We finally get to meet our next son or daughter.
Westlyn starts pushing, and the nurse tells her to stop because she needs to get the doctor.
“Hear that, doll? She’s callin
g the doctor to come.” I lean down and kiss Wes’s forehead. “I love you so much.”
She strokes my face with her hand. “I love you, too. But that doctor needs to come because I won’t be able to stop pushing when I have another contraction.”
“You have to breathe and not push.”
“Yeah, right. Like that’s going to happen. This baby is coming. It doesn’t care who’s ready.”
Westlyn’s physician comes into the room. “Oh… it’s coming. I’m trying… but I can’t stop it.”
He hurriedly puts on a pair of gloves. No gown. “It’s all right, Mrs. Hendry. Just means it’s time to meet this wee one.”
I watch the head of our third child emerge from my wife’s body, and the doctor suctions his nose and mouth. Westlyn’s legs are shaking, and she’s breathing erratically when she reaches up to grab me. She pulls me down and squeezes me around the back of my neck. “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.”
“You’re almost finished. Push him out.”
Westlyn releases her ironfisted hold on me and works to catch her breath. She pulls her legs back, her eyes squeezed tightly, her brow wrinkled. A pair of tears escapes her eyes, and it breaks my heart to see her suffering in silence.
“Here he or she comes.”
I hear a gush of fluid and then a piercing cry—our baby’s first sound.
“It’s a boy.”
She falls against the bed, exhausted, and I kiss the top of her head. “You did it, Wes. We have another son.
He’s placed on her chest where the nurses wipe him clean, cover his head with a blue beanie, and stuff him inside his mother’s gown. Skin-to-skin.
Westlyn puts him to the breast, and it only takes a few minutes for him to figure out how to latch on. “Look at our boy, Kieran. He’s so much like Lachlan and you.”
“Ethan Graham Hendry.” I lower my face so I can get a better look at my son. “I already love him as much as I do Lachlan and Bristol.”
“Me too.”
I look at our third child and know that I owe all of my happiness to Westlyn. Without her, I wouldn’t know this kind of love and joy.
When I stole this beautiful woman, all I had in my heart was anger and rage and malice. I had cruel intentions. But then everything changed. My affection for her was unexpected. My love, unintended.
Bleu came to Edinburgh to kill someone and falls in love. She got her happily ever after. Ellison came to Edinburgh to be with her sister and falls in love. She got her happily ever after. Westlyn gets kidnapped by a monster and falls in love. She got her happily ever after.
I fall in love and all I get is misery.
I’m so tired. So tired of hurting. So tired of loving a man who doesn’t love me in return.
I think it’s time I leave The Fellowship. No brother is going to have me anyway. Not after the things that I’ve done.
I believe Sin will grant me leave. Maybe Kieran will take me into The Order, so I can at least remain near my friends. I don’t want to give up Westlyn, Bleu, and Ellison. And now Shaw. She has become a dear friend.
Leaving. I know it’s what I must do. It’s my only chance at finding happiness.
Author Note
It is my greatest hope that you enjoyed Unintended. I appreciate the time you invested in my story… in my words… in a part of me.
I would be honored and grateful if you choose to leave a review.
Continue reading to enjoy an excerpt of Beauty from Pain, Tap, Indulge and Dear Agony.
A New York Times and USA Today Bestseller....
They agreed on three months... but their love knew no boundaries.
Jack McLachlan is a winemaking magnate and easily one of Australia’s most eligible bachelors. His success and wealth makes him no stranger to the complications of romantic relationships and that’s why he goes to extreme measures to avoid the hassle. He prefers simplicity in the form of a beautiful female companion with no strings attached. He arranges relationships like business deals and they’re always the same. No long term relationships. No real names.
It’s his game and his rules. He’s content to play as usual, but when Laurelyn Prescott enters his life, his strategy must change because this player is like none he's ever encountered. His world is turned on its head after he begins a three month affair with the beautiful American musician. Nothing goes according to plan and as he breaks more and more of his own rules for her, she’s exceptionally close to becoming something he never thought possible. His ultimate game changer.
CHAPTER 1
LAURELYN PRESCOTT
I am sick of being on this plane. The four-and-a-half-hour flight from Nashville to Los Angeles was fine. The layover was tolerable, thanks to the airport bar. But the last leg of our flight to Australia is becoming more and more unbearable with each passing minute.
I try to calculate how much longer it is until we land in Sydney. My exhaustion makes it difficult for me to do the simple equation in my head, but it looks like it’s still almost two hours until I will feel solid ground beneath my feet again. I sigh and tell myself to be patient. I’ve made it this far. I can take another two hours. I mean, I don’t really have a choice at this point, right?
I look at my best friend sleeping in the seat next to me and I’m irritated. Addison has slept most of the flight, leaving me to entertain myself. She offered to share her Valium, but I declined, certain I wouldn’t need it. Wrong.
I climb over Addison and take a walk up and down the aisle to stretch my legs, which helps me feel better. Upon returning to my seat, I decide reading will help pass the time, so I grab my e-reader and pick up where I stopped on the slutmance I’d started earlier. Only at chapter six and of course, the woman is in love with the hot new guy but is in denial. How typical.
Chapter twelve is winding down when the pilot announces that we’ll be landing in Sydney in ten minutes. Addison doesn’t stir, so I put my naughty tale away and nudge her, knowing it will take the next ten minutes to get her out of her drug-induced slumber.
“Wake up, Addison. We’re almost in Sydney.”
She barely stirs so I nudge her again. “Addison. Get up. We’re in Sydney. You need to get buckled for the landing.”
She lifts her head and stares at me with unfocused eyes. She straightens in her seat and takes a moment to get her bearings. “Wow, that went faster than I expected.”
“I guess so since you were in a freakin’ coma. It was the longest thirteen hours of my life. I didn’t sleep a wink the whole flight because I was too busy wondering if we were going to end up being shark food.” That came out a little pissier than I’d intended.
“Well, there’s no reason to be miserable when you don’t have to be. You should’ve taken a happy pill and then maybe you wouldn’t be so cranky right now.” She won’t have to offer twice on the flight home three months from now. Lesson learned.
Buckled into my seat, I squeeze my eyes as the plane’s wheels screech against pavement. Our fellow passengers erupt into cheer and clapping when we’re safely on the ground. I’m not the only one glad to be getting off this plane.
We collect our three months’ worth of luggage and take a seat in the terminal to wait for our last flight. With an hour layover, I decide to visit the airport bar. “I’m gonna grab a much-needed and well-deserved toddy.”
Addison’s phone rings and I recognize her brother’s ringtone. Before she answers, she gives me a warning. “Be back in thirty minutes or I’m sending security for you.” I don’t reply in words but make sure she sees the hand gesture I have for her.
The airport bar isn’t far from our terminal and I plop down on a stool. “What can I get you?” I might not be able to tell by my surroundings, but I know I’m in Australia when I hear his accent.
“I’d like something from a local brewery. I tend to favor lighter flavors.”
He serves me a pale ale from a Sydney brewery. It’s stout, but good.
I sit at the bar enjoying my ale. The bartender doesn’
t try to talk about where I’m from or where I’m heading. He appears to be in his fifties, so I can only assume he’s heard more shit than he’d like over the years and thus isn’t interested in mine. Works fine for me.
When I finish, I go back to where Addison is guarding our huge pile of luggage. “Was Ben calling to check on us?”
“Yeah. He was making sure our flight was running on time. I told him to expect us to arrive around three. He said he’s bringing a friend to help with our luggage.”
I see how many bags we have and I swear we look like a traveling band of gypsies. Most of it is Addison’s, but I have my fair share—there’s no way to pack lightly for a three-month stay. “That’s not a bad idea.”
“He’s my brother. He knows how high maintenance I am.” I sit and prop my feet on the suitcase in front of me. “He didn’t say it, but he’s really excited to meet you.”
He’s really excited to meet me. This is a huge red flag. I hope she isn’t thinking of playing matchmaker.
“Don’t you dare even think about encouraging him.” I’m not interested in dating anyone right now. She knows this better than anyone. This whole Australia gig is about getting away from all that shit, not finding another pile of it.
“He hasn’t dated many Aussies while he’s lived here. I’m just saying you shouldn’t be surprised if he tries to start something with you.”
Oh, hell no. We’re not even there yet and she’s already trying to hook us up. “It’s not happening, Addison.”
“You’ll be living in the same apartment with him for the next three months. Who knows what could happen?”
Okay. Now, I’m getting pissed because it feels like I’m being ambushed. “I might not know what will happen, but I know what won’t, so forget it.”
“Fine, fine, I won’t mention it again. Ben wants to take us out tonight, but I know you haven’t slept much. I told him you might not feel like it.”