Thrill Ride (28 page)

“Call me Richard,” he murmured, eyes closed, dark lashes creating a fan of shadows on his cheeks. He was sliding a lazy hand up and down her hip. “I love it when you call me Richard.”

She bit her lip, smiling. “Richard?”

“
Oui, chere?
”

“Why did you change your mind?”

“Change my mind about what?”

“About loving me?” At this, his eyes snapped open and he searched her face. For some reason, her heart began to flutter and she pressed ahead quickly, “See, I figured you’d gone back to Louisiana to reassure yourself that loving someone hurt too bad. That letting me love you would eventually hurt
me
too bad. I imagined you standing over Lacy’s grave and—”

He placed a finger over her mouth, nodding his head. “
Oui
, I went back to Louisiana and I visited Lacy’s grave. And maybe I did it to try to bolster my stance on love.” Now her heart wasn’t fluttering, it was pounding. “But you know what happened as I was standing there in the sunshine with the Spanish moss hangin’ down from all the trees, the birds chirpin’ and the squirrels playin’?”

She shook her head, unable to look away from his sparkling eyes.

“I realized all I was rememberin’ were the good times, the happy times. With Lacy, with my parents. And it occurred to me, that though their deaths were painful, I wouldn’t give up the times I had with them for anything. The sweet times, the
lovin’
times are worth everything else that comes along in this ol’ life, even the agony of loss. And that’s when I knew I’d been a fool. See, I didn’t change my mind about lovin’ you, Vanessa. I’ve loved you all along.” Oh, and weren’t those just about the sweetest words ever spoken? “I just changed my mind about admitting it to myself, and about letting
you
love
me
.”

“That’s a really good answer,” she told him, her smile so big it was making her cheeks hurt.

He shifted onto his side then, his expression growing serious. “I’m so sorry I hurt you,
chere
.”

She tunneled her fingers into his short hair, leaning down to kiss his lips. “Ah,” she whispered, “but, like you said, all the good times to come, all the
loving
times to come are going to totally make up for it.”

“
Dieu
, I hope so,” he muttered, palming her ass and rolling them until she was on top of him. “And I never thanked you for comin’ after me, but I want to thank you now. I’d be dead if you hadn’t done what you did. It’s because of you I’m here now.”

“Well I’ll be damned,” she said, shaking her head and laughing.

“What?”

“Boss said you’d thank me for that one day, but I didn’t believe him. Guess I should have, huh? That man’s rarely wrong.”

“I don’t want to talk about Boss,” Rock said, and her breath hitched when she felt him hard and throbbing between her legs.

“No?” she whispered, moving gently against him, loving the feel of him beneath her. “So then let’s talk about how you can thank me for saving your stubborn ass.”

“How’s that?” he asked, trying to catch her lips, but she eluded him.

“You can thank me by taking me out. On a date.”

“I’ll take you to moon if that’s what you want,
mon
ange
. Now, kiss me.”

“Nope,” she shook her head, giggling when he frowned. “I don’t want the moon.”

“
Merde
,” he grumped. “You’re gonna make me dress up in a monkey suit and take you somewhere fancy, right? Like Alinea? Or what’s that frou-frou Italian place Christian likes so much? Spiaggia?”

“The Cubs are in town next week,” she said, fighting a grin as he got very still beneath her. Still, except for that one hand that continued to rub her ass unconsciously.

“You’re a baseball fan?” She could hear the hope and excitement in his voice as clearly as one hears a struck bell.

“Aren’t you?”

“Marry me,” he said, and she couldn’t help it, she laughed.

“How about we start with a baseball game and see where it goes from there?” she said, groaning when he kissed his way up her throat to nibble on her chin.

“That’s sounds like a wonderful plan,
chere
,” he murmured before claiming her lips. But in her head, she knew she was eventually going to get Rock to that altar. And, oh, what a wonderful story they would have to tell their grandchildren. The story of a woman who was scared of the dark and a man who was scared of love, who’d come together to overcome all their fears…

As always, I must give props to my husband. This past year has been a doozy. Full of ups, downs, and even a few sideways. But, you’ve been by my side through it all. My heart, my inspiration, my rock…

A big shout-out to Catherine Mann, fellow romantic suspense author. Cathy, you agreed to read the manuscript of a total unknown, then dared to go a step further and endorse the book in front of the world. I am forever honored and grateful.

A resounding
huzzah
to all the folks at Sourcebooks. It takes a village to launch a debut series into a bestselling one, and the hours each of you spent on these books both awes and humbles me. Thank you.

And, last but certainly not least,
thank
you
to our fighting men and women, those in uniform and those out of uniform. You protect our freedom and way of life so we all have the chance to live the American dream.

Julie Ann Walker is the
USA
Today
and
New
York
Times
bestselling author of the Black Knights Inc. romantic suspense series. She is prone to spouting movie quotes and song lyrics. She’ll never say no to sharing a glass of wine or going for a long walk. She prefers impromptu travel over the scheduled kind, and she takes her coffee with milk. You can find her on her bicycle along the lake shore in Chicago or blasting away at her keyboard, trying to wrangle her capricious imagination into submission. For more information, please visit
www.julieannwalker.com
or follow her on Facebook
www.facebook.com/jawalkerauthor
and/or Twitter
@JAWalkerAuthor
.