Perfect Love Read online

  Table of Contents

  Books by Trina Lane

  Title Page

  Legal Page

  The Perfect Union

  Book Description

  Dedication

  Trademark Acknowledgements

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Epilogue

  His Perfect Partner

  Book Description

  Dedication

  Trademark Acknowledgements

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  Capturing Perfection

  Book Description

  Dedication

  Trademark Acknowledgements

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Epilogue

  Read more from Trina Lane

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  About the Author

  Pride Publishing books by Trina Lane

  Single Books

  Taking the Chance

  Love’s Return

  Perfect Love

  The Perfect Union

  His Perfect Partner

  Capturing Perfection

  Simply Perfection

  The Perfect Balance

  An Imperfect Reunion

  Phantom River

  The Taste of Devotion

  The Sound of Salvation

  The Heart of Texas

  Shards in the Sun

  Windows in the Mist

  Totally 5 Star

  Turkish Delights

  PERFECT LOVE:

  PART ONE

  The Perfect Union

  His Perfect Partner

  Capturing Perfection

  TRINA LANE

  Perfect Love: Part One

  ISBN # 978-1-83943-069-5

  ©Copyright Trina Lane 2010

  Cover Art by Lyn Taylor ©Copyright May 2010

  Interior text design by Claire Siemaszkiewicz

  Pride Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Pride Publishing.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Pride Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2020 by Pride Publishing, United Kingdom.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorised copies.

  Pride Publishing is an imprint of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

  If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book”.

  THE PERFECT UNION

  Book one in the

  Perfect Love series

  Two men, one woman and the desire to experience passion beyond their wildest dreams.

  Calleigh Wells has spent the last three years rebuilding her life after being notified of the death of her husband in Iraq. On that darkest day of her life she met Rick Conner and Conor McGuire. Two men who share a bond beyond mere friendship.

  Since then the three have become inseparable. Both men have become surrogate fathers to Calleigh’s twin boys. They’ve created an unusual family filled with love, friendship, and support. However, lately Calleigh's dreams have been filled with feverish images of sweat slicked skin and twisting limbs. Of three. Unbeknownst to her Rick and Conor have also hungered to expand their friendship to new reaches. What will happen when all is revealed?

  Dedication

  To everyone who celebrates the magical land of Shannon & To Mary Ellen this fantasy’s for you.

  Trademark Acknowledgements

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  iPhone: Apple Inc. Corp.

  Finding Nemo: Walt Disney Pictures

  Xbox 360: Microsoft Corporation

  Depo-Provera: Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Corporation

  HotWheels: Mattel, Inc. Corporation

  Devil Went Down to Georgia: Charlie Daniels Band

  Stay the Night: Benjamin Orr

  Guinness: Arthur Guinness Son & Company Limited

  Cheerios: General Mills, Inc.

  Spiderman: Marvel Comics

  Band-Aid: Johnson & Johnson Corporation

  Prologue

  November 2006

  Calleigh Wells was so glad the sun came out from behind the clouds as she walked down the street. Boston had been in a dreadfully rainy pattern over the past week. It had been cold but not enough to turn to snow. She lifted her head to the sky to soak up the burgeoning rays. Now, the temperature was low, but at least, the sun was shining.

  She opened the door to Bean Town, her favourite coffee place, and stepped inside. The warm air from the heat flowed over her cheeks that tingled from the crisp air. There were four people ahead of her in line as she tried to decide if she wanted her standby hazelnut latte or if she wanted to be adventurous and try the caramel macchiato.

  She felt a vibration against her side and opened her purse to see an incoming call on her iPhone. She didn’t recognise the number, but it was a long distance area code.

  “Hello?”

  “Is this Mrs. Wells?”

  “May I ask who’s calling?” She moved forward a step, glancing to the board and decided to be adventurous on another day. The hazelnut sounded good right then.

  “This is Sergeant Cooper. I’m trying to locate Calleigh Wells, wife of Sergeant Kevin Wells.”

  “Oh God. No.” Her heart stuttered, and she couldn’t breathe. There was only one reason someone from the Armed Forces would be calling her.

  “Mrs. Wells, I regret to inform you that your husband had been injured in the line of duty. He is being transferred to Ramstein Air Force base in Germany.”

  She blindly reached out to keep herself from falling down. When she looked up, she had hold of the man’s shirt in front of her. He turned around with a questioning look, but it immediately changed to concern.

  “What happened? Is Kevin okay? What—”

  “I’m not at liberty to discuss the event. If you
wish, I’ll put you in contact with his unit liaison. They will be able to make arrangements for you to fly to Germany. Do you have a pen and paper handy?”

  “No…wait…please.” She looked at the two men standing side by side in front of her. “Do you have a pen and paper I can borrow?”

  The man with black hair held out a pen while the man with auburn hair grabbed a napkin off the counter beside them. Taking the items, she put the phone back up to her ear. “Okay, I’m ready.” She wrote down the information and ended the call.

  She couldn’t seem to move. Her feet were cemented to the floor. She looked around aimlessly, but nothing was in focus. The colours blurred, and her vision swam. She felt herself being guided over to the side and found herself sitting in one of the chairs scattered around the room.

  The dark haired man knelt down in front of her. “Are you okay?” He looked up at his auburn-haired friend who had pulled the chair out and was resting his hands on her shoulders. Taking her cold hands between his, the first man rubbed. “Miss? Do we need to get you help?”

  His deep voice cut through the haze in her mind. She looked down into a pair of bright sapphire blue eyes. “I need to go home.”

  “Okay. Did you drive here?”

  She shook her head no. She tried to dial the number to her house, but her hands shook too badly. She held out her phone to the man in front of her. “Can you call? I can’t get it to work. My mom can come get me. She has my babies.”

  He took the phone from her shaking hands, and handed it to his friend. “Tell you what? Why don’t we make things easier on your mom? Conor and I will take you home. I’m Rick.” He stopped the woman’s head from shaking back and forth by putting a hand to her cheek. “We are completely safe. I promise you. You can talk to your mom the entire way there if you want.” He helped her to stand and turned her around so she could see Conor behind her.

  “Miss. I think I got the number ye wanted,” Conor said, holding out the phone.

  She took the phone from the tall man. Her vision was still blurring and all she could decipher were images of red hair and blue-green eyes. She noticed that he had some kind of soft lyrical accent. “Thank you.”

  Putting the phone up to her ear she heard her mom’s voice.

  “Mom?” she interrupted. “They called. Kevin’s hurt.” Tears started slipping down her cheeks. “I’m at Bean Town… No, I walked…These two men said they’ll drive me home.” She listened for another minute then held out the phone to the man with the black hair and blue eyes. “She wants to talk to you.”

  Rick took the phone from her hand. “Hello? Yes, ma’am. My name is Richard Connor. My friend and I were here at the shop when your daughter got the call. We’ll be happy to bring her home. She’s in no condition to be out on the streets by herself right now. I assure you we mean her no harm. Can you give me an address?” He listened then continued, “Okay we should have her there in about twenty-five minutes.” He ended the call and gave back the phone.

  Conor walked around to stand next to Rick. “Can ye tell us yer name, miss?”

  “It’s Calleigh. Calleigh Wells.”

  “Calleigh, I’m Rick Connor and this is Conor McGuire. Let’s get you home to your family.” He escorted her to the door Conor held open for them.

  They walked half a block down and stopped in front of a dark sedan of some kind. The auburn-haired man opened the front passenger and assisted her into the seat. She sat in silence as the door was secured, habitually reaching for the seatbelt. She thought they seemed nice, and she was desperate enough to trust two strangers.

  Rick looked over the top of the car at his best friend. “What in the hell just happened?”

  Conor shrugged. “It doesn’t sound good. I think somethin’ might have happened te her husband or brah’der or somebody. Feck man, she said she had babies at home. I hope to hell ‘tis not her husband.”

  “Yeah, me, too. Let’s get out of here. The mother said she lives in Mission Hill.”

  The two men climbed into the car. She sat silently for several minutes before realising it was pretty rude not to talk to her two rescuers. She could worry in a little bit. The sergeant on the phone said injured not dead. Kevin wasn’t dead. It would all be okay. She figured her mom must have given the men directions to the house because they seemed to know where to go.

  What are their names again? Rich? Rick? And the other one is Connor? Wait I heard the name Connor twice I’m sure of it. So who’s who?

  She turned to face the man driving, the one with black hair. “Excuse me, but maybe I didn’t hear you right. You’re both named Connor?” She swivelled around as the auburn haired one in the backseat laughed.

  “That is going to plague us ‘til our deaths, man. His last name is Connor. With two ‘n’s, my first name is Conor with one. It’s how we met. We were on the soccer team at B.C. First day of practice, coach called out ‘Connor’, and we both answered at the same time. We’ve been friends ever since.”

  “I went to B.C. too. Class of 2003.”

  “We graduated in 2000,” Rick said. “So you said you have children at home?”

  She smiled at the thought of her precious little babies. “Yes, I have twin boys. They’re two months old.” She figured she owed these two some explanation of her erratic behaviour. “Their father, my husband, is in Iraq. Army Reserves. The phone call was from a sergeant informing me that my husband’s been injured, but that was all he could tell me. I sure he’s fine…right? I mean if it was serious they would tell me or send someone or something wouldn’t they?”

  Rick watched the beautiful woman next to him. She was looking at him like he had all the answers, and damn, if he wished he didn’t. Her honey-blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and fringe fell over her forehead to end right above her eyebrows. She had bright brown eyes that looked like gemstones under black sooty lashes. She was a tiny thing, too, probably just over five feet. The pain and uncertainty in her eyes made all his protective instincts kick in.

  “I don’t know what military protocol is, but it stands to reason that if things were dire they would do something other than call you on a cell phone.”

  He looked at Conor in the rear-view mirror to see if he knew but saw the man shrug. Conor’s dad had been Air Force, stationed in England, before retiring. He wanted to keep Calleigh’s hopes alive and distract her mind for right now. “What are your little boys’ names?”

  “Michael and Brandon. I guess the good thing is that if Kevin is coming home he’ll be able to meet the boys. He was deployed eight months ago, so he’s only seen them in pictures and over the internet.” She smiled “They look so much like him. Both have his green eyes and his mouth, but so far they have my blonde hair.”

  “They sound like dathuil ógánach. I love little kids. Always wanted brothers an’ sisters, but not te be.”

  “Conor, those words, they were beautiful sounding, but I don’t understand. What did you say?”

  “I said they sound like handsome youth. ‘Tis Irish Gaelic. I grew up in Ireland.”

  “I noticed your accent earlier but couldn’t quite place it.”

  Rick laughed. “That‘s because Con’s a real mutt. Born in Ireland and lived with his Mom then spent summers in England with his Dad. He transferred to the States when he started college, so he’s picked up a little American in the past few years. Most people only understand half of what he’s talking about. If you get lost, just smile and nod. I do it all the time.”

  Conor kicked the back of his seat. He laid on the Irish brogue nice and thick, “Ye bloody arse. Stop acting de maggot. Total ballsch ye donna understan’ me.”

  Rick looked over at Calleigh and saw her first genuine smile. It lit up her entire face. He rolled his eyes. “See told you.”

  Seconds later, they pulled up in front of a quintessential Boston brick rowhouse. The stone base had wrought iron rails leading up the steps, and flower boxes graced the bow windows.

  “Wow. Very Nice.”
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  “Yeah, we rent the first and second floors. I have a neighbour in the basement apartment. We got a deal on the place because the owners are army friends of Kevin, stationed overseas.” She turned so she could see both men. “Please come in. I’ll introduce you to my mom, and you can meet the boys if they’re awake.”

  Rick opened the door and walked around to get Calleigh’s, but Conor beat him to it. He looked up, and a woman in her early fifties was standing on the front steps. He guessed she was Calleigh’s mom, since they looked like carbon copies of each other. He tensed when he took a closer look at the woman’s face. There were tear tracks down her face. When they walked up the steps, the older woman pulled Calleigh into her arms and held tight.

  They all walked inside, but Calleigh stopped dead when a man in uniform stood from the sofa and turned to face her. His face was grim as he held his hat under his arm.

  “I’m very sorry, Mrs. Wells. I regret to inform you that your husband Sergeant Kevin Wells—”

  “I already received the call of his injury, Captain. What do I do now?”

  “Ma’am, there was a miscommunication. Your husband was not injured. He was killed in action.”

  Rick and Conor both caught Calleigh as she fell into a heap. Sobs echoed through the room. Her cries of denial ripped into Rick’s soul. His arm wrapped around her, holding her head to his chest. Conor’s wrapped around her waist as the heaving shudders racked her small body. They’d only known her for a short hour, but she’d already wormed her way into his heart. Her clear love of her husband and little boys was a testament to her character. He vowed then and there to protect this woman and her children from that day forward. Looking into Conor’s eyes, he knew the man felt the same.

  Chapter One

  September 2009

  Conor walked into Rick’s office and saw that he was on the phone. He settled himself into one of the padded leather chairs, turning the small box in his hand over and over. Inside was their present to Calleigh. Tonight, they would celebrate her twenty-seventh birthday. More importantly though, tonight they would begin their quest to make her theirs. It had been three years since the death of her husband. For the first two, they had lived up to their silent vows of that horrible day. They’d become good friends to Calleigh and her family.