Stealing Home Read online

  “We got this,” he assured him as he gently squeezed Cohan’s fingers.

  Neither of them bothered to let go as they made their way around the hood of the truck to help Ryann out. Then, hand in hand, the three of them journeyed into the restaurant. Leslie had called ahead, wanting to make sure they could get a table without any trouble, and they were seated right away. By the time their server came over to collect their drink orders, Scott and Peggy had arrived.

  As was their custom, they fell into conversation easily and enjoyed each other’s company throughout dinner. After Ryann was ready to introduce Cohan to their relationship, Leslie had spent a good deal of time with the Newcombs. He liked them, and the feeling was mutual, for which Leslie was grateful. It was bound to make his evening—and the rest of his life—a whole lot more fun.

  When they had finished with their meals, Leslie was sure to order a couple of whiskey cakes for the table. Aware of his cue, Cohan gasped as he sat up straight in his chair.

  “Now? We can do it now?” he exclaimed.

  “Yeah. Let’s do it,” replied Leslie on a chuckle.

  “Do what? What are you boys up to?” asked Ryann as she looked between them.

  Cohan held her attention long enough for Leslie to get up from his chair and drop down to his knee. Ryann’s breath caught in her throat when her son placed the ring box in her lap. Leslie winked at him when he looked over for confirmation that he’d done is part correctly.

  “Open it, mommy. It’s so pretty.”

  Ryann coughed out a pathetic laugh, and Leslie could hear the knot that clogged her throat. Except, instead of opening the box, she gently covered it with her hands before her eyes searched for his. She pressed her lips together as she furrowed her brow in an attempt to keep herself from crying, but it was no use. When her first tear rolled down her cheek, followed quickly by another, Leslie reached up and wiped them away.

  “The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were someone special. I knew that if I didn’t make a move, I’d regret it for the rest of my life. What I didn’t know was how much you’d rock my world. I didn’t know your love would be so grand you could redefine my definition of home. What I didn’t know was how much love I had in me. You and Cohan mean the world to me—and it would be my greatest honor to call you my wife. So, Ryann Lucille, will you marry me?”

  “Yes,” she sobbed as she reached for his face.

  He chuckled as she cried through their kiss. Savoring her salty tears, he buried his fingers in her hair. Even when he pulled away, he kept her close. The room was filled with the sound of applause, but they hardly noticed as they stared into one another’s eyes.

  “I love you,” he murmured so that only she could hear.

  “I love you, too. I love you so much,” she breathed.

  “Mom!” Cohan cried, effectively breaking up their moment. “Aren’t you going to open it?”

  “Oh,” she laughed as Leslie let her go. Ryann shook her head and wiped her face. When her cheeks were dry, she ran her fingers through Cohan’s hair and cupped the back of his neck. With her lips pressed to his forehead, she mumbled, “You were in on this?”

  “Yup,” he declared proudly. “Open it!”

  “Okay, okay,” she replied, kissing him once more. With her hands free, she reached for the velvet box and snapped open the lid. “Oh, my god,” she whispered as she stared.

  Leslie didn’t take his eyes off of her as she admired the ring. He didn’t need to see it. He knew exactly what the platinum, diamond micropavé band with the three carat solitaire diamond engagement ring looked like. The expression on her face was all the proof he needed that he’d done good.

  “Leslie,” she hummed as she touched her hand to his cheek. “It’s perfect.”

  He turned his face, until his lips were pressed into her palm, and then he took her wrist in his hand. Plucking the ring from out of its box, he put it where it belonged.

  “AFTER YOU GET married, are we going to live here?” Cohan mumbled around his toothbrush. His eyes were locked with his mother’s in their reflection.

  A small smile curled the corner of Leslie’s mouth as he looked in on them on his way from the hallway closet. He listened to Ryann’s melodic voice as she responded while he continued to make up the couch for Cohan.

  “I don’t think so, buddy. Maybe we’ll find a house so you can have your own room and a backyard to play in. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

  “And Leslie will be there, too?”

  “Yeah. We’ll all be there together. Our little family.”

  Leslie paused and inclined his ear toward the spare bathroom. He liked the sound of that—their little family. Just the thought of all of them together made him want to puff out his chest a little. The more time he spent with Ryann and Cohan, the harder it was for him to understand how any man could love them and then leave them. Of course, Brady was still around and Leslie respected his role as Cohan’s father—but it wasn’t what he got, day in and day out. He considered it a privilege, getting to do life with the woman he loved and the child she mothered. It was a privilege of which greater men had been robbed. Leslie knew he’d be a fool to take it for granted.

  Not to mention, Julian would have your ass if you even thought about it, he admitted to himself.

  “Movie time!” Cohan cried as he bolted into the room.

  He ran a single lap around Leslie before he catapulted himself onto the couch. He then wrapped himself in the blanket he usually slept with when they stayed the night. Leslie chuckled with a shake of his head, wondering how much energy the kid had left in him.

  “Tell me you picked something that’ll knock him out,” Ryann whispered as she wrapped her arms around him from behind. He felt her lips pressed against his shoulder as she mumbled, “I’d really like some alone time with my fiancé.”

  “Well, I picked How to Train Your Dragon 3,” he murmured over his shoulder. “Figured he’d seen it a million times, he won’t be dying to stay awake, even if it is his favorite.”

  “You’re so good at this,” she said, her smile evident in her tone as she gave him a squeeze.

  Five minutes later, Leslie joined Ryann and Cohan on the coach as the light from the television lit up the dark room with the opening credits of the movie. Every fifteen minutes, Ryann would peek over at Cohan, to check to see if he was still awake. Halfway into the movie, the coast was finally clear.

  “I’ll get it,” said Leslie as Ryann got up to shut off the television. He kissed her cheek and whispered, “I’m right behind you.”

  “Okay,” she grinned.

  After making sure Cohan was sound asleep one last time, Ryann tiptoed her way toward the bedroom. Careful not to make any noise himself, Leslie powered down the entertainment system before he went to check the lock on the front door. Content that everything was as it should be, he didn’t waste another moment to join his intended.

  The second the bedroom door was shut and locked behind him, Ryann was in his arms, reaching for his kiss. Leslie’s body responded to hers instantly. The sudden tightness of his pants was a direct correlation between the desperation he tasted on her tongue, and the passion he felt as she sank her fingers into his curly locks. He reached down and palmed her backside, pulling her even closer. The moan she hummed into his mouth was his confirmation that she felt what she did to him.

  Gripping her tighter, he lifted her from her feet and carried her further into the room. With all the lights off and the blinds drawn closed, they were shrouded in the black of night—but they didn’t need any light to guide them. Her fingers freed the buttons on his shirt as he dragged his lips down her neck and along her shoulder. His heart pounded in his chest at the sound of her panting breath against his ear, her anticipation expressed without a single word. He eased one strap of her dress from off her shoulder—then the other.

  “Leslie,” she sighed as he palmed her naked breasts and sucked on the lobe of her ear.

  His length grew even
harder, causing his pants to strain against the evidence of his desire. He abandoned her naked flesh as his hands continued to push down the fabric of her dress. All the while, he groaned into her ear, “Let me out, darlin’.”

  A whimper spilled from her lips as she felt her way down the expanse of his bared chest until she reached the top of his pants. Her dress hit the floor at the same moment her hands slid beneath the waist of his boxer briefs and over his naked behind.

  “Ry,” he all but growled as he touched his forehead to hers. He shrugged his way out of his shirt, leaning into her as he muttered, “Been waiting all night for you—don’t tease me.”

  “Will you take me slow?” she whispered, inching one of her hands around the front of his hip. “Will you love me sweet?”

  Leslie took hold of Ryann’s face, his eyes falling closed as she wrapped her fingers around his shaft. “Any way you want it, darlin’.”

  “I want you always.” She squeezed her fingers and pressed up onto her tiptoes, in search of his lips. The feel of her tightened nipples scrapping against his chest made his dick pulse, and he couldn’t hold back. He closed his lips around hers, kissing her hard as he splayed his hands across her back. The feel of her soft skin under his palms was intoxicating, and he couldn’t get enough. It wasn’t until she began to stroke his length that he broke their kiss.

  Ryann’s mouth still touching his, she breathed, “I want you forever—my ace.”

  “Done.”

  I'm a born and bred Coloradan. While I now reside in Virginia, the land of the Rocky Mountains is where I've left a piece of my heart and where my characters come to life. I started writing love stories when I was seventeen, and I haven't been able to stop! With me, you'll find that I dabble in a few different romance genres, but my voice is one that's all about the heart. Writing is my dream; and as a dreamer, you can rest assured that there are many more novels in my head that I can hardly wait to share.

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