“She wanted nothing at all to do with me.” He shakes his head ruefully. “She took one look at Gary’s ugly face, and it was all over for both of them. If I’d have made a play for her, he would have shoved his foot up my ass.”
I chuckle and trace his tattoos on his hand again. “Poor guy, you lost the girl.”
He grows quiet, and I glance up to find him quietly watching me. “What’s wrong?”
He shakes his head, as if pulling himself out of a daydream, and flips his hand over to link his fingers with mine. “We’ve come a long way since the first time we sat in this café.”
“Yes, we definitely have,” I nod and tilt my head at him. “Are you happy?”
“Oh sunshine.” He sighs and pulls my hand up to his lips, brushes them over my knuckles and smiles widely at me. “Happy doesn’t begin to cover it.”
Epilogue
Two Months Later
Leo
God, it’s good to be home. We left Atlanta immediately after the show last night and flew straight home, arriving at SeaTac at around two in the morning.
Sam and I still haven’t slept.
Instead we’ve made love, cooked breakfast, fucked on the kitchen counter, and gone back to bed, lounging and enjoying each other after being apart for two weeks.
Two weeks at a time is all I’m willing to do.
“Oh, look!” Sam is sitting with her back propped against the headboard of her bed, her Sunshine Tour t-shirt on and her iPad in her lap. “There’s a picture of us on Yahoo!.”
The cat is curled on my stomach, purring as I pet him, my other hand tucked under my head. I’m staring at the ceiling. I don’t bother to look over at the iPad.
“Are we naked?” I ask, only half kidding. I’m terrified every day of the photos Melissa threatened us with showing up somewhere.
“No, thankfully not.” Sam laughs and pushes her fingers through my hair. Fuck, I love it when she does that. “This is from the show in Phoenix last week. Wow, they even printed my name under it, not just ‘Nash’s girlfriend’ or ‘Luke Williams’ sister.’”
I push the cat off my belly and turn over, cradling my head in my arms and sigh as Sam traces the sun on my shoulder blade.
“Oh, these are cute,” she murmurs. “God, look at that bag. The new Michael Kors line for the spring is to die for.”
“Are you shopping now?” I ask with a chuckle.
“Yeah, I don’t spend too much time on the rags, I just want to make sure my hair looks good in the photos.” She smirks. “Oh, fuck me, those shoes are going to be mine.”
As she goes on and on about shoes and bags and whatever the hell else she’s shopping for online, my mind drifts to later tonight. I think I’ll take her dancing. She loves to dance, and watching her sweet ass move makes me crazy.
On second thought, I’d better not. I’d have to kill every fucker who looks at her.
“I think I’m outgrowing my closet,” she mutters.
“Mmm hmm,” I mumble, almost falling asleep from the gentle sweep of her fingers over my back.
“I think I need to look into building a new one.”
“Wait, what?” I push up onto my elbows and stare up at her. “What are you saying?”
“I need a bigger closet,” she repeats as I pull the iPad out of her hands, set it on the bedside table and pull her down into my arms.
“Keep going,” I mutter and tuck her soft blonde hair behind her ear.
“Well, maybe we should start looking for an architect.” She bites her lip and eyes me speculatively, and I want to crow in happiness, but I just nod thoughtfully.
“You want to remodel your apartment?”
“Don’t be an ass.” She smacks my arm and then traces my tat there. The woman is forever touching me.
I hope she never stops.
“What are we hiring an architect for, Samantha?” I ask and nuzzle her nose.
“Well, we’ll probably also need a kitchen.” she shrugs. “And a place to sleep.”
“What else?”
“It takes months to build a house.” She lowers her gaze to my chest and I tilt her chin up to meet my gaze. “I don’t want to move all of our stuff into either this apartment or your townhouse. I’m not quite ready, and besides, I think we should start somewhere fresh.”
“Okay.”
“But by the time we find and hire an architect, approve plans, and the house is actually built, I think we’ll be more than ready.” The last few words are whispered.
“I’m gonna rush this process, sunshine. I’m warning you now. The contractor is going to hate my guts because I’ll be pushing him to finish every day.”
“I’ll warn Isaac,” she responds dryly.
“Are you sure?” I whisper. Please, God, tell me you’re sure.
“Yeah, my shoes are really over-crowded in this closet. They deserve better.”
“I’ll give them whatever they want.” I chuckle. “Sam, I want to give you the world. I love you so much, and I want to be with you, every day.”
“We can start with a big ass closet and sunken bathtub,” she grins and runs her thumb along my lower lip. I kiss the pad of her thumb softly. “I love you too, Leo Nash. Every damn day.”
The End
The With Me In Seattle Series continues in book five, SAFE WITH ME, Caleb and Brynna’s story. Watch for it in the summer of 2013.
Acknowledgements:
To my husband: Thank you. I love you, handsome.
My Naughty Mafia girls: Michelle Valentine, Kelli Maine and Emily Snow. Thank you for the love, the laughs and for your friendship. I love you guys.
To my beta readers: You know who you are. Thank you for being brutally honest and my biggest supporters. I couldn’t do this without you.
Renae Porter: You are amazing. Thank you for another beautiful cover.
Linus Pettersson: You were such a joy to work with! Thank you for sharing your talent with my readers and me.
Sulan Von Zoomlander: I couldn’t have asked for more in a musician to inspire this character. I appreciate the many hours of answering all of my incessant questions, and I appreciate your sense of humor. Thank you, for everything.