Stay with Me (With Me in Seattle 9)

She sets the phone aside after replying and wraps her arms around my neck again. “Yeah, she and Leo are married. So we’ll go to the concert, and then they’re having a party at their house after. I guess it’s the last show on his tour, so they’re celebrating.”

“You know Leo Nash.”

She frowns. “Yeah.”

“Luke Williams, the movie star, Will Montgomery, the football player, and Leo Nash, the rock star, are all part of your family.”

She shrugs one shoulder. “I know, they’re a lot. But, yeah, they’re my family.”

“You’re an interesting woman, Amelia.”

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it. That side of my family is full of all kinds of fun stories. Do you want to hear some?”

“Will there be a quiz later?”

“Possibly.” She laughs and then clears her throat. “Okay, Jules is the youngest sister. She married her boss, Nate, about five years ago. They started their own company, and they have a daughter.”

“Pretty normal stuff.”

She nods. “Natalie is Jules’ best friend. Her parents died when she was young, and Jules and her family pretty much took Natalie in as part of the family. So I really consider her a cousin. She’s the one married to Luke.”

“Get to the good stuff.”

“You’re not a patient man.” She reaches for her wine and takes a sip, emptying her glass, then reaches for mine. I just smirk and watch her sip my wine. “Will is next. You’ve met him. He’s married to Meg, who’s a nurse at Seattle Children’s. Now, Meg and Leo Nash used to know each other when they were kids in foster care. Like, way back in the day. They even had a band together, but then Leo went to L.A. to pursue music, and Meg went to college to be a nurse.

“They didn’t meet back up again until a few years later when Meg had already met Will. But Leo is like a brother to her. He met Sam through Meg, and it was love at first sight, or so the story goes. Actually, Sam was kind of a bitch to him, but he liked her.”

“Is there a book that goes along with this so I can keep it all straight?”

She just laughs and tucks her hair behind her ear. “I know, I told you it’s a lot. Let’s see. You’ve met Nic, and she’s married to Matt, who’s a Seattle cop. Oh! I bet he knows your brother.”

“I’m sure they probably know each other. You’ll have to ask Levi the next time you see him.”

She nods thoughtfully. “I will. Okay, Caleb is a former Navy SEAL. We don’t even want to know some of the things he’s seen. He’s married to Brynna, and they have three kids. Brynna’s cousin is Stacy, who is married to the oldest Montgomery brother, Isaac.”

“Jesus, I hope there’s no quiz,” I mutter, making her laugh.

“Isaac and Stacy have two kids. And then we have Dominic, who none of us knew about until like four years ago.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it seems my uncle Steven had a very brief affair early in their marriage. They already had a couple of kids, and they were separated. I don’t know the whole story, but lo and behold, there’s Dominic.”

“How did that go over?”

“I was already living in L.A. when all of it went down, so all of this is hearsay, but it didn’t go over well at first. But now, they’re just one big happy family. Dom owns a winery just south of Seattle and is married to Alecia.”

“Is that it?”

“I think so,” she says with a laugh. “You’re going to meet most of them next week, so I thought I’d give you a brief overview.”

“That wasn’t brief.”

“You know what else isn’t brief?” she asks as she slinks out of my lap and takes my hand, guiding me back inside.

“What’s that?”

“What I’m about to do to you in the shower.”

“Lead the way, sweetheart.”

~Amelia~

Vacations never last long enough. Especially the kind that is a surprise from a guy who you’re quickly falling for.

How did this even happen? Is it too good to be true? I’ve been pondering this since we left Seattle two days ago. I’ve never met a man like Wyatt. Aside from the men in my family, I thought such men were urban legends because I’d never met one in real life that I wasn’t related to.

And yet, here we are.

We’re on the ferry, headed back to Seattle, and I’m not ready for our little bubble to burst. I don’t even want to know what my notifications look like on social media. I didn’t even load a video for the week yet, and that’s absolutely not okay.

That’s my livelihood.

So, that’ll be the first thing I work on when I get home.

Wyatt went to find us bottles of water a few minutes ago, and I’ve just been enjoying the summer breeze on the water and watching the world float by us. It feels lazy. Indulgent.

Lovely.

My phone pings with a text from my attorney, Pam.

I’d like to chat with you tomorrow. What time works?

I scowl, feeling the bubble bursting already, and reply.

Morning is fine, just call when you’re ready.

I glance up as Wyatt turns the corner and tuck my phone away. I’m not going to think about this anymore today. I gave Vinnie years of my life, and I’ll be damned if he gets to interrupt one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long while.

No, I’ll tuck that away and deal with it later.

“Sorry, there was a line,” he says when he passes me the water.

I take a sip and then lean my head on his shoulder, tracing the ink on his arm. “How long have you had these?”

“I just finished it last year. I started it when I was in college.”

“Wow, that’s a long project.”

“Well, I never intended for it to be a sleeve. It just evolved over time.”

I nod.

“Are you okay?” he asks softly.

“Sure, why do you ask?”

“You’re quiet.”

“I don’t want to go home yet.” I chuckle. “I didn’t mean for that to sound whiny. I don’t remember the last time I took some time off from work, so this was a treat.”

“I had a good time, too,” he says and kisses the top of my head. “We can try to take more weekends off together.”

“I think I’ll be working long days this week making up for this weekend,” I reply honestly. “I’ll eventually need to hire an assistant.”

“I know that time off only adds to your workload, but you need it, Amelia. You need to recharge.”

“I know. This weekend reminded me of that. I didn’t intentionally become a workaholic, you know. I buried myself in work when I was with my ex because work was my happy place. And then things just exploded, and if I don’t work on it every day, I get so far behind that it’s maddening. So, it’s really a habit. Not to mention, when you work from home, it’s easy to become a workaholic.”

“I know,” he replies, nodding. “I’m the same way, for some of the same reasons. But it’s been . . . good for me to spend time with you. For many reasons.”

I need to hug him. I’ve never been a big hugger, but it seems that all bets are off when it comes to Wyatt.

I wrap my arms around his middle, the way I’ve come to love to do. He’s strong, and he wraps himself around me, making me feel safe and cared for.