Playboy Billionaire

“Actually,” Reese said, looking past my brother toward me, “I'm not here for you. I'm here for Maya.”

“Maya?” Luke asked, turning to look at me.

My parents were staring at me as well, an expression of sheer confusion on their faces.

“Yes, he's with me. He's the friend I told you was coming for dinner.”

I choked on the words. He was more than a friend, wasn't he? After all, we'd said we loved one another – that meant we were something more? And he was the father of my child, there was that part too. But friend came out easier than all of that when I'd been talking to my mom.

“He's your friend now too?” Luke scratched his head.

Reese and I stared at each other, and I was grinning like an idiot as relief washed over me. I wanted to rush to his side, to embrace him, to kiss him, but that felt weird in front of my parents. Reese moved past my brother and walked toward me and the empty seat, but he didn't sit down. Instead, he took my hand in his and kissed it softly, never once taking his dark eyes off of me.

“What the hell?” Luke said.

That pretty much summed up all of my emotions too. What the hell was going on? Was he...?

“Maya, I'm sorry I'm late. And I don't mean just to dinner, but I'm late getting back into your life as well. Now that I'm here though, I want to stick around. Not just for you, but for our son as well.”

That's when my mom made a sound – a gasp. Reese was nervous, I could tell and cast a scared look their way before turning back to me. My mother started to say something, but my father hushed her and let the scene play out. Luke, on the other hand, look dumbfounded. But none of that mattered, because what did matter was that Reese had something in his hand.

He slipped a ring onto my finger – a diamond solitaire. I stared at him, my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water as he lowered himself to a knee.

“Maya McConnell, will you let me right the wrongs and be the man you deserve?” he asked, his eyes locked onto mine. “Will you marry me?”

It felt like my entire body turned to jelly. Thankfully, Reese had hold of my hand, it kept me from falling as I stared at him wide eyed, my body humming with an electricity inside

“Yes,” my voice came out in a whisper.

We embraced, kissing as if there was no one in the room but us – until Eli started fussing.

“Mommy,” he said. “Hold me.”

“Yes, baby,” I said, picking up my son and holding him close.

Reese kissed his forehead, and I think that's the moment it made sense for everyone in the room. But it was Luke who finally articulated the words.

“You mean to tell me – Reese is Eli's father?”

“Yes,” I said, wiping away the tears. “Yes, he is. He's Eli's father. It's a long story.”

“A very long story,” Reese said, never taking his eyes off me. “But one we'll be happy to tell over many family dinners to come.”

BOOK 2: IRRESISTIBLE SEAL

DREW

Frisco's Bar was still the same place I remembered it being all those years ago. The faces were no longer familiar to me, but the atmosphere was still the same. A live band played some cover music from the eighties – really badly – while twenty-somethings got drunk and danced the night away. A wave of nostalgia washed over me as I took it all in.

We were out on the patio – it was pretty sparsely populated since the San Francisco air was a tad bit chilly. It felt nice to me though. It reminded me that I was home. The Bay Area had always been my home. It was where I felt comfortable. At peace. And leaving it had been the hardest thing I'd ever done. That had been back when I was young and naive and thought serving my country was what I was born to do. Not that I regret serving my country. Not in the least.

“Damn, it feels good to be home,” I said, taking a long sip of my beer.

“The city missed you, Drew,” Nick said.

“The city may have missed me, but I doubt many others did, I'm afraid.”

Nick and Bryan were my buddies. Guys I knew from way back in high school. When I'd gone away to serve, they'd stayed here, started families and had gone about the traditional path to creating a normal life. Nick's wife – Elizabeth – was currently pregnant with baby number two. Bryan was engaged to be married.