You're The One

by Layla Hagen

  I blushed. Of course, I remembered.

  “There’s not enough time to find the right one,” I said lamely. “Better just to have an evening dress.”

  “Nonsense. With a body like yours, you’ll find something off the rack that fits you.”

  Hunter came to my defense. “Girls, don’t pester her. Let her have whatever she wants.”

  “Promise me at least that you’ll try any dresses off the rack that catch your eye,” Tess said.

  And maybe it was the fact that Tess was giving us a funny look, or that I couldn’t resist the idea of trying on wedding gowns, but I found myself nodding. Oh boy, it was easy to get swept up in all of this.

  “I don’t understand the rush,” Tess said.

  “When you know, you know,” Hunter declared confidently, and everyone within earshot melted...including me.

  Chapter Seven

  Hunter

  Next week was a shitshow. Somehow, everyone in my circle had gotten wind of the engagement. I had to field calls left and right. I had no time to answer questions like When’s the wedding? Where? When can we meet the bride?

  The biggest problem was that everyone I spoke to was expecting an invitation. I’d promised Josie a small party, and I wanted to respect that promise.

  That proved to be wishful thinking when Tess showed up at my apartment one morning with breakfast.

  “To what do I owe this surprise?” I asked as we sat at the bar counter just in front of my kitchen.

  “I need to talk to you about the wedding.”

  “Okay.”

  Amelia and Tess had declared they wanted to be the official organizers. Josie and I had been relieved. Neither of us was in a state to deal with that.

  “You said you want a small party, but I don’t think it’s possible. The sheer number of people who expect to be invited is astronomic.”

  “How is that even possible?”

  Tess grinned. “Hunter, you’re famous in this city. Not only because of your business. Our charity parties are notorious. Everyone knows and loves the Ballroom Galas. We’ve done well with that.”

  She was right. Years ago, my company renovated an older building on the Upper East Side. I ended up keeping it. Now it houses two different ballrooms where we organize charity events we call the Ballroom Galas. All my cousins were involved. It was our joint project.

  Cole and I brought in high-profile donors. Ryker, Tess, and Skye were masters at organizing events. We’d come up with the concept together, betting on the fact that fancy events would make donors part with their money easily, and we’d been right.

  The ball season ran from September to June. We had several events spread throughout that period. Whenever we didn’t have galas, we rented the rooms out to event companies.

  “And I had an idea. Given the size, we should have the wedding in one of the ballrooms.”

  “Do we really have to invite everyone?”

  “It would be rude not to invite your business partners and the biggest donors at the galas.”

  “I’ll run this by Josie and get back to you.” I didn’t want to make this even harder for her.

  Tess watched me carefully.

  “What?” I asked.

  “My spidey-senses tell me something’s not right... but I can’t quite tell what. Why don’t you fess up?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You tell me.”

  I stubbornly held her gaze, hoping she’d change the subject. She narrowed her eyes but shook her head.

  “By the way, Ryker’s throwing your bachelor party.”

  A real bachelor party to go with a fake wedding? I needed to stop it.

  “Can you get me out of it?” I asked.

  “No. And even if I could, I wouldn’t. It’s a milestone. You can’t miss it.”

  “So why did you tell me? To torment me?”

  She grinned. “No, to give you time to prepare.”

  “How generous.”

  “I’m throwing Josie’s party. Man, I’ve dreamed about finally throwing one of the girls a bachelorette party forever. I’m bringing out the big guns.”

  “No strippers.”

  Tess laughed. Laughed. “I don’t remember asking you.”

  The thought of Josie putting her hands on another man... goddammit. No. I was getting increasingly possessive, and she was not mine.

  “So why are you telling me this? Also to get me prepared?”

  “No, this was just to torment you.” Damn. She was throwing my own words at me.

  I tried another angle. “Have you asked Josie if she wants a party?”

  “She does, believe me.”

  “Okay.” Okay. If Josie did want it, I’d be a jerk to say anything against it. Did she also want a stripper? Shit, I needed to focus on something else. The thought made me want to punch the table or crush my cup.

  “Any chance whatsoever I can skip this... milestone?” I asked.

  She smiled sweetly. “You’ve said that about every milestone I’ve coerced you into having. And in retrospect, you’ve always been happy I did.”

  Prom, graduation, graduation trip. I’d wanted to skip all of those. Tess was one year older than me and had moved out of the Winchester house by the time I was a senior, but guess who’d come home to visit the weekend of my prom? Tess.

  She’d practically shoved me out the door. I hadn’t asked anyone to go with me, and I still didn’t have many friends aside from Josie, but I ended up having fun. Same with graduation.

  “I’ve always hoped you and Josie would get together,” she went on. “I’m happy for you two.” Guilt kicked in again.

  Tess glanced at the screen of her phone and sighed. “I need to go or I’ll be late for my morning meeting.”

  “Tess, I’m grateful you want to organize the wedding, but I can hire a wedding planner. You have a lot on your plate.”

  She and Skye were setting up their own lingerie business, and it took a lot of work. They both still worked full-time in the fashion industry, so they did everything in their spare time. So far, they had a small online shop, but their aim was to open a brick-and-mortar store soon.

  “I’m never too busy for family.”

  “Thanks.”

  I had no clue why that still got to me after so many years. Maybe because I had felt like a stray dog in the few months after Mom moved to England and before Amelia and my cousins moved to New York. They’d given me so much, and I was trying to give back every chance I got.

  Which was why I wanted to talk to Tess about something that was still a touchy subject.

  “How is the financing going?” I asked her. She and Skye were pitching to investors for their business. They were as bold as they were hardworking. New York was a playground for the fashion industry, but also fiercely competitive.

  “We have offers and are now assessing.”

  “You’ve already decided which of the investors you want to take on?”

  “Not yet. I’ll—wait a second. You have that look.”

  “What look?”

  “The corner of your mouth is a little lifted. Like... you’re not curious, just want a confirmation. Which means you’ve already got your way.”

  “I might have set up precautions.”

  “Like what?”

  “Might have done thorough background research on all investors.”

  In my defense, it wasn’t unwarranted. One of the business partners they worked with early on had scammed them. I was still pissed that he’d gotten away with it, but one of these days, it’d catch up to him. He’d get what he deserved.

  She kissed my cheek. “Thank you for looking out for us. I just can’t believe we messed up so badly.”

  “Tess, it happens.”

  “Really? How many people nearly lost their business because they trusted the wrong people?”

  “Many. I can make you a list. It’ll be at least ten pages long.”

  “You’re just trying to make me feel better. Is that so I
don’t grill you anymore?”

  “I thought you were late for a meeting.”

  “Ha! You’re deflecting. I knew it. My spidey-senses are spot on. Something’s not right here. I’ll get it out of you at the next family council.”

  I was a dead man. Family council was a fancy term for lunch in one of my meeting rooms, where the five of us gathered to talk about the charity, but more often than not talked about personal matters. I had a feeling I’d be the focus for the foreseeable future.

  I arrived at work later than usual. Our building was on the Upper West side. We were surrounded by tall structures and narrow streets, but I hadn’t bought this building for the view, more for the practicality. My company took up six floors, and I’d rented out the rest.

  Cole was already there, looking over the plans for our next project. Usually, I was all business at the office, but time was of essence now. I waited until I was alone with him and mentioned, “I heard Ryker’s on bachelor party duty.”

  He snapped his head up from the iPad. “He told you that?”

  His bewilderment told me he was in on it.

  “Tess did.”

  He chuckled. “Then you probably already know more than you should.”

  “Get me out of it.”

  “You’re joking, right? That’s your night, buddy. And by extension, our night. Not skipping it.”

  “Cole—”

  “Trust me on this. Come on, we make a good team.”

  “I don’t feel like you’re on my team right now. More like you’re banding against me.”

  Cole flashed me a shit-eating grin. “Sometimes we have to. For your own good.” He clapped my shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ve got your back.”

  That was exactly what worried me.

  That afternoon, I held one of our bimonthly meetings, where we reviewed our progress and goals.

  “To sum up, we’re on the right track to meet this month’s goals, but we can be more aggressive. I’m sure that if we put our mind to it, we can achieve 110 percent.”

  “Always pushing for more,” one of the managers said, shaking his head.

  I leveled a stare at him, and he held up his hands in defense. None of the other twenty attendees said anything. I commanded the respect of my team because I was demanding, but not unfair. I wanted us to be the best. I was proud of the business and liked what I did.

  Our projects were mostly commercial buildings, though we’d done a few residential buildings just outside the city. It was a dynamic industry. Some things hadn’t changed since my father had done business, but a lot had. At the core of it was building things that improved people’s quality of life one way or another, no matter if they spent their free time there, went to work or lived there.

  We were one of the biggest real estate developers in the country, and New York was our main playground. Headquarters was here, but we were working on setting up another office in Miami. I dismissed the meeting after outlining the operative steps to achieve the extra goals.

  My head wasn’t in the game afterward. I needed to talk to Josie about the wedding. I didn’t want to do it over the phone, and I’d intended to give her room to breathe for a few days. I had a hunch she was already overwhelmed by everything. I didn’t want her to feel pressured.

  I’d been there for her through highs and lows over the years, but this time I couldn’t really be there, because I was the cause of everything. This was already putting a strain on our friendship.

  I told myself that this strain would only last for a few weeks while we got used to this, and then everything would go back to normal, but deep down, I didn’t think it was possible.

  In the afternoon, I heard back from the real estate agent I’d instructed on the search for a new apartment. My company hadn’t built a residential project in a while, which meant I had to try my luck on the market. I could no longer postpone talking to Josie.

  Pulling up my favorite numbers, I called her on the way to the gym. She answered right away.

  “Hunter, hi!”

  “Hey. Remember I talked about buying a new apartment?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve got an appointment with the real estate agent tomorrow. Do you want to come? I’d like your opinion, and—”

  I stopped myself just as I was about to say it would make our engagement more credible—couples went house-hunting together.

  Maybe I was being paranoid about the immigration services recording phone conversations, but I didn’t want to take any chances. Then I remembered we’d already talked about our relationship on the phone... damn. I was going to do better from now on.

  “Sure,” Josie said in a tone that indicated she knew what I really meant.

  “Perfect. I’ll text you the details.”

  The next day, we met at the address that the real estate agent, Darla, had indicated, in Chelsea. She and Josie were already there when I arrived. I assessed Josie. She was relaxed, chatting with Darla. That changed when she noticed me. She squared her shoulders, holding her chin high. Her gaze darted to the engagement ring, and then she gave me a nervous smile.

  “Darla, I see you’ve met my fiancée.”

  “Yes. Ready? I can give you a rundown of what I’ve prepared.”

  Nodding, I placed an arm around Josie’s shoulders. She stiffened for a fraction of a second and then she leaned into my touch, as if she’d been expecting it. Was she just playing her part, or did she want this? Me?

  Her breathing was labored, her chest moving up and down rapidly. She turned her head slightly in my direction. Her blue eyes widened when she realized I was watching her. She bit her lip before looking away. It was all I could do not to cup her face in my hands and kiss her. Everything about her tempted me: her slender neck, the way her dark hair fell over her shoulders.

  There was no going back to the way things were before. The faster I accepted that, the better. But could she accept it?

  “We’re seeing five apartments in the condo building. It’s luxury real estate with a gym and sauna. On the other edge of the property, I have a renovated townhouse, if you’d like to see it? You’d still have access to all the facilities in the building.”

  I’d opened my mouth to tell her I wasn’t looking for a house when I noticed Josie nodding enthusiastically. She looked like a kid on Christmas morning.

  “Sure. Let’s see the house,” I said. Why not make Josie happy? I always bought real estate as an investment, not just a place to live. I was the condo type all the way. Less hassle, and easier to resell.

  The house had five bedrooms on three floors and a generous terrace on top. There was plenty of space for both Josie and me to have home offices. Hell, I could even bring in a treadmill in one of the rooms. That would still leave us with a guest bedroom.

  “Perfect for two kids, even three,” Darla was saying. I stiffened, pretending to inspect the windows.

  Josie was over the moon. She touched every wall, every door, smiling every time she looked out a window.

  “What do you think?” Darla asked when we were back in the living room.

  Josie was positively glowing. “Oh my God. I can already see us roasting marshmallows at the fire....”

  “Kids love fireplaces,” Darla said. There she went again, bringing up children.

  Josie’s smile faded. She cast her gaze to the floor. What was she thinking about? The life she could have if she had the right man beside her, not just a stand-in groom?

  “And the kitchen has a built-in pizza oven.”

  Josie was glowing again. She could see herself living in this house, I could feel it in my bones.

  “We’re buying the house,” I said.

  Darla gave me a thumbs-up. When she excused herself to make a call, Josie tugged at my sleeve.

  “I got carried away. You don’t want a house. We can go see condos,” she whispered.

  I shook my head, lacing our fingers, kissing the back of her hand. My heart was beating wildly. Every fiber inside me wanted
to please Josie.

  “We’re buying it, Josie.”

  Josie looked adorably conflicted. I was betting she wanted to convince me this wasn’t necessary, while already falling in love with the house.

  Darla assured us she’d have all paperwork ready within a week, and then it was just Josie and me, walking around the neighborhood.

  “Hunter, are you sure about the house? I know you’re not a fan.”

  “It’s a great house. And you like it.”

  “I love it. And that fireplace. And the pizza oven. But it’s so huge. Darla couldn’t stop talking about kids. I think she suspects this is a shotgun wedding.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “By the way, you looked as if someone slapped you every time she brought up kids.”

  “That obvious?”

  “To me it was. You don’t want any, do you?”

  We’d never spoken about this. It just hadn’t come up.

  “I’ve never given that much thought, honestly. Family, kids. Just... not something I focused on when thinking about the future.”

  It wasn’t that I didn’t want them—it was just that life was easier if I kept expectations low, didn’t look forward to a future that might not happen. It was easier if I wasn’t actively thinking about what was missing from my life.

  Would I even make a good husband?

  I avoided asking myself those questions, because I couldn’t help thinking about my own parents. After Dad passed away and Mom moved to London, I’d missed them terribly. I’d longed for everything family stood for: warmth, security. I’d been forced to get used to being on my own. The only way I managed that was to focus on what I had and on my goals, not what was missing. By the time Amelia and my cousins moved to New York, I’d gotten used to being on my own.

  I’d spent many years just focusing on being the best: at school, in college, at work. Building something I could be proud of. Superficial relationships were all I knew. I didn’t know if I could be a good husband, much less a good father.

  “Not sure I have what it takes, Josie.”

  She gave me a look I couldn’t decipher.

  “But you do want kids?” I asked.

  She grinned. “Two of them, hopefully girls.”