Shane: (A McIntyre Security Bodyguard Novella - Book 2.5) Page 7

  He finally turns to face me, his jaw clenched tightly and his brow furrowed. He must have come here straight from work, because he’s got his Men-in-Black suit on, as usual. I get guys like Tyler. He’s all about control, control of himself, his environment, and those he considers his. But Beth isn’t his anymore. She’s mine. That’s the bottom line.

  I decide to put this into the most basic terms. “She’s mine now, Tyler. Mine to love, mine to protect. Got it?”

  His eyes narrow, but he doesn’t say anything.

  “You can just sit back and be the adoring big brother now, okay?” I tell him. “Time for you to stand down.”

  Beth appears behind Tyler and wraps her arms around his waist, leaning into him. She’s laughing at something. “Hey, Tyler!” she says, kissing his cheek. “I’m so glad you came.”

  Tyler swivels on his barstool to face her and wraps her in his arms. He kisses her forehead, his lips lingering just a second longer than necessary, and his eyes close tightly. Then he pulls back with a warm smile on his face. “Are you kidding?” he says, ruffling her hair. “My little sister is engaged to be married. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

  The smile she gives him is beatific, and I know she’s over the moon to have his blessings. I stand as Ingrid walks up and puts her arms around both of her children, and the three of them have a quiet moment together as Ingrid murmurs something privately.

  It’s too bad that Beth’s father isn’t alive. He’d be so proud of both of his kids.

  Ingrid lifts her head and gives me a warm smile. “Hello, Shane. I was thrilled when Cooper called with the news of your engagement. There’s no one I’d rather have as a son-in-law. Welcome to the family, dear.”

  “Thank you, Ingrid.” Unlike her son, Ingrid Jamison has always been open with her acceptance and affection.

  Lia pops up beside us holding her phone up to my face. “Say ‘hi’ to Mom and Dad,” she says.

  I see my parents’ beaming faces on the screen of my sister’s phone.

  “Oh, my God, honey!” my mom squeals, her hands pressed to her face. “I’m so happy! Congratulations, sweetheart!”

  “Yeah, congratulations, son,” my dad says from over my mom’s shoulder.

  “Where’s Beth?” Mom says. “I want to talk to her.”

  Lia pivots and sticks her phone in Beth’s face.

  “Hi, Mrs. McIntyre, Mr. McIntyre!” Beth says. “How’s Italy?”

  “It’s delicious, dear,” my mom says. “But never mind that. I wanted to congratulate you on your engagement to my darling boy. Show me the ring!”

  Beth lifts her hand up to the phone, and my mom ooh’s and ahh’s over it.

  “I can’t wait to see it – and you – in person, you sweet girl,” my mom says. “We’ll be home for Christmas.”

  I’m glad my parents will be home soon. When I met Beth, they were on a year-long sabbatical to Italy, so they’ve never met her in person. They talk frequently over Skype or FaceTime, and my mom and Beth text each other daily, but they’ve never actually seen each other. It hasn’t really hindered their friendship – my mother dotes on Beth – but I know Mom’s eager to see Beth in the flesh. Eager to hug her, feed her, and generally spoil her.

  Liam joins us, wearing a sweat-soaked T-shirt. “Hey, guys,” he says to Lia’s phone. “How’s Italy?”

  “Who won?” I ask him. “I have a hundred bucks riding on the outcome.”

  Liam shrugs. “Your money’s safe. Jake called a tie.”

  Good. At least I’m not out a hundred bucks.

  Liam glares at me. “Hey, which one of us did you bet on?”

  I smack him on the back. “You, of course. You know I’d never bet against family.”

  “Damn right! Although, I have to admit, Sam’s a pretty damn good fighter,” Liam says, shaking his head with a begrudging grin on his face. “The guy’s vicious.”

  “Good,” I say, since he’s Beth’s daytime bodyguard.

  “You’re up next, bro,” Liam says, clapping me on the shoulder. “In the ring you go. Show ‘em how it’s done.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you.”

  “Who am I fighting?”

  “How about me?” Tyler says, sliding off his barstool to stand in front of me. “How about a rematch? This may be the last chance I get to knock you on your ass.”

  Hell, yes, I’m up for a rematch. At least this time he can’t have me hauled off to jail. “You’re on, pal.”

  A Friendly Match

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Beth says, following me into the locker room. She grabs my arm. “I really don’t think you two should be fighting... again.”

  I smile at her. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. This is all in fun.”

  “Fun? You call beating each other up fun? Look at him!”

  Beth points at Sam, who’s sitting on a bench grimacing as he leans down to fasten his boots. He’s wearing jeans, socks, and nothing else at the moment. It looks like he had a quick shower after his bout with Liam as his hair is damp. He has the beginnings of several bruises on his face and a cut lip.

  Cooper comes around a corner with a damp towel tossed over his shoulder and holding a T-shirt. “Here, put your shirt on,” he says gruffly, handing the shirt to Sam.

  Cooper glances at us with an inscrutable expression. “It was a toss-up,” he says, looking far from happy. “Looks like we can both keep our money.”

  But I don’t think it’s the bet that has Cooper in such a bad mood. I think it’s the young man sitting on the bench, looking more than a bit battered and bruised. But why Cooper’s so pissed, I’m not exactly sure, although I have my suspicions.

  Beth follows me to my locker, where I store work-out clothes and my boxing gloves. She watches me change, her arms crossed over her chest, clearly irritated.

  “Look,” I tell her, hoping to alleviate her worries. “Your brother and I had a talk. We’re good, I promise. No more hostilities.”

  “You think fighting isn’t hostile?” she says, clearly miffed.

  “We’re not fighting, we’re sparring. There’s a difference.”

  “Yeah,” my brother Jake says, chuckling as he walks up to my locker. “This is recreational. Tyler can’t sic the police on Shane this time.”

  Beth scowls at Jake. “Don’t encourage either of them, please,” she says to my brother. “Where is Tyler, anyway?”

  Jake points across the room. “He’s getting dressed in one of the changing rooms. Liam loaned him something to wear. He’ll be out in a minute.”

  As she turns to walk away, clearly unhappy about this rematch, I reach out to snag her wrist and pull her back to me. “Help me put my gloves on?”

  She gives me a dirty look, but then she relents. I hand her a glove and hold out my hand to her, and she slips the glove on and secures it tightly with Velcro straps. I lean forward and sneak in a kiss, grinning at her. “Smile, sweetheart.”

  She fights a grin as she helps me with my other glove. After she’s done, I put my arms around her and draw her close. “This will be a good bonding experience for me and Tyler,” I say. “We’ve got to start somewhere, right?”

  She looks skeptical, but she nods anyway. “Just be careful. He knows how to fight. He’s been training in martial arts as long as I can remember. Whatever you do, don’t hurt him. And for God’s sake, don’t you dare let him hurt you.”

  I laugh. “Yes, ma’am. I promise.”

  She rolls her eyes at me, so I kiss her again.

  As she walks away, her spine stiff, I have a feeling Tyler’s in for a lecture too.

  * * *

  Beth wasn’t kidding when she said her brother knows how to fight. He lands an uppercut to my jaw that practically snaps my head off. We’re boxing, just good old-fashioned, pummel-your-opponent-until-he-drops boxing. Some wise ass put Justin Timberlake’s TKO on the sound system, and the beat is pounding loudly through the speakers. Yeah, Tyler’s definitely going for a knockout, but
he’s sure as hell not going to get one from me. I’d never live it down if I let my soon-to-be brother-in-law knock me out cold in front of my fiancée.

  I bite back a grin because I’m actually enjoying myself. Despite the fact I’ve restrained myself, I’ve gotten a couple of good blows in, even once knocking him on his ass. It feels good to get a little bit of payback at the guy who got me arrested the night before.

  I spare a split second to glance at Beth, who’s standing ringside along with everyone else. She’s got Sam on one side of her and Gina Capelli on the other. I notice quite a bit of cash changing hands among the onlookers, but at least they’re being discreet. I wouldn’t want Beth to know that some of our friends and co-workers are either betting against me or against her brother.

  The fighting gets intense, and Cooper climbs into the ring to act as referee. Apparently, he thinks we need one. There’s a lot of boisterous cheering from the sidelines as Tyler and I dance around each other, taking turns delivering cuts and crosses and jabs. I’ve taken a few blows to my abdomen and given some as well. He got me in the jaw a couple of times early on, which was my fault for underestimating his fighting abilities. He’s not bad for a cop.

  My heart is pounding, and sweat is pouring down my face, getting in my eyes and blinding me. Tyler’s in no better shape, and I think we’re both too stubborn to concede to the other.

  I finally get Tyler penned into the corner against the ropes and am hammering his torso, but he’s blocking me pretty well. Cooper blows the whistle and hauls me back. Jake wipes the sweat off my face with a small towel, then shoves a bottle of water against my lips. A moment later, we’re back at it.

  It’s obvious we’re pretty evenly matched, and rather than let this go on all night, Cooper uses his referee card to eventually call it a draw. Both of us breathing hard, Tyler and I bump gloves. Cooper helps Tyler remove his gloves, while I walk over to where Beth is standing at the ropes, and she helps me remove mine.

  “Congratulations,” Beth says, smiling at me as she pulls the glove off my right hand. “You didn’t lose.”

  “Of course, he didn’t win, either,” Lia says, pushing her way in between Beth and Sam.

  I ignore my sister. “Of course I didn’t lose. I never lose.” I lean across the ropes and kiss Beth. “I’m going to take a shower. Go mingle with our guests. I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

  * * *

  After a quick shower, I return to my locker to dress. I hear someone in the shower room and figure it’s Tyler. Sure enough, a few minutes later he’s walking through the locker room with a towel around his lean waist, and he’s toweling dry his short, dark hair.

  “Good fight,” I say to him, as he passes me.

  He nods. “You too.”

  I finish dressing, then join him at his locker. He’s fully dressed in his black suit and white shirt, seated at a bench as he puts on his shoes.

  “See, that wasn’t so hard,” I say, patting him on the back. “We can play nice if we try.”

  Tyler glances up and smiles, but doesn’t say anything. After he finishes tying the laces of his shiny black Oxfords, he stands and briskly tucks in his shirt.

  “Thanks for coming tonight,” I say, figuring it must have been hard for him to show up here after what happened between us last night. “It meant a lot to Beth.”

  He nods curtly. “I wouldn’t have missed her engagement party.”

  “I’m glad.”

  I start for the door, but Tyler stops me with a hand on my arm.

  “Shane, wait.” He swallows hard. “I owe you an apology, for last night.”

  Based on the dark expression on his face, I can tell that wasn’t easy for him to say. I shake my head. “Not necessary. We’re good.”

  “No, really, I was out of line. Beth read me the riot act right before our bout in the ring. She’s pretty mad at me.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.” Tyler breathes a heavy sigh. “You have to understand, when she was born my folks were thrilled to have a baby girl. They weren’t expecting to have any more children. My mom had a really difficult delivery with me, and her doctor advised her not to have any more kids. Beth was... an accident. A happy accident, but still, she was unexpected. After she was born... well, my parents doted on her. She was a sweet baby, always happy, always smiling. She was so little and so perfect. I was a senior in high school already, but even I succumbed to her charms. Then my dad died in the line of duty before Beth was a year old. He was a cop, too.”

  Tyler stops speaking, dark shadows haunting his blue-green eyes – eyes just like Beth’s. He shakes his head. “It wasn’t fair. My dad had a beautiful baby girl at home, and he was taken from us far too soon. He never got a chance to watch her grow up, to know the amazing young woman she became. When he died, I was just on the verge of adulthood, and I felt it was my job to watch out for Beth, to protect her, like my dad would have. I had already moved out, finished college, and was already working as a street cop when she was abducted.”

  Tyler looks at me, his defenses down, and the bleakness in his gaze is painful to see. The guy blames himself for not protecting his sister.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” I say, laying a hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze. “You had your own life to live. No one would have expected you to be there twenty-four seven.”

  His fingers come up to rub the furrows on his forehead. “I know that, rationally.”

  “I have younger siblings too, you know. I get it.”

  “I didn’t just let Beth down, I let my folks down. I... failed them all. Especially my dad.”

  I reach out and clasp his arm. “You didn’t fail anyone, Tyler. And don’t forget, you were the first one to find her. I have no doubt you saved her life.”

  “Tyler?”

  We both turn to see Beth standing inside the locker room, staring at her brother with sad eyes.

  Tyler clears his throat, then pastes a smile on his face. “Hey, kiddo.”

  She goes to him, and he wraps her in his arms.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” she says, her voice cracking. “It wasn’t.”

  Tyler doesn’t argue with his sister, but I have a feeling he’ll never agree with her on that score.

  She pulls back, looking up at him with teary eyes. “It wasn’t. No one ever blamed you. Not me. Not Mom. No one.”

  He cups her chin. “Hey, this is your party. We’re here to celebrate your engagement. No sad faces allowed.”

  “Come on,” I say, clapping him on the back. “Let me buy you a drink.”

  Tyler nods at me. “That sounds good.”

  * * *

  Troy breaks out bottles of chilled champagne, and everyone gathers at the bar for a toast. I can’t think of a better way to kick off our engagement than being in the company of our family and best friends.

  “To Beth and Shane,” Tyler says, raising his glass of bubbly to a chorus of cheers. “May the future bring them nothing but joy.”

  Beth is beaming, and the sight of her so happy makes me happy. It’s fitting that her brother is the one to offer us our first toast.

  Tyler holds up his glass to me, and I tap it with mine. I think he’s finally buried the hatchet.

  Alone Again

  The party lasts well into the wee hours of the night. By the time everyone has gone home, Beth is dead on her feet.

  “To bed with you, young lady,” I say, taking her by the hand and leading her to our suite.

  We both get undressed and washed up, then fall exhausted into our bed. She rolls onto her side, and I spoon behind her, intertwining our legs and wrapping my arm around her waist.

  She sighs and reaches for my hand, tucking it between her breasts. “Thank you for making nice with Tyler tonight. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”

  I kiss the back of her head, nuzzling behind her ear. When she shivers, I smile. “It was no trouble at all, sweetheart. I told you we’d work things out.”

  She brings my hand up t
o her lips and kisses my knuckles. “It was nice of Cooper to plan a party for us.”

  I lift her left hand to study her ring. “So, you think you’re ready to get married?”

  She laughs. “Yes.”

  I have to remind myself that she’s only twenty-four. I’m a decade older than Beth. I’m ready to settle down – more than ready. I have been since I met her. “You’re still pretty young, you know. If you’re not sure – ”

  She turns her head to look back at me. “My mom was already married and had Tyler by the time she was my age.”

  “Yeah, well, that was a different era. Girls don’t always settle down so young these days. Look at my sisters – they’re all still single. Sophie’s thirty-two and in no danger of getting married anytime soon. Neither is Hannah.”

  Beth brings my hand to her mouth and kisses my knuckles. “I’m ready.”

  It occurs to me that I’m the only serious relationship Beth’s ever had. Before me, she dated that little prick Kevin Murphy for a short while, but that didn’t end well. Kevin couldn’t deal with her anxiety. She’s had so little experience with men and with relationships. I don’t want to box her in before she’s ready.

  She rolls to face me, brushing back my hair. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  “Sometimes I forget how young you are, and how little experience you have.”

  “I know what I want, Shane,” she says. “I know whom I want, and that’s you. There’s no doubt, no question in my mind at all.”

  Searching her face for any sign that she’s not as ready as she claims, I realize I want to look at this face for the rest of my life. I want to be her husband – I want that claim on her. I want the right to protect her, to love her. I want a family with her. Kids? Jesus, we’ve never even talked about kids. “Beth?”