Ultimate Surrender: The Surrender Series, Book 2 (34 page)

And he looked just like Natalie.

Happiness gripped her chest as she hugged him again. “What happened? I thought you guys couldn’t travel with your newest.”

“We may have pulled a few strings,” Campbell offered up a few feet behind her as he approached with Starling, who by the looks of it had just been cleaned up after her cake extravaganza. She cuddled into him and Natalie rubbed her back.

“And how did you guys get here so fast? Especially with that storm in South Carolina that was supposed to hit?”

“We got to fly on a private jet,” Cooper spit out. “It was incredible. I’m totally gonna learn how to fly one day.”

“What strings?” Natalie wanted to know. “What private jet?”

“Classified,” Campbell and Braden answered together.

“The world trembled when you guys became friends,” Natalie pointed out. Focusing on a part of her extended family, she hugged Cooper again and sent up a quick prayer of thanks. She smiled. “So tell me everything about the plane.”

Cooper’s eyes lit up and he dove into every detail he could remember about the trip.

Kathryn and she had had a rocky start but as soon as Natalie had told her she never intended to negate or jeopardize the relationship Cooper had with her she’d opened up. They became close very soon afterward when Natalie thanked her.

She’d been blown away by her thanks especially after hearing the circumstances of her giving Cooper up for adoption so many years ago.

Natalie had thanked her for loving him and being the mother he needed and the one he was meant to have.

They’d cried that night and formed a very unique and amazing friendship. Especially with their similar interests in adoption.

Klynt was amazing too, and she thanked the heavens that everything seemed to be exactly how it was meant to be.

* * * * *

A couple hours later when guests began to leave, Braden departed with Cooper and his family in tow so he could get them safely to their hotel.

Natalie had wondered why Campbell fed her some bullshit reason why they needed to postpone leaving on their honeymoon for a couple days.

Now she understood.

He was giving her the time to spend with Cooper and his family while they were in town, especially since they’d never been to NYC before.

As they said goodbye to the rest of the guests, including Clay and Angela and a tuckered-out Wyatt, Campbell tugged her onto the dance floor as he held a sleeping Starling against his chest and shoulder.

Natalie held on tight. “I love you, my husband.”

His smile lit up the already bright ballroom and he kissed her. “I love you, my wife. Did you have a wonderful wedding?”

“Amazing,” she answered honestly. “But not nearly as good as the marriage is going to be.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” He kissed her again and stared at her. “I have a question I’ve been wondering since Braden dropped the bomb earlier.”

“Most epic wedding present ever.”

“No doubt,” he added, with a shake of his head.

“What’s the question?”

“Do you want to go work at Grant Enterprises? Take over for what your father did or what Braden does since you’re now the majority owner of the company? No limit to what you could or couldn’t do I’d say.”

She shook her head. “No interest in that at all. Already told Braden I hoped he liked working there since my father was imprisoned because I needed him to stay and run the company.”

“You did?” Campbell’s smile nearly took her knees out from under her.

Damn.

“Yes I did. The clinic has been my life for so long I don’t want to give it up. It’s important to me.”

“It’s important to a lot of people,” Campbell added. “So what are you going to do?”

“Learn really well how to invest and made good use of the money I’ve been gifted. More pregnancy clinics like this one around New York and then the US. Maybe adoption agencies as well?” She shrugged. “There’s a lot more people we could help and now I have funds to make it happen. Hope you’re ready to get your hands dirty, Mr. Campbell.”

His eyelids flared for a second. “You have no idea how dirty I want to get my hands at this exact moment. And just to let you know.” He gave her a quick kiss. “You’re so powerful, take charge, kick ass, and knowing you can do anything you put your mind to is so sexy. Just thought you needed to know.”

She grinned. “I most definitely needed to know.” She looked around and they were the last ones there other than the location staff and wedding planner who were trying to get everything closed down. “How about we go home and do a little bit of consummating?” She bobbed her eyebrows at him and he laughed.

Then he got serious. “I have one request first. Something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about for months.”

“Anything,” she answered honestly.

“Your wall at work. Your photographic to-do life list. I want in.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want to do everything with you. Go everywhere with you.” He wiggled Starling a bit. “Both of you. I’ve waited a long time to love you and I’m going to make the most of it.”

Natalie gazed at the amazing man standing before her. She cupped his cheek and stood on her tiptoes for a kiss. “Nothing would made me happier than making memories with you.”

“Together?” One more smile tilted her lips as he took her hand and led her to the door.

“For always…”

About the Author

Jennifer Kacey is a writer, mother, and business owner living with her miniman in Texas. She sings in the shower, plays piano in her dreams, and has to have a different color of nail polish every week. She’s the Amazon top seller and
award-winning author
of the Elite Warrior Series, Members Only Series, and the Surrender Series along with an ever growing list of standalone novels and novellas. The best advice she’s ever been given? Find the real you and never settle for anything less. Connect with her on Twitter @JenniferKacey and
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Look for these titles by Jennifer Kacey

Now Available:

The Coming Home Series

No Place Like Home

The Surrender Series

Final Surrender

Coming Soon:

Limitless Lovers Series

The Wright Lover

Without trust, their hearts—and their lives—don’t stand a chance in hell.

Final Surrender

© 2015 Jennifer Kacey

Surrender
, Book 1

Ten years ago, Angela Meyers told everyone she went to New York to find herself. It was a lie. She fled from the aftermath of one hot night with Clay Waters. A night filled with wet heat, all-consuming releases…then his regret.

Now, with a stalker threatening to destroy her career, there’s only one man she trusts to protect her. The man she still loves, hates,
needs
with every breath she takes.

It’s not that Clay never craved his best friend’s younger sister. With a ticket to boot camp burning a hole in his pocket, he couldn’t allow himself to love her. The moment he lays eyes on her again, the old need—to take down her tightly wound hair, press her long, lean body to his—surges inside him stronger than ever.

But this is no ordinary bodyguard assignment. The best way to identify the voice in Angela’s shadow is to lure it into the light of day. Even if it means convincing her to trust him with her heart…and surrendering his own.

Warning: When an ex-Marine reunites with his best friend’s younger sister, explosive sex is a given. So are explosive secrets. You may never look at a pair of Snoopy pajama pants the same way again.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Final Surrender:


Several hours later, after her brother begged and cajoled her to leave work and go with him to get food, they sat at a small table in his favorite restaurant.

They were in the middle of their meal and she wondered how long it was going to take him to get the nerve up to get to the real point of his trip. She knew he was beating around the bush and it had a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth as she ate her perfectly cooked orange chicken. His original reason of just wanting to come up for a visit was too good to be true.

She sipped her hot tea, lacing her fingers together around the fragile cup, her elbows on the table, while staring at her brother.

He eyed her wearily, sizing her up, and she couldn’t stand the suspense any longer.

“Okay out with it,” she declared as she set her cup back on the table, waving her hand at him like she was a matador and he the bull.

“Out with what?”

He tried to look chagrined and she finally let loose a low giggle, shaking her head. “Do you really think I’m that naïve?”

“What?” he asked again.

Angela folded her arms across her chest and cocked one eyebrow at him. He chuckled and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“How do you know? How do you always know?” he chuckled as he visibly relaxed a few degrees.

She took another drink of tea, letting it calm her frayed nerves. “You have this way of being very polite and asking questions. Beating around the bush I think is what they call it.”

He glanced up and she tried to hide a smile behind her porcelain cup as he shook his head. He took a deep breath, apparently done wasting time. “Okay, I did have a bit of an ulterior motive in coming,” he admitted.

“Well, duh,” Angela mumbled, rolling her eyes the slightest bit as she fought back another grin.

He stared at her intently across the table and her palms went slick. His smile faltered when he broke eye contact.

“This must be bad,” she guessed out loud when he had to compose himself.

“No, it’s not bad. I have to ask you a favor and I need you to try to be open-minded.”

That wouldn’t be hard. “Sure, Mark, whatever you need.” It was true. Anything he needed was his. Especially since he so rarely asked for things.

“Do you promise?” he asked quickly before she could change her mind.

“Or course.” She would give him anything. He was, hands-down, the closest member of her family and she loved him fiercely.

“I promise. Any favor you need, just tell me and I’ll make it happen.”

“Good, I’ve hired you a security team.”

There it was.

He had finally said it.

One deep breath later, he stared over at her. She was probably looking at him like he’d just called her a koala bear.

“You did what? Why?”

“The what, I just told you. I’ve hired you a private security team, to protect you when you need it. Any time you need it.” Her brain was already trying to back out of her promise, so he held up his hands to stay her excuses. “And the why is simple, Ang. We’ve all been worried about you for months and I know something is going on that you aren’t telling me. Do you deny it?” A scowl darkened his face, already expecting a lie. That hurt.

Angela thought long and hard before she answered him. “I appreciate your concern, but I don’t need nor want security around me.”

The time for playing nice had long since passed apparently.

He growled low, flipping her hand over to reveal the gash on her wrist. Speaking loud enough where only she could hear him, he said, “Can you cut the horse shit, Ang? Stop trying to change the subject and answer the fucking question. Has it started again?” Mark looked murderous in his instantaneous rage. Angela couldn’t blame him as she pulled her wrist back and slumped in her seat. She barely resisted the urge to palm the back of her head.

“Yes, it’s started again. Mail started arriving several weeks ago.” She looked down at the table as a tremor ran up her body at admitting the truth. “And I was attacked last week.” Mark ran his hands through his hair, a tick he resorted to only when he was really pissed.

“I can handle this,” she whispered. “I’ve already started looking into companies for events.”

“That’s what you said last time,” he drawled in his not-so-concealed Texan accent. “Look what that got you. Months of no sleep. The last time you were attacked, they broke how many bones? You had a concussion. Jesus. I wouldn’t have known any of that if it were up to you. Did my own sister call and tell me she needed me? Oh, no. Your fucking assistant called to tell me what was going on. And this was on top of all the creepy shit showing up at your building, not to mention the phone calls. Nights lying afraid in bed, and to this day, no answers as to who or why. Except that everything stopped. Magically.” His voice laced with bitter sarcasm.

When she didn’t readily deny it, he pushed onward. “You said if they came at you again you would take precautions. Sounds like the time is now, sweetheart.”

Her pride was already raising the hackles on the back of her neck. “Don’t call me sweetheart, you know it irritates me.”

She rubbed her temples in the vain attempt to stave off the migraine pounding against her skull.

She didn’t want security. She wanted her privacy and the calm surrender she had in her solitary life. She didn’t want to have to trust someone else with her safety, much less her life.

He relayed more information before she could start with all the reasons she could handle it. “It’s a firm from Texas that works only with high-profile clients. The head of C&C Security has recently become available and he’s willing to take you on, at my request. Then, only for special occasions and big events two agents will be here. I trust them implicitly, Ang. I would never suggest this if I didn’t.”

Angela searched for anything that could get her out of the trap she now found herself in.

“The police thought the attacks were random. Just some guys with too much time on their hands. Maybe a little obsessed,” she added in a rush as she could see Mark preparing to argue.

“Put yourself in my shoes, for just a moment,” Mark pleaded. “What would you do?”

Angela recognized the first blow of defeat as she stared into her brother’s concerned face. He wasn’t smug, or needling her just for the hell of it. He was scared and she knew it. It was what she saw in the mirror every time she was stupid enough to look.

She hated it when he spoke logic to her. Admittedly, if she were standing in his shoes now, she would have put her foot down last year and demanded he get security.

The last thing she wanted was someone sticking their nose into her business, but if the truth be told, depending on someone else with her safety. It simply left her feeling scared. What if she got them hurt? Or worse? She couldn’t live with that.

“Angie? Will you at least meet with him and give them a chance?” Mark asked after she failed to say a word.

She blew out the breath she had been holding and her bangs flew off her forehead for a second.

“Okay,” she finally agreed. “I’ll meet with him. When and where, since I’m sure you already have all of that planned?”

“Of course I do. Did you think I would come unprepared? He’ll be flying in tomorrow morning and I have him scheduled to meet us at your showroom at noon. Is that acceptable?” he asked with a smug smile of success.

She chuckled and shook her head. “I guess so.” Trying to regain her composure, she reached for the bill, which Mark snatched from under her palm.

“This one’s on me. Consider it a thank-you for finally listening to what we’ve all been saying for months. You’ll be happy you did.”

Mark stood and helped Angela to her feet as she grabbed her purse.

“If you ask me, I think it’s a bribe, but I’ll take it nonetheless. Thanks,” she said with a smile. She knew they all meant well, but this was going to take some getting used to.

As they walked to the front, Angela finally thought to ask, “Who is this person you have so much confidence in?”

Mark laid the bill on the counter with his credit card and said, “Oh, you know him, too, sort of. It’s Clay Waters, my best friend from high school. After high school, he…”

All of the blood rushed to her head and drowned out the rest of what Mark so animatedly talked about.

The smile she plastered on her face hid the shock and horror eating away at her insides.

She had to get out of this agreement she’d just made.

Bargain with anything she had.

Anyone else could do the job.

Not him.

Not Clay.

Angela forced herself to take a breath and heard Mark say, “…so he’ll be perfect for the job. Hey, Ang?” He waved a hand in front of her face. “You all right?”

She shook away the shock threatening to knock her to her knees. “Yeah, sorry, just kind of zoned out there.”

Mark rolled his eyes as he tugged her out of the spot she stood rooted to, and she silently continued to freak out as he hailed a cab.

After they got in and Mark had given the cabbie the address back to Angela’s studio, she asked, “Why Clay again? Wasn’t he military?”

“Hello, did you miss everything I just said?” he asked sarcastically. “He was active military for more than five years, but then decided he could do more in the private sector in security. His business partner Campbell just finished a really big contract on some foreign guy visiting the States and is going to keep everything else going in Texas so Clay can come here. Isn’t that something?”

Angela was so shocked, she barely heard herself mumble, “Yeah, something…”

Mark continued talking as Angela thought,
What is Clay doing? Why did he ever agree to this? How do I get out of it now?

Angela turned to face Mark and opened her mouth to tell him the truth, as he said, “I trust him with you, Angie. I trust him to keep you safe and protect you. I don’t know anyone else that I could say that for. He is a good man and a great friend. I just know this is going to work out.”

Angela shut her mouth with a snap.

Damn!

She made a promise to Clay many years ago, never to tell a soul of their one-night stand.

Her brother’s face was so filled with happiness, relaxing with the notion of her finally being protected. She couldn’t bear the thought of ruining it for him. If she told him the truth, everything he thought of his best friend would come into question.

“We’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” she stated as they got out at her studio.

Tomorrow
, her mind screamed, as she tried to unlock the door with shaking hands.

Oh, God. What have I done?

Angela picked at her food during dinner. Mark didn’t seem to notice, she didn’t think. He just chatted on about life in general and some of the buildings he’d worked on, plus a public library project coming up. Any other day his excitement would’ve been palpable.

She tried to listen and ask intelligent questions, but in the back of her mind all she could think was,
Oh God, Oh God
, as her nerves kicked in. Tidal waves of panic threatened to drown her.

After dinner they watched a funny B movie on cable. Earlier than usual, she hit the sack, complaining of being tired.

Rest was a hard commodity that night. Tears were always close to the surface and a couple times spilled over. Angela cried for what she lost and what she thought could have been if Clay had been anyone but Mark’s best friend.

The past played behind swollen eyes when her mind finally succumbed to sleep.