“I would forgive you anything, Grace. But there’s nothing to forgive. Yesterday all your biggest fears came crashing down on you at once. Anyone would have reacted the way you did. Anyone would have needed breathing room.”
“I hadn’t thought I’d let the Bentleys make me feel like I wasn’t good enough. But now I’m realizing that the way they treated me when they learned I was pregnant spoke straight to all the fears I hadn’t wanted to admit to over the years.”
“Everyone has the same fear that we’re not enough.”
“You don’t.”
He smiled, one of his beautiful smiles that always made her stomach flip-flop. “I have three older brothers who pretty much rule the world between them. And what they can’t do, my cousins can. Sometimes I think the real reason I picked up sailing was because it was all that was left. I should have built my family a boat before now, but I couldn’t. Because it turns out that I needed thirty years to realize that I could share my love of sailing with all of them without giving up who I am and what makes me special.”
Did he have any idea how much it moved her to hear him admit to being scared, too? And that he wasn’t afraid to show her his flaws? The Bentleys were so utterly consumed with being and looking perfect that they were also utterly inauthentic. Whereas life—real life the way the Sullivans lived it—was beautiful and wondrous…and sometimes messy and raw.
“I don’t know what the future holds,” she said. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to be this much in love with anyone, or give up this much control. I don’t know if something will happen to you on a boat one day, if you’ll sail away and another storm will take you away from me. But I’m not going to let that stop me from asking you to marry me. Be my husband. Be Mason’s father. And let us give you all of our love.
Forever.
”
She’d expected him to look at least as surprised by her marriage proposal as he had when she’d told him she loved him, but there wasn’t room on his face for anything but pure joy.
“There’s nothing I want more than to marry you and be Mason’s dad.” He drew her against him, and his mouth was nearly on hers when he amended that to, “Actually, there
is
one more thing I want.”
But she already knew what it was, could read his mind now that the storm had passed just as well as she’d been able to read it when the waves had been crashing over them. “Let’s start today, Dylan. Let’s grow our family right here. Let’s give Mason a brother or sister right now.”
As quickly as they could, they steered the boat into the lee of an island, tossed the anchor, then stripped each other’s wet clothes off. Gently, he laid her down on the wooden decking, warm and drying now from the sunshine that had emerged as soon as the storm had blown away.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said as he stared down at her. “I’ve fantasized about making love with you on my boat a million times.”
The air was cool, but Dylan’s warm hands and lips against her skin heated her up all over. “Even making love with you a million times,” she whispered against his lips as he came into her and she wrapped herself all around him, “wouldn’t be enough for me.”
“I’ll never get enough of loving you, Grace.”
And…
oh my
…did she ever love how he loved her.
* * *
The next afternoon, Grace was so immersed in her writing that she didn’t realize Dylan had walked into her living room carrying Mason until they were right beside her.
“Hi!” She lifted her lips to Mason’s for a smooch and was very pleased to end up with one from Dylan, too. “How was the park?”
“We had an awesome time.” Dylan looked down at Mason. “Didn’t we?”
Mason answered in the affirmative with a cute little high five, then squirmed to get down to play with his toy cars.
“Looks like you’re on a roll with your writing.” He moved behind her to massage her shoulders, and it felt
amazing.
“I am,” she confirmed. “Finally.”
“Do you need me to take Mason back out so that you can have more quiet?”
“No.” It was the last thing she wanted. “I want you to stay.”
They smiled at each other, both of them knowing just how much the word
stay
really meant. His request for her to stay for Mia and Ford’s wedding at his parents’ house and then her request for him to stay that night with her for the first time a week later had been their first important steps toward forever.
All along, as she’d worked on this cover story, she’d thought she needed to hide her feelings for Dylan. She hadn’t been ready for anyone to see how much she loved him, because she hadn’t been ready to admit it to herself yet, either.
But the truth was that everything she knew about the heart of a sailor had come from being loved by—and loving—him. So this cover story wasn’t only about Dylan. It was about her, too.
Which meant that to create the most honest, most powerful piece of writing possible, she had to strip away all of the layers and lay her own heart bare.
She’d been utterly vulnerable on the sailboat during the storm and had come away feeling stronger and more hopeful than ever. And when she’d been vulnerable with Dylan, she’d come away with more love than she’d ever dreamed of. Now, she was just as vulnerable on the page while she wrote her love story for the man, the ocean, and the sailboats that had done so much to shape him—and she was finally loving every single word she wrote.
And every single moment with her beautiful sailor, too.
EPILOGUE
Two weeks later
...
Adam Sullivan raised his glass of champagne for a toast to celebrate the marriage vows Dylan and Grace had just shared. They were in Dylan’s boathouse—empty now as he got ready to begin his new commission for a custom thirty-eight-foot sailboat—and the sun was shining down on them all through the open panels on the roof. When Adam had designed the boathouse for his brother, he’d never envisioned a wedding taking place in the space, but it had worked out great, with more than enough room for family and close friends to witness their vows and have a little party afterward.
Dylan and Grace held Mason together as the three of them smiled for Mia, who was taking pictures as their unofficial wedding photographer. A short while later, when it was time for everyone to wave the three of them off on their sailing honeymoon to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, Adam—and everyone else—was surprised to see the brand-new sailboat tied up to the dock just outside the boathouse.
Adam knew something was up even before his brother said, “It was a perfect day to marry the love of my life in front of the people who mean the most to us.” Dylan paused to kiss both Grace and Mason, both of whom he was holding close. “And it’s also the perfect day for us to give you all this boat.”
Mia shot Adam an incredulous look before turning back to Dylan. “Are you saying that you made this amazing sailboat for
us?
”
Dylan wasn’t able to do more than grin and nod before Mia was launching herself into his arms. Within seconds, Brooke and Tatiana and his mom were there—with all the men in the family soon joining in on the big Sullivan group hug, too. Little Mason was in his element, whooping it up with the big family that had so happily adopted him from that first Friday night dinner.
Everyone was on cloud nine, and Adam was extremely happy for them all. Only Dylan would make a killer sailboat like this to give away to his family. They were a lucky bunch. Adam had always appreciated that.
The only thing he
didn’t
love just then was being the last single Sullivan in Seattle. Because if he knew anything about his family—and he could usually read each of them like an open book—they wouldn’t rest until they’d seen him happily paired off, too.
After everyone had taken some time to admire their brand-new sailboat, Rafe intercepted Adam as he headed back into the boathouse to flirt with a pretty woman in a short black skirt who was serving champagne and hors d’oeuvres.
“You’re a dog,” Rafe said. “You know that, right?”
Adam barked once, making Rafe laugh.
“What’s your schedule like Wednesday afternoon?” Rafe asked.
“I can open it up if you need me to.” That was an easy one for Adam. Family always came first. “What’s up?”
“Brooke needs to be at the lake to make extra truffle deliveries this week to some new accounts, and I’ve got a big case I need to head to Portland to wrap up, but we’ve got an appointment we really can’t put off any longer.”
“Who are you meeting with?”
“The wedding planner. And don’t blame Brooke for this request,” Rafe said as he lifted a hand to head Adam off at the pass. “When it turned out everyone else had a conflict on that day, she told me not to ask you and said she’d figure something out. But I know how heartbroken she’d be if we screwed things up with the wedding planner by canceling on her again because we haven’t been able to coordinate our schedules lately.”
Rafe knew just how to play it—Adam couldn’t say no because he didn’t want to do anything to hurt Brooke, either. “Sure, I can meet with the wedding planner.”
“Thanks,” Rafe said with a grin. “You’re a life saver.”
But something about Rafe’s grin seemed a little
too
pleased. Clearly, thought Adam, the matchmaking by his family had already begun.
~ THE END ~
For news on upcoming Sullivan stories,
click here to sign up for Bella Andre’s New Release Newsletter.
Watch for the next Seattle Sullivan story about Adam Sullivan, coming Spring 2015!
Also coming Spring 2015…Bella will be releasing
TEMPT ME LIKE THIS,
the second book in her “New Adult” contemporary romance series about the Morrisons. Please sign up for her
New Release Newsletter
to find out when both books are released!
* * *
The following books in Bella's New York Times & USA Today bestselling Sullivan series are out now!
(Chase & Chloe)
(Marcus & Nicola)
(Gabe & Megan)
(Sophie & Jake)
(Zach & Heather)
(Ryan & Vicki)
(Smith & Valentina)
(Lori & Grayson)
(A novella guest starring Mia Sullivan and Rafe Sullivan)
(Mary & Jack Sullivan)
(Rafe & Brooke, The Seattle Sullivans)
(Mia & Ford, The Seattle Sullivans)
(Ian & Tatiana, The Seattle Sullivans)
I LOVE HOW YOU LOVE ME
(Dylan’s story, The Seattle Sullivans)
* * *
Click here to download a Sullivan Family Tree!
* * *
Please enjoy the following excerpt from THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT (Rafe Sullivan’s story), the first Seattle Sullivan book...
As a very successful private investigator who has caught most of the cheaters in Seattle with their pants down, Rafe Sullivan believes true, lasting love only happens once in a blue moon. Needing to get away from the city to clear his head, he finds the lake house where he spent the best summers of his life is now a wreck...but the sweet girl next door is all grown up and prettier than anything he’s ever seen.
While Brooke Jansen is happy making and selling chocolate truffles in her small Pacific Northwest lake town, she secretly longs to experience something wild. So when her favorite “Wild Sullivan” moves in again next door after more than a decade away, and sparks fly between them, she can’t stop wondering if being bad is really as good as it always seemed...and just how long it will be before she can find out.
But when their summer fling quickly spirals into deeper emotions than either of them were expecting, can they survive the heat between them? Or will Rafe make the biggest mistake of his life and end up losing the best thing that’s ever happened to him?
Enjoy the following excerpt from
THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT...
A lone man had just ridden up on his motorcycle, the ends of his dark hair whipping out from beneath his helmet.
Now that,
thought Brooke with immediate female appreciation,
is what wild and free looks like.
Her parents had taught her it wasn’t polite to stare, but she couldn’t remember why that admonition mattered as she watched the man pull off his helmet and run a large hand through his hair. She couldn’t see his face yet, but she didn’t need to see his features to know just how good looking he was. His shoulders were incredibly broad and even from a distance she could see how big—and how capable—his hands were where he gripped the handlebars.
She was so busy reeling from a blast of pure lust for the stranger as he stepped away from his motorcycle that it took her a moment longer than it should have to realize that he wasn’t a stranger after all.
“Rafe?” His name came out as little more than a stunned whisper. “Is that really you?”
Her question was loud enough that he finally turned to face her. Only, instead of responding, he didn’t say a word, didn’t even move.
All he did was stare, but it was okay because she was busy staring right back.
People often said memories made things sweeter than they actually were. But Brooke now knew that wasn’t true at all. Not only had she not embellished how good looking Rafe Sullivan was over the years that they’d been apart, but, if anything, her recollections had sorely underplayed just how gorgeous he truly was.