Vowing Love Read online

  Vowing Love

  Steele Ridge Series

  Adrienne Giordano

  Vowing Love

  A Steele Ridge Novella, Book 9

  When the biggest Steele bachelor finally ties the knot, nothing will keep him from walking down the aisle...

  A groom cutting loose on his wedding night isn't out of the ordinary. But Reid Steele’s buddies throw a bachelor party Green Beret style, where no man is left behind...or left standing. Reid wakes up the next morning with a hangover to end all hangovers. Or maybe still drunk. Either way, his head is pounding out its own wedding march. The thought of settling down once terrified Reid. Now, the only thing he's scared of is ruining Brynne's big day. She's the love of his life, and he's determined to be in ceremony shape no matter what.

  Here comes the bride...and she is furious. She finds Reid wasted on his mama's couch. Brynne's no bridezilla, but after her train wreck of a first marriage, she wanted a perfect start to this one. So, yeah, it hurts. And stirs up old insecurities. Can she forgive his screw up? Reid is a wild card, but he's also the man she wants to wake up to for the rest of her life.

  Unfortunately, Brynne’s not the only angry wife in Steele Ridge. Trouble is on the guest list, turning Brynne and Reid’s dream day into a nightmare. Reid must defuse the situation—and stay alive—in time to say “I do.”

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  Published by Steele Ridge Publishing

  Steele Ridge Characters

  The Steeles

  Britt Steele - Eldest Steele sibling. Construction worker who has a passion for the environment and head of Steele-Shepherd Wildlife Research Center.

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  Miranda “Randi” Shepherd - Owner of Blues, Brews and Books aka Triple B and Britt Steele’s love interest.

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  Grif Steele - Steele sibling. Works as a sports agent and Steele Ridge’s city manager.

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  Carlie Beth Parrish - Steele Ridge’s only blacksmith and Grif Steele’s love interest.

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  Reid Steele - Steele sibling. Former Green Beret and head of Steele Ridge Training Academy.

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  Brynne Whitfield - Owner of La Belle Style boutique in Steele Ridge and love interest of Reid Steele.

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  Mikayla “Micki” Steele - Steele sibling and Jonah’s twin. Master hacker.

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  Gage Barber - Injured Green Beret and Reid Steele’s close friend who comes to Steele Ridge to help run the training center. Love interest of Micki Steele.

  Jonah Steele - Steele sibling and Micki’s twin. Video game mogul and former owner of the billion-dollar company, Steele Trap. Responsible for saving the town of Steele Ridge, formerly known as Canyon Ridge.

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  Tessa Martin - Former in-house psychologist at Steele Trap and Jonah Steele’s love interest.

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  Evie Steele - Youngest Steele sibling. Travel nurse.

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  Derek “Deke” Conrad - Commander of SONR (Special Operations for Natural Resources) group and love interest of Evie Steele.

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  Joan Steele - Mother of the six Steele siblings.

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  Eddy Steele - Father of the six Steele siblings.

  Steele Ridge: The Kingstons

  Craving HEAT, Book 1

  Tasting FIRE, Book 2

  Searing NEED, Book 3

  Striking EDGE, Book 4

  Burning ACHE, Book 5 (Coming 2019)

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  Don’t miss out on a single release—or sexy hero!

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  Want to help Kelsey, Tracey, and Adrienne get the word out about their Steele Ridge series? Write a review and/or recommend to a friend!

  Steele Ridge: The Steeles

  The BEGINNING, A Novella, Book 1

  Going HARD, Book 2

  Living FAST, Book 3

  Loving DEEP, Book 4

  Breaking FREE, Book 5

  Roaming WILD, Book 6

  Stripping BARE, Book 7

  Enduring LOVE, A Novella, Book 8

  Vowing LOVE, A Novella, Book 9

  Contents

  Steele Ridge Characters

  Steele Ridge: The Kingstons

  Steele Ridge: The Steeles

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Craving HEAT

  Discover More Steele Ridge

  Also by Adrienne Giordano

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  1

  “Reid Sullivan Steele, I should box your ears.”

  Someone poked Reid. Square in the ribs.

  What. The. Fuck?

  Had to be his mother with that whole full name crap. But why was she in his bedroom?

  Wait.

  He kept his eyes closed while his senses scraped their way to life. Something hard was under his cheek. And what was that pressing against his thigh? Damned sure not his Brynnie. She was all soft curves and lush skin.

  His head. Sweet baby Jesus. It felt like a battering ram test dummy. The nudge came again, way harder this time, as did the test dummy feeling.

  “Reid! Wake up this instant.”

  Jeez, the noise. Did she have to yell? “Ma, stop. No school today.”

  He peeled his right eye open, spotted a pair of khakis, his mother’s black Chuck Taylor’s, and the blinding sun piercing through the window. Somehow he’d wound up on the floor. Good God. He closed his eyes again.

  “School? Are you high? You know I don’t allow that nonsense.”

  The way his head pounded, he wished he was. “Mom, please, stop yelling.”

  “Ha! I haven’t even started yet. You should be ashamed of yourself. You’re a mess. A total embarrassment on your wedding day.”

  His mind looped back a few hours. The guys from his Army unit showing up. The impromptu bachelor party after the rehearsal dinner.

  Shit.

  He swung his head up, his stomach flipped, and he immediately regretted being born. Lord, he was a lightweight these days. Laying back down, he let the cool wood soak through his cheek. Hangover of all hangovers.

  On his wedding day.

  Brynne would castrate him.

  “Get up,” his mother said. “It’s nine-fifteen. We’ve got to get this house organized. Your father is at breakfast with the Blackwells. They’ll be here eventually, and I can’t have you and your friends passed out in my living room like a bunch of lowlifes. I want this place spotless. All I need is them snickering. I swear, Cameron is the only decent one. At least he’s made something of himself. He wouldn’t be in this condition on his wedding day.”

  Cam also wouldn’t be marrying a girl like Brynne because she wouldn’t be caught dead with his Blackwell cousins.

  Saying that would only piss his mother off more, so he’d shut his trap and deal with the guilt trip. By now, he should be immune. When it came to him, she often used a certain tone that made clear her dissatisfaction with his running mouth as well as his never-ending and—admittedly—sometimes oddball opinions. Then, of course, the greatest of all offenses, his tendency to swear. Hey, if she spent time with a bunch of Green Berets, she’d be dropping “motherfuckers” like a champ too.

  She loved him though. Without question. He might, in fact, be her favorite. At least he liked to believe that.

  Except today. Today she wanted to skin him.

  Slowly, he opened his eyes again, blinking everything into focus. His stomach pitched. He might bl
ow chunks. Right on his mother. He inhaled and willed his rebelling stomach to not turn pansy on him.

  The sound of the front door slamming accosted him. Were these people trying to kill him? “Could we knock it off with the noise?”

  “Noise?” Mom asked. “Honey, this is nothing. Now get your rear off my floor.”

  “What’s going on?”

  Grif’s voice. Excellent. As usual, not a break to be had. On all of God’s green earth, there was nothing his brother loved more than riding his ass. Hard.

  Shifting his gaze up to his mother, who poked her finger at Grif. “What’s going on is that you’d better fix this. He needs to be dressed and looking rested in less than five hours. I will not have my son resembling trash.” She leaned down and aimed at Reid next. “I love you, though I could throttle you in this moment.”

  Her legs moved and then she was gone. Thank you.

  “Grif.” Her voice carried as she left. “I’m serious. I want him cleaned up. You boys are determined to put me in an early grave.”

  “How did I get lumped in?” Grif wanted to know. “I came to help.”

  Suck up.

  “Grif,” Reid said, “if you don’t shut the fuck up, I’m gonna tie you to my bumper and drag your ass over gravel.”

  “Oh, now I’m scared. How many times have you threatened me with that? And, hello, I’m not the asshole who got completely wasted the night before marrying possibly the sweetest girl—aside from my wife—alive. What the fuck is wrong with you? I became a minister for this?”

  Great. More guilt. Brynne had wanted Grif, as Steele Ridge’s city manager, to officiate. Upon researching the possibility, only magistrates or ministers could fulfill that duty. So, big brother went online and somehow became ordained. Which, yeah, was kinda cool.

  Except when Reid had to hear about it endlessly.

  With his cheek pressed against the floor, he let out a breath, fighting the wave of nausea hacking away at him. His vision blurred, so he gave up and closed his eyes again.

  The night, from what he remembered, started out with him warning the guys he couldn’t get loaded. Brynne was his life. Everything he lived for from the second he opened his eyes in the morning to the time he closed them at night. And one thing that’d kill him, totally fucking shred him, was to disappoint her by showing up to their wedding in bad shape.

  “Something happened,” he muttered.

  Grif laughed. “Uh, yeah. It’s called moonshine.”

  The rotgut. Damn. The fog in his brain started to lift. His mind locked on the memory of him and his boys parked around the fire pit in the yard. Niles whipping out that first gallon jug and pouring for them. Reid may or may not have been tied up at the time.

  “Grif?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I say this knowing you will remind me of it for the next ten years.”

  “Believe it.”

  Here we go… “I need help.”

  Grif let out a barking laugh that nearly split what was left of Reid’s already battered skull. “Ya think?”

  “Dude, please. I can’t face Brynne like this. I can’t even get up.”

  Silence ensued for long seconds. That might be a blessing. Except…was his brother seriously trying to decide if he’d help or not? Out of all of them, Grif was the one who’d bitch and moan the most, but he’d show up. Every time.

  “Grif!”

  “Relax. I’m thinking. You’re hungover. You need something in your stomach.”

  If only it were that simple. “Dude, I haven’t even gotten there yet. I’m still wasted.”

  “Uh-oh.”

  Reid laughed, but there sure as shit wasn’t anything funny. “Yeah. Get Suds.”

  Gage Barber, his teammate and business partner—not to mention the guy his sister had decided to fall in love with—would know what to do. Micki didn’t call him Captain America for nothing.

  “Where is he?”

  “How the hell do I know? I’m passed out on the floor.”

  That’s it. Reid had to get up. Laying around wouldn’t get him anywhere. He needed to hydrate. But, Lord, he might not even be able to hold down water. He opened his eyes, focused on the chair leg beyond Grif’s dress pants, and lifted his head.

  Grif reached for him, hooking a hand around his arm. “Go slow. I’ll help you up. Swear to God, if you puke on my shoes, I’ll feed you to mountain lions.”

  “Fucking rotgut. I hate that shit.”

  “Language!” Mom hollered from the kitchen, banging a pot for good measure.

  Did she have to do that? Passive aggression. His favorite female thing. Not.

  “Sorry,” Reid hollered back, sending his head damn near cracking to pieces.

  His body had to be coming apart. Still, he fought through it, getting to a shaky sitting position and leaning against the couch. His head bumped something. He turned and found Mac sprawled on the sofa, snoozing away.

  Which meant seven of his teammates were unaccounted for. “Where are the rest of ‘em?”

  “I saw some in the yard. The others probably went back to the hotel.”

  Stationed stateside for a couple weeks, eight of them had made the trip from Fort Campbell, a few with their families in tow, to stay at the sixty-room hotel specifically built for folks attending the law enforcement training center Reid and Gage ran. The location made life easier for dog-tired trainees. After a full day of gut-busting sessions, they’d walk there, grab a meal in the common room, and drop into bed.

  It also proved damned handy when having a wedding in his mother’s backyard. All their out-of-town guests had a free room for the weekend.

  Brynne made herself nuts prepping the accommodations so his friends would feel welcome. She’d spent a goddamn fortune on new linens and bedspreads, plus drinks and snacks. All of it for him.

  A guy still drunk on his wedding day.

  “Call Gage.”

  Above him, Grif slid his phone from his front pocket. He poked at the screen, then held the phone between them, and the corresponding ring could be heard upstairs.

  “Hello?” Gage’s gravelly, moonshine-ravaged voice came in duplicate, drifting down the stairs as well as through the speaker.

  “It’s Grif. We need you.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Reid’s wasted. And if we don’t get him fixed up, my mother will make Brynne a widow before she’s a wife.”

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  Brynne drove through the security gate at the training center and wound her way past the building where Reid spent most of his time. This morning, the small lot in front was empty.

  No one was working today.

  Not on the day she became Mrs. Reid Steele. As a chubby teenager, she’d have never believed it. Heck, not as a divorcee returning to her hometown either. Back then, she’d felt the sting of her first husband’s rejection and the paralyzing self-confidence crisis that came with it.

  At least until Reid walked into her shop and focused his blue eyes on her in a way that told her he liked everything he saw. Every woman should have a man look at her the way Reid did. Then and now.

  He’d given her a reason to fight her way out of the blues. To find herself again and accept her far-from-tiny build and rear.

  As her soon-to-be-husband liked to say, juicy asses were in.

  Poetry, Reid style.

  Even with her mother beside her, Brynne got to thinking about Reid’s big hands exploring said juicy rear and heat flashed in her lower belly. God, the man drove her wild. And in—she glanced at the dashboard clock—four hours and thirty-eight minutes, he’d be all hers.

  She peered out the windshield at Miss Joan’s large, welcoming porch. The rails gleamed white under a September sun and the expertly manicured lawn touched something deep inside Brynne that felt like home. Reid’s mother often mentioned that when the kids were young, she’d sneak out of their old house and stare at this one, imagining her brood running wild on the property. Back then, that seemed out of reach.<
br />
  It took many years, but Miss Joan finally got her wish. All thanks to Jonah, Reid’s youngest brother, who’d made himself into a video game mogul and became a billionaire.

  Just ahead, flower boxes overflowed with radiant purple asters and bright, newly planted goldenrods snaked along a path to the yard where a tent had been set up.

  Brynne glanced at her mother. “Thank you for coming here a little early with me. I want to make sure the florist got the centerpieces right.”

  “The yard should be set by now, no?”

  “Yes. The wedding planner was here last night. They saved the chairs until this morning in case it rained.”

  But it had not. Brynne’s dream of their ceremony taking place in the gazebo Reid built—with a wee-bit of help from his brother, Britt—would come to fruition. A blessing for sure.