Seal'd to Her: A Billionaire Second Chance Romance Read online

  Our guests? “Actually, we have two and a half hours before anyone shows up, and who the hell shows up to a party early?”

  She gave me a look that said it all. “I can think of one person who showed up hours early.” She laughed and gave me one last kiss before jumping off the counter. “But I’m glad I didn’t have to wait until later to clear all that up. It is all clear, isn’t it?”

  I laughed and wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tight. Just enjoying the feel of her in my arms and knowing she would be there for the rest of our lives. “Crystal clear.”

  “Good.”

  “So am I moving in here or are you moving into my place?” It was fast but I knew I needed to lock this woman down before she realized just how incredible she was.

  Jaya laughed and pressed a kiss to my chest. “Let’s spend some more time together before you move your black and white furniture in here, okay?” On her tiptoes, she reached for me and kissed me hard. “But you can stay here any night you want.”

  “Every night, then.”

  “Fine by me. I guess that means you won’t be taking those jars of barbecue sauce home?”

  “The office,” I said quickly. “Whenever we get barbecue the sauce never tastes as good as yours.”

  Her face flamed pink and I really wanted to lay her down and kiss her all over because it reminded me so much of nineteen-year-old Jaya who couldn’t get through dirty talk without blushing. She got herself under control and rolled her eyes. “I already said I love you Colt, no need for flattery.”

  I had to laugh at that. “If you’d like, I’ll put a jar up in the bedroom and prove to you just how much I love it.”

  Jaya froze and pulled out of my arms, and I started to freak out. She put the counter between us again, her back to me and I wondered what the hell had just happened. Then she turned and shoved something in my arms but I was too focused on her face. On the mischievous smile on her face. “Better make it two jars. Just to be sure.”

  Fuck me, I would never get enough of this woman!

  Jaya

  Six months later

  Today was the day. The day Colt and I would take the next step in our relationship. Six months ago, we declared our love for each other in this very kitchen and now the time had come to talk about more. He wanted to move in the day of my housewarming barbecue but I said we had to wait. I loved Colt, of that much I had always been certain, but I needed to be sure that what we had together wasn’t a fluke. That we had what it will take, as adults, to make a long-term commitment to one another.

  I know he loves me, but our love needed to mature the same way we had. It couldn’t be the same puppy love if our relationship was to survive the hurdles a relationship would face over decades. And more than anything I wanted forever with this man. I could see us old and gray and wrinkled, sitting on Adirondack chairs sipping beers and cursing like sailors. That was who we were, or who we would be.

  There wouldn’t be any knitting and iced tea in our future, because hello, former homicide cop and former SEAL. Colt would say there’s no such thing as a former SEAL. The guys at the office loved to remind me, “Once a SEAL, always a SEAL.”

  “Hey babe, where are you?”

  I smiled. Colt had arrived at the perfect time. I had a plan for the rest of the day and him arriving on time meant it would all go as planned. “In here,” I yelled from the kitchen. I had on a salmon colored sweater that I thought looked pretty amazing on me. Over the months I’d put on some weight so I didn’t look so frail and skeletal, though soon I’d have more than enough extra padding.

  “Not that I’m complaining, but why did you want to meet here?”

  “Because I have a few surprises for you, my love.” I grabbed his hand, intertwining our fingers together, and pulled him upstairs to the bedroom. Our new and improved bedroom. “This is the first one,” I told him and pulled apart the sliding doors that lead to the new closet.

  “What’s all this?” He stepped inside and he smiled at the sight of my clothes hanging in no clear order on the right side of the closet but he lit up like Fourth of July fireworks at the empty left side.

  “We needed more closet space if you’re going to move in here.” Colt had been so good about not pressuring me and he’d only brought it up once, four months ago. So I showed up at his house two weeks ago with a couple bags while the contractor made the closet bigger at the expense of one of the guest rooms.

  “Move in? Seriously?”

  I nodded, feeling my whole body flame with warmth. And lust because whenever Colt was nearby my body got ready for his special brand of loving.

  “Completely and totally seriously. Do you want to move in with me? Shack up? Live in sin?”

  With a bright smile he couldn’t contain, Colt pulled me into the closet. “Honey I would love nothing more than to shack up with you. Now I think we should do a little sinnin’ inside this closet.” I shivered at the dark look in his eyes, the sexy smile that my panties growing damp with arousal and the feel of his hands that had my nipples instantly hard.

  Soon we were both naked and sweaty, hips moving at the same frenetic rhythm until we found a rapid release. “Damn. It just gets better and better,” I panted, licking the salty liquid from his neck.

  “Yeah,” he agreed, one of his big calloused hands rubbing slow, seductive circles low on my back. “Note for future closet sex. We need carpeting in here. Thick, plush carpeting.”

  I laughed on top of him, our bodies still together as one. Colt groaned at the tight squeeze my laughter caused. “Good thing I have a big strapping SEAL to do things like that now.”

  “I see. You only love me for my carpentry skills.”

  My eyes went big and I pushed myself to a sitting position, groaning when he sank deeper inside me. “I think I would like to act out a carpenter fantasy. You in nothing but a tool belt. Maybe a hard hat. Yeah I could get into that.” It felt good to laugh and be playful again. To enjoy my life. It wasn’t all because of Colt, but he had a lot to do with it. So did my grief counselor who I’d only recently stopped seeing.

  “I have a tool belt somewhere. I’ll be sure to pack it and bring it over.” He squeezed my ass and thrust up one final time before letting me roll off him. “But seriously, I need to get off this floor. Dark hard wood floors are nice to look at, not so nice to fuck on.”

  I laughed and rubbed his back, following him out of our new closet. “Poor you. Let’s get cleaned up because that’s just the first part of your surprise.” I felt more concerned about the next part. My counselor had helped a lot with this, and today I felt strong enough to lay it all out there. Our future depended on it.

  The shower took a little longer than it should have, but I couldn’t complain because making love to Colt, fucking Colt, quickies with Colt were pretty much better than any damn thing on the planet. Finally we were all soaped up and rinsed off and pruned to high hell.

  “New rule,” I told him with a grin, loving the way his eyes tracked my every move as I slathered body butter all over myself. “Shower time is alone time during the week and when I’m on call.”

  His deep laugh drew closer and he wrapped his arms around me, inhaling the scent of my hair. Behind my neck. “I’ll try my best.”

  That worked for me because there was no way on earth I could possibly resist an opportunity to get soapy and slick with this fine male specimen. “Good. Now put on some pants for the next surprise.” We headed downstairs and back to the kitchen where a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne chilled in a bucket. I’d even sprung for the good stuff.

  “Damn babe what smells so good?”

  “That would be pizza and buffalo wings.” I was going for a theme though I doubted he would pick up on it until it was staring at him right in the face.

  His strong hand plucked up the bottle and glanced at the label, because though my man was still a Navy SEAL and a hometown Chicago boy, he was also a wealthy CEO, which meant his tastes had grown a bit more discerning over th
e years.

  “Interesting choice.”

  “Yep.” That’s all I said because the timer beeped and I pulled the food from the oven and put it all on huge platters. “Have a seat,” I told him and put on some old-school R&B before bringing the food to the table.

  “You’re doing it up big time baby. I can’t wait to hear the surprise.” His gaze took in the food. Miniature pizzas and buffalo drumettes. “Okay.”

  I took a seat and brushed my hair behind me with my fingers. “I love you Colt and we’re moving forward to the next phase of our lives. I hope you’ll be happy about what I’m about to tell you because I’ve been trying to find a way to say this all week.” The last time this happened it turned my life upside down. It caused a deep chasm I’d been sure was irreversible. “Colt,” I paused again, unable to get the words out.

  “You’re pregnant,” he grinned, all cocky and leaning back in his chair, fingers woven behind his head.

  “You knew? Or you guessed?”

  “Seriously? We’ve been having nonstop sex for almost a year. Never mind the fact that most of it was unprotected, damn you feel so good skin on skin,” he smiled and got lost in memories for a few moments. “I also know that you haven’t had a period in at least two months.”

  “Well damn. I thought I was surprising you. I guess all this was for nothing.”

  “Not for nothin’ sweetheart.” He bit into a mini pizza, taking half in just one bite. “I love that you went through all this to tell me we’re having another baby. But I don’t love that you weren’t sure of my reaction.”

  “Well we hadn’t planned on children yet, and we only technically started living together today.”

  “Babe we’ve been living together since August.”

  True. “Okay so…we’re having a baby!”

  His smile beamed so bright I might have gotten a tan. “Either that or you’re on a diet and we’re only eating tiny foods.”

  “Smart ass.”

  He smiled with a mouthful of chicken. “You love me.”

  “I really, really do.”

  “Right back atcha Jay-Jay.”

  Colt

  Later that night

  Jaya kind of stole my thunder earlier today, but damn I can’t bring myself to be upset about it. The fact that Jaya had not only gone all in on our relationship, but initiated the next step, was sexy as hell. It only made me love her more. The past few months have been the best of my life, even better than the first time we were together.

  The conversation was better now with years of experience and pursuing our own interests. We both laughed easier now because we knew how hard finding happiness could be. We both knew we had to grab happiness where we found it which meant we spent a lot of time just having fun. And the sex, good god it was the best sex I ever had and it kept getting better and better. Jaya had the body of a woman, muscular and strong enough to take all of me, everything I gave her. And curvy enough to make it all fun. Yeah, I loved her and now it was my turn for a little surprise.

  “Penny for your thoughts.”

  I looked up and Jaya stood wearing the sexiest scrap of lace that must have been created by the devil.

  “Damn.” It wasn’t the smoothest thing I could have said, but shit I think I swallowed my tongue because a grunt came out and I had to adjust my cock in my jeans. “You look…fuck.”

  She tipped her head back and laughed, the sound beautiful and husky. And all I could focus on was the way her tits jiggled in sexy white cups that made her nipples look rosy and hard. And delicious.

  “Thank you. This isn’t part of your surprise but I did buy it for this occasion.”

  Fuck. How in the hell did I get so damn lucky? “That outfit is perfect. Absolutely fucking perfect.” I stood, walked to her and traced a finger over the swell of her breasts.

  “Yeah? Perfect for what,” she asked with her hands on her hips, looking sassy as hell with a defiant glint in her eyes.

  Ah, shit. I was missing one important prop. “Hold that thought.” I took the stairs two, maybe three, at a time and rifled through my work bag where I’d kept the ring box for the past three months. Waiting. Hoping. Until Jaya was ready. For this. For us.

  “I’m getting a little lonely down here,” she called but I could hear the smile in her voice.

  “Well then let me fix that for you,” I told her as I ran down the stairs wearing a big smile. “Come here.” I sat her on the sofa and took the seat beside her, holding her hands in mine.

  “Okay I like this.” She snuggled closer, smiling like a little nymph in sexy lace. “What’s up?”

  “You are babe, always.” Jaya’s smile distracted me from the fact that her hands now stroked over my growing erection. “Jaya,” I groaned and stilled her hands. “I love you and now that we’re moving forward there’s something very important I want to ask you.” Damn this was harder than I thought it would be.

  “Yes Colt. I will blow you during the Super Bowl.”

  I groaned. “I’m gonna hold you to that, but that’s not the question.” Damn with that kind of offer on the table I’m going to make her my wife tomorrow. “This is what I’ve wanted since I first saw you in that red and white striped bikini when you were fifteen. All arms and legs with just enough boobs to make me look twice. Okay three times.” She giggled at that memory, gasping as I pulled out the ring box. “Jaya Martinson, my beautiful badass future baby mama, will you promise to be by my side changing diapers, planning ops and making sweet love to me whenever the mood strikes? Will you marry me?”

  She nodded as tears pooled in her eyes. “I don’t want to cry, not tonight. Not while I’m feeling so happy.” Her arms wrapped around my neck and she sat in my lap, right up against where I wanted her and soon, would be buried. Deep. “My sweet former SEAL.”

  “Always a SEAL.”

  She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Colt I want nothing more in this world than to be your wife.”

  “Yeah?”

  She nodded, her smile turning wicked. “Oh yeah. And guess what?”

  “What?”

  “This thing has buttons in the perfect spot.” It took a moment for her words to register, but when they did my hand snaked between her legs and pulled.

  “Fuck. Me.”

  “Oh, I fully intend to. How else are we going to fill that big house you think I don’t know you’ve been thinking about buying with children?”

  “Damn I love you Jaya.”

  “I know and I love you too. Now Colt, please, for the love of deep dish pizza and frogmen, take off your pants!”

  “Did you say frogmen?”

  “I sure did,” she grinned and lifted just enough so I could shove my pants down.

  But I had other ideas. “I’m not sure if I can love you more than I do right now.”

  “Maybe not, but you can sure try.”

  I did more than try. I loved her until we were both dehydrated, numb from the waist down and deliriously happy.

  “Do or don’t do baby, there is no try.”

  “Did you just quote Star Wars to me?”

  “Damn right I did.”

  She laughed and tightened her grip on me. “Now I’m going to have to love you until the rest of us is numb.”

  She did.

  We were.

  This was going to be fun.

  ***

  THE END.

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  Nannies Down under: Amber

  Finn

  “Mr Ormond, call on line two, it’s your mother-in-law.”

  Damn! I looked at the phone, trying to decide whether to take the call or not. This was the third time this week that Jennifer had called, and it was beginning to grate. I got that she wanted to stay connected to Lilah, especially after what had happened to Erin, but I was a busy man. This was getting intrusive.

  I looked out of my offic
e onto the Melbourne city streets. It was a view that I never tired of. An office on the thirteenth floor, with ceiling to floor windows. In between phone calls and appointments, I would often stare momentarily on that view, getting my thoughts together for the next round of negotiations.

  That’s how life played out, when you worked in one of the most prestigious finance centres in Australia. I worked long hours, rarely making it home before nine of an evening, and starting before seven. It was the only way to stay on top of the game. Sure, I was a very wealthy man, but I never wanted to rest on my laurels. Besides, work had helped ease the pain, after what had happened to Erin.

  The phone buzzed again, the red light flashing insistently. That’s right, the call. Sighing heavily, I picked up the receiver, pressing the button to connect it.

  “Jennifer.” I put my feet up on the desk. “Third time this week. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “Finn.” Jennifer’s voice sounded crackly, as if she was speaking through a tunnel. Well, she was calling from Washington, in the States. “Michael and I have been discussing things a bit further. I wanted to keep you abreast.” I frowned. What was she up to? Or rather, what were both of my in-laws up to?

  “Abreast of what, Jennifer?” I tapped my fingers impatiently on the desk. “I’ve told you everything about how Lilah is coping. I’ve said you are both welcome to come and visit any time you like.”

  “Yes, we realise that.” Jennifer paused. I strained to hear. “Only – and don’t get mad at this, Finn – we think that perhaps it should be the other way around. Lilah should come to us.” A pause. “Permanently.”

  I swung my legs off the desk, sitting upright. “Permanently?”

  I could hear the sigh on the other end of the line. “We know you do the best you can, Finn. It’s been so hard for you, since Erin died. But you work so much. Lilah is left all alone, without her mother and her father. It can’t be good for her.”

  “Now, wait a goddamn minute.” I felt a fission of fear prickle down my spine. “You aren’t taking Lilah! She’s just lost her mother, for Christ’s sake. She can’t lose her father as well. She’s only four years old.”