“I’m so glad it’s summer and I can get away with flip-flops for a while,” Cam said, slightly limping into her office with Ian.
She’d been out of work a few weeks, her hands and feet healing. She was sick of sitting around but refused to be pushed around in a wheelchair.
Her house was destroyed and rather than rebuild and live there again where all those horrible events happened, she decided to move on. She’d been staying with Ian because he’d told her he still wasn’t letting her out of his sight.
She was okay with that.
Tiffany was in jail.
The Arrows decided to not move forward and fight David’s charges or his sentencing, and the Buckleys had contacted her and asked if they could see her on a professional basis, trying to find a way to move on.
She’d told them yes. She’d get it set up once she got her office up and going again. This time she was going to vet her staff out a little bit more. Maybe ask around and get a personal reference.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay here by yourself today?” Ian asked, pulling her chair out for her.
“I’m fine. I’m just going to go through my schedule and make some calls, get things lined up and then go from there. I won’t be here long. I’ll call you when I’m done.”
“I’m off for the day,” he said.
“Why? I don’t need you to watch over me,” she said, narrowing her eyes.
“I’m not watching over you. I’ve got a few things to do, but I’ll be back before you’re done, I’m sure.”
“What do you have going on?”
“Don’t you wish you knew,” he said, then left, saying he was locking the door behind him.
She was lost in her work when she heard the beep of the outer door. She knew it was Ian with his own keycard and she was looking forward to seeing him again.
It didn’t matter she’d been living with him the past few weeks, she was still missing him right now.
He walked in carrying lunch, and then set it down. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Of course,” she said, pushing back and looking into the bag, then pulling out the sandwiches. “What’s on your mind?”
“They found out who the girl was. Yesterday they did a facial recognition and found a match from a missing person.”
“The girl you shot?” she asked, stopping what she was doing with the food. “Why didn’t you say anything last night?”
“I wanted to think on it. I wanted to see if I could find her family.”
“And?” she asked. He wouldn’t have brought this up if he didn’t need to get it off his chest.
“She had no family to find. Or for me to talk to. There were posters of her from years ago. She went missing when she was thirteen. She’d been living with her grandparents. Her parents were both in jail and still are. They’ll be notified.”
“And the grandparents?”
“They passed away last year. Both of them. Her name was Kathy. Kathy Frank. She was seventeen and had been on the streets for four years. I spoke with a neighbor who said Kathy was wild, abusive. She’d yell and scream, hit her grandparents. When she ran away, they tried to find her, but figured she didn’t want to be found.”
“There was no record of her in the system at all if she was abusive?”
“No. They lived on the wrong side of town and weren’t offered help when it was needed. Kathy turned to drugs and the grandparents tried to help but couldn’t do it. I guess you could say this was one of those situations where you can’t help everyone.”
“You can’t. I’ve come to accept that,” she said. He looked sad, but otherwise not bad. “Do you have some closure to it now? How do you feel?”
“I know who she is, and I don’t feel any different than I did prior.”
“You do, though. It didn’t change the outcome of what happened. You know as well as I do, the life she was leading would have led to her death at some point.”
“But not at my hand.”
“Then at someone else’s hand.”
“That, I do believe. So I guess what I’m saying is, that with everything that’s happened to you, you still managed to help me.”
She smiled. “How’s that?”
“By just being there. By always listening and knowing what I needed to hear.”
“I could say the same,” she said. “Come over here for a minute.”
He walked over to her desk and she stood up, then wrapped her arms around his waist. “This is nice,” he said, kissing her forehead.
“It is. And you know what?”
“What’s that?” he asked.
She pulled his head down and kissed him deeply, then put her head on his chest. “I want you to go lock my front door and make me feel good right now. Right here. Make it dirty and make it count. I don’t have to be two people all the time now. I can find a way to blend them.”
He laughed. “You can and I’ll gladly help you do just that. I’ve been wanting to do it all along.”
“I know, Ian. I’ve always known.”
It seemed all that running and hiding brought her to the man she’d been looking for her whole life.
The End!
Want to read more of the Love Collection?
Vin Steele has always been in control. Always been a leader. Failing at what he always did was a bitter pill for him to swallow, sending him into an isolation…of sorts. A new life and a new career, trying to find the person he lost.
Piper Fielding spent her life putting on a good face. Looking for the positive in the light of all the negative in her world. When a threat forces her to face the ugliness she always avoided, she finds herself running to the only person she can trust. Her sexy neighbor that has mystery and complications written all over him.
Shattered dreams vs a new beginning. Can they help each other heal?
Jared Hawk thought he had it all. Until he didn’t. Until a bomb exploded bringing a building down around him and his unit, leaving him less than the man he was. Broken and disabled, he needed to figure out a new plan of action hoping to find a glimmer of the happiness he’d had before.
Shelby McDonald wanted a fresh start. A new life. She didn’t expect to be a single mother—a widow—at just twenty-three. She was strong enough to start over once, she could do it again. She had to. She had no choice. It may not have been the life she envisioned, but she’d be damned if anything was going to hold her back…including the sexy Navy Lieutenant trying to find his way again.
What happens when a hopeless romantic falls for a cynical romance writer?
Sheldon Case spends her days writing about romance and love. Only she doesn’t believe in it herself. Happy ever after…nah. It only exists in books and movies.
Dr. Erik McMann had the love of his life...or so he thought. Until he found out it really didn’t exist like he imagined. Like he always dreamed. But now he wants to try again, and when he meets Sheldon, he decides she’s the one. If only he could convince her that what she’s believed her whole life is false.
A reformed playboy. A woman looking for love. What happens when trust becomes an issue?
If you looked up privileged in the dictionary, you’d see a picture of Dr. Connor Landers, trust fund playboy extraordinaire. He loved having that title, but the real reason he was that way was something very few people knew. Then reality was shoved in his face and he had to make a choice.
Melissa Mahoney was looking for love in all the wrong places. How hard could it be to find someone to trust? Someone to give her what she’d been dreaming of? She takes a risk and puts her heart in Connor’s hands, but will he just end up shattering it like she’d been fearful of all along?
A detective on the mend. A psychiatrist being tormented. Can their pretend relationship uncover who’s behind the threats?
Dr. Cameron Mason went into private practice so she could help the victims. She spends a lot of her time putting the accusers away. It’s what she thrives at. What she wants. What’s right. Until someone didn’t think it was so right and decided to silence her from ever helping others again.
After killing a teenager hopped up on heroin—that happened to be stabbing his partner—Detective Ian Price is mandated to get released by the city shrink. He wants to get in, get his release and get out. Until he sees she’s being victimized herself. Now he must go undercover in his most dangerous assignment yet. The threat isn’t just for his safety or his sanity, but also his heart.
The Road Series-See where it all started!!
Lucas and Brooke’s Story-
Jack and Cori’s Story –
Mac and Beth’s Story-
Ryan and Kaitlin’s Story-
The All Series
William and Isabel’s Story —
Ben and Presley’s Story –
Phil and Sophia’s Story –
Alec and Brynn’s Story –
Sean and Carly’s Story —
Drew and Jordyn’s Story—
Finn and Olivia’s Story—
The Lake Placid Series
Nick Buchanan and Mallory Denning –
Max Hamilton and Quinn Baker –
Caleb Ryder and Celeste McGuire –
Cole McGuire and Rene Buchanan –
Zach Monroe and Amber Deacon-
Trevor Miles and Riley Hamilton –
The Fierce Five Series
Brody Fierce and Aimee Reed -
Aiden Fierce and Nic Moretti-
Mason Fierce and Jessica Corning-
Love Collection
Vin Steele and Piper Fielding –
Jared Hawk and Shelby McDonald –
Erik McMann and Sheldon Case –
Connor Landers and Melissa Mahoney-
Ian Price and Cam Mason-