Abandon

by Rachel Van Dyken

  I felt myself blush while Ty chuckled. Drew seemed to catch on because he hid his smile behind his own hand.

  Alec, Demetri, and Trevor joined us.

  “Something funny?” Alec asked.

  “She looks happy,” Demetri answered. And then a huge gasp. “You guys did it!”

  Zane nodded. “Yeah, but she’s oddly obsessing about his naked hands.”

  “Shhhh.” I looked around. Most campers were sitting and eating their breakfast while the volunteers went over the day. We were in the staff tent so it wasn’t like they could hear us unless they were walking by, but still.

  And then Ty, lovable, I-may-kill-him-later Ty, spread his arms wide and said, “My new goal is to get her pregnant.”

  I put my hands over my flaming face while he received high-fives from everyone all around him.

  “Sometimes, it’s the worst being the only girl,” I grumbled behind my hands.

  “Chin up.” Zane slapped me on the back. “All the wives will be on tour. The odds will be evened…”

  All except Drew.

  I didn’t say it.

  When I looked at him, he was still smiling as if he weren’t upset about it. Maybe he was dealing better.

  “Speaking of…” Ty cleared his throat and then dropped to his knee.

  “Whoa!” Trevor and Drew said it in unison while Zane slowly lifted his phone and started recording with a smile on his face. He would record this.

  “Ty.” My voice was wobbly. “What are you doing?”

  “Exactly what I should have done ten years ago when you tried to walk away…I’m making the grand gesture and proposing, though I may have thrown the other ring out the tour bus window—”

  “It came back in and hit Will in the face,” Trevor added helpfully. “Even makeup couldn’t cover that bruise.”

  I smiled as fresh tears started slipping down my cheeks.

  “Shh, man, he’s proposing!” Demetri hit him in the chest.

  And then Ty winked. “You’re my love. You’re my chaos. You’re angrier than hell, and I never want to tame you.” He knew just what to say, didn’t he? Then again, he knew me better than I knew myself. “And even though I threw the other ring out the window and physically injured one of my favorite bandmates—”

  Drew cleared his throat.

  Ty sighed. “Second favorite.”

  Trevor cleared his throat.

  “Shit, guys, I’m proposing here. Fine, my third favorite bandmate.”—I laughed—“I did find this in the cereal this morning. Oddly enough, I knew it was time.” He held out a tiny ring that had a little sword from an action figure on it. I think it was Marvel. “This is so you know that no matter what happens, I’ll fight for you, and you’ll fight for me. I swear we’ll pick out a ring together, but I refuse to live another second without having you as my fiancée, without knowing you’ll be my wife.”

  I lost it then, grabbed the little plastic ring, shoved it on my finger, and then launched myself into his arms, causing him to fall back against the sand.

  He rolled me over. “Is that a yes?”

  “It’s a hell yes.” I kissed him.

  “Love you.” He cupped my cheeks. “Now…” He sobered. “Kids aren’t looking. Just the bottom half, I swear—”

  I smacked him on the chest and then threw sand.

  He gave me the scary Ty Cuban look, which meant I needed to run. And I did, only to be followed by every single one of them as we made our way to the ocean, laughing, kicking up sand and splashing each other.

  Seaside might be my new favorite place.

  “Hey, Ty!” I yelled him over. “What about buying a house here?”

  His grin was huge. “How ‘bout showing me a bit of—?”

  “Stop with the boobs, there are children present. I mean, Zane at least counts!”

  “Heard that!” Zane yelled.

  And then Ty was throwing me over his shoulder and running toward the water, slapping my ass. “I say we get a beach house, at least five bedrooms, for our five children.”

  I just rolled my eyes and then secretly prayed for exactly that.

  “Mrs. Cuban.” I sighed dreamily.

  “Careful, your girl is showing,” Ty warned.

  I smacked his ass.

  And landed in the water with him standing over me, a gorgeous grin on his face. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  A wave took us both down.

  It was the favorite morning of my life.

  With my best friend.

  My enemy.

  The one I’d walked away from.

  We were finally together.

  Forever.

  * * * *

  Also from 1001 Dark Nights and Rachel Van Dyken, discover All Stars Fall and Envy.

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  All Stars Fall: A Seaside Pictures/Big Sky Novella

  By Rachel Van Dyken

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  She left.

  Two words I can't really get out of my head.

  She left us.

  Three more words that make it that much worse.

  Three being another
word I can't seem to wrap my mind around.

  Three kids under the age of six, and she left because she missed it. Because her dream had never been to have a family, no, her dream had been to marry a rockstar and live the high life.

  Moving my recording studio to Seaside Oregon seems like the best idea in the world right now especially since Seaside Oregon has turned into the place for celebrities to stay and raise families in between touring and producing. It would be lucrative to make the move, but I'm doing it for my kids because they need normal, they deserve normal. And me? Well, I just need a break and help, that too. I need a sitter and fast. Someone who won't flip me off when I ask them to sign an Iron Clad NDA, someone who won't sell our pictures to the press, and most of all? Someone who looks absolutely nothing like my ex-wife.

  He's tall.

  That was my first instinct when I saw the notorious Trevor Wood, drummer for the rock band Adrenaline, in the local coffee shop. He ordered a tall black coffee which made me smirk, and five minutes later I somehow agreed to interview for a nanny position. I couldn't help it; the smaller one had gum stuck in her hair while the eldest was standing on his feet and asking where babies came from. He looked so pathetic, so damn sexy and pathetic that rather than be star-struck, I took pity. I knew though; I knew the minute I signed that NDA, the minute our fingers brushed and my body became insanely aware of how close he was—I was in dangerous territory, I just didn't know how dangerous until it was too late. Until I fell for the star and realized that no matter how high they are in the sky—they're still human and fall just as hard.

  * * * *

  Envy: An Eagle Elite Novella

  By Rachel Van Dyken

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  Every family has rules, the mafia just has more....

  Do not speak to the bosses unless spoken to.

  Do not make eye contact unless you want to die.

  And above all else, do not fall in love.

  Renee Cassani's future is set.

  Her betrothal is set.

  Her life, after nannying for the five families for the summer, is set.

  Somebody should have told Vic Colezan that.

  He's a man who doesn't take no for an answer.

  And he only wants one thing.

  Her.

  Somebody should have told Renee that her bodyguard needed as much discipline as the kids she was nannying.

  Good thing Vic has a firm hand.

  Stealing Her

  Covet, Book 1

  By Rachel Van Dyken

  Coming November 5, 2019

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  From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes an unexpected love story of family, secrets, and the most intimate of deceptions.

  My estranged twin brother, Julian, was always the wonder boy—and soon-to-be CEO of our ruthless father’s corporation. My mother and me? Left behind. Now, years after tearing our family apart, my father dares to ask me for a favor? Pretend to be Julian while he fights to survive a tragic accident. It can save the company. Nobody will be the wiser. It’ll be our secret.

  I can play Dad’s favorite. I’ll do it for Julian. And for my mother, who’ll want for nothing.

  But this double life comes with a beauty of a hitch: my very real feelings for Julian’s fiancée, Isobel. Not only am I betraying Julian, I’m deceiving a woman I love. She doesn’t suspect a thing. As lies compound, lines are crossed and loyalties tested, all I can ask myself is…what have I done?

  Because sooner or later something’s got to give. There’s no way I’m giving up Isobel. But once the truth is exposed, it might not be my choice at all.

  * * * *

  We stopped in front of the room.

  I swallowed and stared at the metal door.

  “Go inside, I’ll wait.” My dad crossed his arms.

  I’d told him I had conditions.

  And this was one of them.

  I wanted to see him for myself.

  I wanted to see that he wasn’t dead.

  I wanted to tell him I was sorry.

  I wanted to ask for his forgiveness.

  I wanted to mend all the broken bridges between us.

  Most of all I wanted him to know I was doing this for him, for his legacy, for the one thing he wanted the most in this world, the one thing I loathed.

  The company.

  And even if he woke up hating me, I would walk away knowing I did everything in my power to help him in every way I could.

  I took a deep breath and opened the door.

  The room smelled like antiseptic.

  The lights were low.

  And he was hooked up to so many machines my eyes blurred with tears. One machine breathed for him; every second or so it made a noise that had my stomach clenching.

  He was alive.

  Barely.

  His face was covered in bandages, and one of his legs was broken, I knew he had several broken ribs and a collapsed lung going into surgery.

  “Hey, Jules.” My voice sounded so loud in that room. “You look like shit.”

  I figured if he could hear me, he would at least smile at that.

  “You’re also all over the news, which should make you really happy since you love the attention, but that’s not why I’m here. Dad came to visit and he said... some things.” Shit, how was I even supposed to do this? I cursed and spun around, putting my hands on my head.

  “I know how important this job and following in his footsteps is to you, and I guess I just somehow needed you to know that I’m going to work my ass off so that when you wake up, you have everything you’ve always wanted. I just need you to know that it’s not for me, it’s for you. I swore I would protect you and I failed. I can’t fail in this. I won’t,” I rasped. “But I really need you to wake up soon because I have no idea what I’m doing, and I have no idea how to do this other than to make it look like you’re okay, so that you can have everything you’ve always wanted.” I sighed and then looked at him one last time. “I never stopped loving you. I want you to know that.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut and hung my head, then turned around and walked back into the hall.

  My dad was talking to one of the nurses. She looked at me and I just shook my head. My dad went to great lengths to make everyone think he only had one son, so I was used to that look of confusion. I never told anyone who my father was and didn’t even use the Tennyson name. It disgusted me. It represented what my father did to my mom, what he did to Julian, our family.

  I took my mom’s maiden name and pretended I wasn’t a Tennyson.

  And my dad let me because he had one son he could control and knew that wasn’t me.

  Until now.

  He looked between me and the nurse and whispered something else, then walked back to me, his swagger so confident I wanted to punch him in the face.

  His “only” son was in the ICU fighting for his life, and he was smiling. How the hell was he smiling?

  “She won’t talk.” He adjusted his white silk tie. “The entire ICU’s been paid off, and I made a large donation to the hospital this morning. No reporters will be allowed in, nobody knows who you are, remember?”

  “I wonder how many people you had to pay off to make that happen,” I shot back.

  He glared. “I’m offering you a fresh start.”

  “Right.” Like the fresh start you gave me when you sent me away. I could feel a headache coming on. “The only reason I’m doing this is for Mom and Julian.”

  He snorted out a laugh. “You realize your brother hates you.”

  “And I hate you, so it looks like we’re all in good company.”

  He ignored the comment and started walking, and I knew the expectation was to walk with him so I did.

  “All her medical bills,” I demanded. “Nobody but the board will know my true identity, and the minute Julian wakes up, he takes over again.”

  “If he wakes up.”

  “He’ll fucking wake up,” I said
through clenched teeth.

  My dad hesitated like he needed someone to tell him that Julian would fight, and then he agreed, “He’s strong. He’s a Tennyson.”

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