Her Lucky Love Read online

  She shook her head, her still drying hair falling over her shoulders. “Yes, I do. You’re letting us take over your house, even though I know you like your privacy.”

  Brayden folded his arms above his chest, pleased when her eyes dilated while she looked at his forearms. He was half tempted to flex and preen, but he held back.

  “I like my privacy from the peeping Toms in Holiday. Everyone is in everyone else’s business and I’d rather hang out at home.”

  “Yet, here we are, invading your home.”

  “You can’t invade something you’re welcome to.”

  “Then why us?”

  How did he explain that she was welcome in the home he’d built for the dream of her and her kids being in his life? Even when he thought it he knew it sounded like a stalker, not like a normal person.

  “You’re part of the family.”

  Her eyes clouded and he knew he’d said the wrong thing. He’d meant part of his family. He knew she’d taken it as part of the Coopers. As if he only did it because he felt obligated, not because he wanted to.

  Damn it.

  “I see.”

  “No, you don’t.” He’d have to tell her about who he was before he explained what he wanted. She deserved that much. “Are the kids upstairs?”

  She nodded. “They have school work to do, even though they’re not going in today. I feel bad that I’ve taken them out of school two days in a row, but I just don’t trust David not to do something.”

  “Justin and Abby will be there, and by now the town knows that someone came into your home.”

  She gave a hollow laugh at that. Yes, the gossip chain of Holiday was alive and well.

  “You know they probably already know I’m staying here. I can just imagine what they’re saying.”

  “Who cares? You’re protecting your kids. Screw what the others say.”

  “It doesn’t look like I have much choice. Though I still don’t feel like I’m protecting my kids just by being in a new place.”

  “We should talk.”

  “I don’t know if I like the sound of that.”

  He held out his hand and she cautiously grabbed it. He tried to ignore the soft feel of her skin beneath his but failed. Would she be soft all over?

  Brayden looked into her eyes and knew her thoughts had followed the same path as his.

  Okay, time to talk about something else or he might just kiss her right there in his kitchen where the kids could come in at any moment, causing a whole new set of problems.

  He brought her to his office, the place where he read by the fire or worked on things for his shop. The shop he hadn’t been to in a couple of days. Thank God for his workers who knew what they were doing.

  Brayden watched as she walked along the bookcases, her hand still in his, so he was forced to follow her.

  “You have so many books,” she said, her fingers tracing along the spine of some of them.

  Why did he feel like the Beast while his Beauty found the library?

  Maybe that was something better to think about later.

  Or not at all.

  He shrugged. “I like to read.”

  “And I thought you were just a mechanic.”

  For some reason that bugged him. “Really? Just a grease monkey without much else?”

  She shook her head, a small smile on her face. “No, but you’re very defensive on that. I know you’re more than just a man good with his hands.”

  She blushed beat red and Brayden barely resisted the urge to adjust himself.

  Oh, he was good with his hands. He just had to get her to trust him enough to prove it.

  “I meant with cars.”

  “Sure you did.”

  Ally rolled her eyes and pulled her hand away as if just noticing she’d been holding onto it this whole time. She moved to create more space between them and Brayden let her. She might even want more space once he was done talking to her.

  “Okay, so what did you need to tell me? I don’t want to leave the kids alone for too long. Who knows what they’ll get into in your house?”

  “They’ll be fine for a minute.”

  “I don’t think you know them too well if you think that.”

  Brayden grinned. “Oh, I know what they could do, I’m just choosing to ignore it.”

  “Good philosophy if you don’t want to keep your things nice and unbroken.”

  He ran a hand through his hair. He was stalling, time to just let it out. “I’m lucky.”

  Ally blinked. “Uh, okay. Sure. Now what does that have to do with anything?”

  He choked out a laugh. “Yeah, that didn’t make any sense, did it?”

  She shook her head. “Not even a little.”

  “Okay, when I was a kid, I found a leprechaun.” He fingered the coin around his neck, the heat intensifying under his touch. It didn’t do that all the time, just during stress and emergencies. Apparently now it knew something big was about to happen.

  Her eyes widened. “Like in Lucky Charms?”

  “A little. But, the thing is, he gave me this coin. Ever since, I’ve been lucky. I’ve been able to use my luck and my own intuition to make more money than I could use, win events, and other things.”

  “Are you sure it wasn’t just you who did all that?”

  He looked at her, confused. That thought had never occurred to him. “No, it’s the coin. I couldn’t be that lucky on my own.”

  “So you’re saying you have magic, but you don’t think you could do anything without the coin? That doesn’t sound like the confident Brayden I know.”

  “I tell you I have a little bit of magic, and you turn it around and say I just don’t believe in myself enough?”

  “No, that’s not what I’m saying. Well, okay, maybe I am. But, the thing is, Bray, you could have done any of that stuff without the coin. What makes the thing so special? Maybe it’s just in your head, and it’s a placebo effect.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not that good, Ally. Okay, fine, I will admit that I probably could have done some things in my life without the coin, but I sure as hell couldn’t have been as good as I am with it around my neck.”

  “Why don’t you try then? Why do you need magic?”

  Ah, the heart of the problem. The thing he knew she’d resent or try to run away from.

  “First, I can’t not use it. The leprechaun said it would always be mine until I found someone to give it to. He said I’d know when the time was right.”

  She raised a brow and crossed her arms across her chest. “Sounds mysterious.”

  “Tell me about it. And I haven’t given it away yet, never found a reason to.”

  “Because you like the luck that comes with it?”

  “Because it feels like it’s mine.”

  “If you start rubbing it and calling it your ‘Precious,’ we have a problem, Bray.”

  He liked the fact that she could at least joke about it, though he didn’t know if he liked being compared to ‘Gollum’ from Lord of the Rings.

  “The whole point is that, with the luck, I’m a little more equipped to take care of the kids. You wouldn’t think so because, hey, it’s just luck. Things go good for me, Ally. And, with the coin around my neck, I can feel heat and magic when something bad is going to happen. Plus, I have a kickass security system, Ally.”

  She puffed her lips out and exhaled. “I don’t know, Bray. I don’t know if I can deal with this right now. We’ll stay here because I feel safer here. I don’t know if it’s you or just the place, but I’ll take your hospitality. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful, oh, so grateful, but magic scares me.”

  “I know, Ally.”

  “No, I don’t think you do. I mean, you’d think I’d be okay with magic considering my friends and everything. I don’t know, Brayden. Until a day ago, I had no idea that magic had played a role in my life, and now everything is upside down. How can I be sure of anything? Now that I look back on it, I always knew something was off w
ith Greg and our marriage, but I never knew why. I just don’t know, Brayden. I lived for years with a gnome, and I didn’t know it. I lived with a man who…who did things, and I couldn’t leave. I didn’t want to leave. What does that make me?”

  He felt as if someone had shot him, leaving him on the side of the road as he waited for the pain to ebb. What had she been through?

  “I’m not ready to talk about it yet, okay? Maybe one day,” she said as she turned from him.

  Screw leaving them space.

  He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’m sorry, Ally.”

  She stiffened then relaxed in his hold. “I’m sorry too.”

  “Can I tell you something that may make you feel better? Or maybe make you run. I’m not sure.”

  “What?” she asked as she turned in his arms, her breath warm on his neck.

  “I talked to Rina a bit this morning about gnomes when she dropped off your things. She said she’d be back to talk to you later today. She said that gnomes had magic like elves. They can make humans do things, they really try.”

  Her eyes filled, and she shook her head.

  “Whatever happened to you, Ally, it wasn’t your fault. If you don’t know why you stayed, now we may have a clue. Greg probably forced you.”

  Anger coursed through him at the thought. He’d kill the bastard if he weren’t already dead.

  “I hate magic,” she whispered, and he held her closer.

  “I’m sorry.”

  They stood there for a bit longer until she pulled away, her face puffy.

  “I need to check on the kids. I can’t talk about magic right now, okay? But before I go, did you pay my bills, Bray? You said we’d talk about it later… well, it’s later.”

  “Yes, I paid the medical bills, but I don’t want you to argue with me about it. I have the money, and the last thing you need right now is the stress of that on your shoulders.”

  She shook her head. “You had no right. You should have just asked, Bray. I don’t like people doing things for me without telling me. Apparently, I had no choice in my life for too long with Greg, and now you’re stepping in and doing things for me. I need to stand on my own, don’t you see that?”

  Brayden stood back, stunned. “You’re comparing me to Greg?”

  She held up a hand. “Not in the way you think. But, if you want to be in my life, in my kids’ lives, then you need to learn to talk to me first. I’m not saying we have a future or anything, but that kiss last night? That we need to talk about.”

  “Mom!” Aiden called from the other room.

  Ally rolled her eyes. “Looks like it’s ‘mom time’. We’ll talk later, okay?” She rose on her tiptoes and let her lips settle on his for a moment. Then, before he could blink, she was gone, and he was alone in his office wondering how the hell he’d gotten there.

  What if what she’d said was true? What if all the magic he’d thought he felt was just his imagination?

  The coin around his neck warmed, reminding him that it was still there.

  No, the magic existed, though the idea that he could be something without it made him feel as though something had clicked into place. Maybe he wasn’t just the product of his coin and luck.

  Maybe he was something more.

  And with Ally, maybe he could be something more.

  “Brayden?”

  He turned and found Lacy in the doorway, her pigtails uneven as she tugged on them.

  He smiled and walked toward her so he could lean down to her height. “What is it, squirt?”

  “Will you go outside with me and show me the big tree in the backyard?” She batted her little eyelashes at him and tilted her head.

  Oh, yeah, this little one had him wrapped around her finger. Brayden found that he didn’t care that much. If only Ally knew how much he was wrapped around hers as well.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be doing your homework?” The last thing he needed was to get Lacy and himself in trouble.

  She shook her head, her pigtails twirling. “I already finished mine since I didn’t have much. Mommy said we had to go back to school tomorrow, so I want to have fun today. Okay?”

  Brayden smiled. Damn, this kid was too cute for her own good. Or was that his own good?

  “Let me check with your mom first.” He stood up, and she slipped her hands in his.

  They walked to the other room where Ally stood over Aiden’s shoulder, her body still stiff with the tension of their conversation.

  “Is Lacy done with her work?” Brayden interrupted.

  Ally looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Yep, though I wish they would have sent more work.”

  “Brayden’s gonna take me outside, Mommy,” Lacy announced.

  Cameron and Aiden frowned.

  “When you two finish, you can come out with us, okay?”

  “It’s not fair,” Cameron mumbled. “She’s just a little girl so she doesn’t get as much work as me.”

  “I’m not little!” Lacy yelled.

  “Be nice, Cam,” Ally said, rolling her eyes. “Thanks, Bray.”

  Lacy jumped up and down and led Brayden to the back door. He put on their jackets, and they walked hand in hand to the big tree in the back. He kept vigilant though. He didn’t trust David not to find them and finish what he started.

  “Do you think I can climb it?” Lacy asked.

  Brayden looked up at the tree that seemed to get bigger with each breath. An image of Lacy falling and having a cast to match Cam’s flashed in his head.

  “Maybe not today.”

  Lacy pouted but didn’t say anything, merely kicked the dirt beneath her feet.

  Great, he’d disappointed her. He wasn’t good at this whole dad thing, considering he wasn’t one. But there was one thing he could do to make her smile.

  “Hey, Lace, let me show you something.”

  “What is it?”

  “You see this?” He touched the warm coin, and she nodded. “This is a leprechaun’s coin.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really?”

  “Yep, I met one when I was little, and now I can do some magic.” Okay, he had one trick, but Lacy would love it.

  “You mean you’re a good magic guy like Justin and not the bad man?”

  Brayden pulled her into his arms and kissed her cheek. “Yes, I’m like Justin or Jordan. I’m not like David, okay?”

  “So you mean all gnomes are bad?” Her little lip quivered, and Brayden cursed himself.

  How had he not thought of this? These kids were half gnomes and hadn’t even talked about it. No wonder they looked shell shocked.

  “Not all gnomes are bad, not if they do good magic. And you’re as good as they come, Lace.”

  “You promise?”

  He put her little hand on his chest. “Cross my heart. Now, let me show you what I wanted you to see.”

  She nodded, though her lip was still between her teeth.

  Brayden touched the coin around his neck, closed his eyes, focusing on the magic within, then opened his palm.

  Lacy gasped, and Brayden smiled. He opened his eyes to see the rainbow he’d made parting through the clouds and ending at his palm.

  “It’s so pretty,” Lacy breathed. She held out her hand then stopped.

  “It won’t hurt. You can hold my hand, and the rainbow will stay.” As long as he concentrated, that is.

  She worried her lip then pressed her palm against his. Lace let out a giggle as the end of the rainbow wrapped its way around their joined hands like a bow.

  “Wow!” Cameron yelled from the doorway then ran to their side, Aiden on his trail.

  Brayden looked up to see Allison standing behind them, a look of slight fear in her eyes before she blinked it away.

  Damn it. He hadn’t meant to show her that he had magic like Greg, though he didn’t, not really if what Rina said was true. He’d just have to push harder to show her that magic could be good.

  Aiden and Cameron put their h
ands on top of Lacy’s, and the rainbow wrapped around their hands as well.

  “Cool,” Aiden said under his breath.

  “It’s beautiful,” Lacy said.

  Brayden looked at the three of them, smiling, happy as though there wasn’t a care in the world, and then he met Allison’s gaze.

  “Yeah, it’s very beautiful,” he said, though he wasn’t talking to the kids anymore.

  Ally stared at him, uncertainty and heat warring in her eyes.

  He’d fix this somehow. He’d waited too long for everything to fall through his fingertips.

  Brayden wanted the family in front of him, and he’d do anything to make it a reality. He just needed to make sure his luck didn’t run out because, for some reason, he knew the danger lurking around their lives was only beginning.

  Chapter 6

  Allison held her breath as Brayden showed her children the rainbow coming out of his palm. If she hadn’t been through so much with the Coopers, she wouldn’t have believed it.

  Even though the colors were amazingly beautiful, she didn’t know if she could trust the effects of magic. After all, she’d been an unknowing victim of magic for twelve years…at least.

  She’d also almost lost her children during the Christmas holidays when Jack Frost had attacked Justin and Rina while they were ice-skating with her children.

  If she hadn’t cared so much for the Coopers, she would have cut herself off from them trying to protect her babies.

  But it wouldn’t have done any good. No matter how hard she tried to push, magic and the Coopers seemed to surround her life.

  Now the man she thought she could see herself with held magic in any way. Even though he’d told her it was good magic, nothing like Greg’s, she couldn’t be sure. She thought she’d trusted Brayden with everything but her heart, but she could’ve been wrong.

  Her babies were in his hands, and he had the power to make anything come true with luck.

  Or at least that’s what she thought his magic did. She’d been too stunned when he’d revealed what he was to question what exactly his magic did.

  Allison didn’t know if she had it in her to be with a man who held that kind of power in his hands. Not that she’d decided to succumb to her own desires. She might want Brayden, not just physically, but in every way irrevocably possible, but that didn’t mean she’d give in.