by Bella Andre
“You, Mia. I just told you, you’re what I really want. Why won’t you believe me?”
It should have been exactly what she wanted to hear, but just as she had with Colbie and Brooke in the bar, she knew in her heart when one of her best friends was simply telling her what they thought she wanted to hear rather than the truth. She would never want her girlfriends to feel that they had to hold back what was in their hearts because they were worried about how she’d react...and she wouldn’t let the man she loved do it, either.
“Of course I believe that you want me, just as much as I want you. But I can handle hearing the rest of it, Ford, hearing what else it is you really want. We’re best friends, remember? And that’s what friends do—they talk to each other and say things they really mean, even if they think it might hurt the other person to hear them.”
He hesitated for a long moment before saying, “I won’t lose you again.”
She knew where his fear of losing her came from. When his parents had wanted him to be someone he wasn’t, and he couldn’t do it, they’d turned their backs on him forever. Obviously, it was what he thought she was going to do to him now.
A lightning bolt jumped in the sky just then, and Mia felt as if it had struck her. Because what if loving Ford didn’t mean setting him free?
What if loving Ford meant never, ever letting him go?
She put her arms back around him and hugged him tightly, the sweet press of their still-connected bodies as sensual as it was comforting. “No matter what you say you want, you’re not going to lose me. I love you just the way you are. You don’t ever need to change for me because you think I won’t love you if you’re not following my rules for how life is supposed to go.” She pressed a kiss to his lips. “Now tell me what you really want, and no matter what it is, I promise I’m not going to go storming off or take my love away.”
“You,” he said again. “I want you.” But then he finally pulled out of her arms. As he stood to pace the tower, the blanket pulled away from his body so that he was gloriously naked as he finally admitted, “I want music.” It sounded as if the words were being wrenched straight from his gut. He took a deep breath. “I want family.” Finally, he turned back to face her. “Everything. I want everything, Mia.”
But even though he was finally telling her the truth, she could see the fear in his eyes as he said, “But I could never ask you to leave your work, your family behind for me. Not when I know how much both of those things will hurt you. I don’t want you to change for me, either.”
Another lightning bolt shot through the sky as she moved to stand in front of him and take his hands in hers. “I already have changed, Ford.”
She hadn’t fully realized this truth an hour ago, had believed there was only one way for both of them to stay true to themselves—by leading separate lives. But now she finally understood something that she’d been too young, too frightened, too overwhelmed, to understand before. Even though her mother had tried to help her see it at dinner on Friday night.
“I know who I am now, Ford, in a way I didn’t know before. When I was twenty-three, I was so scared of how quickly I lost myself in you and your life. That fear of not knowing how to hold on to my own identity made me believe that I was better off without you. But now I’ve finally learned that loving you, supporting you, isn’t going to make me any less. It doesn’t mean I’m going to be nothing more than an extension of you, or a footnote in your documentary unless you pack up all your touring gear in a storage locker in Seattle so that you can be home every night to celebrate one of my deals.”
“So,” he said slowly as his thumbs rubbed gentle circles into the backs of her hands, “if you don’t want me to give up touring and I don’t want you to give up your career in Seattle, but neither of us wants to be apart—”
“Then I suppose we’re just going to have to figure it out one thing at a time, even if it means I have to give up a few big deals along the way—”
“And I skip playing some stadiums—”
“And we miss a few family dinners if we have to.”
“No, I don’t want to miss too many family dinners,” he told her, his eyes warm and loving.
“I agree,” she said with a smile as she brought their hands up to hold them over her heart. “We definitely shouldn’t miss too many of those. And if things start to feel out of balance, we’ll work together to fix it. I’m not young or foolish enough anymore to think it will be easy, but—”
“You’re worth it.”
“So are you, rock star.”
The next thing she knew, he had her on her back on the blankets, and he was levered over her, her breasts pressed hard to his chest, her thighs trapped between his.
“Now that we’ve got all that settled, how about an answer to that question I asked you earlier?”
Of course he had to know what her answer would be, and the yes was right on the tip of her tongue. But just as the anticipation of waiting to make love again during the past week had ended up being more fun than she could ever have imagined, she had to wonder just how fun it would be to add a little anticipation to his marriage proposal.
“You promised no ultimatums this time around,” she reminded him in a sassy voice, one she knew always got him going in a big way, especially judging by the feel of his erection against her thigh as he began to kiss his way down her body.
His stubble scraped in the most deliciously sinful way over the swell of her breasts as he said, “True, but I never promised not to seduce a yes out of you.”
“You wouldn’t make love to me until you knew for sure that I loved you, but now that you know I do, you’re planning on using sex to get your way with everything from here on out?”
He lifted his head from her breasts to grin at her. “Sure am.”
“But—”
How could she finish her sentence when he was licking one nipple while he played with her other breast? Just as she was figuring out how to catch her breath again, he switched his hands and mouth to the other side.
“Mmm?”
The vibration from his throat to her skin made her shiver. And when he began to lick and nip his way down the undersides of both breasts, it would have been so much easier just to give in to his seduction and forget what she needed to say. But somehow she found the will to get out her next words.
“—that’s not—”
She gasped as he slipped his fingers between her thighs and into her. Clearly, it had been smart to keep sex out of their relationship until they’d built a strong foundation first, because she could barely hold a thought in her head when he was touching her like this.
But even more than she loved his touch, she loved him.
“Oh hell,” she finally said, “go ahead and do your worst.”
“Already there, baby,” he murmured against her stomach, before kissing his way lower, and then lower still. “Only you’re about to get my very best.”
And he wasn’t kidding, because just then his mouth covered her and his tongue and hands were slipping and sliding over and into her in the most wonderful way. She was so close, so damned close, and she was going crazy right there on the edge...until he suddenly homed in like a laser with his lips and tongue and fingers and gave her exactly what she needed.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Her orgasm was still rocking and rolling through her when he slid the ring onto her left hand. His grin was a mile wide as he moved back over her so that she could wrap her arms and legs around him.
While admiring her new engagement ring over his shoulder, of course.
“Think you’re pretty sneaky, don’t you, doing whatever it takes to make me say yes?”
“If you think that was sneaky,” he rasped in a husky voice against her mouth as his hands roamed possessively over her, “you should see what I’m going to do next.”
“Let me guess—it’s on that list of yours, isn’t it?”
“It is,” he confirmed as he thrust deep inside her in
one hard stroke to stake his claim on her body as well as her heart.
“Have I mentioned,” she managed to inform him with her own saucy grin, even though it was really, really difficult to string coherent words together when he was moving inside her like this, “that I’ve got a list of my own? One that starts with blocking out all of tomorrow to call each and every one of my family members with the news of our engagement, just like I promised you I would.”
And as he told her just how much he liked that plan by crushing her mouth and body even closer to his, her last clear thought before her climax stole her every functioning brain cell, was that life would always be an adventure with the man who was not only her best friend and her lover...but also the other half of her heart and soul.
Epilogue
“I’m so, so happy,” Mia said to Ian. “But I’d be even happier if you were here with all of us tonight.”
Through their Skype connection on his tablet, Ian could see that Mia was glowing. Everyone was at their parents’ house to celebrate her engagement, but since he hadn’t been able to get from London to Seattle in time for the party, his sister was now sitting in front of their father’s laptop in the den to try to include him in the party.
“I wish I was there, too.” He was still bitter about the meetings he hadn’t been able to shift today without potentially losing millions of his investors’ money. “Next month, when I’m back in Seattle for good, you’ll have to save me a night so I can take you out to celebrate.”
“Me and Ford,” she reminded him in her usual sassy way. Just then, her fiancé moved beside her and slipped his arm around her waist.
Glad she couldn’t see his hands tighten beneath his desk, Ian nodded. “Right. Both of you.” Knowing it would upset his sister if he didn’t try a little harder than that, he nodded at the rock star. “Congratulations, Ford.”
The other man grinned at him, looking ridiculously pleased with the way things had turned out. “Thanks, Ian. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
To drive his point home, Ford kissed his sister in full view of the camera. As if to keep his blood pressure from shooting up too high, Ian’s cousin, Smith, and his fiancée, Valentina—who had walked into Ian’s office right after he and Mia started talking—both chimed in with their own congratulations.
“Wow, you’re having your own Sullivan party in London, aren’t you?” Mia said, grinning at all of them.
“Just for a little while longer, while we wrap up production on our latest film,” Smith said. “Valentina and I will be settling into Seattle soon for the new movie.”
Mia asked Valentina, “Won’t Tatiana be in the area, too?”
Valentina nodded happily. “She just confirmed that she’ll be based in Seattle for a while, starting next month. I’m so glad we’ll be in the same city again.”
“We’re all going to have a lot of fun together,” Mia said, looking specifically at her brother as she added, “won’t we, Ian?”
He could see by her mischievous expression that she hadn’t forgotten his reaction to Tatiana at Marcus and Nicola’s Napa Valley wedding. Fortunately, however, Valentina didn’t seem to have any idea that he’d spent some time with her younger sister...or that there had been bigger sparks between Ian and Tatiana during those fifteen minutes in the vineyards than he’d experienced with any other woman in years.
A few minutes later, after Mia and Ford had signed off to rejoin their party, Ian got up from his leather office chair to pour himself and his guests some stiff drinks. “I’m still trying to get used to the idea of Mia with—” It was still hard to even say the guy’s name without growling it. “—Ford.”
But it wasn’t just the fact that she was marrying a guy with a lifestyle like Ford’s that bothered him. Personal experience had taught Ian how hard it was to keep a marriage together. Still, he forced himself to acknowledge that just because he would never make the mistake of getting married again—or falling in love—that didn’t mean it wasn’t the right path for his sister.
“She obviously knows you’re happy for her,” Valentina said with a gentle smile. “And that some changes take a little time to get used to.”
After handing them each a glass, he took a long drink from his own. “How did you deal with your sisters’ relationships, Smith?”
“Honestly,” his cousin said, “it wasn’t easy. Sophie and Lori both kept things quiet at first, although once Sophie ended up in the hospital and I found out Jake had gotten her pregnant with twins, I pretty much lost it. But then, I saw how she looked at him, and how Lori looked at Grayson, and that changed everything. All I’ve ever wanted is for my sisters to be happy, and when I realized the men they’ve married would give anything and everything to do that, it got a little easier to deal with.”
“I just know I’m going to be a total basket case when my sister falls in love,” Valentina said. “The whole world sees Tatiana as this beautiful, confident movie star, which she is, but I know the real person down deep inside...and how innocent she really is.” Valentina sighed. “All I can hope is that when she does finally fall, it will be for a guy who’s worth it—who realizes just how special she is.”
“Otherwise,” Smith said in an ominous tone, “I’ll have to kill the guy for hurting my new little sister.”
Ian drank the rest of his Scotch in one long gulp.
He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Tatiana since the wedding. Before both of them moved to Seattle, he was going to have to force himself to forget how badly he’d wanted to touch her.
He’d have to do whatever it took to stop thinking about what it would be like to kiss her.
And, no matter what, he’d have to completely push away this insane urge to make her his.
~ THE END ~
For news on upcoming Sullivan stories, click here to sign up for Bella Andre’s Newsletter.
Watch for the next Seattle Sullivan story, JUST TO BE WITH YOU (Ian Sullivan’s story), coming Spring 2014!
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The following books in Bella's New York Times & USA Today bestselling Sullivan series are out now!
THE LOOK OF LOVE
(Chase & Chloe)
FROM THIS MOMENT ON
(Marcus & Nicola)
CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE
(Gabe & Megan)
I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU
(Sophie & Jake)
IF YOU WERE MINE
(Zach & Heather)
LET ME BE THE ONE
(Ryan & Vicki)
COME A LITTLE BIT CLOSER
(Smith & Valentina)
ALWAYS ON MY MIND
(Lori & Grayson)
ONE PERFECT NIGHT
(A novella guest starring Mia Sullivan and Rafe Sullivan)
KISSING UNDER THE MISTLETOE
(Mary & Jack Sullivan)
THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT
(Rafe & Brooke, The Seattle Sullivans)
IT MUST BE YOUR LOVE
(Mia & Ford, The Seattle Sullivans)
JUST TO BE WITH YOU
(Ian Sullivan’s story, coming Spring 2014!)
* * *
Click here to download a Sullivan Family Tree!
* * *
Please enjoy the following excerpt from the first book in Bella Andre’s New York Times and USA Today bestselling Sullivan series...
THE LOOK OF LOVE
Chloe Peterson is having a bad night. A really bad night. The large bruise on her cheek can attest to that. And when her car skids off the side of a wet country road straight into a ditch, she’s convinced even the gorgeous guy who rescues her in the middle of the rain storm must be too good to be true. Or is he?
As a successful photographer who frequently travels around the world, Chase Sullivan has his pick of beautiful women, and whenever he’s home in San Francisco, one of his seven siblings is usually up for causing a little fun trouble. Chase thinks his life is great just as it is—until the night he finds Chloe and her totaled car on the side of the
road in Napa Valley. Not only has Chase never met anyone so lovely, both inside and out, but he quickly realizes Chloe has much bigger problems than her damaged car. Soon, Chase is willing to move mountains to love—and protect—her, but will Chloe let him?
Enjoy the following excerpt from THE LOOK OF LOVE...
Chase almost missed the flickering light off on the right side of the two-lane country road. In the past thirty minutes, he hadn’t passed a single car, because on a night like this, most sane Californians—who didn’t know the first thing about driving safely in inclement weather—stayed home.
Knowing better than to slam on the brakes—he wouldn’t be able to help whomever was stranded on the side of the road if he ended up stuck in the muddy ditch right next to them—Chase slowed down enough to see that there was definitely a vehicle stuck in the ditch.
He turned his brights on to see better in the pouring rain and realized there was a person walking along the edge of the road about a hundred yards up ahead. Obviously hearing his car approach, she turned to face him and he could see her long wet hair whipping around her shoulders in his headlights.
Wondering why she wasn’t just sitting in her car, dry and warm, calling Triple A and waiting for them to come save her, he pulled over to the edge of his lane and got out to try and help her. She was shivering as she watched him approach.
"Are you hurt?"
She covered her cheek with one hand, but shook her head. "No."
He had to move closer to hear her over the sound of the water hitting the pavement in what were rapidly becoming hailstones. Even though he’d turned his headlights off, as his eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, he was able to get a better look at her face.