by Kathryn Shay
Molly touched his hand over the bar. "Why did you?"
Simon had asked him the same thing. He’d spent agonizing hours in the hospital with Logan, waiting for Belle to come through the surgery. The bullet had torn ligaments in her shoulder. And they still had no idea how their cover had been blown. What with Belle under the knife, Simon had put that on hold. At least Susie was safe and returned home to ecstatic parents.
"I’m not sure why I left. She did something that made me angry."
Damn her—she’d saved his life! He was furious. The bullet she’d taken had been meant for him. She’d stepped in front of it on purpose, and Logan didn’t know what to do with all that.
Molly’s amber eyes danced. "Is she a good match for you?"
"She was." He swiped a towel over the bar. "Too much has happened between us."
Molly rubbed her stomach. "She’s the one with the baby. The one you had experience with."
"Yeah. That makes it even more complicated." He told her about the IM debacle.
"Hmm. Nobody knows as well as I do how complicated a relationship can get. And look what happened to me." Molly grinned. "Happily–ever–after."
He leaned over and ruffled her hair. "For that, I’m grateful."
The door to the bar opened and a woman entered. For a minute, he thought it might be Belle. But then he caught her profile and smiled. "Your sister’s here."
Jill Sullivan, two months further along than Molly, gracefully walked into the bar. Damn, he was surrounded by pregnant women.
"Ah, there you are." She smiled over at him. "Hi, Logan." Then at her sister. "Ready to go shopping, sis?"
"We’re picking out baby furniture." Molly rose. "The guys are meeting us at the store."
Logan gave them a perfunctory smile. He was jealous as hell. Molly leaned over the bar. "Life’s so short, Logan. Don’t waste it." She kissed his cheek and was gone.
Damn. Nothing was right now. In the last two years, he’d found a way to live without Belle. Forced himself to forget her. But seeing her again, thinking about how she closed around him when they made love, how she took him into her body and soul, shot his discipline to hell. He couldn’t forget her again.
He picked up the phone and called Simon. "Kirby," a clipped voice answered.
"Hey, buddy, it’s Logan."
A hesitation. "How you doing?"
"I’m fine. Um, how is she?"
"She’s pissed as hell you left her in the hospital. A second time."
"She healing well?"
"Hmm. She’ll be good enough to go out again in no time."
"Oh, that makes me feel better."
"You got it bad, buddy. You should do something about it or another guy’s going to scoop her up." He chuckled. "Maybe me."
Logan told Simon to do something anatomically impossible and hung up. His bartender came on a few minutes later, so Logan changed and decided to go for a run to chase away the demons.
Why had he left her? he asked himself as he hit the pavement. Was it still the old stuff—losing his baby? No, he could forgive that mistake now. How could he not? She’d taken a bullet for him, and might have gotten killed in the process. He sighed. Was it because she could have been pregnant when she did it? Had she knowingly jeopardized a child of theirs again?
He stopped abruptly. What the hell was the matter with him? What were the chances that she was pregnant? And what kind of fixation did he have on this, anyway? Isabelle Sachetti was a female agent working for The Organization. She was simply doing her job. This time and last.
Hell, he wondered as he started to run again, why couldn’t he have seen that before?
Maybe because he didn’t want to. Maybe he just wanted to nurse his hurt and strike out at her because he couldn’t do anything about fate, which had taken their child.
And if that was the reason, he was a shit. He wondered now if she could ever forgive him for it.
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"What did he say?"
"He wanted to know if you were all right."
Belle massaged her shoulder over the sling. "Like he cares. He left me." She kicked the wastebasket. "Just like before."
Simon stood and came around the desk to lean on it. "You are a pair. I’ve never met two people who belonged together more, or who were more stubborn and single–minded."
Belle swore at him over her good shoulder. Then she felt a hand on it.
"Did I ever tell you why my marriage broke up?"
Startled, Belle turned to him. "No, you’re as closemouthed as he is."
Simon’s blue eyes turned sad. She always thought he was ruggedly handsome, yet so soft inside. "I blew it with my wife. I let the job come between us. She left because of that, and then, when I got hurt, and lost the job, I had nothing." He ran his hand down her cheek. "Don’t let that happen to you and Logan, Belle. This Organization isn’t worth the sacrifice."
"It’s all I know. All I ever wanted." Which wasn’t quite true. After this last brush with death and with the underbelly of the world, the job didn’t hold as much allure.
Still, she was furious at Logan. After what they’d shared, after saving his freaking life, he’d left her!
Simon’s cell phone rang before she could say any more. "Kirby." He waited. "No kidding? Yeah, thanks, I’ll tell them both."
She arched a brow when he clicked off. "What?"
"They know how your cover was blown."
"Really, how—" A second ring cut her off.
He rolled his eyes and answered, "Kirby." A scowl. "Um, yeah, I guess." He held the phone out to her. "It’s for you."
"Logan?"
Simon shook his head. "No, somebody named M&M Sweetie."
oOo
After sulking for two more days—when had he become such a whiner?—Logan dropped down at his desk chair in his office and picked up the phone. He was going after Belle. He’d call the airport and get a flight out to…oh, great, he didn’t even know where she was living. He’d never let himself find out. Damn, now that he’d decided, he wanted to get to her right away!
There was a knock on the door to his office. "Go away," he shouted. Nothing was more important than this.
The door swung open. Who the hell? Molly stood there, smiling her happy grin.
"Mol, this isn’t a good time."
"Too bad." She stepped aside.
Belle stood behind her. She was dressed in her usual garb—long black skirt, pretty spandex top with beads on it, though there was a black sling over it, and earrings that he was pretty sure he’d bought her in Dublin. "Hello, Logan." Oh, hell. That look, combined with that sultry voice was gonna kill him.
Still, he’d play this out. "What are you doing here, Isabelle?" He glanced at Molly. "And what do you have to do with it all?"
Molly smiled, scooted to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Just returning the favor." She squeezed Belle’s arm on the way out and closed the door behind her.
"I understand you had something to do with getting Molly and her husband together," Belle said.
Logan nodded. "How did she find you? I just realized I didn’t have any idea where you were living."
"Trying to get in touch with me?" Her eyes danced. "I like hearing that."
"Maybe. Molly?"
"Seems she commandeered your cell. Called Simon, since you’d mentioned him by name and had him in your speed dial."
Waiting, he leaned on the edge of his desk, tucking his hands in his armpits to keep from reaching for her, especially when she moved closer. Her perfume pulled at him.
She reached up and straightened the collar of his green shirt. "Our cover’s blown."
"Really? Did somebody recognize you?"
"Not me. You. Seems there’s some kind of international bad–guy network that passes pictures around on the Internet to all the sleazebags. An operative fingered you. From there, they caught on to me. So, I’m blown, too."
"I’m sorry if you’re out of a job," he lied.
She shrugged. "Your fault. Got an
y ideas for employment?"
"Employment? No."
The saucy look faded from her face. "I see."
Closing in on her, he grasped her waist and pulled her to him. "But I have lots of ideas for your future."
"Oh, yeah." Tears sparkled in her eyes. "Like what?"
Hell, he was done dancing. "I love you, Belle. I never stopped loving you in two years. I want you to marry me, have my babies." His grip on her tightened. "I don’t want a life without you."
"Oh, Logan," she said achingly. "I love you, too. I want a life with you, too."
They held on to each other. He reveled in how right she felt in his arms. Finally, he set her back. "Won’t you miss the excitement of the chase?"
She shook her head. "I’ve had enough of the chase, thank you." Again her eyes twinkled. "But I guess you’ll have to provide some kind of excitement for me."
He grinned down at her. "I think I can handle that."
She grinned up at him. "I know you can. But just to be sure, let’s give it a try."
"Here?" he asked, already reaching behind him for the remote that locked his office door.
"Here, or anywhere in the world," she said, smiling when she heard the lock click into place.
"We’ve had enough of the world together, babe." He lowered his lips to hers. "We don’t need it anymore."
"You’re right. You’re my world, Logan. You have been since the day I met you."
"And you’re mine. Now and forever." Then, to seal the deal, he kissed her.
–THE END–
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Author’s Note
I’m so pleased to share these novellas, written years ago as a Harlequin online read published exclusively on their website. Because I don’t think many people ever read them, I believe they’re new to my most of my readers.
An interesting thing about this series is that the relationships between the couples are stormier than those in many of my books. But their stories simply unfolded this way and I ran with them. Of course their problems make their happily ever after more satisfying.
CAUGHT OFF GUARD was innately tough to write because the conflict deals with infidelity, a subject many readers shy away from. And yes, Jillian’s reasoning behind what she did was not acceptable. But I wanted to tell a story of true remorse, true forgiveness, and so I set Jill and Riley on this very difficult course.
For OPPOSITES ATTRACT, I ran the risk of making Jase unlikable. I wanted to kick him in the pants much of the time, as I adored Molly and he hurts her badly. My only hope was that with his dysfunctional background, the reader would understand his flaws. There was simply no other way to write this story.
I’m afraid I have a favorite of the three. I loved AN IMPOSSIBLE MISSION because Logan was my kind of guy in all three novellas. I didn’t agree with how much he blamed Belle for her actions, but I understood it. And I loved getting him to soften toward her.
I hope you enjoyed the unusual settings in these books. I walked those streets of Paris myself not long before writing the stories, and I actually stayed in Logan and Belle’s hotel room in Rome. I had fun “revisiting” them.
I’m pleased that I’m getting to share these books with a wider audience and that you all had a chance to meet these interesting characters.
Kathy
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If you liked this book, you might want to post a review of it at Smashwords.
Be sure to follow Paige, Darcy and Anabelle fifteen years later, and see what happens to these all-grown-up women in the Serenity House Series:
In PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT, Paige Kendrick is a successful doctor who keeps people at a distance and refuses a relationship with hunky doctor Ian Chandler. But Ian won’t stop until he gets what he wants—Paige! And because of his assertiveness, he almost destroys their chances of a life together. Smashwords
In A PLACE TO BELONG, Darcy O’Malley and Hunter Sloan have more in common than they know when they meet at her daycare. Both have troubled kids, both grew up as outcasts in their hometown, and both find a deep and driving passion for the other that cannot be denied. Smashwords
In AGAINST THE ODDS, troubled Anabelle Crane fell in love with Nathan Hyde, the town’s fair-haired boy. He broke her heart and she left town to become an undercover cop. But now, she’s back to guard him from a stalker. Some things haven’t changed, though, and Anabelle and Nathan find that the passion they have for each other has not died! Smashwords
Or buy the trilogy in a boxed set. Smashwords
To browse Kathryn’s impressive list of titles go to http://www.kathrynshay.com/books/.
CAUGHT OFF GUARD Copyright 2002
OPPOSITES ATTRACT Copyright 2003
AN IMPOSSIBLE MISSION Copyright 2005
A LOVE SO STRONG Copyright 2016
COVER BY ROGENNA
http://www.sweettoheat.blogspot.com
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About the Author
A NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY bestselling author, Kathryn Shay has been a lifelong writer and teacher. She has written dozens of self-published original romance titles, print books with the Berkley Publishing Group and Harlequin Enterprises and mainstream women’s fiction with Bold Strokes Books. She has won five RT Book Reviews awards, four Golden Quills, four Holt Medallions, the Bookseller’s Best Award, Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year and several “Starred Reviews.” Her novels have been serialized in COSMOPOLITAN magazine and featured in USA TODAY, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL and PEOPLE magazine. There are over five million copies of her books in print, along with hundreds of thousands downloaded online. Reviewers have called her work “emotional and heart-wrenching.”
Continue reading for an excerpt from
Practice Makes Perfect
Book 1 of the Serenity House series
April 1996
Hyde Point, New York
NORA NOLAN struggled to stay calm as she climbed the stairs of Serenity House, Hyde Point’s new home for troubled girls. Behind her were Sergeant Chief Dan Whitman and Jade Kendrick, one of the resident teenagers. They hurried to the first room on the left.
Paige, Jade’s sister, was sprawled across the bed, wearing oversize boxers and an oversize T-shirt to cover her huge stomach; she peered up from her book, The First Nine Months of Life. “What’s wrong?” She spotted her sister. “Jade? What’re you doing home in the middle of the day?” Her eyes narrowed. “Did you get in trouble again at school?”
Bursting into the room, Jade climbed onto the bed with Paige. “No, Dan came and got me.” She sidled in close. “Something’s wrong.”
Paige’s eyes widened; she slipped her hand into Jade’s and looked up at the adults. “What happened?”
“I need to talk to you both.” Nora tried to keep her tone even as she came into the room, followed by Dan. She inched Paige and Jade over and sat on the bed. “I just got a call from the state police. I’m so sorry, girls. There’s been an accident.” Her voice cracked, and Dan put a hand on her shoulder. “Your parents were on a motorcycle. They were killed instantly.”
For a minute everything seemed suspended in time. No one moved. Then tears welled in Jade’s eyes, and she turned her face into Paige’s shoulder. Paige shifted and encircled Jade with her arms. But her own eyes
stayed dry. “It’s okay, sis, I’ll take care of you.” Swallowing back emotion, she looked at Nora. “H-how did it happen?”
“They crashed into a utility pole on the way here.” No need to tell them yet that Sam and Sari Kendrick, who had just been released from rehab, had visited their dealer and had been high as kites when they drove their motorcycle off the road.
“No, no,” Jade sobbed, almost hysterical. “They were coming to take us home this weekend.”
“I know they were.” Nora reached out to soothe Jade’s shoulder.
Paige’s hand went to her stomach. “What’ll we do now, Nora?”
“We’ll decide that later,” Nora said, tucking back a strand of Paige’s hair. “Sweetie, it’s all right to cry.”
Shaking her head, Paige lifted her chin. “No, I have to figure this out. We’re alone now. I’ll have to take care of Jade. I’ll have to...” Her face tightened, then blanched. “I, um, don’t feel good.”
Nora cocked her head. “The baby?”
“No. Just...a little sick to my stomach. I gotta go to the bathroom.” She tried to ease away from Jade.
Her sister clung to her. “No, Paige,” Jade said brokenly. “Don’t go.”
Nora pried the younger girl loose. “Let go, Jade. She’ll be right back.” She wrapped Jade in her arms and Paige bolted off the bed and headed to the door. Just as she reached it, she stopped short. “Nora, Nora, my...I...” She looked down at the wet splotches on her boxers.
Nora drew in a breath. “Your water broke.”
“That means the baby’s coming.” Paige gripped the jamb. “It’s a month early.” Her face contorted and she hunched over. “Oh.”
Dan reached her first. “Easy now.” He grasped her shoulder, just before she crumpled. Swinging her up into his arms, he crossed to the bed and set her down. “Nora, call the ambulance.”