Bound to Be His (The Archer Family Book 2) Read online

  Shay accidentally sighed, and then tried to disguise it as a yawn. Apparently getting Andy to come clean about her mother was going to be harder than she'd expected. Hell, for all Shay knew, Andy could have forgotten the whole thing by now. After all, she hardly ever spoke about her childhood except to mention all the wonderful things her father had done. It wasn't like discussing her mother would have been normal.

  "How are the wedding guests doing?" Shay tried, her cheeks aching against the strain of her smile.

  Andy sighed. "Good for the most part. I think everyone loves the island. I'm surprised by how many people came, really. I thought the wedding would mostly be the four of us." Andy sipped her coffee and then looked thoughtful for a moment. "It is odd, though. Seeing my mom and dad's families in one place. That's never really happened before that I can remember."

  Shay's heart flipped over. "No?"

  "No. I mean, my dad was always really good about making sure we got to know my mom's family. It's just..." Andy let out a long breath and then leaned over in the seat to glance down the hallway. She dropped her voice to a whisper. "Can you keep a secret?"

  "With the best of them," Shay breathed.

  "Only one of my mom's relatives came. My aunt Judy. She's a very sweet old woman, and she was my gran's best friend when she was still alive."

  "Okay." Shay nodded.

  "So, Aunt Judy feels really strongly about something, and she's sort of giving me a hard time about it."

  The beat of Shay's heart thundered in her ears. "What is it?"

  "You promise you can—"

  "Yes, yes," Shay cut her off.

  Andy frowned. "Okay. Well, as it happens, my mother is on this island somewhere."

  "What?" Shay did her best to feign surprise, but it was a high-school-play-worthy performance at best. Still, Andy didn't seem to notice.

  "Yeah. She's got this whole new family. She's even got a new set of twins, if you can believe it."

  "So what's the problem?" Shay asked.

  "Aunt Judy wants me to invite my mother to the wedding. She says my gran would have wanted it and that it's a show of good faith."

  "And you don't want her there?" Shay asked.

  "It's not so much that." Andy sipped her coffee again and then stared down at the mug for a long moment. "I don't want my wedding to be a day about seeing her again."

  "That's understandable," Shay said.

  "I think so, too." Andy nodded. "But it's more than that. I don't think we should see her at all."

  "And your brothers agree?"

  Andy pursed her lips. "Derrick does. Sort of."

  "And Matt?"

  "Matt..." She sighed. "Matt doesn't know she's here."

  "Why not?" Her heart was pounding along like a stallion’s gallop now. They were finally here. The answer to her question.

  "I don't think it would be good for him."

  "Why?"

  Andy was silent for a minute and then picked up a new bottle and got back to work. "Did you ever have something happen in your life that sort of defined you from that moment on?"

  Shay thought of her father's death. The somber funeral and her mother's blank staring face. Then all the boyfriends. The first wedding afterward. That first divorce.

  "I think I can understand that," she said slowly, but then she pictured Matt's accident the way it had been on Sports Center. The gore of it. The devastation.

  Suddenly, she thought she knew someone who might have an even better idea of that than she did.

  "Well, when we graduated high school, Matt decided to drive Derrick and me out to Oregon. We used to do a lot of camping with our dad, so we didn't think it was any kind of big deal, but then we got there and he springs on us that we're actually there to find our mother."

  "What?" Shay spluttered. She'd wondered, of course, about what Oregon had meant ever since that first time she'd heard it in the bushes, but she never would have dreamed, never would have imagined...

  "Yeah."

  "That took some stones."

  "Big ones." Andy nodded.

  "How did you guys react?"

  "Well, I wasn't happy at first. I never really wanted to see her, you know? But I think Matt... you know, he had a year longer with her than I did. He had memories. He had unresolved issues. So, for his sake, I think we both went along with it."

  "But how did he know to go to Oregon of all places?"

  "He hired a private investigator, as it turns out." Andy shook her head. "He was determined. The PI found a marriage certificate in her name from Portland, so Matt was determined to find her."

  "And did you?" she asked.

  "Nope." Andy sipped her coffee again. "We spent weeks looking, of course. The address the PI had was an old one. The people didn't have a forwarding address. We thought we might have found the bakery where she worked one day, but Matt had seen pictures and he told us it wasn't her."

  "Wow," Shay said.

  "Yeah." Andy shook her head. "It was devastating for him, I think. Hard to get over. Like, for one shining moment, he could have had this one thing he always dreamed about, and then just as quickly, it was gone. How could I do that to him again? What if she says she'll come and doesn't show up? Or it could be even worse."

  "Could it?"

  "Yeah. I mean, what if she comes and she's a total letdown? What if after all these years of picturing who she might have been, she's nothing but a miserable phony?"

  Shay considered for a moment. "But wouldn't you want the chance to find out for yourself? Wouldn't you want the chance to meet your siblings?"

  Before Andy could answer, a door creaked open at the end of the hall and then Matt's footfall sounded against the tile.

  "So, anyway, I told them that they had to remove the sleeves, and they were livid," Andy said, and then let out the fakest laugh Shay had ever heard. Still, she followed along, faking a grin as Matt trudged toward the coffee pot.

  For the rest of the morning, she was forced to finish the favors while they made idle chit chat and gossiped about which publicist had done what to which celebrity. The normal hallmarks of their conversations, really. But deep underneath, she knew that Andy, like her, was stewing over what they'd discussed. Was wondering what the right thing to do really was. Was hoping she'd made the right choice.

  But unlike Andy, Shay also had to worry about her place in all this. And, unlike Andy, she wasn't torn about the choice.

  Matt had a right to know about his mother. He needed to have the chance to heal and to grow. He deserved to know that he might have more brothers and sisters.

  But whether it was her place to tell him?

  Well, that was less certain.

  * * *

  That night, Matt stared down at the text from his personal trainer and then chucked his phone onto his bedside table without responding.

  It was a courtesy note—one of many he'd received in the last month—letting him know that the physical therapy part of his training would soon be coming to an end. Of course, to the trainer, this was always cause for saying things like "congratulations" and "new chapter," but hell if Matt saw it that way.

  Once this training was over and he was a normal athlete again, there'd be nothing keeping him from majors but his own stupid drive. He wanted it, too. Wanted it even worse than he had the first time because now he knew what it was like to be a pro. What it was like to belong on a team and hear the crowd shouting his name. He missed it. Needed it.

  But that didn't change the way his wrist felt.

  He rolled it once, waiting to hear the tiny "click" that always sounded when he'd moved it full circle. It was like hearing his own heart break every time.

  He picked up the phone again, hovered his thumb over the little digital keyboard, but stopped short when he heard the muffle of Shay's voice through the wall.

  "Hey," she'd said.

  No, it wasn't a muffle this time. It was clear. So clear that it felt like he was practically in the room with her.

&nbs
p; He should probably leave. Go to the living room and let her have her conversation in private. But then... what if she was talking to someone about his career? He deserved to hear that kind of call, didn't he?

  "No, no, I've been trying to get back to you," she said.

  Then, with a slight twinge of exasperation, and she added, "I promise."

  There was a long pause, and Matt moved from beneath his sheets in order to press his ear to the wall, tossing his phone onto the mattress, forgotten.

  "No, it's nothing like that. You have to trust me."

  Damn, did this woman only speak in vaguenesses? How was anyone supposed to get a good eavesdropping in?

  "I'm sure he is."

  He strained his ears. She said he. That could be him. Was probably—

  "I never had a problem with Steven. I barely knew him."

  Steven? Matt's gut twisted. Who the hell was Steven? Maybe some other client. Or maybe, just maybe, she was on the phone with a girlfriend, chatting about some one night stand or another.

  It wasn't outside the realm of possibility, after all. Men flocked to Shay Meyers wherever she went, and with good reason. She was incredible from head to toe. The kind of woman who ate men up and spit them out without a second thought. A real ball buster.

  "I think you're not being completely honest with me, either." A small pause and then, "No, I think you're lonesome. I know how you sound. I know how that goes—"

  Apparently, the person cut her off, because Shay's voice stopped short. And then, "Mom, I'm not avoiding, I swear. I'm just really busy."

  Mom. She was on the phone with her mom.

  He slid back down onto the bed. He should have felt relieved, really. The less calls Shay was on about his fate, the better. Still, he wasn't completely settled.

  There was something in Shay's voice that had him on edge, wondering what exactly was going on on the other side of the phone. He'd never heard her like this before. Sure, he'd seen her exasperated, bemused, and every shade of pissed-off in the book, but never... concerned. Never wary.

  And by the sound of it, she was more than just a little wary.

  "I don't want to talk about this right now." Her voice cracked through the air again, and Matt got up from his bed, determined to leave the room and give her some privacy. Creeping away, he tried to tune out the rest of her speech, but it was difficult not to hear the quavering of her voice as she said, "I guess we'll just have to see what the future holds."

  In all, it had been a vague conversation. Besides her mom and someone named Steven, he had basically no facts about their conversation. Still, he felt for her. Knew how hard it was to tackle something you weren't ready to deal with and have people force it on you time and again. If her tone was any indication, that was exactly what was happening.

  Sidling to the fridge, Matt grabbed a beer out of the crisper drawer, and when he clicked it closed again, he was greeted by the snap of another door at the end of the hall.

  Shay.

  He straightened, trying to act casual, and popped the top off his bottle.

  "Hey," she said when she rounded the corner into the kitchen. "Fancy finding you here."

  "Fancy that."

  He sipped the cool, crisp liquid, but barely tasted it. In truth, he wasn't much in the mood for a drink, but it was something to do. Something to distract him.

  "Is midnight your prime drinking hour?" She cocked an eyebrow.

  "Only on Tuesdays," he offered back. "I made an exception for tonight."

  "Good to know." If he didn't know better, he might have thought she smiled.

  Skirting past him, she opened the fridge and got her own beer—one of the orange-flavored shandies Logan had picked up for the girls on their way from the airport. She took a slug and then set it on the counter, swirling the bottle in a tiny circle with her hand.

  "Ah, a co-conspirator," he said, and then clinked his glass with hers.

  "Unfortunately. Sometimes you just need one." She rolled her eyes and then took another healthy gulp.

  "Any reason in particular?" he asked.

  He shouldn't have. He knew that. It was an invasion, after all. Like baiting a bear in their very own cave. But she looked so distraught and so in need of someone to talk to, he couldn't help himself. He wanted to help.

  “My mother is impossible.” She sighed, and her gaze was far away for a long moment until she finally seemed to find his eyes again. “I should really be used to it, but.” She shrugged. “Family.”

  “Family.” He clinked his beer to her’s again and sipped, debating whether or not to ask her more. It was, after all, the closest thing to a normal conversation they’d ever had. Why ruin it by reminding her of the fact that she hated him?

  Luckily, she saved him from coming up with something to say when she said, “Do you ever wish you could just live a life without consequences the way some people do?”

  “And what, like, rob a bank?” He laughed.

  “No, I mean just…” She bit her bottom lip. “Some people can do anything they want and nothing bad ever happens to them. They just flit from one thing to the next. If I could do that…” She shook her head. “I don’t even know what I’d do.”

  “Sure you do. Think about it.”

  “I’d…I don’t know. I’d swim naked.” She smiled and sipped her beer.

  “I’m not going to stop you from doing that.” It was all he could do not to rake his gaze over her, imagining what she’d look like with droplets of water coating her exposed skin.

  “Ha ha.” She rolled her eyes. “Fat chance.”

  “Stranger things have happened.” He shrugged.

  “Oh yeah? What would you do if nothing bad could happen? If there were no consequences?”

  He thought about that for a long moment. He’d call up the league and tell them to go fuck themselves for putting him in the minors. He’d buy a big house beside the ocean. He’d…

  He glanced at Shay from the corner of his eye, her mouth pouting as she studied him. What would he do if there were no consequences? If Andy and work and nothing else mattered?

  “Let me show you.” He closed the space between them quickly, taking her bottom lip between his and kissing her.

  He expected her to put a hand between them, for her to push him away, and though she tensed at first there was no denying that she was giving in to the kiss. Her mouth relaxed and she let him in, welcoming him with her tongue.

  He met hers, pushing inside her mouth and tasting the sweet tang of orange and beer on her breath. With one hand, he threaded his fingers through her locks and she pressed her breasts against his chest, willing him further, letting him push his luck to the limit.

  It was like a magnetic pulse held them there, playing off of each other back and forth and leaving nothing but the insistent need for more. He wanted to pull back, to trail his kisses down her neck and lower. To grip the hem of her shirt and—

  Chapter 5

  Shay stepped back, her hand to her mouth, and for a moment, he thought she was going to turn on her heel and hightail it back to her room.

  He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. After all, what was there to say? He damn sure wasn't going to apologize. That kiss, whatever had just happened between them... he couldn't think of anything he'd ever felt less sorry about.

  Her mouth was just as warm and full as he'd thought it would be, but it wasn't just the way she kissed him. No, it was the tingle that spread through him like a warm, steady fire from the second he touched her skin.

  He could feel her in his blood, racing through his veins and pumping through his heart, and God only knew what he might have done if she hadn't stepped back and broken the kiss.

  "Electric shock," she murmured, but it was so low he could hardly hear.

  "What?"

  "Electric... I think you shocked me. When, um." She didn't finish. She didn't need to. The flush spreading over the apples of her cheeks, the sudden darkness in her eyes, told him all he needed to know.<
br />
  She'd liked it.

  And based on the way her gaze kept flicking to his lips?

  She wanted to go for a second try.

  "I don't think it was electric shock. I think you're confused by my pure masculine charm." He grinned and took another step toward her.

  She didn't back away.

  She did, however, roll her eyes. "I'm sure that's what it was."

  "You want to double check?" He stooped down just enough to hear the second when her breath caught.

  Then his lips were on hers again, soft and warm and... willing? He placed his hands on her hips, testing the limits, but instead of backing away, she arched into him, practically rubbing herself against the hard outline of his now-straining cock.

  This was the right Shay, wasn't it? The Shay who slapped his hand away from the radio? The Shay who rolled her eyes at nearly every breath he took?

  He wanted to pull back and check, but he'd be damned if he was going to take this moment for granted. Because if this really was Shay Meyers?

  Well, he knew exactly what he was going to do with her.

  Keeping one arm encircled around her waist, he pushed her up onto the countertop, and she gasped beneath his lips. When he lifted her, his wrist let out a little pang, but he didn't give a shit. It was like a flea bite compared to the coursing, overpowering desire that was pouring in harder and faster with every second he spent with his mouth on hers.

  He tangled one hand in her sleek black hair. It was just as smooth as he'd imagined. Like strands of silk pooling in his palm. He tugged the strands gently, and she nibbled at his bottom lip, seemingly in invitation.

  He tugged again, a little harder this time, and she let out a hum of pleasure so low and tantalizing that it was all he could do not to fuck her right there and then. He was having a hard enough time containing himself as it was, because with every passing moment, his mind was inventing new ways to pleasure her. New ways to make her moan longer and louder. New ways to make her say his name while she—