by Marie Force
“He’s a natural,” Graham said. “What an adorable kid.”
“He had us laughing all the way from Richmond.” They had needed the laughter after the loss they were still struggling to absorb. “I’m totally smitten.”
“What’re you going to do about that?” Graham asked.
Nick returned Scotty’s wave and his big smile. “Haven’t decided yet.”
“Sure, you have,” Graham said. “You’ve decided you’ll do something.”
“I suppose I will—when the time is right.” He kept his eyes on Scotty, riveted by the boy’s laughter. “I once knew a kid like him who was lost and lonely until a boisterous family took him into their home and their hearts and changed his life forever.”
Graham cleared his throat and rested a hand on Nick’s shoulder, squeezing lightly. “And now you want to do the same for another lost and lonely kid.”
That he and Sam might be able to have children of their own after all was still settling with him. He watched the boy who rode the horse with such unbridled and infectious joy, and thought again about the many ways he could improve Scotty’s circumstances. “There’s something about him.”
“I know that feeling,” Graham said. “There once was a lost and lonely eighteen-year-old who came to spend a weekend in my home and touched me in exactly the same way.”
Nick turned to the man who’d been a father to him in every possible way except biology. “I wondered if I could ask a favor.”
“Anything, anytime. You know that.”
“Would you be my best man?”
Graham’s eyes filled, and for a moment he seemed too shocked to speak. “I’d be honored,” he said gruffly, “to stand in my late son’s place beside the man I love like a son.”
Nick hugged him, grateful that he understood exactly why Nick had asked him. “Thank you.”
Sam walked up to them. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“Hey, babe,” Nick held out a hand to her, pleased to see some color returning to cheeks.
“There’s the woman who’s been single-handedly cleaning house in Washington,” Graham said, his smile matching the teasing tone. “What’s the tally now? Speaker, senator, VP’s chief of staff, DNC chair, EPA administrator, deputy secretary of defense, too many lobbyists to count…”
“The divorce attorneys are sending me engraved thank-you notes,” Sam said with a cheeky grin of her own.
Graham barked out a ringing laugh.
“It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it,” she added. “I still can’t believe all the other women who came forward claiming Bartholomew and Sanborn had attacked them too. I doubt either of them will ever see the light of day again.”
“You think you know people,” Graham said, his expression turning pensive. “It’s so shocking.”
“I imagine it must be. I was sent out to tell you your presence is requested in the kitchen to carve the turkey.”
“Ah, duty calls. Give me about fifteen minutes, and then round up the troops.”
“We will,” Nick said. As Graham walked away, Nick slipped an arm around Sam and returned his attention to Scotty. “He’s having a ball.”
“He’s such a sweetheart.”
“I’m glad you think so.” He kissed her forehead. “How’re you feeling?”
“Still tired and a little achy, but better than yesterday.” They’d spent most of the day before curled up to each other, absorbing the loss and sharing the grief. It hadn’t exactly been the day off they’d dreamed about.
“Did you talk to Freddie again?”
“Not since this morning. He called to let me know all the reports are done and filed.”
“It was good of him to go in and take care of that for you yesterday.”
“After Elin didn’t show Friday night, he all but begged me for something to do.”
“Poor guy.”
“He’ll recover. In time.”
Nick framed her face with his hands and brushed a soft kiss over her lips. “Will you?”
“In time.”
Nick held her close for several minutes before he signaled Lizbeth and Scotty to let them know it was dinnertime.
After Lizbeth helped him off the horse, Scotty darted out of the corral and caught up to Sam and Nick, who kept one arm tight around the love of his life.
“That was the coolest thing—ever,” Scotty said, his eyes dancing with excitement and his cheeks rosy from the cool air. “Can I ride some more after dinner?”
“I don’t see why not.” Nick held out his free hand to the boy.
“You looked good out there, buddy,” Sam said.
“Thanks, Sam. Will you show me your gun and cuffs after dinner?”
She laughed, and Nick felt his heart settle and lighten. She was going to be okay. They were going to be okay.
“It’s a date,” she said.
Don’t miss the other books in the Fatal series by Marie Force, available now from Carina Press!
About the Author
Marie Force is the bestselling, award-winning author of Fatal Affair and Fatal Justice, books one and two in her Fatal Series from Harlequin’s Carina Press. “This novel is The O.C. does D.C., and you just can’t get enough” (RT Book Reviews, 4.5 stars for Fatal Affair). In its July 2010 issue, RT Book Reviews named Marie a “Future Star of Romantic Suspense.” Book three, Fatal Consequences; the Fatal Wedding novella, Fatal Destiny; and book four, Fatal Flaw, are coming soon.
Marie is also the author of Everyone Loves a Hero, Line of Scrimmage, Love at First Flight, True North, The Fall and The Wreck.
Since 1996, Marie has been the communications director for a national organization similar to the RWA. She is a member of RWA’s New England, From the Heart and Published Authors’ Special Interest Chapters.
While her husband was in the navy, Marie lived in Spain, Maryland and Florida, and she is now settled in her home state of Rhode Island. She is the mother of two human kids and a feisty dog named Brandy.
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ISBN: 978-1-4268-9183-0
Copyright © 2011 by Marie Force
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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