Undeniably Unexpected (Boston's Irresistible Billionaires, #6)

by J. Saman

He holds me against his chest, gently rocking as if to comfort me and take away some of the pain. It’s annoyingly splendid. Especially since he’s warm and smells like clean laundry, citrus, and cedar.

I haven’t talked to Loomis in months. Not since I went out to LA in August for a conference and visited him. He was quiet and distant with me, and my girlish crush was squashed when nothing happened between us, and he showed zero interest in changing that.

“Who are you?” Alden asks with an edge, obviously not liking our proximity or Loomis’s hand on me. Not that he has a right. Not anymore. Loomis smirks and shifts in closer beside me, his hand roving possessively around to my hip so he can pull me against him. “I’m her new boyfriend.”

I’ve always liked Keegan a little too much. She’s sweet, smart, funny, and bloody gorgeous.

Since the moment I met her over a year and a half ago, I’ve been drawn to her in a way I never am with anyone. It’s one of the many reasons why nothing could happen between us despite my wanting it to when she came out to LA.

What Keegan doesn’t know is that her LA trip was more than just her coming for a visit and me resisting her in the name of friendship and doing the right thing. It was when I got the call about Fenric.

Keegan gives me another smile and leaves me standing here, and why do I hate that so much? I’m falling apart, and she’s still perfect, and I want… fuck, I want to take her back in my arms and feel that feeling I always get when I’m around her. Just for another moment.

Yet the moment I climb onto the waiting jet with Fen in his carrier and find Keegan in the back, her face cast down toward her phone and her red hair up in a messy ponytail that looks like she did it with one hand, something inside of me flinches. It quite possibly threatens to challenge my hardline stance because, at this moment, with her hair looking this way, and how it brings an unwitting smile to my lips, I realize I like her. In a way I shouldn’t. In a way that makes my heart beat faster and my lips tingle and my skin hum. In a way that reminds me I’m far too happy to see her again, and it’s not because she’s saving my arse.

Suddenly it’s hot in here, and my jumper feels like it’s strangling me. Maybe I should put my face in the soft pillows of her cleavage. That would likely help.

Hahahaha

“Keegan Fritz, I think you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Everything about you does it for me. Look into my eyes and dare to call me a liar.”

Sleeping with her in my arms last night was heaven. It felt… right. Right in a way so few things in my life have been. It was like all my scattered pieces were returned to me, and all I was doing was holding her body against mine and breathing in the sweet, clean scent of her. That was it. It wasn’t some wild, life-defining moment, and yet I knew there was nowhere else I was meant to be than right there with her.

I never thought of myself as good for anyone, but what if I am with her? What if I could be for her?

“Fuck it.” “Fuck it?” I squeak hastily. “What does that mean?” “It means I’m going to kiss you so good we’ll both forget all the reasons why this is a bad idea.”

She makes a small snorty sound. She does those a lot, and they’re so cute.

Love. I don’t even know what that is. Except when I look at her, I do. I know exactly what it is. It’s her. She’s love. She’s everything I never knew was possible.

Keegan Fritz is undeniably unexpected, and I can’t get enough of her. She’s one of the best parts of my day and the serenity of my night.

I’m watching Keegan, marveling at her instinctive understanding of what’s needed and how she’s caring for us without thought or hesitation. And now there’s no denying it. No more shock. With the startling clarity of stepping from shadow into light, I’ve fallen in love with her. Not the overwhelming attraction I’ve acknowledged these past days with her, but something deeper and more terrifying. I’m in love with Keegan Fritz.

I didn’t expect to like the way his eyes smolder and his face softens when he looks at me, and I didn’t expect to feel this fluttering in my belly when he absently pulls me into his chest in the morning to hold me closer. I didn’t think it’d matter all that much how he gets me in ways no one ever has before. And I didn’t expect Fen, this tiny, perfect little boy, to worm his way so fully into my heart alongside his father.

“But I guess what I’m trying to rather inarticulately say is that I don't want this to be fake anymore. I want it to be real. I want us to be real. I want you to be mine because I’m already yours.”

Loomis leans closer, his accent thickening the way it does when emotion overtakes. “I love you, Keegan Fritz.” His thumb grazes my bottom lip. “Quite desperately, actually. No thinking about it.”

“I don’t accept your breakup.” “What?” It comes out as an incredulous burst of air. “I appreciate you’re trying to be noble or whatever, but I don’t accept.” She folds her arms defiantly.

I love this

I can’t help but run toward you. I love you so much, Keegan Fritz, and I want this life with you.” She touches my face with trembling fingers. “I was so careful not to hope for this.”

“I love you. I know my life is chaotic, and I know this won’t always be easy. But I promise you, Keegan Fritz, I will never take a single day with you for granted.” She turns in my arms and rises on tiptoes to kiss me, soft and lingering. “I love you too. And I’m not looking for easy. I’m looking for worth it.”