Owen watched as Lainey assembled their dinner—a masterpiece, as usual. Tonight, it was fresh scallops seared in garlic infused olive oil and served with her homemade spinach pasta and rich red peppers. “Damn, girl, you are gonna fatten me up.” He dug in with relish, loving it that she seemed to have her appetite back as well.

They talked about the day’s events at the office, laughing at Zane’s antics and gossiping about the new guy Jon had brought in to handle international logistics. Plates and beer bottles empty, he did the cleanup then dropped onto the couch and pulled her feet into his lap. “Do you mind coming with me?”

“Of course not. Are you sure you want me to?”

He smiled and dug his knuckle into her instep, making her groan with pleasure. The invitation to two Love family weddings had shown up a few weeks prior, but he’d only just now wrapped his mind around them and the fact that he wanted nothing more than to introduce Lainey to his family back home. “It sounds a tad convoluted,” he said, moving to her other foot and admiring the way her breasts tilted up to the ceiling when she arched her back.

“Yeah, well, what other way would it be? It is your family, after all.” She grinned and sat up fast, straddling him and kissing him so hard it made his head spin and his dick rock hard in an instant. He dug his fingertips into her shorts-clad hips and ground against her, then yanked her shirt up and engaged in one of his new favorite activities—teasing her rich, full, nipples until she begged him to get her off with his fingers, or his lips, or his cock.

Later, they packed for the morning flight before going to bed, and he slept, dreamless for the first time in months, waking when Lainey did her somewhat less regular night terror cry. He held her, and she calmed without ever really waking up, and they lay entwined together until the alarm chirped in his ear.

“Time to meet the family, darlin’,” he said, as he headed for the shower, never happier in his entire life.

The flight was smooth, and they rented a car to drive to Lucasville. They were meeting everyone at the Love Pub for the double rehearsal lunch. They stayed silent for most of the trip, but it was the sort of Lainey-induced comfortable silence that he was coming to understand and appreciate. She leaned into him as he was about to open the pub door. “You sure about this, Marine,” she asked turning her beautiful face up to meet his.

“You have the most perfect lips,” he said by way of an answer. “They sure would look good wrapped around my…”

She smacked his shoulder and frowned, then burst out laughing. “You realize that I know that’s what everyone was saying about me those first weeks. Until I proved myself with my computer skills.”

“And cooking skills. Don’t forget those.”

They hesitated. He was ready but could sense she needed a minute. The Love family in its full-throated entirety could overwhelm even the strongest personality. He’d known that his whole life. “Let’s do it,” she whispered.

He stepped back from her. “Seriously?”

She nodded and took his hand. “Seriously. I want to do it. I’m ready.”

The GAPS attorneys had earned their fee and secured Lainey’s lawful inheritance from Richard Case. They’d had to hire financial advisors, realtors, classic car investors and all sorts of wild and crazy staff in the last few weeks just to help them get their minds around everything. She’d insisted on investing half the real estate money into GAPS, and Jon had named her VP of Operations.

A million dollars from their windfall had gone to the Virginia Safe House Fund allowing them to add a wing to their temporary shelter for abused women and children—a wing they wanted to name after her but she’d insisted they didn’t.

She’d also started shopping for something—a restaurant and brewery location—which she’d found along the strip of buildings near where Richard had held her hostage. It was a slowly gentrifying neighborhood, an incredible deal, and she was bound and determined to use Richard’s money to aid in the revival of the area by being the anchor business.

Owen had been more than hesitant. He’d flat out refused to consider it. They’d had a big fight about it, as a matter of fact. He didn’t want to run a brewery, even his own brewery. He’d seen first-hand how hard it was to make anything at it. “But you love it,” she’d insisted, over and over and over to him. “Do what you love, Owen. Richard’s money will let you do that now.”

“I don’t want to do anything that his fucking money paid for, Lainey. Don’t you understand that?”

He’d spent two nights on the couch after that.

He looked down at her now, drinking in her perfection. He never got tired of that.

“I love you, Lainey,” he said, pressing her knuckles to his lips. “Are you sure?”

After the second night on the couch, he’d gone to the commercial realtor who’d shown them the old warehouse on the crumbling wharf and made an offer. A seriously low-ball one but his own offer, with his money—money saved from years in the military with little responsibilities other than the food in his belly and the clothes on his back. The bonus he’d gotten from Jon and Zane when he’d cracked the Italian mobster hacking case had been plenty for the down payment.

When he’d presented her with the key that night, she’d been pissed—furious—in a way only Lainey could be, but he’d waited her out then pulled her in off the balcony and into their bedroom and made love to her without a word. She’d lain on his chest afterward as their breathing and heartbeats calmed in unison. “I’ll think about it,” she’d said. And he’d had to live with that for a week.

Now, as they stood outside the Love Pub in his hometown of Lucasville, Kentucky, Owen Taylor’s heart filled with hope and possibility. Two things he’d never dreamed would come his way. The door opened, revealing Lindsay Love, looking slightly diminished from all her chemotherapy. Her green eyes sparkled with pleasure at the sight of him.

“I thought that was you,” she said, giving him a tight hug. “And you must be Lainey. Heavens, honey, you are gorgeous.” She took Lainey’s hands and glanced over at Owen. “You’d better hang on tight to this one. I know a keeper when I see one.”

“I plan on it,” he said, smiling at Lainey.

“Now get on in here, both of you. We have two weddings to celebrate.” She tugged Lainey inside with her, chattering a mile a minute in her soft Kentucky drawl. Owen watched them head to the back room where the family must be gathered, collecting his own thoughts and emotions before following them, following Lainey, into his new life.

The End