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UNTIL VALERIE Happily Ever Alpha World

JESSICA MARIN

Edited by EMMA MACK Cover Design by NAJLA QAMBER DESIGNS

Copyright © 2019 by Jessica Marin.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Until Valerie Published by Boom Factory Publishing, LLC. Jessica Marin, CONTRIBUTOR, to the Original Works was granted permission by Aurora Rose Reynolds, ORIGINAL AUTHOR, to use the copyrighted characters and/ or worlds created by Aurora Rose Reynolds in the Original Work; all copyright protection to the characters and/ or worlds of Aurora Rose Reynolds in the Original Works are and shall continue to be retained by Aurora Rose Reynolds.

You can find all of Aurora Rose Reynolds Original Works on most major retailers.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage or retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic, photocopying, mechanical or otherwise, without express permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, story lines and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, events, locales or any events or occurrences are purely coincidental.

DEDICATION

To Crystal and Neil- thank you for inviting me into your world, but most importantly, thank you for your continuous support and calling me family.

“Real Friends Treat You Like Family”

CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Epilogue Also by Jessica Marin Acknowledgments About the Author

CHAPTER ONE ROWAN

Y

ellow, orange, green and crimson.

The dramatic colors of autumn in Tennessee fill my vision as I soak in the view during my daily commute to work. The morning air is crisp with coolness, the wind stinging my cheeks while the sun’s rays peek through the openings between the trees and their branches. The winding road makes me secure my grip on the handlebars, revving my engine faster as I steer the bike along the open, curvy backroads toward the town of Murfreesboro, my work home for the last three years. Never did I think a kid like me from Boston would come to love the country roads of the South, but they have captured my heart and I can’t contain the smile that spreads along my face, the feeling of freedom racing through my veins as I command my Harley along these old roads.

Ten minutes later, I park my bike in the back lot of the Broken Eagles Motorcycle Repair Shop and head to the house that’s situated a few yards away from it. It’s a place where the members of the Broken Eagles Motorcycle Club hang out, have meetings and can relax. The house has a gym, kitchen, dining room, entertainment area and some bedrooms in case some of the members need to spend the night. The beds in those rooms have seen so much action that you couldn’t

even pay me to sleep on them, even if I was drunk and couldn’t drive.

I put my backpack in one of the lockers and head straight for the gym. As usual, I’m the first to arrive and I relish in the silence that gives me the opportunity to psych myself up for my workout. I have always been into fitness, ever since it was drilled into me by my father at a young age. Strong body makes up for a stupid mind, he would always say.

Yup, my asshole of a father would say that to me. I never understood why my father thought I was stupid.

Maybe he thought so because I didn’t walk as early as my siblings did.

Maybe he thought so because I wouldn’t talk as early as my siblings did.

Maybe he thought so because the doctors told my parents to hold me back a year from starting Kindergarten.

Maybe he thought so because I wanted to be a professional hockey player, not a business entrepreneur like he was.

Regardless of the fact that I eventually walked just fine, talked just fine, excelled at school and was actually really good at playing hockey, I still couldn’t convince my father that I was just as smart as my siblings were. Thank God you’re good-looking, he would say, gripping my chin painfully as he would study my face year after year until I was confident enough to remove myself from his grasp.

I shake my head of the memories, wishing that little things like coming to the gym didn’t set o a painful path down memory lane. I set up my workout playlist on the gym’s sound system and hit play, cranking it loud enough so that the bass of Metallica’s Sad But True vibrates the mirrors on the wall. I step on the treadmill, set my speed and start to run. The constant pounding of my feet on the moving track is like white noise, lulling me back into thoughts of my

fucked up family. It isn’t until thirty minutes later that a voice breaks through my concentration.

“Rowan, get your pretty ass over here and spot me!”

I smile, loving the sound of that deep, demanding voice. A voice that I’ve been listening to ever since we were part of the same platoon during deployment in the Navy SEALS. I decrease the speed on the treadmill until it’s safe enough to stop the machine and walk o . I grab my water bottle and take a drink before wiping o my sweat with a towel. I walk over to the bench and stand at the head, ready for Kyle to start his bench presses.

“What’s the bet today, Row?” Kyle asks, waiting on my answer before adding weight to his bar. For the last couple of weeks, Kyle and I have been taking on physical strength challenges, betting that the other one can’t complete something that’s more physically demanding than what our normal routine is. I take a moment to think about what my bet will be for him today. I don’t want him to hurt himself, but I also don’t want to keep losing twenty bucks each week.

“I bet that you can’t complete ten reps of three hundred pounds.” I laugh at the look of outrageous shock that crosses his face. Kyle is by no means a bodybuilder and while he works out daily, his eating and drinking habits keep a nice little food baby in his stomach. He didn’t have that gut when we were in the service. In fact, Kyle used to be rigorous with his workouts and clean eating. But, death changes you and watching your best friends get killed makes you realize how precious life is. Since then, Kyle has lived a faster pace of life.

More food, more booze, and a whole lot more women. Ten reps of three hundred pounds would have been nothing for the old Kyle. New Kyle is going to struggle.

“Dude, you high right now? I can’t bench press that! Bet not accepted!” Kyle pouts his lips, slashing his hand through

the air at the same time. I can’t help but laugh at what a big baby he looks and sounds like right about now.

“Sorry, Bro. I forgot how much of a pussy you really are.”

I quickly duck to avoid getting struck by the water bottle he throws at me. Mic, another one of our MC brothers, is not so lucky as the water bottle strikes him in the stomach just as he walks through the door. He grunts, looking at us both in surprise.

“Whose ball sack am I about to destroy?” He picks up the water bottle from the floor and stomps over to us.

“Sorry Mic, that was meant for Rowan for calling me a pussy,” Kyle grumbles, giving me a dirty look. Mic raises an eyebrow at us, waiting for an explanation.

“Kyle refuses my bench press challenge. I bet him ten reps at three hundred. I forgot he was incapable of doing it, so when he whined about it, I called him a pussy. Nothing new that he hasn’t heard before.” I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly, not understanding why Kyle’s making this out to be a big deal. Lately he has gotten more sensitive when the guys joke with him about his softer physique. He’s still in better shape than most American men and it does nothing to deter the ladies of vying for his attention.

“Rowan’s right - you can’t do it and you are a pussy.” Mic drops his bag to the floor and crosses his arms against his muscled chest.

“Fuck you, Mic! I can do it!”

“Would you do it already? I can hear your whiny voice all the way outside,” Everett bellows as he and Z make their way into the gym. Harlen and Wes, the owner of the shop and our boss, follow behind them, making the morning workout crew now complete with their arrival. They crowd around the bench and Kyle can’t take the heat of everyone’s mocking gazes. He proceeds to stack the three hundred pounds on his bar, lays back on the bench, positions his hands on the

proper place of the bar, and takes a couple of deep breaths. I smile at each of the guys, hoping that our reverse psychology would motivate Kyle to push himself into trying.

“Y’all can suck it!” Kyle grunts as he lifts the bar up, steadies himself, and slowly brings the bar down to his chest. We all start chanting the countdown, encouraging him to keep going when he reaches rep number five and struggles. His grunting gets louder and more frequent by rep number seven. His face looks like it’s about to explode at rep number eight. His arms are shaking at rep number nine. He moves at a snail’s pace, but eventually, I help him get the bar up and it lands with a loud bang on rep number ten. The noise level explodes into cheers from the guys.

“I’m gonna fucking die,” he pants while I help him up into a sitting position. His chest heaves up and down with every new breath he struggles to inhale. The guys give him congratulatory poundings on his back before Mic pours the remaining water from Kyle’s water bottle over his head. The shock of the water makes Kyle yelp and stand up to try to get away, but we enclose him in a circle, blocking him in with a group hug. As we throw our arms around each other in celebration, I realize that I need to let go of the pain caused by my father thinking I was never good enough and move on with my life.

I do have a family that loves me.

I do have people who believe in me.

I do have people who encourage me.

My life in Boston is a distant past. Tennessee is now the place I call home and my brothers from the Broken Eagles are the only family I need.

CHAPTER TWO VALERIE

“P

lease tell me you’re on your way?”

I blink my eyes at the computer screen, trying to digest what my sister is asking me while wondering why these numbers on my excel spreadsheet are not adding up.

I’m beyond frustrated since I’ve been crunching numbers for four hours without a resolution in sight. It’s already sixthirty in the evening and I wouldn’t have even picked up the phone until I got this right, but my sister has called fives times in a row. Thinking it’s a medical emergency, I finally picked up.

“What’s happening? Are you okay? Mom and Dad? Did someone die? What’s wrong?” I panic, asking in one long sentence, gripping the phone in preparation for bad news.

“You’re joking, right?” Her tone of voice is laced with disgust, making it obvious this wasn’t an emergency.

“So, no one’s dying?” I question, my concentration going right back to my spreadsheet.

“You’ll be if you don’t get here soon. You’re already fifteen minutes late!” Alyson says with anger, something I’m not used to hearing from her. I rack my brain, trying to remember what commitment I had with her on a Wednesday night. I have zero alert notifications on my phone for an appointment. Biting my lip, I reach for my bag to get my day

planner, praying that I didn’t write something in there and forget to transfer it over to my phone calendar. I like to use both my planner and my phone calendar for appointments, but lately, I’ve been having a di cult time managing both.

“Really? I haven’t been keeping track of time,” I say, making excuses as I continue looking for my planner in my ridiculously oversized work bag that has unnecessary papers and garbage in it, which of course are hiding the important items. “I’m leaving the o ce in five minutes. Where am I meeting you again?” I innocently ask, hoping it jogs my memory of why I’m meeting her.

“Dress fitting!” she yells into the phone just as my eyes go wide in disbelief when I see the appointment written in bold in my day planner.

Shit!

“On my way! Love ya, bye!” I say rapidly, ending the call before she has a chance to tell me what a horrible sister I am for forgetting such an important event. I gather my papers and laptop and throw them into my bag as I race out of my o ce. Everyone else has gone home for the evening, so no one can see what a lunatic I look like running out of the building to my car. Fortunately, the bridal shop is only ten minutes away from my o ce in downtown Nashville.

Saying a prayer of thanks to the tra c gods for no tra c and only giving me green lights, I make it to the shop in a record eight minutes. I slip out of my car, pull open the door to the shop, run toward the back, and throw myself onto the couch next to my mother just as my sister walks out of the dressing room. My breath lodges in my throat at the vision of my baby sister coming toward us.

“Oh Aly!” I sigh as she steps up onto the podium, turns around and looks at herself in the full length mirror. Her eyes travel up her body, her gorgeous smile shining through

those whiskey colored eyes as she looks at us in the mirror with pure happiness.

“It fits perfectly,” she whispers, looking at us for confirmation. My mother and I just nod our heads, tears spilling down our cheeks in awe at the beauty standing before us. The lace bodice of the trumpet style wedding dress hugs her body tight in all the right places. When the sales consultant puts veil on her head, that familiar fierce protectiveness over my sister grips my heart as I realize in three months time, she’ll be traveling the world with her new husband while his band is on tour. My tears fall harder, turning to tears of sadness knowing I will soon be without my best friend. Even though she’s four years younger than me, Alyson has always been my protector, my biggest cheerleader, and my rock. She’s the light to my darkness and seeing her in this dress just makes my heart break even more. As she twirls around from encouragement of our mother, I put a smile on my face for her, despite the ache at the thought of her imminent absence. Regardless of my feelings of selfishness for not wanting her to leave me, I’m happy she has found someone who loves her as fiercely as she deserves to be loved.

I was with her that night she met Gavin, a night that seems like yesterday since it wasn’t really that long ago.

Eight months to be exact. She just graduated from Belmont University, working as an intern at one of the music labels on Music Row. She called me on a Tuesday, begging me to come with her to a special event her label was hosting at the famous Bluebird Cafe. Work had been grueling since it was tax season and all of us CPAs were working overtime for our clients at the firm. Normally I would have said no, but with the long hours I had been putting in, an adult cocktail, some good music, and my sister’s company was exactly what I needed. The moment Gavin came on stage, her eyes were

glued to him, her mouth slightly agape with wonder at the sight of him. I understood her reaction at first since he’s very good-looking, but then he stared at her in exactly the same fashion she was staring at him. He wouldn’t look at anyone else while he sang. His green eyes caressed her face, then traveled downward as he undressed her with his eyes. It started to creep me out, seeing someone that intently stare at my baby sister. I looked at her to see if she was getting the weirdo psycho vibe that I was feeling, but instead, she sighed dreamily and stared at him like some rockstar god. As soon as his set was done, he handed her a card with his cell phone and mouthed “call me”.

“You aren’t seriously going to call him, are you?” I had asked incredulously as that same disgustingly cutesy look stayed on her face when we walked to our cars later that evening. My sister never chased men - they always flocked to her. With her long caramel locks, golden eyes, and a smile always on her face, she radiated sunshine and warmth that was a magnet for everyone to be attracted to. The polar opposite of me, the Ice Princess (not a nickname I gave myself, thank you very much).

“Of course I am.” She gave me a seductive smile while typing in his phone number into her cell. She pulled away from the parking lot just as I heard her voice on her bluetooth phone speaker say, “Hello, Gavin? This is Alyson, the girl from Bluebird Cafe.”

She went out with him the next night.

She told us she was in love with him one week later.

She moved in with him three months later.

She was engaged to him four months later.

Personally, I felt this was moving way too quickly. Every time I tried to gently tell her my opinion, she would say until I felt it, I can’t have an opinion on it.

“Felt what? Love?” I asked in confusion.

“Not just any kind of love - a soul wrenching, wrappingit’s-claws-around-your-heart, kind of love the instant your eyes catch each other.” She stared o into space as she said it and I seriously questioned whether or not my sister had gotten into drugs. Her eyes finally came back to mine and as soon as she noticed the look of utter disbelief on my face, she got annoyed and threw her hands up in the air. “You know, that feeling that you can’t live without someone?

When you see them, your heart starts to pound like crazy?

You know… like a shazam!” she said, throwing her hands into my face that caused me to jump.

What the hell was a shazam?

“Your turn to try your dress on, Val.” Her voice brings me back to the present and I accept my maid of honor dress that the sales associate is holding for me. I go into the dressing room and slip it on. I study myself in the mirror, sliding my hands down my hips over the chi on material of the dress.

It’s beautiful despite not being my style. Very girlie in a dainty way, exactly the kind of dress my sister would wear.

It’s bohemian style, o the shoulder ru es that are surprisingly flattering as I turn my body sideways to get a better look at the back of the dress. The dress is flowy instead of tight, making it comfortable enough to wear for the eight hours I’ll probably be in it. I sigh in relief, thinking I don’t look half as bad as I thought I would. I walk out of the dressing room and dutifully stand on the podium, facing my sister and mother for their approval. My happiness in my appearance starts to fade as both of them just stare at me in silence. Confused, I turn around to look at myself in the three-sided mirror, not seeing anything di erent from my appearance thirty-seconds ago in the private dressing room.

“What’s wrong? Do I look like a smurf or something?”

Their laughter fills the air as my joke breaks the uncomfortable silence.

“No silly, and this is periwinkle blue, not electric blue.”

Alyson corrects me as she approaches from behind and places her hands on my shoulders. “You take my breath away. The dress fits you perfectly. The color of the dress makes your eyes even more mesmerizing than they already are.” I look into the mirror and have to admit that she’s right, my eyes do seem to standout more with the color of this dress. Note to self - buy more clothes in periwinkle blue.

“Valerie, you look stunning!” My mother stands on my other side, smiling at us in the mirror. “I can picture you with your hair down in waves, light color palette of makeup complimenting those gorgeous high cheek bones of yours.

And of course, you will not be wearing your glasses that day, right?” I roll my eyes at her all knowing mother-is-gettingher-way look because she knows full well that there is no way in hell my sister is going to let me wear my glasses on her wedding day. I’ll be shocked if they are even permitted during the bachelorette party. My mother and sister have been extremely vocal about their disapproval over my eyeglasses, my style of clothes, and my signature hair style of a high, tight braided pony-tail. Unlike them, who spend hours doing their hair and makeup, my hair style of choice can be completed in five minutes and my makeup is bare minimum of foundation, mascara and lip gloss.

Sometimes I feel like the third wheel when we are all together. They are both the epitome of a girlie girl. Both love clothes, makeup and staying up with the latest trends in the fashion world, whereas I couldn’t careless about any of that stu . Although I do like some of the more expensive brands of clothing, I don’t go for style; I go for comfort. My color palette always tends to be white, black, beige and gray compared to their loves of florals, pastels, and patterns. As I examine myself more closely in the mirror, I don’t see the beautiful girl that they rave about.

All I see are the cold, steel eyes of my father staring back at me.

And it makes me cringe.

Because looking like my father reminds me of what I’m not.

The son that he wished for, but never got.

CHAPTER THREE ROWAN

“R

owan, Kyle, I need to see you in my o ce before you head home today,” Wes yells out at us over the loudness of the shop before disappearing back into his o ce. I glance over at Kyle with a questioning look, wondering if he knows what’s up, but all he does is shrug his shoulders and continues concentrating on the bike he’s working on. I look at the clock to see that it’s almost quitting time, so I decide to start cleaning up my station and put things away in order to organize my space for tomorrow.

“You up for The Knot tonight?” Kyle asks thirty minutes later while we walk to Wes’ o ce. The Knot is a local club that the single men of the Broken Eagles Motorcycle Club frequent, especially on Thursday nights for ladies’ night. All I wanted to do when I first got to Nashville was party hard to drown out the memories of war and forget my old life in Boston. The Knot was my first introduction to the party scene in town. I used to love going there, making it a game between all of us to see how many phone numbers we could acquire in one evening or better yet, if we were scoring by bringing someone home with us. Lately though, it’s been the last place I’ve wanted to go. I’m tired of the scene here, especially with the same ol’ local girls. If they haven’t bagged one of the Mayson men yet, they set their sights on

one of us military guys. I need to check out the other bars in Nashville, but dating isn’t on my radar right now. I’m blessed that I don’t have to put much e ort into getting laid.

When I want, I can get it.

Any time.

“Nah, Bro. I think I just want to chill tonight.” I feel bad turning him down again, especially since our single friends are becoming few and far between. Most of our Navy SEAL brothers are taken, which leaves only a handful of us available. Because Kyle and I have known each other the longest, he tends to always hit me up first for after work activities. Kyle still likes to party, whereas I have started to become content being at home and watching Netflix most nights.

“Like what, going to dinner? We could go get Mexican if you want.”

“You asking me out, Kyle? Just warning you, I don’t put out on the first date.” I wiggle my eyebrows at him as we enter Wes’ o ce.

“Dude, you’re not even my type. Tits aren’t big enough.”

He winks at me and I chuckle, punching him lightly in the arm before we take our seats in front of Wes’ desk. Kyle’s always quick with his comebacks and definitely likes to be the one with the last word in.

“Alright ladies, enough of your cackling. We actually have some serious business to discuss.” Wes shuts the door behind us and proceeds to sit down. He leans forward with his elbows on his desk, his face turning serious. “We received a letter from the IRS today. We’re being audited.”

“What?” Kyle asks in disbelief. “Bullshit we are!” Wes hands him the IRS letter to read and I lean closer to Kyle so I can see it for myself. Sure enough, the IRS is requesting an audit and wants to examine all of our parts, services and sales invoices, as well as deposits and payroll records. I study

Kyle as he finishes reading the letter, trying to read his facial expression once he hands the letter back to Wes. His face is void of emotion, his eyes firmly focused on Wes, but his body is sti and tense, indicating his defenses are up. His body language screams that he has taken personal o ense to this letter. While we both work mainly on repairing bikes, Kyle’s the main bookkeeper, with me as his backup. I always had a passion for numbers and the Navy helped me obtain my degree in finance - as did Kyle. He started working at the shop a couple of months before I did, so he got the job first.

Whenever he’s not around, I take over the books, which is few and far between since Kyle rarely takes any time o and is hardly sick.

“As soon as I received the letter, I called our accounting firm in Nashville. I scanned it to our CPA, who explained that this is normal and that we shouldn’t have anything to worry about,” Wes says while looking directly at Kyle, who visibly looks relieved at this news. “They’re going to send one of their auditors here on Monday, who will respond back to the IRS on our behalf and will work with us to gather the information that’s being requested. I want both of you to clear your schedules next week to be accessible for the auditor. No taking time o for the next two weeks. You can work on current projects and accept new repairs, but they must be flexible repairs so that if the auditor needs you, you can stop what you’re doing and work with them. Is this a problem for anyone?” Kyle and I both shake our heads no.

“Kyle, I want you to have everything ready for the auditor on Monday, including all reporting paperwork we turned into the CPA and any reports that our software program can print out for us that you think might be helpful to them.

Rowan, I want you to work with Kyle on making sure everything is ready and that nothing seems to be missing.”

Wes gives me a knowing look - a look that is saying he wants

me to watch Kyle closely. It’s not because he doesn’t trust Kyle. It’s more like he wants to make sure that we don’t appear to look as if we’re holding back anything from the auditor. I nod my head slightly at Wes, acknowledging his silent request.

“The auditor will be here at nine in the morning on Monday, so please make sure we are all squared away by then.” Wes leans back in his chair and places his hands behind his head. “Any questions?”

“I can stay here this weekend and start going back through the books to try to find what we didn’t report?” Kyle o ers, but Wes shakes his head no.

“There’s nothing to worry about, Kyle. Let the auditor handle it. Help them by providing any single piece of paper they want and then that’s it. We have nothing to hide, right?” Wes asks Kyle, his eyes boring into him, daring him to lie to his face.

“No, sir!” Kyle responds firmly as if he’s back in the military.

“Damn straight we don’t,” I say with confidence, knowing that this is probably a simple mistake that will come to light very quickly once the auditor arrives.

“Good. Now get the fuck outta here so I can go home and see my wife.” Wes walks around his desk, opens his door and slaps us both on the back as we walk out. Wes and his wife, July, act as if they are newlyweds, when in fact they have been married for a couple of years now. Wes barely hangs out with the boys, always choosing his wife over us. I don’t mind it, but Kyle and some of the other guys bitch about it. I look over at Kyle walking next to me, his silence portraying that he’s deep in thought still from the meeting.

“Bro, stop overthinking things. All will be fine. If Wes isn’t worried, then we shouldn’t be worried,” I say, trying to reassure him so he would stop thinking the worst. I throw

my arm over his shoulder and give him a shake to snap out of it. “If you stop sulking by the time we get to the restaurant, I’ll be your wingman at The Knot tonight.”

His eyes light up at my o er, that signature smirk of his playing right back on his lips. “Game on,” he says with a wicked smile. I ru e his hair and laugh, knowing full well that the idea of him getting laid tonight would bring him out of his funk.

CHAPTER FOUR VALERIE

W

hat does one wear to audit a motorcycle repair shop?

The question keeps playing in my head like a broken record while I stand and stare at my closet. If it wasn’t for my mother and sister, I probably would have no wardrobe. I have no time to go shopping, nor do I have the patience for it. Fortunately for me, my mother and sister love to shop, taking it upon themselves to become my personal stylists. With my preference on wearing solid colors and no patterns, my closet looks like a rainbow due to my OCD demanding that my clothes are in color coded order. I don’t know who half these designers are, but I’m sure they are all expensive and more money than I would normally spend on myself. I scan through my shirts, sighing in frustration as to why I just can’t pick something and be done with it. The only person who can help me with this is my best friend, Emma. I won the roommate lottery my freshmen year in college with her and we instantly became best friends. Come to think of it, she’s really my only other best friend besides my sister.

Emma was my saving grace in college. Without her, I would’ve had no social life whatsoever during those four years. There were some nights where she literally had to drag my nose out of a textbook and convince me that if I didn’t live a little, I would miss the whole college experience

of enjoying our last remaining years of not having to be an adult yet. I survived those four years because of her and even though she has moved to Chicago for her career, I know we’ll forever remain best friends.

I grab my cell phone and decide to Facetime with her, not caring about how early it is and that she might still be sleeping. Emma is an event coordinator at The House of Royalty, one of the premier nightclubs and event spaces in Chicago. She thrives on planning the glitzy parties and late nights, while I thrive on being in my pajamas and bed by 10 p.m. Due to our busy schedules, we rarely get to talk on the phone and the majority of our conversations have to be via text messaging. All I care about is that we keep in touch in some form of communication and if text messaging is how I get my weekly Emma fix, then so be it.

I’m about to give up hope after the fourth ring when she finally picks up, making me giggle at her disheveled appearance of bed head and sleepiness. Instead of being happy to hear from me, her facial features express annoyance with one of her eyes barely open to look at me.

“Are you in jail? Dying? Because if you’re not, you will be for calling me at this hour,” she grumbles.

“Good morning, Sunshine!” I yell out in fake enthusiasm, getting some enjoyment from watching her wince at my loud tone of voice.

“You’re so annoying right now. Since you’re not dying or in jail for that matter, there better be a really good reason for you to be calling me so early in the morning,” she mutters as she cradles the phone in front of her while shifting to lay on her side. Funny that she thinks seven in the morning is early for a weekday. I’m normally eating breakfast at this hour and leaving for work thirty minutes later.

“Did Grumpelstiltskin have another late night?” I joke, using my college nickname for her. Emma is not a morning

person and is one of the most grumpiest people you will ever meet if you wake her up before 8 a.m. It’s only after her second cup of co ee kicks in that she starts to resemble the normal human being that I love.

“Yes, I had a late night with the most glorious man in between my legs. Now get to the point of why we’re talking at this ungodly hour.”

I frown at this news, not recalling her telling me of a new boyfriend recently. “Back up for a second - who did you have sex with last night?” I demand, needing to know since I vicariously live through her sex life because mine is nonexistent. Lately, Emma has started to make “there are plenty of fish in the sea” her motto when it pertains to men.

When she first moved to Chicago, she was determined to find a boyfriend so she wouldn’t be alone in a big, new city. Two failed relationships and dozens of dates gone bad, she now says it’s just easier to hook up with men than finding time to date them due to her schedule. Personally, I think she uses work as an excuse to guard her heart from falling for a guy and getting burned again.

“Do you remember me mentioning a guy named Torrin Richards?”

“The name is somewhat familiar, but not one that you have mentioned recently.”

“That’s because he has been out of the picture until about three weeks ago when he came back to work at the club.” My eyes go wide in shock as the wheels in my brain start turning with recognition.

“The dangerously hot looking ex-boss?” I vividly remember her telling me he looked like a cross between an MMA fighter and a mobster, with eyes that stared into you so intensely, it made you squirm. But in Emma’s case, his stares just always made her panties wet.

“Yup, that’s the one,” she confirms with a slow nod of her head.

“You had sex with your old boss who is a coke-head?” I practically scream into the camera, not understanding how she could have thought that was a brilliant idea. Torrin resigned from his position as general manager of The House of Royalty because his cocaine problem got out of control. I remembered Emma saying she was relieved he was gone because she was tired of covering for him when he didn’t show up for work.

“Your squawking is hurting my brain. I need co ee for this conversation.” I watch her throw the covers o her body and slowly make her way into her kitchen. I start pacing in front of my closet, worry filling my heart for her as it seems his good looks are clouding her judgment.

“Emma, you know having sex with your boss is a horrible idea, right? There cannot be a repeat performance!” I chastise, causing her to roll her eyes at me while scooping co ee into her french press.

“First o , we didn’t have sex. His tongue was between my legs all night, not his dick.” I shudder as her words create a mental image I didn’t need to have of her this morning… or ever. “Secondly, he’s technically not my boss, and thirdly, he’s been clean for two years now.”

“Why did he come back? Wouldn’t that kind of environment trigger him to want to use again?” Even though the club has transitioned into doing more corporate events, it still will occasionally run as a nightclub for VIP deejays to come play at, which makes it booked for most weekends.

“He’s been friends with my boss for a long time. Since she’s married to one of the owners, she convinced hubby dearest to give Torrin a second chance back at work.

Apparently, Torrin came to Layla asking for a job, wanting to test his mental strength by putting himself back into that

environment. He thinks that part of his lifelong journey in staying sober needs to have him in environments where it’s around him all the time. If he can be around it and not want to use, then he knows he’ll be okay.”

“He isn’t too far o . A lot of staying sober is being mentally strong,” I slowly say, reluctantly agreeing with his thinking. “Still, I don’t think you should shit where you eat.”

“Whoa, language Dawson! I’m not used to hearing such vulgarity out of you.” I laugh with Emma since it’s rare that a curse word would ever pass through my lips, but working with mostly men has definitely brought out my “rougher” side. My very Southern mother would have heart palpitations if she heard a lady like myself cursing. As much as I love my mother, when she gets all high and mighty in her views on cursing, it makes me want to curse even more in front of her.

But I keep my mouth shut like a good, respectable child does.

Sometimes.

“In all seriousness though, no more sexy time with the ex-boss. It won’t end well,” I advise, praying she sees that normally this type of circumstance always involves someone getting hurt and it would most likely be her.

“I know,” she says with a deep sigh. “It probably won’t happen again.”

“Probably?” I give her a questioning look. “It should never happen again!”

“Whatever, let’s move on. To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing your face so early this morning?”

I accept her change in subject because I really need to finish getting ready so I’m not late on the first day. “I need you to help me pick out an outfit for the audit I’m going to.”

She stares at me in disbelief before closing her eyes while mentally counting to ten. I bite my lip to contain my laughter as I can tell she’s even more annoyed with me. She clears her throat, opens her eyes and smiles at me with as much

kindness as she can muster right now. “Why would you need my help getting dressed when you have no problem getting yourself dressed the other 364 days out of the year?”

“Because I’m auditing a motorcycle repair shop and for some reason, I’m stumped on how I’m supposed to dress.”

The words coming out of my mouth sound even more pathetic than when I was thinking them. I’m a grown woman who shouldn’t care about this sort of thing.

Her eyes go wide with the first spark of excitement I’ve seen the whole time we’ve been talking. “Finally your job is requiring you to be in the presence of hot men! You need to wear something professional, yet sexy.”

“Why sexy?” I ask in confusion as I turn the camera around for her to view the clothes in my closet. While I’ve always loved numbers, there is nothing remotely sexy about auditing.

“Because you’ll be in the presence of hot, rough, sexyas-fuck, motorcycle men. They might want you to take a test drive on their goods.” She laughs at her underlining sexual innuendo and I can’t help but shake my head at her. I turn the camera back around so she can see the seriousness on my face.

“Emma, not every guy who rides a motorcycle looks like the men you read about in your smut novels. In fact, most motorcycle guys are older gentlemen who have served in Vietnam.” I personally don’t know anyone who owns a motorcycle, but every time I do see a guy on one, he’s the age of my father or looks like Santa Claus incognito in biker clothes.

“That’s not true, especially the guys who ride the crotch rocket bikes.”

“Well, it isn’t that kind of shop, and it isn’t even in Nashville. The shop is in Murfreesboro.”

Her smile fades and all excitement vanishes from her eyes. “You’re right. No sexy biker guys will be there. Wear a potato sack to your audit.”

“Murfreesboro has changed since the last time you were home. I hear more young people have moved into that area.”

I chuckle at her, not revealing that I stereotype Murfreesboro the same way she does - old country with only old people living there.

“Have I ever been to Murfreesboro?” she asks me as if I would even know that answer. The closest I have ever gotten to Murfreesboro was to its neighboring suburb, Smyrna, and that’s only because there is a boutique out there that my sister keeps in business due to her love for their clothing.

One day she tricked me into thinking we were going to a new place for lunch and actually drove us there for her to shop, while I watched in boredom since the clothes are exactly her style and not mine.

“Probably not,“ I answer before looking at my alarm clock to see that my time talking to her is up. “Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll take your advice and wear a potato sack to my audit. Thanks for not being helpful. Oh, and by the way, I really miss you.” I give her a sad smile, hating that we are so far away from each other.

“I love you too, Val. Let me know how today goes.” She blows me a kiss and ends the call.

I throw my phone on my bed and go back to my closet, allotting myself only five more minutes before making a final decision on my attire for today. I grab a silky, white, baggy button down shirt and start looking for a pair of black slacks, when my fingers touch upon a soft, black leather pencil skirt. My mother has a key to my apartment, so I’m always finding little ‘surprises’ in my wardrobe that she knows I would not approve of. The tags are conveniently missing on the skirt, preventing me from demanding she

take it back. My mother doesn’t know what kind of business I am auditing this week and since there will be plenty of leather in their establishment, I feel I might fit in better if I wear it. I decide to try it on, pairing it with the white blouse, and my signature black heels that I wear every day to work.

I look at myself in my mirror, shocked by how much I like the skirt. The leather feels as smooth as butter and I can’t help but to continue rubbing my hands up and down my hips and thighs in awe of the material. I don’t know how long this skirt has been in my closet for, but I decide to take this as a sign that today is the day I should wear it for the first time.

Saying a tiny prayer of thanks to my mom, I grab my bag and keys to start my drive to the Broken Eagles Motorcycle Repair Shop.

CHAPTER FIVE ROWAN

I

feel the soft tap on the back of my shoulder and turn o my welding torch so I don’t burn whoever is interrupting my work. I lift up the front of my helmet and look behind me to find Z waiting for me.

“Clean up. Wes is bringing the auditor around for introductions.” I lift my chin in acknowledgement and remove my helmet before grabbing a towel to wipe the sweat o my face. I stand up and put my supplies back into my work station, not knowing how long this initial meeting with the auditor will last. I grab the water bottle sitting on top of my desk and start drinking, looking out of my peripheral vision to see Wes standing a few feet away. I turn to get a better look and start to choke on the water I accidentally inhale from the shock at seeing the most beautiful woman standing next to him. I turn my back on them as I start to cough uncontrollably, my lungs screaming at the liquid intrusion. I bend over, placing my hands on my knees as I try to cough up the remaining water and get air back into my lungs. I feel a pounding on my back and see Kyle standing over me in concern.

“You okay? Do I need to perform CPR or the Heimlich on you?” He squeezes my shoulders as he looks at me, the twinkle in his eyes indicating that he sees I’m okay.

“You wish I would let you perform CPR on me,” I rasp in between coughs, shrugging his hand o of me. I look up at the fluorescent lights above to catch my breath, my body beginning to calm down so I can breathe normally again. I look at Kyle and tilt my head toward Wes. “Who is with Wes?” I demand, needing to know the identity of the woman he’s with.

“That. Is. Our. Auditor!” My mouth drops open in shock as the full a ect of his words sink in. I wasn’t expecting the auditor to be a she, which is pretty judgmental on my part, but what is most surprising is how gorgeous she is. Her facial features are strong, with high cheekbones and blue eyes that seem to blaze out from her black rimmed glasses.

Her blonde hair is pulled tightly back in a high braided ponytail. My eyes travel up and down her body, her baggy clothes doing nothing to hide her petite, sexy curves. She might have thought this look wouldn’t bring her attention, but I can recognize the kind of world she lives in because it’s the exact same world I come from.

Expensive.

Pretentious.

This woman screams big city, her designer clothing and expensive perfume completely standing out in our rough and country shop. I try to study her body language, curious to see if she’s intimidated by us or even thinks we’re beneath her.

We’re a rough looking bunch of guys, all of us towering over her by at least a foot. We’ve been working on bikes, so we’re dirty and sweaty compared to the crisp whiteness of her skin that screams pure and clean. Most women of her upbringing would be scared to be around us, yet her body doesn’t seem tense at all. Her stance is relaxed, but professional. I’m too far away to read the expression in her eyes, but her body language doesn’t seem flustered when shaking Everett’s hand, who is a good-looking son of a bitch. She gives him a

polite smile and then her eyes travel to look behind him at his station. While Wes walks her over to Mic, she assesses the shop, her eyes calculating how much inventory she sees.

She’s already in auditor mode, not caring that she’s the only girl surrounded by rough men. This woman is not only sexy, but it’s clear that she’s intelligent as well. Two qualities in a woman that always pique my interest.

My dick starts to twitch just staring at her.

“What a dumbass her boss must be to send a hot piece of ass like that to a biker shop. He just dangled a piece of steak to this hungry lion,” Kyle laughs, his words making my blood boil. No woman should be talked about like that.

“It’s that kind of talk that will lead you to a lonely life, my friend.” I smack Kyle’s chest and decide not to wait for Wes to come to me - I’m going to them. I walk over to where they’re standing and patiently wait for my introduction. Wes sees me standing toward his side and is about to introduce us when Kyle bulldozes his way in front of me and gets into her personal space. She takes a step back and I bite the inside of my cheek to hide my smile when she wrinkles her cute nose in disgust at his rude interruption. Even Wes looks at Kyle with a what the fuck kind of look.

“Hi, I’m Kyle, head accountant here and I’m really looking forward to working with you.” I’ve seen that smile that Kyle gives her before. It’s what he thinks is his panty melting smile, but it’s not working on this female. He sticks out his hand for her to shake, which she hesitantly takes. She winces as Kyle squeezes her hand and proceeds to pull her hand out of his grasp. I notice that she doesn’t answer Kyle back and instead, gives Wes a questioning look.

“Valerie, this is Kyle Perry, our main accountant on sta .

Kyle, this is Valerie Dawson, our auditor. Kyle will be at your beck and call, providing you with whatever information you may need. You’ll also be working with Rowan Pryor, our

second accountant,” Wes says, placing his hand against Kyle’s chest to move him out of the way so that I can step forward. Her eyes start out on my chest and slowly make their way up to my face. I hold her stare and smile gently at her, noting the grey and yellow specs in her ice, blue eyes.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I say, my voice husky from her scent rocking my senses. My heart starts to beat rapidly as I hold out my hand for her to shake, needing to know if her skin feels as smooth as it looks. The second her palm slides into mine, a bolt of electricity zaps through us, causing me to gasp from the shock of it. I look down at our hands before bringing my eyes back up to hers to see if she felt what I did.

I’m regarded with cool eyes that show no emotion before she removes her hand from mine. Her lack of reaction leaves me wondering if I’m crazy from what just occurred. I look more closely at her and that is when I see it.

The slight movement of her neck from swallowing.

The gesture happens so fast that I almost miss seeing the clue that she felt it too. Did she feel that with any of the other guys, I wonder.

She better not have.

“Likewise,” she says in her smooth, clear, Southern drawl. The sound of her sweet voice is so damn sexy that I can’t help but smile down at her. I take note of her newly flushed cheeks, knowing it’s from me since we have the air conditioning cranked up in here. She diverts her eyes quickly to look at Wes, making it crystal clear that she’s done speaking to me.

“Valerie, let me escort you to our conference room, which is where you’ll be working from for the duration of your stay with us. Gentlemen, clean up and meet us there in twenty minutes.” Wes nods at Kyle and me before escorting Valerie to the conference room. I cross my arms over my chest, feeling the need to apply pressure to this foreign tightening

I’m feeling around my heart. I watch her go, my eyes staring down at that delectable ass filling out that skirt nicely as her hips swivel from side-to-side while she saunters out of the room. Her braided ponytail swings with each step she takes, making my hand itch to wrap that braid around it and pull her head back so I can devour those luscious full lips of her.

Where the fuck did that thought come from?

I close my eyes and give my head a shake to clear my thoughts. Calm down, I say to my lower brain as my dick throbs from the strain in my now tight pants. No woman has evicted such a strong reaction out of me as Valerie Dawson has. I open up my eyes and look around to see if anyone else just watched her walk out of the room like I did. Instead, everyone else is watching me.

“Hey Rowan?” Z calls out, walking over to where I’m standing. He stops in front of me and studies me for such a long time that I start to feel uncomfortable. I unfold my arms from my chest and place my hands on my hips, wondering what Z is up to with that shit eating grin on his face. His grin starts to become downright creepy the longer he keeps staring at me with it.

“What?” I ask in annoyance while he continues his staring contest. His eyes are locked with mine when he steps closer and yells out the one word that I used to never believe would happen to me.

“BOOM!”

CHAPTER SIX VALERIE

W

hen we exit the service room, I ask Wes the location of the bathroom. I walk there calmly, but as soon as I close the door and lock it, I am anything but calm. What the hell is wrong with you, Valerie? I brace my hands against the sink and stare at my reflection in the mirror. My cheeks are beet red, my eyes are dilated, and there’s a sheen of sweat glistening on my forehead. My heart is pounding so loudly in my chest that I’m shocked Rowan didn’t hear it as I gawked like a teenager at him. Or maybe he did know when he stopped my heart with his stare, and his wicked smile shocked it back like a defibrillator. I grab a paper towel, wet it with cold water, and pat my neck and chest with it. Good lord, I’m a hot mess - literally and figuratively. Never has a first encounter with a man unraveled me like this.

But I’ve never met a man like Rowan Pryor.

I didn’t notice him at first because I was pre-occupied with getting to know my surroundings, checking out the shop to see how much extra inventory they had laying around. When we walked into the service department, I was surprised to see how many employees were working on bikes. My surprise soon turned into confusion. Was I in the Twilight Zone? I’ve never visited a working establishment

that had so many hot men employed in one place. All of the men in the Broken Eagles Motorcycle Repair Shop were handsome giants, towering over me like I was a child.

Despite their good looks, they have an air of confidence and danger to them. It can be intimidating to be in all of their presence at the same time, but most of them treated me with respect.

That one exception being Kyle Perry.

I don’t like people in my personal space without an invitation, and I especially don’t appreciate it when it’s someone as cocky and smug as he was. It’s obvious that Kyle uses his arrogance to charm women. His attitude had the opposite a ect on me - it repulsed me. I was ready to meet the next employee when Wes pushed Kyle aside.

My heart was not ready for the vision that was Rowan.

It happened exactly how it’s portrayed in the movies time stood still as his head lifted up and he stepped closer to me. My eyes grazed over strong forearms and bulging biceps before they focused on the bead of sweat that slowly slid down his neck, past his exposed sternum from his low cut shirt and disappeared behind the fabric. My imagination took over as I envisioned it running through the valley of his six pack before being absorbed by his boxers.

If he was even wearing boxers.

I tried to clear my mind as my eyes headed north to his face. They quickly bypassed his strong, facial features to go to his blue-green eyes that numbed me with their startling intensity. Everyone faded and it was only us, our eyes locked on each other. I was scared to blink, thinking I might wake up and this man in my dreams would disappear. His deep voice brought me back to reality, but it was the spark from the touch of his hand that sent a wave of heat straight to my core. I swallowed down the moan of pleasure that wanted to escape from the delicious sensation. He smiled at me with

full lips that I know would render me helpless from their touch. Pleasure radiated from his eyes, sending flashes of images through my brain of him pinning me against the wall, his lips burning me with his kisses while his dirty hands roam all over me. I could’ve sworn he read my mind as his smile got broader, which dissolved my lust and instead turned into embarrassment.

How could I have such dirty thoughts over a man I just met?

The sirens in my head started to go o , warning my heart that this man was like a tornado and I was straight in the path of his destruction.

I was not here to get my heart broken - I was here to do a job. And Rowan Pryor was the type of man that would shatter my heart into a million pieces.

With that mental pep talk, my walls went up and I vowed to never look him in the eye for the rest of my time here.

The vibration of my phone clears the memories of our encounter. I pull it out from my pocket to see that I have a text from Emma.

Emma: How are you doing? Are the old geezers trying to get their cold, clammy hands all over you?

I shouldn’t answer Emma’s text right now, but I know if I don’t, she will hound me until I answer. Plus, I’ve got to tell someone that a place of hot, biker men does really exist and I know she would be the only one who would appreciate that.

Me: No, the situation here is actually worse! The men here are exactly out of your dirty, motorcycle club fantasies.

It’s like the Magic Mike of motorcycle shops, except no one is stripping. They’re all good-looking, especially this one guy, and I might’ve made a fool out of myself already in front of him.

Not ten seconds later, my phone is buzzing from an incoming call from her. Shit, I should’ve never responded to her text!

“I can’t talk right now,” I hiss into the phone, keeping my voice low in case anyone can hear me outside the door.

“You can’t send me a text like that and not expect me to call. You are the Ice Queen - you never make a fool out of yourself in front of a guy. I need details!” she whines, making me roll my eyes at how dramatic she’s being.

“I’ve been in the bathroom long enough, I’ve got to get back out there before they start to wonder what I’m exactly doing in here. I will call you later.”

“Wait, why are you in the bathroom? Did you just have sex with the hot biker dude in there? You can’t blue ball me like this!”

“No, I didn’t have sex with a guy I just met! I came into the bathroom to cool o . I’ve got to go! I promise to call you later with the details.”

“You better, Valerie, or I’ll stalk you until you pick up.” I have zero doubt about her stalking intentions, because she has done it to me before when I didn’t return her call within a twenty-four hour period after I went on a date with someone new a couple of months ago. Once those twentyfour hours were up, she called my sister, my parents, and even my boss looking for me. It was extreme, but I probably would have done the same if the roles were reversed. Except with less hysterics.

I say goodbye and hang up with her. I take a couple of deep breaths and remind myself of what I’m doing here.

You’re here because of your job.

Your performance here will reflect on your future and the promotion you want at work.

What I’m feeling is just extreme lust, especially since I haven’t been in a physical relationship for a long time.

There’s no such thing as that stupid shazam Aly talks about.

No, I totally just didn’t have that shazam feeling over Rowan.

Nope, not at all.

It’s just lust.

I can totally ignore Rowan Pryor.

Get your shit together, Valerie, and focus on getting this audit complete.

I nod my head at myself in the mirror, square my shoulders back, and hold my head up high as I exit the bathroom. All that matters to me right now is my career and I refuse to let a hot man in a small town derail me from my career path.

CHAPTER SEVEN ROWAN

W

hat Z said stays with me, repeating over and over again in my head as I make my way to the conference room. It’s true that I have never reacted so strongly to another woman before, but is what I’m feeling really the boom?

Nah. He said he saw that possessed look in my eyes when I was watching her leave. That look of possessiveness that screams “Hands o , she’s mine!”

“I’m telling you, Row, you’ve got it. Trust me, I have it with Kayan, Wes has it with July, Harlen has it with Harmony. We know what it feels like and we sure know how to recognize it.” How could I have that look after only meeting her for less than five minutes? I’m having serious doubts about Z and his sanity right about now.

But once Kyle comes into the room, I feel like a jealous monster for the way he acted toward her. We’re going to nip this shit in the bud right here, right now, as I won’t tolerate him disrespecting her.

“Kyle, I didn’t appreciate you cutting me o and jumping in front of me earlier.” I point my finger at him, my eyes holding his attention so he knows I mean business. “I also didn’t appreciate how you got up into Valerie’s personal

space. It was unnecessary and it made her feel uncomfortable. Don’t ever do that shit again.”

“Or what? I can’t believe you’re getting this worked up over a chick you just met,” he says to me in disbelief. “Chill the fuck out, Bro. I have every right to be interested in her too. She’s not yours.”

“Kyle…” I slowly warn, hoping he’s going to accept my warning and be respectful. We’ve never fought over a woman, but if he’s going to be a douchebag to Valerie, I’ll have no problems throwing the first punch.

“For fuck’s sake, do I have to request a new auditor already?” Wes asks as he walks into the conference room and slams his notebook down on the table. He looks annoyed and disgusted with us. “You guys are acting like dogs in heat.

She’s not a toy, gentlemen. You both will be respectful and stay the fuck away from her. You got me?” Kyle nods his head at Wes, but I just raise my eyebrow at him, daring him to prevent me from staying away from her. If I want something, I go after it.

And I want Valerie Dawson.

We wait in silence for her to join us. After ten minutes go by and still no sign of her, I’m beginning to think that maybe she snuck out the back door and high tailed it back to Nashville to tell her boss to find someone else to deal with us crazy lunatics.

“Maybe she got lost? I can go find her.” Kyle starts to stand, but Wes grabs his arm to stop him.

“The hell you will,“ I growl as I shoot out of my seat and look at him from across the table. I don’t want Kyle anywhere near Valerie. He gives me a questioning look before Wes intervenes.

“Both of you sit your asses down!” he yells and waits for us to sit. Kyle and I stare each other down before obeying.

Wes is about to continue his reprimanding when the door

opens and Valerie walks in. We stand up as she walks to her chair and I notice she’s blushing slightly from our chivalry.

I’m surprised she’s not used to that being from the South, but then again, maybe the boys of her firm don’t show her the respect she deserves. She sits down at the head of the table, opens her notebook, and goes straight into business.

For the next two hours, I watch in awe while she navigates us through how we’re going to respond to the IRS and the specific details she’ll need us to provide to her in order to complete the audit. I’m amused that she refuses to look in my direction with Wes being the only one she’ll look directly at. Her actions confirm to me that she felt our chemistry back in the shop as well and I can’t help but mentally beat my chest in victory. It’s probably good that she hasn’t looked in my direction because if she did, she would see my eyes hooded in desire from watching the movement of her lips that I ache to taste. Visions of those lips wrapped around my dick occupy my thoughts and I have to shift in my seat from the uncomfortableness of my erection.

“Rowan, you gonna answer her question?”

I blink out of my daydream to the sound of my name and notice Wes and Kyle staring at me impatiently. Valerie continues to look down at the piece of paper she’s writing notes on.

“I’m sorry, can you repeat the question?” I clear my throat and try to act nonchalantly, willing my dick to go down in case whatever they were asking requires me to stand up and leave the room.

“Miss Dawson asked what day of the week do you order bulk inventory and how many times a year do you do inventory control?” Kyle says with narrowed eyes at me.

Both him and Wes are looking at me as if I’ve gone mad and with the way my body is reacting to her, I think I have. I nod my thanks at Kyle and answer the question. Valerie writes

down my answers and continues on with her questioning, which is mostly answered by Kyle and Wes. She looks over her notes in silence after Kyle answers her last question. God, she’s so sexy with those glasses. I can’t even imagine how much more beautiful she is without them.

“I think that’s all the questions I have for now,” she says, tapping her pen against her paper. “I will start to look over your last two tax returns and write down any discrepancies that I find. I’m hoping we’ll be able to turn something back into them within the week, but two weeks sounds more realistic.” I pray we can push this to two weeks so I can break down her walls of resistance that I already see are in place.

“Wes, I do have some human resource questions that I will need you to privately answer for me.” She gives Wes the I-prefer-to-talk-to-you-now look and he nods his head.

“Gentlemen, you can go back to work. Miss Dawson will let you know if she needs you when the time comes.” Valerie nods and her eyes flash briefly to mine before focusing on her hands. Kyle and I stand up and leave the room in silence.

Before we get back to our work stations, he grabs my arm to stop me from going in.

“Bro, I don’t want to fight with you over a woman. You’re part of my family and I’ll never let anyone come between us.” He rakes his hand through his hair, sighing. “If you want her that badly, I won’t stand in your way.”

I look him in the eyes to see if he’s lying, but all I see is sincerity. “I don’t want anyone to come between us either, so I appreciate you stepping back. To be quite honest, I don’t know what’s come over me. From the moment I saw her, I’ve had this overwhelming feeling that she’s supposed to be mine.” I shake my head, not believing the words that are coming out of my mouth right now. “No woman has ever made me feel this fucking crazy.”

“You sound fucking crazy, Row! You just met this chick! I think you need to get laid, Bro, because Valerie seems to uppity for your tastes. No o ense - not that you couldn’t land her. I just don’t think she’s going to give you the time of day, despite your pretty boy looks.” Kyle doesn’t know the type of world I used to belong to. No one but Wes knows my family dynamics and the wealth that comes with it. That’s one aspect of my private life I still want to keep private. But he does have a point - I don’t know Valerie at all. I don’t know what she likes, what she doesn’t like, her idiosyncrasies or her past. It’s time to start doing some investigative work.

“Maybe you’re right. We’ll see, but I’m looking forward to the chase.” He laughs at my words, but I’m speaking the truth. Valerie Dawson is going to give me a run for my money and I can’t wait to win the prize at the end.

Her.

CHAPTER EIGHT VALERIE

I

take my glasses o and toss them down onto my notepad. I rub my eyes, exhaustion setting in from concentrating on spreadsheets and paperwork. I put my glasses back on and look at my watch to see that I haven’t moved since my last restroom break, which was hours ago. Not only am I tired, but starving from working through lunch. In my haste this morning, I forgot to pack something to eat and was too engrossed in work to take a break to find something around here. Not that I would even know where to go since Murfreesboro is as foreign to me as cooking is. I was never taught how to cook since we grew up with a chef and I never bothered to teach myself due to my long hours at work. Takeout is super convenient for my current lifestyle. Maybe someday I’ll learn.

Sighing, I reach for my bag to grab the protein bar that I keep stashed in there for days exactly like today. I have a long first night ahead of me and don’t want to stop now to try to find food. This protein bar will have to tie me over for a little bit longer. As I take a bite out of my snack, my thoughts turn to Rowan, wondering if he ate lunch today and if so, what kind of food does he like to eat. Does he like girls with a hearty appetite or girls who try to watch what they eat?

Why does it matter? Stop thinking about him!

I throw away the rest of the bar in disgust - at myself for caring what Rowan eats and for the lack of taste. I go back to reviewing their returns when I’m interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Come in!” I call out and hold my breath, praying it isn’t Rowan. I can’t ignore him if it’s only him and I in the room together. I slowly release my breath when Wes walks in.

“It’s quitting time, Miss Dawson. Time to pack up your stu and head home.”

I glance at my cell phone’s clock to see that it’s only 5:15 p.m. “You’re joking, right? I don’t usually leave my o ce until at least 7 p.m., not to mention I have a lot of work to do tonight if I want to finish this audit in a week.”

“It’s called work/life balance, Miss Dawson. We close up at 5:30 every night during the week. You will be leaving every night the same time we do,” Wes says firmly, leaving me no room to negotiate. Still, doesn’t hurt to try.

“What about 5:45 for tonight at least? I can’t just stop what I’m doing and tidy everything up in fifteen minutes, Wes.” He looks around the table with a frown at the stacks of papers I have lined up. From what I saw of Wes’ o ce, he likes things clean and tidy. I wouldn’t be surprised if his eye starts to twitch from how messy his once clean conference room now is. The room is in organized chaos, but it’s still messy.

“Fine, Miss Dawson. I’ll give you until 5:45 to clean up, but tonight only. Please set an alarm on your phone for 5 p.m. every day, giving you ample time to finish up.”

“Will do and I think it’s only fair that you call me Valerie since I’m not calling you Mr. Silver,” I say with a smile that he returns back. So far, I like Wes. He’s very respectful, nice and professional. His shop is not our normal type of

clientele, but according to my boss, Wes is the son-in-law of Asher Mayson, owner of Mayson Construction and one of our larger clients. My boss took on Broken Eagles Motorcycle Repair Shop as a favor to Asher for all the business he has brought to our firm.

“Have a good evening, Valerie. I’ll tell Rowan you will be ready at 5:45 so he can make sure to lock up and walk you out.” Wes turns on his heel to leave, completely missing the stunned look on my face.

I scramble around the table, shu ing papers and throwing them in piles, hoping that if I hurry, I’ll be out of here by the time Rowan comes to find me. I write down reminders for myself for tomorrow, save the working spreadsheet on my laptop, and shut it down. I throw my computer and notebook in my bag, grab my cell phone and keys, and turn around to head to the door only to stop in my tracks as a smiling Rowan leans inside the door way. His amused smile makes me believe that he’s been standing there for a while, watching me.

“Wes said you needed until 5:45, but it looks like you’re done early. How convenient that I was coming to ask if you needed help to clean up. You ready to go?” The brightness in his eyes and eagerness in his tone tells me he knew what I was up to. I nod my head at him, not trusting that my voice won’t come out as a mouse squeak with how handsome he looks. Somewhere around here there is a shower because his semi-long hair is wet and pulled behind his ears. His face is clean shaven and he has changed into clean clothes. I will myself to stop thinking about what Rowan might look like naked in the shower.

He moves aside and holds out his arm for me to pass him by. “Ladies first,” he says and I can feel his eyes boring into me as I walk up to him. I look down when I get near, but almost stumble over my feet when I catch a whi of his

heavenly scent. The combination of his cologne and what smells like Irish Spring soap needs to be bottled up and sold worldwide as all I want to do is drop my belongings and attack him.

Go straight to your car, Valerie.

Do. Not. Engage!

I keep my head down and walk straight to the front door. I can hear Rowan’s footsteps right behind me. “Have a good evening!” I yell over my shoulder as I walk out the front door, not bothering to look back at him. I increase my footsteps to my car and am halfway there when I trip over a rock and stumble, my cell phone and keys flying out of my grasp. I catch myself and take a breath to calm my racing heart from almost face planting in front of him. I reach down for my keys, but he retrieves my cell phone before I can get to it. My misstep gave him enough time to catch up with me after locking the front door. I stare at my cell phone in his hands, mentally cursing myself for being so clumsy.

“You okay?” he asks, his voice laced with concern. I nod my head and look up at him, which was a huge mistake, because now I can’t look away from his captivating eyes. I swallow a groan, not understanding these newfound feelings when I look at him or even think about him.

“Your blood sugar is probably low from skipping lunch. I think we should get some food in you. There’s a really great Mexican restaurant down the road.”

My eyes widen in disbelief. How does he know I didn’t eat today?

He’s asking me out on a date!

There’s no way I’ll be able to eat in front of a man like Rowan.

Not to mention, I have a strict policy against mixing business with pleasure.

“Thanks, but I’m not hungry.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, my stomach growls loud enough for Rowan to hear. He raises an eyebrow at my lie, a sexy smirk playing on his lips.

“Since we just met, I’ll let that lie go. Instead, you just lost any say in the matter. I’ll take good care of your cell phone while you follow me to the restaurant.” My mouth drops open at his brazenness. He gives me a heart stopping smile, turns around, and walks away.

“Hey! Come back here with my phone!” I yell out as I chase after him. I try to grab the phone out of his hand, but miss. He stops and I watch in horror as he slides the phone into the front pocket of his jeans. I see the bulge of my phone nestling right next to the bulge in his pants. I gulp hard and look up at him in shock.

“You’ve got to eat at some point, Angel. Don’t worry, I won’t bite… this time.” He winks and I’m rendered speechless as visions of him biting me in all kind of naughty ways enters my mind.

“I don’t go out with clients, Mr. Pryor. Please give me my phone back.” I pray I sound professional as I hold out my hand for my phone. Now I’m feeling agitated with him and myself, because if he continues to be so persistent, I won’t be able to say no to him. I’m hungry, horny and feeling vulnerable right now. Not a good combination when trying to be strong and act indi erent to a man you’re insanely attracted too.

“Damn, my name sounds sexy coming from you.” His voice is husky, his eyes turning serious as his gaze travels up and down my body in appreciation. I shiver, my body feeling like he just saw through me with x-ray vision.

“Rowan…” I groan out in frustration. Frustration from his stubbornness and the sexual chemistry that I feel radiating between us.

“Technically, I’m not your client. Wes is. And it’s just a meal between two people getting to know each other.”

“You’re a stranger,” I mutter, the thread of self-control at staying away from him about to snap.

“Every person starts o as strangers, Angel.” His eyes lock with mine and my mind blanks at any kind of comeback.

Goodbye self-control! Feel free to stay longer next time.

“Fine!” I grit out, promising myself that this can’t happen again.

“That’s a good girl. My bike is behind the shop. Get in your car and wait until I come around and then you can follow me.”

“Lord, you’re bossy!” I grumble, not enjoying how I like him taking control.

“And you’re beautiful. Get in your car and wait for me.” I walk toward my car, my heart soaring from his compliment.

I get in and look at him from the rearview mirror watching me settle in before he walks away to his bike. I start the car and wait for his return. As I watch his retreating back get smaller in the rearview mirror, a sinking feeling fills my stomach.

It only took him six hours to get me to break my own rule of no fraternizing with clients.

How the hell am I going to resist him the rest of my time here?

CHAPTER NINE VALERIE

I

question my sanity during the entire ten minute drive to the restaurant. I shouldn’t be going out to dinner with a client, let alone one who completely turns me on the way he does. Even if Rowan wasn’t my client, he and I would never work. Not because he works at a motorcycle shop, as I would never judge someone by their profession, but I don’t have time to date right now.

That is if he would even want to date me.

Who am I kidding? The man could marry a supermodel!

Rowan Pryor looks like the type of man who eats women for dinner and spits them out after dessert. I’ve never had a one-night stand before and vowed that I wouldn’t. But when it comes to Rowan?

Never say never.

Besides, there’s no way in hell my father would approve of Rowan. Franklin Dawson might be disappointed that his eldest child isn’t the son he was hoping for, but that doesn’t mean he has cast me aside completely. I grew up craving my father’s attention, so I did anything and everything to please him. Went to a prestigious school for him, studied finance for him. Anything to get my father to see that I’m exactly what he wanted, regardless of my gender. My father didn’t even o er me an internship at his firm when I expressed

interest after getting my degree, so I took a job at a competing firm. I want to prove to my father that just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I’m incapable of being a principal and rightful heir to the family business. The only interest my father shows in me is about my dating life. He has made it clear that any man I spend time with must be approved by him. He has said that either I marry someone who he feels can run the firm or he will sell to someone outside the family once he’s ready to retire. It’s why I haven’t brought anyone home for him to meet. No one needs to be subjected to my father’s unfair judgement and my future husband doesn’t deserve to inherit my father’s firm.

I do.

Until the idea of marriage sounds more appealing to me, any man who comes into my life is going to have to remain a secret. Right now I’m on a path to becoming the youngest junior principal at work and I refuse to let anyone derail me from it.

I follow Rowan into the parking lot of a cute, colorful restaurant called La Hacienda del Sol. The location of the restaurant is next to a brand new shopping plaza filled with retail stores, restaurants, and a trendy looking apartment complex. I bring my focus back to him and try not to gawk at how hot he looks straddling his motorcycle, waiting for me to park next to him. I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before, but I would in a heartbeat just to have an excuse to wrap my arms around Rowan’s hot body.

I take a deep breath, hoping for the strength to keep my composure - and sanity - around him during dinner. I smile at him when he opens and shuts my car door for me. He places his hand on the small of my back, the touch of his fingers giving me goose bumps while he escorts me into the restaurant. Rowan apparently comes here frequently as he requests his “usual” spot and we are seated in a booth at the

back of the restaurant, away from most of the other patrons.

With no window near, my attention is going to have to be on him. This must be his “date” booth where he brings ladies that he’s interested in.

“You bring your dates here often?” I ask, not being able to contain my curiosity.

“I come here often, but I’ve never brought a date here before. Why?” he asks with a questioning look on his face.

“This booth is pretty isolated from the rest of the restaurant. Just seems like the perfect place to bring a date.”

I don’t look him in the eye, instead I look down at my menu, embarrassed about making assumptions that I shouldn’t be making.

“I brought the perfect date with me tonight,” he responds with a smile and I can’t help the eye roll at his cheesy answer. He sees it and chuckles as he shuts the menu and leans back into his seat. I try to focus on the food options, but it’s proving to be di cult from the intensity of his stare.

I hear the sound of water glasses being placed on the table and look up at the waitress, except my gaze goes straight to her oversized chest.

“Whoa,” I whisper, my eyes wide as I rudely stare at her.

I’ve never in my life seen a woman with such ginormous breasts before. Her boobs are shaped like big, rounded cones.

Her body is an exact replica of Barbie, except she has long, dark hair and brown eyes. I look over at Rowan to see if he’s as hypnotized by her as I am. Guys usually love women with big breasts. To my surprise, he’s looking at me, his lower lip between his teeth to keep himself from laughing out loud at my expression. I raise my menu higher, hoping to hide behind it until she goes away.

“Hey Rowan, long time no see. I miss seeing you,” she purrs and I immediately shut my menu and put it down, my

interest piqued by her words. What does she mean, long time no see? Did he used to date her?

“Hi Andrea. I’ll take a Corona to drink. Angel, what do you want?” he asks politely, not even addressing her comments.

“I’ll take a margarita please, no salt.” She looks at me with such disdain that I wonder if I need to be worried about the quality of my food that she’s going to be serving me.

“I’ll be back with some chips and salsa and your drinks,” she says and I can’t help but watch her walk away. I return my gaze to Rowan and look at him with suspicion.

“Do you think she’s going to spit in my food and drink?” I ask with concern because right now, I’m not feeling too good about my chances of getting a non-contaminated beverage.

He looks at me in surprise by my question. “Andrea? I would hope not. What makes you think she would do that?”

“Did you date her?” I question.

“Nope.”

“Sleep with her?” I throw up a little bit in my mouth from the thought of him being physical with anyone, let alone her.

And when he doesn’t answer right away, my stomach starts to hurt, not wanting to hear the truth.

“I don’t think so. I’ll be honest with you, Angel, when I first moved here, I wasn’t exactly a good guy with the ladies.

I’ve slept with a lot of women. Not something I’m proud about, but it is what it is. That was a long time ago and I can assure you that those days are long over with.”

Warning bells go o in my heart from his confession.

While I appreciate his honesty, it’s hard for me to believe that someone like Rowan isn’t still sleeping around when he can get any woman he wants. Just another reason to stay far, far away from him.

“Well, Big Boobs McGhee is looking like she’s going to kill me, so you either loved her and left her the next morning or she wants to sink her claws into you and thinks I’m a

threat.” I smile as he throws his head back and laughs at my joke. His laughter is rich and husky, the musicality of it making me want to hear it again.

“God, you’re adorable,” he says, my cheeks heating from his compliment. “But I’m pretty confident that I didn’t sleep with her. And you’re most certainly a threat to her since the only person I’m interested in right now is you.” He gives me that intense look again, one that makes me feel he’s on the verge of ravishing me and I gulp.

“Where did you move from?” I ask, needing to distract myself from these feelings and the subject about his past history with women.

“Boston,” he answers before taking a sip of his water.

That explains the sexy accent. Would it be too cheesy to ask him to say, “How about them apples?” from the movie Good Will Hunting? That’s probably something Andrea would ask him to say. I mentally scratch that idea.

“I hear Boston is really nice. Why move to Tennessee?”

Just as I ask, Andrea comes back with chips and salsa before leaving to go get our drinks. My hunger overrides my thoughts and I dive right into the chips, moaning at the delicious taste of the salsa. Rowan stares at my mouth, blinking multiple times before clearing his throat to answer my question.

“After I returned home from serving, there was no reason for me to stay in Boston. My family life back home is toxic and I refuse to be around those type of people. When Wes invited me to come work for him, I didn’t hesitate twice.”

“Serving? What branch of the military were you in?” I didn’t realize that he has been in the military. I would never have guessed as he doesn’t have that military look, but that just shows that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

“I was in the Navy SEALS. Most of the guys in the shop are former SEALS.”

That piece of information explains most of the guys demeanor. They all look at you as if they’re assessing your soul and sizing you up.

“I’m sorry to hear about your home life,” I say with sincerity. While my father isn’t easy to be around, my mother and sister at least make up for his lack of love.

Rowan just shrugs while looking at me. “Don’t be. My asshole of a father is the root of my family problems. I have a good relationship with my mom and siblings.”

My eyes go wide as I note the similarities between our family dynamics. I feel something shift in my heart and soften toward Rowan.

Don’t do that, heart! He’s still your client.

Andrea chooses that moment to return with our drinks and take our order. Rowan nods at me, indicating for me to go first. While I should order just a taco salad, the glutton in me is starving from not eating today. Maybe if he sees the real me and what I like to eat, he won’t be interested anymore. The thought is actually quite disappointing, so I decide to test him.

“I would like the chimichanga with extra queso sauce on it, please.” I’m about to hand her back my menu, but stop when I see her incredulous look on her face.

“Wow, that’s a lot of cheese,” she says in disgust. “Are you sure you want that? It’ll just go straight to your hips and thighs.” Her eyes move up and down my body, her upper lip curling in menace.

What a bitch! “Absolutely,” I confirm, handing her back my menu. I refuse to let her win by embarrassing me in front of Rowan. I swallow my anger and look down at my hands.

“I’ll order the exact same thing she’s having.” My eyes fly up to catch his gaze that is filled with pride. “And for the record, I think a woman who eats is sexy as fuck.”

I smile brightly, desire for him flooding through my veins as no man has ever stuck up for me like that before. Andrea leaves in a hu and I can’t contain the burst of laughter that bubbles out of me.

“Thanks for doing that,” I say once I’m able to catch my breath.

“No need to thank me since I only speak the truth.” I don’t respond back as I stare at him, not wanting to look away. I don’t understand my body’s reaction to Rowan, especially only after one day of meeting him. This can’t be normal.

I really can’t have this happening right now in my life.

The ringing of my cell phone breaks our trance. I grab it out of my bag to see that Emma is calling me. I debate sending the call to voicemail, but I know if I do that, she’ll just keep calling.

“Excuse me,” I murmur to Rowan and answer the call.

“What is taking you so long?” she demands after I say hello. I look up to see if Rowan can hear her, but his expression remains emotionless. I lower the volume button with my thumb as I hold the phone to my ear, hoping she doesn’t try to ask me questions about him that he can hear.

“I can’t talk right now. I’ll call you when I get home.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still at the shop! You’ve been there all day.”

“I’m at dinner right now. Let me call you back,” I repeat, hoping she gets the hint that I really can’t talk right now.

“Who are you eating with?” she questions and I look up to see Rowan giving me a questioning look. Shit, he can hear her!

“People,” I stammer and Rowan’s lips start to twitch.

“How many people?” I can hear those investigative wheels turning in her brain as she continues her inquisition.

“One,” I confirm and Rowan gives me a smirk that I’m finding damn irresistible.

“Since I just got o the phone with your sister and know you aren’t with her, I can only assume that the person you are with might be the hot biker guy that made you cream your panties earlier today?” She practically shouts out the last part, causing me to close my eyes in embarrassment, but not before I see Rowan’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, his smirk turning into a wicked grin.

I should’ve never answered the phone.

I sigh in resignation, knowing that it’s pointless to lie since he has heard everything out of her big mouth. “Yes, that would be the one.”

“Eeek!” she squeals into my ear, causing me to move the phone away from my head.

“Goodbye, Emma.” I hang up on her and open my eyes to see Rowan’s heated stare, his eyes like headlights beaming out raw, sexual yearning directed straight at me.

“I like your friend.” His voice is gru , making me clench my thighs together from the need of having him in between them.

“That’s Emma, my old college roommate. She’s, um… special.” I have no kind words for Emma right now as this is probably the most embarrassing moment of my life, courtesy of her.

“I love hearing that I a ect you the same way you’ve a ected me. Right now my cock is numb from being so hard around you. From not being able to touch you… yet.” I inhale sharply at his words as he leans in closer and lowers his voice. “Keep extra underwear in your car, Angel, because I plan on soaking your panties every day, for the rest of your life.”

I’m totally screwed.

Time feels like it stands still as we just stare at each other.

This must be a dream.

This has got to be a dream.

“Rowan,” I whisper because he has robbed me of my voice, my reasoning, my sanity. “This is crazy. I don’t understand what this even is.”

His eyes shine bright, his smile confident and strong when his words steal my heart. “Baby, this is the beginning of us.”

CHAPTER TEN ROWAN

I

woke up this morning feeling as if I have a newfound purpose in life and that purpose is Valerie. I could tell she was not prepared for my words last night and I don’t blame her. It’s scary as fuck to think we just met and have such intense emotions for each other that sometimes take people years to develop. Once our food arrived, we ate dinner in compatible silence, stealing glances at each other when we thought the other wasn’t looking. It was as if we were checking to make sure the other person was real because this whole thing doesn’t seem real at all. I knew she needed time to process everything, so once we were done eating, I escorted her to her car, kissed her goodnight on the forehead and watched her driveway. The moment her car was out of sight, I felt uneasy that we weren’t together.

So I followed her home.

Some people, like maybe the cops, would call that stalking. In my defense, I just wanted to make sure my angel made it home safely.

And maybe I wanted to see where she lived.

I knew she wouldn’t invite me over after she was having a silent freak out during dinner, so I decided it would be better if I just followed her home. She lives in a condo in the a uent part of downtown that is close to restaurants, shops and her o ce, whose address I looked up to see how far she had to drive every day. When she was safely inside her building, I drove home. I was happy to see that without tra c, it only took me thirty-five

minutes to get back to my house. I found myself wondering if she would be willing to move in with me and commute to work every day.

Yup, my mind went there and it felt perfectly normal.

Once I got home, I continued my investigation on her, this time on social media. Thankfully, she isn’t like all of the other girls who have accounts on every single social media platform known to man. Valerie only has an Instagram account that she barely uses. Her account contains zero selfies, only photos of the places she wants to visit one day, majority of those photos being of Santorini, Greece. She has two photos of herself with other people - one of her sister and one of Emma, according to the captions. Her last photo, which was posted a year ago, was a donut with co ee from her favorite local bakery. I’m happy to see no photos of any guys, which made me wonder if my angel was a virgin. The thought of me being the first man inside of her had me coming hard in my hand at imagining her tightness.

Excitement at seeing my girl today gets me out of bed earlier than normal, so I decided to surprise her by visiting her favorite bakery before heading into work. I take my truck and drive the twenty-five minutes there. In my happiness at getting something I know she’ll love, I even buy the whole shop donuts. My out of the way activity gets me into work late, making me miss my morning workout and having Valerie beat me there.

I walk into the conference room to see her and Wes huddled over paperwork. They both look up when I walk in and I reward Valerie with a devilish smile, not giving two shits that Wes is looking at me as if I’m crazy. I nod at him in acknowledgment when I stop next to where Valerie is seated.

“Good morning, Angel! I’ve got a surprise for you.” I bring out the box of donuts and co ee that I was trying to hide behind my back and place it in front of her. She gasps in surprise and her eyes light up in delight. I place my hand on my chest, not realizing my heart was pounding so hard with adrenaline at her reaction, which was one of the best fucking sights I’ve seen in a long time. If this is how she reacts to donuts, I can’t wait to see how she reacts when I make her come.

“Oh my God, these are from my favorite bakery!” She grabs a chocolate cronut that is filled with sweet cream and takes a bite, her eyes closing in pleasure as her moans echo throughout the conference room. I bite the inside of my cheek to contain my groan and will my dick to refrain from getting any harder than it already is. She pulls the donut away from her lips, a little bit of white cream on each corner of her mouth and my mind goes into overdrive of another type of cream being all over her lips.

“Thank you, Rowan, but how did you know these were my favorite?” She eyes me suspiciously and I can’t help but chuckle at how she doesn’t remember posting a photo about them on Instagram.

“I have my ways, Angel.” I bend down and kiss the top of her head, the scent of her fruity shampoo doing nothing to deflate my erection. I lean in closer to her ear and whisper, “I really love the fact that you enjoy cream so much.”

Her cheeks turn crimson and she smacks me in the arm. I laugh and don’t miss the sight of her lips curving into a quick smile before she puts her business mask back on. My girl might look prim and proper, but I have a feeling she’s anything but, especially in bed.

“Rowan, can I see you in my o ce now?”

So lost was I in Valerie that I completely forgot about Wes’ presence. Valerie takes a sip of her co ee, avoiding my gaze as she looks down. I stand up straight and nod to Wes, indicating I’m ready to follow him out. He gets up from his chair and walks toward the door.

“Eat lunch with me today?” I ask her before I leave. She looks into my eyes and hesitates before answering.

“We’ll see. Now go, I don’t want you getting in trouble.”

I give her head another kiss and walk out of the conference room and down the hall to Wes’ o ce.

“Shut the door,” he commands when I enter. I do as instructed and take a seat. Wes regards me silently before shaking his head at me in mock disbelief.

“Rowan, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but it needs to end. She can sue us for sexual harassment with the shit

you’ve been saying to her.”

“Wes, the only game I’m playing is the one for her heart.”

“Row, if you’ve done something, just tell me. Are you seducing her in hopes she doesn’t find something in the books that might’ve been an accident?”

My mouth drops open in shock, not believing what he might be implying. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? You’ve known me for how many years and think I would steal from one of my best friends? Not to mention, intentionally use and hurt a woman?”

Wes rubs his eyes before raking his hands through his hair. “I don’t know what to think, Rowan. You haven’t been acting like yourself since she arrived. Kyle came to me this morning with his concerns and when I heard you talking to her, it just didn’t make sense. I’ve never seen you like this before.”

“Did you ever think that the reason I’m acting like a crazy person is because I’ve found my boom?” I ask incredulously, still reeling that he actually thought I could do something so vile to him and Valerie. Why didn’t Kyle tell Wes what I told him yesterday about my intense feelings for her?

Realization dawns on Wes’ face and he relaxes his shoulders as my words sink in. “Fuck. No, I never even considered that.” He studies me a moment longer, disbelief still lingering in his eyes.

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my entire life,” I tell him confidently. “Don’t you remember what a crazy, possessive bastard you were when you met July?”

Wes was almost unbearable to be around that first month of his relationship with his now wife. Thank God July felt the same way about Wes, otherwise we would’ve all quit if we had to deal with his grumpy ass for much longer.

“I’m still a crazy, possessive bastard over my wife. That’ll never change,” Wes says, softness entering his eyes at the mere mention of her. “How has Valerie reacted to you so far?”

“She’s freaked out, but that’s because she feels it too. As long as I know she feels the same way, we can work through her being scared.”

Wes nods in agreement with me. “I can ask July to come for lunch one day and get to know Valerie. Maybe her telling our story will help Valerie recognize her feelings.”

“I’d appreciate that, Wes.” We stand up and Wes comes around his desk to give me a hug.

“I’m happy for you, man. You don’t know how relieved I am to hear this as it now makes sense as to why you’ve been acting like a crazy fucker,” he laughs, slapping me hard on the back as we exit his o ce.

“Ain’t that the truth! I feel like a crazy fucker!” We continue to laugh and make our way back to work.

M

uch to my disappointment, I don’t get alone time with Valerie at lunch. She and Wes work though lunch, with Wes ordering pizza for the whole shop. When I go to check on her in the afternoon, the conference room door is shut, indicating that they are in a closed door meeting. I go back to my work station, but my mind is occupied with thoughts of her.

When it is 5 p.m., I put everything away and head back to the conference room to ask Valerie to eat dinner with me again, but to my surprise, Wes and Kyle are the only ones in the room.

“She had to leave early today. Said something about her sister’s wedding food tasting,” Wes says when I ask where she is.

“Row, want to grab some grub after work?” Kyle asks while shu ing some papers back into a pile. It looks like Wes and Kyle are packing up for the day. I really am in no mood to eat with Kyle, but I feel a tad guilty brushing him o these past couple of days.

“I need to get a quick workout in since I missed it this morning. If you want to stick around, we can grab a bite to eat afterward, but if you already have plans this evening, then I understand.” I try to sound nonchalant, but I’m hoping he has other plans as I totally plan on going to Valerie’s place and

waiting for her to come home since I was the dumbass who didn’t get her phone number last night.

“Nah Bro, it’s cool. I can wait for you. In fact, I’ll just workout again to pass the time.”

Damnit!

“Okay, see you there.” I walk out and head outside to the gym, hoping that the time goes fast until I get to see my girl again.

CHAPTER ELEVEN VALERIE

I

look at the clock while driving toward the Belle Meade Plantation, dread filling me as navigation shows I’ll be late to my sister’s food tasting for her wedding. I’m not used to dealing with tra c since I live close to my o ce, so I didn’t anticipate that it would take me an hour to get from Murfreesboro to Belle Meade. I voice message a text to Aly, telling her I’m on my way and will be fifteen minutes late. Normally I plan better and check how long it would take me to get to an unfamiliar place, but when my mind is not consumed with the audit, it’s filled with thoughts of Rowan.

I hated that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to him, especially now that I realize I don’t have his phone number.

But five o’clock came quick and I knew I had to race out of there. Besides, if I went to seek him out, it would’ve been hard for me to leave. I actually missed him when he wasn’t around me today. It’s like his presence makes me feel alive, energized.

How the hell can I miss someone I barely even know?

I tossed and turned all night long last night, his words from dinner streaming through my brain until the wee hours of the morning. I finally got out my vibrator and only after I

made myself come with images of him doing explicit things to body was I able to finally go to sleep.

Tonight is going to be long and while I’m excited for my sister and to eat delicious food, I’m dreading having to be around my father. All he will ask me about is work and while I usually engage in conversation with him to get his attention, I just don’t have the energy to be fake with him.

I shouldn’t have to be fake with my own Dad. My thoughts go back to Rowan and I wonder if he’ll be mad that I didn’t say goodbye to him. It really was quite rude of me not to, especially since he went out of his way this morning to get my favorite donuts. No man has ever done something that nice for me. I couldn’t figure out how he knew and it was only when I went to stalk him on social media did I remember that I posted about the bakery on my Instagram account.

Well played, Rowan.

My stalking e orts turned up pointless because he has no social media accounts, which actually made me happy. I don’t need strange woman all over the World Wide Web lusting over my man.

Gah, I just admitted he was my man!

I can’t have these kinds of thoughts. What if once the audit is over and we aren’t together every day, he gets bored and moves on? I work late hours and unless one of us moves in with each other, there’s no way we will see one another every day.

This. Is. Crazy. Talk!

I welcome the distraction of the sight of the plantation as I drive through its long driveway to the carriage house where the reception will be. I park my car and am escorted by their sta to the room where the tasting is being held. As soon as I enter, my eyes meet the glare of disapproval oozing out from

my father. I sit in the empty seat next to my sister and lean over to kiss her cheek.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” I whisper in her ear, only caring about if I hurt her feelings with my tardiness.

“Nice of you to make an appearance, Valerie,” my father sneers loudly for everyone to hear. Everyone being not only my mother and sister, but Gavin, his parents, and the wait sta . The room fills with awkward silence following his words. I look down at my hands in my lap, my cheeks burning from mortification. I’m prepared to just ignore my father, but Alyson doesn’t believe in that.

“She’s fine, Dad. We just started. They brought out three salads for us to choose from. Here, try mine.” She hands me her plate that has three di erent samplings of salad and winks at me. Aly will always and forever come to my rescue against our dad.

The rest of the tasting carries on, with plate after plate of food being served. I tasted everything and enjoyed them all.

After three hours of taking votes on who liked what the best, Gavin and Aly make their final selections. The sta cleared our plates away and served us co ee and biscotti to sit and relax with.

“I hear from Emma that you have something to tell me about this new audit that you’re doing?” Aly asks softly and I could kill Emma for even mentioning it to her.

“Another time when we have privacy,” I say to her, seeing our father attempt to read our lips to get in on the conversation. Aly nods in understanding and tries to change the subject. “And when might that actually be?”

“I’ve been working late, so maybe we can meet up for dinner sometime next week?” It’s a little white lie as having dinner with Rowan is not considered to be working, but she doesn’t need to know that right now.

“There’s always the phone. Emma indicated that I need to talk to you ASAP.” “Of course she would,” I sarcastically comment, drawing a smirk out of Aly. “I’ll call you in the morning on my way into work.”

“Valerie, dear, how is work going?” my mother innocently asks. She knows I have a new audit, but she doesn’t know what type of business I’m auditing.

“Work is good.” I keep it vague, praying that my father doesn’t chime in and ask more questions.

“How long do you think the audit is going to last? I need some time with my baby girl.” Even though I’m her eldest child, she still calls me her baby. If it wasn’t for our mother’s love, I seriously don’t know how Alyson and I would have ended up. Probably as cold and heartless as my father.

“I don’t have an exact deadline date for this audit. I’m hoping to have it completed in two weeks.”

“Speaking about dates, Valerie, I have secured Sutton Wakefield as your date for the wedding. He would like to take you to dinner sometime next week to have a formal introduction. Here’s his card.” My father flicks his card in my direction and I just stare at it as the room grows silent.

So silent that all you hear is the second hand ticking on the wall clock.

“Excuse me?” I whisper in disbelief, not believing that my father would arrange a date for me. I know of Sutton Wakefield and have met him before at some high profile charity event. He’s tall, with blond hair and green eyes and lean build. He’s been one of Nashville’s most famous eligible bachelors. Some women might think he’s attractive - if you like that sleazy, scumbag kind of look. He certainly acts the part.

“Father, Valerie doesn’t need to have a date for the wedding. Right, Mother?” Aly looks over at our mom for

confirmation. All our mother can do is nod her head, anger blazing out of her eyes and robbing her of her voice.

“Nonsense. This is a high profile wedding, Alyson. People from Gavin’s industry and my industry will be there. We don’t want people questioning why Valerie is alone at the wedding,” my father drawls out in his Southern charm as he smiles at Gavin’s parents.

“Why would anyone be questioning that?” my mother asks and I instantly know I’ll not like his answer.

“Because people know that her future husband is the heir to our family business. Our firm is one of the most elite firms in the entire state. We can’t just have anyone running it after I retire. With Valerie being the eldest, she should be marrying first, not Alyson. Sutton Wakefield is a prime candidate for the role as husband and future CEO of my firm.”

“Sutton Wakefield is an asshole and how dare you not even consider your own child to inherit the family business!”

Alyson yells, standing up out of her seat in anger, her hands balled into fists at her sides. I watch in a daze as Gavin reaches for her and starts to rub his hands up and down her forearms to help soothe her.

“Don’t use that tone of voice with me, young lady! I have given my whole life to my business, so I’ll be the one who decides who’s worthy to have it!” my father snaps harshly at her. Alyson sits back down and I immediately feel guilty that her evening is being ruined all because of me.

I wipe my mouth with my napkin, throw it down on my plate and rise from my chair, making my intentions of leaving evident.

“Thank you for your concern, Father, but I already have a date for the wedding,” I say coldly as I rip up Sutton Wakefield’s business card. I walk around the table to my father and throw down the remaining shreds of the card in

front of him. I hold my head high as I leave the room, my back burning up from the heat of everyone’s eyes watching me walk away.

“Valerie!” my sister yells after me. “Val, wait!” I hear her footsteps running after me, but I don’t stop. It’s only when I reach my car door that I take a deep breath and let the tears I was holding in spill down my cheeks. I turn around right when my sister grabs me into her arms and holds me tightly.

I cry out all my anguish in her arms, not understanding why my father doesn’t love me.

“He’s not worth your tears, Val. They’re too good to waste on him,” she says in her soft and soothing voice. She always knows the right things to say to me, the right words to make me feel better. Even though I’m the older sibling, she has been my caretaker, my protector. Our mother was and is too meek to stand up to our father. It’s as if Alyson was born knowing I needed protection, because even as a child, she was the one comforting me or trying to distract me when I craved his love and attention. She never showed any signs of being upset by his indi erence toward us. Instead, she always acted content and happy with the love and attention my mother and I gave her.

I pull away from her and wipe at my eyes, my mascara smearing all over the place. I dig in my purse for a tissue to try to fix myself. “Why does Mom even stay with him?” I grumble, not understanding how my sweet mother can even stand him. How sad is it that I wish my parents would divorce?

“Who knows,” Aly says with a shrug. She grabs a tissue from my pack and starts wiping my cheeks for me. “Maybe she stays for the lifestyle?”

“That’s just sad.” Our parents got married straight out of college, so our mother is still young. She’s beautiful, smart and takes good care of herself. I have no doubt that she

would find a man who treats her like a queen. “She deserves better.”

“That’s her decision to make. We can’t control who our parents are,” she sighs, grabbing my arms and squeezing them in encouragement. “Val, you know you don’t have to bring a date to my wedding, right?”

“I know, but I actually spoke the truth. That is if we’re still dating by that time.” I give her a sad smile at her questioning stare.

“So Emma was right when she said you met someone?

I’m going to murder you for telling her first!” A hint of jealousy sparks in her eyes, making me laugh at how adorable my sister is with her love and loyalty.

“I didn’t mean to tell her first. She just happened to call at the right time when things were happening.” I take a deep breath, smiling as thoughts of Rowan’s handsome face appear in my mind.

“His name is Rowan and he works at the motorcycle shop.

One look from him and I knew he was something special. I think he’s what you would call my shazam.” My voice stutters with hesitation at even speaking that word while Alyson squeals in delight. She grips my hands and starts jumping up and down with glee, her grip so tight that I have no choice but to join her. Her excitement is infectious and for the first time in forever, I actually believe that this might be happening to me. That Rowan may actually be my forever.

“But Aly, Father would never approve of Rowan and I feel that if I bring him to the wedding, he’ll make a scene,” I say, worry making me gnaw at my bottom lip with my teeth. I have no doubt my father would kick Rowan out of the wedding, not caring if he causes a scene.

“I don’t give a rats ass, Val. You're my sister and if you love Rowan, then I love Rowan.”

“I never said I loved Rowan!” I look at my sister as if she’s gone crazy because those words definitely did NOT come out of my mouth.

“You don’t have to - your eyes are saying it all for you.”

If Valerie can see it in my eyes, then Rowan will soon enough be able to tell as well.

Yup, I’m totally screwed.

CHAPTER TWELVE ROWAN

W

orking out and going to dinner with Kyle helped pass the time since I only had to wait outside of Valerie’s condo for an hour until she arrived home. I stand up from the bench outside the main entrance, watching her walk slowly to her building. She’s not paying attention to anyone around her or even her surroundings. I need to teach her that when she’s not with me, she always needs to be aware of her surroundings.

She stops short when she sees me and I immediately notice her pu y eyes from crying.

I’m going to kill the person who made my Angel cry.

“Who did this to you?” I growl, reaching her in three long strides and gently gripping her arms. My eyes quickly roam over her whole body, not seeing any physical harm done to her. She’s looking down at my chest, so I grasp her chin and tilt her head up, forcing her to look me in the eyes. Her sadness shreds my heart and rage courses through me, making me want to physically harm the perpetrator.

“Angel, tell me what happened,” I softly command, needing to know details so I can analyze how to fix the situation and see my girl smile again.

“It’s just my dad,” she smiles sadly, fresh tears forming in her eyes. I pull her tightly against me, making her wrap

her arms around my torso. I don’t speak, just hold her, hoping to absorb some of the pain.

“What did he do?” I softly ask, hoping she trusts me enough to tell me everything.

She pulls back and releases her arms from around me so she can wipe her tears away. She takes a deep breath before speaking. “He just doesn’t believe in me. He doesn’t think I’m capable of taking over the family business. I honestly don’t know what else I have to do to prove myself to him. I went to his Alma Mater, majored in Finance like him. I’ve started my career the exact same way he did.” She sighs and looks up at me, hurt illuminating from her light eyes. The color of her eyes are so bright that I’m momentarily hypnotized by them.

“Why doesn’t he love me, Rowan?” she whispers, her voice aching with longing. I’m lost for words as I ask myself the same question about my own father. All I can tell her is what I tell myself when I feel the same way she does.

“It’s his loss, Angel, not yours. There’s nothing more you can do to make him see what a blessing you are. You either need to cut him out of your life or learn to not let him a ect you.” She pulls her bottom lip through her teeth and I yearn to taste her lips so badly.

“Did you cut your father out of your life?” Her eyes go wide, her voice skeptical as if the thought is unfathomable to her.

“Yeah, I did. I had too. If I didn’t, I would be miserable, not living my best life for me, but for him. Life’s too short for that, Angel.“ I give her a squeeze, hoping my words are having some sort of e ect on her. “At first, my family was upset with me, but now no one talks to him. My mother divorced him last year and my siblings are barely on speaking terms with him.”

“Wow,” she whispers and looks away, her eyes getting a dreamy look to them. “My sister says once she’s married, she’s cutting him out. I worry about my mom. I just can’t understand how she puts up with him,” she says with a shake of her head and returns her gaze to me. “What’s crazy is that he’s setting up dates for me to my sister’s wedding, picking out men who he thinks would make suitable candidates to inherit his firm. He doesn’t even care if I like them or not.” She shivers and I squeeze her tighter, her words making me see red with anger.

“So I told him I already had a date,” she says sheepishly and hope starts to fill me. “If we’re still together in six months, will you go with me?”

Relief floods through me knowing she’s starting to think of me in her future. I place my forehead against hers and smile. “Baby, I’m your forever date.”

She does that cute little swallow of hers anytime I say something that renders her speechless. My gaze falls to her lips and I watch them part. Her breath smells sweet like chocolate frosting that I’m ready to lick up. Our breaths start to get heavy, anticipation in the air about whether or not we’re going to kiss. She squeezes my sides and draws me closer. I lift up her head to stare into her eyes. She’s still staring at my lips and I know I don’t need permission to make my move. I slowly make my way to her lips, ready to stake claim.

“Excuse me, can you move out of the way? You’re blocking the door!”

The stranger makes Valerie jump and she releases her hold on me. The moment is gone and I can’t help the snarl I give to the stranger as he scurries into the building once we move aside. Valerie’s giggle brings my gaze back to hers and I smile at the sweet sound. Her cheeks are rosy from embarrassment, but her eyes look tired. As much as I want to

continue where we left o , I think she needs a good night sleep from her emotional night.

“Back to the subject of family, my brother will be in town tomorrow night and I would like for you to meet him. Is that okay with you?” Her eyes light up and she nods enthusiastically, surprising me with her reaction. I thought she would be hesitant, but this reaction is better than I expected.

“Where are we meeting him? Will it be right after work?”

“We are going to watch him work.” I laugh at the weird expression that crosses her face. “He plays hockey for the Canucks. He got called up from their farm team last week and has been on the road with them. Luckily for me, he’s still with the team as they come into town to play the Predators.”

“I’ve never been to a hockey game before. This will be a first.”

“Angel, we’re going to have a whole lotta firsts.” I pull her in for a hug and kiss her head. “I’m going to let you go inside so you can get some rest.”

I love the look of disappointment that crosses her face after I release her from my hug. I should just invite myself up and not even give her the option. But against my better judgement, I will wait for the formal invitation from her. My girl is stubborn and I feel if I push her too far, that invitation won’t come sooner, but rather later.

She stares at me for a moment before walking to her door.

She turns around and gives me one last look. A look filled with longing and desire. If she keeps looking at me like that, fuck chivalry and waiting for that formal invite upstairs.

“Good night, Rowan. Sweet dreams.” She gives me a sexy smile, blows me a kiss, and walks inside.

“Oh, you don’t know how sweet they’re going to be, Angel,” I mutter, knowing that I have a date with my hand and dreams of her as soon as I get home.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN VALERIE

I

was nervous all day about the fact that I was going to meet Rowan’s brother tonight. Not able to keep my curiosity at bay, I went to the Canucks website to try to find him. Nicholas Pryor is as every bit as goodlooking as his older brother, but with some slight di erences. Nicholas’ hair is lighter and not as long as Rowan’s. His eye shape is di erent, but they both have those soul piercing, aquamarine eyes. He was drafted by the Canucks four years ago after he graduated from Boston College. He has moved his way up and has spent the last two years playing for their minor league team, the Kelowna Lynxes. A couple of news articles I read said that this was his year to shine and hopefully permanently stay with the Canucks. Other than that, there was zero gossip about him.

Nothing about his dating life and like his brother, he doesn’t have any o cial social media pages. Any pages I found were fan created.

“Have you guys met Rowan’s brother?” I ask Wes and Kyle during our lunch break, which isn’t much of a break since we decided to work and eat at the same time. Rowan drove downtown to meet his brother for lunch so he can have some alone time with him because the team flies home after the game.

“I’ve met him a couple of times. Looks just like Rowan, except taller. Not as outgoing I feel, but just as nice and polite,” Wes says in between bites of his sandwich.

I look over at Kyle, who’s staring at me strangely. I’m still not comfortable around him. There’s just something about him that gives me the heebie-jeebies. Fortunately, I haven’t had to spend any alone time with him yet. Wes has been with me every time Kyle was needed to help answer a question or explain a report he pulled for me.

“I’ve met him once. Why?” Kyle’s answer is curt and his tone of voice even draws attention from Wes. Kyle notices Wes looking at him and smiles at me, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. Now I wish I never asked about Rowan’s brother in front of him.

“I’m meeting him tonight and was just wondering what to expect.”

“Nick’s in town?” Kyle asks, looking at Wes for confirmation.

“Yeah, he got called up by the Canucks last week and they’re in town to play the Predators tonight.”

“He told you that, Wes? Rowan never said a word to me.”

Kyle looks visibly upset and I silently vow to never say anything personal in front of him again. “He invited you to the game?” His eyes are laser beams on me and the hair on the back of my neck starts to rise. He’s acting like he’s the only one Rowan confides in. His possessive and jealous vibe is evident in his cold eyes.

“Yes, he invited me to go with him.” I keep my answer short and pretend to focus on my laptop. I need to talk to Rowan about my feelings regarding Kyle. After this audit is over, I never want to be around him again. I worry about how Rowan is going to take this. He’s known Kyle for a long time and considers him like a brother. He’s only known me for a

couple of days. This might be a dealbreaker for our relationship.

“What’s the big deal, Kyle? You know Rowan’s a private man. It isn’t like he told everyone but you. Stop sounding like a jealous girlfriend.” Wes throws his balled up napkin at Kyle to try to lighten up the mood. Kyle smiles and throws it back at him. I immediately start talking business to divert the tension in the air.

Kyle and Wes eventually go back to work and I welcome the silence of being alone. With my focus in place, the rest of the day flies by and I was surprised it was quitting time when my phone alarm went o . Rowan and I agreed that it would be best if I get ready here and he’ll follow me home to drop o my car so we can go to the game together. Giddy for my date with him, I quickly put things away, grab my belongings, and race to the restroom to get ready.

“O

h my gosh, I can’t watch!” I shield my eyes from the fight that is occurring on the ice. The crowd is on their feet, the noise level in the arena at an insane decibel level as one of the Predator players pounds his fist into the face of a Canuck player. Thank goodness it’s not Rowan’s brother, but needless to say, I’m not a fan of any violence.

Rowan wraps his arm around me and pulls me close, laughing at my reaction as he plants a kiss on my forehead.

This game has been a nail biter, with both Rowan and I on the edge of our seats the whole time. I never knew hockey games could be so much fun, not to mention, so intense. I’m completely hooked, which seems to please Rowan.

Even though I’m not knowledgeable in hockey, I can tell Rowan’s brother is good. He’s almost scored twice with the Predators’ defensemen doing a great job at thwarting his

attempts. I hope it happens for Rowan as it would be a bittersweet moment for him since he doesn’t get to see him play all the time.

“When was the last time you watched your brother play?”

I ask, seeing the pride shining brightly from Rowan’s beautiful eyes as he follows his brother’s movements back to the Canucks’ bench.

“At least a couple times a year. When he’s with Kelowna, the closest he comes to us is in Chicago, so I always try to make those games. Sometimes we get lucky and they play back-to-back games with the same team, unlike in the NHL. This is a better situation though since I don’t have to travel to Chicago to see him and he gets paid more being called up to the big leagues. I really hope he gets to stay. He’s living his dream right now.” Rowan shakes his head in awe and I love seeing how much he loves his brother. “I’m so fucking proud of him.”

Rowan stares down at me and I can’t help but look at his lips as he smiles. He has the perfect smile, with lush pink lips and beautiful, straight white teeth. I clench my thighs tighter, the need to feel those lips on me becoming almost unbearable. Every time he kisses me on the forehead, the heat from the kiss goes straight to my core, making me wonder when he’s finally going to give me a proper kiss. I don’t know how much longer I can stand the torture and the idea of me having to make the first move makes me uneasy. I know he’s attracted to me as he always tells me how beautiful I am, especially tonight when I decided to wear my contacts instead of glasses for our date. I know he’s trying to be a gentleman, but his good looks and intoxicating scent is sending me into overdrive. I catch the way he looks at me and know he wants to ravish me.

And I’m ready and willing.

The sound of the whistle startles me out of my thoughts and I realize I missed some of the game while I was daydreaming in Rowan la la land. I look up at the jumbotron as one of my favorite songs comes on, Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer. The screen is showing an adorable elderly couple kissing for the “kiss cam”.

“Oh, how cute!” I exclaim when the camera scans to two children jumping up and down, excited to see themselves on television. The crowd cheers them on and they actually start to kiss. The scene is so hilarious with their parents trying to break them apart that I start laughing hysterically. My laughter turns to horror as my face suddenly appears on the massive screen.

“NO!” I shout and look at Rowan incredulously as he mouths “second date” with a thumbs up and wicked smile on his face in the direction of the camera that is pointed on us. This just seems to rev up the crowd more, who starts chanting “kiss her, kiss her” over and over again.

Why is the camera man not going to another couple?

My first kiss with Rowan can’t be in front of 20,000 people!

This can’t be happening to me!

“I think we should give the crowd what they want, Angel,” Rowan whispers in my ear and before I can say no, he places his hand on my cheek, moves my face toward his and plants his lips on mine. His lips are warm, smooth and so soft. He pulls back only slightly before turning my head and kissing me again, this time with his lips slightly parted.

The crowd is going wild but once I feel the tip of Rowan’s tongue touch my upper lip, I can’t hear them anymore because I’m a goner. I grab onto his face, open my mouth and clash my tongue with his. Our tongues duel until we find the perfect rhythm together. I know I should stop this, but I can’t. He tastes delicious from the beer and peppermints he was sucking on. The touch of his tongue stokes the flames of

my desire, making me crave him more like an addict needing their fix.

His kiss, his touch, is total perfection.

“Alright already, the game has started!” someone yells and our mouths slowly break away from each other. Our foreheads are touching, our breathing ragged, and our gazes are locked onto each other. Watching the rest of the game is now the last thing I want to do and if we weren’t supposed to meet his brother afterward, I would demand that we go to my place right this instant. But we can’t and unfortunately, we can’t spend the last remaining five minutes of the game kissing either. As my breathing calms down and my hands release his face, I realize that this man has completely ruined me for anyone else as I’ve never experienced a kiss like that before.

This kiss solidifies that I want to be kissing Rowan Pryor every day for the rest of my life.

The thought is quite eye opening as my eyes actually widen while I look at Rowan in a di erent light. He notices my change in expression and gives me a questioning look.

“What is it, Angel?” he asks, his fingers grazing my cheek in a soft caress. I smile and shake my head at him, not ready to reveal my thoughts. He studies me some more and then moves to take my hand in his. “I see you’re just as a ected as I am by our kiss. Just imagine how it’s going to be when we’re alone,“ he growls into my ear and I almost moan out loud from the warm sensation rolling through me. I shift in my seat, my jeans suddenly feeling very confining and uncomfortable.

The rest of the game seems to go by in a daze, with the Canucks finally beating the Predators in a shootout. Nick was one of the players who scored during the shootout and Rowan was jumping up and down, yelling to everyone who can hear him that his brother just scored. Surprisingly,

people congratulated him instead of telling him to shut up and sit down.

When the shootout ended, we made our way downstairs to wait for Nick by the locker rooms. He gave us special passes that permitted us to be down there and it was like seeing a whole di erent world. Beautiful women were everywhere, having special lanyards around their necks. I’m assuming these are the girlfriends and wives of the Predator players and it makes me wonder how they handle the life of being married to an athlete who isn’t home for most of the year. I don’t know if I could handle it and it makes me grateful that Rowan didn’t pursue his hockey career. But then again, I probably wouldn’t have met him if he was a hockey player.

Funny how fate puts people in your path.

We only have to wait fifteen minutes before Nick appears, scanning the crowd for us. I can’t help but appreciate how handsome he looks in his suit and notice that all of the hockey players come out of the locker room wearing suits. I swear this could be an ad campaign for Hugo Boss or some other men’s fashion designer. Most of these guys look like models, not hockey players. I make a mental note to tell Emma she needs to start going to hockey games or at least find out what bars the single hockey players hang out at in Chicago.

Rowan calls out to his brother, whose eyes light up as they spot him. They walk toward one another and hug tightly before clapping each other on the backs. Rowan says something in his ear and Nick’s eyes immediately lock with mine. I smile hesitantly as they make their way toward me. I see Nick sizing me up, approval flashing through his eyes.

He smiles warmly at me while Rowan introduces us.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Valerie. Trust me when I say, I’ve never heard my brother talk about someone the way he’s

talked about you this past week.” His smile is warm and genuine and my heart soars at hearing that Rowan has talked about me. We ask him how he felt about the game and how he’s liking Vancouver. Talking with him comes easily and I enjoy watching the banter between the two brothers. Time goes by swiftly and soon one of the Canucks’ sta members is telling Nick that it’s time to board the bus for the airport.

The two brothers hug before Nick engulfs me in a bear hug.

“I look forward to seeing you soon, Val. Take care of my brother for me.” Nick gives us one last look before turning around and heading in the direction toward the bus.

I study Rowan’s profile as he continues watching his baby brother leave. I know we aren’t going anywhere until Rowan can see that Nick gets on that bus safely. His jaw clenches and it’s clear he’s holding back some sort of emotion. I squeeze his hand and he responds with a sad smile before putting his arm around me and pulling me in for a hug. I wrap my arms around him and inhale his heavenly scent. I hold onto him tightly and we stay that way until Nick is no longer in our line of vision.

The drive back to my place is filled with silence, but thick in anticipation of what’s next to come. I mentally battle with myself if I should invite Rowan upstairs. My heart is screaming yes, while my head is saying to take things slow.

Rowan parallel parks into a spot near my building. I look over at him when he turns the car engine o , the sheer hotness of how he looks right now making me gulp hard. He feels my gaze upon him and gives me a slow, sexy smile.

I’ve always thought taking things slow in the past was the best way to handle relationships.

But with Rowan, I’m done wasting time.

I’m ready to go full speed ahead.

Without hesitation, we both reach for each other at the same time. Our kisses are intense, our tongues thrusting

against each other feverishly. I moan during each breath, not being able to get enough of him and how good he tastes.

How right he feels.

Our hands are tangled in each other’s hair with Rowan in full command, turning my head so that he can find the right angle to get as close to me as possible. Seconds feel like minutes and soon Rowan’s hot breath makes its way down my neck. I grip his shoulders, needing to feel his body against mine, but the damn center console of his truck is in my way. Sensing my frustration, he makes his way back to my lips, nipping at the bottom one with his teeth before releasing it so we can catch our breaths.

“I think you should come upstairs,” I pant, not wanting this moment to ever end. He places his hands on my cheeks, his eyes burning with passion. Knowing this passion is for me makes me tighten my inner walls, needing to feel him inside me.

“Baby, if I come up, I’m never leaving,” he says, his intense stare showing his sincerity, making my heart scream in ecstasy.

There’s no hesitation in my smile and nod of approval.

Because I’m ready to give my heart, body and soul to this man.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN ROWAN

I

saw the shift in Valerie’s eyes the moment our kiss happened. The shift that she does believe in us, in our boom. That she sees me exactly as I see her.

As my forever.

That kiss exceeded my expectations. I knew it was going to be exceptional, but it went beyond that. It’s the type of first kiss that people only dream about having.

It was soul shattering.

It was life changing.

It was confirmation that we belong together.

I’m done wasting time by not being with her. I know this isn’t just lust for me and her actions these last couple of nights has shown me it isn’t for her either.

I don’t even notice her apartment when we walk in. My body is buzzing with need for her. As soon as she shuts and locks her front door, she’s mine. I crush her against the door, our lips fusing together as our hands roam over each other’s bodies. Our fingers start catching on clothes, pulling our jackets o and dropping them to the floor. I hoist her up and she automatically wraps her legs around my waist, hooking her ankles together. She starts grinding against me and I moan against her mouth, the friction from her movement causing my dick to throb against my pants. I pin

her against the door as my hands make their way to her ass, squeezing it as she sucks on my bottom lip. Her door starts banging as I move against her, my cock begging for its own release. Not needing the neighbors to inquire about all the commotion, I release her and slowly let her slide down my body, relishing in the feel of her against me until her feet touch the ground.

She grabs my hand and we practically run to her bedroom.

Once inside, she pushes me to sit down on the edge of the bed and crawls on top of my lap. She threads her hands through my hair, bringing me back to her sweet lips. One of my hands slides inside the back of her jeans to caress her ass as her hips start to gyrate against me in pure, agonizing torture. My other hand wraps around her braid and pulls her head back so I can devour her neck. I leave trails of kisses up to her earlobe, enjoying her gasps of pleasure each time I graze my teeth against it. She shivers and I make my way up her jawline to claim her lips once more.

I’m dying to know what her hair feels like through my fingers, so I use both of my hands to undo the rubber band at the tip of her ponytail and try to unbraid her hair; but all I can do is fumble with it. She senses what I’m doing and breaks free from our kiss. She pulls the rubber band at the base of her hair out for me, and shakes her head, causing her golden hair to cascade down her shoulders. I stare at her in awe, not believing that this goddess is really mine. She crosses her arms, reaches for the hem of her shirt and brings it over her head. With her black lace bra against her stark white skin and silky hair around her, my girl really does look like an angel.

A naughty angel that’s about to do very wicked things with me.

“Fuck, you’re beautiful,” I growl, grabbing my shirt from the back, pulling it over my head and discarding it to the

floor. I wrap my hands around her neck and bring her mouth back to mine where it belongs. Her hands start to roam over my chest, her fingers flicking at my nipples while she deepens our kiss. The slow rolling of her tongue matches the motion of her hips, her moans becoming louder with each stroke against the bulge of my pants.

“Rowan, I want you,” she whispers in between gasps when a wave of pleasure hits her clit from the friction against it. I groan at her words, my cock aching to be free from the pain of being confined. If I don’t slow us down, we’re both going to come all over our jeans.

My hands trail down her shoulders to her back and finds the clasp of her bra. As soon as I have it unhooked, I reach for the straps on her shoulders and bring them down her arms. With her bra o , I roll her onto her back and stand up so I can look at her.

She’s a vision of every man’s fantasies.

Her creamy breasts are beautiful, with large, round, pink areolas and perfect pencil eraser nipples that I can’t wait to take in my mouth. Her chest heaves up and down from her panting, her eyes wild with desire as she checks out my abs and chest. She sits up and stares at me while she places her hands on my stomach and slides them down until they touch the button on my jeans. She pulls me closer and unabashedly watches my reaction as she unbuttons them and slides my pants down my hips, taking my boxers with them. My cock springs to life and under her stare, grows to its full potential.

I’ve been told by former girlfriends that I’m above average in length and for a fleeting second, I worry about whether or not my size will hurt Valerie. All thoughts of my size leave me when she looks up at me with a mischievous smile, wraps her hand around my dick and brings it to her mouth. I throw my head back, close my eyes and take a ragged breath as she slowly licks up and down my shaft. My eyes return to her

perfect mouth once she takes my head inside and uses her tongue to suck on it. My hips jerk and I want so badly to start rocking back and forth, but this is not how I wanted our first time together to go. She licks up some pre-cum and I know it won’t be too much longer before I blow.

“Baby, it’s my turn.” I remove myself carefully from her mouth and kneel down in front of her. I place one hand beside her hip and the other cups her breast. She arches her back and moans as I rub my thumb pad roughly against her nipple. I lean down and take that sweet bud into my mouth, moaning at how good she tastes. I suck on her nipple, circling it with my tongue numerous times before I give my attention to her other breast. The air is filled with her seductive noises, her body withering from the heat of my mouth. I gently push her back down onto the bed and begin a trail of hot kisses down her sternum to her stomach, stopping to give her belly button some attention before I reach the waistband of her jeans. I tease her slowly once I unbutton and unzip them by pulling them down, my mouth kissing each inch I expose until I reach the top of her mound.

I push her pants and panties down her legs and toss them aside. I pull her legs up to rest on my shoulders, my face positioned perfectly with my destination. I trace her folds with my fingers before I open them to reveal her beautiful clit. I use the tip of my thumb and start to rub while I insert my finger inside of her. I don’t have to get very far to feel how soaked she is.

“Damn, Angel, you’re so wet for me.” I insert another finger and she moans while tightening her walls around me.

I start moving my fingers in and out while my thumb continues to rub friction up and down her clit.

“Please, Rowan,” she begs, her head thrashing from side-to-side. “I can’t take much more of this. I need you inside me!”

My cock twitches at the urgency in her voice, but I’m not done yet. “I’ve got to taste you before I come inside you, Baby.” I swiftly remove my fingers and replace them with my tongue. Her legs squeeze around my head and her nails scrap against my scalp as she grinds herself against my face.

I moan at the first taste of her, needing to have more as I increase my tongue’s assault. I alternate between lapping her up slowly with my tongue and using my mouth to suck hard on her clit. Her cries of pleasure get louder and I know she’s going to come soon. After I take one last hard suck, I rise above her, grab her legs and slam inside her in one, quick thrust.

“Ahh!” We both cry out from the incredible sensation of being connected as one. I bite my lip, trying to mentally control my hips from thrusting as I want to take a second to really feel what it’s like being inside of her. No one has ever felt the way she does. She fits me perfectly, as if she was made for me. She’s not a virgin, but she’s really tight, indicating that she hasn’t had sex in a while. The caveman in me wants to start pounding into her, marking my territory, but I also want to relish in this moment. I look down at her gorgeous face to see that she’s watching me, her eyes heated with so much passion that I can’t refrain for very much longer.

“Are you okay?” I ask as I lean down to kiss the sheen of sweat above her eyebrow. The movement makes me slide out of her and we both groan from the loss. I hiss as she grabs my ass and shoves me fully back into her. Her hands remain there, squeezing my cheeks as she slowly rocks her hips against me.

“Take me, Rowan. Now!” She arches her back as she rubs her pelvis against me, her mouth parting into an “o” from the intense sensation. With a growl, I start moving in and out of her. Her walls start squeezing around my shaft and I

lose control, my thrusting becoming hard and quick. I look into her eyes, trying to see if I find any pain, but all I see are flames of desire taking over, getting higher and higher as she matches my movements while I ride her hard. Her eyes start to close, her cries getting louder and I slow my rhythm down.

“Angel, look at me. I want us to watch each other come.”

She opens her eyes as I kiss her hard before picking up my speed again. I move my hips higher, causing her to squeeze around me tighter. My rigorous speed won’t last long as I feel myself growing bigger. I move my hand between us and rub her clit with my increasing thrusts. Her cries get louder and more frequent. Her eyes widen and I see her gasp for that one big breath. I take one hard, long thrust and explode into her, her walls convulsing around me as we look at each other and scream our orgasms out at the same time.

I lower my torso down, resting my weight on my forearms as I bring my forehead to hers. Our breathing is heavy and fast, mixing into one while we wait for the waves to stop rolling through our bodies. With our gazes still locked on each other, I notice tears start pooling in her eyes. She blinks to try to keep them at bay, but I can see that this was just as powerful for her as it was for me. I shift us so that we’re each laying on our sides, facing each other, my dick still inside her.

Where I want it to be for eternity.

“You understand what this means, right?” I ask, not waiting for her to respond. “You’re mine, Angel. Forever.

There will never be anyone else.”

She nods her head, her tears finally spilling out from the corners of those eyes that I can’t wait to stare into for all of the remaining days of my life.

She grabs my neck and kisses me fiercely. Although she’s not ready to say those three little words, I can feel the love in

her kiss as it radiates o her body. She pushes me to my back and straddles herself on top of me. I feel my cock harden, so I raise my eyebrow at her to see if she’s really ready to go again. She smiles down at me and I entwine my hands behind my head so I can watch her ride me to our next climax.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN VALERIE

I

feel like a completely di erent person now that I’ve opened my heart to Rowan. I’m happier, less guarded, and I sure can’t wipe the damn goofy smile o my face that seems to be a permanent fixture. I never knew happiness like this could even exist, nor could I fathom having this with anyone else but him. He treats me like a queen, his best friend, his equal and his lover.

We’ve been inseparable since the hockey game, with me sleeping at his house every night. I’m pretty sure we’ve christened every square inch of his place with numerous sexual positions that I’ve never tried before. My appetite for him is insatiable and all I want to do is be with him 24/7. If you told me this would be my life two weeks ago, I would’ve laughed in your face. But I can’t imagine going a single day without seeing or touching him. I now understand how people seclude themselves into their own little bubble and try to leave the outside world behind.

Because why would you want anyone to interrupt this euphoric feeling of bliss?

The guys at the shop have started to treat me more like a little sister instead of a stranger. Before they wouldn’t even look my way, but now that they know I’m Rowan’s girl, they go out of their way to come talk to me to get to know me

better. Wes even had a barbecue at his house last Sunday that included everyone from the shop and his wife’s whole family.

“Was that my coming out party?” I asked Rowan later that evening, wrapped in his arms after another mind numbing orgasm. We’ve established a routine after sex to lay in each others arms for a while and just talk. We’ve talked about our childhoods, his deployment, our fathers and more.

It has provided the perfect opportunity for us to get to know each other outside the physical chemistry. The talks eventually wind down by either us falling asleep or continuing the explorations of our bodies.

“Probably,” he laughed, his fingers moving up and down my arm in slow motion. “What did you think of everyone?”

“They were all really nice.” Everyone seemed to know who I was before we arrived and welcomed me with open arms. July and I had an immediate connection and already have plans to have a girls’ night out with her sisters and Aly. The only person who has been the exception is Kyle. He can’t hide his disgust toward me every time our eyes meet, making me wonder if Rowan has noticed it yet. I don’t understand why he hates me so much unless he feels threatened by me. Maybe he thinks I’m going to take Rowan away from him? I would never discourage Rowan from spending time with his friends. I just need to go with my gut feeling and that is to stay away from Kyle. I’ve been too scared to broach the subject with Rowan since Kyle is supposedly one of his good friends. I don’t want to ruin their friendship, but I also feel unsafe around him.

“Do you think everyone liked me?” I asked, hoping Rowan might sense my hesitation and realize that Kyle doesn’t care for me.

“Everyone loves you,” he said, his eyes shining bright with adoration and what I think might be love. He hasn’t

come right out and said those words yet, but I feel them every time we’re together. We haven’t talked about what life for us will be like once the audit is done and the idea of not getting to see Rowan during the day makes me sad.

Don’t be THAT girl, Valerie. You’ll still be with him every day.

I shake my head and try to focus back on work. Today is day eight of the audit and we completed inventory control yesterday. Rowan was so proud of his checks and balances that I couldn’t help but smile at him while he was showing me his reports. Just listening to him talk numbers in his sexy Boston accent gets my panties all wet. If there weren’t so many people around, I would’ve demanded he take me right there on the conference table. I try my hardest to stay professional around Rowan, but the man makes it near impossible with his wicked smirks and magnificent body. If I don’t stop thinking about him, I’m going to have to fetch a pair of dry panties from the extra bag of clothes I now keep in my car.

I look at the clock to see I have a solid three more hours of work until Rowan interrupts me to take us home. I grab the stack of reports containing the last two years of daily income versus deficit from their software system so I can compare it to the bank statements and begin the tedious task of going through it all with a fine tooth comb. I’m two hours into the job when I notice for the first time an odd sum of money being debited from their bank statement to a company called P2B Distributions. I grab the list of vendors that they do business with and notice this company isn’t on there. I type their name into the search bar in their software system and sure enough, it pops up. Did Rowan forget about them? I wonder and decide to pull up their transaction history.

Thousands of dollars have sporadically been paid out to this company within the last two years, with the most recent amount just three months ago. There’s no detailed

description of what was purchased. It’s only categorized as “parts”. I highlight their address with my cursor and copy and paste it in my internet search engine. No business shows up associated with that address. A knot starts to form in the pit of my stomach when I type the actual business name into the search engine and nothing comes up for it. I call the number listed in the system and it’s been disconnected.

I look over the list that Rowan provided me of their vendors again, reading each and every name slowly to make sure I didn’t miss seeing it. I stand up, needing to be on my feet, a strange feeling overcoming me as I look at the format of the vendor list compared to an inventory part list generated by the software system that Wes pulled for me.

The two lists look completely di erent, with the list from Wes having the date and time stamped with the software company’s name on the bottom. Rowan’s list was typed into excel and printed.

My heart is pounding, disbelief buzzing throughout my body as thoughts I don’t want to be thinking start forming in my head. Usually when items are left o a list, it’s because they don’t want to be found. I return back to the software system to see who initiated and approved each transaction.

Tears start to form in my eyes because there’s only one name that appears for each transaction.

Rowan Pryor.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN ROWAN

I

quit working forty-five minutes early and decide to hit the gym. I’ve been lax with my workouts, preferring to spend my mornings making love to Valerie before we shower and get ready for work. I’ll take that workout versus going to the gym any day, but today I felt the need to lift some weights, hoping the endorphins and some alone time will help me sort things out.

The first thing I start thinking about is what we’re going to do when the audit is over with. Valerie has indicated that once she’s completed investigating the last two years of invoicing, expenses and deposits, she’ll go back to her o ce to finish her report to the IRS. That probably gives me one more week with her here, if that. I despise the idea of not being under the same roof as her for work purposes anymore and not seeing her at night is non-negotiable. I’m more than willing to sleep at her house during the week so she doesn’t have to commute to work, especially since she occasionally has to work late nights. I don’t want her to work late and then have a thirty-five minute commute after that. Since I would be going against tra c in the morning, my commute would be minimal. Weekends can then be spent at my house.

I think this is the best solution, one that will make Valerie happy.

I now need to figure out what I’m going to do about Kyle.

He has continued to make passive aggressive comments about my relationship with her. His comment at Wes’ house this past weekend about how I’ve chosen “pussy over bros” almost had him spending the night in the hospital. I was ready to pummel him into oblivion. He says he was joking and that he’s happy for me, but his actions show otherwise.

Valerie doesn’t think I notice, but I see how she shrinks into herself whenever he’s around. It’s my job to make her feel safe and it’s clear that she doesn’t around him. Although we’re SEAL brothers, I really need to re-evaluate my friendship with him. If he’s not going to treat my girl with respect, then he’s dead to me. Life’s too short to keep negative and toxic people around. I have no problems cutting him out of my life.

Just like I had no problems cutting my father out.

The environment at work has now become uncomfortable and I refuse to get Wes involved. This is his establishment and we’re all his employees. It would be easier if I just left.

With the inheritance my grandmother left me and my savings from the Navy, I don’t need to work. I choose too.

Maybe it’s time to start following my dreams. I now have the dream girl - why not start my dream career? I’ve always wanted to start up my own finance and wealth management firm. One that upholds strong morals and values. One whose employees feel more like they are part of a family and have a healthy work/life balance. Wes has done an incredible job creating that environment here and it inspires me to do the same. This town can handle another firm and with its slower pace of life and small town charm, I feel my firm would do well here.

Maybe I can even persuade Valerie to come work with me?

The thought of her and I working and owning a business together gets my adrenaline pumping. I finish my bench

pressing, grab my phone, and email my lawyer right away to find out what I would need to do to make this happen. This needs to happen.

I will make it happen!

My excitement takes over my concentration, so I finish my work out early and hit the shower. I’m going to take Valerie to a nice dinner tonight to break the news, hoping that she’s going to love the idea so much that we have something to celebrate. I quickly get dressed and head back to the main building to get my girl. I frown when I see the door to the conference room closed. 5:30 is late to be having a closed door meeting. I walk to Wes’ o ce to see it’s empty, but notice that his and Kyle’s car are still in the parking lot.

Something doesn’t feel right about this situation, so I walk back to the conference room door and knock, opening it before anyone has a chance to respond.

Wes and Kyle are huddled around Valerie, who’s sitting down with her laptop. All three look up when I come in, but it’s Valerie who draws my attention. She’s white as a ghost and her eyes look at me with despair.

“Angel,” I growl as I walk toward them. “What’s going on?” If Kyle said one disrespectful word to her, we’re going to have words.

Her hand shakes as she closes her laptop and she gulps, but it isn’t her usual swallowing down her lust for me.

It’s more like fear.

“Rowan, what do you know about P2B Distributions?”

Wes asks, his voice tense, eyes cold as they look at me. The air is thick with tension as everyone stares at me, waiting for an answer.

“I don’t know anything about them,” I answer, the name not sounding familiar and not one of my distributors that I order parts from.

“Of course he’s going to fucking say that, Wes,” Kyle sneers at me and I’m immediately on guard, sensing an enemy in my territory. “Don’t play us as fools, Rowan. We know what you’ve been doing. Valerie has caught you.”

She gasps and looks at Kyle in anger as she shakes her head. “I haven’t caught Rowan doing anything, Kyle. There’s no concrete proof.”

“Of course there’s proof!” Kyle spits out, pointing his finger at her computer. “These transactions were made under his login! He’s in charge of ordering parts and supplies here.”

“Angel, please tell me what’s going on?” I soften my voice as I look to her for answers. I will myself to calm down, ignore Kyle, and focus on her. She’s the only one who can calm the storm of violence that is brewing inside of me.

“I discovered large sums of money being paid to a vendor named P2B Distributions. The sums are not similar to what has been spent with other vendors and are scattered within a two year time frame. There’s no detailed description of what kind of parts are ordered in the system for me to even price compare or see if these parts are even in the same category as your other supplies. When I searched for the company online, nothing turned up. The address that is provided in your software system is an address to an abandoned warehouse.”

“In Massachusetts,” Kyle interrupts, his voice laced with disgust. I give him a deadly look before returning my gaze back to her.

“Yes, in Massachusetts,” she confirms. “The phone number for them is also not a working number. I couldn’t get any details from the bank as to who the owner of the account is since it’s after hours. Wes will file a fraudulent claim tomorrow as soon as the bank opens.”

I shake my head at her words, clarity hitting me at the implications that are being made. “So, am I being accused of money laundering on flimsy evidence?” I turn my attention toward Wes, wanting to hear it from his own mouth.

“Because once you find out who the owner of that account is, you’ll know it isn’t me.”

“No one is accusing you of anything, Rowan,” Wes confirms in a tired voice. “In my eyes, you’re innocent until proven guilty.” I nod at him and turn my attention to Valerie.

While I appreciate Wes’ words, her opinion is what matters to me the most.

“What about you, Angel? Do you think I would do that?”

My breath catches in anticipation of her answer. If she doesn’t believe in me, then I know we have no future.

Please believe in me!

She shakes her head, her mouth forming the word “no” when Kyle interrupts her. “Oh, my God, how fucking stupid are we?” he says, his voice snickering. “No wonder Rowan’s been acting like a lovesick fool since Valerie walked in. He wanted to make her fall in love with him so she wouldn’t report him. What were you going to do, Row? Fuck her and then leave her once she turned you in?”

Before he can even utter another word, I lunge at him with the full force of my body. We crash to the floor and I swiftly sit up to straddle him, my fists making continuous connections with his face as rapidly as I can throw them.

Valerie’s screams break through my concentration and Wes is able to haul me o of Kyle.

“That was a real stupid move, Rowan!” Wes hisses in my ear before bending down to help Kyle. Valerie races over to me, checks to make sure I’m okay before throwing her arms around me.

“Please baby, don’t,” she begs when she sees the hatred in my eyes as I look at him. “The truth will come out.”

“The truth will come out while Rowan rots in jail,” Kyle wipes the blood away from his mouth, looking at me with malice. “I’ll be pressing charges now since I fear for my safety.”

“Christ, Kyle, is that really necessary? He’s your friend!”

Wes states in disgust.

“He’s not my friend anymore - he’s a traitor! He’s also a trained killer by the United States Navy. That fucker can kill me while I sleep if he wants.”

“What the fuck happened to you, Bro? Are we just now seeing your true colors?” I wonder out loud, not believing that I used to once consider him a close friend, a brother.

“Kyle, go home! We can discuss this more tomorrow,” Wes demands, shoving Kyle in the direction of the door.

“You better lawyer up, Rowan,” Kyle remarks before looking at Valerie. “When you realize he was only using you, I’ll be here waiting to show you what a real man is like.” He winks at her and Valerie has to physically step in front of me to prevent me from going after him again.

I watch Wes escort Kyle out before I look down at Valerie.

“Do you think what he says is true? That I’ve been using you this whole time?” Her eyes are filled with anguish and the idea that she might believe him makes me want to throw up.

She rises up on her tip toes, looking me straight in the eyes while she places her hands on my cheeks. “I would never think that, Rowan. I know what we have is real.” I wrap my arms around her and bury my face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent to calm me down. We stay like this until we hear Wes walk back in and clear his throat.

“I asked Kyle to sleep on his decision about pressing charges against you. We’ll see if he listens,” Wes sighs out in frustration, looking exhausted from what has transpired this evening. “Because you’re a suspect in a crime, you’ll be suspended from work with no pay until further notice. I need

you to turn in your keys.” I nod my head, unclasp my arms from around Valerie and retrieve my keys out of my pocket to give to him.

“Let’s all go home and try to get some sleep. Valerie, I’ll see you here tomorrow. Rowan, I’ll be in touch. I hope this is all some sort of misunderstanding.”

“I’m sorry Wes, but the only person who could pull this o is Kyle.” I need Wes to understand that he does have a traitor in his crew and it isn’t me.

“We’ll see, Rowan,” Wes says and bids us a good night.

The drive back to my house is filled with silence with Valerie and I consumed in our own thoughts. We are so exhausted from tonight that we don’t bother eating dinner and go straight to bed.

“I’m scared, Rowan,” Valerie whispers while we cuddle in bed. We’ve been holding onto each other since the moment we laid down, needing each other’s comfort for strength.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Angel. I promise,” I reassure her, my fingers brushing her hair away from her gorgeous face.

“How can you promise that? I don’t even understand what Kyle’s motives are for stealing anyway.” I told Valerie all I knew about Kyle; how he told me he had a normal childhood growing up in Ohio and that he comes from a loving, tight knit family. But now I’m starting to wonder if any of that was even true as none of his family has come to visit him here.

“Sometimes the power of money can make people do desperate things. Maybe Kyle needs money. I don’t know and quite honestly, I don’t care. All I care about is us. I know I’m innocent and as long as you believe in me, then nothing else matters.”

She stares into my eyes for a long moment before her gaze drops down to my lips. She swallows and looks back up

at me, her eyes telling me the words she’s not quite ready to say.

“Make love to me, Rowan,” she says and pulls me in for a kiss that leaves me breathless. Even though she says she believes me, Valerie is making love to me as if this is the last time we’re ever going to be together.

I pray to God that she’s wrong.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN VALERIE

I

barely slept last night, the idea that this might be our last night together weighing heavily on my mind. Rowan tossed and turned most of the night as well and when we finally did fall asleep, the alarm to get up went o one hour later. We dragged ourselves out of bed and decided to go eat some breakfast before Rowan dropped me o at the shop.

“Call me if you need anything. I’ll be back at 5:30 to get you, Angel.” He kisses me hard and caresses my cheek before driving back home. Him not walking in with me was a loud reminder of the accusations against him.

Wes was already seated in the conference room when I came in, a cup of hot co ee waiting for me. He looks up as I sit down and I can see he’s just as exhausted as I am.

“Morning,” he says with a sad smile on his face. “I talked with the bank this morning and submitted the summons you provided me to get the information we needed on that bank account. The account was closed the day we received the audit letter from the IRS and the money was transferred to an o shore account.” Wes hands me the paperwork and I immediately look for the name of the owner of the account.

“Who’s Charlene Whitaker?” I ask, hoping that name is associated with Kyle and we can prove Rowan’s innocence.

“I was wondering if that name was mentioned to you yet.

That was Rowan’s maternal grandmother.” My stomach knots up at his words, my heart wanting to scream out in denial. “She died almost two years ago. Rowan was pretty shook up about it since he was close with her.”

I nod slowly, happy that Rowan wasn’t around to hear this. “Where’s Kyle?” I inquire, dread filling me at the thought of having to be around him, especially without Rowan.

“I gave him the day o . Told him to relax and that if I needed him, I would call.” Wes’ cell phone vibrates and I see him frown at the name that flashes across his screen.

“Excuse me while I take this,” he mutters before answering the phone and leaving the room.

I’m grateful for a moment to myself as the news of the name on the account deflates some of the optimism I had of clearing Rowan’s name. That’s another piece of evidence that is mounting against him. I refuse to believe that any of this is true. I know Rowan is a good man. He would never steal from his friends, nor would he ever use people. I believe this with all my heart. There’s got to be something that I’m missing to prove that he’s innocent and this is all just a huge mistake.

Just then my cell phone vibrates with a call from Rowan.

“I’m being escorted into the police station. Kyle pressed charges,” he says as soon as I answer.

“What? No!” I shout as I bolt up from my seat. Wes comes in at the same time and I can tell by his face that whomever he just talked to told him the news.

“Everything will be okay, Angel. I should be done by the time I need to come get you. I’ve got to go.” He pauses and I should’ve taken that moment to tell him I loved him, but instead I chickened out.

“Okay, be safe. Call me as soon as you can!” I hang up and watch Wes grab his car keys from the table.

“Since I was a witness and their employer, I’m required to come down to the station to give my testimony. They’ll probably need your statement as well. I have a family member who is an o cer. I’ll see if he can come here to get your statement instead. I’ll keep you posted as soon as I know what’s going on.”

Wes walks out and I immediately burst into tears. Being alone in this room has made the severity of the situation that much more real. I wish I could call my sister or Emma, but I can’t. I swipe at my tears, frustration and anger starting to boil up inside me.

“No, this is not happening! He’s innocent!” I say out loud to no one but myself and continue where I left o yesterday with the reporting.

Z, Harlen and Everett take turns checking up on me, bringing me co ee and running out to get me lunch. Their normal easy banter is strained today under the weight of the situation. I don’t know what Wes has told them, but I doubt he has kept anything a secret. Wes would die for these men and vice versa. Their bond is as strong and tight as blood brothers. I’m sure he has left nothing out about what is happening.

Worry starts to set in as 5:30 rolls around and still no word from Rowan or Wes. Both of their phones go straight to voicemail every time I call. Most of the guys are starting to leave for the day and I don’t want to be left here by myself.

“Hey Valerie, I can stay with you for another hour and if we don’t hear from Rowan by then, I can take you home,” Everett o ers and I give him a grateful smile.

“Thanks Everett, but I don’t have a key to Rowan’s house yet.”

“That’s okay. We’ll just break into it. It’s his fault anyway for not giving you a key,” he shrugs nonchalantly and I can’t help but laugh at him. “I’m going to go work out and will be back shortly. Come get me if you need anything.”

Knowing that an hour in my world is not that much time, I start cleaning up my piles of paperwork for tomorrow, but something compels me to look over the information on the fraudulent bank account again. I search the internet for Charlene Whitaker’s obituary and finally found it. The bank account was opened three weeks after her death. Did Rowan take that much time o when she died? I pull up his timesheets for the last two years. I sort the information by days o and have to do a double take when I see the dates.

Rowan only took one week o during the time she died.

I grab the piles of bank statements and start looking for the dates of all payouts to P2B Distributions. Excitement starts to build as I compare multiple dates to see that all of the transaction dates for the payouts were initiated on days that Rowan requested time o . He couldn’t of initiated those transactions if he wasn’t in the o ce, logged into his work computer. Wes told me that all licenses for their software system is only installed on two designated work computers.

Rowan is innocent and this is the proof I need to show Wes! I grab my phone and start to dial Wes’ number, but the call drops as I see July trying to call me at the same time.

“Wes just called me and they are booking Rowan on assault charges. I’m on my way to get you to take you to the station,” she says, her voice frantic with worry as I hear her slam her car door and start the engine.

“Everett is here, he can take me. But July, Kyle did it!” I say with rapid excitement, not being able to contain the news.

“Val, of course we know Kyle did it. Who else would’ve pressed charges against Rowan?”

“No, Kyle stole the money and I have proof!” I grab the paperwork and look down at it one more time, making sure I’m really seeing what I’m believing. “Rowan was absent every single day that a transaction occurred. Kyle must have logged into Rowan’s account, knowing that one day we would find these transactions and request to see who initiated it.” I hear the noise of a door clicking and look up, only to gasp in horror as I watch Kyle turn the lock on the door handle.

He leans against the door and starts to clap as he gives me a sadistic smile. “I must say, Valerie. I’m impressed with your detective work. I didn’t think you were that smart. Sure, you’re an auditor, but you could’ve sucked your bosses dick to make your way up the corporate ladder.” He pushes o the wall and makes his way toward me. “It’s a shame, really, that you’re this smart. Because now you’re collateral damage.”

With those words I scream as loud as I can and drop my phone, freeing my hands to fight for my life.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ROWAN

“T

his is fucking bullshit!” I yell out in frustration, not believing that I’m actually being booked for assault and battery against Kyle. Not only did he file charges against me last night, but he also requested a restraining order. I was naive to think that this wasn’t going to be a big deal and would be let go in a couple of hours, because now the situation has taken a very serious turn, especially once the cops heard that money laundering might be involved. I don’t have a lawyer here in Tennessee, so my attorney back home is trying to do all that he can from afar until I can get someone local.

It’s now past six in the evening and I can’t even imagine how worried Valerie is. I pray one of the boys at the shop is with her, keeping her safe. My phone was taken away the moment they started questioning me. I know Wes was here earlier, but I haven’t seen him since. Knowing that my girl is out there without my protection and Kyle purposefully putting me here makes me anxious. I don’t trust him and having Wes and I both gone from the shop makes it very convenient for him to just show up. I don’t know what Wes has told the other guys, but due to today’s surprising circumstances, I doubt he’s had the chance to call them and tell them to take care of Valerie for me.

“Be grateful that it’s me dealing with your ass, otherwise you would be spending the night in a concrete cell,” Cobi Mayson says, sitting next to the o cer who is filling out the actual paperwork. Cobi’s cousins with July, so I’ve known him for as long as I’ve been employed by Wes. I consider Cobi a friend, so I’m beyond grateful to see that he’s trying to help out.

“I’m grateful, man, but I’ve got to get out of here. I’m worried about my girl. Is Wes still here? Can you call him to see if he’s checked on Valerie?”

“Wes called July to have her go get Valerie and bring her over. She should be here shortly.” I breathe out a sigh of relief hearing this. I won’t feel better until I see my Angel is okay. I wonder how long ago that call was placed because the shop is about a ten minute drive from the station. My knee starts bouncing up and down, my nervous energy needing some sort of outlet to escape.

“Do you know how long ago he called her?” I ask Cobi, who gives me an exasperated look. “I’m sorry, Cobi, but I just have a weird feeling about all of this.”

“Your womanly intuition kicking in?” he jokes, but I see him reaching for his cell phone and I know without a doubt he’s calling either July or Wes for me.

“Something like that,” I mutter, hoping that someone picks up so I can get rid of this nagging feeling that something bad is happening. I usually think positive, but I can’t shake this feeling o .

“July isn’t picking up. Let me call Wes. He should be right outside waiting for the ladies. He didn’t want them walking in here by themselves.” Cobi dials Wes’ number, who picks up on the first ring. I watch Cobi frown in concern, ask Wes if he wants back-up and then say okay before hanging up.

“July isn’t picking up for Wes either. No one at the shop is answering, so he’s headed over there now.”

“Call for back up, Cobi. Something’s wrong!” I demand, knowing my gut is right. If anything happens to Valerie, I personally will kill Kyle Perry myself.

“Mayson!” An o cer races in while holding a phone to his ear. “911 dispatch just called in a disturbance at the Broken Eagles Motorcycle Repair Shop. The caller patched them into a three-way call and are listening to what seems like a hostage situation. O cers are on their way, as well as an ambulance since there seems to be an injured victim.”

“Fuck!” I yell, standing up swiftly out of my chair, causing it to fall backwards.

“Let’s go!” Cobi grabs his keys and we’re running toward the exit.

“Hey, stop! He’s a suspect!” the booking o cer calls out after us as he tries to catch up, but fails. We run out of the building and into Cobi’s car, where he turns on his lights, tires squealing as he races out of the parking lot.

“Get out of the way!” I yell out at the cars who aren’t moving to let us pass by. Cobi’s zig-zagging in between cars at a high speed, the engine roaring every time he accelerates faster. We make it to the police barrier that is set up a couple of blocks from the shop. I get out of the car while it’s still rolling to a stop and run to where I see Wes comforting July.

“Where is she?” I skid to a stop in front of them, my eyes wild with need to see Valerie. “What’s going on?”

July shifts in Wes’ arms so she can look at me. Her eyes are red and pu y from crying, her breath shaky. “I called her to tell her I was on my way to get her when she was telling me she found evidence that Kyle was the one skimming the money from the books. Then his voice appeared and she screamed and dropped the phone. She didn’t hang up, giving me the opportunity to hear her talking to him. I called 911 via three-way and alerted them to be quiet so they could listen.”

She drew a deep breath, her eyes watering up with fresh

tears. “She asked where Everett was and he said he was tied up in the gym, that he hit him over the head with a weight.”

“Everett’s strong, he’s going to be okay,” Wes reassures her in a soothing voice.

“We don’t know that yet!” July cries, a wave of fresh new tears spilling down her face.

“Wes, gimme your keys,” I demand, holding out my hand for them. I can’t just sit back and let the police handle this.

One wrong move from them and my girl might be dead.

“Fuck no, Rowan. I can’t do that!” Wes says as July shakes her head no.

“Wes, we’re the only two people here who know that place inside and out. If I go through the woods and take the path to the back of our building, I can open the rear entry doorway quietly using your key and hopefully sneak up on him. All those doors are locked and he would know right away if the police were there since they would have to bang down the door.”

“Wait, Cobi’s coming,” Wes whispers and quickly slips his keys into my pocket. We turn to give Cobi our undivided attention.

“Dispatch can’t hear anyone talking anymore from the call, so we believe that Kyle’s moved Valerie to a di erent location. If I were a betting man, I would think either to the service department or the gym since that is where most of the heavy equipment is if he wanted to tie her down. I drew a map for the S.W.A.T team from memory of the shop the last time I was there, but Wes, can you quickly just look over my drawing since you know where any side and rear door entryways would be?” Wes and Cobi take o to talk with S.W.A.T, leaving July and me alone.

“Rowan, my gun is in its case underneath my driver’s seat,” she whispers and I give her a grateful smile. She walks me over to her car and I block people’s view of her while she

opens her car door, kneels down and retrieves the gun out of the case.

“Put it in the back of my pants and make sure my shirt is covering it,” I advise to her over my shoulder. Once I feel her put it safely in my pants and cover it with my shirt, I take o for the woods. As soon as I see I’m not being followed, I pull the gun out and run toward the shop. I figure I only have a few minutes before S.W.A.T starts to move in, so I push my legs as fast as they can go. The pain burning through my lungs and legs only fuels my fire to get to my girl as quickly as I can.

The side of the back building is in sight and as I get closer, I notice Kyle’s motorcycle is parked in the woods. The sneaky bastard probably used the same route I just did, turned o the bike a couple blocks away and walked it over so no one could hear him coming. I run straight for the bike, pull my pocket knife out and stab at each of his tires just in case he tries to get away. I quietly walk over to the building and stop to listen for any voices. When I hear nothing, I move to the side of the building and am about to run over to the main building when the back door of the shop flies open and Kyle walks out with Valerie. I quickly move behind the side wall, but not before seeing duct tape over her mouth and her hands tied behind her back. She didn’t look injured, but I only had a brief couple of seconds to get a look. I hear her heels dragging against the concrete until they come to a stop and his keys jiggling, unlocking the gym door for them. The door opens and slams with a bang.

I silently move closer to the door, wishing that the windows of the gym were lower for me to see inside. My next move is critical as my actions will dictate whether or not Valerie gets hurt or not. I saw the gun in his hand when he was walking her over. With the current situation and how the gym is laid out, there would be no attack of surprise on my

part without him knowing I was there. There are mirrors all along the walls throughout the gym. He will see me coming even if his back is to the door. If I try to sneak in, he might shoot her. If I move too slowly, he might shoot me. I’d rather him shoot me than Valerie, but I need to figure out how to bide my time until S.W.A.T gets here.

“Kyle!” I yell outside the door, deciding that for her safety, it’s best he knows I’m here. “I’m coming in to talk.

My hands are up.” I put my gun inside the back pocket of my jeans, open the door, put my hands up and slowly walk inside the gym.

Kyle has Valerie kneeling down in front of him with a gun pointed to her head. Tears are streaming down her cheeks and she is trying to scream through the duct tape. I quickly glance to my right to see Everett is taped to the bench press chair. Blood is dripping from his head, tape over his mouth and he’s unconscious. His coloring still looks decent, indicating he’s still alive.

“I can’t catch a fucking break when it comes to you, Rowan,” Kyle says in disgust, clearly not anticipating that he would be seeing me again. ”I’m know you’re armed. Take your weapons o you slowly and push them toward the door.” I keep one of my hands up while the other removes the gun from my back. I do as he says and slide it away from me.

“Let her go. Your problem is with me, not her.” I try to reason with him, but know that it’s pointless. He’s sweating profusely and his pupils are dilated, making me wonder if he’s on something or if it’s just adrenaline coursing through him.

“You know I can’t do that. She knows too much now. Ya know, I tried to see what the fuss about her is for you, but the little bitch is a decent fighter.” His words make me take a

harder look at him and I notice his shirt is ripped and there’s a nasty scratch along his cheek.

I’m going to fucking kill him!

“Why, Kyle? Why are you doing this? What have I ever done to make you hate me so much?” I ask, hoping that if I can buy us more time, it will distract him. “I thought we were brothers?”

“Oh please! We were never brothers! We’re not even in the same league. You are Mr. High and Mighty, with the big brother in the NHL and prestigious Boston family. Oh yeah, I know all about your family.” My eyes shoot up in surprise at his knowledge. “Everyone loves Rowan! Everyone wants to be like Rowan! All the girls want Rowan! Even my parents couldn’t stop talking about you when they met you.” He shakes his head in disgust, his words rendering me speechless. Never once did I suspect his jealousy of me.

“That’s not true. Your family loves you, you have tons of friends and you get plenty of women.”

“My family fucking hates my guts and won’t talk to me.

They all wish I was exactly like you! I have no true friends and I’m the pity fuck when these girls can’t seem to land you. All of them use me to try to get to you. You’ve robbed me of so many opportunities. I’m tired of being second best to you.”

“What opportunities?” I ask, trying to distract him as I take a slow step forward. If I can get close enough to him, I might be able to get him to turn the gun on me instead of Valerie. He knows he can’t overpower me in physical strength, so he would shoot me first if I decided to rush at him.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m ready to start over in a new place with my new money. You two are the only people standing in my way now. So let’s get this over with. Change of plans, Valerie Baby, you’re going to watch your beloved

die first and then I’ll put you out of your misery,” he snickers as he raises his arm and points the gun at me.

Valerie tries to stand up, which causes his arm to waiver, giving me the opportunity to come closer.

“Don’t fucking move or I will shoot her brains out in front of you!” he screams and I stop in my tracks, needing him to stick to his plan of shooting me before her. Valerie’s shoulders shake with her sobs, her tears streaming black down her face from her mascara. I look at her fiercely, mentally telling her it’s going to be okay. When I look back up at him, I try not to let my eyes wander to the red dot I see pointed at his chest. There’s got to be a sniper on the main building’s roof in order for it to be coming through the window like that.

I try to keep Kyle’s eyes on me and not go to the mirror behind me where he will see that red dot, but I don’t know how much time I have left. There’s a chance that when the sniper shoots at Kyle, his reflexes might cause him to pull the trigger. Since I’ve gotten closer to him, the chances of him missing me are slim.

“Angel, close your eyes,” I tell her, not wanting her to see what’s about to happen. My request makes her whimper as she cries harder.

“Awe, how fucking sweet. Even up until the end you’re always thinking of her,” Kyle sneers as he squints one eye to make sure he’s focused on his target - me.

“Close your eyes, Angel, and remember that I love you,” I softly say when she shakes her head no at me. I nod at her and she nods back, and even though her mouth is covered, I know she is telling me she loves me. I let out the breath I was holding when I finally see her close her eyes.

I shut my eyes and start to count, because either way, someone is going to be shot.

In three…

Two… One… BANG!

EPILOGUE VALERIE

I

swim to the edge of the pool and stare out at the bluest of waters I’ve ever laid eyes upon. When you look straight ahead, the water seems like it’s never ending, but when I turn my head to the left, I see the village of white washed buildings with blue roofs matching the gorgeous hues of the Aegean Sea. Pictures of Santorini don’t even come close to the beauty of what it is in reality.

I’m not the same person I was one year ago. I’ve always liked myself, but now I love myself. I‘m more confident in my skin and who I’ve become. I wear my hair down more because I see the beauty in its color and texture. I wear my contacts more often so I can look people directly in the eyes when speaking to them. I’ve started wearing pastel colors because it brightens my mood. I’m more adventurous and bold, because life can be taken from you in an instant. I embrace my di erences compared to my mother and sister instead of feeling like the third wheel when I’m around them. Probably the biggest change I’ve made in my life is that I’ve stopped allowing my father to make me feel inadequate just because I was born a girl.

All of these changes wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t met Rowan.

It’s still hard to fathom that I almost lost him.

The sniper’s bullet went straight through the window into Kyle’s right shoulder. The explosion of pain caused him to grip the trigger and shoot Rowan.

Fortunately, the bullet only grazed his left bicep.

As soon as the sniper squeezed the trigger, the S.W.A.T. Team stormed in and took Kyle into custody. He confessed to everything and will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Everett had a severe concussion and spent the night in the hospital for observation. He has since made a full recovery.

The media had a field day with the story and that was how Rowan was introduced to my family. My mother and sister hugged and thanked him for saving my life. My father didn’t agree with their sentiments and said it was my fault for almost dying. I shouldn’t have gotten mixed up with this “low-life trash” and that this wouldn’t have happened if I was a boy. I immediately kicked him out of my life for good that day. The last time I saw my father was six months later at my sister’s wedding. He tried to be cordial, but I wouldn’t give him the time of day. One month after the wedding, my mother filed for divorce.

Despite my strained relationship with my father, my sister’s wedding was a joyous occasion. She looked angelic in her wedding gown and I’ve never seen her eyes filled with so much love for another man than they were for Gavin.

Once the charges on Rowan were dropped, he took us on an extended vacation to Cape Cod. We stayed there for a week before he drove us to Boston for me to meet his mom and some of his friends. He enlightened me by playing tourist in the city and now Boston is one of my favorite places to visit.

When we came back home, we started to go see a psychologist together to talk about what we went through with Kyle. We went as a couple and individually. I know

talking with someone helped me come to terms with my father and that I don’t need him in my life.

As the days moved to months, the nightmares from that day started to lessen, but the Broken Eagles Motorcycle Repair Shop didn’t feel the same to us anymore. Rowan turned in his resignation before we left for Massachusetts.

Wes understood and even remodeled the shop so that any reminder of Kyle for him and the remaining guys were erased.

Rowan immediately threw himself into starting his own firm and as soon as the o cial paperwork was filed, Dawson/Pryor and Associates was born. It has been a labor of love these past eight months, but we are starting to see the fruits of our labor and even had to hire two new employees due to our growing clientele.

I moved in with Rowan permanently the night of the shooting and we’ve been inseparable ever since. Some people who don’t believe in the boom think we’re crazy and won’t last, but I know I’ve found my forever partner, lover, best friend…

And now husband.

He surprised me with a weekend trip to Savannah, where we were having dinner at an upscale restaurant near the beach. The waiter brought out our dinner and we admired how masterful the chef was with his placement of the food.

“This is a work of art,” I marveled at its beauty, almost not wanting to eat it.

“Is it Instagram worthy?” he asked with a twinkle in his eyes. I laughed at his comment and got out my phone to take a picture of it. When I opened Instagram to make a post about it, I noticed I had numerous likes on a photo. I clicked on my profile to see a new photo of a large solitaire diamond ring nestled in a black box, the hands holding the box were recognizable. The caption of the photo read:

“Instagram, I’ve hacked into Valerie’s account because I wanted to tell the whole world that I plan on making this Angel mine forever. Let’s see how long it takes her to find this photo. If she doesn’t see it within a week, I will leave her clues. Do you think she’ll say yes?”

I said yes before Rowan could even get down on bended knee.

Our wedding was small, with only our mothers, siblings and friends at a beautiful winery in Nashville. The atmosphere was intimate and filled with love. It was perfect for us.

Now here we are on our honeymoon, another surprise from Rowan. He noticed my love for Santorini from my photos on Instagram, so he booked us a villa right on the water. We’ll stay here for one week and then bounce all over Europe for another two weeks.

“My angel looks deep in thought,” I hear him say behind me. I turn around to see that my new husband is gloriously naked in the pool. I purposely scan his body slowly, wanting him to see that I very much love what I see.

“You consume my thoughts. Every single second of the day.” I lean up and wrap my arms around his neck, kissing him with all the love and passion I have for him. I moan when his tongue enters my mouth and as our kiss deepens, I feel the straps of my bikini top come undone.

“Whoops! It looks like you’ve lost your top. Better hold on to me so I can cover you up.” He smiles mischievously at me as he presses me closer to his chest and places his hands underneath my hamstrings, forcing me to wrap my legs around his waist. He sinks us lower into the pool so no one can see my naked breasts. I sigh in contentment when he pushes my bikini bottoms aside and enters me quickly. The man knows that he can just look at me and I’ll always be ready to have him inside me.

He starts rocking us back and forth, the feeling of him with the friction of the water heightening my senses and I know it won’t take me long to come. I gasp in pleasure as he bites my earlobe and resumes burning me with his kisses.

Soon his fingers start playing with my clit and within seconds I’m screaming out my release, with his following right behind.

I keep my legs wrapped around him as we float around in the pool. I say a silent prayer of thanks to God for blessing me with such an amazing partner in this journey of life as I’ve found my better half, the person who completes me.

Forever.

ALSO BY JESSICA MARIN LET ME IN SERIES Heartbreak Warfare Perfectly Lonely Edge of Desire

COMING SOON - SUMMER 2019 Bear Creek Rodeo Series The Irish Cowboy The Celtic Cowboy

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

What an exciting journey this has been! I was shocked when Aurora Rose Reynolds invited me to write in her Happily Ever Alpha World. I’ve been a fan for a very long time of the Until Series and I truly hope you feel that Rowan and Valerie’s story fit right in.

I want to thank Aurora and her husband for giving me this opportunity. Thank you for thinking I was even worthy of such a huge honor.

Thank you to all of the readers and bloggers who take the time out of your day to read my work and support me. Your positive feedback and love mean the world to me.

Thank you to my family, especially my husband and children. Without their support, I wouldn’t be able to continue living my dream.

It truly takes a village to make a book come to fruition and I couldn’t have done it without the following people: Najla Qamber, Emma Mack, Shelly Utley, Tracey Vuolo and Brittany Holland.

Thank you to my Misfits for your continued love, support and promotion of all things Jessica Marin.

Please make sure you follow me on all of my social media pages and sign up for my newsletter at

authorjessicamarin.com to be up to date with upcoming releases and book signings.

I look forward to our next adventure together!

Peace and love, Jessica

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jessica Marin began her love a air with books at a young age from the encouragement of her Grandma Shirley. She has always dreamed of being an author and finally made her dreams of writing happily ever after stories a reality.

She currently resides in Tennessee with her husband, children and fur babies.

When she’s not hanging out with her family, she loves watching a good movie, going dancing with the ladies, sni ng essential oils, daydreaming of warm beaches, and world peace.

Jessica would love for you to join her on all of her available social media outlets.