Convincing Lina: A Bachelor of Shell Cove Novel (The Bachelors of Shell Cove Romance Book 2) (39 page)

“That’s my fiancée,” Gideon said on a grunt.
 

Lina’s laughter filled the room, “Yes I am.” Lina turned to face her pint-sized friend. “Janna, take a picture of Troy walking out of here. We can post it on the internet that we have no idea of his location following his visit to Shell Cove. None of us can afford a repeat of his kind of drama.”
 

The room erupted in laughter.
 

The woman he loved gave Troy a sisterly hug before he turned and exited the room. The door closed with a soft thud.
 

“Call D.Wright. I need my suit for tomorrow.”
 

Janna bristled in the bedside chair. “Don’t mention Dawson’s name,” she said.
 

Everybody called his eldest adoptive brother, D.Wright. The fact that this stoic little Navy nurse addressed him as Dawson spoke volumes. Curiosity had him.
 

“How do you know D
.
Wright?”

“Dawson Wright is the most intrusive man I know,” she huffed. This was the most emotion he’d witnessed in the woman since they met weeks ago.

“Is that so?” This was going to be fun.
 

“Oh…yeah, he’s gotten worse since the wild, Wild West show happened on the open sea.” The lady doth protest much, he thought.
 

Did Janna realize when she said Dawson’s name her posture relaxed? If Gideon knew his older brother, wedding bells would toll twice in the Rice family.

Lina stood at the altar in the SCMC chapel her hand in Gideon’s larger one. She turned to find a tearful Jacob, in the first wooden pew, hugging an equally tearful Deanie James. Lina glanced around the room, flashing a smile at her friends and family. She had everything she ever wanted. Lasting love and family. A huge family.

Lina’s wrists were abraded and swollen. Gideon’s face was bruised. They both looked like contestants from Survivor. Who would have thought her decision to start a man-fast would result in a trip to the mountains of West Virginia, a hit and run, an abduction, and a marriage to the man of her dreams. Married.

Gideon had stood by her side for their vows, but now he was seated comfortably in a wheelchair with the Shell Cove Medical Center logo.
 

Graham Hamilton approached with a determined look in his eyes. “Lina, I was looking for one of your bridesmaids. I can’t seem to find her.” Graham knew Ava, Janna, and Rebecca. Why was he looking for Ava’s sister, Shaylah?

“That’s Shaylah.” He smiled, but she recognized the predator glint in his eyes.
 

“She told me her name was Yvonne.” Lina sighed in relief.

“It is. Her full name is Shaylah Yvonne Walters.” When had Graham spoken to her?

“Gotcha.” Graham strode away from her without another word. That was odd. She was searching for Gideon when she spotted him wheeling his chair in her direction. He was grinning like a loon. She smiled as the gleam of his platinum wedding band caught her eye. She had everything she ever dreamed of. They would be packing out Gideon’s house when he was released from the hospital. Thane had decided to stick around and help them with house plans and designs.
 

“Lina.” Her best friend calling her name halted her steps.
 

“You are married, before I am,” Ava said.

Lina beamed at her.

“You know me. I have no interest in engagements, receptions, or after parties. Give me the man and I’ll see you at the altar.” They both laughed.
 

“I should have followed your lead.”

“You still can. Where’s Logan?”

“Probably looking for a stiff drink on hospital grounds.”

“Why is that?”

“I’ve been selected for deployment,” Ava said with cautious excitement.
 

“Get out! That’s awesome news.”

“I think so, but it wasn’t a hit with Logan.”

“Uh oh.”

“Logan wants to protect you. Darwin was prior Navy. Ask him to talk with Logan.” Lina suggested.

“Ah, Darwin and Rebecca were in a corner kissing before the minister announced you and Gideon, Mr. and Mrs. Rice.” She was Mrs. Gideon Rice. Married to the hottest former Marine, now psychiatrist on the planet.

“I noticed.”

“Ava, can I steal my wife?” Gideon’s familiar scent filled the air. Her nipples beaded at the same time as her mouth watered.
 

“Of course you can.” Ava bent low, throwing an arm around Gideon in an embrace. “Congratulations and welcome to the family.”
 

Lina and Gideon were each other’s family now. They were two lone halves, made whole.
 

“Where have you been, husband?” She would never tire of saying husband to her man.
 

“Trying to break up a tiff between Olivia Tran and Bishop.” Lina quirked a brow in question.
 

“They just met each other. What could have happened to result in an argument?” Lina would have to find out. She pivoted on her heel, scanning the chapel for her brother.
 

“I recognize that look in your eyes. The answer is no. Bishop can handle himself. You have more pressing business to take care of.” She grinned, looking into the face of the man who had saved her from herself. She loved Gideon and he loved her right back. Ms. Independent had surrendered her heart, knowing she didn’t have to take on the world alone. Gideon would always be there for her. Mrs. Independent had a nice ring to it.
 

“Can I talk you into wheeling me back to my room?” Lina bent low placing a quick kiss on Gideon’s forehead. His arm snaked around her waist. When his fingers met with the hard object at her waist he halted.

“What is under your dress, Lina?” Did he have to ask.

“BEYAS, of course. Sky is still out there.” She grinned. “And why would I take you back to your room before our reception?”

“We have a union to consummate and a birthday to celebrate. You won’t be fasting anytime soon.” Stormy gray eyes bore into hers. Love, acceptance, and friendship shone back at her.
 

“You convinced me. I’ll never fast off you, mountain man.”

THE END

Turn the page for a sneak peek at Siera London’s CATCHING REBECCA.

Darwin and Rebecca’s story is book three in the Bachelors of Shell Cove series.
 

Copyright Siera London 2015

Catching Rebecca Excerpt

Rebecca Lynn Holbrook stood prim and poised next to a Dick. The cream satin shoes the personal shopper provided pinched her toes. Richard Ascot, her father’s potential business partner, with his high-gloss gel hair rivaling a solar panel was at her side. She despised the man. He actually wanted people to call him Dick. Dick Ascot. Seriously? Stop the non-sense.
 

When would this thing be over? The man standing in front of them droned on. For the love of Pete, Peter, and Pierre, was he reciting the remix? Finish, already. She didn’t hear a word. It was for the best. Who needed details, when she’d made a mess of her life? She wondered how many people were in this mammoth space with them. She hadn’t looked left or right when she entered the room. She kept her focus straight ahead.
 

A bird flitted across the sky in no particular direction and she longed to feel that kind of freedom. To have her directions be for her own benefit and not that of the Holbrook family empire. Duty to the empire had landed her in this mess.
 

She wondered what Darwin Masters was doing at this moment. He was the only man in her life that cared about what she thought. She could talk with him for hours or not. Being in his presence made her feel whole. But he was done with her.
 

She’d rebuffed his advances one too many times. But she only did that for public appearances. For months, she’d left her back door unlocked and welcomed him to her bed, but that had been when she had been dating his brother. Yep, she was pretty twisted. Dating one brother, while sleeping with the other.
 

“Do you take this man to be your lawfully, wedded husband?” Oh, this was her part of the dog and pony show.

Turn the page for a sneak peek at Siera London’s Chasing Ava. Logan and Ava’s story is book one in the Bachelors of Shell Cove series.
 

Ava stood in the elegantly adorned grand foyer outside of the Coastal Towers ballroom, her feet rooted to the plush carpeted floor. Anxiety kept her frozen with the posed angles of an ill-placed statue. A random assembly of colleagues made eye contact, offered greetings and moved along without a second glance. She should not have agreed to come out tonight.

Straight ahead, she had a clear view of the city’s namesake, Shell Cove, and the larger Queens Bay in the distance. A scattering on waterfront mansions, private docks and yachts dotted the waterscape. With her peripheral vision she met with the frown of her best friend.
 

“Ava Elaine Walters you can not back out. You are two size-seven stilettos away from the party.” Lina chided.
 

Lina James, her best friend from elementary school gave extrovert at new meaning. The two of them couldn’t be more divergent. Lina was cocoa to Ava’s butterscotch complexion. Ava’s petite frame lacked the fluid poetry of Lina’s full curves. Lina had the type of figure teenaged boys cut out of magazines and hid under their mattresses. Ava lived her life backstage while Lina chose center spotlight.
 

She’d allowed Lina to talk her into a group social thingy. Ava had sworn off non-clinical social interaction six years ago. If she hadn’t known them before spring semester of sophomore year there was a “no admittance sign” firmly tacked on her inner circle.
 

Pop tunes wafted into the lobby with every evening gown clad young woman exiting the ballroom. A reliable indication, that the Shell Cove Medical Center party had hit its full swing to Ava.
 

“It was a mistake to come. Thanks to you and Jace I left the house on a Saturday night. That’s celebration enough for me.” Tonight would be cataloged as another foolish decision, in a not so comedic list of errors.
 

“It’s a Christmas miracle.” Lina rolled her eyes heavenward the hint of laughter reflected on her face.
 

“Don’t worry about driving me back home. Go join Jace inside. The valet can hail me a cab.”

“I’m not worried because we are going to sashay through this door together.” Lina pointed to the twin ornate brass handles on the twenty-foot high doors.
 

Ava ground her teeth in frustration. Nothing grated her nerves more than friends and family telling her what to do. The worst part, they genuinely believed she needed direction. The fault lay with her. How had she sunk to making those closest to her feel responsible for her life? It was official. She had baby-bird syndrome. Dependent, too weak to leave the nest. She should have been a nurse in the United States Navy, like her college roommate Jana, but fear kept her tethered to this familiar, costal Florida town. Pathetic.

“We both know what’s waiting for you at home.” Lina placed her hands on her hips, careful not to crease the fabric. Ever the diva. Hands on her hips meant Lina was ready to drive her point towards a home run.
 

“How could ‘we’ know that when I’m not at home?” She smiled at her snappy come back.
 

 
Her response earned a “you’ve got to be kidding me” look, from Lina. Taking her arm Lina led her to the coved seating area away for the ballroom doors.
 

 
“I know all about your grandmother’s Holy Ghost hook-ups. Let me activate my super powers and predict your future. This, my reclusive friend, is a retelling of the voicemail you received before we picked you up tonight.”
 

Lina paused before raising her elbows and stacking her forearms in an, “I Dream of Jeannie” imitation. Of the two of them, Lina was hands down the Grand Diva of dramatic gestures.
 

“Granny Lou has invited another borderline social security recipient to Sunday dinner.” Ava gave no outward appearance of hearing the statement. Lina continued on. “She’s hopeful that you’ll show a remote interest in the male species before Jesus calls her back to heaven.” At that, her best friend offered an,
I know I’m right expression
.