Don't Let Go (25 page)

He traced her bottom lip with his thumb. “Don't look so surprised, Megan. That's where we're headed. At least that's what I want. Is it what you want?”

She swallowed past the suddenly arid desert in her throat. “Yes.”

“Then I'll go look into that plot of land. I mean, I guess
we
should do that. If that's what you'd be interested in doing. I know you have this place. We could live here for now. Provided you're interested in having me here.”

She rose up to kiss him. “I'm very interested in having you here. But this place isn't big enough to raise a family. And I want a family. With you. If that's what you want.”

The look he gave her melted her heart. “That's what I want, too. You, me, Roxie, and a lot of kids. Kids who like cheesecake.”

She laughed. “Sounds like a good plan.”

He sat up. “This kind of sucks as a proposal, Megan, but what I'm saying is I want to marry you. I want forever with you.”

She'd gone from the depths of sadness to the heights of happiness. She sat up and faced him. “Actually, it's kind of a perfect proposal. And yes, I'll marry you, Brady.”

He dragged her onto his lap and kissed her; the kind of kiss that was filled with love and promise. They had their start, and the future looked better than ever.

Now they'd take it one step at a time.

SINCE HE'D BEEN
back in town, Brady had a lot to do. And a lot of apologies to make.

And it was time for some honesty if he was going to live his life the way he wanted to from now on.

Megan had been first, because she was the most important person in his life.

Now he stood at the doorstep of his parents' house. This conversation wasn't going to be easy, but it was necessary.

His mother gave him one of her happy smiles when she opened the door.

“Brady! I'm so surprised to see you,” she said as she stepped aside to let him in. “I didn't know you were back in town for a visit.”

When he'd left Hope, he'd stopped over at his parents' and had a very short, very abrupt conversation with his mom and dad, telling them he was moving on. It had been uncomfortable and he hadn't stayed long. And like most of the issues in his life over the past couple of years, he hadn't dealt with it well at all, and he knew his parents had been hurt by his leaving.

He'd hurt a lot of people when he'd left.

That changed today.

“I'm not back for a visit, Mom. I'm back permanently.”

His mother's eyes widened. “You are?”

“Yes. I need to talk to you and Dad, though. Is he around?”

“He's in the backyard. Let's go outside.”

She slipped her arm in his, and this time he didn't move away. He leaned into his mother and laid his hand over hers. “Yeah, let's do that.”

His father stood when he walked outside.

“Brady.”

“Hi, Dad. We need to talk. All three of us.”

They obviously sensed it was a serious discussion, because his mother pulled up a chair at the patio table next to his dad, and the two of them grasped hands.

“What's going on?” his dad asked.

“I think it's obvious to both of you that I've avoided you since Kurt died.”

His mother looked away for a few seconds, but nodded. “Yes. We know.”

“The reason for that is that I didn't want to acknowledge his death. I avoided dealing with it, just like the two of you have avoided dealing with it.”

His father opened his mouth to object, but his mom squeezed his hand to silence him.

“Whenever I walk into this house, it's like walking into a Kurt shrine. Pictures of him on the mantel, on every wall. It smothers me. I don't know how you handle it.”

He saw the tears gathering in his mother's eyes. He knew he was hurting her feelings, but this was something he had to get off his chest.

“We miss him,” Mom said.

“I know you do. So do I. But here's the thing. We're always going to miss him. There's a giant hole in our family and keeping his bedroom the same way it was when he was a teenager isn't going to bring him back. Nothing is ever going to bring him back or change the person he
became because of the drugs. He's gone. But we're not. We have to start living our lives again. You know Kurt would want that for us.”

He waited, until his father nodded. “I feel awful. Your mother and I used to go out together all the time. We had fun. We felt alive, until Kurt . . . well, you know.”

Brady nodded.

“It's like time stood still after Kurt died,” his mother said, “and we don't know how to move forward now.”

He leaned forward and clasped his mother's hand. “I know it's hard. I screwed up so many things in my life because I stopped living, too. But here's the thing. I have friends now. And a woman in my life that I'm in love with.”

His mom's face brightened and for the first time, he saw a genuine, happy smile on her face. “You're in love? Brady, I'm so happy for you.”

He smiled, too. “Thanks. I'm pretty happy about it, too, but I really screwed it up with Megan, because I fought that happiness. I didn't want it. I was afraid of it.”

“Because you were afraid of losing someone you loved again,” his father said.

Brady nodded. “Yeah.”

“Oh, no,” his mother said. “Did you fix it with her?”

“I did. She's an amazing woman with an incredible capacity for love and forgiveness. I'm a really lucky guy.”

“I can't wait to meet her,” his mother said. “When you're ready.”

“You will. But first, I need the two of you to start living again.”

Now he saw the tears in his dad's eyes. “I need the two of us to start living again, too, son.”

His dad stood and pulled his mother up. Brady stood, too, and for the first time since Kurt died, the three of them shared a hug.

This time, it wasn't a hug filled with grief and hopelessness.

This time, it was a hug filled with hope for the future. For all their futures.

BRADY FELT CLEANSED
after the conversation with his parents. He thought they felt better, too. They told him they hadn't realized how they hadn't moved on from Kurt's death.

He knew he'd hurt their feelings, but he loved his parents and told them he wanted them to live again. They'd had a really long talk and they'd all shed some tears, along with sharing some great stories about Kurt. In the end, he felt like it had helped. At least he hoped it had. He wanted his parents in his life. He knew everything wasn't going to change overnight. His parents weren't going to change overnight. Neither was he. But it had been a good first step. They'd work on it together.

He'd also sat down with Carter and Molly and apologized for cutting out on them. They were both understanding, and Carter told him he had a job as his body guy for as long as he wanted it, but when he was ready to open up his own place, he'd appreciate some notice next time. Brady laughed and promised him he'd get plenty of notice before he set up shop in a new place, and he'd find Carter someone to replace him before he left.

He felt a lot better about things now.

There was only one thing left to do, and it was the most important thing.

He and Roxie had moved out of the apartment above Carter's shop and into Megan's place. It felt a little odd living with someone. He'd never done it before, but at the same time, sharing a home with Megan felt right.

Everything about being with Megan felt right.

There was just one thing that wasn't settled yet, and he intended to rectify that tonight.

Brady and Megan were going to meet with their friends at Bash's bar for drinks after work.

He finished up early, went home and let Roxie out back to play while he took a shower. Megan had said she had to run some errands, so she wasn't home yet. He played with Roxie for a while, then Megan got home, jumped in the shower, and got dressed.

Roxie was all settled in Megan's place as well. She had her favorite chicken—of course—as well as other toys, and her new dog bed was in their bedroom. To Roxie, home was wherever they were, so she was good.

Megan came out of the bedroom dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and a black silk tank top. The silver chain she was wearing dangled between her breasts. And she wore a pair of heels that accentuated her legs. Her hair lay in soft waves against her neck, and he got an instant erection.

“Woman—are you trying to get us to stay home tonight?” he asked.

She frowned. “What?”

“You look sexy as hell, and all I want to do now is peel off those clothes you're wearing and lick you all over.”

She grinned. “That's a tempting suggestion. I'm okay with staying home.”

He laughed, then pulled her against him and kissed her enough to let her know how much he appreciated everything about her. But he had plans for tonight—at least the earlier part of tonight—that didn't include taking his woman to bed.

“Dinner and drinks with our friends first.”

With a sigh, she took a step back. “If you insist.”

She grabbed her jacket, since it was a little cool out with a threat of rain. He grabbed his jacket, too, and they headed out in Megan's car to the bar.

Their friends were already there, so they pulled up chairs next to Reid and Sam.

Bash was working the bar, but his assistant manager was also there, so he took a break to sit with them.

“I miss wine,” Chelsea said, laying her hand across her stomach. “It's a rough life cooking a baby.”

“Poor you. I'll drink for you,” Megan said, lifting her glass to take a sip.

“That was just mean, Megan.”

Megan winked at Chelsea.

“Des called me and said that she and Logan can't make it,” Emma said. “Benjamin has a cough, so they're staying home.”

“I hope he's okay,” Molly said.

“He's fine. But they don't want to be gone in case he ends up sick.”

“Understandable,” Carter said.

They all sat and drank for a while, talking about work and what was going on outside of work. Once everyone was there, Brady decided it was time.

He stood. “So I'd like to do this in front of friends.”

They all gave him his attention. Megan looked perplexed.

Good. He wanted her to.

“As you know, it was a hard road for me after my brother died. I didn't want to associate with anyone and I pretty much kept to myself. But thanks to all of you, who kept after me and forced me out of my shell, I now have the group of you who I call my friends. Thank you for your patience, and thank you for being there for me.”

“Hey, we're nothing if not persistent,” Deacon said with a grin.

“And annoying,” Zach added.

Bash laughed. “What are friends for?”

Brady smiled. “And because you're all special to me, I wanted you to bear witness to me proclaiming my love for this woman.” He looked at Megan, who smiled up at him.

“Without Megan, I wouldn't have become the man I am today. I wouldn't have been able to exorcise the demons of my past. I wouldn't have been able to make friends, to be able to love as freely as I have. I love you, Megan, and I want to spend the rest of my life proving myself worthy of you.”

He pulled the ring out of his pocket. Megan's eyes widened as he kneeled in front of her.

Brady heard the collective gasps from their friends, but his eyes were only on Megan as he took her hand in his.

“Will you marry me?”

Her eyes had filled with tears. “Yes. I love you.”

He slid the diamond ring on her finger, then pulled her to stand and planted one very hot kiss on her. Their friends applauded and cheered.

When he pulled back, she said, “You know I didn't need a ring.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Well, it's sure a sparkler.”

He smiled at her. “So are you.”

She kissed him, then looped her arms around his neck. “I've got you now, Brady Conners.”

“Yes, you do. Don't ever let
go.”

READ ON FOR A PREVIEW OF JACI BURTON'S NEXT PLAY-BY-PLAY NOVEL,

R
ules of
C
ontact

COMING SOON FROM BERKLEY
BOOKS.

FLYNN CASSIDY SAT
at one of the corner tables of Ninety-Two, his new restaurant in San Francisco.

They'd opened just two weeks ago and so far, things were going well. Right now one of the major entertainment media outlets was doing a feature on the restaurant, so he had to be present for it. Which meant camera crews and bright lights and a lot of damn people in the way of regular business. He had already wandered around and apologized to his patrons, who seemed to take it all in stride. Hopefully the crews would get all the film and sound bites they wanted and would get the hell out shortly.

“This is so thrilling, Flynn.”

He dragged his gaze away from the camera crews and onto Natalie, the woman he'd been dating the past two weeks. She was a looker, for sure, with beautiful auburn hair that touched her shoulders and the most incredible green eyes he'd ever seen.

“Yeah,
thrilling
isn't the first thing that popped into my head when the crews showed up today.”

Natalie grabbed his hand. “Oh, come on. Who doesn't want to be on TV?”

Him, for one. As a defensive end for the San Francisco Sabers football team, he'd had plenty of cameras and microphones shoved in his face over the years. But since the restaurant was new, he couldn't turn down some publicity for it. So he'd done the interview, and now he just wanted to stay out of the way while the film crew got their overview shots of the restaurant.

“Do you think they'll want to get some film of the two of us together?” Natalie asked. “You know, kind of get some background on your personal life, like what you do on your time off away from football and the restaurant, who you're seeing, stuff like that?”

Warning bells clanged loud and hard in Flynn's head. He'd gone down this road with more than one woman, and had ended relationships because of girlfriends who were way more interested in the limelight than in him.

So lately he'd made sure to steer clear of any woman who had an entertainment background. No models, no actresses, no one he could suspect of chasing face time in front of a camera. He'd figured since Natalie was a financial analyst, he was safe.

But seeing her gaze track those cameras like a vampire craving blood, he wasn't sure career choice had much to do with someone needing popularity and limelight in her life.

“Maybe we should move to one of the more prominent tables, Flynn,” Natalie said. “You know, that way we might be in one of the camera shots.”

He bit back a sigh. “I don't think so.”

She pushed back her chair and stood. “I'm going to go to the bar and get a drink. You know, all casual-like, and see if maybe they notice me.”

He leaned back in his chair. “You do that.”

This relationship was doomed. Just one of the many Flynn had seen go down in flames in the past couple of years.

Maybe there wasn't a woman out there who was interested in him. Just him. Not Flynn the football player. Just Flynn the guy.

He shook his head, mentally notched up another failure, and took a long swallow of his beer.

*   *   *

SINCE THE ORDERS
had slowed down and she had the kitchen under control, Amelia Lawrence washed her hands in the sink and tried her best to hide, avoiding the cameras. The last thing she wanted was to be on television. She was head chef at Ninety-Two. This whole publicity thing was on Flynn and she didn't need to be interviewed, filmed, or in any way noticed.

But as she did her best game of hide-and-not-be-sought, she also spotted Flynn's new girlfriend, doing her best job to try to be seen by any of the camera crew.

Oh no. Not another one of
those
kinds of women.

She'd worked with Flynn for the past couple of months, even before Ninety-Two had opened. And in that time period she'd seen him go through no less than three women, all of whom seemed to be way more interested in his prowess as camera candy than anything else.

She felt bad for him, and felt nothing but disdain for the women who couldn't appreciate what a fine man Flynn Cassidy was.

He was supremely tall and ridiculously well built, with a thick mane of black hair and amazing blue eyes. She could spend at least a full day doing nothing but appreciating his tattoos. And who didn't love football? Plus, the man had fine culinary taste. When he'd hired her, they'd spent several weeks arguing over the menu for the restaurant. She had to admit he had good ideas.

So did she, and she appreciated that he listened to hers. But the bottom line was that it was his restaurant and his call on the menu. But in the end they'd blended both their ideas, and she loved the way it had turned out.

So why couldn't the man find a decent girlfriend? He kind
of sucked at it, actually. If she were a native of San Francisco, maybe she could help him out, but since she'd only moved here recently from Portland, she knew only a handful of people. Her only ties here were a friend from college and her friend's husband. Otherwise, she was pretty much alone here.

Just the way she wanted it.

She still thought she could find better women for Flynn to date than the ones he'd been parading in and out of the restaurant lately. She could spot posers a mile away. Maybe she could offer her service to Flynn.

“Orders up.”

She focused her attention on the incoming orders, on directing her staff, on minding her own business, and not on Flynn's idiot girlfriend, who was currently preening for the cameras.

With an eye roll, she dismissed the woman and set about making scallops.

Because Flynn Cassidy was decidedly not her problem. And no matter how much she felt sorry for him, she wasn't going to get involved in his personal life.