by Jill Shalvis
Risk her heart. Oh, sure, she’d told herself she’d risked plenty of times, and that no man had ever really been interested.
A big fat lie.
She’d never risked at all. She’d always simply sabotaged any kindling relationship before she could get hurt.
No longer. She was going to leave, she was going back to her life, but she wasn’t running away, and she wasn’t going to always wonder. She was going to tell Kyle the truth.
That she’d fallen in love with him.
That he was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
That she hoped he came and visited her sometime, not only so she could feel whole again, but so that she could have another heart-stopping, screaming orgasm like only he’d given her.
Well, she thought with a guilty glance at Amelia, maybe she’d keep that last part to herself.
Amelia lifted a brow.
Definitely, she’d keep that last part to herself. “Kyle.” Oh, man, she was starting to sweat. Who would have thought opening her heart would be harder than putting on pink satin? “I—”
“No, I’ve got to go first,” he said. “I—”
“Wait. Why do you get to go first?”
“Because I started first,” he said, not so reasonably. “Annie, don’t take this wrong, but I’m trying to do something here.”
“Well, so am I.”
“Children,” Amelia broke in, stepping between the two of them as they came together nose to nose. “Let’s not squabble. I’m sure we can settle this reasonably. After all, you’re both after the same thing.”
Annie’s breath clogged in her throat. “Amelia, I know you’re always right—”
“Oh, dearness, I do like a sentence that starts that way,” Amelia said with a smile.
“But—”
“Now Annie, you know how I feel. Butts are better—”
“—covered than discussed,” Annie said with her in unison. She had to laugh. “Yes, I know. But—”
“Stop.” Kyle lifted a hand to his head as if afraid it was going to fall off. “Please, just stop.” He took Annie’s shoulders and lifted her clear off the ground so that they were indeed nose to nose. “Answer this. Do you care about me?”
His eyes were dark, deep and full of many, many things, but it was the uncertainty that reached her. So much so that she reached out and cupped his face. “After last night, I should be insulted you have to ask.”
“I don’t mean physically, damn it. I know you care about me that way.” Before she could take offense at his confidence, he was solemn again. “I mean do you care about me…emotionally.”
She didn’t hesitate. “I care very much.” I love you, you ignorant fool. “In fact, that’s sort of tied into what I wanted to say to you.”
“Shh, he’s not done,” Amelia admonished, still standing right beside them, unabashedly eavesdropping. “Let the poor man finish.”
“Thank you,” Kyle said, not taking his eyes or hands off Annie.
“No problem. She’s terribly impertinent, always has been.”
“I can see how that must have been a huge problem,” Kyle said.
“Must have been?” Amelia laughed. “Oh, my dear. She still is.”
“Hey! She is still standing right here and has ears,” Annie said indignantly, waggling her toes, which were still a good six inches off the ground.
“Get used to it,” Amelia advised Kyle as if Annie hadn’t spoken. “And, oh, she’s getting her temper up now, isn’t she? She might as well be a redhead, really, for all her ability to control it.”
“Amelia!” Annie glared down at her friend, at the woman who’d been a mother to her since her own had perished. “I love you, but I’m afraid you’re fired.”
“This is the sixty-seventh time you’ve said that in our time together,” Amelia said, unconcerned, studying her fingernails. “And for the sixty-seventh time, your father pays me, not you.”
Annie tipped her head back and sighed loudly.
Kyle’s eyes sparkled. “So, impertinent princess, can I finish now?”
“Oh, please. By all means, finish. Heaven forbid I try to have a say in my own life.”
His hands tightened on her. His voice came sure and strong. It was only the flicker in his eyes that gave away his nerves, and caused hers. “Andrea Katrine Fran Brunner, will you m—”
“Excuse me,” Amelia interrupted. “You have to say Your Serene Highness when addressing Annie formally.”
Kyle nodded. “Sorry. You’re right.” He turned back to Annie. “Your Serene Highness, Andrea Katrine Fran Brunner, will you m—”
“No. I’m sorry.” Amelia shook her head and tapped a finger to her lower lip. “You forgot the ‘of Grunberg’ part.”
“Okay.” Before Kyle turned back to Annie, he paused. “Is that all?” His voice was a little tense now.
“Yes. Please proceed.”
“Amelia.” Annie spoke in an oddly calm voice given that she could hardly get a word out past the lump in her throat, not to mention the hope bouncing like popcorn off the walls in her stomach. “I mean this in the nicest way. But shut up.”
“Shutting up,” Amelia said obediently.
As if she’d ever been obedient!
“Kyle,” Annie said, still watching Amelia. “Put me down.”
He actually did, but he didn’t take his hands off her. “I have to tell you, Annie. I’m getting a little frustrated here.”
“Join the club. Now.” She drew a deep breath and looked into his beautiful eyes, because God help her, she had an inkling that this could be better than even her wildest dreams. “Go ahead. I promise to kill the next person who interrupts you.”
“Not if I beat you to it.” He ran his hands down her arms to their fingers, which he entangled. “Okay, here it is, Annie. I love you. I don’t know how it happened. I sure never meant for it to, but from the moment we took on Jimmy together, things haven’t been the same for me.” He blew out a breath. “And now that I’ve said it out loud, I feel a little weak, so could you say you feel the same way before I pass out?”
He loved her. “I’m sorry,” she finally managed, her voice thick. “I didn’t hear anything past the I love you part. Do you think you could repeat it?”
He actually tried. His brow was furrowed with stress, his body tight with strain, but he tried. If she hadn’t already loved him, she would have fallen in love right then and there. “I said, I never meant for this to happen,” he repeated. “But—”
“I meant the ‘I love you’ part.” She slipped her fingers into his hair because she had to touch him. She probably had to touch him for the rest of her life.
“I love you,” he said hoarsely, dropping his forehead to hers. “I want to go with you to Grunberg. I want to be with you in your setting for a change, away from all this…this…”
“Pink satin?”
“Yes. God, yes.”
“But Grunberg isn’t America.”
“You have cops there?”
“Well, yes.”
“Then I can make a living. But first I want to just be, Annie. For a little while I just want to be. With you. I want to marry you. Do you think that’s something I can talk you into?” He pulled a small box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing a beautiful solitaire diamond.
“Like I said.” She managed a smile in with her tears. “All I heard was ‘I love you.”’
“Is that a yes?”
“I love you back, Kyle.”
“Is that a yes?” he pressed.
“So you really thought I rescued you?”
“Annie.”
“Yes.” She threw herself at him and kissed his face everywhere she could reach. “Yes, yes, yes.”
Next to them, Amelia buttoned closed her satchel and nodded in triumph. “A job well done,” she decided, even if she said so herself.
EPILOGUE
GRUNBERG WAS GLORIOUS. Green and lush and perfect, it allowed for more adventure than a man could
ever want.
Kyle lay prone on the hammock. He was surrounded by the tall, majestic mountain peaks of Austria and Switzerland. He had a soda balancing on his belly and thirty minutes to himself before a meeting.
“There’s been a breach in security,” came the hushed whisper from behind the tree off to his right. “The castle is no longer safe.”
“Never fear, I’ll rescue you, fair princess,” came a second hushed whisper.
“No. I’ll rescue myself.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re just a girl.”
“That’s right, and as just a girl, I’ve got the innate right and ability to kick some—”
“Hold it.” With a laughing groan, Kyle sat up. “I’ve got the innate right to report the both of you to Her Serene Highness.”
The two in question, lurking among the trees just before him froze, then hung their heads.
He studied them gravely, biting back his laugh, because God help him, his heart threatened to burst just looking at them. “Does Momma know you’re running wild and free?”
“Oh, yes,” reported his beautiful six-year-old daughter who looked exactly like her mother, all deep golden eyes, long gold hair and that sweet, irresistible smile. “She sent us to bother you. Said that it was time her Head Of Security trained his new recruits. But we don’t need training, Dad. Or at least I don’t.” She glared at her eight-year-old brother.
He glared right back, and Kyle didn’t need a mirror to know where he got that expression.
“I’m going to be Head of Security, just like Daddy,” claimed his son. “You’re just a princess.”
She only let out a slow smile. “Maybe. But at least I’m not a boy.” She dragged the word out as if it was five syllables long, then let out a squeak when her brother started after her.
Round and round they ran, until Kyle grabbed one kid under each arm, much to their squealing delight. “Hmm,” he said, pretending to ponder as he walked toward the pond ten yards away. “I wonder if naughty little children melt.”
“No, Daddy!” laughed his little princess. “I’m wearing my good clothes.”
“Such a girl,” her brother sneered, but screamed with laughter just like his sister as his father stopped at the very edge of the pond.
“My, my,” came the calm voice of reason behind them.
Kyle turned. “I’m sorry, Your Serene Highness. I’ve discovered a serious breach of security. I’ve got it under control.”
His beautiful wife of nine years smiled, love and warmth coming from her eyes. “My hero.” She sighed. “Then I suppose there won’t be any need for the cookies I just pulled from the oven.”
More squeals and squirming, and suddenly his two children were but a blur on the horizon as they raced each other for the kitchen.
With a laugh, Annie moved into Kyle’s open arms. “Ah, hear that? Silence. Isn’t it grand?” She snuggled in closer. “No need to thank me, really. I’ll just add this latest rescue on to your tab.”
Kyle choked a laugh into her soft, silky hair and his arms tightened on her. “You can rescue me any time. Any time at all.”
* * * * *
Enjoy a sneak peak of SEDUCED IN THE CITY by Jo Leigh, part of the sexy NYC Bachelors miniseries, available only from Mills & Boon!
Everyone loves New York…but they lust after red-hot bachelor Dom Paladino!
In the loud, vibrant Little Italy community, family is just as important as history. Dominic might be the youngest—and most charming—of the Paladino brothers, but he wants a future that doesn’t involve the family business. He also wants sexy Sara Moretti…and he’s not letting a little thing like “bad blood” keep him away.
ELLIE, SARA MORETTI’S little sister, hung up the phone and twirled around as if she’d just won the lottery. “The Paladinos want their regular order,” she called back into the kitchen. “Two large, one pepperoni, one veggie, one order of ziti.” She turned to Sara, her smile so broad it must have hurt. “I think Dom’s coming to pick it up.”
Dom.
The tray slipped out of Sara’s hands and bounced on the linoleum floor with a loud clang.
Laughing, Ellie scooped it up for her. “Butterfingers.”
Jeanette stuck her head out from the kitchen. “Everyone okay?”
“Fine.” Sara took the tray from her sister and went straight to the sink to wash it.
She hadn’t thought about Dominic Paladino in a long while. And clearly she couldn’t afford to think about him now. Her pulse had ratcheted up. Her heart was trying out for the gymnastics team, and so was her stomach.
The last time she’d seen him was right there at Moretti’s Pizza Parlor the day before she’d left for George Washington University, seven years ago. He’d been sitting at a table with two of his jock friends, his dark hair slicked back, his damp T-shirt straining across his broad shoulders and clinging to his lightly muscled chest. They’d just come from a soccer game after trampling their opponents, a team from the next block over. Sara had hid in the back while Jeanette waited on their table.
She glanced around, wondering what Ellie was up to. Was she staring? Had she already moved on? Of course she had. To her, Sara had dropped a tray. That’s all. Ellie didn’t know about Sara’s long-ago crush on Dom, or what he’d said to shatter her young heart into a million pieces. No one had known about any of it because Sara had kept it to herself. Sort of… Years later she’d let her temper get the better of her and made a mistake that had cost her more than she could’ve imagined.
Ellie was checking on her table and laughing with the customers, so Sara relaxed. The place had barely changed. The old red brick walls still looked as if they’d been put together by a bunch of drunks, the family-style tables still had red-checkered cloths, although she’d hoped they’d been replaced.
But it was home, and although she’d made more money serving cocktails in Washington, D.C. in one night than she’d make here in a week, she was glad to be back in Little Italy.
“Bet you’re surprised Dom is still here,” Jeanette said from behind her.
“I hadn’t really thought about it.” She shrugged. “I guess I figured he’d be living out in Hollywood or someplace.”
“Nah,” Jeannette said, staring at the tray. Probably wondering if Sara had washed the aluminum off by now. The woman wasn’t related by blood, but she’d been working there for over twenty years, so she was practically a Moretti. “The whole family’s been sticking close to home since the old man had a second heart attack.”
“Second? Oh, that’s too bad,” Sara said, meaning it. She’d known the Paladinos since she was a little kid. Her mom and Dom’s mom had been friends since childhood, but Sara mostly knew them from church.
Jeanette smiled. “Joe’s a tough old bird.”
“I’m surprised my mom didn’t mention it.”
Jeanette took the tray to dry it. In a hushed voice she asked, “If Dom comes in, are you gonna hide in the back?”
Sara looked at her and laughed. “I was a shy nerd back then. Let him try pissing me off now.”
Jeanette chuckled. “I might pay to see that.”
“Who are you talking about?” Ellie popped up out of nowhere.
“No one you know,” Sara said, drying her hands.
“Bet I do.”
“Then let me rephrase. None of your business.”
Jeanette grinned and shook her head.
Ellie huffed, grabbed some napkins and went back to her table.
Up until ninth grade Sara had gone to an all-girls Catholic school and hadn’t seen much of Dom. But that had in no way stopped her from having a major crush on him, just like most of the girls in her class. Hell, the whole school. Every guy had wanted to be Dom, and all the girls had wanted him.
“His brother Tony’s getting married,” Ellie said, joining them behind the counter again.
“Whose brother?”
“Excuse me, ladies,” Jeanette said with a little smile. “Gotta go back to the
kitchen before Carlo starts yelling.”
“Dom.” Ellie stared at Sara as if she’d finally lost her last brain cell.
“Oh, of course. Silly me.”
Ellie ignored the sarcasm. “I wonder if Dom is going to be the best man. Can you imagine him in a tux?”
“Oh, sweetie,” Sara said, not surprised, really. “Tell me you don’t have a thing for that guy. For God’s sake, he’s a year older than me, and you think I’m the Crypt Keeper.”
“You’re almost thirty.” Lifting her chin, Ellie left to go wipe down table five, where a gang of slobs, also known as high school kids, had left their mark everywhere from the tablecloth to the floor.
“I’m twenty-seven, thank you. But I believe I’ve made my point.”
Ellie sighed. “Have you met any seventeen-year-old boys? They’re disgusting.”
“You think that changes when they turn twenty-eight?”
“He’s hot. And he doesn’t look old.” Ellie’s cheeks got splotchy. Poor kid had a blush like a rash. Although she was so pretty it didn’t really make a difference. With her waist-length brown hair and her big green eyes, she was the beauty of the family.
Sara had been the brainy one, but all that had gotten her was an almost-completed master’s degree and a load of student debt.
“So, I assume he’s still single?” Sara said, and got another funny look from Ellie. “Since you’re shamelessly mooning over him.”
Her sister broke out in laughter. “Mooning? Jeez, Sara, you sound like Nonna.”
Sara came out from behind the counter and snatched a pair of salt-and-pepper shakers that needed refilling. “Don’t change the subject.”
“What, like you did when I asked about you and Robert?”
“Oh, my God. Why did I come back here?” Sara heard a call from the kitchen and she went to get the order ready for the Cho family. Chinatown pretty much surrounded Little Italy now. Most of their customers lived there, or in Nolita or SoHo. At least people still kept coming to their place, even if they had other pizza joints closer. Thank goodness they kept getting those “Best in New York” awards.