With Me in Seattle Bundle One (112 page)

The following story contains mature themes, strong language, and sexual situations. It is intended for adult readers.

Cover Art:

Photographer: Linus Pettersson of Photo by Linus

Models: Sulan Von Zoomlander and Katerina Lotus

Graphic Artist: Renae Porter of Social Butterfly Creative

Sunshine
   © 2013 by Kristen Proby and Nicole Brightman, co-writers.

Dedication:

This book is for the readers. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Prologue

“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.”

We are gathered at Will Montgomery’s house, helping him move his girlfriend, Megan, in with him. I’ve grown to love these people. My brother marrying into the Montgomery family might have been the best thing he ever did.

Damn Luke, for always getting it right. I glance across Will’s impressive living room, trying to decide where one of Meg’s brightly colored paintings should be hung, and eye my brother as he kisses his pretty brunette wife on the cheek. Natalie is the best, and I’m so happy that she’s forgiven me for being a bitch to her when we first met. Not that I’m all that sorry for it. I had my reasons. But Nat is fantastic.

She’s my best friend.

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

I grin to myself and turn my back on the room, focusing on the wall and the artwork in my hands. I’m in a room with Leo Nash.
The
Leo Nash
.
He’s only the hottest rock star in the country. And he’s sexy as hell.

And he’s been watching me all day.

Will and Leo continue to grumble about doing all the heavy lifting, earning glares from Meg. God, she’s funny.

And I guarantee not one of us girls is going to complain about watching Leo, Nate and the Montgomery brothers lift heavy objects. Holy hot men.

“So, Sam…” Leo saunters over to me. I can feel him move up behind me, just a few feet away, and damn, if I can’t smell his musky sweat and the soap from his shower. “What are you doing later?”

I take a deep breath and keep my face blank. I learned a long time ago to keep my emotions in check.

“I won’t be doing you,” I mutter and hammer a nail into the wall. As attracted as I am to him, and really, who wouldn’t be, Leo is off-limits. He’s Meg’s brother.

He’s famous.

He’s cocky as hell.

“Uh, I wasn’t offering, honey.”

I turn to see Leo smiling 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.

Okay, that hurt.

Don’t touch the stick in my ass, you jerk.

Before my brother can rip Leo to shreds, and despite his usual sweet demeanor, I have no doubt that he would in a heartbeat, I paste a smile on my face and laugh.

“Nope, I like the stick right where it is.”

“Let me know if you change your mind.”  Leo grins and shoves his hands in the pockets of the worn jeans that sit low on his hips.

“You’ll be the first to know.” I turn back to the wall and hang the painting. “But, just so you know”—I turn back to him—“I don’t date famous people.”

“Neither do I.” He winks and saunters into the kitchen, pulls a beer out of the fridge and takes a sip. His biceps flex under amazing tattoos as he lifts the bottle to his lips. He swallows and smiles over at me, his eyes shining with interest, and for the first time in five years, I regret my no-celebrity rule.

Damn him.

Chapter One

“You okay?” Luke murmurs in my ear as he hugs me before we leave Will’s house.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” I smirk as I look defiantly into Luke’s happy blue eyes.

“Leo’s not really an asshole.” He frowns and glances back at the house.

“He was being funny, Luke. I can take a joke.” I wave him off and sink into my little white Mercedes. “I’ll see you at Mom and Dad’s on Sunday?”

“Yeah, we’ll see you there.” He waves and joins Nat in their car and drives away. Everyone has left except Leo, who hung back to help Will lift a few more boxes, and I’m relieved to get away from him.

He’s too good-looking for my comfort level.

Okay, that’s not it. I pull out of the driveway and toward my downtown condo.

I see something in Leo that disturbs me. Not in a creepy, what-the-hell-is-he-thinking way, but because he’s so…virile. He pulls me in in a way no one ever has before. It has nothing to do with his band or his money, and everything to do with those gray eyes and that sweet smile.

He’s got baggage, and he’s probably a bit of a rock-star jerk. I don’t have time to deal with an arrogant attitude.

I have my own to deal with.

Suddenly, a couple of miles from Will and Meg’s house, my car jerks and drops in the front.

Fuck, I have a flat.

I pull to the side of the road and jump out of the car. It’s started to rain, that thick, cold, biting rain that Seattle is famous for in the winter. Thank God I’m dressed for unpacking, in my jeans and sneakers and a hoodie.

Not my everyday attire.

I stand in the rain, my red hoodie over my hair, and stare at the tire. This is the perfect end to the week from hell. I sigh and look up and down the street and then give the tire a quick kick, managing to stub my toe in the process.

Shit! I hop around in a circle and then scowl at the tire again.

Fucking tire.

Well, I could call roadside assistance, but it’s just a flat tire, and I can have it changed before the guy gets here to help.

I open the tiny trunk of the car and remove the small doughnut spare, jack and lug-nut-removal thingie. I don’t know what the tools are called, but I’m sure as hell thankful that my dad made me learn how to use them.

Just as I lean the spare against the car and set the jack under the axle, a familiar car pulls up behind me, and I sigh deeply.

Leo.

Son of a bitch.

He unfolds his lean body from his black muscle car and walks to me, black Converse crunching over the gravel, seemingly unfazed by the rain. He’s wearing a leather jacket, open in the front, over his white T-shirt and loose jeans. He’s covered his head with a black knit beanie.

“Problem?” he asks with a half smile, that lip piercing catching my eye.

Why am I attracted to a lip piercing?

I don’t know, but I am.

“Just a flat. I’m gonna change it. You don’t have to stay.” I start working on the lug nuts.

Leo hasn’t moved.

“You don’t have to stay,” I repeat more firmly and look up into his handsome face.

“Do you honestly think I’m going to leave you at the side of the road to change out a flat by yourself?” he asks. His eyes have gone colder, and I frown.

“I have this handled.”

Instead of stalking back to his car and driving off, he leans his ass on my car, crosses his arms over his chest, and watches me with those stormy eyes the same color as the clouds currently dumping cold water on us.

“Suit yourself.” I shrug and return to the task at hand. God, the rain is cold, and the wind has picked up now, making my hands throb, and I wish for gloves but refuse to let Leo see my discomfort. The nuts come off smoothly until I get to the last one, which is on too tight.

I struggle with it, grunting, and fall on my ass with the effort.

The nut didn’t move.

“Damn,” I mutter and glare at the tire.

Strong hands wrap around my upper arms and lift me to my feet. “God, you’re a tiny thing,” he mutters and moves me aside. He squats beside the tire and easily loosens the stubborn nut.

“I loosened it for you,” I tell him with a stubborn set to my chin.

“Of course.” He chuckles and pulls the flat tire off the axel. “Are you always this stubborn?”

I cross my arms over my chest, burying my hands against my ribs to warm them up. “Pretty much.”

He laughs and shakes his head, his tattooed fingers mounting the new tire and tightening the lug nuts. I can’t look away from his hands, the vivid colors of the ink.

His body art is gorgeous.

I wonder what he’s got under his clothes. He’s typically shirtless in publicity shots, so I know he has sleeves on his arms, a tat across his chest, stars on his hips, but I’d love to see under his pants.

I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and force the shirtless image out of my head just as he lowers the jack and gathers my tools and replaces them in the trunk with the flat tire.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know.” I offer him a half smile and then laugh out loud when he scowls at me.

“Sam, I’m not about to leave you here at the side of the road by yourself to change a tire in the rain. Your brother would put his foot up my ass.”

Of course. He’s only being nice because of Luke. Just like everyone else.

I systematically school my features into a blank canvas, straighten my shoulders and put the walls back up.

People can’t hurt me if I don’t let them.

“You’re probably right.” I back away and move to walk around the white car to climb inside and escape. “I’ll be sure to tell him you were a big help. Thank you.”

“What the fuck just happened?” His eyes are narrowed on my face, his thumbs tucked in the loops of his jeans.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do. You’d loosened up a bit, and then suddenly you turned back into the ice queen.”

I’m not an ice queen! I’m a fucking human being, but I’ll never let you or people like you see me as vulnerable ever again!

“Have a good day, Leo.”

“Hey.” He blocks my path to the driver’s door and tips my chin up so I have to look him in the eye. “What did I say?”

I shake my head and back away, needing the space. God, he’s like an effing magnet.

He watches me closely for a moment and then shrugs. “Okay. Drive safe. Take that in to the shop tomorrow.” He walks back to his car, lowers himself gracefully behind the wheel and waits for me to drive off ahead of him.

Who knew that a rock star as famous as he is could be a gentleman?

Weird.

I offer him a wave and drive away, exhaling for the first time in thirty minutes. That is one sexually potent man. No wonder he’s so damn famous.

And I am never going down that path again.

***

Olivia is perhaps the most perfect baby ever born, and she gets all her charm, intelligence and good looks from her Auntie Sammie.

And no one else on the face of the earth had better ever call me Sammie.

I’m not usually one to cuddle babies, but oh how I adore this little girl. We are all gathered at my mom and dad’s house, and by all, I mean the whole crew. All of the Montgomerys are here, along with their kids. Also, Luke, Nat and Livie, as well as my youngest brother, Mark. Even Brynna is here with her girls.

Will has tugged Meg into his lap on the couch, and they’re laughing intimately. He glances up at me and winks, and I feel a glow in the pit of my stomach. To think that two years ago family dinners consisted of just the five of us. How boring! Now we have this beautiful extended family. I wouldn’t change a thing, even if it did cost me my job last week.

“Livie, you’re the most beautiful girl in the room. Yes, you are.” The sweet nine-month-old giggles as I blow raspberries on her neck and clutches my hair in her tiny fist. “Uh oh…let go of my hair, sweetie.”

She giggles some more and tugs my blond strands into her mouth. “Ew. Do you know how much product is in my hair, girlfriend? It’s definitely not edible.”

“Everything is going in her mouth these days,” Nat mutters and sits next to me on the floor. Our backs are resting against the love seat. “She’s also slobbering like it’s going out of style. I think she’s cutting more teeth.”

As if on cue, Livie offers us a big grin, proudly showing us her four front teeth, and we laugh at her.

“She’s so sweet.” I kiss her cheek.

“Yeah, she is.” Nat’s green eyes shine as she looks from her daughter to me. “I hope the next one is, too,” she whispers.

What?
I gasp and almost drop the baby. “You’re not…” I whisper back to her, and she offers me a small smile and a tiny nod, and then smiles lovingly over at Luke, who has been watching us.

“When are you going to announce it?” I ask. Another baby!

“After dinner, I think,” she replies as Luke sits next to me on my other side and takes Livie from my arms.

“Hi, baby girl.” He kisses her forehead, and Livie lights up from the inside at seeing her daddy. “So, did she tell you?” he asks softly, so only I can hear.

“Yeah. Luke, I’m so happy for you.”

His soft blue eyes turn to mine, and I can read his thoughts. He waited so long for this kind of happiness. He deserves every smile, every wonderful moment his family brings him.

“Thank you,” he murmurs and kisses Liv’s head again. “I can’t wait anymore, baby.”

Natalie giggles. “Go ahead then.”

“Everyone, I have news.” Luke stands easily, the baby propped on his forearm, and addresses the room. Everyone gets quiet and turns their attention to him.

My gaze catches Leo’s from across the room. This is the first family event Meg has talked him into attending. I wonder how he’s coping.

He winks at me, but I can see tension around his eyes.

We are one overwhelming group, even if you’re used to big, loud families, and I know he isn’t.

My mom has already started to cry, anticipating what the news is. She’s right, as usual.

“Natalie and I”—he pulls on Nat’s hand so she’s tucked into his side—“are expecting again.”

“Holy shit!” Caleb exclaims first, and the room explodes with cheers and hugs.

“Jesus, what are you, a baby factory?” Jules asks with tears in her eyes as she jumps up to hug Nat. “This is what happens when you keep doing all that gross stuff.”

“Yeah, well, we want a lot of kids,” Natalie murmurs with a grin, her eyes happy.