Always (Family Justice Book 1) (71 page)

“MMM
MMMMM
. THAT FEELS HEAVENLY,” MEGHAN murmured. Warm hands stroked her back in long, luxurious caresses that eased some of the tension from her body.

“I know this is more your thing than mine, but your shoulders really are tight, babe. Try and relax, okay?”

She was trying, but nothing was working. Not even Alex’s solid presence and the soothing feel of his hands on her skin. It was nice, but she was distracted.

Her big, cathedral wedding was happening in two months’ time, and she was beginning to feel the weight of the preparations weighing her down.

Angie was coming in a week. It would be great to finally meet Alex’s sister in person, and she was certainly glad for the woman’s help with the wedding. After all, she did PR, Marketing, and Event Coordination for the vineyard so she was actually going to be bringing some welcome mad skills to Meghan’s bridal world.

But even though Alex wasn’t saying anything she’d been picking up on some subtle clues that Angelina coming to Arizona for a long visit was going to bring with it some complications. Seems as though there was some kind of connection between Alex’s sister and his oldest friend, Parker, that could make life interesting.

Big things were also happening for the agency. It was a lot to take on board. So many changes all at once.

She missed Brody’s energy, too. It seemed damn weird when he had packed and left. The good thing about that, though, was that when he came back in the spring, he’d be staying for good. Of course, she’d see him at the wedding, but Meghan already considered Brody Jensen a member of the family. Not having him around was like driving a car with only three wheels.

But by far, her biggest and most troubling distraction was coming from the man Alex relied on to take over so he could have some downtime. Truth was, Calder was such a fucking mess that he wasn’t much help these days.

It had been two weeks since Stephanie left, and he’d been slowly falling apart that whole time. He looked like shit. Definitely wasn’t eating or sleeping and was about as much help to Alex as a group of second graders on a field trip. He was asking more questions than the answers he provided.

Not only that, but Tori was not much better. She constantly whined about missing her mother and seemed to needle Calder about it at every opportunity.

Something had to give. And soon. She just didn’t know what it would be.

STEPHANIE LOOKED AROUND, TAKING IN every detail of the room. It looked good. Clean. Beautifully decorated. Simple.

There wasn’t a thing out of place. It was like walking through a photo shoot for
House Beautiful
.

A sense of pride washed over her. She’d done well with this place. The sophisticated contemporary feel of her home wasn’t an accident. Every piece of furniture, every accent, each accessory was chosen to reflect a sense of the woman who chose them. She loved the décor. It was so her.

The sound of her heels tapping on the beautiful hardwood flooring helped drown out some of the voices in her head. She was doing the right thing—had made some hard decisions along the way—but she was sure in her heart that she was on the right track. For her.

Other might not agree. Hell, a bunch of them didn’t. But she had to stay true to herself and do what was best for her.

It had been a month since she left Arizona and she’d not wasted a single minute worrying about what could have been or trying too hard to pin down a picture perfect future. Life didn’t work that way.

But she’d put a bunch of things in motion that were kind of scary because they meant change was coming to her life, but she was okay with that. Finally.

The doorbell rang and her stomach did a summersault at the sound.
Showtime
, she thought with a wry grin. Who woulda thought?

Pausing at the mirror by the door, she checked out her make-up, ran her fingers on the corner of her mouth to fix some lipstick migration, and tried on a bright and cheery smile. She could do this. She really could.

Going to the door, she swung it open with a display of high spirits and stopped dead.

“Calder ?”

“Hello, Duchess.” He looked her up and down, noted her outfit and drawled, “Going somewhere?”

She started and shook her head vigorously. “No, no. Business. A meeting,” she burbled. “Um, wanna come in?”

When the corner of his mouth tilted up in an easy smile, she felt a warmth around her heart.
Oh my.

It was then she noted the two large bags sitting on the floor by his feet. Oh, and the tremendous rolling case with the Justice Agency logo on the side. What was going on?

“What’s all that?” she asked.

He hauled the bags in and went back for the case, depositing all of it in her modest foyer. She had to bite back a comment because he had so much stuff it looked like he was moving in.

When everything was in and stacked, he stood there with his hands at his waist and stared at her with an unreadable expression. She felt a blush moving up from the soles of her feet—leaving a hot red trail as it headed for her face.

Who told him he could look so yummy? It just wasn’t right.

He was in business attire. A suit. Dark blue—perfect for his fair coloring. Hugo Boss, if she was correct. In her line of work, she knew a little about these things. In a word, he looked
awesome
.

She was wearing an Oscar de la Renta outfit with a pencil skirt and a ruffled hem jacket that had cost a fortune, but next to him, she felt like Eliza Doolittle.

“Um, I don’t understand what you’re doing here,” she mumbled.

The look he gave her made her gasp. With pleasure.
Oh, my God
, she realized. He was here for
me
. Calder Dane came back for her.

She blinked. It felt like slow motion then she ran to him as fast as her Louboutins would carry her and leaped into his arms.

He caught her, wrapped her tight in his arms. One hand splayed low on her back, which was more of a half ass-grab than anything else, and the other banded about her middle holding her firm against his solid chest.

“I’m here m’lady…because that’s where you are. Wherever you are is where I want to be. Got tired of waiting for you to come back so,” he shrugged, “here I am.”

And then he kissed her. No. Like
really
kissed her. For a long time. Standing right there in her foyer, plastered to him chest to thigh.

She pushed her hands into his hair and groaned. “I’ve missed you,” she told him when he let her up for air.

“Good,” he grunted. “’Cause I’m not letting you go.”

There was more kissing. Eventually, they stumbled into the living room where they made out like kids on a prom date.

A wild thrill tore through Stephanie when he stood and scooped her up into his arms. Wow. Being carried was seriously all kinds of sexy.

“Bedroom?” he asked between kisses.

“Behind you. Up the stairs. Second door on the right.”

She didn’t get to say anymore. She couldn’t. Not with his tongue doing all sorts of wicked things inside her mouth.

When he strode into her bedroom, his foot hit something. Almost stumbling, he set her down and looked around the room.

Confusion showed on his face as he took in the scene before him. Several suitcases were lined up near the door; that was what his foot had connected with, and a couple of moving boxes sat next to them.

He was breathing heavy from their kisses when he turned to her. “What’s happening, Stephanie?”

She looked at the luggage, glanced around the room, then thought of his suitcases downstairs in the foyer. And laughed. This was going to make a great story.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned into him and rather enjoyed the feeling of his unsurprising erection pressing into her stomach.

“I’m selling this place. Just put it on the market last week. I thought when you rang the bell that you were a potential buyer.”

“You’re selling? Why?”

His confusion was adorable.

“Because I realized I didn’t want to live this life anymore.”

He looked at her with hopeful eyes although he paled just a little. Calder had put it all on the line by coming here unexpectedly and simply stating he didn’t want to be without her. Until he’d said the words, she hadn’t dared hope.

But in her secret woman’s heart—this was what she needed. For him to realize she was the one. The one that he’d give up everything for. Finding him on her doorstep had been the ultimate romantic gesture.

She’d desperately wanted him to come for her. Just claim her and be done with it. But when that didn’t happen right away, she began to see that maybe she should make the first move. It was a huge concession on her part, but the truth she’d finally come to see was that he meant enough to her to throw caution to the wind and let her heart lead the way. It just didn’t get any better than this. Especially not after what she said next.

“I was coming to you, Calder. That’s what the suitcases are about. I even have a plane ticket. One-way.”

He looked stunned. She went for the gold next.

“I’m falling in love with you, Moondoggie.”

He didn’t say anything, but his arms tightened around her.

“I hope that doesn’t freak you out,” she hurried to reassure him.

“Does Victoria know what you’re up to?”

Seemed like an odd question at a time like this but she answered truthfully.

“No. No, she doesn’t. Yes, I want to be near my grandson, but me going back to Arizona wasn’t about that. It was about you. And me.
Us
. I made my decision based on that. So, no—I haven’t told her anything.”

He must have liked her answer because he lit up from the inside and smiled. “You are a piece of work, Duchess, and for the record, I’m
not
falling in love with you.”

What the fuck did he just say? Had she read this all wrong?

His grin made her quiver. “Can’t fall for someone you’re already completely, hopelessly, totally in love with.”

Hehehe. Fucker
. She was going to make him pay for that five seconds of panic.

She kissed him for all she was worth. And then some, while he slowly, reverently stripped her bare. When they were both naked, he picked her up like a warrior of old, claiming his battle prize and tossed her on the bed with a loud grunt. Stephanie squealed like a schoolgirl as she hit the mattress with a resounding thud.

As he started to climb on the bed with a lascivious smirk on his face, he told her, “You know I’m going to make you marry me, right?”

She laughed and held out her arms in invitation.

“Don’t remember being asked,” she quipped.

That was the last thing either one of them said for a very long time.

BONUS MATERIAL

Trotting along the path between the kennel and the barn, Zeus kept an eye out for the yellow puppy, detouring at the last second in the direction of the big building where all the food was. Something smelled awfully good and unless she was mistaken, the cookie lady would be there. Good chance that was where she’d find the puppy.

The closer she got, the better the smells became and just like she figured, there was her new companion rolling around on the small patch of grass by the door. Running over, she playfully pushed the puppy with her big paw, and then licked the other dog’s head.

Pup had a name. Everyone did. Even the horses in the stable had names but Zeus preferred calling everyone by other things. She didn’t know why the name
Raven
made the humans laugh when the baby dog with the yellow fur came on the scene, but since the laughter was a happy sound, she didn’t let it bother her. Besides, she’d come to like the goofy little dog who was getting bigger and bigger every day.

Zeus knew that Pup missed her humans but she was too active for the tiny lady with the big tummy who was Pup’s Mom. Stupid Pup ran circles around her feet and never sat still. Pup’s Dad, Zeus called him Wood because he always smelled like the trees outside the house, tried walking Pup every day but he didn’t understand that little dogs just had too much energy – no matter what.

The sweet lady with the soft voice who lived with the dark-haired man had a big tummy for a while, too. One day she went away but when she came back the tummy was gone and she carried a tiny human wrapped in a soft blanket. Dark-haired man started smiling even more after that. Zeus liked the small human – even when it howled and cried. She liked to look at it and keep guard nearby. Seemed like the thing to do.