***
A couple of hours later, we were standing together next to Gavin’s grave.
The sun had just set, so the graveyard was dark, lit by the cool light of a nearly full moon and a sky full of stars.
Levi wrapped an arm around me, and I leaned against him. I wiped a few tears away, but the grief wasn’t overwhelming. It lingered in my heart like a memory.
“He loved you,” Levi said after we’d stood in silence for a long time. “He loved you like crazy. If he bossed you around, it was only because he loved you.”
“I know.” I looked up at Levi, loving him—his strength, his passion, his courage. And his tender heart. “He loved you too.”
Levi was quiet for a moment before he admitted, “I miss him.”
“Me too.”
He leaned down to kiss me.
“I think he’d be glad we’re together,” I said, wrapping both my arms around him.
“No, he wouldn’t. He would beat me up if I even thought about touching you.”
I giggled. “He would have gotten over that. Then he’d be happy.”
“I hope so.”
After a few minutes, by mutual agreement, we turned to walk away from the quiet grave. “Thank you for changing your plans,” I said as I climbed in the car.
“Of course. Just be preparing yourself for the night of your life tomorrow.”
“I’m prepared. I’m expecting champagne and oysters and rose petals and candlelight.”
He snorted. “You’ll get cheap beer and like it. What kind of a man do you think you’re screwing?”
I laughed, the weight of poignancy from earlier disappearing completely. I reached over to cup his face with one hand, and I knew he saw the deep feeling in my eyes because his face transformed with a similar softness for just a moment.
Then he cleared his throat and started the car. “Since you’ve obviously forgotten, I’ll have to remind you what kind of man you’re screwing just as soon as we get home.”
“Dream on, buddy. I already told you I’m all sexed out for today, and you’re not getting laid tonight.”
He gave me a smug smile. “We’ll see.”
So I like to believe I’m a woman of principle, and I would never cave to an arrogant man, no matter how hot he happened to be.
But occasionally an exception had to be made.
Levi did end up getting laid that night after all.
Epilogue
Levi
“Another round?” I asked.
Everyone spoke up in agreement, so I motioned to the waitress to bring over another pitcher of beer before relaxing back in my seat, looking at the three guys who would always be my best friends.
“So how’s Harper doing?” Sebastian asked.
I couldn’t help the smile that crept across my face. “She’s good.”
“Aw, would you look at that,” Cole said as he reached over and slapped me on the shoulder. “I think he’s blushing. Isn’t he cute?”
I wanted to tell him to shut up, but the truth was, ever since Harper had shown up at my place with the plant, I couldn’t seem to stop smiling. Life was good, and I didn’t doubt for one second that I was blushing. Just thinking about Harper and how we’d been reconnecting with one another was more than enough reason to blush.
“Leave him alone,” Declan said. “It’s obvious that he’s having a moment. Chicks do that kind of thing.”
They all broke out in laughter, and even I joined in. Yeah, I was having a moment, and I was okay with it. I planned on having a lot more moments with Harper. A lifetime of them. A fresh pitcher appeared, and Sebastian did the honors of refilling everyone’s mugs.
“How’s the building going?” he asked.
I took a drink before answering. “It’s going great. We were fortunate that there weren’t any structural issues, and all the drywall is up, and the painters start on Monday. If everything keeps going at this pace, we’ll be having a ribbon cutting in about three weeks.”
“That’s great,” Seb said. “Really. I’m glad that you found something you’re enjoying.”
“Other than Harper,” Cole added with a laugh.
I almost reached over the table to deck him, but I chose to take the high road. “Yeah, doing the building has definitely been good. But you know what? It’s not something I see myself doing long-term.”
“So what are you going to do?” Declan asked.
It was something that had been niggling at the back of my mind for a little while now, something Harper had kept wanting me to think about. I hadn’t discussed it with the guys yet, and I was waiting for a night just like this to present it. “Actually, I was thinking of how good it felt when I was helping Harper.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet,” Cole said with a snicker.
“Not like that, you ass. I mean that it was kind of invigorating to figure out the mystery behind it all—the investigating, the protection, knowing that I could help someone that way.”
This time there were no snide comments. Declan leaned forward on the table. “What are you saying?”
I shrugged. “I realize that Harper was a unique case. She’s Gavin’s sister, and the situation just sort of landed in my lap. I didn’t come back here to be a PI or a bodyguard, but that’s what I ended up doing. And I think that I did a pretty good job at it.” I looked over at Sebastian. “I think we worked well together.”
Seb nodded. “So what are you thinking? That you want to start some sort of security agency or something?”
I looked at the three of them. It was exactly what I was thinking. “I do. I think that we could be good at it. We could all be good at it.”
Cole made a face. “You mean the four of us?”
“Absolutely. I think we’re all at a point in our lives when we’re looking to do something with our training, something with a purpose. I think we’d be good at this. We’d all bring something to the table.” I took another swallow of beer. “What do you think?”
Declan ran a hand over his face. “How would we possibly get started? I mean, you said it yourself, the situation with Harper just sort of happened. How would we find clients?”
I looked over at Sebastian, who met my gaze with a knowing look. He said, “I think I might have a connection or two that could get us started. I might also be able to dig up the start-up costs.”
“I don’t know,” Declan said. “It seems kind of iffy. What if we never get a case?”
“What if we get more than one?” I asked. “I’m not saying we should all give up our day jobs right away, but I think we should consider it. What do you say?”
We looked at each other for a minute. Then, just like I remember doing as a kid, I put my hand out in the middle of the table. Sebastian placed his on top of mine and Cole on top of his.
“Oh, what the hell,” Declan said as he slapped his hand on the top of the pile. “Let’s do this stupid thing.”
Three months ago, I’d been a man without purpose, with no hope for the future. Things weren’t all perfect now. There were still questions about the accident that caused Gavin’s death that lingered in my mind sometimes—waiting for an answer. But something important had transformed about my world.
I had Harper at home now. And as I sat there and clinked glasses in a toast with my friends, I realized my future was suddenly brimming with possibilities.
I couldn’t wait to get started.
Excerpt from Protecting the Enemy
I had the best night of my life when I was nineteen years old. I thought so then, and twelve years later, still nothing had ever matched it.
It was the first time I had sex with Ali.
We’d been together for a couple of months—not exactly dating but hanging out all the time. We’d been going to school together since she started at Benington Prep as a Freshman. My father was the school’s biggest donor, and one of the ways he contributed was through the Maxwell Scholarship for worthy students who couldn’t afford Benington’s tuition.
Ali was a Maxwell Scholarship student.
At first, I only talked to her occasionally. I was a year ahead of her, and she wasn’t in my circle of friends. Then we had Russian history together when I was a Senior and everything changed. We sat beside each other for months. Then we started studying together at the library or outside around campus. By the time I graduated, I had no interest in any girl except her.
So that summer I kept calling her, asking her to hang out.
No one really dated in high school. Kids just hung out or hooked up or declared themselves boyfriend and girlfriend. So there was nothing strange about our spending so much time together without ever having an official date. My feelings for her were new to me—different from anything I’d felt for girls before—and I was nervous about labeling it or maybe getting an answer from her that would crush me.
I was nineteen, and I was stupid in a lot of ways, although nothing I’d ever done was as stupid as what I did at the end of that summer.
One Friday I took Ali out to a horse farm in northern Virginia, about an hour outside of D.C. The farm was owned by the family of a buddy of mine, and Ali had mentioned she loved horses. We had a great time, exploring the property and admiring the horses. Then we ended up having a picnic on a blanket under a tree, out of sight of the house, stables, and outbuildings.
“I can’t believe we only have another month before school starts again,” Ali said after we’d eaten. She leaned back, stretching out on her back on the blanket. She wore a little skirt in a soft material that she smoothed down around her thighs. Her legs were tanned and slim, and they made my body tighten with appreciation.
So did the shape of her breasts beneath her top and the way she was smiling up at me, her dark hair spread out beneath her.
I stretched out beside her on my side, propping my head on my hand. “I’ve got to start college.”
“Since you have a ton of college credits already, it shouldn’t be too hard for you, I’d think.” She was still smiling up at me, making me smile back.
“I don’t think it will be hard. I’m just not very excited about it. It will be a bunch of boring business courses, since so many of my high school classes counted toward the core requirements.”
I had so many college credits from the accelerated coursework at Benington that I was coming into college with three semesters worth of credits. I could jump right into my business major and probably graduate in two years if I took a lot of classes each semester.
“So take something other than business courses,” Ali said. “What are you interested in?”
I gave a little shrug. “I don’t even know. And what does it matter, since my whole life is mapped out? College. MBA. Work for my father. Taking over the business when he dies.”
She was frowning now. “You could do something else if you wanted. Couldn’t you?”
“Not really. That’s not the way my life works.”
Ali was looking concerned, like she didn’t like this fact of my existence. “But Sebastian—”
“It’s really fine, Ali. It’s not a bad life. A lot of people would kill for a life like mine. So I’ll go to college and be a good boy.”
“You should do something else, if that’s what you want to do. You’re not just your father’s son. You’re not just your family. You’re Sebastian.”
I stared at her for a long time, hearing the words, processing the thought for what might have been the first time in my life.
She must have seen something in my eyes that made her self-conscious because she dropped her eyes again. “And I for one think Sebastian is a pretty good guy.”
My heart jumped. It literally jumped. “And I think Ali is pretty good too. Are you going to miss me being at Benington?”
“Of course I will.” Her brown eyes were so soft, so warm, that they caused another clench in my chest. “Even if you never talked to me much, I always looked for you in the halls.”
“Did you?”
Her eyelashes fluttered down. “Yes. I did. I guess you’re so used to girls staring at you that you never noticed I was too.”
“Girls don’t stare at me.”
“Yes, they do! You know that, don’t you?”
“Maybe just because they know who my father is.” All my life, I’d been known only as my father’s son. Sebastian, the only son of the rich, powerful, influential John Maxwell. That fact had defined my life since I was born.
“No, it’s not that.” She’d slanted a shy look at me that made my heart pound in my chest. “It’s because you’re… you.”
I couldn’t help but touch her. I reached out to brush a strand of hair back from her face. “Because I’m me?”
“Yes, because you’re you. And there’s no one as amazing as you, Sebastian.” Her voice was soft, slightly wobbly. I knew it had been a risk for her to say so.
And nothing had ever made me feel so good, so valuable, so worthwhile. I couldn’t hold back anymore. I leaned over to press a soft kiss on her lips.
I heard her breath hitch. Then her hand lifted to tentatively touch my hair. That small response did something crazy to my body. I was throbbing now—with feeling, with desire, with everything.
I kissed her again, and this time she kissed me in return, wrapping one of her arms around my neck.
We kept kissing until we couldn’t stop, and we had sex right there on the blanket, completely secluded by the surrounding trees and the darkening of the sky at sunset.
I’d had sex for the first time at fifteen, but Ali was a virgin. I tried to be careful, since I knew she was nervous as much as excited, and I was pretty sure she enjoyed it too. Maybe not as much as I did, but still…
I was so overwhelmed with feeling at claiming her as mine that I was dazed afterwards, blurry, barely able to speak.
We lay together in each other’s arms as our breathing slowed down and our bodies relaxed, and finally Ali pressed a little kiss on my chest. “Sebastian,” she whispered.
She didn’t say anything else. Just my name. But it felt like a declaration of feelings—feelings that went as deep as mine did for her.
I knew I loved her then. I knew there was no other woman who could ever be mine the way she was.
Maybe it was an overdramatic conclusion, prompted by the best sex I’d ever had and the limited experiences of a nineteen-year-old boy.
But so many years later, the conclusion continued to be true.
No other woman was ever mine the way Ali was that night.
***
You can find out more about Protecting the Enemy (and the entire series) here.
About Samantha Chase
New York Times and USA Today Bestseller/contemporary romance writer Samantha Chase released her debut novel, Jordan's Return, in November 2011. Although she waited until she was in her 40's to publish for the first time, writing has been a lifelong passion. Her motivation to take that step was her students: teaching creative writing to elementary age students all the way up through high school and encouraging those students to follow their writing dreams gave Samantha the confidence to take that step as well.
When she's not working on a new story, she spends her time reading contemporary romances, blogging, playing way too many games of Scrabble on Facebook and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina. For more information visit her website at www.chasing-romance.com.
Books by Samantha Chase
Jordan’s Return
The Christmas Cottage
Ever After
Catering to the CEO
In the Eye of the Storm
Wait for Me
Trust in Me
Stay With Me
A Touch of Heaven
Mistletoe Between Friends
The Snowflake Inn
The Baby Arrangement
Baby, I’m Yours
Baby, Be Mine
Exclusive
Moonlight in Winter Park
Duty Bound
> Honor Bound
Forever Bound
Home Bound
The Wedding Season
Return to You
Meant for You
I’ll Be There
Made for Us
Live, Love & Babies Trilogy
Love Walks In
Christmas in Silver Bell Falls
Waiting for Midnight
Always My Girl
Website:www.chasing-romance.com
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About Noelle Adams
Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she writes full time, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.
She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. For more information, please check out her website: noelle-adams.com.
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Books by Noelle Adams
Tea for Two Series
Falling for her Brother’s Best Friend
Winning her Brother’s Best Friend
Seducing her Brother’s Best Friend
Balm in Gilead Series
Relinquish
Surrender
Retreat
Rothman Royals Series
A Princess Next Door
A Princess for a Bride
A Princess in Waiting
Christmas with a Prince
Protecting His Best Friend's Sister (The Protectors Book 1) Page 17