Over the next hour and a half, they enjoyed a delicious dinner and bottle of wine while sitting side by side in the middle of the U-shaped bench seat. A small band on the stage played soft music that didn’t drown out conversation.
Chase and Rylie had just finished their meal when a voluptuous blonde, in a shimmering, red evening gown, took the stage. With her makeup, and the way her hair was styled, she looked like she’d just stepped out of a musical from the Golden Age of Hollywood, back in the 1940s or 50s. The band played the lead-in and then the woman started singing in a low, sultry voice. Around the room, couples got up and moved onto the dance floor.
Chase eyed Rylie and held out his hand. “Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?”
He felt her radiant smile all the way to his toes. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Moments later, he was holding her close as he led her around the dance floor. Chase did his best to keep one eye on the other couples, so they didn’t bump into anyone, while watching Rylie’s face. She was so damn beautiful, it took his breath away.
One song faded into the next and the next. Chase could dance with her in his arms all night. Never had anything in his life felt so right. So perfect. Unable to resist, he tightened his hold on her waist, pivoted, and dipped her, using his other hand to support her neck and head. Rylie’s surprised gasp morphed into a giggle, but then her eyes widened as he lowered his head and brushed his lips over hers. “I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you too,” she responded after he kissed her again.
When he stood back up, taking her with him and making sure she had her feet under her again, the song ended. Rylie wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a coy grin. “I think we should get the check and take this someplace more private. What do you say, Dixon?”
“You read my mind, Hart.” He’d agree with her on anything that resulted in them being in bed together, naked and making love. Tonight, tomorrow night, and every night after that for the rest of their lives.
Epilogue
Two months later . . .
Sitting across from Mickey at Applebee’s, Chase waited while she gave their server her order of chicken fingers, fries, and a root beer. Once she was done, he placed his own request—a turkey club on rye, also with a root beer, which had sounded really good. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had one.
After their server left to fill their order, Mickey chatted about how her day in summer camp had gone. He honestly would never get tired of hanging out with her. She had such a bubbly personality and brightened his world every time she was near him, as did her mother. What he loved the most was seeing the world through her young eyes. It was like experiencing a lot of things for the first time again. Stuff he’d taken for granted, over time, seemed new and exciting when he was with her.
Ever since he’d dropped the bomb on Lloyd Ashford, Chase had been spending as much time as possible with Rylie and Mickey. He still snuck out around five a.m. whenever he slept over, because Rylie was still trying to figure out how to approach her daughter with the subject. But Chase was okay with that—for the moment.
Carol Ashford had made good on her promise to drop all attempts to gain custody of Mickey and had filed for divorce two days later. She’d also provided Chase’s attorneys with a sworn statement about how Judge Bernstein had taken a bribe from her husband to rule in their favor in their case against Rylie. Since that story had gone public, the press had been in a frenzy. Several other parents had come forward, claiming their cases had been wrongfully ruled against them by Bernstein during custody battles. He’d been suspended from the bench, pending a full investigation. Not only was he looking at being disbarred, but it was possible he was also facing jail time. Chase didn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for the man.
As for Lloyd Ashford, the man had far too much on his plate now to even think of Mickey. Not that he’d ever shown any real interest in her. Years ago, his wife had discovered the check he’d written to buy Emma’s silence. As Chase had suspected, he’d gotten his son to cover for him. It’d been Carol’s idea to initiate a relationship with the little girl, believing Mickey was her granddaughter and regretting the fact she’d listened to Lloyd and Warren when they’d claimed Emma had intentionally gotten pregnant. After her son’s death, she’d wished she hadn’t missed the first years of “granddaughter’s” life and had pushed her husband into finding the girl.
Last month, on the final day of school, Mickey and Rylie had received an invitation to join Carol for Sunday brunch that weekend at the country club she belonged to. After mulling over whether or not to accept, Rylie had finally decided it’d been a nice gesture from the woman and assented. The three had ended up having a very pleasant visit, and Carol was now scheduled to attend Mickey’s next stepdance recital with them, which was also on the girl’s eighth birthday.
Tonight, while Rylie had gone out to dinner with a few girlfriends for Aubrey’s birthday, Chase had decided to use the time alone with Mickey to his advantage.
After the server had returned with their drinks, and Mickey had finished her recap of the day’s events, he leaned forward and folded his forearms on the table. “I’ve got something I want to ask you, pipsqueak.”
She swallowed a sip of her root beer. “What?”
Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly. “I wanted to ask you if it was okay if I propose to your mom.”
He honestly hadn’t expected to want to do this after only knowing Rylie for three months, but, as Ian had pointed out, Chase wasn’t getting any younger. He’d known early on that Rylie was the one for him and having Mickey as a stepdaughter would just be the icing on the cake. He loved his two ladies with all his heart, so why put off making them his family? His mother adored both of them after visiting him for several days. In a few weeks, his sisters, brother-in-law, nieces, and nephews were all coming down to Florida for a trip to Disney World. The family matriarch would also be there. Chase had already made plans with Rylie to join them. Mickey still hadn’t been filled in on the surprise yet, and Chase had almost spilled the beans twice.
Across the table from him, if Mickey’s eyes grew any wider, they’d pop from their sockets. “Really? You mean you’ll get married.”
“Uh-huh—if you both say yes. I really love your mom, and I love you too and want us to be a family. But I wanted to ask you first, to make sure you’ll be okay with it. So, what do you think?”
She opened her mouth, but before anything came out, she closed it again and tapped her finger on her chin, letting a pensive expression school her features. He didn’t know what was going through her mind, but whatever it was, he had a feeling she was just dragging out her response to torture him a little. She pursed her lips and gave him a cocky glare that almost had him laughing out loud. “Okay, before I say yes or no, I have two questions.”
He grinned. “And they are?”
“One—do I get to call you Dad?”
If she hadn’t already owned his heart, she would have then. He would love it if she called him Dad. “If you want to, of course.”
“Yes!” She did a fist pump and a little chair dance.
He waited a moment before asking, “So, what’s the second question?”
“Can we get a dog?”
Chase burst out laughing, and it took several seconds for him to regain his composure. “Um, that’s something we’ll have to ask your mom about.”
She huffed then smiled. “Okay, one out of two works for me. Yes, you can propose to Mom and be my dad.”
Now that he had her blessing, he slid the gift he’d gotten for her from his pocket. “After dinner, do you want to go with me to pick out an engagement ring to give to your mom?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Her enthusiastic response had several people around them chuckling. “One with a really big diamond.”
An older man at the next table barked out a loud laugh and grinned at Chase who just shook his head and focused his attention back on Mickey. �
�Big diamond. Okay, perfect. Now, one more thing. Close your eyes and hold out your hand.” When she did as he’d requested, he laid the delicate, gold necklace he’d designed and had custom made for her into her hand. Attached to the chain were two hearts, a smaller one nestled inside a larger one. Hanging in the middle of them was a ruby shaped like a drop of blood. While she wasn’t his biological daughter, the two of them would always be bound by the blood that coursed through her veins and the love they shared in their hearts.
“Open your eyes, pipsqueak.”
Author’s Note
Any information regarding persons or places has been used with creative literary license so there may be discrepancies between fiction and reality. The missions and personal qualities of members of the military and law enforcement within have been created to enhance the story and, again, may be exaggerated and not coincide with reality.
* * *
The author has full respect for the members of the United States military and the varied members of law enforcement and thanks them for their continuing service to making this country as safe and free as possible.
Other Books By Samantha A. Cole
The Trident Security Series
Leather & Lace: Book 1
His Angel: Book 2
Waiting For Him: Book 3
Not Negotiable: A Novella Book 3.5
Topping The Alpha: Book 4
Watching From the Shadows: Book 5
Whiskey Tribute: A Novella Book 5.5
Tickle His Fancy: Book 6
No Way in Hell: A Steel Corp/Trident Security Crossover: Books 1 & 2
Absolving His Sins: Book 7
Option Number Three: A Novella Book 7.5
Salvaging His Soul: Book 8
Trident Security Field Manual
Torn In Half
* * *
The Deimos Series
Handling Haven: Special Forces: Operation Alpha:
Deimos Book 1
Cheating the Devil: Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Deimos Book 2
* * *
The Trident Security Omega Team Series
Mountain of Evil: TS Omega Team Prequel
A Dead Man’s Pulse: TS Omega Team Book 1
Forty Days & One Knight: Book 2
* * *
The Doms of The Covenant Series
Double Down & Dirty Book 1
Entertaining Distraction: Book 2
Knot a Chance: Book 3
* * *
The Malone Brothers Series
Take the Money and Run: Book 1
The Devil's Spare Change: Book 2
* * *
The Blackhawk Security Series
Tuff Enough: Book 1
Blood Bound
* * *
Hazard Falls Series
Don’t Fight It: Book 1
Don’t Shoot the Messenger: Book 2
* * *
Stand Alone Novels
The Road to Solace
Scattered Moments in Time: A Collection of Short Stories & More
* * *
The Bid on Love Series (With 7 other authors!)
Going , Going, Gone: Book 2
* * *
The Collective: Season Two (with 7 other authors!)
Angst: Book 7
* * *
Special Projects
First Chapters: Foreplay Volume One
First Chapters: Foreplay Volume Two
First Chapters: Foreplay Volume Three
Word Search For Warriors: Authors For a Cause
Word Search For Warriors: Volume II
Trident Security Coloring Book
Shaded with Love Volume 5: Coloring Book for a Cause
Cooking with Love: Shaded with Love Volume 6
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author and Award-Winning Author Samantha A. Cole is a retired policewoman and former paramedic. She’s lived her entire life in the suburbs of New York City and is looking forward to becoming a snow-bird between New York and Florida someday. Her two fur-babies, Jinx and Bella, keep her company and remind their mom to take a break from writing every once in a while, to go for a walk, which is the best way to deal with a stubborn case of writer’s block.
An avid reader since childhood, Samantha was often found with a book in hand and sometimes one in each. After being gifted with a stack of romance novels from her grandmother, her love affair with the genre began in her teens. Many years later, she discovered her love for writing stories was just as strong. Using her life experiences and training, she strives to find the perfect mix of suspense and romance for her readers to enjoy.
Her standalone novel, The Friar, won the silver medal in the 2017 Readers' Favorite Awards in the Contemporary Romance genre out of more than 1000 entries.
While the original planned stories for the Trident Security series have been completed, they have brought many opportunities for Samantha to spread her wings and bring her readers more characters and stories to love. Look for her Trident Security Omega Team series, Doms of The Covenant Novella series, the new Hazard Falls series, the upcoming Blackhawk Security series, and more from the Malone Brothers series, in addition to several standalone projects.
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