With Me in Seattle Bundle One (110 page)

“Are you sure?” he asks.

“What was the question?”

***

“Where are we going?” I ask from the passenger seat of Will’s car.

“You’ll see. We’re almost there.”

“I don’t like surprises.”

“I’m getting that. You’re really bad at just shutting up and letting me do my thing, sweetheart.”

“You should never tell me you have a surprise for me.”

“Lesson learned,” he mutters and parks the car in front of the café with the twelve-egg omelet.

“Breakfast is the surprise?” I ask with raised eyebrows.

“Shut up, Megan.”

He exits the car and opens my door for me, pulling me up by the hand, wraps his arm around my waist and plants a hard kiss on me, right there on the sidewalk.

“You can shut me up like that anytime, football star.”

He winks and leads me into the restaurant, through the shabby booths and to the back, where a guy in a hoodie is sitting with his back to the room, beanie on his head, tattooed hands holding a cup of coffee.

Leo.

My wide gaze finds Will’s, and he just shrugs.

Leo looks back at us and smiles, stands, and holds his hand out to Will. “Hey, man.”

“Hey. I’m gonna let you guys catch up. Do you mind giving Meg a ride home when you’re done?”

“You’re leaving?” I ask him, butterflies swarming crazily in my stomach.

“I’m a third wheel and won’t get your inside jokes anyway.” He brushes his hand down my face, leans in and whispers in my ear, “You’ll be fine. I love you. Call me if you need me.”

“I love you, too,” I murmur and watch him walk out of the restaurant.

“Have a seat.” Leo gestures to the other side of the booth, and I automatically plop down in it and just stare at him.

His beanie is pulled low across his forehead, covering his eyebrow piercing. His gray eyes are happy but guarded, as if he doesn’t quite know how I’ll react to him.

He’s gripping his coffee cup with both hands.

“You have new tats on your fingers,” I murmur.

“You have a new tat on your arm,” he returns.

I smile. “I’ve had it for a while.”

“What song?”

“
Dare You to Move
.”

He nods, understanding why. “The floor line?” he asks.

“Yeah.”

He nods again.

“How long are you in town?” I ask, trying desperately to start the conversation. It’s never been hard to talk to Leo. I hate that it is now.

“Awhile. The tour is done, and we’re taking a hiatus.”

“I thought you lived in LA now.” I frown.

“I have a place there, but I miss home.” He shrugs and offers me a half smile, and I can’t help but zero in on that silver hoop in his lip. It actually looks really hot on him. “I miss you, Meg-Pie.”

“I miss you, too.” I sigh and nod at the waitress as she offers me coffee and sets menus in front of us. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“No, it’s not. I have your number. I never called you either.”

“Why?” I ask.

“I didn’t think you’d want to hear from me.”

“I guess we were both wrong,” I murmur and smile at him. “So you’re gonna be here awhile, huh?”

“Yep. Gonna work on the next album and just regroup.”

“Good.”

“So, Will Montgomery?” He sits back in the booth and narrows his eyes on me.

“Yeah.” I smile shyly and look down at my coffee.

“You love him?” he asks, cutting to the chase.

“More than anything,” I confirm.

Leo nods, watching me. “He makes you happy.” It’s not a question.

“Very.”

“Is Sylvia still around?”

My eyes shoot to his in surprise. “How did you…”

“I’m not stupid, Megan. I knew you were paying her. Is she still around?”

“No, Will paid her off.”

“Looks like he makes me happy, too.” Leo takes a sip of his coffee, and I laugh, my stomach finally settling.

“What about you? Settling down with any groupies?” I ask sweetly, and he throws a sugar packet at me.

“No settling down. Sex, fine. Relationships, no.”

“Leo…”

“No.” His face is hard, and I know the subject is closed.

“Stubborn ass.”

“Just like the rest of the women in the country, you adore me.” He gloats and takes a swig of coffee, smacks his lips and smiles smugly.

“I’m glad to see you’re still modest.” I shake my head at him, so happy to be with him again.

“So, tell me about Will, and why I shouldn’t break his throwing arm for touching my sister…”

Epilogue

~Will~

Two months later…

“Why didn’t we hire a moving company again?” I ask as I carry the four-thousandth box off the moving truck into the spare bedroom.

“Because, they aren’t careful. I don’t have much, but what I do have I don’t need getting broken and ruined.” Meg is sitting on the floor in the guest room, going through a box.

“Can you help us finish unloading the truck before you start unpacking boxes?” I ask her, hands on my hips.

“Hey! Where are you guys?” Caleb and Leo both come into the guest room with scowls on their faces.

“You guys do not get to go have sex while we unload your truck,” Caleb says, pointing at us.

“Dude, that’s my sister.” Leo crosses his arms over his chest, and Meg laughs.

“Come on.” I hold my hand out to her and pull her to her feet. “Let’s go, lazy bones.”

All of the brothers are unloading the truck. The girls are directing us on where to put stuff, as if we’re all illiterate and can’t read
bedroom
written in black Sharpie on the side of a box.

Women always need to boss us around.

I love them.

Megan joins Nat in the kitchen, merging her things with mine, and my chest swells with happiness. It took me six long weeks, but I finally talked her into moving in with me.

“You know,” Meg announces to the room at large. “you didn’t all need to come help. I don’t have that much stuff. Leo and Will could have handled the big stuff.”

“Thanks so much for volunteering me,” Leo mutters. “Why didn’t we hire a company again?”

“That’s what I said,” I agree, and we both earn glares from Meg. She looks so hot when she’s irritated with me.

“So, Sam...” Leo saunters over to Samantha, who’s trying to decide where to hang some artwork Meg brought with her. “What are you doing later?”

“I won’t be doing you,” she mutters, and we all bust out laughing.

Sam is a hard-ass. She’s no-nonsense and tells it like it is. She’s also gorgeous, and I can’t blame Leo for trying.

“Uh, I wasn’t offering, honey.” Leo smiles smugly. “I was wondering if you’d like me to take you to have that stick pulled out of your ass.”

The girls gasp, and Luke’s eyes go hard as stone, but just before he makes the move to kick Leo’s ass, Sam laughs and shakes her head. “Nope, I like the stick right where it is.”

“Let me know if you change your mind.”

“You’ll be the first to know.” She hammers a nail into my wall and hangs the picture that was at her feet. “But, just so you know, I don’t date famous people.”

“Neither do I.” Leo winks and saunters into the kitchen, pulls a beer out of the fridge and takes a sip.

The girls are all smiling broadly at him, and I have to say, I want to high-five him.

There’s no way in hell he’ll talk her into going out with him.

Finally, after what feels like days, everyone leaves. I thank everyone for their help as they climb in their cars and drive off, shut the front door and go in search of my girl.

I find her in the guest room again, going through that same box from earlier.

“What are you looking at?” I ask her and lean against the doorjamb. She looks so young, sitting there on the floor in my old jersey and her black yoga pants, hair pulled up in a ponytail and no makeup.

“I found these pictures that Nat took of me when we were in college.” She’s thumbing through the photos, and I frown in confusion, and then it hits me. Natalie takes naked pictures.

Naked pictures of Megan.

“Show me.” I push away from the door and lower myself to the floor behind her, my legs on either side of her, and pull her against my chest, her sexy ass snuggled up against my groin.

And then my world stands still.

The photos are black and white. Meg is holding her guitar, and not wearing a stitch of clothing.

“Holy hell,” I mutter as she shuffles through them slowly.

There must be two dozen of them, Meg in different poses with that guitar. Her hair is down, framing her face. She was slimmer then, in the way women are when their bodies are changing from being a teen into a woman. I much prefer her rounder breasts and hips now, but damn, even then she was a knockout.

“How old were you?” I ask.

“Nineteen,” she replies shyly, looking at the photos.

She comes to the last one. She’s sitting cross-legged on a bed covered in white sheets that have been messed up. Her arms are wrapped around the guitar, and it’s covering her completely, but it’s the sexiest photo of the bunch. Her face is sober, her wide eyes staring into the camera, and she’s biting her bottom lip.

“Can I keep that one?” I ask.

“Sure. You can keep them all.”

“Really?” I run my hands up and down her arms and kiss her neck, just below her ear. I’m sure she can feel how much these photos have turned me on.

“I don’t need them.” She leans into me and turns her sweet face to me. I run my fingers down her cheek and kiss her nose, her dimple and then her lips.

“You are beautiful, Megan. Then and even more so now.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“I’m glad you’re here, in our home with me.”

She smiles widely, her eyes happy, and I will do whatever it takes to keep that happiness there for the rest of her life.

“Me, too. Can we get naked now?”

“I thought you’d never ask, sweetheart.”

THE END

A Very Montgomery Christmas

Dear Reader:

For Christmas of 2013, I decided to check in with Will and Meg, to see how they’d decide to spend their first Christmas together. I love what I found! I hope you do too.

Happy Reading,

Kristen

~Meg~

“Where are we going?” I wonder aloud for the third time since we left our North Seattle home. All I know for sure is that we’re heading east on I-90, and we’re in the Rover rather than the Mustang.

“You’ll see.” Will repeats, way more patiently than he usually would. He grips my hand in his and pulls it up to his lips, kissing me gently, sending sparks of awareness down my arm and through my body.

Even after all this time with him, I get butterflies and just a simple touch gets me all hot and bothered.

“It’s the afternoon of Christmas Eve, Will. We’re in the Rover. Our options are limited.”

“If you don’t stop harassing me,” he begins without sparing me a glance, “I’m going to turn this car around go back home and you’ll never know.”

“You’ve never been mean during holidays before,” I remark lightly and then giggle when he glares at me. “Okay, okay. I’ll be good.”

“You smell good,” he murmurs and kisses the inside of my wrist again. “Is this a new perfume?”

“I don’t wear perfume,” I reply with a grin. “But thank you.”

I turn up the radio and am content to sit beside my man, my hand clenched safely in his, and watch the world go from green and wet to white as we climb higher into the mountains. I love snow.
Love it.

After a couple of hours on the road, Will turns off the freeway and pulls into a tiny town in the mountains of Washington called Leavenworth. The town is Bavarian, has a gorgeous German design and feel to it, and is also a hotspot during Oktoberfest.

“I’ve always wanted to come here!” I exclaim when he parks in front of a property management office.

“I know,” he replies with a grin. He leans over the console to kiss my lips quickly. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

He hurries inside the office and then less than five minutes later returns with a key in his hand.

“We’re staying over night?” I ask with wonder.

“We are,” he confirms and throws the Rover into reverse.

“Are you sure?” I ask uncertainly.

Will shoves the car back into park and turns to face me. “I’m sure that I want to spend Christmas Eve with the woman I love in a cabin in the snow. Are you not okay with this?”

“I’m definitely okay with it, I guess I’m just surprised that you don’t want to spend Christmas with your family.”

“I
am
spending Christmas with my family, Megan.” He cups my face in his big hand and smiles gently at me, stealing my breath. “You are my family, sweetheart. Besides, we’ll head back tomorrow afternoon to have Christmas dinner with everyone else tomorrow evening.”

I’m still stuck like stupid on
you are my family, sweetheart.

“Okay,” I croak.

He nods and drives the short distance to a small cabin surrounded by tall evergreen trees and lots of snow. “Home away from home,” he comments with a grin.

“It’s awesome,” I reply and jump out of the Rover, ready to play in the snow. Will treks around to the rear of the vehicle and pulls out two small overnight bags. “You packed me a bag?”

“I did,” he nods. “If I had my way, you’d spend the next twenty-four hours naked, but you can’t walk around town like that. They frown on it.”

“I think I’d frown on it too,” I agree and move to take one of the bags but he holds it out of my reach.

“I’ve got this. Here,” he hands me the key, “you go open the door.”

I lead him up a freshly shoveled path to the front door and gasp in surprise. The whole place has been decorated for Christmas. There is a tall, real tree in front of the large picture window of the living room, lit and covered in red and gold ribbons and bulbs. Fresh garland hangs around an open-hearth fireplace and other small Christmasy touches are sprinkled through out the whole place.

“This is beautiful!”

Will sets our bags down, shuts the door and wraps his arms around me, pulling me against him. “Do you really like it?”