by K. M. Scott
Diana giggled at my joke like she truly enjoyed it. “Ethan was right. You are sweet and funny. Well, I love your name. If I ever have a little girl, I want her to have a unique name like yours.”
When Ethan told me about his sister, he mentioned that she rarely left the hotel room and hadn’t dated anyone since the accident. Just hearing that made me sad, but now that I sat there with her in that room, I wondered if he’d been mistaken.
“Do you think your boyfriend will be okay with a hippie name like mine?” I asked, but I instantly worried I’d overstepped my bounds, so I added, “I have to admit my father never liked it or my sister Dawn’s name, but my mother insisted on naming us like that.”
Lowering her head, Diana quietly said, “I don’t date. I haven’t for a long time.”
“Well, I bet when you decide to that you’ll have men all over you. You’re gorgeous and sweet. Trust me. You wouldn’t be single for long if you didn’t want to be.”
My compliment made her smile. “Thank you for saying that, but I’m not sure I’d know how to even talk to a man now.”
“Just like you talk to Ethan. I bet once you got talking to men, you’d realize it’s not hard. I was a little intimidated when I first started talking to your brother, I have to admit, but after a few minutes it was fine.”
My confession made her laugh. “I’m so happy he brought you here today. I knew when he said that he wanted me to meet you that you must be special since he’s never introduced anyone to any of us before. I told my mother he was bringing you here and she said you were exactly the kind of girl she hoped he’d settle down with. I want to tell you I agree with my mother.”
I sat there stunned by what she said. Ethan had never brought any of the women he dated home to meet his family? They were world-famous models.
Like she could read my mind, Diana said, “You’re the first girl he’s ever had me meet. The same with my parents. He never even mentioned girls to us before you. That’s how I knew you must be someone very special to him.”
Before I could say anything, Ethan knocked at the door and Diana jumped up to let him in. His arms full of bags of takeout food, he walked past me to put it all on the table as I watched him with a new appreciation for how much I loved him.
Turning to look at me, he asked, “She didn’t show you those pictures, did she?”
“No, but since you’ve brought that up three times already, I’m thinking I really need to see them,” I answered with a chuckle, teasing him.
“Just remember the sex god thing and that you love me if she breaks them out. That’s all I ask.”
I walked over to where he stood unpacking foil packages of food from the brown paper bags and kissed him sweetly on the lips. “I like the idea of you looking less than stunning at some point in your life. It makes you more relatable to us mere mortals.”
He smiled just as Diana came up behind us with forks and plates and said, “You know I have those pictures somewhere. If not, I can just ask Mom to send them to me and we can be looking at them on my TV in minutes. Say the word, Summer, and we’ll be looking at Ethan in his chipmunk stage.”
“I think that might be cute,” I answered, squeezing his arm. “They can’t be that bad. I’m sure you were an adorable chipmunk.”
Diana set off to look for those middle school pictures as Ethan opened up the tins of Italian food that smelled delicious. Bending down, I inhaled the smell of garlic and onions rising from the containers.
“What’s in these? They smell incredible!”
Ethan pointed at the container closest to him and said, “That’s penne with vodka sauce.” Then he proceeded to go around the table, saying, “The one over there is rigatoni with meat sauce. That one is vegetable lasagna, and there’s regular lasagna next to it. And that other one is garlic bread.”
A look of sadness came over him. “My sister loves Italian, but she didn’t know what you might like, so she went a little overboard. She does that sometimes. It’s just how she is.”
I shook my head and smiled at how thoughtful Diana was. “I think it’s great. She’s an incredible person, Ethan. Thank you for bringing me here to meet her.”
He pulled me into his arms and kissed me. “I’m glad. I better get all my kissing in now since we’re going to stink like garlic in about two minutes.”
“That’s okay,” I said, standing on my toes to kiss him back. “We’ll both smell like it so it will cancel itself out.”
From the bedroom, Diana squealed, “Found them!”
Ethan cringed. “I can’t believe she found those pictures.”
“Well, you brought them up. I would have never known about them if you didn’t mention them.”
“Well, since we’re playing it that way, I have a few pictures you might be interested in. After we get settled, I’ll show you. I think you look great in them.”
My mind raced with what pictures he could have taken of me. I’d never posed for him. Panicked, I whispered, “Ethan, what are you talking about? Please tell me you’re not about to show your sister pictures of me in any compromising position.”
He laughed at my suggestion and handed me a plate to get my food. “Is that what you think I do when you’re sleeping?”
His answer didn’t make me feel much better about these pictures. “Well, no, but what are they of then?”
“You’ll see.”
The three of us sat on the couch as we ate our Italian takeout food and Ethan showed Diana pictures from the party the night before. We all laughed at the one he’d taken of Tristan standing near the window with Tressa next to him. I guessed some things never changed.
“It looks like it was a fun party, Summer. You did a great job,” Diana said as she stood up to put the disc of Ethan’s middle school pictures into the TV.
He took our teasing about his chipmunk cheeks in stride, never saying a word when his sister and I giggled about his middle school look, and when we’d looked at all the pictures, he walked over to the TV.
“What can I say? I had some rough years. These pictures, though, aren’t rough at all. The last couple I love the most.”
Ethan sat down beside me as Diana began scrolling through the pictures he’d taken at the animal shelter. With each one, I told her the animal’s name and their story. Then she got to pictures of me and the animals, and he whispered in my ear, “Now you’ll see why I love these.”
I couldn’t help but be embarrassed as I sat there staring at myself sitting with Butterscotch, One-Eyed Jack, Midnight, Spooky, and Boo and giggling as I tried to get them to pose while they licked my face and climbed all over me. He’d taken pictures of me that I didn’t hate at all, and I always hated how I looked in pictures.
In fact, I loved these more than any picture anyone had ever taken of me. I didn’t know how, but he’d found a way to make me look as beautiful on the outside as I felt on the inside.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ethan
Summer sat in the passenger seat with a look of concern on her face. She didn’t have to worry. Everything would be fine.
“It’s going to be okay. I don’t know why you’re worried,” I said in my best supportive voice as I grabbed her hand to squeeze it.
“I know. I’m not concerned as much as anxious. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
Turning to face her, I saw concern in her eyes. “If I get in trouble, which I’m not, then we’ll just move. I could go for a place out of the city anyway. Somewhere he can get a good run in.”
“But you’re only allowed to get small dogs. I don’t want you to get in trouble because you think I want him.”
“You do want him to come home with us, don’t you?” I asked, already knowing the answer was yes.
“Of course, but what if you lose your home because of this?”
“Then we move. It’s that easy. I can relocate my photography business to practically anywhere. If we all want to move to an island, I could even do that, although that woul
d mean flying a lot. I’m okay with that if you two are, though.”
Since I’d decided to go into the business of taking pictures of animals, I’d been overwhelmed with how many people were willing to pay good money to have pictures of their pets, pictures with their pets, and every combination of both. There was gold in those furry faces, and I planned on mining it for all it was worth. So far, it had been successful enough for even my father to compliment me on my business savvy. I didn’t bother telling him I actually liked working with four-legged models more than two-legged ones.
“I don’t want to move to an island, Ethan. You’re missing the point. I’m just worried that my talking about him so much has made you agree to something that’s going to get you in trouble.”
Summer really could be the world biggest worrier sometimes. I had a feeling if we ever had kids that she’d be in a constant state of stress, especially if we had a boy like I was growing up.
Leaning over, I pressed my forehead to hers and sighed. “Here’s the thing. I don’t love that apartment one-millionth as much as I love you. You want to adopt him, so we’re adopting him. Don’t make it difficult when it’s a simple and good thing. So, are you ready to go in?”
She appeared to want to still discuss the issue, but after a long moment, she smiled. “Okay. Let’s go get him.”
We walked hand-in-hand into the Mended Paws Shelter and Rescue where her sister waited for us with the newest member of our family. He still wore that black and red bandana I’d given him that day.
“Trooper, are you ready to go home with us?” Summer asked as she crouched down to give him a kiss on his head.
He looked up at me, and in his eyes, I thought I saw a glint of real happiness as she fawned over him. I knew how he felt. She had that effect on me too.
“When I told him he was going home to his forever home this morning, I swear he perked up,” Dawn said. Handing me Trooper’s leash, she smiled. “Thanks for everything, Ethan.”
Summer gave him another kiss on the top of his head and looked up at her sister. “Have there been any more adoptions?”
“Oh yeah!” Dawn said with excitement. “Jack and Butterscotch are going to their new homes this afternoon, and Muffin the kitty who got her picture taken on that Monday morning went home with a little boy and his dad yesterday. Even better, we’ve had an increase in adoptions across the board, and I’m sure that will continue once the article comes out in the Beacon next week.”
Summer stood and smiled at me. “And it’s all because of you.”
I shrugged and pretended like all of it was no big deal, even as I liked how it felt to know I’d helped. “I just did what I could. The animals did all the hard work.”
“Well, you two are doing a great thing giving Trooper a home. Send me pictures when he gets settled in. Everyone here at the shelter is going to miss this guy.”
“I will. I’ll send them when I call you later this week.”
Trooper tilted his head to the side and barked like he wanted to tell us it was time to go and start his new life. “I think he wants to get on the road,” I said with a chuckle.
After saying our goodbyes to Dawn, we piled into my car to head back to the city. I looked up at the rearview mirror and smiled at Trooper as I drove out of the shelter’s parking lot. Reaching over, I took Summer’s hand in mine and brought it up to my lips for a kiss.
“Are you happy?” I asked.
She smiled in that sweet way that never failed to charm me. “More than I can say.”
“What about you, Trooper?”
From the backseat, he barked twice.
Summer leaned over and pressed a kiss onto my cheek. “Did you ever imagine you’d be settled down with a girlfriend and a dog?”
I thought about that question for a moment and smiled as I looked over at her. “Honestly, I can’t imagine it with anyone else in the world.”
So I was wrong about nice girls. I should have known better. I’m the son of a nice girl.
Businessman, dog owner, and former bachelor in love with a beautiful girl from just outside Philly. I was becoming more and more like Tristan Stone every day. I would have never guessed it, but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
LOOK FOR THE NEXT NEW HEART OF STONE BOOK, SET IN STONE, COMING JUNE 2019! READ ON FOR AN EXCERPT FROM TRESSA AND KILLIAN’S STORY!
I leaned down so I didn’t have to yell back at Summer and said into her ear, “This place is crazy. What the hell are all these people screaming about?”
She didn’t answer and instead simply pointed at the dais. Standing there with all the lights trained on him was a man more beautiful than I’d ever seen in my life. He stood well over six foot and filled out the tux he wore perfectly. My eyes slowly scanned his body from his feet, and by the time I got to his light brown hair that just barely hit the collar of his white shirt, I’d forgotten there was anyone else in the room but him.
Who was this man?
Then before I could turn to ask Summer, he began walking down the runway and my instant admiration for him quickly cooled. Sure, he was gorgeous, but as he basked in the attention of the crowd of screaming people I now noticed was mostly female, I saw someone who had no problem drawing attention to himself. Of all the character flaws a man could possess, that was the worst.
Too bad. Other than his being an attention whore, I would have liked to find out more about this stunning specimen of manhood. Disappointed, I wondered what kind of man allowed himself to be involved in a bachelor auction.
He walked out to the end of the runway and winked at someone, which caused the crowd to erupt again. All it did for me was make me feel more disappointed because up close he was even more attractive with pale green eyes and dark lashes that made him look exotic. For a moment, I fantasized about what kind of perfect body existed under that tux, but that served no purpose. He wasn’t anyone I could ever be with.
As he turned to walk back toward the dais, he looked down at where we stood and suddenly it felt like time stopped. Those incredible green eyes stared into mine, and even as my mind dismissed this man as the attention whore he clearly was, my body reacted quite differently. That familiar ache between my legs I hadn’t experienced in far too long and thoughts of how good he’d feel satisfying that ache made me instinctively sink my teeth into my lower lip. He smiled and ran his tongue over his own bottom lip, and for a moment, nothing in the world existed but him.
I felt an elbow crash into my side, tearing me out of my imagination, and Summer yelled into my ear, “Oh, my God! Do you realize who you were just giving the eyes to?”
Shaking my head, partly to answer her and partly to get rid of the incredibly sexual thoughts still lingering about what I wanted to do with him, I stood there speechless, not able to say a thing.
“That’s Killian Brenton!”
She said that like I should know the name, but it didn’t register. Who was Killian Brenton?
Summer’s eyes opened wide, as if she’d heard the dumbest thing ever spoken in the world. “He’s the new quarterback for New York. He was traded from Miami this spring. He’s the biggest thing in town, and you were just checking him out like you wanted to sink your teeth into him.”
I waved off her ridiculous comment. There was nothing wrong with appreciating a good looking man, even if he was an attention whore I’d never sleep with.
“Two thousand! Do I hear three? It’s for a great cause, ladies!” the announcer said in an amused voice.
Summer leaned over and asked, “Why aren’t you bidding like everyone else?”
I shook my head and waved the question away.
“But it’s for charity. You don’t have to marry the guy.”
After I watched him flirt with another woman in the audience, I turned to her and said, “These things aren’t even real. No one expects either party to follow through on the deal.”
“Then why not bid for him?” she asked. “It’s for a good cause.”
C
learly, I couldn’t deny that, so I raised my hand when the announcer said five thousand dollars. Turning to look at Summer, I smiled. “Happy?”
“Yes. Do you know that he signed a contract for nearly three hundred million dollars?”
Three hundred million dollars? For that much, he should stop parading around like a peacock and simply donate to the charity. But as I watched him interact with the women in the crowd, I saw he was incapable of not being in the spotlight and letting people fawn all over him.
It’s a character flaw. He’s an attention whore, and that I cannot abide in a man.
I’d met many men just like Killian Brenton in my time with Stone Worldwide. They believed they were God’s gift to everyone on the planet but especially to women. I’d enjoyed proving them wrong whenever I could. They preferred women with few thoughts in their heads who wanted to do nothing more than adore them.
No thanks. I had bigger plans for myself than simply adoring a man for the rest of my life.
Lost in thought, I didn’t see him come over toward us until he stood directly in front of me on the ballroom floor. Craning my neck to look up at him, I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by those pale green eyes. God, he was beautiful! He smelled incredible too, and I took a deep breath of air, fighting the urge to close my eyes he smelled so good. Was that cologne? I had no idea, but the man was nothing short of delectable.
But why was he smiling like that, like a cat that just ate a canary?
Before I could ask Summer what was going on, he lifted a microphone to his mouth and said in a deep voice that rolled over me like silk, “Congratulations. You’re the lucky lady who gets to spend a night with me.”
He stood staring at me as I looked up at him speechless and utterly unaware of what was happening. All I knew was I couldn’t turn away, or maybe I didn’t want to. Whatever it was, this man had an intoxicating effect on me I couldn’t explain.