Brian stood in the middle of Jake Ryder’s office at Aegis headquarters in the rolling horse country of Kentucky and stared out at the view. Pristine white fences that stretched for miles. Horses loping across the fields. Trees waiting for spring, standing tall against the blue sky.
He should be nervous, but he wasn’t. At least not about this meeting. It was what came after, when he got to Nashville, that worried him. And what Grace was going to say when she saw him.
She’d been home for three days, and he’d talked to her a couple of times on the phone, but she’d sounded distant. Reserved. Not a thing like the woman who’d rocked his world in Vail. He was trying not to read too much into that. She’d had to deal with the police, and the fall-out with press, and the people at Royalty Records who were unwittingly drawn into this mess by her friend’s plot to steal her music and claim Grace’s contract as her own. But a tiny part of him was worried that what he’d done in that villa—killing her friend—had shattered their fragile relationship before it had even gotten a chance to bloom.
The door pulled open, and Jake Ryder stepped into the room with a scowl, wearing dark slacks, a white dress shirt rolled up to reveal the SEAL insignia tattooed on the inside of his right forearm, and a red-checked tie. “Walker.”
“Ryder.”
Jake had gone from kick-ass SEAL to successful businessman in record time, but considering his father had been a mega-conglomerate all on his own, that shouldn’t surprise Brian. The man had obviously inherited his father’s business sense, even if he’d never admit it.
Marley Addison, Jake’s right hand and the woman who ran all of Aegis’s ops, stepped in the room after him and closed the door. Unlike their boss, though, the blonde smiled when she saw him, and her eyes glittered behind the wire-rimmed glasses she always wore. “Brian. It’s good to see you. How’s the head?”
Brian tugged his hand from the front pocket of his jeans and ran his fingers over the bandage across the left side of his forehead where he’d been hit with that shovel. “Healing.”
Her smile widened. “Glad to hear it.”
Jake dropped a file folder on his massive mahogany desk and moved around to sit in his chair. “I just heard from the Nashville PD. They found e-mails on Holly’s computer that confirm she was the one harassing Grace. They also located a handful of throwaway cell phones in her apartment, with Grace’s number programed into each one. And the music Grace had written prior to heading to Vail. She knew where Grace had hidden her notebooks in her house and obviously went to get them after Grace left. You did good, Walker.” He opened his desk drawer and drew out a thick envelope, which he slid across the desk toward Brian. “Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Brian repeated with wary eyes as he looked down at the envelope he suspected was his paycheck. But it was thicker than it should have been, which meant it wasn’t a check like normal. It was cash. Way more than he was due.
He shot a look toward Marley, leaning against a table on the far side of the room, watching the exchange, and caught the disapproval in her eyes. Then he glanced back at his boss and saw the anger in his.
Ryder knew. About him and Grace. And he wasn’t having any of it. But instead of pissing Brian off, that revelation sent a sweet sort of relief through Brian’s chest. “I’m not interested in your severance package.”
Jake leaned back in his chair, all calm and smooth control, but Brian sensed the simmering fury lurking underneath. “It’s not a severance package. It’s payment for your most recent assignment. And an advance on your next. In euros. We’ve got a new client in Italy who needs permanent, long-term, on-site security. Pack your bags. You’ll be there for the next year.”
Brian could barely believe what he was hearing. Instead of firing him, Ryder was forcing Brian out of Grace’s life for good. “I’m not going to Italy for a fucking year.”
“You’re sure as hell not staying here.”
“You can’t stop me from seeing her.”
Ryder’s palms landed against his desk, and he pushed to his feet, that legendary control of his long gone. “Don’t be a dumbass, Walker. Grace doesn’t want you. She’s the one who talked me into giving you this assignment. Her life has no room in it for you, and it never will.”
Stunned disbelief shot around in Brian’s chest. No, that couldn’t be true. If Grace didn’t want him, she would have told him. The woman didn’t hold anything back. And when he’d chatted with her last night on the phone and told her he couldn’t wait to see her in Nashville, she hadn’t given him any reason to think he shouldn’t come.
She also hadn’t told him she was looking forward to seeing him either. A sliver of doubt crept in.
“She’s got a new start and the prospect for an amazing career,” Ryder went on. “We both know you’re not the happily ever after kind. There is no such thing for guys like us. Get out of her life before you fuck it up for good, like you did your own.”
Brian’s gaze slid to Marley. Lips pursed, she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Ryder.
The song Grace had written for him and her excitement in sharing it ricocheted through Brian’s heart and mind. She might not still want him. They might not have a chance in hell to make this work after everything that had happened. But he wasn’t letting her slip through his fingers without trying. He’d done that with his wife. He’d let time and distance form a barrier between them, and then he’d let her go without a fight. He wasn’t willing to do that with Grace. She was too important. And he’d regret it for the rest of his life if he did.
His gaze resettled on his boss, and he clenched his jaw, already plotting how he’d get to Grace before her brother. “Keep your money and your job. I quit.”
“You think I’m wrong.” As the sound of the slamming door dissipated, Jake Ryder glanced across the room toward his assistant, fighting the urge to go after Walker and beat some sense into him.
“I think you’re letting the fact that Grace is your sister affect your decision-making process,” Marley answered.
Jake pushed up from the desk and glared at her. “He didn’t just break the rules, Marley, he damn near snapped them off. He knows he’s not supposed to get personally involved with a client.”
“Oh, bullshit, Jake.” She moved away from the table and pinned him with a hard glare. “First of all, she wasn’t his client. You were. And secondly, you’ve had guys break that rule before, and you never came down on them like you just did with Brian.”
“Blackwell was different. Avery Scott was his ex-wife. They had a history. I wasn’t going to step in the middle of that, whether she hired us or not.”
“Tierney and Kauffman were not a couple before he was assigned to protect her, and you didn’t have any problem with them being together. You were even the best man at their wedding.”
“That was different.”
“Why? Because Lauren Kauffman wasn’t your sister?”
“Because Finn Tierney is not Brian Walker,” he snapped.
When Marley tipped her head and shot him that look again, the one that always made him squirm but he’d never cop to, he drew a breath and tried to rein in his temper. “Look, I know the guy. He may be all charm and good looks, but guys like him do not lead normal lives. That’s why I hired him.”
“And this has nothing to do with the fact you were a SEAL and he was Delta Force, and that you don’t play well with others.”
Now it was his turn to pin her with a look. “That’s got nothing to do with this, and you know it.”
She stepped closer to his desk. “He’s crazy about her, Jake. Why can’t you give them a chance? Why do you feel the need to step in and keep them apart?”
He moved to the window and looked out at the view, hating every inch of it. Hating it because it reminded him of his good-for-nothing father. “Grace has been through too much. She doesn’t need someone with Walker’s baggage dragging her down.”
“How do you know that’s going to happen?”
“Because I know what he’s been through,” Jake said, rounding on her. “I’ve lived it. He’s not going to forget every firefight he’s ever been in, every person he’s killed, and all the shit that goes with being in war. He might not do it now, but eventually he’s going to dump it all on Grace, and she doesn’t need that. And after what happened with his wife… There’s a reason he hasn’t had a steady woman in his life since he came back from Afghanistan.”
“Ah,” Marley said after several seconds. “I get it.”
Irritation pulsed through him. “Get what?”
“Get what this is all about. This has nothing to do with Brian or even Grace. This is about you. About what you lived through and can’t get past. That’s not Brian’s fault, Jake. It’s not even his problem. But if you let him go, it will be yours. Because you’re going to lose them both. Guaranteed.”
She turned for the door, and as he watched her walk away, her blonde ponytail swinging behind her, Jake’s stomach clenched with a feeling he didn’t like.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he called.
“Neither do you. Not about this. When it comes to human emotion, you don’t know shit.”
Grace had passed tired about two hours ago, but she knew she wasn’t going to sleep again tonight.
Rummaging through her purse for her keys, she moved down the front steps of the Royalty Records building and told herself tomorrow she wouldn’t drink so much coffee. She’d also eat something. And she’d try not to spend all day thinking about Brian when what she was supposed to be doing was working.
Her mind drifted to his sexy, tousled blond hair, the glint in his deep-blue eyes when he smiled, and the way he could make her body overheat with just a look. He had to have met with Jake by now. She wanted to call her brother and find out how it had gone and where he’d sent Brian, but part of her didn’t want to know. If she knew, she’d be tempted to find him, and he was better off without her.
A wicked ache took up space just beneath her breastbone as she moved across the sidewalk in the early evening light, and she stopped, drew in a deep breath that did little to help, then moved on.
She rounded the corner toward the parking lot as she picked through her purse, finally found the keys, and pulled them out, only to drop them steps from her Audi. Cursing under her breath, she bent to pick them up and froze when she saw two leather boots, crossed at the ankles, right in front of her.
Her gaze slowly slid up, over thick thighs, trim hips, and a package straining against faded denim she’d recognize anywhere. Mouth dry, she forced her eyes higher and saw Brian looking down at her, an amused expression flitting across his handsome face while he leaned back against the hood of her car. “If you wanted to check out my hot thighs, all you had to do was ask. You didn’t have to fall to the ground at my feet.”
Grace’s fingers wrapped around the keys, and she pushed up, shocked he was here, confused at the same time. Her gaze skipped from the bandage still on his forehead to his wicked, heated eyes. “What…? How…? You’re supposed to be on a plane.”
A knowing expression crossed his face, and his piercing blue eyes softened. “It took me all of ten minutes after I told your brother to shove his job to figure out what you did. Grace.” He stepped away from the car, moving closer to her. “You told him you wouldn’t see me again if he promised not to fire me. Do you really think I care about a stupid job so much I’d sacrifice something this important?”
Her skin tingled. She tried not to read too much into his words—they barely knew each other—but a thrill shot through her just the same. “But…you’re good at your job. And you like it. You told me so yourself.”
“I can get another one.”
“Brian—”
The humor faded from his voice, and his eyes locked on hers. Those deep, piercing, gorgeous eyes that had hypnotized her from the start. “Do you hate me because of what happened?”
“What?” Surprise rippled through her. He was talking about Holly. About what he’d done in that villa. “No. I…” Emotions pummeled Grace from every side, emotions she wasn’t sure she wanted to let in. She was horrified at what had happened, sad that her friend had gone so far off the deep end, and shocked that she hadn’t seen what had been happening with Holly. But she didn’t blame Brian. She couldn’t. “I know you did what you had to do to save me.”
“Good. Because I’d do it again.”
She heard the honesty in his voice. And she saw the complete and utter truth in his eyes.
“And what about us, Grace? Do you want to give this a shot? Because I do. I think we’ve got something special here. And I want to see where it goes. But I can’t do it on my own. You either want me or you don’t.”
He was leaving it up to her. Her stomach drew tight, and words hovered on her tongue. Yes, she wanted him. But she didn’t want him to resent her down the line. “I don’t want you to give up your job for me.”
“I didn’t. I gave it up for a better opportunity.” He finally reached for her, his hands brushing her hips, angling her toward him, drawing her into the heat of his body. Tingles erupted everywhere he touched. “When you sang that song, it did something to me inside. Something I don’t even know how to explain. I’ve been alone most of my life, never thinking I mattered much to anyone else, but you… You changed all that. I never knew I could make someone feel the way you described in that song. I know this is all happening fast, and trust me, I didn’t plan it, but now that it’s here, I don’t want to let it go. I can find a job anywhere. What I can’t find is another woman who makes me feel the way you do.”
Her heart pounded hard against her ribs. The purse slipped from her fingers to land on the ground near their feet, and her hands settled on his strong, muscular arms. “And…how do I make you feel?”
“Alive. When I’m with you, Grace, I feel alive. In a way I haven’t felt in a very long time. And I like that. I really, really like that.”
Her chest rose and fell with her rapid breaths, and when he leaned down to her mouth, all those emotions she’d been holding back came rushing forward.
“Give me a chance, Gracie,” he whispered. “Give us a chance.”
His mouth met hers, and Grace felt herself falling at the first taste. Falling into him. Letting go. Surrendering in the sweetest, most sinful way.
She opened to his kiss, wrapped her arms around his neck, and moaned when the hard length of his body molded to hers.
“That’s what I’ve been missing,” he murmured when he finally drew back to let her breathe.
His arms were tight around her, and she felt the beat of his heart where she rested her cheek against his chest. She’d missed this too. And, God, she liked it. “I gave up the contract.”
He drew back and looked down at her, surprise flickering across his handsome face. “You did what?”
“I’m not going to write songs for Royalty.” Her stomach twisted, but this time it was with good nerves. Nerves she knew she’d never have if it weren’t for Brian. “We’re working on an album. My debut album.” She pressed a hand against her belly. “I’m scared to death.”
He smiled. Slow and warm and so damn sexy, butterflies took flight in her stomach, sending wicked ribbons of heat all through her pelvis. “You’re gonna sing?”
She nodded.
“My song?”
Her cheeks warmed, but she nodded again.
He framed her face with his hands and brushed his mouth over hers once more. “I’m crazy about you. Mad, wild, completely nuts for you. And I’m so damn proud of you.”
She laughed, because…even though it sounded silly, she was proud of her too. “Don’t get so excited. The album will probably be a total flop. But at least I’m taking the chance. I wouldn’t have done that before you.”
“What can I say?” He grinned. “I know talent when I see it.”
She laughed, and when he kissed her again, she sighed into his mouth, loving the feel of him, the taste of him, loving that he’d come after her. She’d never expected him to do that. And though she didn’t want him to quit his job, there was something…incredibly arousing and sinfully exciting that he would. That she mattered that much to him. That he wanted this to work as desperately as she did.
A rumble echoed from him into her, and she drew back from his mouth. “You’re vibrating.”
He brushed his lips over hers again. “That’s because you rock my world, baby.”
“Not that,” she said, grinning. God, this man was more than she’d ever expected. “Your pocket.”
“It’s my phone. Ignore it.”
When he leaned down to kiss her again, she pressed her fingers against his lips, stopping him. “Check it. It could be important.”
“You’re the only thing that’s important right now. But hey, maybe it’s the Playhouse. If they got hold of my number, that could get interesting.”
She lovingly punched his arm while he reached into his back pocket, drew out his cell, and looked down.
“Who is it?” she asked when his silly grin faded.
“Your brother.” He turned the phone so she could see the message.
RYDER: Marley thinks I’m being an ass.
Grace yanked the phone from his hand and started typing.
WALKER: This is Grace. Marley always thinks you’re being an ass. News flash: She’s a smart woman. And you are.
RYDER: This doesn’t concern you, Grace. Put Walker back on.
Typical Jake. Scowling, Grace handed the phone back to Brian. He read the next message, paging the screen up with his thumb.
“Well?” Grace prodded. “What did he say?”
Frowning, Brian held the phone out to her so she could read it herself.
RYDER: I still think you’re a douche for boning my sister, but…you’re a damn good douche when it comes to the job. Aegis will regret it if it loses you. Just know if you cross the line or hurt Grace in any way, I’ll kick your ass all the way back to Afghanistan.
Aegis. Not him. Jake sucked at apologies. But a slow smile spread across Grace’s lips regardless, and warmth encircled her heart. A warmth that told her… Yeah, they could totally make this work. And if Jake crossed the line again, she’d be the one doing a little ass kicking to get him back in line.
She grinned up at Brian. “That’s as close to an apology as you’re going to get from my brother. What are you going to do?”
He pocketed his phone, then wrapped his arms around her and drew her tight against his body again. “First I’m gonna start with your neck. Then I’m gonna nibble and suck and lick my way south until you’re writhing.”
Grace giggled as he leaned down and pressed his lips to the sensitive skin behind her ear. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she rose up on her toes so he could kiss her lips again. “Mm… I think I could get used to that.”
He smiled and lowered his mouth to hers. “I hope not. Because I like you just the way you are, Grace Ryder. Unpredictable and talented and full of trouble. But mostly I like that you’re mine. Mine, all mine.”
Grace sank into his kiss and sighed. Oh yeah, she liked that part best too.