Seducing His Heart (30 page)

Authors: Jean C. Joachim

Tags: #romance, #love story, #contemporary romance, #steamy romance, #contemporary love story

BOOK: Seducing His Heart

4.43Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

“
A pleasure.”

Whit took a deep breath and hit the street.
The sun was shining, cutting the cold a little, so he walked home,
thinking about his life.

After a pow-wow with Bess, he put his
apartment on the market and moved into her place. A week later,
they decided to have a small wedding ceremony at the stone house in
July. Bess formed a planning team with the Dinner Club women. Whit
needed a best man and two ushers. Jeff and Pick agreed, happily, to
stand up for him. Now, there was only one left to call.

While the women were
fussing over food during their weekly meeting, he retreated to the
bedroom. He stretched out on the bed. It had been five years since
he’d heard his brother’s voice.
Will I
still recognize him? Will he talk to me?

Sweat gathered on his palms and butterflies
invaded his stomach. When he picked up the phone, his mouth was
dry. Before he could chicken out, Whit dialed.

“
Robbie?”

“
Yeah. Who’s
this?”

“
Whit.”

A moment of silence seemed like a year.

“
Whit? My brother,
Whit?”

“
Yeah.”

“
How the hell are
you?”

“
Fine, Robbie. Just fine.
How are you?”

“
I’m hangin’
in.”

“
I’m calling
because…well…I have a favor to ask.”

For a moment, he thought
he’d lost the connection.
Robbie’s trying
to take it all in.

“
Shoot.”

“
Would you be an usher at
my wedding?”

“
You’re getting married?
Mr. Confirmed Bachelor?”

Whit chuckled at the surprise in his
brother’s voice. “Finally got around to it.”

“
That’s fantastic. Sure.
I’ll be there. Is Jeff coming?”

“
Hell, yeah! He’s been
bugging me for years.”

“
And Dad?”

“
I saw him a few days ago.
When I told him, he said he’d step up his physical therapy so he
could be here for the big event.”

“
The last Bass left to
fall.”

“
You’re
married?”

“
Yep. Three years
now.”

“
Bring her. Damn. Gotta
meet this chick.”

“
I’m sorry, Whit,” Robbie
blurted out.

Emotion closed Whit’s throat for a moment.
“That’s okay, Robbie. I understand.”

“
I…I…don’t know… I was
angry.”

“
I get it. It’s in the
past. Let’s forget it.”

“
I hope you
can.”

“
We’ll start over when you
come to the wedding.”

“
Thanks.”

“
Gotta go. Bess wants me,”
Whit lied. The call ended.

He pushed his thumbs into his eyes to stay
the tears. A deep, shuddering breath opened his chest a little so
he could breathe.

Bess burst into the room, chattering away,
but stopped when she saw him. She sank down on the bed and cupped
his cheek. “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head.

“
Can’t talk?”

He chuckled, removing his hand from his eyes
to look at her. “I’m okay. Talked to Robbie.”

“
Everything all
right?”

“
Better than I ever
expected.”

“
You’ve been through hell.
You deserve the best, honey,” she said.

Whit stroked her hand and brushed his lips
over hers. “I have the best. I have you.”

The next morning, Whit bounced into the
station. He grabbed the papers on his desk and paced, reading the
stories aloud for practice. Happiness flowing through his veins
like adrenaline kept him moving. He strode from one end of the
studio, to the other. He stopped to gaze out the big windows
overlooking Columbus Avenue. When he turned, he trained an eye on
Sam.

She sat in her office, typing, until the
receptionist entered.

Whit stopped to listen in.

“
Delivery for you. From
West Side Liquors. What do you want me to do with it?”

“
Have them roll it in
here.”

“
Do you know what it
is?”

“
Yeah. A case of
Chivas Regal
.” Sam’s
gaze locked with Whit’s. She smiled, and he laughed.

Best bet I ever lost.

Epilogue

Ten blocks up on the Upper West Side,
Miranda put down her book and picked up her cell.

“
You’ve got to help me.
They’re carrying my furniture out and dumping it on the
sidewalk!”

“
Brooke? Is that you?”
Miranda stood up.

“
It’s me. I don’t know
what I’m going to do.”

“
Slow down.”

“
I’m being evicted! The
effing landlord is taking my stuff and putting it outside. I need
help!”

“
Oh my God! I’m calling
the Club. We’ll be right there.”

Miranda dialed Bess.

“
We’ve got to help Brooke.
Damn landlord is throwing her stuff out on the
sidewalk.”

“
Holy Hell!”

“
I told her not to ignore
that sign on her door,” Miranda said.

“
I didn’t think you could
evict someone so fast,” Bess said.

“
Brooke had thirty
days.”

“
We’ve got to help
her.”

“
Can you bring Rory, Hack,
and Whit? I’ll rent a van and meet you at her place.”

“
But where’s she going to
go?” Bess asked.

“
There’s only one place,”
Miranda said.

“
Oh, no.”

“
She doesn’t have anywhere
else to go.”

“
I doubt it. Still, she’s
a little old for this.”

“
I’m hanging up. Get the
troops. I’m walking toward the rental place now.”

As she turned the corner onto Broadway,
Miranda phoned Brooke. “We’re on our way. I’m getting a van, and
Bess is bringing Rory, Hack, and Whit.”

“
I don’t have any place to
go.”

“
You do. You don’t want
to, but you do.”

“
I can’t.
She’s…”

“
Suck it up, Brooke. You
can’t live on the sidewalk.”

There was a pause on the line.

“
Thanks,
Miranda.”

“
You’re welcome. See you
soon.”

She closed her phone and opened the door of
the car rental office.

*The End*

About the Author

Jean Joachim is a best-selling
romance fiction author, with books hitting the Amazon Top 100 list
since 2012. She writes mostly contemporary romance, which includes
sports romance and romantic suspense.

Dangerous Love, Lost &
Found
won First Place in the suspense category in the Oklahoma
Romance Writers of America International Digital Awards 2015
contest.

The Renovated Heart
won
Best Novel of the Year from Love Romances Café.
Lovers &
Liars
was a RomCon finalist in 2013. And
The Marriage
List
tied for third place as Best Contemporary Romance from the
Gulf Coast RWA. To Love or Not to Love tied for second place in the
2014 New England Chapter of Romance Writers of America Reader’s
Choice contest. She was chosen Author of the Year in 2012 by the
New York City chapter of RWA.

Married and the mother of two
sons, Jean lives in New York City. Early in the morning, you’ll
find her at her computer, writing, with a cup of tea, her rescued
pug, Homer, by her side and a secret stash of black
licorice.

Jean has 30+ books, novellas and
short stories published. Find them here:
http://www.jeanjoachimbooks.com

There are pug rescues run by volunteers all
across the United States. Anything you can do to help, from making
calls, to fostering, from transporting to helping with fund-raising
would be appreciated. Donations, even small ones, are most welcome.
The money pays for veterinary care for abused or neglected
pugs.

The mission of these rescues is to find
loving forever homes for pugs who have lost theirs. If you want to
help, here is a listing of pug rescue websites by state. There’s
sure to be one near you. Note: website addresses may change or
rescues may fold and new ones be born, this list is up-to-date as
of the date of publication of this book.

LIST OF PUG RESCUES

ALABAMA:

http://www.alabamapugrescue.org/

Semper Fi Rescue

http://semperfirescue.com/index.html

ALASKA:

Polar Pug
Rescue & Friends

http://polarpug.org/

ARIZONA:

Arizona Pug Adoption Rescue
Network

http://www.arizonapugrescue.com/

ARKANSAS: