in.
When everything was in and stacked, he stood there with his hands at his waist and stared at her with an unreadable expression. She felt a blush moving up from the soles of her feet—leaving a hot red trail as it headed for her face.
Who told him he could look so yummy? It just wasn’t right.
He was in b
usiness attire. A suit. Dark blue—perfect for his fair coloring. Hugo Boss, if she was correct. In her line of work, she knew a little about these things. In a word, he looked awesome.
She was wearing an Oscar de la Renta outfit with a pencil skirt and a ruffled hem jacket that had cost a fortune, but next to him, she felt like Eliza Doolittle.
“Um, I don’t understand what you’re doing here,” she mumbled.
The look he gave her made her gasp. With pleasure. Oh, my God, she realized. He was here for me. Calder Dane came back for her.
She blinked. It felt like slow motion then she ran to him as fast as her Louboutins would carry her and leaped into his arms.
He caught her, wrapped her tight in his arms. One hand splayed low on her back, which was more of a half ass-grab than anything else, and the other banded about her middle holding her firm against his solid chest.
“I’m here m’lady…because that’s where you are. Wherever you are is where I want to be. Got tired of waiting for you to come back so,” he shrugged, “here I am.”
And then he kissed her. No. Like really kissed her. For a long time. Standing right there in her foyer, plastered to him chest to thigh.
She pushed her hands into his hair and groaned. “I’ve missed you,” she told him when he let her up for air.
“Good,” he grunted. “’Cause I’m not letting you go.”
There was more kissing. Eventually, they stumbled into the living room where they made out like kids on a prom date.
A wild thrill tore through Stephanie when he stood and scooped her up into his arms. Wow. Being carried was seriously all kinds of sexy.
“Bedroom?” he asked between kisses.
“Behind you. Up the stairs. Second door on the right.”
She didn’t get to say anymore. She couldn’t. Not with his tongue doing all sorts of wicked things inside her mouth.
When he strode into her bedroom, his foot hit something. Almost stumbling, he set her down and looked around the room.
Confusion showed on his face as he took in the scene before him. Several suitcases were lined up near the door; that was what his foot had connected with, and a couple of moving boxes sat next to them.
Always (Family Justice Book 1) Page 49