Jason nodded, his gaze growing shrewd. I knew the expression on the girl’s face. It was the same Mama used to have when she’d talk wrestling on the drive home.
The relief I’d just experienced morphed into longing. Lucky bastard. Did Jason realize how fortunate he was to have someone, a person beyond his team, who supported him?
I ground my teeth together as my name was announced. It was time to compete. I walked out to the center of the circle on the mat. Licks of heat burned over my face, my shoulders. She was watching me. She’d study me, and then she’d talk to Jason about my techniques, my strengths, my weaknesses. She wouldn’t judge me on my last name or what I could do for her. She wouldn’t hold what I was doing today against what I was supposed to be as an adult. She’d see me on this mat. The real me that put his heart into wrestling because Mama had thought I was good at it. And the girl would be oblivious. She’d have no clue that she’d made a sad, lonely boy from King’s Creek feel seen again.
The night of the library tour…
* * *
This was it. Tonight was the night.
My heart raced. The crowd from the public library gathered. They’d met in town and driven here as a group, walked in as a group, and stayed a tight little community as they gathered in the meeting room.
Damn them.
Faces blended in front of me. Men and women avidly listening to a spiel I’d given several times before. All of it had been a cover for tonight.
My gaze jumped over the group. I tried not to linger on the women, but I had to know if she’d showed.
Had she changed? Had I looked right at her and not recognized her?
This was a long shot. I wasn’t a gambling man. I worked for what I had and I didn’t take chances. What needed to be done, I did.
The trust wasn’t any different. It shouldn’t be any different. But it was. I’d turned my career over to King Oil. But now I was supposed to turn my future over to a trust? To marry someone just to get some money?
I had responsibilities, but this felt invasive. This felt like a line had gotten crossed. Yet it had also gotten me thinking.
If I hadn’t kept my head down and my mind on my job, what would my life have been like? Who would I have dated long enough to form a relationship with? Who would I have wanted to date?
When I was a teenager, there’d been one girl who’d fascinated me, and I had one final question. Would she have the same effect on me as an adult?
My gaze skipped over a pair of intelligent hazel eyes. I swallowed my triumph and forced myself to keep scanning as I spoke.
Kate McDonough.
The rest of the tour took forever. Dad and I took turns leading the tour. The entire time, Kate hovered at the back, on the fringes, like she’d done at the wrestling tournaments. Tonight her hair was sleeker and her lips were full of gloss, but she was the same girl. Watching everyone. Studying them. She’d watched her brother’s opponents wrestle, then she’d talked to him.
No one else had spotted what she was doing, but she’d been as responsible for Jason’s success in the sport as his coach had been. Jason, of course, had done the hard work, but she’d helped him strategize. She’d gotten his head in the sport and helped him focus.
What would it be like to have someone like that at my side?
I’d wanted to know then, and I wanted to know now.
I hadn’t pursued her back then. She’d lived in a different town. I’d been college-bound on the fast track into King Oil. I could’ve wrestled on scholarships, but I couldn’t have split myself between a sport and school. So I hadn’t asked her out. I’d assumed her life had gone in a direction away from mine.
Then I’d been told I had six months to marry. And the first woman I’d thought of was her. What were the chances she was still in Billings? What were the odds she was single? What were the odds we were even compatible? A fascination from a distance as a teenager hardly made a valid foundation for marriage.
But if I had to marry, then I was going to give it a shot with the only girl who’d ever seen the real me. When I’d learned she worked in town and still went by her maiden name, I’d had to officially meet her.
It wouldn’t do to go into the library and pretend to check out a book. What department did she work in? What were her hours? A guy like me couldn’t roam the library without getting noticed. I didn’t know anything about her social life or how I could “run into her” otherwise. I couldn’t look up Jason after ten years and ask about his sister that I’d never talked to.
So, I had devised a plan. I’d pitched it to Dad and he’d taken the bait. We’d give local municipal bodies tours after work hours and host an open house just for them. Let’s invite some city departments first.
And tonight was finally library night. Like I’d planned.
And there she was. Going after the muffins. I’d asked the caterers to provide mini muffins. Jumbo muffins would’ve garnered too many questions. She’d always had a chocolate muffin the size of her head at the tournaments. Other wrestlers might’ve noticed the forbidden carbs, but I’d noticed her hunched over her food, meticulously dismantling the muffin in bite-sized chunks.
I prowled around the room. If anyone was trying to get my attention, I didn’t care. I had eyes for one person. The floral top she wore swayed with her movements, hugging her full hips as she reached forward, and the leggings she wore outlined the rest of her lush, curvy body. She’d shed her youth and was in curvy, sexy woman territory.
Could the whole room hear my heart thud?
I’d never been this nervous before. Not before any of my matches, not with any opponent, and not before any meeting. All I had to do was talk to her to see if she still affected me. If she responded, then I could ask her out, and fate would take it from there.
What good was all this money and status if I couldn’t use it to win the woman of my dreams?
Kate
* * *
The room stared at Aiden. I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t believe his confession.
He’d set up the tours just to meet me? Not only had he remembered me, but he’d…thought about me when we were kids? He’d wanted to ask me out?
Gentry shook his head like his ears were full of water. “The tour idea wasn’t community outreach? It was so you could ask Kate out?”
Aiden nodded. His jaw clenched and he stared at the top of the table. His thumb ran across the top of my hand, like it’d done while he’d told his story.
“Why wouldn’t you tell me?” Aiden King had hunted me down?
“I manipulated you. I used the company to get you here to see if I could marry you for money. And when you talked about your dad when I proposed… I didn’t feel like I was any better. I felt worse, because I still went ahead and rushed the wedding for the trust. I should’ve been honest.”
“Yes, you should’ve, but it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”
“You were the one thing I’d done for myself in a long time. I was selfish. It was easier to shut my mind off and do what had to be done than think about where I’d rather be or who I’d rather be with. When I was tempted to speak up, the thought of losing you kept my mouth shut. I wasted four years together. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, Aiden.” The shame in his eyes tore at my heart. I squeezed his hand, wishing I could just crawl into his lap and hold him for hours.
“You did it for us, didn’t you?” Beck asked. “You tracked Kate down because you knew that if you didn’t marry and Danny learned about the trust, all hell would break loose. We’d be in a media shitstorm and the three of us would still have a trust to deal with, this time publicly.”
Aiden’s jaw flexed as he tipped his head.
“Just like you bit the bullet when it came to King Oil,” Xander said. “You did it so the rest of us wouldn’t get pressure from Grams and DB to work here.”
“Damn, Aiden.” Dawson shook his head. “No wonder you never really talked to us. You spent years bossing us around and get
ting attitude right back, then we got to do whatever we wanted while you were tied up here.”
“I didn’t realize, Aiden,” Beck said. “I’m sorry.”
“None of you are at fault.” Gentry’s forehead creased. I couldn’t see his hands, but the way Kendall was angled, she must be clutching his under the table. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in life, and the worst ones were after your mom died. I should’ve been there for all of you. But I’m here now, and I swear to God, son, if you don’t quit, I’m firing you. Don’t think I haven’t figured out that you’ve been taking on so many duties to keep me from overworking. I’m healthier than I’ve ever been and Kendall makes sure my ticker gets a gold star from the doctor regularly. Aiden, you don’t have to keep protecting us.”
Aiden didn’t let go of me as he faced his family. “I am quitting.”
I let out a gasp. “You are?” This job was his life. He couldn’t just walk away and be okay knowing he was leaving a mess.
“I want to be with you. I want to have kids with you. I want to teach them how to ride horse, how to wrestle, whatever they want to do.” He looked at his dad. “You are right. There are others out there who want this job, and who’d be good at it. I asked you all here so you’d know everything, and to help us deal with Grams.”
The fantasy I’d had all those years ago had been shattered—and now he was putting it back together. I wasn’t deluding myself this time. There was a roomful of witnesses.
“But before we talk about Grams, I have something important to do.” Aiden dropped to his knees and spun my chair toward him. The rest of the room stayed quiet. “This was Mama’s ring. I told myself that I never gave it to you when I proposed because I wanted to win you over. I wanted you to know that I could give you the world. But the real reason was that I was ashamed. I hadn’t been honest and Mama wouldn’t have approved. I know now that this ring suits you better.”
He took my shaking hand and slid the ring on. The small round diamond was tucked into a gold band. Simple. Beautiful. It fit like it was destiny.
“I meant everything I said the first time I proposed to you.” Aiden gazed up at me. “But this time I’m going to be the husband you deserve.”
I threw my arms around him. “I love you so much.”
He rocked back on his heels, clinging to me. “I love you too, Kate.”
By the time we quit hugging and kissing, we were surrounded. He stood, still holding me to him.
His brothers smacked him on the back and offered their congratulations. When Gentry stood in front of us, he held his hand close to mine. “May I?”
I lifted my hand, the light catching the diamond, making it shine.
Gentry’s brown eyes filled with nostalgia. “That ring was all a stupid kid could afford. After all the boys were born and I’d been working for Emilia and DB for a while, I asked Sarah if she wanted a different one.” His lips twitched. “She said if I wanted it to sit in the jewelry box while she ignored it, I could buy her a new one.” He released my hand and lifted his gaze to Aiden. “I’m proud of you.”
After he finished hugging his dad, Aiden drew me into his side. “You mind staying and helping us face the board—and Grams?”
“Not at all.” I rose on my tiptoes and whispered into his ear. “Afterward, I think there are some fantasies on your desk that we need to fulfill before you’re officially done.”
He groaned. “I’ll make this meeting quick.”
Chapter 22
Kate
* * *
Six months later…
* * *
I waved my free hand toward the counter. My other hand was propped on the toilet seat. “Grab the phone.”
“What?” Aiden had a hold of my hair. I hadn’t thrown up yet, but it was better safe than sorry.
“It’s a—” A wave of nausea rolled through me and I groaned. “Trust me.”
“Okay…” He picked up my phone up off the counter. “Now what?”
I exhaled and slowly inhaled. The wave rolled through me. “Take a picture of us.”
“Kate. You’re bent over the toilet,” he said as if it wasn’t my head that was half a foot from the water.
“I’ll tell you about a conversation I had with Sophie later. I just need a picture of you holding my hair while I vomit.”
Another wave crashed into me and I heaved right when he was taking the photo. He dumped my phone on the counter and crowded behind me again. I took the damp washcloth he offered.
I’d been battling these bouts for the last couple of months, but this was the first time I had both Aiden and my phone with me. I leaned back on my heels. I thought I’d be okay, but I didn’t want to leave the safety zone of the porcelain throne.
Aiden kneeled behind me. “Isn’t this supposed to get better?”
“Maybe? The first trimester is almost done.” I was taking my prenatal vitamin at night like Sophie suggested. She fawned over me as badly as Aiden.
We’d started trying immediately after the board meeting where Aiden had told his grams and the board that he was quitting. Gentry and Kendall had backed him up and said nothing was holding them to the company. Gentry could retire early and Kendall could take a job anywhere in the world she wanted. Only that part was a bluff. They weren’t moving far from their families.
Grams had stayed silent for several minutes. Then she’d dipped her chin and tears had glittered in her eyes. She’d told the board that she should be the one to go.
Aiden had stayed long enough to help with the transition and train his replacement, but he’d militantly stuck to a forty-hour workweek. He’d been officially done at King Oil for three months. I was fairly certain this baby had been conceived on the company plane, in the back bedroom we’d never used before, on the way to Denver to stay with Beck and Eva.
Gentry would step down at King Oil after the new leadership was trained in. They’d hired a vice president from an oil company out of North Dakota: Barron Oil. Another family company, it was also headed by a workaholic CEO who was trying to recruit his oldest as his successor. Gentry had gotten the story out of the new hire and was glad to give him the upward mobility he wouldn’t get at Barron Oil.
Then Gentry would take his place on the board, probably as president. Kendall was leaving too. She’d found a nonprofit in town that could use her expertise, expertise that usually came with a high wage. But she was working for a fraction of what she used to make and she and Gentry were traveling all over. Before the grandkids start dropping, Kendall had said, dancing and clapping after I told her Aiden and I were expecting.
Ours would be the first, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Aiden’s brothers had announcements by the end of the year.
I tossed the washcloth in the dirty laundry and stood up.
Aiden was at my side. “It’s passed?”
“For now.” I washed my hands and took a swig of mouthwash.
After I was done, I slogged to the bed with Aiden hovering behind me. My nightstand had a picture of Aiden and me with the Colorado mountains behind us. A bigger photo that included his entire family at Beck’s cabin in Aspen was mounted in the living room next to pictures of my niece and nephews. We now had as many pictures of people as we did of landscapes in our home.
Our beagle—crossed with who knows what—rescue puppy that Violet had insisted we name Bud jumped on the bed, his tail wagging. The kitten we’d adopted at the same time—named Petal, also suggested by Violet—swatted at Bud, then started grooming the puppy’s little ear.
I sank into bed with a sigh, loving that my days off involved my husband and our pets. Aiden had all the days off, but his evenings would soon be a different story.
“Randall call you yet?” My stepfather had been calling every day since Aiden had approached him about taking over the wrestling club.
Aiden chuckled. “I think I have a missed call. He’s going with me to talk to a builder. I want his insight on the design.”
The club would have its own
space and year-round wrestling. Violet would have her uncle as a coach—Aiden would make sure of it. Both Violet and my nephews would get free lessons if they wanted. Jason had tried to object, but Aiden had said the family discount was nonnegotiable. Aiden planned to lease some space for other club programs. He had ideas for creating scholarship programs. We’d talked a lot about how we wanted to use the trust money.
We didn’t need it. I liked working at the library. That was how I wanted to contribute to the community. Aiden would be a stay-at-home dad and run some of our own nonprofits. I met with Lauren a couple of times a month for coffee. She gave me her thoughts for programs that might help the not-quite-retired crowd learn new skills to finish out those last years of work, or because they couldn’t afford to retire. Between Lauren and the library director, they’d identified technology as a huge pain point. Aiden and I had set up an annual donation to the library’s technology and career outreach programs.
I stretched out while Aiden grabbed a Tums for the low-level heartburn I couldn’t shake. Aiden lay next to me, his body as sinfully powerful as it’d always been. The only thing different was the expression he wore. His resting business face was softer, a little less arrogant without stress tightening his lips.
I brushed my fingers down the scruff on his face. I liked how it felt—everywhere on my body. So he only shaved every few days.
He kissed my fingers. “How many are we having?”
I chuckled. “I think we should find out how much the first one turns our world upside down before we talk numbers.”
“Deal.” He rolled to his back and laid his arm out.
I curled into his side. We had nothing to do today and nowhere to be—unless we wanted to. If I wanted to nap in the middle of the damn day, he’d help me.
I put my hand on his chest. The diamond on my ring glittered. I never took it off. And I never would. I kept the old one in its own special jewelry box, and I’d pass it on to our kids after we told them the story of our not-quite-textbook romance. “I love you, Aiden King.”
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