"Right back at you, babe," she murmured in his ear.
She leaned back against the loveseat and took another sip of beer, and her smile faded into a puzzled frown. "Where did Brendan go? He was the one who brought the beer."
"He got a phone call," Cilla said. "From his agent. He went outside to talk to her."
"Good news?" Mia asked.
Cilla shrugged. "I have no idea. His agent sent the book to some film studios, and a few of them have been looking at it. Maybe it's about that."
Moments later, Brendan burst through the front door, scowling. Cilla jumped up and wrapped her arms around him. "Hey, Bren," she murmured. "Bad news?"
Brendan tightened his arm around his fiancée and glared at Finn. "What did you do, you son of a bitch?"
"Besides make Mia late for work the…" He stopped when Mia's elbow jabbed into his ribs, and Brendan continued to glower at him. "Not that, huh?"
He heard Mia snicker as he studied Brendan. Finn's smile fell away as he realized his future brother-in-law was serious. "What's up, Bren?"
"Did you think you had to buy it because of Mia? Was it a family thing? Because I don't want charity, O'Rourke."
Brendan took a breath, and Finn held up his hands. "Stop, Bren. What the hell are you talking about?"
"Like you don't know." Brendan's jaw worked as he stared at Finn.
"I honestly don't. What's going on?"
Brendan studied him for a long moment, then let Cilla go. "How can you not know?"
"Tell me what it is, and I'll tell you how I don't know it."
Mia looped her arm through Finn's and leaned against him. "Tell us all, Bren. This is beginning to sound like a drawing room farce."
Brendan sat down heavily on one of the chairs. "Your studio just optioned my book. For a hell of a lot of money."
"I bought several books recently. What was the title?"
"Sleeping City."
"Oh, my God. That book was yours? It's amazing. It's the first project I’m going to tackle." He jumped up, pulled Brendan to his feet and wrapped him in a hard hug. "My favorite of all the books and screenplays we optioned."
Brendan eased away from him, his gaze suspicious. "How could you not know it was my book? My name was on every page."
"I made my agent get rid of all the names before I read any manuscripts or screenplays," Finn said. "I didn't want to know who'd written them. I wanted to buy them on their own merit, not based on whether they had a reputation in Hollywood.
"Or because they were from my brother-in-law, if I'd known he was submitting something. Which I didn't."
"You're paying me a chunk of change," Brendan said, as if it was a bad thing.
"Had to," Finn said easily. "My agent is one of the best. She knew there were several other studios seriously interested. While they were trying to figure out how little they could get away with offering to a newbie, I jumped in and bought it. I went big to discourage the rest of them."
"So you seriously didn't know it was my book." Brendan still looked skeptical.
"You want to ask my agent?" Finn pulled out his phone, tapped a contact and handed it to Brendan. "Call her."
Brendan stared at the phone for a long moment, then handed it back to Finn. "I'll take your word."
Finn sat back down and drew Mia closer. "I read a lot of great stories," he said, leaning forward to lock his gaze with Brendan's, willing the guy to believe him. "More than the others, your book spoke to me – its absolute honesty. Your characters were real and had real problems, but they always faced them square on. Your protagonist had so much integrity.
"I think your story will speak to a lot of people. You're a great writer, Brendan." He glanced around the room, watched everyone smile at Brendan. "I'm not just saying that because you're going to be my brother-in-law. I'm saying it because it's true."
Brendan swallowed once. Then again. "I'm still gonna go over that contract with a fine-toothed comb," he said, his voice rough. "Get Helen to read it, too."
"You'd better," Finn said easily. "Because if you don't, I'll kick your ass."
Mia jumped up from the couch and wrapped her arms around her brother. "Congratulations, Bren," she said. "What great news."
As she hugged Brendan, all of her siblings and their spouses crowded around them. The noise level in the room rose as everyone talked at once. They pounded Brendan's back, hugged him, punched him in the arm.
Finn didn't see any jealousy, any envy. They were genuinely happy for Brendan.
Finn spotted Charlotte, standing by one of the boxes, watching the adults, and he swooped over to pick her up. He cuddled her for a moment, inhaling her sweet little-girl smell, baby powder and milk and fresh air. He couldn't wait until he and Mia had a little girl of their own. Or a little boy. "Your Uncle Bren just got some good news," he said, smacking a kiss to the little girl's cheek. "You want to give him a kiss? Tell him congratulations?"
"Ba," she said, pointing to Brendan.
"One more here who wants a kiss," Finn said, pressing through the crowd surrounding Brendan. He passed Bren his niece, watched him cuddle her close, then he looked for Mia.
She was looking at him, too, blinking hard, her expression soft. She edged over to him, slid her arm around his waist. "Soon, babe," she murmured in his ear. "You know I won't be able to resist you for long."
She nuzzled his neck. "When it comes to you, I never could," she whispered against his skin. "I was yours the first time I saw you."
"Maybe not the first time," he teased her. "I was kind of a jerk that morning."
"Yeah, you were," she said, nipping at his ear lobe. "But by the end of the day? I was sold." She twined her arms around his neck. "I'm all yours. Always will be."
*****
Thank You
Thank you for reading Protect Me. I'm honored you chose one of my books, and hope you enjoyed it!
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My Books
(by series)
The Donovan Family
Love Me
Watch Me
Find Me
Trust Me
Cover Me
Protect Me
The Devereux Family
A Safe Place
The Woman He Knows
Bending the Rules
Welcome to Otter Tail
An Unlikely Setup
Can't Stand the Heat?
Life Rewritten
For Baby and Me
The McInnes Triplets
A Place Called Home
No Place Like Home
Home at Last
Door County
Small-Town Family
Stranger in a Small Town
Partners in Crime
In Her Defense
Family First
Cameron, Utah
Rodeo Man
For the Children
Cowboy With a Badge
The Fugitive Bride
The Marriage Protection Program
Stand-alone titles
Hometown Girl
Two on the Run
Family on the Run
To Love and Protect Her
A Thanksgiving to Remember
Someone to Watch Over Her
To Save His Child
The Dark Side of the Moon
An Honorable Man
An Innocent Man
Personal Best
About the Author
Two-time Rita finalist Margaret Watson has sold millions of copies of her thirty seven books. After writing spicy H
arlequin romances, Margaret dials it up a notch with her latest, the Donovan Family series. Once you start reading these sexy romantic suspense stories about a family of Chicago cops, you won't be able to stop.
When not writing, Margaret practices veterinary medicine. She lives near Chicago with her husband, three daughters and a menagerie of pets.
Susan Elizabeth Phillips, NYT bestselling author, says, "Margaret Watson, a star in the world of contemporary romance, grabs you on the opening page and keeps you reading to the happily ever after."
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Table of Contents
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Epilogue
Thank You
My Books
About the Author
Table of Contents