Here With You

Kate Perry

Here With You

Praise for Kate Perry’s Novels

"Perry's storytelling skills just keep getting better and better!" –
Romantic Times Book Reviews

"Can't wait for the next in this series...simply great reading. Another winner by
this amazing author."
–Romance Reviews Magazine

"Hot! Recommended!" –
Bookpleasures

"Exciting and simply terrific."
–Romancereviews.com

"Kate Perry is on my auto buy list."
–Night Owl Romance

"A winning and entertaining combination of humor and pathos."
–Booklist

Other Titles by Kate Perry

Tamed by You

Sweet on You

Dream of You

Looking for You

Return to You

Close to You

Perfect for You

Playing for Keeps

Playing Doctor

Project Date

Project Daddy

Marked by Passion

Chosen by Desire

Tempted by Fate

www.kateperry.com

www.twitter.com/KatePerry

www.facebook.com/TutuKate

[email protected]

Here With You

Kate Perry

© 2013 by Phoenix Rising Enterprises, Inc.

Cover Graphic ©
corbisrffancy – Fotolia.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of
the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.
Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead,
is entirely coincidental.

For you.

Thank you for aiding and abetting me. Without your cheers and encouragement, I'd be...
Well, truthfully, I'd probably be an international jewel thief. Or the bodyguard for
a major movie star. Or (most likely) huddled in a dark corner, rocking back and forth.

Anyway, this book is for you.

I wish you friendship, success, and love—everything the women of Laurel Heights enjoy.

And also...

Kisses to my Magic Man. No woman could ask for a better hero.

Also, I
may
have used a couple lines from your wedding vows in this book. What can I say—you inspire
me.

Chapter One

Normally when Nicole, Marley, and Valentine went to Grounds for Thought, they sat
at the round table in the window and drank coffee. But this wasn't a normal evening.
Tonight, Nicole sat on the counter and swung her feet while she drank champagne.

Tonight was Valentine's wedding reception.

Nicole surveyed the scene with her expert eye. Everything was perfect, from Valentine's
dress to the way they looked at each other. Joyous. The bride glowed and the groom
looked besotted. At least that was the way his expression would have been described
in the historical romances Nicole loved to read.

Romantic.

She sighed. She loved romance.

When she was a little girl, she demanded that her parents read her the stories where
the prince swept the girl off her feet. She loved pink and roses and chocolate.

As an adult, her tastes had refined. Instead of roses, she preferred tulips. Red was
her color now, and chocolate...

Well, she still loved chocolate.

She'd also found a passion for lingerie. So much so that she'd quit her job as an
office manager and gone to work at Romantic Notions in Laurel Heights. She'd been
there for over half a year, and she was still going strong. She'd never stayed at
any job for that long.

She loved
her job
. She sold more than expensive scraps of lace and silk—she sold
romance
. She helped women turn dreams into reality.

She sold Happily Ever After.

Everyone deserved Happily Ever After.

She looked forward to her own. She didn't doubt that she'd get one, she just didn't
know what it'd look like. Or who would be involved. She
'd
just broke
n
up with her boyfriend—not that it was a loss. Sure, she was sad, but he hadn't been
right for her in the long run.

Finding the right person was key. Marriage was forever. She understood the logical
arguments: people changed and you couldn't predict if you'd be with someone for all
your lives.

Whatever.

She didn't buy those arguments. If you loved someone enough to marry him, you worked
at it and fixed your problems—you didn't bale at adversity. Marriage was sacred. Her
mom and dad
were testament to it
. Valentine
and
Ethan
, too
.

One day, she vowed, as she watched all the love and happiness before her.

One day she'd find the right person. S
omeone who was on her side and encouraged her to be more.
Someone who'd have her back no matter what.
A best friend who excited her mentally and physically.

She'd had a best friend once who'd been like that. They'd only been friends, but she'd
often wondered if they couldn't be more one day.

Until he'd left
to pursue becoming a musician
and never talked to her again.

Not that she wanted to think about Griffin Chase. Today was a day of happiness, and
remembering Grif never made her happy.

"You look sad," the man standing next to her said. "Or like you're gonna punch someone
out."

S
h
e looked at Bull. S
h
e'd just met him that evening
;
he was a good friend of Valentine's new husband. He was a mountain of a man with muscles
on top of muscles, a bald head, a UV tattoo of a dandelion along the side of his face,
and a heart of gold. Nicole had liked him instantly. They'd only known each other
for, literally, minutes, and he
already
felt like a brother.

"I'd rather dance." Smiling, she hopped off the counter. "Want to?"

"Let's get down." He set his drink aside and held out his hand. "But don't get ideas
about me. You're cute and all, but I'm not your type."

"You know my type?" she asked with a grin as he led her to the dance area.

"Yeah. Younger and prettier than me." He nodded to the front door. "Like that dude
who just walked in."

She looked at who he pointed out, and then she tripped.
He was wearing a cowboy hat low on his forehead and sunglasses despite the late hour,
but she recognized him despite the disguise.

Based on the way the party around them quieted, other people did, too. Not surprising—his
music had blown up. Griffin Chase was a household name and had a face everyone knew.
He'd always wanted to hit it big. She wasn't surprised at how successful he'd become.
His music was emotion transformed into sound, unique and all his own even in its widespread
appeal. Add his voice to the mix and he was destined to be a star.

"You okay?" Bull steadied her. "I know I have two left feet, but even I've never knocked
over a girl
before I started
dancing with her."

"No, I'm fine," she said, watching
her former best friend, who'd been M.I.A. for nearly a decade,
zero
in on
her. He sauntered with deceptive laziness. There'd never been anything lazy about
him—he always had a purpose. She just wondered why that purpose brought him here.

Bull scowled. "You know that dude?"

"I used to." At one time she knew him better than anyone. They used to hang out in
her backyard, sharing their hopes and dreams, talking about all the places they were
going to go one day. Places he'd gone without her.

Griffin Chase
stopped in front of her and took his sunglasses off. The stormy gray eyes that women
all over the world swooned over were aimed right at her.
"Hello, Nicole."

Nicole stood face-to-face with the man she thought she'd never see again. He looked
familiar and like a stranger all at once
, like the urban cowboy the media labeled him: jeans, boots, and an untucked shirt
under a dark jacket
.
A leather necklace disappeared into the vee of his collar.

His face was harder, the soft edges of adolescence gone.
His stance was casual, with his hands in his pockets, but he vibrated with energy.
Grif looked both like the boy she'd known and the rock star she occasionally saw on
magazine covers in the grocery store.

He looked hot, actually. He'd always been attractive, but now there was an intensity
about him that made you think about sweaty nights and tangled sheets.

Bull shifted next to her. "Hey, you're—"

"Bull, this is Griffin Chase." She pressed herself against her new friend's arm, mostly
for support, but she didn't mind the frown it caused Grif.

"I'll be damned." A wide smile split Bull's face. "I loved your last album, man. I
worked out to it every day for a couple months."

Grif shook the man's outstretched hand. "You're Kelly Torres, right? I saw you fight
in Vegas last year."

"Which match?"

"Against the Cheetah."

"That wasn't a match, that was a mauling
. Cheetah didn't stand a chance against me,
" Bull said modestly. "I've got one coming up with Georgie Boy Rocklin this summer.
That's a worthy one to see. Let me know. I can hook you up."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Sorry for breaking up the mutual admiration society, but
what are you doing here, Grif?"

He returned his gaze to hers. "I need to talk to you."

"
Now
?"
She looked around at the celebration happening. More than a few people were staring
at them and whispering.

He looked around
, too
. "I'm sorry my timing isn't great, but we both know it'd have been awkward regardless."

An understatement. S
h
e hadn't seen him since right after high school ended. "Because it's been nine years."

He had the grace to wince. "I know and it’s completely my fault. You're entitled to
rant at me, if you want."

Sighing, she shook her head. "I don't want to rant at you. I just don't understand
why you're here."

"You kiddies should take this private." Bull kissed her cheek and patted her butt.
"Play nice with him, or he'll
immortalize you as
a witch in
his next
song."

"Thanks for the warning." She patted his butt in return. "
Rain-check
on the dance?"

"You betchya." He winked at her and rejoined the crowd.

Nicole faced Grif
, her stomach jittery. The way he watched her was unnerving. It wasn't her best friend's
gaze—it was the direct stare of a man who wanted something from her.

Not that they'd ever been like
that
. Why her mind was going there, she had no idea.

"Shall we?" He motioned to the door.

Nicole led the way, brushing by him quickly, aware of the muffled thud of his boots
following close behind. She stepped into the doorway to the left, away from any prying
eyes in Grounds for Thought, and faced her past.

"This is weird." She wrapped her arms around herself, to protect herself from Grif
as much as the evening wind. The flirty dress that had seemed perfect for the wedding
didn't offer any protection from the chill air.

He took his jacket off and offered it her. "I'd been meaning to come see you
for a while
, actually."

She stared at the beat-up leather.

When she didn't make a move to take it, he draped it around her shoulders. It was
warm from his body and somehow more intimate than it should have been. It smelled
spicy
,
nothing like the
sun-scented
boy who'd been her friend.

Grif
leaned against the stucco wall, the intensity of his gaze belying his laid-back posture.
"The timing never seemed right. So much time passed, and I knew I didn't deserve your
friendship, much less have the right to intrude on your life."