Suddenly Mine Read online

  Also by Samantha Chase

  The Montgomery Brothers

  Wait for Me / Trust in Me

  Stay with Me / More of Me

  Return to You

  Meant for You

  I’ll Be There

  Until There Was Us

  The Shaughnessy Brothers

  Made for Us

  Love Walks In

  Always My Girl

  This Is Our Song

  A Sky Full of Stars

  Holiday Spice

  Until I Loved You

  Shaughnessy Brothers: Band on the Run

  One More Kiss

  One More Promise

  One More Moment

  Holiday Romance

  The Christmas Cottage / Ever After

  Mistletoe Between Friends / The Snowflake Inn

  Novellas Now in Print

  The Baby Arrangement / Baby, I’m Yours / Baby, Be Mine

  In the Eye of the Storm / Catering to the CEO

  Exclusive / A Touch of Heaven

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  Books. Change. Lives.

  Copyright © 2019 by Samantha Chase

  Cover and internal design © 2019 by Sourcebooks, Inc.

  Cover designed by Dawn Adams/Sourcebooks, Inc.

  Cover images © Cultura RM Exclusive/Christin Rose/marshalgonz/Getty Images

  Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.

  Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.

  P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410

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  Contents

  Front Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  A Sneak Peek at Tangled Up in You

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  About the Author

  Back Cover

  Prologue

  As far as cocktail parties went, this one was in pure Montgomery fashion. In a room filled with family, there was a lot of laughter, but there was also a lot of business talk.

  Monica Montgomery rolled her eyes at that. It didn’t matter how many parties she’d attended—and hosted—she still never understood the appeal of talking business when you were celebrating something wonderful! In this case, her niece Megan’s engagement to Alex Rebat. Looking across the room, she saw them laughing and smiling as they spoke to the people around them, and it made her heart swell with pride.

  “We did that,” a giddy voice said from beside her.

  Smiling, Monica looked at her sister-in-law Eliza and agreed. “We sure did. Now I can see why my husband loves playing matchmaker. It’s a wonderful feeling to see the joy on the faces of a couple in love.”

  “And Megan and Alex certainly are,” Eliza said with a happy sigh. “My baby girl is all grown up and I’ve never seen her look happier.” She paused. “I only wish I could say the same for my sons.”

  Unfortunately, Monica was stumped on what to do with her wayward nephews. Neither Carter nor Christian seemed to have any interest in settling down. And that wasn’t acceptable. There was a whole new generation of Montgomerys coming up in this world and she hoped her nephews would want to contribute to that.

  “I have to admit,” she began carefully, “Christian seems a little less…intense these days.”

  Beside her, Eliza nodded. “Believe it or not, he was dating someone.”

  “Really?” Monica asked excitedly.

  “Pfft, don’t get your hopes up. That relationship ended already, but it was nice to know that he was finally showing an interest in dating again.”

  “Any idea what finally changed his mind?”

  Eliza shrugged. “Not a clue. My son doesn’t share anything about his personal life, and for that I blame my husband.”

  This was new information. “Why? What does Joseph have to do with this?”

  For a moment, Eliza looked extremely uncomfortable, managing to look everywhere except at Monica.

  “Eliza?” Monica prompted.

  With a weary shrug, Eliza responded, “Let’s just say that my husband managed to interfere in a relationship Christian was involved in when he lived in London. Neither of them will say much about it and it was obviously ages ago, but…” Another sigh. “It’s come up several times, and if I had to take a guess, I’d say my husband was a little less than compassionate.”

  “Oh no.” Monica scanned the room and spotted Christian talking intently with his father. “Do you think we should go over there and break that up? Maybe they both need a reminder that this is a ballroom, not a conference room.”

  Eliza laughed softly. “It doesn’t seem to matter.”

  “What about Carter? How’s he doing these days? Dating anyone?”

  “Carter seems to date a lot, but we never meet the girls and he only goes out with them once or twice.” Shaking her head, she turned to Monica. “Here’s the thing. I know exactly who Carter’s going to marry, he just doesn’t know it yet.”

  That was both cryptic and intriguing. “Really? And when did this happen?”

  “When Carter was in the fourth grade.”

  Luckily, she hadn’t taken a sip of her champagne or she would have been choking on it. “Um…excuse me?”

  Nodding, Eliza explained. “I knew the moment my son had met his match, and they’ve known each other almost their entire lives. If I had my way, they’d be together right now.”

  “So why aren’t they?”

  “Neither of them is ready, but…soon. I hope she’s still single.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “I’ve sort of lost track.”

  There was no way Monica was going to remind Eliza that there was a real possibility of the girl being unavailable. The last thing Monica wanted was to bring the mood down—after all, that would make her no better than her brother-in-law. Looking around the room, she spotted her husband and knew she was going to h
ave a conversation with him later on in hopes of having him straighten his brother out and getting him to lay off of Christian.

  Deciding to change the subject—sort of—Monica took a sip of her champagne and smiled at Eliza. “So, what are you doing with yourself these days? Anything exciting?”

  “I’ve been working with Joseph’s head of human resources lately and helping her with some new health incentives for employees.”

  “Really? I haven’t heard anything about that,” Monica said, intrigued. “Is this something that’s only going to take place in New York, or do you think it will go company-wide?”

  “I’m hoping for company-wide. They would have a corporate wellness nurse come to the office several times a month and do things like flu shots, blood pressure checks, and offer sessions on nutrition. It’s in the beginning stages, but I’d like to think we can turn it into something all employees can benefit from.”

  “Color me impressed, Eliza,” Monica said with a smile. “I had no idea you were doing any corporate work.”

  “Every once in a while, I like to get involved in something. This particular idea wasn’t something I came up with myself—I heard about it while I was at my doctor’s office. You know I had gone to school to become a nurse, but once we started having kids, I stopped working. Believe it or not, I’ve often toyed with the idea of going back to school and becoming an RN.”

  “I didn’t realize that! That would be an awful lot of work, wouldn’t it?”

  Eliza agreed. “It would, and as much as I think I’d enjoy it, I enjoy our lives the way they are right now.”

  “I understand.”

  “Anyway, I mentioned the idea of the wellness program to Joseph and he liked it. We talked about it and he asked me to work with human resources to get it started.”

  “I’ll have to ask William about it. It sounds wonderful!”

  “Did I hear my name?”

  Monica turned and smiled as her husband leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “It’s like you have some sort of radar, William,” she teased.

  “Sometimes I do,” he teased in return. “What are you two lovely ladies talking about?”

  Monica told him about the corporate wellness program. “Don’t you think it’s a wonderful idea?”

  “Absolutely! We’ve been talking about it and were trying to figure out where to go with it next.”

  And then inspiration hit. With a sly look at Eliza, Monica turned to her husband. “I think it would be beneficial to go to San Diego next!”

  Both William and Eliza looked at her in mild confusion.

  “You do?” they said in unison.

  “I do,” she replied. “Just like it worked well to have Megan go and work with Christian’s office because it’s smaller, it might be nice to do the same with this program.”

  “Well, I suppose—” William said, but Monica was on a roll.

  “And considering how Eliza has been working so diligently with Joseph’s office, I think it would be a wonderful idea for her to share what she’s done with Christian’s human resources people.”

  “That does sound—”

  “And,” she barreled on, “I think I’d like to go with her and learn a little about it myself, and then I can talk to the people in your office, William. What do you think?”

  “I…I, um…”

  “I bet Eliza and I could go to San Diego directly from here and spend a week and get the ball rolling.” She looked anxiously at Eliza for confirmation. “Don’t you think?”

  Eliza was still confused, but she rolled with it. “I agree. I think the sooner we get things going, the better.” She smiled at William. “And I know Monica will be a fantastic asset.”

  William looked between the two of them, his eyes narrowing. “I guess I’ll tell Robert and Joseph what’s going on.”

  “Thank you, sweetheart,” Monica said, squeezing her husband’s arm. “I think this is going to be a wonderful thing for the company, and you know Eliza and I will do everything we can to make it succeed!”

  “I know you will,” he said sweetly. Then he kissed her again before going off to speak to his brothers.

  It wasn’t until he was across the room that Eliza stepped directly in front of Monica. “What was that all about?”

  The wide-eyed expression on her sister-in-law’s face was priceless. But Monica knew as soon as she explained herself—and her plan—Eliza would be on board.

  Hooking her arm through Eliza’s, she guided her toward the bar to freshen their drinks. “Just imagine all the possibilities a week in San Diego observing your son could do. Now that he’s open to dating again, we just might find the perfect woman for him.”

  It took a minute, but Eliza’s smile came slow and equally sly. “Why, Monica, you’re a bit of a genius.”

  “Guilty as charged,” she said with a grin. Raising her glass, she added, “Here’s to a successful search!”

  Chapter 1

  “Don’t these people have jobs?” Christian Montgomery murmured to himself as he sipped his morning coffee.

  For a while now, he had taken to having his coffee out on his deck before going in to work. It was a chance to breathe in the fresh air and have some peace before the craziness of his day. People-watching had become his favorite hobby, and as odd as it sounded, he found it relaxing and therapeutic.

  Scanning the sand, he smiled at the small circle of people doing yoga off to his left. Every day they were out there stretching and holding their poses, and it was almost hypnotic to watch. At times, he even found himself deep breathing along with them, as he imagined they were doing.

  Not far from them was a trio of fishermen. Not once had Christian ever seen them catch anything, but they were out there religiously every morning—rain or shine. That was one hobby he had never had an interest in. It looked boring. Those guys were there before Christian came out on his deck, and he imagined they stayed out there long after he left for work. He could only hope they caught some fish eventually.

  Then there were the surfers. They were also hypnotic to watch but offered a bit more excitement. There was no way he could even imagine himself doing what those people did, but it was cool as hell to watch. Some of them were amazing at it, while others sort of…well, they tried.

  Which reminded him…

  “Oh, this is glorious! I could totally get used to this!”

  Great. His mother was awake and encroaching on his peaceful time.

  Looking out at the waves crashing on the shore, he took another sip of his coffee before turning to look at his mother. “You’re up early.”

  She took a long sip of her own steaming coffee before answering. “Well, as much as I complain about your father’s snoring, it appears I can’t sleep without him.” With a serene smile, she added, “Besides, I was hoping to have a few minutes with you before you left for the office.”

  He’d been avoiding this sort of thing. After getting ambushed at Megan and Alex’s engagement party with the news that his mother and aunt would be coming home with him, Christian had been doing his best to stay out of their way. But apparently, his reprieve was up.

  He almost jumped at the feel of his mother’s hand covering his. She looked so sweet, yet he had a feeling there was more to this trip to San Diego than starting some sort of wellness program.

  “You work too hard,” she said point-blank. “Monica and I tried waiting up for you, but we were both exhausted and couldn’t stay up any longer. What time did you finally come home?”

  “I don’t know. Sometime around eleven.”

  She made a disapproving sound. “Were you working all that time or did you happen to have a date?”

  It was a challenge not to roll his eyes. “I was working, Mom. I wouldn’t have blown you and Aunt Monica off for a date.”

  “Well…you should,” she argued lightly.
“It wouldn’t kill you to get out and date more.”

  “Mom…”

  Placing her mug on the deck railing, she faced him. “Christian, you remind me so much of your father.” Then she paused. “And that’s not a compliment.”

  Okay, this was new.

  “I don’t know everything that happened in London and I don’t want to know,” she stated. “What I do know is that it’s gone on long enough. You work too much, you spend far too much time alone, and I can’t ignore it anymore.”

  Christian sighed wearily and drank the rest of his coffee before putting his mug beside hers.

  “I get that you’re disappointed in me—”

  Her soft gasp stopped him.

  “Christian, I could never be disappointed in you. Ever,” she said vehemently. “But I look at you and I can see you’re not happy.” Reaching up, she cupped his cheek. “No mother wants to see her child unhappy. You need a life outside of work.”

  “That’s not what Dad thinks,” he mumbled.

  “You know you don’t have to do everything your father says, don’t you?” Her words were soft and firm and when Christian looked at her, he saw a hint of a smirk on her face. “Your father is a very intelligent man, but not everything he says is the gospel truth. As a matter of fact, I think it’s safe to say that where anything outside of work is concerned, your father doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

  Christian couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re pretty feisty early in the morning,” he teased.

  She waved him off. “I’m feisty all the time, but no one seems to pay attention.”

  So many thoughts were racing through his mind. It was easy to stand here and say he didn’t have to listen to his father—or anyone for that matter—but actually doing it without letting the guilt eat away at him was different. And it didn’t matter how old he was or how independent he was; for some reason, his father could make him feel like an incompetent child with a few choice words.

  “Christian,” she went on, interrupting his thoughts. “If you’re not happy in this career, you know you can change that, right? Just because you have the Montgomery name doesn’t mean you have to work for the company.”