But the truth was that everything she knew about the heart of a sailor had come from being loved by--and loving--him. So this cover story wasn't only about Dylan. It was about her, too.
Which meant that to create the most honest, most powerful piece of writing possible, she had to strip away all of the layers and lay her own heart bare.
She'd been utterly vulnerable on the sailboat during the storm and had come away feeling stronger and more hopeful than ever. And when she'd been vulnerable with Dylan, she'd come away with more love than she'd ever dreamed of. Now, she was just as vulnerable on the page while she wrote her love story for the man, the ocean, and the sailboats that had done so much to shape him--and she was finally loving every single word she wrote.
And every single moment with her beautiful sailor, too.
EPILOGUE
Two weeks later...
Adam Sullivan raised his glass of champagne for a toast to celebrate the marriage vows Dylan and Grace had just shared. They were in Dylan's boathouse--empty now as he got ready to begin his new commission for a custom thirty-eight-foot sailboat--and the sun was shining down on them all through the open panels on the roof. When Adam had designed the boathouse for his brother, he'd never envisioned a wedding taking place in the space, but it had worked out great, with more than enough room for family and close friends to witness their vows and have a little party afterward.
Dylan and Grace held Mason together as the three of them smiled for Mia, who was taking pictures as their unofficial wedding photographer. A short while later, when it was time for everyone to wave the three of them off on their sailing honeymoon to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, Adam--and everyone else--was surprised to see the brand-new sailboat tied up to the dock just outside the boathouse.
Adam knew something was up even before his brother said, "It was a perfect day to marry the love of my life in front of the people who mean the most to us." Dylan paused to kiss both Grace and Mason, both of whom he was holding close. "And it's also the perfect day for us to give you all this boat."
Mia shot Adam an incredulous look before turning back to Dylan. "Are you saying that you made this amazing sailboat for us?"
Dylan wasn't able to do more than grin and nod before Mia was launching herself into his arms. Within seconds, Brooke and Tatiana and his mom were there--with all the men in the family soon joining in on the big Sullivan group hug, too. Little Mason was in his element, whooping it up with the big family that had so happily adopted him from that first Friday night dinner.
Everyone was on cloud nine, and Adam was extremely happy for them all. Only Dylan would make a killer sailboat like this to give away to his family. They were a lucky bunch. Adam had always appreciated that.
The only thing he didn't love just then was being the last single Sullivan in Seattle. Because if he knew anything about his family--and he could usually read each of them like an open book--they wouldn't rest until they'd seen him happily paired off, too.
After everyone had taken some time to admire their brand-new sailboat, Rafe intercepted Adam as he headed back into the boathouse to flirt with a pretty woman in a short black skirt who was serving champagne and hors d'oeuvres.
"You're a dog," Rafe said. "You know that, right?"
Adam barked once, making Rafe laugh.
"What's your schedule like Wednesday afternoon?" Rafe asked.
"I can open it up if you need me to." That was an easy one for Adam. Family always came first. "What's up?"
"Brooke needs to be at the lake to make extra truffle deliveries this week to some new accounts, and I've got a big case I need to head to Portland to wrap up, but we've got an appointment we really can't put off any longer."
"Who are you meeting with?"
"The wedding planner. And don't blame Brooke for this request," Rafe said as he lifted a hand to head Adam off at the pass. "When it turned out everyone else had a conflict on that day, she told me not to ask you and said she'd figure something out. But I know how heartbroken she'd be if we screwed things up with the wedding planner by canceling on her again because we haven't been able to coordinate our schedules lately."
Rafe knew just how to play it--Adam couldn't say no because he didn't want to do anything to hurt Brooke, either. "Sure, I can meet with the wedding planner."
"Thanks," Rafe said with a grin. "You're a life saver."
But something about Rafe's grin seemed a little too pleased. Clearly, thought Adam, the matchmaking by his family had already begun.
THE END
For news on upcoming Sullivan stories, click here to sign up for Bella Andre's New Release Newsletter.
Watch for the next Seattle Sullivan story about Adam Sullivan, coming Spring 2015!
Also coming Spring 2015...Bella will be releasing TEMPT ME LIKE THIS, the second book in her "New Adult" contemporary romance series about the Morrisons. Please sign up for her New Release Newsletter to find out when both books are released!
*
The following books in Bella's New York Times & USA Today bestselling Sullivan series are out now!
THE LOOK OF LOVE
(Chase & Chloe)
FROM THIS MOMENT ON
(Marcus & Nicola)
CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE
(Gabe & Megan)
I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU
(Sophie & Jake)
IF YOU WERE MINE
(Zach & Heather)
LET ME BE THE ONE
(Ryan & Vicki)
COME A LITTLE BIT CLOSER
(Smith & Valentina)
ALWAYS ON MY MIND
(Lori & Grayson)
ONE PERFECT NIGHT
(A novella guest starring Mia Sullivan and Rafe Sullivan)
KISSING UNDER THE MISTLETOE
(Mary & Jack Sullivan)
THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT
(Rafe & Brooke, The Seattle Sullivans)
IT MUST BE YOUR LOVE
(Mia & Ford, The Seattle Sullivans)
JUST TO BE WITH YOU
(Ian & Tatiana, The Seattle Sullivans)
I LOVE HOW YOU LOVE ME
(Dylan's story, The Seattle Sullivans)
*
Click here to download a Sullivan Family Tree!
*
Please enjoy the following excerpt from THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT (Rafe Sullivan's story), the first Seattle Sullivan book...
As a very successful private investigator who has caught most of the cheaters in Seattle with their pants down, Rafe Sullivan believes true, lasting love only happens once in a blue moon. Needing to get away from the city to clear his head, he finds the lake house where he spent the best summers of his life is now a wreck...but the sweet girl next door is all grown up and prettier than anything he's ever seen.
While Brooke Jansen is happy making and selling chocolate truffles in her small Pacific Northwest lake town, she secretly longs to experience something wild. So when her favorite "Wild Sullivan" moves in again next door after more than a decade away, and sparks fly between them, she can't stop wondering if being bad is really as good as it always seemed...and just how long it will be before she can find out.
But when their summer fling quickly spirals into deeper emotions than either of them were expecting, can they survive the heat between them? Or will Rafe make the biggest mistake of his life and end up losing the best thing that's ever happened to him?
Enjoy the following excerpt from THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT...
A lone man had just ridden up on his motorcycle, the ends of his dark hair whipping out from beneath his helmet.
Now that, thought Brooke with immediate female appreciation, is what wild and free looks like.
Her parents had taught her it wasn't polite to stare, but she couldn't remember why that admonition mattered as she watched the man pull off his helmet and run a large hand through his hair. She couldn't see his face yet, but she didn't need to see his features to know just how good looking he was. His shoulders were incredibly broad and even
from a distance she could see how big--and how capable--his hands were where he gripped the handlebars.
She was so busy reeling from a blast of pure lust for the stranger as he stepped away from his motorcycle that it took her a moment longer than it should have to realize that he wasn't a stranger after all.
"Rafe?" His name came out as little more than a stunned whisper. "Is that really you?"
Her question was loud enough that he finally turned to face her. Only, instead of responding, he didn't say a word, didn't even move.
All he did was stare, but it was okay because she was busy staring right back.
People often said memories made things sweeter than they actually were. But Brooke now knew that wasn't true at all. Not only had she not embellished how good looking Rafe Sullivan was over the years that they'd been apart, but, if anything, her recollections had sorely underplayed just how gorgeous he truly was.
His hair was dark and just a little too long, his skin was tanned, his jaw was dark with stubble, and he was so big and tall that she knew she'd have to stand on her tippy-toes and wrap her arms around his neck to kiss him.
The thought of doing something like that had her body instantly going warm all over despite the cool breeze. She'd been little more than a baby the first time she remembered setting eyes on Rafe, but even then, he'd stood out from the rest of his siblings as more fun. More daring. And infinitely more beautiful.
When he still didn't say anything, she took a step in his direction. "It's me, Rafe. Brooke Jansen. Remember?"
Finally, the intensity of his dark gaze shifted into one of recognition. "Little Brooke," he said in a low voice that rippled over her, "how could I forget you?"
She had spent far too many years squashing her wild impulses. But following a wild impulse wasn't what sent her straight into the arms of her favorite Sullivan without a second thought. It was pure happiness at finally seeing him again.
He caught her against his chest as she hugged him tight. He smelled so good and the bare patch of skin above his T-shirt was so warm despite the cool evening air that she couldn't resist burying her face against him. As she held on tight, she felt safer than she had in years. She'd lost too many of her favorite people from childhood, and was infinitely grateful to be given the precious gift of one of them back in her life.
She might have held on to him like that forever if it hadn't been for her sudden realization of just how good his hard, heated muscles felt against her cold, wet, nearly bare skin.
The little girl inside her had thrown herself into his arms...but it was the woman she'd become who wanted to move even closer.
When she was eight years old, the crush she'd had on Rafe was sweet. Innocent. But what she was feeling now was decidedly not sweet.
Nor was it anywhere close to innocent.
Wild. The thought--no, it was more desire and pure need than it was a cognizant thought--came at her in an instant: I want to be wild with Rafe Sullivan.
Excerpt from THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT by Bella Andre (c) 2013.
Buy THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT
*
Please also enjoy the following excerpt from the first San Francisco Sullivan book, THE LOOK OF LOVE...
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?
Enjoy the following excerpt from 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 d
efinitely 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 (c) 2013.
Buy THE LOOK OF LOVE
Click here to sign up for Bella's New Release Newsletter to find out about future books as soon as they're released!
BOOKLIST
The Sullivan Family series
The Look of Love
From This Moment On
Can't Help Falling In Love
I Only Have Eyes For You
If You Were Mine
Let Me Be The One
Come A Little Bit Closer
Always On My Mind
One Perfect Night
Kissing Under The Mistletoe
The Way You Look Tonight
It Must Be Your Love
Just To Be With You
I Love How You Love Me
The Morrison Family series
Kiss Me Like This
Tempt Me Like This (Drew Morrison's story, coming soon)
Game For Love series
Game For Love
Take Me series
Love Me
Take Me
Stand-alone Novels
Candy Store
Ecstasy
Red Hot Reunion
Tempt Me, Taste Me, Touch Me