Come a Little Bit Closer: The Sullivans (35 page)
“What about you?” he asked softly. “Are you feeling worried about anything?”
He could feel Valentina’s pulse quicken against the pad of his thumb where he was stroking her sensitive skin. She bit her lip, and he watched her channel her inner actress as she said, “A little.”
“Excuse us, guys.”
His cousins gave him a look that said they knew exactly what he was about to do with his beautiful
fiancée
, and he knew they were more than a little jealous, too. A couple of them had brought dates, but he could tell that the women weren’t anything special to them.
Love made all the difference...and meant so much more than money, or success, or fame ever had. But he wasn’t going to waste his breath explaining that to his cousins. Not when it would be so much more fun to let them suffer through figuring it out for themselves.
Fortunately, after all the clandestine sex he and Valentina’d had on set, he had the knack of scoping out the perfect spots for their trysts. Not to mention the fact that he knew just how much she secretly loved that tiny threat of discovery, of having to be extra quiet so no one heard them, and especially of knowing what they’d just been doing when everyone else had simply been going about their day.
Of course, he would never let anyone find them, would never let another man or woman ever set eyes on Valentina’s naked body, but that didn’t mean he didn’t get off on fulfilling her secret fantasies.
They’d gone to several industry events together during the past month and with every one, Valentina’s nerves came with less force. Even though Smith liked to think that her confidence mostly had to do with his brilliant distraction technique of making sweet love to her right before they got dressed—and often after, as well—he knew the truth came from her inner strength, and her willingness to do whatever she needed to do to make their relationship work.
The linen room smelled of laundry detergent and was still warm from the dryers that had been recently running. Better yet, it had a lock, and was far enough off the main room that Valentina’s sounds of pleasure would be for his ears only.
As they came together in each other’s arms, clothes stripping off, hands and mouths wandering wherever bare flesh was revealed, even as Smith’s passion for Valentina took him a thousand miles away from movie-star perfect, or from any semblance of control, he knew she was right there with him.
And she always would be.
Epilogue
Lori Sullivan watched the dance floor fill up with her brothers and cousins. Even Sophie and Jake were dancing together with their tiny little twins wrapped in pink and blue blankets between them. Lori had been so busy lately that she didn’t get to see any of them enough, and knew she should be out there on the dance floor with them.
But, for the first time in her life, she didn’t feel like dancing.
She wasn’t at all surprised when her mother moved beside her a moment later and slid a hand around her waist so that they were watching the dancers together. Mary Sullivan had a sixth sense for when her children were happy...and when they were hurting.
Their mother’s unconditional love—knowing that Mary was there for her children, and only them—had been something Lori could always count on. Still, as she turned to take in her mother’s stunning profile, one that had sold many, many magazine covers before she retired from modeling, Lori was caught by the sense that things were changing.
Not only because each and every one of her siblings had found love, but also because even her mother suddenly looked different. Almost glowing.
Could there be a man in her mother’s life?
Lori shook off the silly question. Of course there wasn’t. There never had been, not in all the years since her father had passed away. If Lori hadn’t been feeling so off-kilter, she would never have had such a crazy thought.
Just then, Smith and Valentina emerged from a back door Lori hadn’t noticed, both of them flushed and laughing, their hands linked together as Smith pulled her in for a lingering kiss.
“Aren’t they beautiful together?”
Her mother gave happy little sigh. “Oh yes. So very beautiful.”
Everyone was thrilled with the news that not only were Smith and Valentina engaged, but they would also be working together to produce a film in San Francisco next year based on Alcatraz.
“Not in the mood to dance yet?” her mother asked softly.
“No, not yet.” Her mother could probably see the dark smudges under her eyes even though she’d worked to conceal them with makeup.
“When you were a little girl,” Mary said, as she rubbed small, soothing circles on Lori’s back, “you used to talk all the time. So much that other mothers would shoot me sympathetic looks whenever we were out.” Mary smiled and leaned in closer, close enough that their foreheads touched for a moment. “But I loved it, loved that you wanted to share everything with me.”
Lori could feel the tears coming, knew she could tell her mother anything—anything at all—and Mary wouldn’t judge her.
But she couldn’t. Not yet. Not if there was still a chance that—
“I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too, honey.”
The next thing Lori knew, her hands were full of soft, sweet baby. She looked down into little Jackie’s face, then up into her twin sister’s eyes.
“They wanted their favorite aunt to come dance with them,” Sophie said, as if her infants could say or even think something like that at this stage in their development. But she knew her sister loved her too much to let her stay on the sidelines.
And as Lori and her mother were drawn onto the dance floor, each of them holding a baby in their arms as they moved to the music the wedding band was playing, with her brothers dancing over to tickle a little foot or grasp a small hand, Lori let herself pretend that everything was actually going to work out for her love life, too.
~ THE END ~
Watch for ALWAYS ON MY MIND (Lori Sullivan’s book), coming Spring 2013!
And don’t miss the first six books in Bella Andre’s Sullivan family series ~ out now!
(Chase & Chloe, The Sullivans #1)
(Marcus & Nicola, The Sullivans #2)
(Gabe & Megan, The Sullivans #3)
(Sophie & Jake, The Sullivans #4)
(Zach & Heather, The Sullivans #5)
(Ryan & Vicki, The Sullivans #6)
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Please enjoy the following excerpts from Bella Andre’s books...
THE LOOK OF LOVE
Chase & Chloe – The Sullivans # 1
© 2012 Bella Andre
Chloe Peterson is having a bad night. A really bad night. The large bruise on her cheek can attest to that. And when her car skids off the side of a wet country road straight into a ditch, she’s convinced even the gorgeous guy who rescues her in the middle of the rain storm must be too good to be true. Or is he?
As a successful photographer who frequently travels around the world, Chase Sullivan has his pick of beautiful women, and whenever he’s home in San Francisco, one of his seven siblings is usually up for causing a little fun trouble. Chase thinks his life is great just as it is—until the night he finds Chloe and her totaled car on the side of the road in Napa Valley. Not only has Chase never met anyone so lovely, both inside and out, but he quickly realizes Chloe has much bigger problems than her damaged car. Soon, Chase is willing to move mountains to love—and protect—her, but will Chloe let him?
Chloe vows never to make the mistake of trusting a man again. Only, with every loving look Chase gives her—and every sinfully sweet caress—as the attraction between them sparks and sizzles, she can’t help but wonder if she’s met the only exception. And although Chase didn’t realize his life was going to change forever in an instant, amazingly, he isn’t the least bit interested in fighting that change. Instead, he’s gearing up for a different fight altogether…for Chloe’s heart.
Enjoy the following excerpt for THE LOOK OF LOVE...
Chase almost missed the flickering light off on the right side of the two-lane country road. In the past thirty minutes, he hadn’t passed a single car, because on a night like this, most sane Californians—who didn’t know the first thing about driving safely in inclement weather—stayed home.
Knowing better than to slam on the brakes—he wouldn’t be able to help whomever was stranded on the side of the road if he ended up stuck in the muddy ditch right next to them—Chase slowed down enough to see that there was definitely a vehicle stuck in the ditch.
He turned his brights on to see better in the pouring rain and realized there was a person walking along the edge of the road about a hundred yards up ahead. Obviously hearing his car approach, she turned to face him and he could see her long wet hair whipping around her shoulders in his headlights.
Wondering why she wasn’t just sitting in her car, dry and warm, calling Triple A and waiting for them to come save her, he pulled over to the edge of his lane and got out to try and help her. She was shivering as she watched him approach.
“Are you hurt?”
She covered her cheek with one hand, but shook her head. “No."
He had to move closer to hear her over the sound of the water hitting the pavement in what were rapidly becoming hailstones. Even though he’d turned his headlights off, as his eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, he was able to get a better look at her face.
Something inside of Chase’s chest clenched tight.
Despite the long, dark hair plastered to her head and chest, regardless of the fact that
looking like a drowned rat
wasn’t too far off the descriptive mark, her beauty stunned him.
In an instant, his photographer’s eye cataloged her features. Her mouth was a little too big, her eyes a little too wide-set on her face. She wasn’t even close to model thin, but given the way her T-shirt and jeans stuck to her skin, he could see that she wore her lush curves well. In the dark he couldn’t judge the exact color of her hair, but it looked like silk, perfectly smooth and straight where it lay over her breasts.
It wasn’t until Chase heard her say, “My car is definitely hurt, though,” that he realized he had completely lost the thread of what he’d come out here to do.
Knowing he’d been drinking her in like he was dying of thirst, he worked to recover his balance. He could already see he’d been right about her car. It didn’t take a mechanic like his brother, Zach, who owned an auto shop—more like forty, but Chase had stopped counting years ago—to see that her shitty hatchback was borderline totaled. Even if the front bumper wasn’t half smashed to pieces by the white farm fence she’d slid into, her bald tires weren’t going to get any traction on the mud. Not tonight, anyway.
If her car had been in a less precarious situation, he probably would have sent her to hang out in her car while he took care of getting it unstuck. But one of her back tires was hanging precariously over the edge of the ditch.
He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Get in my car. We can wait there for a tow truck.” He was vaguely aware of his words coming out like an order, but the hail was starting to sting, damn it. Both of them needed to get out of the rain before they froze.
But the woman didn’t move. Instead, she gave him a look that said he was a complete and utter nut-job.
“I’m not getting into your car.”
Realizing just how frightening it must be for a lone woman to end up stuck and alone in the middle of a dark road, Chase took a step back from her. He had to speak loudly enough for her to hear him over the hail.
“I’m not going to attack you. I swear I won’t do anything to hurt you.”
She all but flinched at the word
attack
and Chase’s radar started buzzing. He’d never been a magnet for troubled women, wasn’t the kind of guy who thrived on fixing wounded birds. But living with two sisters for so many years meant he could always tell when something was up.
And something was definitely up with this woman, beyond the fact that her car was half-stuck in a muddy ditch.
Wanting to make her feel safe, he held his hands up. “I swear on my father’s grave, I’m not going to hurt you. It’s okay to get into my car.” When she didn’t immediately say no again, he pressed his advantage with, “I just want to help you.” And he did. More than it made sense to want to help a stranger. “Please,” he said. “Let me help you.”
She stared at him for a long moment, hail hammering between them, around them, onto them. Chase found himself holding his breath, waiting for her decision. It shouldn’t matter to him what she decided.
But, for some strange reason, it did.
...Excerpt from THE LOOK OF LOVE by Bella Andre ©2012.
Buy
THE LOOK OF LOVE
.
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FROM THIS MOMENT ON
Marcus & Nicola ~ The Sullivans #2
© 2012 Bella Andre
For thirty-six years, Marcus Sullivan has been the responsible older brother, stepping in to take care of his seven siblings after their father died when they were children. But when the perfectly ordered future he's planned for himself turns out to be nothing but a lie, Marcus needs one reckless night to shake free from it all.
