Home>>read Sirens in Bliss free online

Sirens in Bliss(8)

By:Sophie Oak


He never thought he would have them, but lately, he’d been dreaming about black-haired boys and girls. He’d found out he actually had a future.

There was a little pause on the line. “Yeah. We’ll tell them about how screwy their parents’ wedding was. I’ll order the presents. Logan says his partner, Seth, can have someone fly them out from Bergdorf.”

Seth was a billionaire, so Leo didn’t doubt it. “You do what you need to do and get your ass out to Mountain and Valley. Tell me you didn’t forget about our meeting with Mel?”

Wolf groaned. “How could I forget? The invitation was carved into a beet so I will never forget it. I won’t leave you alone with Mel. I’ll make it to whatever the hell this is. Do you know what the hell this is?”

Leo turned, looking down Main Street. He hadn’t been to Bliss in years, but it looked like nothing had changed. “He’s calling it a Meeting of Men. Jen Talbot is hosting a reception for the women out at the Talbot estate. This is Mel’s version. I’m sure it will be painfully embarrassing. That’s all I know.”

“Then I’ll see you at three. You don’t think this is just a way to surprise us with some crazy-ass fun bachelor party?”

Given by Mel, the alien hunter? “Not a chance in living hell, brother. Be ready for some surreal humiliation, but nothing more.”

His brother sighed over the line. “See you there.”

The line went dead and Leo turned, ready to get back to the task at hand. He was nearly startled out of his fucking head. It had been a while since he’d been snuck up on, but he’d been distracted.

Max Harper stared at him, a bag in his hand. “You following me?”

He could lie and make up some grand fiction, but he was too fucking old to make shit up. The truth was so much easier. “I’m a psychologist. I’ve been following you around and you’re completely fucking nuts. I’m thinking of writing a book about you.”

Max’s eyes narrowed. “Am I the hero of this book?”

“Sure, why not?” His general psychosis would likely aid everyone in the psychological world.

A broad smile caught on Max’s face. “Well, hell, then let me buy you a drink. Let’s go to Trio. I was headed there anyway!”

The big cowboy turned and started walking down the street. Leo followed because if there was one thing he wasn’t going to turn down at this point, it was a stiff drink.



* * * *



Wolf Meyer looked across the table at Laura Kincaid-Briggs. “You’re sure these are the shoes?”

The lovely blonde smiled and gave him a knowing wink as she passed back his tablet “Yep. She’ll love them. It will totally make beet juice worthwhile. So I don’t count because I wouldn’t sleep with you?”

Shit. He’d hoped she hadn’t figured that out. “We went on two dates. It wasn’t a grand love affair. You were waiting on those two FBI guys.”

A little flush lit her cheeks. “Their names are Rafe and Cam, and I wish you had come to the wedding.”

He did, too. “I’m sorry. I really wanted to. Dani was traveling. Guarding her and the kiddo is my job. There are a lot of people who would love to hurt Julian, and I can’t let that happen.”

He was Dani’s bodyguard and he went to school. It was kind of a terrific life.

She slid a hand across the table. “I know. You look really happy, Wolf. I can’t tell you how glad I am. Though I seem to remember you claiming you would never be a ménage boy.”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t into long-term sharing back then. Shelley changed my mind.”

“Yeah, well, since then I’ve heard a whole lot about short-term sharing.”

He’d cut a wide swath through Southern Colorado after his time with the SEALs was done. He’d shared women with his friends Logan and Jamie before they’d all settled down and gotten married. Logan was sharing with his best friend and Jamie with his brother, Noah. They had all lucked out. “I found something better than short term. And I’m glad you’ve worked it out with your FBI guys.”

A hint of sadness hit her eyes. “Yes.”

She’d just adopted a baby. She should be glowing with happiness. He liked Laura. He didn’t like the fact that she wasn’t glowing. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.” She sighed a little. “Rafe just doesn’t seem happy.”

Rafe was the one from the city. Oh, both Rafe and Cam had lived in DC, but Cam was obviously a Southern, small-town boy and Rafe had big city written all over him. “He miss DC?”

“I think he misses the Bureau.”

“Small-town life isn’t for everyone.” He’d worried a little about Kincaid when he’d waltzed into town. “My wife, sorry, fiancée, she couldn’t live here full time. We can visit, but her ambitions are bigger than a small town can handle. She grew up in one and she needs more now. She needs theaters and art and a thousand restaurants to choose from.”

“What about you? You liked it here.”

He’d loved it in Bliss. But he loved Shelley more. “I’m good. Dallas is cool. We’re talking about buying some land here so we can come up for summers. I want our kids to know this place, to be close to my ma.”

He thought about the future all the time now. Why was Leo looking into the past? Oh, his brother didn’t think he knew about that e-mail he’d received, but Wolf had seen it, read it, and thought about it endlessly.

And found his peace. Somehow, since he’d fallen for that crazy little sub, his peace was easier to find. He just hoped his brother had the same serenity he’d found.

Laura took a long sip of her coffee. “What do I do if he’s not happy? How do I handle it if I’m not enough? We just adopted a kid. I thought we would be perfect right now.”

He reached out and put a hand on hers. Laura had been a good friend to him. “Kids can be hard. Babies change things. You’re in transition. You’re going from being a trio to being a family.”

God, he wanted that. He was two semesters into his business degree and he would put it all on pause for a rug rat of his own. Or two or three. He wanted a big damn family, brothers and sisters who could rely on each other, who had a shared history. He didn’t think he would have made it through without Leo. Of course, his kids would be lucky because they would have Chloe and Olivia and Josh. Eventually Ben and Chase and Nat would have kids, too. There would be a gang of kids growing up, forming their own little family of brothers and sisters and cousins.

He and Leo had been alone, but their children would have a wealth of love to call on. And so would Laura’s daughter.

“What if we don’t make it?” Laura had gone a little pale.

“You grow, Laura. Every single human being does it. You all have to make the choice to grow together or to grow apart.” He knew what he was going to do. He knew what his role was. He was the in between. Leo had his intellectual pursuits. Shelley had her ambition.

And Wolf was the glue. He wanted his family more than anything else. He was the bridge. If Leo and Shelley were on their own, there was a high probability that they would grow apart and find themselves with a vast distance between them after a few years.

Wolf was going to make sure that didn’t happen. Not ever. He would get his degree. He was dedicated to that, but his chief job in life was to keep them all together. Love took work and he was a hard worker.

Happily ever after was so much easier with a damn fine work ethic.

“There’s nothing for him to do here in Bliss. I don’t think Rafe is going to be happy being a stay-at-home dad.” Laura sniffled a little. “You know, I found this calm center of myself about six months after I got here. I thought I would hate it. I just didn’t have anywhere else to go. I’d run out of money, out of time, out of everything. Those first couple of months felt like I was in Purgatory. And then I opened my door and I really looked around. The world is softer here. I fell in love with the glow the world has. Why can’t Rafe find it? Cam did. Cam loved this place the minute he walked into it.”

His heart ached for her. “Maybe he just needs time.”

Laura’s head fell forward. “And maybe sometimes love isn’t enough. What am I going to do?”

God, he felt for her. “Well, you need to talk to him, first off. You need to ask him what’s going on. Have you really talked to him?”

Laura’s hands were in front of her, clasped together. “I’m scared to.”

“You can’t be. That’s not the way this works. You have to be brave, Laura. You have a daughter. There’s no prevaricating now. Ask him.”

She nodded. “You’re right. I need to talk to him.”

And Wolf needed to talk to Leo. About a lot of things. “What’s the whole parenting thing like?”

“I love it.” Now Laura was beaming. “She’s the best thing I ever did. God, Wolf, I want to cry every time I look at her. Not in a bad way. Like, in a momentous way. I hold her and I know why I was put here. I was born to be her mom. And when I see the way Rafe looks at her, I know he feels the same way. Cam just laid down at her little tiny feet. He’s so damn easy to love. What am I going to do if I can’t have them both? I promised Sierra that her dads would always be here. I know she doesn’t understand a word right now, but I do. I promised her two dads who would love her forever.”