Gladys piped up. “I don’t mind.”
I giggled and buried my face in Gentry’s suit. “I don’t even know what to think right now.”
“I love you, Kendall.”
I jerked my head up. Had I heard right?
“I was going to wait until I set Emilia and Beckett straight before I told you, but I shouldn’t have waited. You might’ve had more faith in me.”
I wanted to ride the high, but he had one more son who hadn’t met me. “What about Xander?”
Gentry took his phone out and punched in a number. It rang and rang. He punched it in again. Same thing. He tried again. This time, I heard a distant voice pick up.
“Yeah?”
“Xander. I’ve met someone. She’s twenty years younger than me, and if she wants to come work with me, she’ll get access to the inner office. Does that bother you?”
Xander’s voice was clear. “Should it?”
“No.”
“Okay, then.” He was still huffing like he was walking or hiking. “Beck giving you issues?”
“Not anymore.”
“Grams.”
“No longer a problem.”
A laugh. “Good luck with that.”
Fatherly concern entered Gentry’s eyes. “Where are you?”
“Sri Lanka.”
Whoa. Just wandering the world.
“Have fun. Be safe.” Gentry’s voice grew stern and holy crap did that get to me. My belly fluttered. “Call once in a while.”
“Right. Take care, Dad.” Xander disconnected.
“You worry about him.”
“A lot.” Gentry slipped his phone into his pocket and looked around the store. We were standing in the middle. Shoppers were checking out, but watching us as they did. “I should let you go back to work.”
“What’d you mean by the inner office thing?”
“Emilia will come around. I mean it Kendall. I think you’d make a great addition.”
“Everyone will think I got the job because I’m sleeping with you.”
He lifted a shoulder. “I only care if you care. But I do care that you take your time deciding. I support whatever you decide”
Did I? I scanned the store. I’d just made the biggest spectacle of my life and wasn’t bothered a bit.
“No. I don’t care. Because I love you too.”
Chapter 22
Gentry
Concentrating on the report in front of me was an impossible task. I listened for the corner office door to open and close. Footsteps coming my way. I’d never been as tense for a meeting as I was now.
The minutes ticked by and while I usually like reading the reports of a new drilling site, today it was tedious.
Were they done?
Finally, I heard a voice drift through the top floor. The voices faded and light heels clicked closer to my office.
There was a light knock and Kendall opened the door. My office had nice aesthetic, but it was nothing like seeing Kendall walk in. Her hair was secured in a chignon and she wore my favorite boots with leggings and a sundress. Her cardigan fought off the chill of the AC and gave her a more formal look.
She closed the door behind her.
My work was forgotten. “How’d it go?”
“They felt really bad for what they did.”
“They should.” I had talked to Mrs. Chan about the way her team welcomed Kendall and then ditched her. I should’ve done it earlier. Once Kendall had gotten settled, I didn’t miss how nervous she was about running across her old coworkers. We needed to clear the air and find out if the whole thing had been a setup, a trap, or both.
Her grin was indulgent. “It was a setup yes, but they wanted us to end up together. It wasn’t done maliciously they said.”
“That’s their story and they’re sticking to it?”
She sank into the chair across from my desk. “I told them that it worked. If it wasn’t for them, we might have ignored how we felt. And I wanted them to know that just because I was in the inner office, the policy of not being stupid still applies to me. Ms. Boyd will make sure of it.”
My tension eased. Kendall had a way of winning over everyone. Emilia came to see her more than she did me. She learned Kendall likes talking shop way more than I do, and they would often be lost talking hypotheticals about the business for hours.
But it didn’t stop Emilia from mentioning that if Beckett doesn’t secure his trust, Kendall and I may both have our walking papers. I suspected she gave way to Kendall so easy to give herself leverage. I might step down over her threats over Beckett getting married, but Emilia knew that I’d weather a lot to keep her force from impacting Kendall.
Working at King Oil with the major stressor that was Emilia Boyd wouldn’t be the same if she suddenly grew a conscience and stricter morals.
Kendall made it more tolerable. “Are you all packed for after work?”
“Yes. Fourth of July fireworks in Denver. I can’t wait.” She stretched. “Want to break for a walk?”
“You go. I have a meeting at noon.”
She got me away from the desk more than ever but it wasn’t always possible.
“I’ll bring you lunch, then.” She blew me a kiss and sauntered out.
I couldn’t wait for the trip. We were going to have supper with Beckett and then Kendall and I would watch fireworks from our room. Naked.
And I had one important question to ask her.
“This place is so fancy,” Kendall whispered.
We were at a fine dining establishment specializing in Piemontese fare. The table cloths were white, the waiters were proper, and the food was expensive. I’d been to enough of these restaurants, but experiencing it through Kendall’s eyes was like a first for me each time.
Beckett gave her a bemused look. My son softened toward her each time we met up. Slowly, our father-son relationship was repairing itself. Anger no longer rolled off him in waves when we spoke. There was still progress to make, but I had a feeling it had to do with losing his mother more than with me.
That was something he’d have to work out. My job was to make sure he felt comfortable talking to me whenever he needed to.
Our food had come and gone. The evening was winding down and the fireworks would start soon.
“What are your plans for the evening?” Kendall asked Beckett.
“I’m heading home. Since you have the plane here and are staying for a few days, I’m flying out to Atlanta to talk to a prospective client.”
“On the holiday weekend?” I asked. Would I have thought twice about working over the Fourth of July before Kendall? I knew the answer.
He shrugged. “He’s the one that wants the money for backing.”
“If you’ll excuse me.” Kendall slipped out and went in the direction of the restroom. Her cocktail dress hugged her ass. I couldn’t wait to take it off.
Beckett interrupted my leering. “You two are really something.”
“What do you mean?”
“I feel like I’m dining with a teenage couple. But you’re my dad. It’s weird.”
“It is for me too.” I swirled my wineglass. “I’m happy, Beckett. Really happy.”
“Good. I wish Aiden loosened up like you when he got married.”
“Me too.” That dulled my evening a little, but that was parenthood. The underlying worry for my kids was always there.
“Has your grams tracked you down?”
He blew out a breath. “I’m training in the new recruit she sent my way, but I have no plans to date her. It’s…rough. Grams is getting more desperate.”
My son came off as a hard ass, but he was too polite to turn away the people Emilia sent his way. He always gave them a chance at the job. I think he felt bad that Emilia wasted their time. “You have a little over six months, Beckett. You can make it. And maybe even meet someone.”
His quiet grunt was the end of the subject.
Kendall was on her way back to the table. Beckett and I rose. H
is driver was waiting for us.
We were dropped off at the hotel. Kendall strutted into our room and let her hair down as soon as I closed the door.
I held her hand and drew her toward the floor-to-ceiling window. We were on the top floor and would have a nice view. But I had one thing to get out of the way first.
I reached into my pocket. She was still looking out the window when I took her hands. Turning toward me, there was a delicate arch to her brows.
I was about to drop to one knee when her phone rang. She grimaced but didn’t go for her phone.
“Go ahead,” I urged. It was our thing. I didn’t worry that I was a priority, and she was mine, which included her loved ones.
She slipped her phone out of her pocket. “Hello? Your car’s not working? No, I can’t give you a ride. I’m out of town. Denver. Yes. Stop it, Jen.” Her cheeks flushed. “Have fun, but not too much.” She hung up. “She wants to go to a friend’s cabin, but Mom won’t let her drive that far.”
With that out of the way, I took her hand again.
And her phone rang. This time when she answered it, she said, “Hey, I’ll call you when I get back to town. Gentry took me on a getaway and I’m shutting my phone off.” She grinned and hung up. “Jen said she doesn’t want to know what she’s interrupting.”
She shut her phone down and tossed it on the bed. It was a common occurrence now. She decided her own boundaries but continued to be active in their lives.
At last, there was no more waiting. I dropped to one knee. Her eyes widened.
“I never got to this before,” I said as my knee hit the floor. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes glittered.
Opening the box with a twinkling square diamond ring that I knew without asking would be her style, I gazed up at the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
“Kendall Brinkley, will you marry me?” My lungs stopped working as I waited for her answer.
She pressed a hand to her chest, the other waving in front of her face. “Yes. Oh my God, yes!”
I wanted to gather her into my arms, but I tugged the ring free and slipped it on her shaking finger.
She held her hand out. “I love it.” When she looked at me, her face was full of emotion. “But I love you more, Gent.”
Gent had become my pet name. Since she was the only one who ever shortened my name like that, I never tired of hearing it.
I rose, grateful there was no creaking or popping from my joints. “And I love you, Ms. Brinkley.”
Heat infused her eyes and she slid her hands over my shoulders.
I gripped her fingers. “After the fireworks, I’m going to ravish you, but I don’t want you to miss this.” Her smile was exactly what I wanted to wake up to every morning.
I pulled up the chair and settled her on my lap as we faced the window. The day I told Emilia that Kendall was my present and my future, I’d meant every word. No matter what that woman tossed our way, I would get through it with Kendall at my side. She was my partner, my best friend, and the love of my life.
Chapter 23
Beck
The sun shone over the fading green of the lawn and the multitude of flowers Dawson had planted to make the flowerbeds look good for Dad’s wedding were still blooming this early in October.
Give ’em a week. Between me and the weather, they won’t last, he’d said with a grin. He could keep hundreds of head of cattle alive, but not a mum to save his life.
My childhood home had been done up on a smaller scale than Aiden’s wedding last year, with only enough chairs for our family and Kendall’s. I glanced to where he sat with Kate. She was beaming at Kendall and Dad. My stepmother and my dad. How weird was that? Kendall was only a year older than me.
But the way she’d told me off had come from someone with a far older soul. She’d been dealing with some stuff and I’d hit the last peg of her tolerance.
Oddly, it was her tirade that had made me think that maybe what her and Dad had was real. Then Aiden told me about Dad and Grams. Dad never stood up to her. There was too much history, and with Aiden a major part of the company, too much on the line if Grams made one of her impulsive decisions, like she did in the corn ethanol days.
It finally got through to me that Kendall was different in all the right ways.
I looked around. Dad and Kendall were strolling down the lawn between the chairs, hanging onto each other and looking like the newlyweds they were, which I guess one of them was. Dad hadn’t worn a suit. At Kendall’s request, he was in his black dress jeans from years ago, a crisp white shirt, and his boots. The cowboy hat he wore was the good one he’d left at the house. Kendall wore a simple white sleeveless smock dress and sandals.
They looked good together.
My resentment toward Dad eased a little more. I hadn’t noticed how stern he’d looked for the last few years. I glanced at Aiden. The role of overworked fun-sucker now went to my oldest brother.
Xander leaned over and whispered, “She’s after you.”
Grams’s silver bob was turning this way and that, looking for me. Why was she looking for me when I was surrounded by my dad, his new wife, and three of my brothers?
Because I was the next to turn twenty-nine.
We filed out of the row, Dawson and I going to help man the grill to feed the crowd. I rushed in front of him, hoping he’d block me. Dawson shifted to the side.
“Bastard,” I muttered over my shoulder.
He laughed and beckoned Brendell over. Anyone who had grill skills was cooking. Kendall’s sister Ren had baked the wedding cake and was taking pictures of it for her new bakery business’s brochure.
Kendall had broken off from Dad, heading toward her sister.
Dawson called to her. “Did I hear right? Your honeymoon is in Douglas, Wyoming?”
Her face lit up with excitement. “Going back to where it all started, then we’re heading to Broadway. I was just going to tell my sister that the lady who sheltered us from the storm runs a bakery and I could talk to her.”
Ren looked over. “You’ll talk to her for me? On your honeymoon?”
“Her name’s Gale, and I’m sure she’d be happy to share the secrets of her success.” Kendall’s gaze landed on Dad and went downright sappy. “Excuse me.” She rushed off.
I was about to steal a cupcake, not realizing Dawson had ditched me when Grams’s voice cut in.
“Did you ever find anyone to fill your opening?”
Abandoning the sweets, I turned. I knew she was talking about the opening as my significant other and not the executive assistant opening. I was only talking about the one. My love life was off-limits.
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
A shrewd look enhanced the green in her hazel eyes. “How are you two getting along?’
Oh, hell. Grams was behind this applicant too? She was getting sneakier about how she’d send prospective applicants my way. I was glad Kendall had been waylaid by the storm. I couldn’t turn them down because of all people, I understood the force that was Grams. And I needed an assistant.
But now that I thought of it, my new hire wore tight revealing clothing. Not that I usually cared. I wasn’t out to sleep with my employees, and women should be able to wear what they want without being judged. I could show up in board shorts and a tank and people would just think I’m an eccentric millionaire who owned a tech company.
But my new assistant also insisted on business lunches and brought a bag to work in case we had to fly somewhere on short notice. I often did and hadn’t thought too hard about it. But if Grams had filled her ear with how lonely I was and how badly I needed a wife and how much money I had and would have if I got married…
Fuck. I picked up a glass of punch and sipped it on my way to the grill. Dawson already had his apron on and nice flames going.
“Grams sent my new assistant my way. I thought it was a legitimate applicant this time.”
“You’re off your game.”
“Yeah.
But seriously, it can’t be that hard to find an assistant who doesn’t want to sleep with me, who understands the gaming and app world, and doesn’t care how much money I have and wants to actually do the job.”
Dawson looked over to where Grams chatted with Kendall’s parents. “There are. But they have to beat the ones Grams sends your way.”
Yeah. If this assistant quit on me, I’d be ready for the next one she shoved in my direction.
____
Beckett might be ready for what Grams has in mind, but he’s not ready for who shows up at his office in King’s Ransom.
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About the Author
Marie Johnston writes paranormal and contemporary romance and has collected several awards in both genres. Before she was a writer, she was a microbiologist. Depending on the situation, she can be oddly unconcerned about germs or weirdly phobic. She’s also a licensed medical technician and has worked as a public health microbiologist and as a lab tech in hospital and clinic labs. Marie’s been a volunteer EMT, a college instructor, a security guard, a phlebotomist, a hotel clerk, and a coffee pourer in a bingo hall. All fodder for a writer!! She has four kids, an old cat, and a puppy that’s bigger than half her kids.
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