Trust Me: Matty and Kayla, Book 3 of 3 (The McDaniels Brothers 7)

by Bell, Christine

  I had to stay in Southie for another couple days to get to spend the rest of my life with Matty McDaniels?

  “Absolutely. Your family is waiting at the pizza place. We should hurry up,” I said, making my way to the table to close my laptop and finish packing up.

  “We could…” Matty said, rolling up behind me to wrap his arms around my waist. “Or we could stay here and make out for a while.”

  I whirled around to face him, shoving aside the last of the sadness, vowing to focus on only the good for a while. And man, was this good.

  “Actually, I think I might have forgotten to pack a few things in my bedroom. Want to help me look?” I asked with a wink.

  “Oh, hell yes. I’m good at finding stuff.”

  I led him down the hall, feet barely touching the ground, and realized he was right. We were both pretty good at finding stuff. I might have lost my mother and my father now too, but I’d found the one thing I’d been missing my whole life.

  Someone to love me through the good times and the bad.

  I’d found Matty McDaniels. And that was more than enough for me.

  Epilogue

  Two weeks later…

  Reid

  Moving day was turning out to be a major hassle. Who knew a bunch of boys who never had shit would have collected so much of it through the years?

  I tossed what seemed like the hundredth pair of running shoes into a black plastic bag. We’d used up every suitcase, duffel bag and backpack in the place the day before, and still had another whole room to empty out.

  “Someone want to pick up lunch and some drinks?” Olivia asked, stepping into the hallway and glancing my way, a pleading expression etched into her face. A streak of sweat trickled down her cheek and I took pity on her.

  “Sure. Call some sandwiches in and I’ll make a run.” I stood and tossed the garbage bag full of shoes to the side. “Soda or Gatorade?”

  “Iced tea, if they’ve got it.”

  “Me too!” Kayla called from half-inside a kitchen cabinet where she was packing up the last of the pots and pans.

  “Same here. Hey, did anyone empty the linen closet yet?” Bash called from the bathroom.

  Jesus, it was going to be a long day. Still, I couldn’t seem to wipe the smile from my face.

  We’d needed this. Not just Kayla and Matty. All of us. I don’t know why I hadn’t seen it before. I loved Boston. It was home. But my brothers and I had been in a rut for a long time. We needed a fresh start, and Vegas was the perfect place to do it. Lots of action, lots of places to fight, and far away from all the drama that had been our lives here.

  I grabbed my car keys from the counter and headed out. “Order me a meatball sandwich,” I called over my shoulder to whoever was listening. I paused until I heard a grunt in response and continued down the stairs.

  When I stepped into the gym, I slowed and took a second to look around. It was empty now, save for a few torn up mats we’d decided to throw away. The rest, we’d jammed into the moving van Matty and Kayla were going to drive out to our new digs in Vegas. We’d sold the gym outright for just enough money to pay rent on a four bedroom house for a year in advance. It had a huge finished basement we were going to trick out and make into a home gym until we found a spot to rent locally.

  Things were falling into place so smoothly, it was almost creepy. Such a sharp turn from the long, pothole-filled road we’d taken to get here. I could only hope it was good karma swinging back our way.

  I took one last look, half-expecting to feel a little sad, but all I felt was excited. Looking forward to the future. Tossing my keys from one hand to the other, humming the tune to Spiderman under my breath, I crossed the floor to the front door and unlocked it. Just as I went to push it open, a knock sounded.

  Probably the new owner stopping by to pick up a set of keys.

  A welcoming smile at the ready, I shoved the door open. My brain struggled to make sense of what I was seeing and then everything went black, like a gaping void of thought, leaving nothing behind but a low hum.

  “Reid?” the woman at the door said softly.

  My world spun at the sound of her voice, and the breath left my lungs in a whoosh. I wanted to say something back, but it was like my motherboard was fried and I couldn’t make my mouth move.

  Until I did.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  “I came to see you, of course.” Despite the tears filling those gray-blue eyes, her thin lips curved into a smile. “Mommy’s missed you, baby.”

  The End

  Looks like Sherri McDaniels is back in town! Stay tuned for the first installment of Reid’s story, Between Us, coming end of October, 2014. Haven’t read the rest of The McDaniels Brothers stories? Check out the whole series for free with Kindle Unlimited!

  Sign up for Christine’s mailing list for early release info, exclusive excerpts and contests.

  If you liked Trust Me, check out this excerpt from Christine’s sexy new novel, Reforming the Rock Star!

  When Sydney Metcalf's bestie asks her to cater her wedding, Syd can't say no, even though the thought of going back to her hometown makes her break out in hives. She's off to a great start until best man and rock god Lazlo Stone calls with a request for her to cater the bachelor party too. Petit fours adorned with rose petals, she can handle. A cake shaped like boobs for the sexiest guy in the universe? She's not so sure. But this is the chance of a lifetime and she refuses to screw it up by being a prude…

  When a sexy stripper dressed as a Plain Jane crashes the bachelor party, Laz is all about getting vertical and making some music with her. Too bad his stripper is really the caterer and the bride's best friend. After a kiss between them blazes out of control, he can't seem to stop thinking about sweet little Syd.

  But everybody knows, life on the road and love don't mix…

  Excerpt

  It was do or die. But what choice did she have? There was no way out of the kitchen except through the great room.

  Or the window, a little voice in her head whispered.

  Which was ridiculous. Totally ludicrous. She eyed the window facing the driveway but dismissed it out of hand. Too small. She turned to assess the wide pane of glass above the sink and tipped her head to one side. It was plenty big enough. She could scoot out and no one would ever be the wiser.

  And you could put off meeting the man behind the voice for one more day.

  Which was really the crux of the matter, wasn’t it? Not just the strippers and not just looking a mess, but also if Lazlo Stone saw her and instead of the warm appreciation in his tone like it had been during their phone conversation, she’d have to see his face drop when he got a load of how ordinary she was. Especially when standing next to the women that were about to show up to the party.

  The window it is.

  She stripped off her apron and glanced down at her clothes. The white button-down was her favorite, and she’d managed to wear it dozens of times in the kitchen without staining it so far. Paired with the sensible black pencil skirt, and comfortable flats, it was her best cooking-for-business outfit.

  Nondescript, but professional.

  It said, you’re in good hands. If she dove through the window and out onto the porch, she was sure to destroy her tights at the very least. Another peal of laughter rent the air, and she opened the window with a renewed sense of urgency.

  The night was warm and the breeze tickled her face as she dangled her purse and knife case out the window and lowered them gingerly onto the porch. Then, she hauled herself onto the counter, straddling the sink.

  God help her if someone walked in now.

  She scaled the sill with a grunt. Shimmying forward, she swung her legs out first and found herself hanging halfway out, feet scrabbling for purchase. She tried to keep moving downward, but her leg wouldn’t budge. With a jerk, she finally freed herself. The last thing she heard before tumbling out the window was a distinct and ominous ripping sound.

&nbs
p; “Argh!”

  She landed on the ground with a thud, flat on her back. The breath left her lungs in a whoosh, and she gasped, trying desperately to get air even as she tried to assess the damage. Aside from a twinge in her elbow that felt more like a scrape than anything serious, she was good. If only she could catch her breath.

  “You okay?”

  She turned to see Lazlo Stone, hip hitched against the porch column, the suspicious glint in his eyes at odds with the bemused smile perched on his beautiful lips. Even if she’d had the breath to answer him, she couldn’t have.

  He was like a statue created by some Greek or Italian master sculptor with a vowel at the end of his name. Just stunning. And she thought he’d seemed big from afar. Up close he was a giant. Larger than life.

  From her position—flat on her ass and blinking up at him—it looked like he could have hung the stars in the sky.

  “Anybody home?” he asked softly. He stepped toward her, weaving a little, and she scuttled backward, instinctively. He froze and held up both hands. “Look, I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to make sure you’re okay and talk to you about what you were doing jumping out of that window there.”

  He gestured to where blue-checkered curtains fluttered in the breeze. Which meant he hadn’t just come in at the tail end of things. He’d officially witnessed her topple out a window and land on her back like a flipped tortoise. Excellent. She considered his question as she sucked in another breath.

  How to answer him?

  It had seemed so clear at the time but now, with him staring down at her through bleary but gorgeous so-brown-they-were-almost-black eyes, it was hard to remember why she hadn’t just gone into the great room, introduced herself, and said her good-byes on the way out.

  He closed the space between them with another few steps and held out a big hand.

  She took it and allowed him to pull her gently to her feet.

  “You could’ve been hurt.” There was an underlying note of censure in his voice that made her bristle. Bristling was good. Far better than fawning, at any rate.

  “It, uh, it couldn’t be helped.”

  “Mind if you tell me what you were doing in the kitchen that made it necessary for you to sneak out the window? Are you like a cat burglar or something?”

  She craned her neck back to gaze up at him. His scent was so masculine—like beer, hot buttered man, and testosterone in a blender—that it was distracting as all the be-damned. “Cat burglar? God no. And I wasn’t sneak—”

  “You don’t look like a thief, so I’m guessing it’s worse than that. Who are you with?” he pressed impatiently.

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “The Times?” He let out a disgusted snort, “Please tell me it’s not fucking TMZ.”

  “TMZ? Wha—I don’t even know what that is.”

  His brow quirked as he studied her and took a step back to assess her clothing. “So you’re not a reporter?”

  She shook her head firmly, not sure which of the allegations to tackle first. God, how had this gotten so out of hand? “No, of course not. I—”

  The thunderous frown faltered, giving way to a knowing smile. “Ah, I got it now. Which one of the guys called you?” He didn’t wait for her to answer, and continued, his speech slightly slurred. “You know, if you’d asked me an hour ago if I was down with the whole sexy-librarian thing, I’d have said not really. Kind of played out, you know? But you…” He let his dark gaze travel down the front of her body and back up again. “You’re getting it done, doll.”

  He lifted a hand to her dark hair, and the clip that had been holding the mass in place came tumbling down. He caught his breath and let out a low growl. “Oh, yeah. That’s real nice.”

  Wait, so now he thought she was the stripper? Anger bubbled through her veins, but right on its heels was a warm flush of pathetic pride. Laz Stone thought she was sexy enough to be a stripper?

  Check out the rest of Reforming the Rock Star, here!

  Other Books by Christine Bell

  Trust Me: Matty and Kayla, Book #1

  Trust Me: Matty and Kayla, Book #2

  Fix You: Bash and Olivia, Book #1

  Fix You: Bash and Olivia, Book #2

  Fix You: Bash and Olivia, Book #3

  Down on her Knees (book #4 in the Dare Me series)

  Down the Aisle (book #3 in the Dare Me series)

  Down and Dirty (book #2 in the Dare Me series)

  Down for the Count (book #1 in the Dare Me series)

  Dirty Deal (Book #2 in the Perfectly Matched series)

  Dirty Trick (book #1 in the Perfectly Matched series)

  Guardian for Hire (book #2 in the For Hire series)

  Wife for Hire (book #1 in the For Hire series)

  White Lie Christmas (with author Riley Murphy)

  The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale

  YA Books by Christine Bell writing as Christine O’Neil

  Chaos

  Bio

  Christine Bell is the USA Bestselling Author of Adult and New Adult contemporary romance novels. She and her handsome hubby currently reside in Pennsylvania with a four-pack of teenage boys and their two dogs, Gimli and Pug. If she gets time off from her duties as maid, chef, chauffeur, or therapist, she can be found reading just about anything she can get her hands on, from Young Adult novels to books on poker theory. She doesn’t like root beer, clowns or bugs (except ladybugs, on account of their cute outfits), but lurrves chocolate, going to the movies, the New York Giants and playing Texas Hold 'Em.

  Writing is her passion, but if she had to pick another occupation, she would be a pirate…or, like, a ninja maybe. She loves writing romance, but also hopes to one day publish something her dad can read without wanting to dig his eyes out with rusty spoons.

  Christine loves to hear from readers, so please feel free to get in touch with her via her website contact page, her mailing list, on her Facebook page, or on Twitter@_ChristineBell

  Copyrights

  Trust Me, Matty and Kayla Book Three, All Rights Reserved

  Trust Me, Matty and Kayla, Book Three, Copyright © 2014 Christine Bell

  Published by Christine Bell

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from author.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author's imagination and used fictitiously. The author does acknowledge the trademark status and trademark ownership of all trademarks, service marks and word marks mentioned in this book. The author does not have any control over, and does not assume any responsibility for third-party Web sites or their content.

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