I’ve
already told you that Captivating in Love
is one of my favorite Maverick stories to date! For some
reason, I always knew Rosie was meant for Gideon. The problem was always getting
Gideon to admit it, too. Now, Bella and I are so pleased to bring you their
story. And you’ll get to see all your favorite characters from Fearless in Love all over
again! Have more fun with Matt and Ari and Noah! And of course, Rosie’s little
boy, Jorge?
Gideon Jones came back from war a changed man. Though the Maverick
Billionaires claim he’s one of their own, he knows he doesn't deserve to be
part of their tightly knit unit. Just like he doesn't deserve Rosie Diaz—an
amazing mother…and an utterly captivating woman that he can't stop dreaming
about.
Rosie Diaz pulled herself out of the foster care system and made a
great life for herself while raising Jorge, the son she adores. Only one thing
is missing—a good man, one she can respect and love with her whole heart. A man
exactly like her best friend’s older brother Gideon.
When Rosie and Gideon agree to take care of Matt and Ari’s son,
Noah, while the couple is on their honeymoon, they have no idea of the havoc
two matchmaking little boys can create. Not to mention the steamy kisses that
Rosie and Gideon can’t help but steal from each other as their connection
deepens and grows. But when mother and son are threatened, Gideon will stop at
nothing to protect them. Will he finally believe that he truly is Maverick
material…and worthy of Rosie and Jorge’s love?
Here’s an excerpt for you to enjoy!
Gideon Jones was so good with Jorge and
Noah, two six-year-olds who made enough noise to rival a herd of stampeding
cattle. As he handed each boy a cube of bread, Gideon gently encouraged the
boys, showing them how to stretch out one hand with the bread in the center of
the palm. They were both so attentive, while their bodies quivered with the
attempt to stay still long enough for the peacock to feel safe eating from
their hands.
Rosie Diaz’s heart melted as she watched from the picnic
area, where a huge tent provided shade for the tables and dance floor that had
been set up for her best friend’s wedding. Ariana Jones had first met Matt
Tremont when she agreed to be his young son’s nanny. Ari showered Noah with
love—and it wasn’t long before Ari and Matt were in love too. Though Rosie knew
their happiness hadn’t come without struggles, their relationship was still a
fairy tale come true to her. She couldn’t be happier that her friend had found
love.
It was a gorgeous, sunny Saturday in August as Rosie’s son,
Jorge, and Ari’s son, Noah, hunkered down before the peacock, his magnificent
tail feathers trailing behind him. When Ari and Rosie had been teens together
in foster care, this what they’d dreamed of—that their children would end up
being best friends.
Rosie and Ari were sisters of the heart—along with their
friend Chi, who had also been a part of the foster care system. Rosie had met
them when her parents died in her early teens. She loved Ari for her eternal
optimism and her loyalty to her brother. She loved Chi for her strength. When
her foster family couldn’t say her Chinese name—Zhi Ruo—correctly, Chi had
adopted their pronunciation as her own, saying it was a powerful name, like Tai
Chi.
Rosie believed the three of them would be best friends
forever and ever. They’d seen her through the dark days when she was eighteen
and pregnant and alone after her baby’s father had abandoned her. They’d seen
her through Jorge’s birth when she was nineteen. Jorge’s biological father—DNA
being his only contribution—was the one who’d taught her not to trust men. At
least until she’d met the Mavericks. In the same way that Ari and Chi had
taught her the loyalty and goodness of friends, the Mavericks had taught her
the goodness of men.
As much as Rosie wished her parents were still alive, she
wouldn’t change any of what she’d gone through. She couldn’t imagine her life,
her world, without Jorge.
Her son was the light of her life, an amazing little human
being. Sometimes she couldn’t believe he had come from her. She and Ari and Chi
had raised Jorge to be the confident, outgoing, loving boy he was.
So how could she regret anything? Especially on such a
beautiful day when true love was all that mattered. As a wonderful bonus, she
was finally getting to spend time with Ari’s brother. Gideon was so patient
with the boys, never yelling, never snapping.
With adults, Gideon didn’t talk much, didn’t smile much. But
when he played with Noah and Jorge, it was as if he became the man he would
have been if he’d never been scarred by his time in the army, if he’d never
lost touch with Ari. When he was with the boys, he became the funny, amazing,
big brother Ari had always talked about.
The kind of man to whom Rosie could so easily lose her
heart.
Maybe she’d already given him a tiny piece of her heart,
especially when she watched him in unguarded moments like this with the boys.
He hadn’t yet changed into his tux and was still dressed in
jeans and a T-shirt that showcased every rippling muscle. He was a vision of
rough, raw, sexy power, accentuated by blue eyes and dark blond hair worn
short, as if he’d never completely left the military behind. He could see right
into you with those eyes. Or right through you as though you didn’t exist.
Rosie longed for him to look at her, really look at her,
to see what was on the inside. He made her warm all over. He made her aware of
every beat of her heart. He made her want to trust a man again.
Just then, the peacock stretched out his long neck and
pecked the bit of bread from Jorge’s hand. Rosie’s little boy wriggled with
delight, pressing his lips together to suppress the squeal of joy dying to get
out. Gideon smiled his approval, ruffling Jorge’s hair. Then he urged Noah
forward, his nephew all big eyes and wonder as the peacock grabbed the bread
out of his hand too.
It didn’t matter that Ari wasn’t Noah’s birth mom; Gideon
treated him like he was his own blood. No one ever used the word stepson.
Ari was simply Noah’s mom, Gideon was his uncle, and Matt was his dad. There
was so much love among them all, it made Rosie gooey on the inside.
Ari and Matt had decided to have their wedding at the
petting zoo and open-air puppet theater in San Jose because it was Noah’s
favorite spot. They’d rented the whole park for the day, and the wedding itself
would take place on the stage. Rosie and Gideon were currently in charge of
Noah while Ari was getting ready in the bridal tent.
Rosie, as maid of honor, would need to get herself ready
soon, but there had been so many last-minute things to check on. She wanted everything
to be absolutely perfect. And she knew that Gideon, who would be giving Ari
away, wanted perfection just as much for his sister’s big day.
With the docent looking on, Gideon showed Noah and Jorge how
to carefully stretch out a hand to pet the peacock’s brilliant blue neck. The
boys were clearly awed by the bird’s magnificence, by his feathers, by the way
he ate from their hands and let them touch him.
Though Gideon was ten years older, Ari claimed that when
they were kids, he’d never treated her like she was an annoying pest. Instead,
he’d played games with her, taken her to the park, made her laugh until her
stomach hurt. Rosie supposed that because their mom had been an addict, Gideon
had grown up fast, taking care of the two of them.
When he was eighteen, he’d enlisted in the army, wanting to
make enough money to help Ari and their mom with living expenses. But he
couldn’t have predicted their mother would move them around so much that he’d
lose track of them—or that he wouldn’t get notification of their mom’s death
until she’d been gone six months. By then, finding Ari while stationed in the
Middle East had been impossible. Despite searching for her after he got out, it
had taken sixteen years since the day he’d joined up for them to find each other
again, after Matt had hired a private investigator to find Ari’s long-lost
brother.
Rosie would have loved Matt just for that, even if he wasn’t
such a great guy on top of it. The fact that he was a billionaire—along with
his four best friends, the Mavericks—was irrelevant. Although, she thought with
a small smile, she wasn’t going to lie and say she hadn’t enjoyed flying on his
private plane last month.
“Sorry I haven’t been helping you take care of the final
wedding details,” Gideon said, his deep voice surprising her. Rosie had been so
lost in her thoughts she hadn’t realized Gideon had left the boys with the
docent, who was explaining about peachicks and peacocks and peahens to her rapt
audience. “The boys were so excited about the animals,” he added, “I wanted to
get them started.”
“I’m glad you did.” She turned to smile at him. “And I
haven’t needed any help. Fortunately, the caterers are great. They’ve got
everything set out the way Ari wanted.”
Gideon was so tall, broad-shouldered, and powerfully muscled
that being this close to him made her shivery inside, her breath catching as
her heart beat fast enough for her to feel her pulse in her fingertips. There
was that ancient cliché—he stole my breath. That’s what
Gideon did to her.
Not that he seemed to have even the slightest clue what he
did to her—or any woman, for that matter. Rosie couldn’t remember ever seeing
him flirt with anyone, and though he was a devastatingly good-looking man, his
hard shell was so intimidating that Rosie had yet to see any woman bold enough
to flirt with him either. Even when they played water polo in Ari and Matt’s
pool or jumped on Noah’s trampoline, and she’d catch Gideon looking at her, she
wasn’t able to read what was in his mind. Did he think she was pretty? Did she
make his heart race the way he always sent hers into overdrive?
Gideon hid all his emotions behind a wall no one could
scale.
He had been deployed in the Middle East for seven years, and
though he hadn’t spoken to anyone, not even his sister, about his experiences
during those years, it was obvious they’d left their mark on his heart—along
with deep, dark shadows in his eyes.
Only with Noah and Jorge did Gideon seem to be his true
self. Rosie longed for him to be this way all the time, not just with the boys.
She longed for him to relax and laugh with her the way he did with them.
But, just as with every time before, when he caught her eyes
on him, his immediate withdrawal was like a physical punch. The smile died on
his lips, his blue eyes turned into dark, fathomless pools, even his body
seemed to grow rigid. As if he’d turned to stone. As if he couldn’t allow
himself happiness with anyone but the boys. Even with Ari, whom he clearly
loved with everything in him, he held something back.
It broke Rosie’s heart. If only they could all
have happy endings. Matt, Ari, herself…and especially Gideon.
Grab your copy of Captivating in Love for the rest of Rosie and
Gideon’s love story!
Check out all the current freebies, starting with Dead to the Max, Max Starr Series
Book 1, as well as The Girlfriend Experience,
The Fortune Hunter, Revenge, It Must Be Magic!
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