When Promise Meets Passion

by Morgan, Nicole

  When Promise Meets Passion

  When Cole Bottego met Leah Allbright she was just a girl, the younger sister of his Marine buddy, Dex. Both of their lives were changed forever in 2007 when an IED killed Dex. In his friend’s final moments, Cole promised to always look out for Leah.

  Years pass and Cole keeps his promise. Now grown, Leah is a rookie police officer under the watchful eye of her police chief, Cole. The dynamics of their new roles prove to be more than either of them were prepared for. After years of being best friends they find their feelings changing and complicating their once-easy camaraderie.

  Will temptation prove to be too strong for either of them to resist as they’re given a chance to have something neither of them knew they wanted? Or will Cole push his desires aside because of a promise he made years earlier to a dying friend?

  Genre: Contemporary

  Length: 50,287 words

  WHEN PROMISE MEETS PASSION

  Nicole Morgan

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

  WHEN PROMISE MEETS PASSION

  Copyright © 2012 by Nicole Morgan

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-61926-863-0

  First E-book Publication: July 2012

  Cover design by Jinger Heaston

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of When Promise Meets Passion by Nicole Morgan from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Nicole Morgan’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Morgan’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  When Promise Meets Passion was a lot of fun for me to write. All too often in this day and age people are constantly on the lookout for the perfect partner in life. As we size up every potential mate, we often times check off all of their attributes from our list of “must haves” and may even move on from someone if their cons far outweigh their pros. In this book Cole and Leah find out that what they want and need more than anything, the person that completes them the most in life, is right under their noses.

  In life, there needn’t always be a long search for that one true love. Especially when sometimes they’re closer than you may think. So, to all of those out there searching for true love and your happily ever after, don’t ever give up and be sure to look all around you. The person you love the most might be waiting for you to notice them.

  To Zac—Thank you for proving my above theory correct. I love you.

  WHEN PROMISE MEETS PASSION

  NICOLE MORGAN

  Copyright © 2012

  Prologue

  Somewhere in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan, Spring 2007

  The atmosphere surrounding them in the Humvee was heavy. The heat made the air weigh almost more than the rucksacks they were forced to wear. The constantly shifting weather of the sandbox made Dex wonder why in the hell he re-upped a month ago.

  This was his third deployment to this godforsaken land, and he was starting to wonder if their role was even purposeful anymore. With his internal struggle over rules of engagement, sometimes he felt as though he was fighting a war blindfolded and with his hands tied behind his back.

  Being a damn good sniper—one of the best—made it easier on him than others, but still there were a lot of obstacles facing them in the rules of engagement. He wasn’t boasting, rather stating a matter of fact. Still, even the greatest sniper in the world was no match against the US Government when they muzzled his weapon and silenced his objections.

  One of the Afghan soldiers held out a stick of gum to him from the front seat. Raising his hand in a polite gesture, he turned down the offering.

  The soldier, Fahran, was a good and simple man, very unlike many American men who got caught up in the trappings of life. He worked hard with the team. He was never one to complain and always the first to smile and thank them for teaching him new things. He was just a young father who wanted better for his new bride and baby daughter.

  Oftentimes he wondered if he would ever find someone that he loved as much as Fahran did his family. There was no question that the soldier would put his life on the line for any of them in a heartbeat. He secretly ached for that kind of devotion to another. That type of deeper connection that transcended normal explanation. Though he would never openly admit it, he wanted what so many described as love.

  It was an emotion he’d never experienced with a woman before. Other than his mother and sister, he hadn’t ever come across a woman who made him feel like there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. He’d never had the craving to explore the possibility of a relationship with any of the women he casually dated.

  Sometimes he just wrote that off to being a Marine. Active duty didn’t mix well with forming a relationship with someone. Not to mention he got tired of hearing his buddies bitch and moan that their women were cheating on them while they were deployed.

  Subconsciously he considered the possibility that he never explored more with the women he dated because he didn’t want to give them the chance to mind-fuck him like so many of the other wives and girlfriends did to his buddies. Women, he loved them and all their beauty, but he also knew they were the very creatures who could destroy a man.

  A loud explosion sounded, prompting Dex to grab and hold onto a safety bar. The Humvee flew to the side and landed with a deafening crash on the h
ard desert floor. Shouts reached him from far away. They were faint and almost a mere whisper. He couldn’t hear much above the ringing in his head. The loud and constant sound was so intense he closed his eyes and tried to will it away.

  His body was being jostled painfully as he felt the scorching earth being dragged underneath his body. He opened his eyes to see a man pulling him by his shoulders.

  Cole.

  His brother, not by blood, but by the corps, had grabbed a hold and drug him away from the Humvee, shouting orders to someone nearby. A cloud of dark smoke filled the sky behind him. Cole, who was normally calm and kept his cool, was visibly shaken and upset about something.

  “How many fingers am I holding up?” Cole asked.

  Dex looked at his hand. He understood the question but didn’t understand why he was asking. The ringing in his head made it so hard to concentrate. A surprising chill raced up his body, and he wondered why he was so cold. The last time he’d checked, it was well over a hundred degrees.

  “Dex, can you hear me? How many fingers am I holding up, man?” Cole persisted.

  Suddenly all of his senses seemed to crash together in one moment of realization. He could hear the sound of several soldiers shouting for medics. He smelled gasoline burning somewhere nearby, and an excruciating pain shot up his left leg and lingered somewhere in his abdomen.

  “Fuck!” Dex screamed from the pain.

  “Easy. I know, buddy. The medics are on their way.”

  “What the fuck happened. Shit. How bad is it?”

  He bit down on his teeth so hard to try to fight the pain, he felt a tooth crack. A couple years back he’d been shot in his leg, and it didn’t even come close to the agony he felt right now.

  “Your Humvee struck an IED. You’ve got some injuries to your leg and stomach.”

  Cole was normally the one calming his irrational ass down, and damn good at it on any given day, but now he sucked at it. Doing a downright shitty job. Worry filled his best friend’s eyes, and his voice shook as he attempted to calmly tell him about his wounds.

  “How fucking bad?”

  “Not bad, man. You’ll be fine. Just hang tight for the medics. They’re about five minutes out.”

  “Bullshit! Don’t fuck with me, Cole. I’m…” He threw his head back against the heated desert floor and tried not to pass out from the pain. “Fuck, it hurts.”

  Cole looked up and whispered something before returning his attention to Dex. “I need you to hold on, brother.”

  “I fucking knew it. It’s bad. I know it is.”

  “Shut the hell up. You’re a goddamn marine! Act like it!”

  Dex looked at him and became overwhelmed with sadness. The pain was indescribable, intense, and unrelenting as it swept throughout his body. There was no way he would make it. The knowledge of this fact was reflected back to him in Cole’s eyes. He could read that man better than anyone. Medics or not, he would not survive this. “I’m so damn cold.”

  Cole took his hand. “I know, brother. Fuck.”

  Dex watched as his best friend and one of the best spotters he ever had turned his head away while his voice shook.

  “Hey, what the fuck are you doing? Marines don’t fucking cry. What the hell would Chesty say?”

  Cole turned back to him and laughed bitterly at his joke. “General Puller would tell me to drop and give him twenty.”

  “Fuck that. He’d tell you to give him a hundred for being a pansy-ass.” He cringed on the last word, the pain becoming so intense it literally took his breath away.

  “Jesus, you’re bleeding so fucking much. Just try and hang on for the medics.”

  “Negative, Cole. You and I both know there isn’t anything they can—”.

  “Goddamn it, Dex!” Cole interrupted. Tears started to fill Cole’s eyes.

  “Listen to me. Do not cry for me, brother. Be strong and do not shed a tear for me. Promise me that!” He winced against the pain and fought the chill creeping into his soul. His entire body felt like he was lying in a freezer, not the hot desert of Afghanistan.

  “Tell my mom I love her. Tell my dad, oh shit…” He dropped his head back against another wave of pain.

  “Dex, save your strength,” Cole urged him.

  He shook his head, needing to get all this out, knowing he was fading fast. “Tell him that he’s the best damn father anybody could have wished for. Tell them both that I was one lucky son of a bitch to be adopted by them. And Leah, be there for her. Make sure my little pip-squeak is taken care of. Be her shoulder, be her strength. Be there to hold her hand when she’s scared because I won’t be able to. I promised her when she was a baby I would always look out for her.”

  Cole looked at something in the distance before replying. “Just hang on. The medic trucks are in sight now. Just a couple more minutes and…”

  “Promise me, damn it! Promise me you’ll always be there for her,” Dex demanded, despite his weakened state.

  “All right, fine, I fucking promise. Just hang on!”

  Dex squeezed Cole’s hand as hard as a he could, which he knew wasn’t much. With what little strength he had he spoke his final words.

  “I love you, man.”

  Chapter 1

  United States, Present day

  Cole got out from behind the wheel and slammed the door of his Tahoe so hard the entire vehicle shook. Acid rose in his throat, and he fought the urge to duck behind the Dumpster and hurl. He had closed the five-mile distance between the station and the hospital in record time once he’d gotten the call that Leah had been shot. Panic caused him to nearly walk into the automatic double doors when they didn’t slide open fast enough. There were three things on his agenda. Make sure she was okay, find out what the fuck went wrong, and kick the living shit out of whoever was responsible.

  Her partner, Colby, was standing in the hallway outside an ER cubicle and met him halfway. “Chief, slow down. She’s going to be fine. It’s just a flesh wound.”

  He cared little for the nervous tone in the officer’s voice. It’s not like it was a secret that everyone in the damn department was afraid of him. His protective nature over Leah only made them fear him more. Walking past and ignoring the man’s comment, he pushed the curtain aside and went in.

  “Sir, you can’t be in here right now,” a nurse said with annoyance.

  Cole didn’t miss the displeased look on the doctor’s face as he continued stitching up Leah’s arm, nor did he care. He wasn’t there to make friends.

  “You can call me Chief Bottego, and I am going nowhere until I find out how she is,” he insisted while pointing his finger in their patient’s direction.

  “Chief, I’m fine,” Leah assured him.

  He bit back a curse when she used his official title. It pissed him off when she did that. He’d known her since she was ten years old riding her bike and wearing pigtails for Christ’s sakes. His name was Cole, damn it.

  He raised a brow at her. “Really, Leah? Because from where I’m standing, you’ve got blood trailing down your arm and the word on the radio is that it came from a bullet.”

  Rolling her eyes at him, she answered him with as much sarcasm as he gave her. “Well, as usual, you know all. Yes, Chief, I was shot, but it was a through and through, clean and no damage.”

  “A through and through? Colby said it was just a flesh wound!”

  “Sir! There are other patients in this emergency room. Please wait outside. You can come in once the doctor has finished.” The nurse pointed to the door, not giving him a choice.

  He flung the curtain to the side and saw Colby sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the hall. Seeing him relaxing with a cup of coffee in hand added more fuel to the already-boiling fire raging inside him.

  “Comfortable?” he asked.

  “Chief, look I know you’re upset, but...”

  Cole cut him off. “Do you? I don’t think you have a fucking clue! She’s your partner. It’s your job to have her back. You mind te
lling me just why in the hell she’s lying in that cubicle bleeding and you’re out here enjoying a nice cup of joe?”

  “Jesus, do you think I wanted this to happen? There was no way this could’ve been prevented.”

  “Don’t give me that shit! There is always a way an officer getting shot can be prevented.”

  “No disrespect, Chief. But that is not the case in this circumstance. We were walking out of Harris’s Diner after having lunch and some gangbangers just opened fire. We ducked, got cover, and called for backup, but they sped away.”

  This was exactly the reason he hadn’t wanted to hire her when she graduated the academy last spring. Still, he had, worried that if he didn’t one of the other neighboring towns would pick her up. Westbrook’s normally quiet and safe suburban atmosphere had taken a turn for the worse during the past year. Gangs from the city had branched out to the local middle and high schools, recruiting new members to help push their drugs and violence. There had been an influx of crime activity in the past several weeks that they hadn’t been prepared for.

  “Tell me you got a description of the shooter,” he said.

  “Not exactly. But, I did get a vehicle description and partial plate. Put a BOLO out on it already, but so far no leads have turned up.”

  Cole ran his hand through his hair. He needed to do something with this restless energy to keep himself from punching a damn hole through the wall. It wasn’t Colby he was pissed at. The whole damn situation made him furious. She shouldn’t even be in a line of work that put her in harm’s way.