“Her men saved you, Brady, and Lynn. I'm thankful for that, but opening up my home to Courtney is inviting too much drama, potential danger, and chaos. My life is crazy enough with newborn twins and Beth's father. And you,” he added.
“Hey.”
“I'm not making any rash decisions I'll regret later.”
“But you're not as pissed as you were,” Ryan said.
“How can I be?” Sean said. “You're alive.”
Ryan smirked then looked to Lynn and nuzzled her neck. “Yes, I am.”
21
Ryan dropped the box of clothes on top of the pile of more boxes of clothes and groaned. Two months after he'd been discharged from the hospital there were incidents like these that reminded him how much healing his body still needed to accomplish. Carrying a box from the car up a flight of stairs tested his lung endurance. But he refused to cave to the pain or lack of breath. Fuck that. He was a man, and no damn bullet wound would sideline him.
When he'd told Lynn's brother that wasn't the first gunshot he'd survived, he overplayed his previous battle scars. Yes, he'd been shot. In the right leg, left shoulder, right foot, and left calf. Not all at once, but all had been considered minor. Well, three. The shoulder bullet needed to be dug out, but that barely laid him up. This wound was a bitch.
The screams of one of the girls suddenly tore through the house. Shit. A second scream, from the other twin, quickly joined in the ear piercing sound. Ryan rushed out of the room. It was only a matter of seconds before...yep, there went Brady, unhappy his cousins were distraught.
When Sean and Beth brought the twins home, they all thought it was cute to keep the three babies together in the living room in their bassinettes most of the day. They even laid the three of them together on the floor so they could bond. Little did they realize how quickly and closely those three cousins would connect. When one of the babies became upset over something, it always, always set off the other two. It didn't matter if they were in three different rooms. Who knew that bonding experiment would bite them in the ass?
Ryan rushed downstairs in time to see Sean and Beth scooping up a twin. He went over to Brady and picked him up.
“Fireman?” Sean asked.
“He's the best looking fireman around, aren't you buddy?” He gave his son a smacking wet kiss. “What's got your diaper in a bunch?”
“Michelle's hungry and isn't patient,” Beth said.
“Which naturally set off Morgan,” Sean quipped.
“And Brady doesn't like his cousins upset,” he babbled.
Lynn and Russ walked into the house, boxes in hand.
“We heard a bunch of miserable babies all the way outside.” Russ laughed.
Lynn set down her box and approached them.
“Are you all right?” she asked him, her hand wiping the sweat off his brow.
“Yeah,” he lied.
“Liar.”
“I'll be fine.”
“Don't push it. Russ is here to abuse. I don't want to make a trip to the ER my first official night moved in.” Her tone bore no argument.
“Yes, ma'am.” He saluted.
Beth chuckled. “Keep that up, Ry, and you two will be perfectly fine.”
Sean's shocked expression caused him to burst out a laugh he tried to hide with a cough, that brought on a legit coughing episode. Lynn took Brady off him while he went to the kitchen, grabbed his inhaler, and took a hit.
“Okay, time to sit,” she demanded.
He couldn't disagree because he couldn't breathe. Slowly he made his way to the sofa.
“Do we need a medic?” Sean asked seriously.
He shook his head. He'd get through this. Eventually he might get back to normal physically, but it would take time. Was he patient? Um, no. But there was nothing he could do to speed up the process. His body was in charge of this one.
Naturally Beth was the one who gave him his dignity and left the room to feed his niece. Sean, the overprotective brother, stood guard despite the screaming newborn in his hands. His brother would never leave his side.
Lynn hovered nervously, the anxious partner of the man she loved. Good God, she was tough. She stood by him through all the shit that had gone down between them. She stayed by his side despite the psycho that'd held a gun to her and his son. Without batting an eyelash the woman put him in his place when he was unreasonable. And he was always unreasonable. Purposely at times. Making up was so much fun. Hell, angry sex was a blast with the Lynn. She was a wildcat when pissed.
Only a couple minutes passed and he felt better, his lungs easing.
“Take it easy,” Lynn insisted.
He gave her the look. The one that said don't question his masculinity.
“Sorry.” She then murmured something under her breath about stupid stubborn military alphas. One of her nuances was mumbling to herself. Little did she know he had excellent hearing and caught every word she quietly spat. He even loved those.
“Hey.” He grabbed her around the waist and yanked her onto his lap, Brady still in her arms. He brushed back her hair and nibbled behind her ear, a very ticklish spot. She squirmed and squealed. “You want to talk about getting hitched?”
“Hitched?” She tried to get out of his firm grasp.
“Yep, hitched. Married. Mated. Utterly devoted to each other.”
“Let's get situated first and then we'll talk about it.” She managed to get off his lap and onto the sofa.
Perfect.
He tackled her, pinned her arms above her head, Brady neatly tucked between them, and clamped her legs between his. He ran his nose up her neck, delved his tongue into her ear that caused a responsive shiver, then blew a warm breath along the spot his tongue just ran. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
“Not fair,” she whispered.
“I want my son to call you Mommy.”
Her eyes flung open.
“I mean, he will anyway, even if we never get married. You'll be his mother.”
“We're in no rush, Ry,” she said. “I want you one hundred percent first. I want everything settled before we do a crazy wedding to add stress on top of it all. I'm just worried about you.”
“Don't worry about me, baby.” He took her mouth in a gentle kiss. “But don't think this convo is over.”
“It's not. We're just going to do it right and not rush,” she assured him.
He let go of her left hand, took her ring finger that held a modest diamond, and kissed it reverently. Who knew months ago when they'd met, she’d tame him? Who knew that he was capable of settling himself down? Who knew he had so much love to give to one woman and a son? Six months ago, his life seemed perfect as a single bachelor. That was a lifetime ago. Now he couldn't imagine his world without Lynn and Brady.
“I love you,” he said softly.
“I love you.” She smiled, those hazel eyes sparkling.
He leaned down to kiss her again, but Brady interrupted with a squirm and an eardrum rupturing wail. Immediately his two cousins went off, again.
“All right, all right, little man, you're hungry. Let's feed you.” Ryan pushed himself upright and snatched his son off Lynn's chest.
They went to the kitchen where Beth and Sean were feeding the twins as they sat at the island, drinking coffee. Lynn poured herself and him a cup while he took the lone bottle on the counter and popped it into Brady's searching mouth. He took the seat next to his brother and Lynn on his other side. Idly he glanced at the four of them, his knowledge that he could have missed out on this very moment and how close he came to never seeing his brother, his sister-in-law, his nieces, his son, and Lynn, his heart and soul, again. He had to look down to keep his emotions in check. Sean's strong hand wrapped around his head and pulled him in for a forehead kiss, knowing what he felt. Lynn's soft hand ran up and down his back in loving support of the rawness he was experiencing. No words were exchanged. There was no need. With the two of them at his sides and his son in his arms, all was right with his
world.
Epilogue
Ryan stepped into the house after his hour long session with the psychologist. For the first time in years, he felt he had a grip on his PTSD nightmares. Two days after he’d been discharged from the hospital, he woke screaming in a cold sweat. His dream hadn’t been about Afghanistan. It had been about Lynn and not getting to her and Brady in time, watching their fragile bodies take a bullet. He’d frightened Lynn terribly. He then had to confess to her and Sean about his nightmares. Fortunately for him, his brother and his fiancée would never judge. In fact, they’d both insisted on lending a hand to get him help. Sean made calls to the people he knew and found someone who specialized in PTSD. He should have sought help years ago. Sometimes he was such a numbskull hardass.
Climbing the steps to find his girl and his son, Ryan needed to discuss finances with Lynn without ticking her off. Since he’d never been in a relationship before, he was clueless on how to approach the topic.
He found Lynn in Brady’s nursery.
“Can we talk?” Ryan hesitantly asked. Maybe he should have greeted her first, you know, to break the ice. Give her a kiss that would curl her cute toes, and maybe she wouldn’t get pissed at him?
“About?” Lynn shoved Brady's clean clothes into his chest of drawers then picked up the receiving blankets littered on the nursery floor.
“I don't want to piss you off.”
Apparently that was a way to grab a woman's attention. Her hands went straight to her hips. “Well, this should be interesting. Go for it.”
“It's about paying you to be Brady's nanny.”
He watched her eyes slightly widen and her body visibly stiffen. Huh?
“It's just, it's not very reasonable for me to pay you, is it?” he asked, his hand discretely sliding in front of him to cover his balls. “We've been living together for a month. We're engaged. We can open a joint checking account.”
She held up a hand for him to stop. “You haven't been paying me.”
“What?” he yelped. What did she think those weekly checks were since the day she started working for him? “Yes, I have.”
“No, I mean, Mr. Murphy has been paying my salary.” She bit her lip.
He didn't understand. “I don't understand.”
“When you hired me, Derrick and Courtney didn't want you to use money you didn't have to pay my salary. They felt what you were offering wasn't enough. They said they'd pay my salary, give me health insurance and vacation pay,” she explained. “I've been placing your checks into an account for Brady.”
“What?” he asked stunned. “They did what?”
“Shhhh, don't wake the baby.” She pushed him out of the nursery and shut the door behind them.
He was going to kill his meddling cousin and her equally meddlesome husband. How dare those two‒ “How much are they paying you?”
“Double what you offered.”
“Fuckin' shit,” he growled. “I'm kicking Courtney's ass.”
“Ryan don't,” she pleaded. “Their salary has helped me pay off my debt and school loans. That's why I took the job. You know I couldn’t find anything that paid enough and this was perfect for me with great pay and benefits. I was drowning in bills and collection calls. They saved me from that. Your salary wouldn't have put a dent into my debt.”
“I don't like you taking money from them,” he argued, but not as harshly as he first intended. His anger quickly dissolved. She was constantly pinching pennies, looking over bills and forms to see what would be paid off when. His girl obsessively stressed over money.
“I know, but it's been the best job I've had.” She took a step into his chest and ran her hands over his pecs. She was trying to distract him, a tactic that usually worked. “I met you, fell in love, gained a son, another brother‒though this one is just as controlling as Russ‒and gained a sister that I absolutely adore. If they hadn't paid me, I would have refused the job.”
Ryan wrapped his arms around her waist. “I think we should stop taking the money.”
“I think you need to let me decide that.”
“Because you'll continue to take it?”
“Not answering that.”
“Lynn,” he warned.
She sighed. “It allows me to stay home with Brady while you're working. If I didn't, then I'd have to look for a job that's opposite your hours and days and that'd be virtually impossible to find. It works this way.”
“Do you want to go back to work? Do you want a hospital job? I can probably get you in,” he said. Damn it, he never considered she might want to work outside the home since she now lived here.
“I'd rather stay home with Brady and make sure he's cared for by someone who loves him. If that's all right? I mean, if you really want me to turn down the money and get a job, we'll have to talk it over.” Her eyes looked into his with clear hatred of that idea.
Ryan sighed. His fucking cousin and her husband had trapped him. Knowing Derrick and his uncanny senses, he'd foreseen this dilemma and took some deep rooted pleasure knowing Ryan would choose the money. He wanted to punch something.
“You want to hit a wall, don't you?” Lynn guessed.
How the hell did she do that?
“Yep.”
“Don't. Sean will make you patch it, and then you'll be pissed and this will go on for days instead of minutes.” It was a warning.
He hated it when she was right. Which was all the damn time.
His mind raced for a plan. Like Sean, he didn’t want Lynn or himself beholden to Derrick Murphy for money. What the hell could they do to get out from under his thumb? Then suddenly it hit him. “Open up a daycare.”
She blinked. “What?”
“Open a daycare. Well, I mean, you can start off small here with a couple kids, get a handle on it, and make your own money that isn’t paid out of my family’s pocket. Meanwhile, we’ll look into opening up a place for you to own your own business.” Yeah, this might work.
Lynn bit her lip, processing. She did it often and it was entirely adorable. Though Ryan refused to tell her that. His girl hated being called adorable. She’d kick his ass.
He pressed further. “I think you could make more money than what you’re bringing home now and still be with Brady. He’ll be around other kids. Hell, you’ll probably end up watching Michelle and Morgan when Beth has to go into the office.”
He knew he had her when her eyes lit with the possibility of becoming a business owner. “That might work.”
“We don’t have to be in a hurry if you take on a couple kids immediately. You can get your state license, and you should be able to build a steady group of kids because of your nursing background. Parents will love that. They’ll feel better knowing their children are with a nurse. In fact, I know a couple parents I work with are always having daycare issues. I can let them know you've available and see what they say.” Man, if this worked, Lynn would be on cloud nine. He knew how she relished her independence and didn’t want to rely on him for income. It’s probably why she hadn’t said a word about Derrick writing her paychecks. Ryan didn’t want to take that self reliance from her. If they could get this together and off the ground, his girl would be a business owner. Why the hell was that making him hard?
“I think we should look into it,” she said softly. She smiled widely and nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay. I’m not making any promises. If it doesn’t work out where I can pay off my school loans and contribute, then no. We’ll have to sit down and work out numbers and find out what is the max number of children I can watch in a home, according to state law,” she said. “I'm sure there's a lot that goes into opening a childcare business.”
“We’ll do that tonight, with Sean and Beth’s help,” he said quickly.
“Beth’s terrific at that numbers stuff.”
“Yeah, she is.” He took a step closer to her, crowding her personal space. “Now, it’s time to make your months of lies up to me.” He pushe
d her against the wall and ground his rock hard erection into her body.
An adorable squeak escaped her lips. “But I didn't lie.”
“Lying through omission is lying, baby,” he breathed, then took her mouth in a wild kiss. He broke away, leaving her breathless. “Let me show you how fiancées make it up to their fiancés when they hide important details.” He unzipped his pants. Lynn smirked and slid to her knees. She looked up at him innocently with those beautiful eyes. Yeah, she was so guilty and understood how to make it up to him in a manner he wouldn’t or couldn’t refuse. Man, she fulfilled all aspects of his life. Lynn managed to turn Ryan into a lovesick fool. He loved it.
###
A note from the author
Thank you for taking the time to read Unexpected Love (The Love Series). I appreciate the fact that in the saturated market of romance novels you spent your limited time and hard-earned money and chose to read about Ryan and Lynn.
If there is something you loved about Unexpected Love, please send me a message and let me know. I absolutely love to hear from you.
If you wouldn't mind taking a moment to review Unexpected Love, I would appreciate your time. The review doesn't have to be long or in-depth. Don't stress. A one line sentence is perfectly fine. But it is important to every author to have as many reviews as possible.
Again, thank you for choosing Unexpected Love to be a part of your library!
~Casey
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Acknowledgements
Many individuals had a hand in putting this novel together. I hope I don't forget anyone.
First, I have to thank Jenn from The Killion Group, Inc. If you’re an author in the need of an editor, I highly suggest her or anyone from this group.
Joanna Chastla, who has created all of my covers, is a breeze to work with, and understands what I want.
Lynn, who, when I didn't have a name for Ryan's heroine, tossed out her own name and I took her up on the offer. Everyday I bore her to death with what's going on with my books and everyday she entertains me by listening. Thank you Lynn for not rolling your eyes at me and telling me to shut it about my novel issues.
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