Mike's Way Back (Finding Perfect) (15 page)

He kissed her gently and pulled her to him. “I love you too, sugar.”

Chapter 15

Mike pierced the marinated meat, flipping it over as the flames flared when the juices dripped. Taryn came out of the house, laughing as she carried a bowl of fresh salad. Scott followed behind her with a stack of plates. He was still in the middle of his story as the utensils slid across the plates, rattling as he walked across the deck. Mike hadn’t a clue what they were talking about, but this was what he’d been missing in his home.

No matter how much time, money, and back-breaking work he poured into it, it was the friendship and laughter that was missing. As much as he loved being in his home, and had always considered it his sanctuary, it was eye-opening to have his three friends set the patio table while talking, laughing and drinking. His home was complete—just with Taryn in it.

Taking the last long pull of the beer he’d brought with him to the grill, he continued to let it sink in. Kansas to Connecticut wasn’t just a quick zip down the highway. Taryn had always been vocal about her concern—the distance would be their ultimate demise as a couple. The beer burned his throat as he realized just how easily he’d glossed over her worries. And seeing how easily she fit into his space and his life, it twisted in his stomach to admit she was the one who had been realistic…and probably right.

They each had very strong ties to their
communities. It wasn’t as if either could just up and move without a lot of thought going into it. He wasn’t in his twenties anymore. He couldn’t fly by the seat of his pants, and that was never his personality to begin with.

A flame rose from the charcoals and brought his attention back to the meal he was preparing. After rearranging the meat on the grill so none of it charred, he let out a deep breath. A dark cloud suddenly loomed over him. Yes, he knew she was here for an extended amount of time and, thanks to local word of mouth, she and Andrew picked up extra business. Letting Taryn slip out of his life when she completed her work was going to hurt like hell. If he was a smart man, he’d start pulling away now, but it was too late. He’d found the perfect woman, and she already had his heart. She’d given him more than just love, and he knew he’d never find another one like her. Letting her go back—Mike ground his teeth at the thought that made his entire body tense. Letting her leave would damn near break him.

“Hey, detective. You look like you could use another one.”

Mike gladly took the cold beer Andrew brought him. “Thanks. I think you’re right.”

“Is everything all right? You seem, I don’t know, like something heavy just hit you?”

Andrew and Scott were Taryn’s closest friends. Over the course of the last few weeks, through her stories and several dinners at Jenny’s with them, he could see why she was so attached to them. They were good men. They’d pulled Taryn in when Mike knew she had no one. It wasn’t just a surface respect he felt for the two any longer, Mike really had gotten to like each of them and appreciate them.  He was grateful for their protection of the girl she was in college, and the woman she’d become.

“No worries. I’m all good. But thanks for this, man.” Mike held up the fresh bottle.

“You know she feels the same way, right?”

Mike stood stunned as Andrew gave him a cheeky grin and winked, but he sashayed away before Mike could press Taryn’s friend for insider information. The only man Mike ever met who could pull off tapered dress pants and loafers was up to something. The flames hissed again and demanded his attention.

Removing each steak, Mike kept a watchful eye on the two men having a colorful conversation at his patio table. Taryn glanced his way, her eyes locking with his for a long minute. He stood entranced watching the sweet smile wash over her face. There was a longing in her eyes and in the smile just barely tipping her lips.

Then she lowered her eyes and her head slowly dipped. Not enough for anyone else at the table to notice—but Mike did. Loud and clear.

She could have been looking at her empty plate, could have been studying the napkin next to it, ready to place it in her lap. The two men at the table wouldn’t have thought anything out of the ordinary, but from twenty steps away, Mike’s heart started pounding as he continued to focus on her. A platter of steaming steaks in one hand and his fresh beer in the other, he swallowed hard. A hundred visions flashed through his mind.

“Careful there, the platter is tipping, Mike.”

Scott’s voice snapped him out of his daydream, and he blinked back to reality. “Oh, sorry, guys. Here.” He placed the meat in the middle of the table and barely let the compliments register as one thing rushed back to the forefront of his mind. He couldn’t let Taryn go. She was his at all costs.

~~~

The guys had been in town several days when Taryn wondered what was up with them. Mike probably didn’t think anything of it since a lot of couples took week-long vacations. But Scott didn’t. At the most, he was only ever able to steal a couple of days to extend a weekend here or there. His cases demanded his attention and his clients were high-paying, multi-million dollar companies. The amount of research and details he put into a case would have been over-whelming for her. He thrived on it, just as he said she did when it came to designing. Staying up until three in the morning pouring over different sketches was exhilarating to her, and Scott   told her law work was the same for him.

Yet something was off.

Then Mike’s pull had her refocusing on him instead. The two men at the table were nothing more than a foggy presence near her as she felt Mike looking at her. She stared into those piercing blue eyes, and as quickly as her heart began pounding, reassurance washed over her. Her heart rate dramatically slowed, and her breathing went shallow. It was almost as if he slipped her into a trance without speaking a word.

“So, Taryn, Mike. Scott and I wanted to talk to you both.”

Andrew grabbed Scott’s hand where it rested on the table. The move jerked her out of the daze she’d been in. Suddenly the sadness in Scott’s eyes was soul-gripping. A stabbing pain rushed through her. She was scared wondering what her dear friend might be facing. As usual, Andrew was fighting hard to find the right words, and his silence did nothing but amp up her wildest fears.

The pair was a match made in heaven. On their own, they each had strengths and weaknesses that a decade-long friendship uncovered. Scott never teared up. He was the strong one of the three, his shoulders bearing the brunt of what struggles they’d gone through together. She’d lived with them for so long that even though she was the outsider in the love triangle, she loved them deeply. They were her family, the cornerstone she couldn’t do without. To see them both fighting desperately to keep it together, when only moments ago they were all laughing and having a good time was scaring the hell out of her.

Mike reached for her arm and squeezed, offering support he obviously knew she needed. He surprised her by doing the same on the other side of the table. Patting Scott’s shoulder, he offered a sympathetic smile.

“Scott, Andrew…I can tell something big is going on. Whatever it is, if there is some way to help, I’m happy to. And I know Taryn will.”

She grasped his hand with both of hers as tears sprung to her eyes from worry, fear, and pride for the man she’d fallen for.

“Well. I appreciate that, Mike, and I don’t mean to scare you like this. Andrew has taken this harder than me. It’s just something I’m used to. Unfortunately, this time, it affects all three of us. We came to town, because we wanted to talk to you in person, Taryn. Up until now, there just hasn’t been the right time or place to do so. Ah, sweetie, don’t cry. It’s okay.”

“Just please tell me nothing is wrong with your health?”

“Oh, God no. It’s just my fucking parents.”

Taryn swiped at her tears and let out a huge sigh of relief. Both Scott’s parents and Andrew’s had been nothing but cruel since she’d known the two men. Their stories were way worse than hers on any scale, and she’d always felt protective of the two men for it.

“What did they do this time?”

“Same old shit, baby. It’s just time for me to make a change. I hate to do this to you both, but I’ve got to get out of that town, out of
Connecticut, and off the east coast. I’m done. I’m done with them. I’m done with being made to feel like I’m not good enough, that something is wrong with me. That I’m going to hell.”

“Another religious intervention?” She asked.

“Worse. A huge family celebration, and when Andrew and I showed up,” he held Andrew’s hand to his lips and fought the tears, “they wouldn’t let us in the house.”

Tears started to stream down her cheeks, and she scooted out of her chair and threw her arms around Scott. Her heart broke for her friend.

“It’s okay, baby. I just…I’ve got to get away from there. I hate to disrupt your life and Andrew’s…but I can’t stay there, in the same town, anymore. I can’t try anymore. It’s over.”

“No. Don’t apologize—ever. We will get you through this. We’re family. You know that.” With a kiss to his cheek and a tight hug, she sat back down in her chair. “Where do you think you want to move?”

“Well, that case I spoke of was my last. I’ve been wrapping things up for the last few weeks. Not really intending for everything to go down like this, I was ready for a change. As for a place…I don’t know. Andrew and I’ve talked several times about it, you know late at night in bed, but…?” He shrugged.

“How about here?” Mike asked.

The words fell from his mouth quickly and easily, with no hesitation. Taryn’s eyes went wide, staring at the detective who had stolen her heart. She bit her lip, and with a tug on her arm, he gestured he wanted her on his lap. She went willingly as her heart pounded.

“I’m in love with this one. I didn’t want her leaving town
, at least, not without me. She makes me happy, and that’s something I haven’t been for a very, very long time. I can’t let her go. You’ve been around the last few days. This is a great little town. I think you might like it here. You’re more than welcome to stay here for as long as you like. The house is big enough, I’ve got plenty of room. Then, when you do find something of your own, you’re more than welcome to turn the third floor into your design studio. It hasn’t been renovated yet, so the possibilities are endless. Just…don’t take this one away from me. I need her. I love you, Taryn.”

With his palms on her face, he guided her lips to his and she melted into the kiss, pouring her soul into it. Answering him without words.

“How can we say no to that face? I really don’t know how to thank you, Mike. Not only for opening your home to us—which means more than you will ever know, but also for making Taryn happier than we’ve ever seen her.”

“It’s nothing, guys. It makes me sick that your family treated you both that way. If it helps at all, I know my parents are anxious to meet you, just from what Taryn has gushed about you. You’ll be accepted here by them, open arms. Right, sugar?”

Taryn nodded, a fresh wave of tears pooling in her eyes. How she ever got so lucky to find this man, she’d never know.

“I told you I wasn’t letting you go, sugar. Now I don’t have to worry about you being homesick for these two.”

He was teasing her, trying to keep the mood light, but deep down she felt it. Mike was hers forever. For the first time in her life, she felt free. Mike was the polar opposite of what she thought she wanted. He was strong enough to be what she needed, yet Taryn never felt more cherished or protected than when she was with Mike.

She’d fallen fast and hard for not only him
, but his family and his town. He’d seen beneath her practiced exterior instantly, and that was the Taryn he’d chosen. Not the polish, not the professional, not the arm candy she’d been used as before. He saw the girl she couldn’t hide from him. The one who melted with his words, the one who could play and tease, the one who longed to please him.

“I love you too, Michael.”

“Then marry me.”

Her eyes went wide as her jaw dropped. After a frozen second of time, she wrapped herself around him tightly, and he pulled her even closer as if he was trying to make her part of him. With her face pressed against his neck, she kissed his skin, breathed in his cologne, and whispered back, “Yes, sir.”

~~~

He pulled her back, inches from his lips, with her face cradled in his hands. He’d heard the two words slip easily off her tongue. Loud and clear. “Yes?”

She nodded with tear tracks running onto his skin.

Mike had no idea what made the words fall from his mouth, but even in the short time they’d known each other—it felt right. It was perfect. She was perfect. He picked her up easily, and she instantly wrapped her arms and legs around him.

“I think this calls for a celebration, gentlemen. I’ll be right back with a couple bottles of wine.”

Even with Scott and Andrew’s cheers, laughter, and congratulations still being hollered to his back, he continued into the house. Sitting his new fiancé on the kitchen counter, he took her face in his hands again. This time, possessing her the way he wanted when she’d answered his question outside. Her legs kept him pulled tightly against her, and her sundress was now up around her waist. He pressed his erection against the lace panties he’d seen her put on this morning, and she answered with a soft moan of need.