Forever With Me

  “How did you get so smart?”

  “I was in love with you for a long time, and you couldn’t love me back.” My heart stumbles to a stop as my eyes widen and my jaw drops. “I’m lucky just to have you in my life. I got over it, and now I think of you more like a sister, but don’t shut Dom out the way you did me. Not if you think it could work out between you.”

  “Blake.”

  “I mean it. Go back out there.”

  “I’m going to go help Emily out tonight at the Haverland wedding.” I’m still stuck like stupid on I was in love with you for a long time. “Blake, I didn’t know.”

  “You weren’t in a good place then, kiddo. You’re good now. I’m okay.”

  “We’re okay?”

  “We will be if you go back to the vineyard tonight. Emily doesn’t need your help. The Haverland wedding is tiny, and she has it handled.”

  “It’s my business. I should be there.”

  “It’s your business, and you’ve hired good people. You’re being stubborn again.”

  “I love you too, you know.”

  “I know. Go to the vineyard.”

  “No.”

  “I’ll give you a thousand bucks.”

  “I don’t need it.” I giggle and flop down on my couch, feeling more relaxed than I have since this morning when I was in Dom’s arms. “You’re bossy.”

  “Fine. Do what you want.” He sighs dramatically. “What do I care if Salvatore gets laid?”

  “He already got laid today. He’s fine.”

  “I don’t want to know this.”

  I chuckle again and then take a deep, cleansing breath. “So, I overreacted.”

  “Probably. What’s up with women? Why can’t y’all just fuck like rabbits and then get on with your day? Why do you have to sketch out a three-year plan and talk it to death? Just enjoy the sex, for Christ sakes.”

  “People should pay you for this advice,” I say dryly. “Speaking of sex, are you seeing anyone?”

  “I’m seeing a few someones,” he replies with a smile in his voice. “I don’t have sex hang-ups.”

  “You’re gross. Tell me you’re being careful.”

  “I buy condoms by the case.”

  “Ew.”

  “You asked, sweetheart.”

  Chapter Nine

  ~Dominic~

  “Good morning, Mr. Salvatore.”

  I glance up from my computer as Celeste walks briskly into my office. “Good morning.”

  “I just saw Alecia,” she begins, and opens her iPad to go over notes with me, as is our usual morning routine. “She was just leaving.”

  My heart stills. “Leaving?”

  “She said she has some business that requires her attention, so she asked me to pass the message on to you.”

  “Fine.” I nod, as the rest of me sighs in relief. Business. Yes, it’s just like my Alecia to run off at a moment’s notice if her business needs her. I love her work ethic, her passion for her job.

  Yet, it’s interesting that while she loves the planning, she’s as cynical as they come when it comes to love.

  I wonder if I can change her mind in that area.

  I begin rattling off duties for Celeste to see to during the day. “Mick, the head of security, will be here tomorrow morning, and every day thereafter until the wedding.”

  “Yes, I have that on the schedule,” Celeste replies with a nod. “Do you want me to have lunch brought in for your brothers today?”

  “My brothers?” I ask with a raised brow.

  “Yes, all of them are here.”

  I blink at Celeste in confusion. “All of them?”

  “Whether related by blood or marriage, they’re here. The backyard is a huge mass of testosterone. Can you bring them by more often?”

  I laugh as I stand and shake my head at my assistant. “They’re all completely in love with their women, you know.”

  “I don’t have to touch them to appreciate them. I’m sure their women would understand.”

  “Would Clay understand?” I ask, referring to her husband of more than a dozen years.

  “Clay doesn’t have to know.” She smiles and follows me out of my office. “So, lunch?”

  “Yes, have sandwiches brought in from that café I like in Olympia. I’ll be in the backyard.”

  “Lucky bastard,” I hear her mutter, and can’t help the smile that comes to my lips. I’m secure enough in my masculinity to admit that the Montgomery side of my family is a handsome one. I don’t see any of them as my eyes scan the reception area, but I can hear raised voices coming from the ceremony site in the vines.

  “Why do you smell like me?” Isaac asks Matt, the second eldest brother, with a scowl.

  “I had to use your body wash when I caught a shower at the office before we came here,” Matt replies calmly, with more than a little mirth in his trademark Montgomery blue eyes.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Isaac yells, as the rest of the brothers laugh. “You can’t use my body wash!”

  “It’s soap, dude,” Caleb says with a shake of the head. Caleb is only a year older than me.

  “I have to burn the fucking body wash now,” Isaac mutters.

  I stand back and take them all in. Not only are all four of my brothers here, both Luke and Mark Williams are here, along with Leo Nash and Nate McKenna as well.

  The whole fucking family.

  Mark is measuring boards and Isaac is manning a saw. I frown as I realize they’re all in jeans, holding tools, hammering boards.

  Even McKenna.

  “Are we having a party that I wasn’t aware of?” I ask as I approach.

  “Oh, good, you’re here.” Will grins and shakes my hand, then claps my shoulder. “We’re making the arbor.”

  “We are?” I glance toward Isaac. “Don’t you have a crew for this?”

  “We decided this would be more meaningful,” Luke replies with a smile. “We’re making the arbor, and Will is going to take it home after the wedding and put it in their garden.”

  “It’s something from the brothers,” Leo adds with a grimace. “I tried to talk them into just letting me write a song, but Will has his pansy ass set on something pretty for the garden.”

  “Fuck you, man, Meg loves the garden,” Will replies, and then grabs Leo into a headlock and rubs his head with his knuckles. “You telling me that if Sam said she wanted pretty in the garden, you wouldn’t give it to her?”

  “I’d give her anything she asked for,” Leo replies as he wrestles out of Will’s hold. “And did just this morning.”

  “Watch it,” Luke advises. “She may be your wife now, but she’s my sister, and I can still kick your ass if need be.”

  Matt shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “Anyway,” he says, and grins at me. “We were waiting for you. You have to hammer some nails for your soon-to-be sister-in-law too.”

  I roll my sleeves and take an offered hammer from Mark.

  “How’s the baby?” Caleb asks Nate, and we all crack up when the tall, tough former fighter breaks out in a goofy grin.

  “Stella’s awesome.” Nate wipes his sweaty forehead on his black T-shirt and takes a long drink of water. “She’s fucking beautiful.”

  “Well, look at her mother,” Mark says off-handedly as he measures out more boards, earning a raised brow from Nate.

  “Have you been looking at her mother?” Nate asks, and we all glance at each other, trying to hold our laughter in.

  “Sure, I mean—” Mark suddenly stops and frowns and then looks at Nate. “Dude, not like that. It’s Jules, for fuck sake.”

  “I’m well aware of who Stella’s mother is,” Nate replies with a chuckle. “And you’re right. She’s gorgeous, so it makes sense that I’ll have my hands full with Stella.”

  “This family is good at producing beautiful babies,” Isaac agrees.

  “I find it a bit disturbing that there are no women around and we’re talking about babies,” Will says. “Shouldn’t
we be talking about sex and cars and football?”

  “If you talk about sex,” Leo begins, “you’ll be talking about my sister, and that’s not okay.”

  “How are things with Meredith?” I ask Mark, steering the conversation away from sex and babies.

  “Great.” He grins and passes a board to Isaac for cutting.

  “And how are you feeling?” Caleb asks him. We all sober as we wait for his response. Mark was hit by a car while on the job more than a month ago, and while the injuries weren’t serious, it was a scary time for the family.

  “I’m good as new,” he replies. “But I don’t mind having Meredith around to coddle me now and then.”

  “And how are all your beautiful girls?” I ask. The guys all nod and grin, thinking of their women. I can’t help but think of my woman and smile myself.

  “My woman is gonna love this,” Will says, as he gestures to the wood lying in a heap on the ground. “She has no idea. And it’s going to mean more to her because you all made it for her.” Will’s face sobers as he looks at each of us. “No one’s ever needed family more than my Megan.”

  “Well, she has it in spades now,” Caleb replies and strips his sweaty shirt off, tossing it aside.

  “Okay, boards are cut,” Isaac announces and then begins giving us all instructions on the most efficient way to assemble it, and we break off into teams.

  “You’re quiet today,” Caleb comments as he, Matt and myself work on the top of the arbor.

  “I’m quiet every day,” I reply. “Besides, you’re one to talk.”

  Caleb shrugs and passes me a handful of nails.

  “Who is she?” Matt asks quietly.

  “Who is who?”

  “The woman that put that shit-eating smile on your face earlier.”

  “That’s an unfortunate turn of phrase,” I reply.

  “It’s a woman,” Caleb confirms. “He’s evading.”

  “I’m not evading.”

  They both stop what they’re doing and stare at me, then bust up laughing.

  “I’ve just started seeing Alecia.”

  “Holy shit! You talked her into it?” Matt asks.

  “Wore her down is more like it,” Caleb replies, then bumps fists with Matt.

  “She’s an interesting woman,” I reply, rather than take the bait to get angry. I may not have grown up with brothers, but I did grow up with cousins. I know baiting when I see it.

  “Interesting how?” Nate asks from a few feet away. I glance around to find that everyone has gone quiet, listening to me.

  These men are worse than a bunch of gossiping women.

  I shake my head and hammer a nail.

  “She’s sexy as fuck, but she doesn’t know it,” I begin, then tap another nail in place. “She’s feminine, but tough as nails.”

  “I wouldn’t want to take her on,” Luke adds. “I’ve seen others try, and she tramples them under one of her gorgeous heels without breaking a sweat.”

  I nod. “She’s excellent at her job, but she doesn’t believe in love.”

  “Hold up.” Caleb stands and turns to me. “What the fuck does that mean? She plans weddings for a living.”

  I shake my head, just as confused as the rest of them. “And she loves it, but says she doesn’t believe in happily ever after.”

  The guys frown, and I swear under my breath. “That doesn’t mean you should fire her from planning family events. She does an excellent job—”

  “No one’s firing her from anything,” Nate replies calmly, as the others shake their heads in agreement. “But it’s a definite surprise.”

  “Just shows she’s professional,” Mark says.

  “True,” Leo says with a shrug and tugs his Metallica tank over his head. “I mean, I don’t always love all the music out there, but I have a passion for mine. She’s good at the organization of it, and she gets results.”

  “She’s bossy,” Will adds with a grin. “And she’s sexy while she’s doing it.”

  “I think we can all agree that we’re all attracted to strong women, since that’s what we all have,” Luke agrees with a smirk.

  “Meg’s not bossy,” Will says with a scowl.

  “That’s what she’s let you believe,” Caleb says and slaps Will’s shoulder.

  “Well, she’s not bossy in the bedroom.”

  “I don’t imagine any of us would let them take control in the bedroom,” I say with a smile.

  “Are you going to talk her into giving love a try, or are you just in it for a piece of ass?” Nate asks.

  My eyes narrow on his and my hands flex into fists.

  “He’s been waiting too long for her for it to just be about the sex,” Isaac says. Nate doesn’t answer; he just continues to watch me with calm grey eyes.

  “I’m not just fucking her.”

  “Okay then.”

  “What if I was?” I ask out of curiosity.

  “Well, that’s your business,” Nate replies, and turns back to hammer more nails. “But I think that Alecia is worth more than that.”

  “She’s worth everything,” I mutter under my breath before taking a long drink of water.

  “We’re going to the Mariner’s game the week after the wedding, right?” Mark asks.

  “Yes, we have tickets,” Matt replies. “And I might need your help with something that day.”

  “Don’t do it like that, man,” Caleb says with a roll of the eyes. “It’s cheesy as fuck.”

  “Not the way I’m thinking of doing it,” Matt replies with a scowl.

  “Is he going to propose at a baseball game?” Will asks. “Dude, you should have done it at the fucking Super Bowl. We won, for Godsake.”

  “I wasn’t ready,” Matt replies.

  “Don’t do it in public,” Luke says, and runs his hand over the plank of wood that has Meg and Will’s names and the date of their wedding carved into it. “Make it more special than that.”

  “Oh! I know! Since Nic owns the cupcake place, bake her some cupcakes and put the ring in one of them and she’ll find it when she eats it.” Mark looks pleased with his idea, but Caleb clocks him in the back of the head.

  “That’s ridiculous,” Leo says. “She’ll choke on it.”

  “Trust me, I have an idea.” Just as Matt begins to outline his brilliant idea for his proposal to Nic, my phone vibrates in my pocket.

  Blake.

  I walk away from the brothers and answer the phone.

  “Hello.”

  “Hey, man, is this a bad time?”

  “This is fine. What’s up?”

  Blake sighs heavily on the other end of the line and then curses ripely.

  “No, I don’t believe I’m interested in fucking you sideways,” I reply with a smirk.

  “I shouldn’t be calling you.”

  Something in his voice has the hair on the back of my neck standing up.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He swears again, and now I’m just pissed.

  “Blake, what the fuck?”

  “First, let me say this: everything Leash ever tells me is in confidence, and I don’t make a habit of breaking that confidence.”

  “Understood.” I turn to watch my brothers, not really seeing them, and narrow my eyes. “What’s going on?”

  “I just got off the phone with her. Have you spoken to her?”

  “I saw her just this morning. She left for some work that she needed to take care of.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Blake says grimly. “She ran, man.”

  “What exactly do you mean, she ran?”

  “She’s not working, she’s at her apartment over-thinking the fact that she slept with you. She’s scared. She has her reasons, and they’re her reasons to tell you, but intimacy scares the fuck out of her.”

  “I figured that out,” I reply, and feel my blood heat. It has nothing to do with the heat of summer.

  “Yeah, well, I thought you should know.”

  “Why?”


  “Why what?”

  “Why are you telling me this?” I turn my back on my brothers again and pace away.

  “Because I think you’ll be good for her, and because when I got off the phone with her a little while ago, she sounded regretful that she left, and I know she won’t fix it on her own.”

  I push my hand through my hair and shake my head in exasperation. “I’m on my way to her place.”

  “I think she was going to go help out with a wedding tonight, but you might catch her if you leave now.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  I hang up and return, just as Matt scowls at Caleb and shouts, “Are you just going to stand around all fucking afternoon?”

  “No,” Caleb replies sarcastically, “I’m gonna fuckin’ riverdance, asshole.”

  The guys laugh at Caleb’s witty response as I slip my phone in my pocket.

  “I have to go, guys.”

  “Everything okay?” Will asks.

  “No, but it will be. If you need anything, Celeste is just inside.”

  “We’re fine,” Isaac says. “We’ll have this done in an hour, tops.”

  “Is she okay?” Caleb asks.

  “I don’t know.” I shove my hands through my hair again. “I’m going to go figure it out.”

  “Let us know if you need anything,” Matt says.

  “Good luck,” Luke says with a grin, as the others wave. I run through the house, grab my keys and wallet, and set off to Alecia’s apartment.

  She fucking ran.

  ***

  I take the stairs up to Alecia’s floor, rather than wait for the elevator. Just as I burst through the stairwell doors, Alecia is stepping out of her apartment and her eyes go wide when she sees me stalking toward her.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “That’s my question,” I reply, and stop a few feet away from her.

  “I live here,” she replies and props her hands on her hips, pulling her pink blouse tight over her full breasts, and making my cock take notice. “But I’m about to go to work—”

  “No, you’re not.”

  Her jaw drops at the hard tone in my voice.

  “Yes, I believe I am.”

  “You’re going to invite me in your place so we can work out all the reasons why you ran from the villa today.”

  Her eyes narrow on my face. “I didn’t run anywhere.”