Chasing I Do (The Eastons #1)

by Marina Adair

  With him.

  “I called and asked if she wanted me there. She didn’t return my call.” She hadn’t returned any of his six dozen calls. “I took that as a big no.”

  At this point, he doubted she’d ever talk to him again. She’d built a great life for her and Kylie, then let him in. And what had he done? Brought the reign of his entire family right into her home and tore it to shreds.

  Gage and Rhett walked into the locker room. Gage opened his locker and took out his phone, checking to see if he had any messages.

  “So then, that’s it?” Rhett asked. “You’re just going to bail?”

  Gage slammed his locker. “I’m not bailing. I am respecting her wishes.”

  “Isn’t that pussy for bailing? Because it sounds like it got hard, you fucked up, and now you’re leaving her hanging to deal with the aftermath. And Mom.” Rhett cocked his head, then blinked. “Sorry, man, for a minute there I thought you were Kyle.”

  Gage grabbed Rhett and pushed him up against the lockers, a loud bang echoing through the room. “This has nothing to do with Kyle.”

  Rhett looked at Gage’s hands, which were fisted in his shirt, and lifted a brow. “Could have fooled me.”

  Gage wasn’t so sure anymore either. Kyle was the hot head, the one who acted first and expected someone else to clean up his shit. And that’s what Gage had done his entire life. Clean up after Kyle.

  Kyle was gone and Gage was still dealing with his messes.

  “Fuck.” Gage let go of Rhett’s shirt, but not before giving his brother a final shove.

  “You tore my shirt,” Rhett whined like a little girl. “It’s my favorite.”

  “Your dog shit in my car.”

  “We’re even on the shirt, but not the cheap shot. You’ve got one coming.”

  “Whatever.” Gage sat on the bench and, resting his elbows on his knees, let his head hang. “I’m so tired of all this shit.”

  “It’s about time.” Rhett poked at the hole Gage had torn in is shirt, then sat down next to Gage. “I don’t know how it all went down, and I don’t know how you’re going to deal with Mom, but I do know that you’ve waited a long time for her,” Rhett said. “And I would hate for you to miss out again because you were once again too afraid to tell her the truth.”

  “I did tell her the truth, then I screwed it all up.” Gage let his head fall against the locker. “All I ever wanted to do was protect her, and somehow I managed to hurt her all over again.”

  “Then, fix it,” Rhett said, as if it were that simple.

  Nothing about this was simple. Gage could negotiate his way out of a Thai prison if he had to, but he couldn’t figure out how to give Darcy what she wanted and not bring her more grief.

  “I don’t know how,” he admitted, hating the feeling of being helpless. “Margo will always be Margo, and I won’t put Darcy through having to deal with her. And Kylie, man that little girl deserves the world.”

  “So you’d rather sit here, crying on my shoulder because you can’t make a choice.”

  Gage froze, because wasn’t that exactly what Kyle had done? He couldn’t choose, so he did nothing and lost it all.

  Gage didn’t want to be that kind of man. And Darcy deserved more from a man than that. Gage wanted to be the kind of man who Darcy could count on.

  The kind of man she could trust, who never disappointed her, and if for some reason he did, he found a way to make it right.

  “Dad would choose love.” He’d probably send her a letter every week for the rest of her life until she knew she was loved. That she was special.

  Rhett smiled and smacked him on the back. “So you admit that you love her?”

  “Hell, yeah, I do.” Gage grabbed his keys and headed for the door. “I gotta go.”

  “Tell Mom I say hi.”

  ❀❀❀

  To think that Darcy had considered Kyle’s funeral as the worst day of her life. That was a walk in the park compared to standing outside a mediator’s office, with a handful of character witnesses on call to attest to the fact that Darcy was a great mother.

  Because Margo hadn’t just filed for custody, she’d filed under the guise that Darcy wasn’t fit to raise Kylie. Which meant that the authorities were involved now.

  Talk about irony. When Darcy had needed someone to step in on her behalf, make sure she was well fed and had clean clothes to wear, there had been no one. And now, she’d given everything she had to being the best mom for Kylie, yet she had to convince a panel of strangers she wasn’t struggling to give her daughter the very thing that came so naturally.

  Love.

  “You sure you don’t want me to come in with you?” Jillian asked. She was not expected for another hour, but she’d come down to offer support.

  “No, I think you have to wait until they call you in.” Darcy thought about walking into that big room and fighting for her daughter. Alone.

  It was a place she’d become familiar with, but now that she’d tasted how nice it was to have someone in her corner, alone suddenly felt daunting. Margo had her lawyer and her condemnation to keep her company. And Darcy had—

  “Oh, no, don’t do it. Don’t you let that woman get in your head,” Jillian said fiercely. “You are the best mom I know, and there is no court in the world that wouldn’t see that.”

  “That’s what I’m worried about,” Darcy admitted. “That Margo will get enough traction that this case actually goes to court. Can you imagine Kylie sitting in a judge’s chambers and answering questions about her home life?”

  “I know. I think about that every day with Sam, which is why I decided to settle out of court with Jerry.” Jillian took her hand. “This won’t go any further than today.”

  “How do you know?” she asked.

  Jillian pulled Darcy into her arms. “Because you’re the nicest person I know and bad things can’t happen to nice people.”

  Darcy had an entire lifetime of experience to make a strong case against Jillian’s theory, but for now she decided to believe. It was easier than the alternative.

  A big mahogany door opened, and a petite woman in a suit and glasses peeked her head out. “Miss Kincaid, we are ready for you.”

  Darcy’s stomach twisted into knots, and her heart raced. With one final squeeze, Darcy let go of her friend, and immediately felt the cold rush of what she was about to face overtake her.

  Time seemed to slow with each step she took, the buzzing in her head going faint, until she was acutely aware of every sound in the building. She took in a deep breath, put her shoulders back, and channeled that same brave girl who had more first days at a new school than she did friends.

  “You never have to fake it,” she whispered to herself. “You’ve already made it.”

  She was a college graduate, a successful business owner, and a fantastic mom. A few of the many things she’d accomplished all on her own.

  She was prepared to do this alone too.

  But when she walked in the conference room, it wasn’t Margo and her expensive lawyer sitting across the table.

  It was Gage.

  Dressed in a dark suit with his negotiating face on, he looked up at her and smiled—and she wondered if this was one battle she wouldn’t have to fight alone. Or if karma was so cruel that she’d have to take on the one person she couldn’t win against.

  “Sorry for the wait, Pink,” he said, walking over. His eyes were calm, and locked on hers. “I was just telling Mrs. Lamont about our picnic.”

  “Our picnic?” she heard herself ask over the pounding of her heart.

  “The one we had in the park. I was telling her about playing dress up with Fancy, and how much fun Kylie had putting on a doggy fashion show.”

  Still unsure of why he was there, of whose side he was on, she lowered her voice. “If this is about seeing Kylie, I’m not going to cut you off, Gage. You know I wouldn’t do that. She adores you and you make her happy.”

  “You always look out for Kylie. I
know that. And these people know that too,” he said. “But I’m not here for Kylie. I’m here for you.” He took her hands in his bigger ones, his thumb stroking her lightly, as if giving her some of his strength. “I’m here to make sure you’re looked out for, and that you’re happy.”

  Darcy looked around the room. “Where’s your mom?”

  “At home, thinking long and hard about where she wants to stand in my life.”

  “The suit?” She looked at the mediator, her heart wanting so badly to believe, but afraid to hope.

  “It has been dropped,” she said, taking her things and standing. “I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, but when a concern is brought to our attention, it is our duty to look into matters. Thankfully, Mr. Easton clarified things.”

  “So, that’s it?” she asked, needing to hear the words with her own ears.

  “That is all from us.” The woman smiled as she was exiting the room. “But I do believe, after the story I heard, that your Mr. Easton has some more groveling to do.”

  The door shut, leaving her with her Mr. Easton. “Thank you,” she said, so many emotions rushing at her she felt dizzy.

  “You have nothing to thank me for,” he said softly. “If anyone should be saying thank you, it’s me. I busted into your world and listed all kinds of demands that you had no reason to listen to. But you did, because you are a good person and a great mom. You let me get to know Kylie, and you let me get to know you, and I promised you I’d protect you. Then at the first sign of trouble, I bailed.”

  “I told you to leave.”

  “I should have stayed,” he said. “I should have stayed and been there to ride the low with you. You aren’t the one who is struggling, it’s my family. I wrote you a note that said you deserved the man my father raised me to be. I was wrong.”

  Darcy tried to pull free, but he held on tighter. “You deserve the man I was born to be. I love you, Darcy, and I should have told you that the first time I realized it. You are so easy to love, and you deserve to hear those words every day.”

  She melted at the romance beneath his statement, but held strong. She didn’t want to give in to romance again, only to wake up and find it was nothing but a fairy tale. She wanted the real thing.

  “Words are easy, Gage, it’s the follow through that’s hard.”

  “You once told me you chose Kylie. You chose Kylie because it was the easy choice. You’re my choice, Darcy. Loving you is the easiest thing I have ever done. Let me love you the way you deserve to be loved. Let me be the lucky son of a bitch that gets to wake up every morning loving you and go to bed loving you even more. Let me be the man I was born to be, because around you I am him. I promise, if you let me back in your heart that I will protect it with my life.”

  “Is there an expiration on this offer?” she asked quietly.

  “Love has no timeline. And if it takes me coming back every day to tell you, then that’s what I’ll do,” he said, the truth shining in his eyes so bright it was her undoing.

  “I don’t want you coming back every morning, because that means you left.” She looked up into is eyes. “The only place I want you, is next to me,” she said through a small sob. “I feel like I’ve been chasing love my whole life, and now that I’ve found it I never want to let go.”

  “I’ve been chasing you for nearly a decade, and now that I’ve finally have you in my arms, I’m never letting you go.”

  “I guess we make a pretty good team,” she whispered.

  “You know what happens next?” he asked, his eyes heating.

  “We eat cake?”

  “We kiss.” He laughed, and Darcy felt it vibrate through her whole body as his mouth came down on hers in a kiss that really did have the power to change the world. Her world.

  When her eyes slid closed, she could feel the sway of their bodies and with each step the weight of the past lifted away, making room for all of the love they were going to share in the future.

  Read on for a sneak peek of Marina Adair’s next

  heartwarming romance from her new series

  The Eastons

  Promise Me You

  Available Summer 2016

  Chapter 1

  If this was what marital bliss felt like, then the only boyfriend Delaney Hart would ever commit to in the future would be battery operated.

  It wasn’t so much that some guy had spilled his beer down the front of her overpriced dress. Or even the fact that she was two shots into the night and the rehearsal dinner hadn’t even started. Nope, what had Laney flipping the universe the big one was that the only man she’d ever wanted to have and to hold was about to marry someone else.

  “Ball and chain locked and loaded,” Owen Easton said from behind the bar, a big ass grin on his face. “I can’t believe my kid brother’s actually going to get hitched tomorrow.”

  Neither could Laney.

  “Next there’ll be a mess of kids and our band will go by way of the diaper genie.” Paul, the band’s bass player slurred, making it obvious that he had drowned one too many sorrows.

  There wasn’t enough alcohol in the world to numb Laney’s pain.

  Ever since Rhett Easton, local pop rock star and legendary ladies’ man, announced his shocking engagement to one of the internet’s biggest fashionistas, the band had been scared. Scared that his new wife would grow tired of the long stretches on the road, scared that she’d convince him to go solo—like their label had been pushing for—and scared because they all knew damn well that without their front man, guitar prodigy Rhett Easton, Subtle Warfare was going nowhere fast.

  Laney was scared too. So scared she hadn’t slept in weeks, her headaches coming more frequently, until she couldn’t drive a car without fear of having to pull over.

  Over the past few years, Rhett had gone from writing partner to friend, and eventually the man who taught her that it was okay to trust. He was the only person in the world who really got her—looked past her hang-ups and saw the woman she could become.

  The only thing she was in danger of becoming, at the moment, was sick.

  “Well, at least he’ll have a hell of a honeymoon. I know it’s wrong to covet your bro’s woman, but man, oh man,” Paul finished with a long look at Stephanie, who stood under the twinkle lit gazebo with Rhett, slowly swaying to the live band.

  “Honeymoon? They should have saved the money and stayed home for all the sightseeing they’re going to do,” one of the other band members joked. “Hundred bucks says they don’t see anything besides the hotel room ceiling.”

  “Two hundred, they never even make it to the bed,” Paul jested.

  This kind of crude banter was normally reserved for poker night or nights on the road after a gig, but since Laney was always seen as one of the guys, they didn’t temper their discussion for her. Normally it didn’t bother her.

  But tonight it did. Because it symbolized the end of her dreams for love, family, children, and eternity. Rhett was it, and yet his dreams lay in the perfect poise and beauty of the woman standing next to him.

  From her vantage point at the bar, Laney was able to see the bride’s slim back, her delicate sheath dress trailing to the floor.

  Stephanie Stone was tall and elegant, her glossy golden curls spilling over her shoulders and onto the white silk of her dress. Eyes brimming with emotion, her smile spoke of a woman about to be married. Her unwavering poise showcased her family’s deep money roots. Her confident nature spoke volumes of the benefit a supportive and wonderful family offered.

  Stephanie was stunning, well-educated, perfectly feminine, and everything Laney could never be.

  “One more,” she said, and her agent, Gage Easton, came up beside her and leveled her with a look. “What? It’s a wedding celebration. Look, I’m even wearing a dress.” She lifted her light orange colored dress, which Stephanie had hand-picked, and she was sure was the epitome of fashion. “The color is cantaloupe whimsy and it has no straps, so Stephanie used some kind
of sticky tape to hold it up. Tape, Gage. I deserve another shot.”

  Gage lifted his hand to order another round, then took the stool next to her. “Or you could learn from my mistake and tell Rhett how you feel rather than just walk out that door and disappear.”

  “You mean walk up to him and say, ‘Hey, I got you the silver chafing dish off the registry, which will sure come in handy on the tour bus. Oh, and by the way, I know you’re about to get married in front of five hundred of your closest friends and family, not to mention the press, but I think I like you. Check Yes or No’?”

  Gage’s eyes went soft with sympathy. “Or, how about, ‘I know you think of me as a little sister, but my feelings for you have changed. I thought you should know, because pal-ing round with you hurts. A lot. And it’s making our working relationship really hard on me’.”

  Today wasn’t about her. Or the band. It was about Rhett, and she understood that this marriage was the right move for him. Stephanie was well spoken, sophisticated, and would be the perfect wife for his booming career. Also, she wasn’t terrified of commitment.

  “When Father Paul said, ‘speak now or forever hold your peace,’ by not speaking up, I non-verbally, verbally agreed to the silence forever clause. And I take non-verbal verbal agreements seriously.” She sent Gage a pretty convincing smile. “You, as my agent, should know these things.”

  Gage rested a hand on hers, and even though her survival instincts demanded that she jerk it back, she forced herself to remain still. “What I know is that you have two choices, either say something or walk. Both will tear you up, but not telling him will haunt you forever.”

  “I’ll be all right,” she assured him. “I just need some time.”

  All Laney knew was tough love. As a kid she learned it was easier to say she was all right, even if she wasn’t. As an adult, she’d learned to just keep smiling. But nothing about this moment was ever going to be all right.

  She could tell him that she was finally ready for a relationship.

  But that would be a lie. And Laney had promised never to lie to herself again. Even for love. She’d done that once, and only recently gained the strength to leave behind the binding web of lies. She was still figuring out who she was. She couldn’t risk losing herself.